popular logistics

From the indispensable folks at Popular Mechanics. Seems worth having in a go-bag. Since we’re of the belief that “go” should be organized in groups, with great attention paid to weight - we’re reluctant to suggest one in every go bag - but one or two in every group seems sounds.

The six features are:

• side-cutting electrician pliers. According to Popular Mechanics, “Cut into both its jaws is a heavy-duty cross hatching that grips with a vengeance.” That is, powerful pliers, and
  
• wire-cutting capability
  
• gas shut-off wrench - and on the same handle
  
• a pry bar.
  
• On the opposite handle, a spanner wrench and
  
• a glass punch for breaking through car windows
  

Channellock 6-N-1 Rescue Tool from Popular Mechanics’ Best of the 2008 National Hardware Show. by Roy Berendsohn.

In watching the deluge in the Midwest, I’m remembering a description of the post-Katrina proliferation of dragonflies - a fortuitous turn that stopped the mosquito population from getting out of control. One robust response is mosquito netting, and this piece is from his excellent blog Cool Tools:

I hate mosquitoes. Serious gut-tightening allergic aversion. One bite at night and I am awake for hours, and I’ll itch for days. They’ll always find me, too. I’ve learned to ignore what natives say; there are mosquitoes around, and they do bite. When I travel in any remotely warm place, I pack my own mosquito netting. It weighs only a few ounces and can scrunch up small. It’s cheap, and lasts forever. I’m still using one I bought 30 years ago for $2. I like the boxy four-cornered variety to fit over a bed or sleeping bag. I tie a 6-foot long string to each corner; that usually enables me to attach the string somewhere to keep the net elevated at night. I tie it to trees if I am camping without a tent.

I haven’t figured out why more people don’t pack their own. Mine has saved my life more than once. Mostly by allowing me to sleep soundly, but also because with it I avoid mosquito-borne diseases in areas they are common. Studies have shown that sleeping in a net is more effective at preventing malaria than taking prophylactic drugs. I insist my family use netting while we travel in the heat overseas. A quick search led me to Coleman as the least expensive source for a one-person camp-style box net.

I’m afraid that mosquito netting may be added to the list of things that FEMA won’t provide - although if FEMA puts itself out of business by zeroing out that list, we’ll be forced to address the issue - federally and otherwise.

Dan Kitchen reviews the BCB Mini Work Tool at Toolmonger:

The BCB Mini Work Tool looks like a miniature version of the ATAX tool that Toolmonger featured a few weeks ago. This credit card-sized piece of stainless steel integrates 11 tools in its simple frame, including a knife, saw, bottle opener, flat screwdriver, and a hole that can be used as a wrench.

BCB Miniwork Tool [BCB Survival USA]

Leatherman has introduced the Skeletool and skeletool CX:

The Skeletool has a removable pocket clip - so it can be used with or without a sheath.

The Skeletool CX has carbon-fiber handles; Erik Sofge, in his Popular Mechanics review (link below) says that it’s got a particularly comfortable grip - no small asset for a tool that, almost by definition, one uses in less-than-ideal conditions. The CX also has some attachable bits stored inside the tool. (I’m not entirely sure how they both end up the same weight - this may be the result of my misreading the specs )

Link to Erik Sofge’s review at PopularMechanics.com.

I’ve been using the AllMedHi-Viz Rescue Vest for a few weeks. Happy to recommend it - worth every penny - although for CERT and other purposes I’d like to see a lower bulk price. For the record, we weren’t given a review sample - and regard this as money well spent. And I intend to assemble a bulk purchase soon. Here are some images.

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It’s great - I’ve worn it every time I’ve been to the park with Lucy and Zoe before dawn, and my guess is that it exceeds ANSI Class III visibility requirements. (AllMed doesn’t make the claim - and for the moment, I’m saying again - it’s a guess). We’ll try to measure visibility soon.

And it has the feel of something well-made and well-designed - very sturdy but not at all uncomfortable.

And it’s got enough pockets that, by itself, it could function as a go-bag or jump bag with the “A” gear - the absolute essentials. We’re going to figure out how much we can stuff in the pockets.

Responders should, of course, add ID - name, units, etc. - but I’d urge anyone doing it to use Reflexite letters - what makes this vest unique is the combination of conspicuity and load carrying ability - i.e., pockets - don’t make it any less reflective if at all possible.

Product page here.

From Boing Boing Gadgets:

The “Moflow” water pack from Polarpak looks like a traditional back-mounted water carrier, but the inclusion of an air pump adds two useful features: you don’t have to suck on a hose to get a sip of water, as biting on the tip gives you a blast of pressurized liquid; the air pressure in the reservoir helps keep the water from sloshing around. You can add a shower head attachment as well for a little backwoods rinse down.It looks like a wonderful addition to the standard design, but I’d worry that the little hand pump, which isn’t integrated into the system, would be easily lost.

It’s selling at a suggested $32, but you’ll still need to purchase a backpack with a standard hydration pack slot.

Product Page [PolarPak.com]

From Joel Johnson  at Boing Boing Gadgets.

The existence of a “standard hydration pack slot” is, in our view, a very helpful innovation, and we’d like to know who came up with it. We hope to start reviewing light packs with these slots as candidates for g0-bags/jump bags - and the presence hydration slot should count for a lot.

We’ve been collecting and comparing go-bag lists for a while - since realizing that certain government agencies appeared to be making lists without ever assembling the contents and weighing them - thus violating S.L.A. Marshall’s prescription in The Soldier’s Load.

We’re not finished with the in-house research, but we’ll point out what we believe to be two critical points:

1. the first-line gear in any go-bag are non-fungible items - things you can’t get from anyone else without a physician, dentist, optician, dental lab, or pharmacist: medication, medical devices, glasses, and dentures.
2. Footwear counts as non-fungible because even if they fit perfectly, if they’re not broken in, properly. A crisis isn’t a good time for blisters, which can, by themselves, count as a personal crisis.
3. Duplicating the go-bag - the first-line items, or more than that - and keeping them somewhere other than home - removes the risk of being separated from the go-bag by the same condition which makes the go-bag necessary. Additional bags cached at a nearby neighbor’s - and one not so near, one at work - are all hedges against a disaster happening while you’re not at home - separating you from your go-bag.

Jim McDonald at Making Light has an interesting and practical post about go-bags - it’s an annotation and exegesis of lists he’s posted on his Emergency Kits page. Here’s McDonald’s explanation of his “Urban Bag”:

Urban bag

If you’re just going away for a little while, or you only need to get home from the office, and you’re in a built-up area, this has the supplies you need. If you can grab nothing else, grab this one. If you only have ten seconds, grab this one.

(Along with what’s in your pockets. I assume some pocket change, subway tokens, a pocket knife, ID, and so on.)

From Inhabitat:

Designed by Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA MATx), the beauty of the Portable Light Project is its merging of high-tech industry and local craft-based economies, not to mention the fact that it delivers usable light to demographics and regions that are either off-the-grid, mobile, or in locations with little daily sunlight. “Portable Light is based upon the principle that global needs for technology development are inevitably interconnected. Knowledge, techniques, market solutions and data produced by the project benefit the “third” world and the “first” world where the need to imagine, design and develop energy efficient alternatives to the centralized and increasingly costly electrical grid is becoming ever more important,” says KVA.

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The materials themselves and attention to the design process prove that Portable Light is not just functional, but thoughtfully constructed with sustainability and humanity in mind. It combines high-brightness LEDs from pedestrian walk signals, water-resistant tactile switches from dishwashers, and rechargeable batteries from the cell-phone industry, all sourced from consumer appliances and standard technologies.

ALLMED , based in Russellville, Missouri, sells a range of EMS - and a few products designed in-house. One of these is their high-visibility vest, pictured below:

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We’ve seen a lot of reflective vests; they usually don’t have any pockets; and the reverse - high-utility, load-bearing, lots of pockets - but in olive drab, black, or camo. This has both, and it’s reasonably priced at $55.

Catalog page here.

We’ve had an order in for one since they first placed it in their catalogue, and I understand the first batch is due shortly from the manufacturer.

With ID information (unit, name, etc.) on the back - this might be an ideal purchase for CERT or other teams.

Probably ideal for serving food in large shelters or shelter-in-place situations, or evacuations not on foot. Because of weight and size we’re not certain of their utility in a go-bag.

 Available from Cheaper Than Dirt - 3 for $18USD.

Medgadget reports on a new portable water purifier.   At 50 liters per duty cycle, given a 30-day supply problem, 1 liter per day per person - this might be ideal in a go-bag - but we’d like to see larger non-electric filtration devices - gravity-fed would be nice - that could handle the water needs of small apartment buildings, perhaps.

Neither for medieval reenactments, nor for the recreational depravities so common in New York. these chain mail gloves seem well suited to rescue and recovery work, although their intended or normal use is for carpenters and butchers. Here’s the review from CoolTools.

And they’re apparently dishwasher-safe. From Lee Valley, which we’ve found to be a reliable and competitively-priced vendor.

I’ve just started using an All-Ett - an extraordinarily lightweight wallet made from spinnaker cloth. (We assume that all PopLog readers know the difference between a spinnaker and a mainsail, so we won’t bore you). Remarkably light and thin, but shows every indication of being exceptionally strong.

Why are we posting about it? Because we’re interested in anything that reduces weight or bulk in necessary objects, and because we have no scruples about writing about things we like - despite the absence of other reasons.

I got mine directly from the maker - www.all-ett.com

This another fine lead from the people at www.lifehacker.com