Archive for the 'Gear' Category

Chris finds interesting stuff while browsing in unexpected places. He alerted me that he found some Purell in foliage green bottles at the Downtown Fisher Hawaii. I stopped by the Kaka’ako location and found some on a mid-aisle end cap after wandering the aisles of office supplies for a couple of minutes. The 89ml (3 fl. oz.) extra durable foliage green MDPE bottle has finger-grooved sides and is marked NSN 6508-01-535-5409. They were priced at $2.69, so after local sales tax, it was $2.82 – much less than the MSRP! The bottle is about the same size as a 20-round 5.56 NATO magazine (12cm tall x 6cm wide x 3cm thick), so it will fit in a strobe/compass pouch (empirically tested in the Blackhawk STRIKE version of this size pouch) or other similarly sized pouches. Good to have on the trail to clean the grubby hands before digging into the snacks or performing first aid.

Highly recommended

Four out of four alcohol-vapor-buzzed gear monkeys

I’ve had a Bencmade Model 7 Rescue Cutter for many years. I went out and purchased it and attached it to my snowboard pack shoulder strap immediately after seeing some video footage of a kid slipping out of a chairlift and ending up suspended by his helmet strap. Being able to cut out of a situation like that one handed definitely seemed like a good idea, and not getting impaled by a sharp instrument when subsequently hitting the ground seemed like an even better idea (if you’ve seen Will Smith in I Am Legend, you know what I mean). Conceivably, one could toss a conventional knife after cutting loose, but the reality of the situation is that when you’re falling after being suspended by your pack straps or helmet straps, all intentions aside, you’re more likely to unconsciously clench your fist and hold onto the knife rather than ditch it when that falling sensation kicks in. Thusly, I chose a safety cutter. The Model 7 is a great tool, but it is not cheap, so when Dave at Power Edge told me a less expensive polymer version was coming out, I was intrigued. Continue reading ‘Benchmade 9CB Strap Cutter, Carabiner’

Here’s another goodie I picked up when Fabio ordered from Rescue Direct – CMC Rescue’s Survivor 8 descender. Far smaller and lighter than my CMI Rescue Figure-8, this micro version is designed for personal emergency escape. Forged from aluminum, it is machined to shape and given a mil-spec hard-anodized finish. In conjunction with a lightweight carabiner and a rigger’s belt, a very unobtrusive escape rig can be put together without a massive weight penalty. The figure-8 and a lightweight carabiner can be easily pocketed or stashed in something like a double handcuff case or exam glove pouch on your rigger’s belt. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it out yet on a descent, but put it on some rope to see how it would function. It is designed for smaller 9mm ropes. I tried running some ½” Army green line through it, and it sort-of fits, but the rope will probably rub in the middle, even under tension when this twisted rope thins down. It’s not a good idea to run line this big – better keeping it below 11mm. The 7.5mm rope I ran thorough it looked a lot better. It appears that here would be enough room to run that size doubled, or to even pass it knotted. Continue reading ‘CMC Rescue Survivor 8’

In anticipation of the upcoming Whistler snowboarding trip, I wanted to update my first aid kit. I have heard of these coagulating products from reports coming back form the sandbox. For heavy trauma, even arterial bleeding, this stuff forces the leaking blood to coagulate and form a mass. The blood flow in adjacent tissue is unaffected, so there are none of the necrotizing effects associated with tourniquets. For amputations, a tourniquet would be required, but for nearly anything less, packing on coagulating agent seems to be the best course of action to stop the bleeding while the victim is being transported to a medical facility. Bigger hole = more packs of coagulant. Continue reading ‘Quikclot Sport’