Tools in my GHB

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

I'm going to preface this post with an admission: I overpack. Anyone who has seen my luggage knows this. Part of what drove me to be a prepper is my hatred of not having a thing when I need it, and so I somewhat compulsively over-estimate my needs when packing because, as has been drilled into me by my parents, It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

So yes, what I consider a Get Home Bag other people would probably call a Bug Out Bag, and my BOB is more likely an I'm Not Coming Home (INCH) bag, aka I'm a homeless refugee and now I must live in a camp in the woods.

That said, I have a question for the rest of you: Am I weird for carrying tools in my GHB? Or do other people do it, too?

I know that space is at a premium in GHBs and weight is a major concern, but I can't keep myself from adding these -- I feel un-prepared otherwise. And they only add about 3 pounds total to my bag.

I live in a semi-rural part of the county (think "suburban neighborhoods in a sea of undeveloped woods") and so my GHB needs to be optimized for both city and country use in case I need to walk home.

Top to bottom, left to right:

• Folding bush saw in case I need to make a shelter, build a fire, or otherwise carve wood. 
• Craftsman clench wrench in case I need to unscrew a nut, like from a car. I realize it's not the best tool for the job, but it's a fair jack-of-all-trades tool and it's lightweight. 
• Mini claw hammer that I bought at the grocery store. I don't expect to do a lot of hammering nails; this is more of a "in case I need to break or bash something with a blunt object."
• Compact screwdriver set that has multiple bits:  Phillips heads 1-3; Torx heads 10, 15, 20 and 25; and flathead screwdriver heads 4, 5 and 6mm. Again, not the best tool, but certainly a multi-use and lightweight one. 
• Mini pry bar. There are many uses for this that aren't nefarious. If you've ever needed to open a crate or a paint can, you know how useful one of these is. 
• Hawke Peregrine knife for all my multiple fixed-knife needs. Plus I can lash it to a branch and make an improvised spear if I need to. 
• Multi-Use Survival Tool (MUST) and MUST Angle. The angle is the bit on the left, the MUST is the hatchet-looking thing on the right. With any coin as a screwdriver I can change the MUST from a hatchet to a chisel, and the addition of the MUST Angle creates an adze. Using just the angle without the blade, I have a hoe. 
• Not shown: the Leatherman multi-tool I always have on me. 

With these tools, I am reasonably certain I can handle most tasks I'd need if I ever had to walk home from the next county, and they only weigh 3 pounds. 

But what do you think? Am I foolish for carrying this extra weight? Or have I neglected an important tool that I absolutely need?

Tell me what tools you have in your Get Home Bags!

Neat Condom Tricks: Not Just Balloon Animals

For those who regularly read my column, you may notice that I am a fan of multi-use items. My philosophy is, "Why carry three tools when I can carry one?" This really comes in handy when I'm limited on space and weight, or when I'm forced to use field expedient replacements.

To that end, something that I have found has a wide variety of uses, takes little space, almost no weight, and costs very little: condoms.

Birth Control
In a disaster, people react to stress in various ways. If you have a significant other, you may find that keeping a spare condom on hand can prevent a happy surprise. As a rule, I prefer latex free, since if I hand them off to someone, I don’t have to worry about a potential allergic reaction.

Water Carrier
You actually can fill up a condom with water all on its own, but it's fairly hard [ahem] to keep it in a useful shape, and being stretched by the water makes it much easier to accidentally puncture. I've found that using a nylon stocking helps to keep it in a more or less usable shape and amount, and gives it enough rigidity to make it easier to drink from. Failing having nylons on hand, a sock works just fine, even if it gives you a smaller water container. You may get funny looks, but if you have no other water container, it could save your life.

Waterproofing Electronics 
You would be amazed at what a condom will go over: cameras, cell phones, tablets, and even small laptops will fit without tearing the condom. Seriously, you would be amazed at what will fit. For those of you who have ever gone boating, or have marched through a swamp, and hoped not to destroy a digital camera/voice recorder/ cell phone, this is your answer.

Take an unlubricated condom and carefully roll it over whatever electronic device you are trying to prevent water from damaging. When the condom is over the device, tie it off at the end. If you are paranoid, like I am, use a second unlubricated condom and roll it onto the device starting at the tied off end, tying it off with a secure knot. Don't expect to untie this, just expect to cut it.

This also works on pill containers that you are not sure are waterproof, food, and just about anything that you don’t want getting wet.

Waterproofing Tinder for Fires
Insert tinder into unlubricated condom and tie off the end.

Here is the cool part: Even the lubricated condoms I tested (Lifestyle Skyn, latex free) burned when exposed to a burning wooden match. If you had to, you could probably use them as part of the tinder.

Jar Opener
Just like having a bunch of cans with no can opener is problematic, having jars that will not open is problematic. Unlubricated condoms work remarkably well: wear one as a glove, and use the extra grip to open those pickles.

Speaking of gloves...

Field-Expedient Rubber Gloves
Just like opening the jar, you can actually use them as gloves in an emergency. While it is not my first choice, if I am worried about contamination (blood pathogen, really nasty stuff I have to reach into, etc) I would rather use them as a hand covering than have nothing on my hand at all.

I've even heard stories of people using them as shower shoes.

Emergency Rubber Bands
These aren't likely to be used in an emergency, but you can use condoms as field-expedient rubber bands. They aren't as good as real bands, but better than nothing. Just cut one into rings, and if you have to, double it up.

Barrel Barrier
Roll a condom over the muzzle of your long gun while hunting. It will keep dirt, sand, dust and water out of the working of your firearm, and if you need to shoot, just shoot through it!


As you can see, there are lots of useful things you can do with condoms in an emergency.

Good luck, and don’t forget to practice. No, not like that!

TDS $30 IFAK Challenge, Part 4

This week, I demonstrate how to make a chest seal.

Disconnecting from Social Media

After many years of being active on various social media, I've come to the conclusion that most of it is garbage. Myspace, LiveJournal, Facebook, and a few other, more obscure social media portals have all fallen from their goals of connecting people, and if they're still around they have “evolved” into being mostly mindless echo chambers.

Division

The widening political divide is a large part of the problem; most people aren't willing to communicate with someone who supports “the other side”. This lack of tolerance for the “other” has led to what I call “intellectual incest”, a state where new thoughts are not allowed and the old thoughts are repeated and reinforced so strongly that the participants start to show signs of hemophilia (lack of blood clotting so wounds don't heal), microcephaly (diminished skull capacity), and mental retardation, all commonly found in populations where inbreeding is practiced.

We have a strict “No Politics” rule on our blog and Facebook page because we don't want to become an echo chamber. We want to hear new thoughts and ideas. None of us are “experts”; we're here to learn as well as teach, and that requires the ability to listen to what others have to say. We don't always agree on everything -- I've had readers bring up conflicting evidence several times -- but we keep it civil and polite. Trolls and liars are acceptable targets for ridicule, but honest disagreement is allowed and opinions are (for the most part) respected. I fear we are becoming a rarity on the Internet.

Dehumanization

There is a theory that has been repeatedly tested on how to get people to do things to other people, generally applied to soldiers who have been taught since birth that it is wrong to kill other people. Not killing people is a good thing to teach children, but creates a problem when there are people who need to be killed. 

1. The first step to overcoming this childhood training is “othering”: creating or highlighting a distinct difference between the “good guys” and the “bad guys”. In the past, most of the “othering” was based on race or religion, and sometimes language and cultural differences were used to point out the “inferior” or “sub-human” qualities that made it permissible to kill another person.
• A slight alternative is to completely dehumanize the “other”, making them not-human and therefor not protected by our childhood training. We see this in the various zombie and alien gore-fests in popular video games and movies. 
2.  Once you have created the “other”, it is easier to make it acceptable to do things to them. 
3. The last step is teaching the soldier how to actually end a human life, which is the easiest part of the training.

Schoolyard bullies use the same techniques when they ostracize the “weird” kid, making him fair game for abuse. Cliches and gangs also use these tactics to strengthen their internal bonds and exclude outsiders from the “benefits” of membership. Using phrases that refer to a person as an animal (pig, dog, rat, etc.) is a milder form of dehumanizing, but it can be used as a stepping stone for future propaganda.

I am seeing this process being used on people more often today than I did in the past, and to much stronger levels. It used to be the tribal/rival sports team and their fans who were joked about, but now it is the dehumanization of anyone who supports a politician or policy that is different. Politicians are openly calling for the harassment of people from the other party; people are being assaulted for wearing the “wrong” hat or T-shirt; destruction of private and public property is happening in broad daylight, and all of this is being celebrated instead of condemned.

The problem I have run into is the incessant seeping of politics into everything on social media. I have friends and acquaintances of just about every stripe you can imagine, but it's getting harder to have a conversation about anything without politics being brought up. Everything is viewed through a filter of politics and political party affiliation, and this is something that I can no longer take part in. I don't really care which driver is behind the wheel when the bus goes over a cliff -- I don't want to be on that bus at all.

Cutting the Cord

I've disconnected from most of my social media accounts, with the exception of the BCP Facebook page. I've decided that it is time to start focusing on things closer to home, and getting rid of distractions is part of that. I'm still going to be here every week, but I won't be following the latest trends on social media unless they pop up in one of my news feeds. 

If TSHTF, I'm not likely to have access to social media, so I consider this preparation for anything that could shut down the Internet. I have a phone and several email accounts, and my friends and family know how to contact me. The various acquaintances I've accumulated over the years will likely not miss me, and if they do they can reach me through mutual friends. 

We're being played with, people. Social media is free because we're not the consumer, we're the product. Every post and note is analyzed and sorted for sale to advertisers or is used to track you. Think of them as a trail of breadcrumbs that lead to your front door; as a prepper, I don't want to be tracked by anyone who is trying to use me.

You may want to at least consider how much personal information you're giving to any group that doesn't have your best interest in mind. If you're like me, you don't like being someone else's pawn and will at least think about leaving social media. This may not be a step you're willing to take yet, but I have reached my limit of negativity and outright manipulation.

Like testing any other prep, stay off all social media for a week and evaluate how it works for you. I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is to do.

Prudent Prepping: Nitecore P12GT

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

I've made jokes about fans of flashlights with ALL THE LUMENS more than once, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate (or covet) more light. I recently found a 1,000 lumen flashlight that fits into my gear nicely and is, in my opinion, an incredible bargain.


Nitecore P12GT

https://amzn.to/2LJVtTc

The Nitecore P12GT webpage is not copy n' paste friendly, so I will not have my usual set of bullet point examples. Instead I will list several bits of information from there and then my own observations.

Four Brightness Levels:

The amount of light it puts out is 3 times as many lumens as my next closest light!

1. Dim. Useful in a hotel room for not waking others up as you stagger to the bathroom at 2 AM. at a convention. Not that I know anything about that.
2. Low. Similar to a drug store 1 AAA flashlight, and definitely enough light to get around in the dark.
3. Bright. Previously, I would have been satisfied with this amount of light. Previously.
4. MY EYES. Shining this in someones eyes at close range will make an impression on their retinas for a while. It is bright! Don't even think about the strobe at close range either. I turned it on after dark and the bounce off a white-painted wall was enough to have me seeing spots for a good 10 minutes.

What I Like

• It is slightly longer than my previous high price flashlight and larger in diameter, but not enough to bother.
• The tail on/off switch is covered in rubber and takes a good push to actuate. 
• The Mode button placed on the side also needs a positive push to change things, which means I won't be accidentally changing from See Everything to Too Dim To Read. 
• A seriously sturdy pocket clip. 
• An anti-roll away device. The pocket clip should do that job by itself, but without it you do need something else. 
• Uses either 2 ea. 123A lithium batteries or one 18650 Li-ion battery. 
• Battery level can be checked by holding the Mode and On switch down at the same time, causing the Mode switch to blink if power is 50% or less. 

What I Like Less

I don't hate or dislike anything on this light, but there are some things I don't like quite as much.

• The anti-roll device needs to be either slightly larger in diameter, or the flats need to be fewer in number so that the remaining flats can have longer lengths. 
• Heat. On the higher settings, this flashlight gets warm -- not to the point that you can't hold it, but it heats up. Nitecore mentions in the instructions having a heat-sensing circuit to moderate the output to extend run-time and prevent damage to the light. 

That's it. This is a great flashlight!


The Recap

• One NITECORE P12GT flashlight, purchased from a local shop (I had store credit and didn't want to buy another knife), but available from Amazon for $59.00 and is Prime eligible. 
•  For just a few dollars more at $62.95, the P12GT flashlight, rechargeable batteries and charger is a screaming good deal! 

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

DIY Epipens: the Epipencil

An epipen is an autoinjector filled with epinephrine, used to manage life threatening anaphalactic reactions.

Translation: it is a special syringe with a special medication that can be used to save the life of someone who is having a severe allergic reaction.

For those preppers who are dependent on an epipen, having one can literally be the difference between life and death. It can be frustrating and expensive to acquire them; the last time I purchased an epipen, it was $600 USD per unit. They can also go bad over time or from temperature ranges outside what they are designed for -- if they freeze, or are left in to hot of a car, they are considered to have gone bad.

Because of how important they are, a group of individuals decided to design an off the shelf version of the same device costing a fraction of the price that allows a prepper to have several on hand. They call this device the epipencil. 

NOTE: This is not an FDA approved device. You will still have to have a prescription for the drug itself. Don’t do dumb stuff to yourself medically.

Parts:

• Autoinject 2 non-fixed needle device #AJ1311
• 1mL luer slip syringe (10-pack)
• 1" 22G Luer Lock Hypodermic Needle (Note- this is a 100 pack. Amazon does not currently carry a smaller pack, but you should be able to find something appropriate)
• Epinephrine. You will need a prescription for this.

The inventor explains its assembly:




Good luck, and don’t forget to practice.

TDS $30 IFAK Challenge, Pt 3

I demonstrate how to make a tourniquet with a bandanna and sharpie.