Nice short video from NGC about keys

Nice short video from NGC about keys. I knew you could copy a keys from pictures, but I honestly haven't though of the 3D printer yet. 

Consumerism and preparedness: just be practical

There are many different people whom prepare for emergency’s. A lot don’t, some are very casual about it and a few are more serious about it. Even in the serious categories there are many differences. Some are very practical ones and some are consumer driven. The last one is also quite active on the internet.

With preparedness and preparedness items being more and more of a regular consumer product, people act like the manufacture want them too. Manufactures try to make new models each year to satisfy the never ending crave for new things of consumers. This is not always a bad thing. A lot of things have been improved over the years.

However when it comes down to emergency preparedness, when practicability, ruggedness and simplistic plays a role, this generally does not. In the process of making ever new products, manufactures are starting to place ever more features on their products and using more exotic materials, to make them more desirable. This however does not mean it's more practical and useful. Quite often they are less practical, less rugged, and more complicated. Or at least not as time tested. This is fortunately not a problem with large scale equipment. Organisations buying large equipment are all about practical application and costs. It is however a problems when it comes down to personal equipment.

First of all I’m not saying that you should not have new equipment and technologies. Some are great, like modern communication and network enables capabilities.  But you should look at equipment primarily at the practical stand point:

- Price; you can only spend your money once, so you better make sure it’s worth it.
- Usability; things needs to be easy to use, with little instructions. People often do not use emergency equipment, so it needs to be easy to understand and use.
- Maintenance; emergency equipment is often stored for long periods of time and when they are needed, there is little time for maintenance.  So equipment which require very little maintenance are best. However all equipment need maintenance to work properly. Spare should be on hand and it’s best if they are the same as other commonly used parts on other equipment. Maintenance should be easy and require little (specialist)  tools.
- Quality; a well manufactured piece of equipment usually work a lot better than a cheaply made equipment. However don’t confuse  a nice finish with quality. They are often related, but not always the same. 
- Larger storage and operating range; Equipment should be able to be stored and used in dry, wet, cold, hot and dusty environments. So the equipment should be able to operate in a wide range of conditions. This not only applies for exposure to the elements, but also for the inputs of systems; power input (mains, battery, generators, voltage and type of sinus), water (salt, sweet, dirty), fuel (propane, petrol, diesel or a combination of these) and lubricants.

For proper equipment, look for ‘professional’ or ‘Industrial’ line/grade of equipment. Another good source of equipment are items design for third world/emergency aid. These items are generally made to be practical and nothing more.

My EDC

Not really sure why, but there is a lot of interest in what people carry on them every day, the so called Every Day Carry (EDC). The term does get widely abused for gear people only carry for certain moments. I mean a EDC for hiking, is well uhm... what you carry for hiking, hiking gear/kit? My EDC is not really exiting, not too much gear and I don't feel like getting the latest and greatest gadgets. Anyways here is my list of things I carry:

On my person:

Wallet: Tri-fold leather wallet.

Just a regular tri-fold wallet with cards and cash, the wallet is lined with foil to block RFID signals.Certain additions are a few plasters, extra passport sized photo and condoms. Shown in folded position for privacy reasons.

Keys

Keys with a small carabiner. (no keys pictures, just the carabiner. Keys can be copied using photos) The carabiner is used both to attached it to a d-ring on my pants (when available, depending on what I’m wearing) and to keep different sets of keys together. I have several key rings for home, work, running, car (car keys also has a ResQme), etc. and join them together with the carabiner. I have to many keys to carry them all. I choose a steel carabiner, because they are very durable. The alluminium ones break to often, unless you go for the large climbing style which are to big to carry.

A Swiss army knife: Victorinox Huntsman.

I have been carrying this for almost 10 years now.  It’s the ideal size for me and looks innocent enough, so nobody cares about it.. Tiny multitools are just too tiny for me and the larger ones are too large. I usually only need a blade, scissors, screw drivers, awl and bottle opener. I use the larger blade primarily for food and the smaller one for cutting all the other stuff.  The can opener and saw are only used when I’m camping with it.

A small Flashlight: Fenix LD10.

I have been carrying this light for 5-6 years now. I have one of the earliest versions of this light, without belt clip. I used to have a Fenix L1P, but with the newer CREE LED’s I decided to replace the L1P with this one. I do still use the Fenix L1P holster for my LD10, which I think is more convenient. Good thing I ordered replacements when they were still available. I prefer using AA sized batteries for most of my equipment, so this light suits that need. The light could be more simple for me, I usually only used it in low or turbo mode. Clicking to change the modes takes too much effort and I never use the SOS or strobe option. I do stick the light in my mouth when I need both hands, since I have yet to find a headlight which is as small and easy to carry.

Smartphone: Motorola Defy

One of the first waterproof smart phones you could get. I have it for almost 3 years. I have never tested it under water, but it has got wet in the rain or from sweat. Usually on my belt in a  horizontally mounted pouch (keeps it out of the way of seats belt, etc), but sometimes in a silicone cover in a pocket. Primarily used for the calendar, emails, weather forecast, traffic information and the hazardous material guide app. Since it’s still working find, I will just keep using it. 

Other items:

Casio watch, flat pack of ducttape, tissues, lip balm and tiny pack of some kind of skin care product.

In a pack I almost always carry:

External battery charger for my phone: Varta portable power pack

A simple battery pack to charge my phone with. It has reasonable capacity, a capacity indicator and the best: it was free.

First aid: Nitrile gloves and CPR mask

In a simple Ziploc bag a pair of nitrile gloves and small CPR mask.

Dust mask: Ekasty Sekur dust and welding fume mask.

A FFP2 (similar to N95) mask with a carbon layer. Carried just in case. I don’t think bigger/complex escape masks are worth the weight and size for everyday carry.

Other items:

Deodorant, tire patch kit, pen, lotion bar, key chain size LED lights and sports tape.  

Entanglement hazard: the scarf

Some people think i'm weird for tying loose end or having break away lanyards on things attached to me. Even a common item like a scarf can dangerous.

Here is a story from Fox news abaout a womam being killed due to a scarf getting caught on a escalator.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/30/canadian-woman-strangled-by-scarf-on-escalator/

Or a famous in the thirties dancer Isadora Duncan, whom died because of her scarf getting caught on the spokes of the open car she was in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

IIHS video 'Understanding Car Crashes: When Physics Meets Biology'

I often sigh when people crash there car and say things like, ‘He got save by his tail hitch’. Little car damage does not mean less force on the body during car crash. Here is a nice video from the IIHS explain how injury’s occur during a crash.