Monday 22 June 2020

Book Review The Preppers Medical Handbook

Book Review
By BCT




The Prepper's Medical Handbook

Author: William W. Forgey, MD

Available as a Kindle version (e book- ISBN 978-1-4930-4695-9) or softcover paperback
Lyons Press
An Imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.Inc.
ISBN 978-1-4930-4694-2 (Paperback edition).
2020


The Prepper's Medical Handbook

Author: William W. Forgey, MD



This is an excellent text and maybe that comes as no surprise as Dr Forgey (pronounced FORGEE) is a well known name in the field of wilderness medicine.  His writings are backed up by real field experience in providing medical care  for numerous years in  remote areas of Haiti. Drawing on his experiences of almost 3 years as a young infantry soldier in Vietnam, Dr Forgey delivers straight to the point pertinent medical information for factual preparedness for "off the grid" situations.

Just quickly if you don't know what defines "off the grid" , well this means basically no access to everything powered the energy sources we take for granted in our daily lives. 


If ever there was a text which should be mandatory for preppers to read is this book and not just preppers but anyone who just wants to be responsibly prepared for a worst case scenario.

The contents section is well laid out in a logical order. We start with the definitions of "Off the Grid Vs No grid" medical prepping.


The book comprises of 11 chapters covering the following subjects:

1/ How to prepare  for Medical care off the grid

2/ Assessment and stabilization

Section Cardiac Evaluation and care

In this straight to the point chapter (actually it's all pretty much straight to the point information within this book), Dr Forgey tells it how it is if there is no pulse and the reasons why CPR would be conducted in the absence of a defibrillator. 

3/ Body system symptoms and management

4/ Radiation Covers shielding and treatment of radioactive poisoning, plus debunks certain myths regarding shelf life of KI as a medication. (see further below).

5/ Dental care

The take home message is right on the first page of this chapter: Exercise preventative dental care is vital if one is to remain off the grid for any length of time.
He recommends the age old substitute for toothpaste, baking soda or salt. And of course regular flossing. In my opinion, including dental floss into ones bag for camping trips, either short or extended is better in some cases and certainly lighter than carting toothpaste along. The floss can be used for a myriad of other things too.

The take home messages in this chapter is to not get any dental problems, simply because serious dental problems are going to need serious attention from the grid!
Even a gum infection gone bad into surrounding tissue. Heck it makes my skin crawl just thinking about this and how we are so really "soft" and take dental care for granted.

6/ Soft tissue and trauma
As stated the biggest cause of hospital admissions in the USA are wounds of some sort. This is a absolute must to know how to treat wounds and the first one Dr Forgey starts out with is "Bleeding". Speaking from a personal aspect, I'd have to say, if one doesn't know how to treat bleeding wounds, then better not go into the outdoors. I was once filming a piece which required me to be sitting up to my neck in water for several days on end. It was really hot like 38C, like 100F!, so being in the water was quite refreshing every day but then came the day where I had left it too late to get down to the river by foot, so i decided to take a bike. I had the previous day put a make shift towing mechanism onto the bike which was out of necessity rather rough and ready and quite dangerous as it was made out of rough off cuts of galvanized rectangular electrical conduits. Ok I won't go into why this contraption was on the bike but it was and it should have been taken off before I set off to the river carrying an overly heavy rucksac full of camera gear. In fact i should have just taken a cold drink and waiting until morning of the next day to film. No I had to go. Well i swung my leg over that bike and connected directly with those sharp dirty pieces of metal protruding like some ploughing instrument of death off the back of that bike and cut my leg open to all that lovely "white stuff" including a good sized artery, like the ATA!. Quick thinking as that garden hose of blood gushed forth like some crazy Japanese horror movie and the even quicker actions of a well- taught 4 year old son who I had to call out to (as i never left the property I was now sitting with leg clamped and raised up against the barn wall). He came dutifully to his dad and obviously was phazed by all of the blood soaked clothing on me and I said, "Hey mate go into the bedroom and get that bottle of Iodine on the floor for daddy, can you?" We had discussed what that "brown stuff" was used for the day before LOL! He left and returned very quickly (about 20 metres away) with that bottle of iodine and removed my shirt which I was pressing into the wound, quick doused the entire area with the solution (I didn't hurt, i had too much adrenalin flowing in my veins by then)- the rest is history after hospital and 10 stitches later! My point is, yeah don't freak out at blood and know what to do. I did in fact require hospitalisation and a road trip of 80km to the closest hospital A snd E. Now if there wasn't a hospital, I would have been a bit in trouble as no antibiotics, no tetanus booster (they gave me one in the hospital and antibiotics) and no sutures let alone a needle and forceps to stitch myself up! So don't skip this chapter if you've never dealt with a lot of blood before (and that wasn't a lot of blood according to the missus (she's an ICU specialist and anaesthetist!)

7/ Orthopaedics


Broken bones, dislocations, dispelling myths, the Stimson method for replacing a dislocated shoulder. etc., all great stuff!


8/ Bites and Stings ( A big favourite of mine being an Aussie! Plus see below)
Ah yes, ticks are included here and they are also a favorite of mine. I've just been the victim of numerous (as in 20 tick bites-luckily not  species capable of transmitting (ie vectors) tick borne diseases. However, I was once danged by a paralysis tick of quite large proportions. Whilst on our way home one evening after a week of camping, I was driving and felt a strong itching on the back of my neck. I reached up and found a cm sized moveable lump there! Everyone else in the car was asleep of course and I should have stopped but I just foolishly grabbed this lump and extricated it from my neck. Big mistake because when one does this there is a good chance you will only cause the tick to envenomate you further whilst trying to pull it out. The result was a golfball sized lump on the back of my neck by the next morning and lots of bruising too because I was squeezing this area as half of neck was completely paralyzed! two days later when got to the city and doctor and course of antibiotics. Arrrggghh! Ticks I hate them. I was so stupid because I had ticks on me countless time and all of those times i removed them either with tweezers by grabbing them right next to the skin. Even Forgey suggests taking a little bit of skin with the tick LOL and say this doesn't hurt. Of course it doesn't hurt if it is a paralysis tick because you are sort of already anaesthetised in that area already from the tick (if it's of that type). 


But DEET as Dr Forgey suggests is definitely the best defence against ticks and just about any biting insect (in Australia for sure). Just as an extra (not in his book), I'd add Citronella oil is extremely effective against sand flies too!



9/ Bio terrorism and Infectious Diseases


10/ Environmental injuries eg covers such things as "Altitude sickness" Otherwise known as AMS Acute Mountain sickness, Pulmonary Edemas related High Altitude.


This is also a favourite chapter of mine as I've had experience at high altitude and seen several who needed to be evacuated to lower altitudes immediately. The results were remarkable and Dr Forgey is quick to point this out in the introductory section for High Altitude Illnesses pg 265.

11/ Off the Grid Medical Kit

This final chapter deals with all the stuff you need to know about in order to put a relevant kit together.In other words dealing with both restricted and no restricted medications and bandaging etc.




The subject matter within the Preppers Medical Handbook is laid out in a logical easy to read order and in my opinion is suitable for both the professional and the layman.


The illustrations are done by Robert L. Prince who is an accomplished illustrator of instructional information.
Despite being in black and white they are more than detailed enough to be able to follow. However, I would always recommend that one does a registered/certificate course in regards to administering any physical procedures such as first aid and other actions as detailed within this text (in fact Dr Forgey says the same within this text). This text will help to not only consolidate material learnt in such courses but also add significantly to one's knowledge.



Forget those martial arts movies where someone puts their own shoulders back into place, I like the Stimson method shown above!



The book is easy to read and it is clear it has been written by medical doctor, however, jargon has been kept to a minimum.

The text isn't dry or boring and sometimes an addition of light humour  can be found in what otherwise could be thought of as a doom and gloom situation.


It covers "survivable medical conditions" where one needs to solely rely upon ones own resources and training.

This book concerns the "off the grid" situations and the zero grid situations

What's the difference?

Off the grid just means for whatever reason you can not access stuff like hospitals and emergency services such as the police and fire brigade.

Zero grid, means it's all gone, the worst case scenario and as Dr Forgey says:
TEOTWAWKI

The Preppers's Medical Handbook is about managing many medical situations without  outside assistance, in other words without access to the grid. The text also tells you when it is imperative to get help from the grid, for example immediate evacuation situations such as Heart attacks, fractures of teeth below the gum line and ectopic pregnancies.

 You may be saying at this point, WHOA! That's not going to happen to me and my friends, well I'm afraid if you are thinking like this then you had better change your mind about becoming a Prepper or even well prepared for survival. Prepping unfortunately brings to mind, lots of guns, ammo and secreted away underground shelters. Not true. No amount of guns and ammo is going to help you if you can not deal with a simple medical situation, which may or may not require urgent assistance from some trained doctor or paramedic


It's no good if your fall out shelter is full of food for 20 years and guns and ammo for another 40 years, if your head is not full of quality knowledge of what to do if a medical emergency arises. A simple medical situation such as a tooth half hanging out of your mouth could pose a life threatening situation if not promptly attended to as I've just noted and what is dealt with thoroughly within these pages. 

What to do if you are "off the grid" (OTG)? 

Serious preppers have serious information in their heads, not just stuff about knives guns and ammo or secret locations.

That is exactly that, when either the grid has failed or one can not get back to the grid for whatever reason or the grid no longer exists in the worst case scenario.


 The Prepper's Medical Handbook should be read in conjunction with a certified course in Basic First Aid and or Advanced First Aid or a course in Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support courses (PHTLS).


Succinct and fairly straight to the point reference text, assuming previous knowledge and or advanced clinical skills..

The radiation chapter I thought waffled on a bit (but this was from the perspective of a scientist evaluating it). My thoughts would have been somewhat different


eg get a proper dosimeter, understand how it works and know how to read it properly.
know the safe levels, what is not a safe level. In other words anything higher than background levels.

Read and understand how to treat cases of radiation poisoning.

Understand how food and water can become contaminated by radioactive materials and what shelters can provide the best shielding under the circumstances you find yourself in.


DEBUNKING SURVIVAL MYTHS

Dr Forgey also debunks many Prepper myths and or social media survivalist myths, 
For example: myths such as tying hair to close scalp wounds.







Some chapters of special interest to me are the following;

Chapter 8 Bites and Stings

Being an Australian, we are all too familiar when it comes to the subject of bites and stings. Let's face it we do have quite a few nasties lurking both above and below the water.
I was quite interested to read what the Doctor had to say in this section.
I've had a long term association with snakes since childhood (keeping them as pets), later as a young adult catching venomous species such as Brown snakes, I was at some point a member of the Australian Herpetological Society (AHS) as well
and later also kept many snakes. Let's face it my parents property abounds with poisonous snakes such as Brown snakes (Pseduonadja textilis), we even had one for a time living in the pool filter room!

It's not surprising his  advice for snake bite follows the standard procedure used Australia wide.

Don't bother looking for the section on sharks, they don't come into it and my experience as a scuba diver tells me why: There are far more dangerous sea creatures with which one can encounter with a much higher frequency than sharks and or an injury from them (most are fatal anyway).
For example, the first thing one learns in good quality SCUBA course when it comes to bites and stings, is that the humble stingray is a far greater danger. The same creature which was the demise of a particular TV personality who chose to ignore this common advice. Here too in the text we can find a section on the appropriate treatment for puncture wounds from a stingray's barb.


The book itself is laid out in a clear and logical way and should be read starting at the front, not randomly.

The illustrations are on the whole clear and easy to understand ( I did an advanced First Aid course - It's lapsed now and that means getting a refresher course but we worked too from illustrations in books and the old "Resussi Anne Doll"!).

The radiation diagram was IMHO too small and one almost needs a microscope to read it, however, the web link is given for more info????


 Finally, towards the back of this well written 311 page book is a chapter dedicated to what entails an Off the Grid Medical Kit and thoroughly discusses restricted and non restricted medications and how one can put together such kits.



Verdict: must have reading material for all those who venture outdoors and as the name suggests Preppers (if you are serious).


BCT


About the Author


Sunday 21 June 2020

Work Tuff Gear NOMAD a Zeke Menacho Design

Work Tuff Gear NOMAD a Zeke Menacho Design


A quick preview! based upon 2 days out with it.

By BCT



WHAT AN ABSOLUTE BEAUTY! THE WTG NOMAD

Opening coconuts, chopping, cutting, gutting, striking steels, butchering game (ok not small game!), the Nomad can handle it all. WTG bring us the the Menacho designed NOMAD. A big kind of utility Bowie but with a kind of tanto-ish tip.
Individually numbered blades
Date of manufacture laser engraved: "M" for Menacho!

Kydex carry system






Fine tasks no problems

The Pineapple test (ie only a sharp blade can easily cut the skin of a pineapple!



Slicing and dicing, no problems!

Perfect for the long term camp situation
Camp companion (that's the roast in the foil)
Ample blade real estate to perform fine tasks



Mind the toes!


Easily shaves rock hard wild plum wood
Expertly sharpened
Just waiting to start carving the roast in the WTS 380!
"Tek Lok" fully adjustable belt clip
Safety lock
Kydex Scabbard
Handle Geometry prevent smashed fingers when cutting against flat objects

G10 "Walnut look" (my wording not WTG) G10 scales featuring a palm swell and a grippy milled pattern to enable a safe and secure grip with this big 9" field knife.
1/4" Japanese SK85 High carbon tool steel

Slicing cooked meat no problems



Got to run!





OK the field review is now live, go check it out here:




Friday 19 June 2020

XTAR VENUS WK16 EDC FLASHLIGHT Initial Review and Thoughts

XTAR VENUS WK16 EDC FLASHLIGHT Initial Review and Thoughts



I've been an XTAR products user now for almost 3 years. The first product I bought of theirs was a ANT MC1 Plus Micro USB Li-ion battery charger. 

Note coffee stains!

I was in the market for a 18650 and a 16340 battery charger and this charger was recommended to me by an associate. Well he was right. It has and still is serving me well by charging my 18650's and 16340 batteries constantly. The build quality is absolutely spot on. This is a CHINESE hight tech company making quality products. They even use an anti counterfeit system to prevent, dare I say other unscrupulous Chinese companies trying to rip them off. Currently there appears to be 3 big Chinese manufacturers/players in the flashlight/torch scene, of these 3, XTAR for me, has the best range. Why? Well, I'm a diver and XTAR is the only one at present which is making a full range of proper diving torches. This to me tells me something. Everyone can make some IPX rated torch but not everyone can manufacture high quality proper depth rated dive torches (more on this later). If it's for diving it can handle any regular day to day abuse.

If you haven't yet heard of Shenzhen XTAR Electronics Co.Ltd, they are a company designing and manufacturing high tech lighting solutions for both above water and beneath the waves (dive torches and UW video lighting- hopefully I'll be testing out some dive lights later on this year!). They also produce batteries and very smart charging solutions. The company is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong China, this is China's high tech region.
They don't try and hide the fact it's made in China. This signals to me a Chinese company who is actually proud of what they make.

Back view of the packaging of the Xtar VENUS WK16 EDC flashlight.



Products are professionally packaged and presented, with clear instructions on usage. IPX data (actual dept ratings) can be obtained from their web site. For example: this model, the VENUS WK16 features an IPX8 rating of 2m, more than enough for some serious EDC.


Specifications at a Glance

XTAR EDC type torch/flashlight, the VENUS WK16:


500 lumens maximum brightness- approximate burn time, 47 minutes.*

200 lumens burn time 3.16 hours*

10 lumens, burn time 13.6 hours* (enough for short duration cave trips. Although this torch would require some sort of 3rd party clamp to attach it to a helmet.

strobe function, 550 lumens burn time not specified and I figure it's going to be a long time!


The stated beam reach if you like is 125m and it is resistant to a drop force from 1.5m (the torch itself weighs 60gm with a battery (14500, 600 mAh 3.7V 2200Wh). KE=1/2mvsquared. Is a force of approximately =60/1000X0.5X9.8ms-2 , so that's about 0.3 of a Newton force it can withstand. Not a huge amount. The sensitive part will be the LED die, not the circuitry.

The torch itself features a CREE XP G3 LED with a run life of 50,000 hours and a quality "orange peel" reflector as shown below.



High quality "orange peel" parabolic reflector, surrounding a CREE XP G3 LED, these LEDs are renown for being able to be driven to high brightness. 

It can be stood upon it's rear end as well to help provide a kind of "room light" if used in a darkened room ( of course!)



What makes this small torch/flashlight stand out other than the build quality?

The fact it can run off several different battery types.

AA (Li-ion included), AA NiMH, and Li-ion rechargeable type 14500, as stated above). This then offers the user lots of options for powering this robust little torch. The Venus can be purchased by itself or as a kit which contains everything you need to get going such as an MC1 micro USB charger, USB cable, included 14500 Li-ion battery (600mAh), spare tail cap O-ring, lanyard cord and multi-language instruction manual.

I found sufficient O-ring grease had been applied to the O-ring. This is something I look for in products such as these. It's an important signal to me as to what kind of care has been taken during assembly of the product. Failure to properly grease the O-ring will lead to immediate failure of the product once it is submerged to any depth let alone it's stated IPX8 rated value (in this case 2m). The tail cap should be able to be removed smoothly and without "binding" and this particular torch satisfied that inspection by me. I also examined the O-ring with a hand lens and it was indeed fine. The crucial parts in such torches are all of the O-ring seals, other seals and the tail cap switch. 
I would like to see a rating on the number of switching actuations the rear switch can endure before mechanical failure, however the product is warrantied for 24 months and to be repaired FOC, within this period should it fail due to a manufacturing fault/problem. I'm going to assume (it's a bad thing to make assumptions about ANYTHING) that if the torch is used once per day on each mode (4 of them) there are 10 button actuations to cycle through the 4 modes (it would be unlikely in reality that all four modes would be used per day), so that's 10X365X2= 7300 actuations per 24 months. The LED is said to be good for 50, 000 hours, that's 50,000/24hr=2000 days/365 days= approximately 5 year lifetime of constant use.


There are 4 lighting modes as described above. One switches between modes via a rear tail cap push button switch. One push to switch on; double push to switch between modes, the last mode accessed is held in memory. The VENUS WK16 can also be attached to ones belt or pocket via a removable pocket clip. The design of the torch body is such that it will resist rolling on a gently sloping surface due to flattened milled surfaces.



Over feel is one of sturdiness and it is easily held and provides a secure grip in the hand. The battery compartment is accessed via unscrewing the end tail cap (which of course has an O-ring seal to provide the IPX rating).

There are two lanyard holes


How about the build quality?


Gold coated contacts on the tail cap switch



Neatly laid out electronics on the "business end" 



Thermal management? The literature doesn't say but I'd say it must feature this, as this kind of circuitry for such high lumen outputs must be in order not to fry the LED's. I'll be testing tis out though and see how hot it actually gets, although there is no warning on this torch that the body will heat up. Usually, a good manufacturer will make this clear. (they in fact do on other much more powerful models).

The web site also states the torch is freeze proof ( I would say this could only be with a Li-ion battery and not using a regular AA due to the effects of low temperatures on the chemistry of regular AA cells.


The VENUS WK16 also features an anti polarity/short circuit protection. This is an absolute MUST for any LED torch, as it can be destroyed in a split second (I know, I've done this once and once only!) if the battery is inserted incorrectly; this torch/flashlight is protected against this happening.


So not much more to say here but I'll be putting this torch under the scrutiny of field usage very soon. But so far so good. It's easy to use, looks very well made, easily fits in your pockets, 550 lumens is in reality, very very bright. At 10 lumens, this is actually quite bright and I've used 10 lumen settings for caving. The best thing about this torch is its adaptability to varying power sources, so can be literally used anywhere around the globe.


The Small Print-PLEASE READ CAREFULLY IT'S IMPORTANT (NOT JUST FOR THIS TORCH/FLASHLIGHT BUT ALL TORCHES AND FLASHLIGHTS!

*These parameters are based upon the use of an XTAR 14500 800mAh battery. Note the supplied battery is only a 14500 600mAh (so I'm assuming this is a "freeby" battery as the company does not display the sale of a 600mAh version 14500 battery, only the 800mAh). So before setting out on some dark and lonely night or a quick venture into a cave (I'd recommend something different for caving such as a reliable headlamp at least water tight to 2 to 3m) know your run times for the power sources you intend to use.



Click Here for the Video Field Review


1/7/2020  


Here is an update!



Went to use the torch today and heard a "rattle"???? OMG! The front glass was loose! How can this be? There must be a seal missing! The entire reflector is moving. It's just as well I didn't do my usual UW test! ie drop it attached to a coke bottle on a 2m cord for 30 minutes switched on! it would have failed. Clearly this is a manufacturing fault where a seal has either failed (it was not rattling when I got it). So it is under warranty. I've already written to XTAR directly to see what can be done. 






BCT

Tuesday 9 June 2020

How Does the Extrema Ratio Giant Mamba compare to the Fulcrum NFG?

How Does the Extrema Ratio Giant Mamba compare to the Fulcrum NFG?

Firstly, I want to say that the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum NFG is a formidable field knife and that's not just because it has the capacity to cut wire either. You can chop with it, pry and cut very effectively ropes and cords.


NOW, the Extrema Ratio Giant Mamba, new for 2020 sports a full width spine of 1/4" basically all the way to the tip of the blade. The Giant Mamba also has a fuller but I'm betting the amount of "missing metal" is no more than from the Fuller of the Fulcrum NFG. As stated in my other blogs, the tip of the Giant Mamba is just a "cut down" version of the super serious tip seen on the ONTOS. There is no woosy tang either. Just as beefy as in the Fulcrum NFG and MK2.1 as well!









How do the grips compare? Answer: fairly similar in design, with the main exception being the Fulcrum NFG Forprene grip completely covers the tang, whilst the Giant Mamba's grip sees a small exposure of the tang. That is the tang is at its full width just behind the hilt. There are zero fixing bolts along the Giant Mamba's tang.







Size wise this is how they compare against each other and my RAIDOPS Titanium frame lock EDC. Note the "Desert" Forprene handle colour easily gets dirty. For me I don't care at all, it's a knife handle, not a piece of white paper-it only adds to the camo color LOL! BTW HCS coloured grips also get dirty (see my TASK J-charcoal works wonders!) pretty quickly but they ALL can be washed clean if that's your thing. As long as it's clean as in hygienically clean when I'm prepping food, is all I care.


Is one of these knives "better" than the other? 

You can not compare them, as the Fulcrum NFG is clearly a combat knife in every sense, diamond field sharpener included built into the FRN scabbard, wire cutter function on a very strong scabbard capable of being used for many purposes other than a simple scabbard :)!

Arguably the Giant Mamba  a lot quicker on the draw than the Fulcrum NFG due to its securing mechanism. Conversely, there is nothing to break or catch on clothing or other gear on the scabbard of the Fulcrum NFG, as it provides a simple but secure friction fit.


Why did Extrema Ratio extend the Fuller under the grip? I have no idea as of yet. No need to worry about water getting in, the handle is easily field stripped for cleaning, without the need for specialist tools (cf Fulcrum NFG, an Allen driver is required to remove the butt/pommel).


The Extrema Ratio Giant Mamba is easy to handle (LOL unlike it's reptilian namesake!) and cuts and slices very well and the spine thickness gives plenty of confidence of a toughly built knife.




BCT