OKO Original Filtration Bottle

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April 13, 2014

The OKO Original Filtration Bottle

Water is one of the key survival priorities – it’s safe to say you will die of thirst long before dying of hunger. Compound that by generally engaging in a high level of exertion while out in the bush and your water requirements increase significantly. Staying hydrated is not only a good idea, but it can also become a matter of life or death.

Calculating our water requirements is critical in the planning stages of any trip. You need to have enough water to drip through the day as well as use for cooking and cleaning in the evenings and mornings. Factoring in extra intake because of the level of exercise – you can be looking at six litres of water per day plus. Considering that’s basically 6kg of dead weight, many people choose to take some water but also fill up along the way. Certainly, the appeal of dehydrated food packs is not having to carry the water weight – it quickly becomes pointless if you are just simply transferring that saved weight into the water in your pack!

We are lucky in NZ that we still have a lot of access to fresh water. During my last trip to the south, one of the things I missed most returning home was the taste of the water straight out of the streams feeding the Copeland River. However, a lot of our streams and rivers are also surrounded by pasture – and the quickest way to introduce bugs and nasties to our waterways? Cattle. If you are anywhere near farmland, you shouldn’t be drinking water straight out of the source. If in doubt. Don’t. Why? Long names like…

Cryptosporidium and Giardia Lamblia

Don’t forget E-Coli. These three are the main bacteria found in water sources. Anyone can ruin your day. Or more correctly, ruin your guts, and ruin them for a long time. I have thankfully never suffered from any of them, and don’t ever intend too.

So, what we need is a simple way of treating any potentially suspicious water.

The traditional method is boiling. Which works if you are at camp, have the billy set up and have a bit of time. But what do you do if you are on the move and don’t want to stop and set up the Jetboil every time you pass by a stream?

The quicker methods available include chemical treatment, UV treatment and filteration.

Chemical Treatment

Chemical Treatment generally involves dropping something like ammonia or chlorine into your water, either in the form of a liquid or tabs, waiting for a bit, then drinking. While on the plus side, chemical methods are a fairly sure way of killing everything in the water they can also leave a taste to the water that ranges from subtle to horrible.

UV Treatment

For a long time, UV treatment has been my favourite. It’s effective, relatively quick and the old raver in me just likes playing with blacklights and water. However, it’s also a weighty solution, goes through batteries and costs more. I will do a bit of a cost comparison between options later

Filteration

Which leaves us with our final option and also brings us back around the product we are reviewing here today.

The OKO Bottle

This bottle incorporates the filter into the neck itself – so operation is as about as simple as it gets – fills the bottle up, close the top on it, sip away at the filtered (and safe) water.

The filter built into the bottle is a 2-micron filter, which wouldn’t normally be considered enough to filter out all the nasties you are going to come across in some water. However, because of the water, the filter is constructed any particles need to pass through a bit of a maze of sorts to get through – effectively reducing the filter size down to the realm of .5 microns.

This handy image gives you an idea of what exactly the filter is getting rid of. Bacteria is gone as well as Viruses and so is Chlorine, Lead and many other things. Realistically, it’s not filtering Arsenic. But if you are drinking water laced with Arsenic, you have other problems already. The filter is easily replaceable, and OKO suggests replacing it every 50 gallons for best taste – though it should be good for up to 100 gallons. That equates (in the 1 litre) to 375 refills. For my use, where it is essential for safety purposes, I will be replacing it roughly every 180 refills. The trick is, of course, to remember how many times you have refilled it. My suggestion – marker pen on the bottle itself. Every ten fills, put on a mark, after 18, replace the filter, start a new record. This will also will make the bottle unmistakably yours.

Comparisons to the existing system

So, the goal for me was to replace the existing system (and it’s weight) with a newer, quicker way of doing things. How does it compare?

Well, put simply, it’s under half the weight. The bottle itself is a little taller, compared to the standard squat and fat Nalgene, so it sits a bit higher in my Mystery Ranch Bottle Pocket – and I will wait and see if that means it’s going to get caught more Bush bashing, however, feels good in the hand and well, is easy enough to drink through? I don’t really know how you rate drinkability…

So, a cost comparison –

The 1 Litre bottle is currently $39.90, with replacement filters being $17.95

A Nalgene costs $29.95, and the Steripen Classic is $139.90 – with the Steripen you are going to need to replace the batteries – which can be rechargeable, though I tend to prefer to use Lithium for things I have to rely on – call it $28 dollars for a pack of four.

Well, the OKO bottle definitely wins there – ease of use, costs less. All around win.

Any downsides?

Well, being blunt, the carabiner that comes with the bottle is rubbish. Cheap inclusion, shouldn’t have bothered, would never use the one on it anyhow and, if you don’t get the top on right, it can leak a little bit – but unscrewing the top then re-screwing it is generally enough to fix the issue.

Other than that, not a lot to fault the bottle on really.

On the whole, it’s a lightweight, simple solution to safe water.

Yes. Get one.

Four Sevens – the brand, the lights…

By

Kerry Adams

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April 9, 2021

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Hunters – be prepared this Roar.

By

Kerry Adams

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March 25, 2021

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Thankfully, it’s a story with a happy ending.

Hunter doesn’t return when expected (which means he had intentions of some kind in place – tick!) – and just after expectant party calls the Police to notify them of his lack of communications, Hunter sets off his PLB (second tick) and is air lifted out shortly after.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/hunter-and-dog-rescued-from-hawkes-bay-mountain-range/4O7QW5LGTPXCSTSY232M4PX7BI/

The article then goes on to talk about Hunters being prepared, carrying a PLB wearing blaze and so on. It does, however, fail to address what seems the root cause of the issue – that being that the hunter got ‘disorientated’ – i.e. lost.

Why did he get lost?

I will give the individual fair credit – he had a PLB, so potentially (likely) also had a GPS on them. There is even the potential that the GPS was the PLB, in the form of a Garmin with inReach capability.

However, I would also put forward a hypothesis, that they weren’t as familiar with the operation of the GPS, or, for that matter, the Map and Compass they may have been carrying instead (I would suggest we carry both).

Over the years, I have found this a common theme – guys get all the toys, but don’t spend the time truly understanding how to use them. This happens from scopes and rifles all the way through the GPS units and other do-hackies we love to have.

Even in these times of ‘lightweight’ hunting – you still need the appropriate ‘what if’ equipment.

I have done it to myself a couple of times. I have been out in the bush with an early Garmin Tactix Unit, having decided to just use the watch instead of the handheld as my navigation system – only to find the early models, without GLONASS – had serious trouble getting a satellite lock under the tree canopy.

I did it again recently – when my new Fenix 5 (which now gets a lock) was still set to try and ‘on-track’ navigate – attempting to divert me a couple of kilometers to the nearest track!

I have wartch guys get lost, while looking at the GPS units in their hand, while I simply took the TOPO50 Grid Cord’s off my watch, put them onto the paper (laminated) map I had, and pointed out they were a kilometer or so away of where they thought they were. In that case, they were using the wrong datum. Again – technology is cool – but it needs to be understood and set up right to work!

Learn your kit!

This means spending time with it, before you need to reply on it.

If you haven’t checked if the safety on your gun actually functions, personally – you are being an irresponsible firearms owner.
If the only time your gun comes out of the safe is for a hunting trip – you are being an irresponsible and un-ethical hunter. Get to the range for some practice!
If you haven’t setup and testing your GPS unit out (go to your local part and do some GeoCaching!) – then you are being an irresponsible back-country hunter.
If you don’t have adequate first aid training and carry appropriate equipment on you – you are being an irresponsible person.

It’s not meant to sound harsh – but it is a call to action to have higher standards for both ourselves and those around us – the time of the old fellows saying – ‘I don’t need a map, I know this area like the back of my hand’ – is long gone. We have new technologies that can help and make this all very simple – but – we need to take the responsibility to learn and understand how it works. Learn your tools, become proficient with your tools, excel with your tools..

Seek out knowledge – find local groups that can help and educate on the skills you should have before you head out backcountry. Local orienteering groups, geocaching groups, outdoors educations groups – they are all able, willing, and likely very keen to pass on the knowledge they have amassed. Tap into it. Become a more skilled and better human being.

Also…

Ingpen prefers wearing blue hunting clothing, as opposed to orange which can fade, to help avoid being targeted.
“It’s not a colour you see in the bush very often.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/hunter-and-dog-rescued-from-hawkes-bay-mountain-range/4O7QW5LGTPXCSTSY232M4PX7BI/

Sorry to break it to you – but all clothing fades – and faded blue hi-vis is just as useless and faded orange. The key here is the UV – that is what sticks out and catches the human eye. Orange, Blue, whatever – go out and treat yourself to new vest this year. That is what you should be wearing. You know what colour will likely stick out the most to another hunter in the bush? UV Pink.

Call of the Wild: Te Awaroa – a chat with the world developer.

By

Kerry Adams

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February 17, 2021

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The Bloke Network of Shows · Good Blokes – Interview With Kevin – world designer for Hunter: Call of the Wild – Te Arawoa

As I do – I got in touch with the company – who put me in touch with the world designer, to have a chat about designing a new world within a game, research, getting ‘compression’ right and much more. It’s a cool chat for anyone interested in learning a little more about game design, or, hunting in NZ. Check it out – and – if you have the game, the DLC is now out on PC, X-Box and PS4!

Quick Quide – and I guess a bit of a spoiler!

If you want to figure it out for yourself, don’t watch this great intro to the map. 😉

Stop the Bleed. Prac Med’s IFAS Kit first look

By

Kerry Adams

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Remember the rule of three?

If you remember the ‘rule of three’ – survival priorities, you will remember that our first priority is first aid. Specifically, that is, the human body will die, very quickly, if it is emptied of blood.

Well, despite this little fact, many people are totally unprepared should the occasion arise that they need to stop the human body dumping its precious reservoir in an uncontrollable manner.

First of all – let’s be clear – an even higher priority than a first aid kit is first aid training.

Once you have, at least, a basic first aid course under your belt (and I suggest going beyond basic), then you need some supplies to put your training into action.

The evolution of the first aid kit

I have, for a long time, carried a first aid kit on me. This scales from the larger ‘IFAK‘ through to a little ‘bo-bo kit’ that has a couple of painkillers, some sticking plasters and a wound dressing. I generally, always have something on me.

However, as you stop to think about it, if we are to have a major trauma – which, in the context of shooting and hunting, is a possibility, it’s likely a really good idea to go that extra step and have the capability to stop major bleeding, fast. Enter, the IFAS!

[fvplayer id=”6″]

Simon at Prac Med has been beavering away on this design for some time. And it shows – it’s a well thought out, functional piece of kit – and I like things that have been well thought out!

Like a PLB, Insurance, and the morning after pill, it’s the kind of thing you hope you never have to use, but reassuring to know it’s there! 😉

The Hunters Element Vertical Pack

By

Kerry Adams

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Strapped onto the back of the Stone Glacier Sky Talus 6900 (way overkill, but I wanted to take it for a walk) pack, I grabbed the Hunters Element Vertical Pack for a couple of reasons – firstly, I only wanted a 15l pack.

The intent was for a small pack to simply hold some food, a jacket and some other small kit. I already had the Bushbuck BinoBro on my front, so small and light was the go. Additionally, I was after something in a solid colour.

Less Camo

This has been an intentional choice recently – as I want to be able to use my gear for things other than hunting (seeing as I don’t get out as much as I might like) and I don’t need camo in my life most of the time. Sure, it’s a look, but it actually isn’t my look.

I was actually looking for a pack without a waist harness – I don’t really see the point of one on a pack this small – and – I had a solid belt on with the PracMed IFAS and a water bottle holder on it – so I wasn’t planning on using it regardless. However – as it turned out – I wanted it before the trip – and most people only carry camo versions of things these days – so this was my option!

If I get out more and can justify some dedicated camo/hunting gear – then sure – back to a pattern – however, the OCD in me doesn’t like mixing patterns – so having things in a block colour also lets me mix and match as well.

In short – it worked well. Was slim enough that it didn’t restrict movement, it didn’t catch on anything, it held just what I needed.

Less straps though, please.

As previously noted, I would happily have had it without the waist belt. In addition, the ‘compression straps’ on the side seemed to bunch the pack up, so I just left them loose, and, the webbing on the back seems to be totally unneeded. I don’t think many people would be tying much to the back of this pack – it just seemed to be something else that things could get hooked into (though nothing did).

A quick sojourn out into the bush with a new hunter – I managed to get out for a hunt!

By

Kerry Adams

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January 14, 2021

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I don’t actually know how long it has been since I actually got out into the bush for a hunt.

I appreciate the irony of running a site that has hunting content on it, but I don’t get hunting – I am also well aware that I set up and shoot other peoples rifles more than I do than my own – but – have started taking my own out for a few shots before or after.

Regardless, I had actually planned to head off for a shooting course the weekend past, but that was cancelled, and while in conversation with someone, decided that we just needed to book in, and head out for a hunt, before work, family and life in general just got us to busy again and it was another year before I headed out! Timing-wise worked for him, so the dates were set and I found myself packed up and headed out last Sunday afternoon.

Instead of heading out into somewhere unknown, I suggested we head back to a spot I had been a couple of times before. In fact, it’s the place where I was first introduced to public land hunting. The Kaimanawa Forest.

I actually had to rethink a few things for this trip compared to the last as well. I had previously gone lightweight and had everything packed on my back. When I had enough for the day, I set up a bivy where I stopped. This time, as there was two of us, and the hunting partner hadn’t done much in the way of camping – we decided to have a base camp and hunt from there. That meant a daypack was in order!

Getting there, getting lost.

The trip down was uneventful but good. A stop for coffee, plenty of good yarns. I was happy to see there weren’t many cars parked down Clements Mill Road – none in the car park at the end when we got there.

While I have to have a little faith in the firearms safety of others, it’s still my preference to know that we are likely the only people in a very large area carrying around firearms and hunting. While we should never ‘let down our guard’ and assume we are the only people about, not being constantly on the lookout for the owners of a pile of trucks parked where you parked is good.

We parked up, grabbed the kit and tramped into the spot I figured we would camp. It was actually nice to see not much had changed out there. There is a new makeshift log bridge at one point, but on the whole, the bush goes on regardless of my lack of visits.

We set up camp – myself in the WarBonnet Blackbird – something I haven’t used in a while – but glad I did. Hammock camping is still a great option when you are surrounded by trees!

We decided on an evening hunt once set up. Took a rough bearing and wandered off into the forest. While there wasn’t much to be found on the first afternoon, it did result in us having to navigate back in the dark – off track – and prior to that point where you start to properly get your bearings and get your head ‘into the game’ in regards to the navigation part of things. While we didn’t really get into that much mischief, it was interesting to observe someone who hadn’t done much navigation, let alone night navigation, let along that hunting navigation where do tend to get a little ‘lost’ from time to time. Not panic – but they did mention to me they were happy to find the camp when we did.

Get your electronics sorted.

We both had GPS units on our wrists. Myself the Fenix 5X, him, a Suunto. Both got us to within 30 meters of the camp – thought mine in an odd way. This was the first time using the watch – and I hadn’t methodically gone through all the settings. It was trying to pull me onto the nearest public walking track! Setting it to a direct route corrected things though. I could see it could have lead to a bit of frustration if the user wasn’t aware of things. However, in my case, there was also a map and compass, and a basic understanding of both the area and how lost (or not) we actually were. Pushing through the heavy brush in the dark can be a bit disorienting though!

A feed of Radix back at camp and it was time for bed. Early morning was planned.

Testing testing.

Always testing. I always seem to have something new to test, try and evaluate – and this trip was nothing unusual in that regard. I had a couple of new bits of kit – the Hunters Element Vertical Pack and the First Lite Obsidian Pants. Mini-reviews on both coming shortly – but – the new pants were certainly the highlight!

Other than that, everything worked as it should (one I sorted the settings on the watch).

Deer, right there!

We saw lots of sign, much of it fresh, heard them, and, at one point, while I was busy looking at my boots while heading down a technical decline, I heard my name behind me – looked around to see my hunting partner signalling to look back the other way. A deer had popped out right in front of us!

By the time this had registered – it had already scampered. No time to do much of anything really. So we sat for a while, then headed around in the same direction for a while, but it wasn’t seen again. That’s hunting I suppose!

Sore legs, good trip.

Other than the one sighting, it was a rather uneventful trip. Found a bivy hidden in the trees, the hunting partner found himself unexpectedly submerged to his thighs as he stepped off a tree trunk crossing a stream onto a floating platform of pumice that looked solid, but wasn’t (resulting in some decent bruising as well) and at the end, we packed up, tramped out and headed home.

It was a simple, basic, but refreshing (though my legs hurt) trip. I really should do more of them!

Power Breakfasts – two options from Radix Nutrition

By

Kerry Adams

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Radix Nutrition provides a variety of options – and sometimes it can be a little challenge to figure out which one to get.

Simply put, for most hunters/outdoors people – we can instantly narrow it down to the Performance or Expedition Ranges. As a general option, I would lean towards the Expedition Range for reasons I will cover off in this article.

To provide a bit of a comparison, I got the same ‘meal’ from both the Performance and Expedition ranges. Flavour wise – they were both the Mixed Berry flavour.

Before you even open the packets, you get your first indication on the difference between the two products.

While the Expedition range weighs more (about 40 grams), its physically smaller – and this is common across the entire offering. Essentially, you can fit more of these into a backpack.

While the packs weight a little more, they require less water to rehydrate them (200ml vs 225). At the same time, it provides more calories per serve. Essentially, it provides more bang for the buck, for less pack size, water and fuel use heating said water.

Opening them up, you can see some visible differences in the packs, this continues after adding water and letting them re-hydrate for the time specified. The expedition (on the right in the photos) is visibly ‘whiter’ – which I think is the result of the coconut fats being added in to bolster the energy content.

Flavour wise – the performance was more acidic and berry like (sharper) and the expedition more coconut, heavier and ‘fatter’ (in a good way). My personal preference was for the Expedition, while my expert 5 year old helper prefered the lighter taste of the Performance.

Keen to try out some RADIX?

Visit Radix to order some Nutritional Goodness and get 10% off with our exclusive code – KERRY10 – just enter it at checkout.

Get me fed!

There was no issue at all with the flavour of either of them really, as indicated by the regular ‘yums’ and thumbs up from Claudia.

The Expedition Meal was enough to happily fill me up. Claudia got around a 1/3 of the way through the meal.

Once rehydrated, the size of the Performance Meal is larger – so – if you physically prefer a larger meal – the Performance might be the better option – though – I can eat a lot, and I wasn’t left wanting with the Expedition either.

Simply put – between this and the Apple and Cinnamon option – breakfasts, (bar the mandatory bacon fry up early in the piece!) while in the back country would be sorted. I could happily live on the them for quite a time, and, due to time and effort being put into the nutritional profile in all the Radix product – I could actually be eating a more nutritious breakfast than most of the time at home!

You can check out the Radix range over here – and – if you decide to grab anything – use the coupon Bloke15 for 15% off until the end of the month!

https://www.radixnutrition.com/

Radix Nutrition are still sending out packs – I suggest you get a couple of packs to try out, maybe put a couple away for ‘just in case’.

The Carnivore Diet – the ultimate justification for eating more meat?

By

Kerry Adams

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December 28, 2020

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Table Of Contents

A bit of my history
- The vegan years
A Meat Based Diet
Initial Results

This is not a new concept. There have been plenty of cultures living on all meat based diets for a long, long time. Certainly, the new focus, and new science has only developed recently, but it’s incorrect to state that we don’t have the history or body of evidence to say people don’t live, and thrive on this diet.

If my memory serves, the first time I head about the carnivore diet was via Mark Bell – a youtube channel that I had been following for quite some time. It popped up again via Jordan Peterson, but it wasn’t until I head Dr. Paul Saladino pop up on the Meat Eater Podcast that I got a bit more interested in the whole movement. What really piqued my interest was that Saladino was pushing for nose to tail eating – trying to make it very clear that just eating steak was not a good idea, and that the organ meat, in addition to the muscle and fat was where the benefit was to be had.

It sounded like a much more ’rounded’ approach that just justifying eating nothing but steak, so, I ordered the book, started reading up, and decided to try it out.

I am/was not interested in ‘weight loss’ as such – I was more focused on overall health, energy level stabilisation and basically, feeling good and full of life!

A bit of my history

So, it is worthwhile at least covering off a bit my eating/medical history – but each of ours is different, as is our body composition, metabolism and so on. Sure, we share many factors (we all, generally, have all the same internal organs, and digestion works similar for most of us), but, we all have our own individual factors that can contribute to specific diets working, or not working for us.

As a baby, I was ‘lactose intolerant’ – but that, I mean I wouldn’t keep milk down well. As a kid, I had issues with eggs, egg albumin immunisations being a particular issue.

steak meat raw herbs — Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com

As a teen, young adult, I continued to have issues with eggs, though, it became apparent it was actually a wider issue with protein on the whole. I was exercising, lifting weights and drinking protein shakes – and often I would get a fairly bad reaction to taking down a pile of protein in one go. Stomach cramps, swelling, the works. More than once I would end up on the bed in the fetal position not wanting to move. I did seem to build up a tolerance to this over time – though, I guess it was a tolerance – and it potentially wasn’t doing me any favours. Incidentally – Soy Protein shakes, and even Pea based shakes would give me the same result – I tried most of them. Isolate, Slow absorption, high-carb, low-carb…

It’s also no secret I enjoy eating meat – one of the most popular posts on this site, of all time – is my one about T-Bone Steaks – my method of cooking steak is right up there as well.

As someone who hunts, meat consumption forms part of my diet and, like most of NZ (or the planet for that matter) has done for the greatest part of our history (things like Vegetarianism or Veganism being relatively new things).

The vegan years

I actually ate as a vegan for a few years as well – after struggling with ‘protein’ I decided to forgo it completely and lived on bowls and bowls and bowls of salad for a while. That was a struggle. Not only was I eating like this, but possibly exercising more and training more than I ever had in my life. I felt good, though I was permanently tired in a physical sense, and I was skinny. Man was I skinny, like, touch something with a shin and the bones hurt skinny. Eventually the diet was too much hard work, and I wanted to put on a bit of extra weight to provide some padding on the body. I slowly introduced meat back into the diet and ended up eating a ‘standard Kiwi diet’ – meat and three veggies again.

yellow green and white vegetables — Photo by Deeana Creates on Pexels.com

A Meat Based Diet

So, when I decided to try the carnivore diet, instead of going full on, nothing but meat from day one, I decided to slowly shift into consuming more meat, less carbs, less ‘other’.

I was also aware of literature like Dr Saladino’s suggesting that just eating steak and water was not the solution either, so I wanted to ensure I didn’t just remove significant sources of required vitamins, minerals, nutrients without making sure I was replacing them.

At this point, I am not doing a strict Carnivore Diet – and I am not sure if I ever will. However, I have pretty much knocked out all wheat, diary, vegetables, and most fruit.

Much to Saladino’s chagrin, I am sure, I still drink lots of coffee (that’s a separate issue I am well aware of) and some alcohol.

Organ meat

I am also intentionally working on adding in more organ meats – as this seems to be a large key in the carnivore diets success – at least when looking at it as a long term, overall healthy diet. As such, I want to make sure I am getting enough nutrients in – and a lot of key ones, if basing the diet around meat – come for things like the liver.

An elimination diet?

Some have noted, that the carnivore diet also works as a good elimination diet – I have pulled out diary, gluten and a pile of other things (like processed food and sugar) as well as switching to a primarily meat based diet. It is quite possible that many of the health benefits also related to this. Like many things, its actually really hard to isolate changes down to one specific thing, unless you have the time and capacity to individually, slowly change things and see what each one does. I have to admit – it’s likely that not having sugar and diary are going would have been as beneficial as a full on diet change – but – hey – let’s jump on a bandwagon as well!

Ketones and Low Carb

As I originally stated, the intent with this diet isn’t weight lost – so – I am not so worried if I end up in a state of ketosis or not. Low carb – fine – I have always viewed bread, rice, pasta, potatoes as a filler food – designed to fill in for a historical lack of resource. If we have access to fresh foods – in the form of meat, fruits, veges, I don’t think many people would argue that a loaf of white bread is going to be better for you than a pile of vegges.

sliced bread on white surface — Photo by Mariana Kurnyk on Pexels.com

But, but, but, fibre!

At some point, apparently, having huge dumps became a sign of wellness. A large concern that is expressed, is that with the carnivore diet, you won’t get enough fibre in your diet and you will get constipation.

Well… I have been eating this way for a little while now – and don’t have any issues going to the toilet. Thanks for asking.

Like many things, it’s these core concepts that are getting questioned by the proponents of new ways of eating – arguing the point, that, if you are going to say you need vegetables for adequate fibre – and maybe we also should be asking if we actually need the fibre in the first place. It’s getting close to circular reasoning – we eat veggies to get fibre to get the fibre we need and we need fibre so we eat veggies. Do we actually need as much fibre as we think? For that matter – do we need to poo as much as we think? There is a difference between reducing the amount we excrete and actually being constipated as well, btw.

Initial Results

Good. It’s kind of hard to isolate things down to one specific thing, but on the whole, the energy levels are a lot more stable, I haven’t felt any significant drop in energy, and, I have also skipped many of the concerns people have reported when switching over to a carnivore diet – I do accredit this to the gradual, instead of sudden change, and I have also been careful to cover off my bases in regards to salt, minerals and other considerations.

It is still early days – and there are couple of things I want to tweak, so expect a few more articles on the carnivore diet as things process.

Ultimately, make up your own mind, try things out yourself, see what works for you. The intent of this is certainly not to try and convince anyone of anything, rather, like most the site, simply provide and document some of the things I am learning and trying, in case someone else wants a bit of curated resource for themselves. More soon!

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Summer Clothing Kit

By

Kerry Adams

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November 29, 2020

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“If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies… It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.”

But once, cry once…

I will happily admit that I like nice things. Additionally, I prefer quality over quantity (and variety) – I would prefer to have one, well made, well thought out item that nails everything I need to do, rather than multiple items that are all very good, but have one niggly weakness here and there.

As a result, over the years, I have refined and refined what I wear, buy and carry. This has been a rather expensive path – as you often don’t get to learn these things until you try them yourself – so it’s often a case of reading and watching as many things as I can online, absorbing all the reviews to narrow down a selection, and then going out and getting them and testing them myself. Some work out well, many don’t, so it gets flicked on and we start again.

Often, this kit might actually be really good in quality and execution – but just not fit into the way I personally want to do things. I have sold many really well built and feature-rich backpacks for example – but just something about them didn’t quite mesh with the systems I was trying to develop and utilise. Sometimes, which is a kicker – I will refine my system to a point where a previous bit of equipment would actually now work better, and I have, on occasion, gone back to something I have moved on from, as I realise that now, with a new implementation, it’s now going to fit in better than what I replaced it with. Such is life I guess.

From Top to Bottom

Right, so, let’s break down what you are likely going to see me wearing if you catch up with me any point over the summer…

All Skill No Luck – Drug Rug (The Cali Combat Hoodie)

All Skill No Luck is a clothing/design brand based in the US. Obviously wearing their military influence proudly on their sleeve – the Drug Rug originally caught my eye but was out of stock, so I grabbed one of their STV Hoodies – really thinking that it could be a cool option for a battle shirt for shooting – and to be blunt, I liked the DNC Camo as well. In reality, I don’t think I will wear the camo for anything shooting related. The same way I personally feel like a bit odd walking into a gun store with camo on. Sure, I get it, plenty of people do it, but I am not into this for LARPing reasons – and carefully consider the image I am putting out there when engaging in public. Most likely, the DNC will only be matched with jeans, or other gear obviously not miliary – because with the clothing I own, it is really easy for me to slip from functional into mil-sim, and that’s not what I am doing here.

The Drug Rugs came back into stock, and I grabbed one immediately. I really, really liked the idea of some of the extra pockets and carry options the hoodie provided, but in a ‘street’ look. I was after a ‘light-weight’ hoodie that I could wear most the time.

Interestingly, when it turned up, I thought it might have been a size too small for me. The Drug Rug is ‘shorter’ than the STV Hoodie – which initially concerned me – but I quickly realised, it also meant it say nicely over the battle-belt system I tend to wear while shooting – unlike some of the anorak style jackets I wear – I can still easily get to all my kit. Making it ideal for shooting day duties as well as wearing around town.

The hoodie has broken in well. It’s pilling all over the place, which is actually a look I like, and the only thing I would likely change would to be to remove the non-functional pulls on the hood. I might just get them removed as some point.

It actually has a functional Kangaroo Pocket insert behind the hand pockets as well – so, might one day get a pouch to go in there – as I can never see me putting any actual mag holders on a hoodie.

First Lite Wick Hoodie

I was looking to sort a long sleeved shirt in order to protect the arms a bit from the sun.

I am aware that I am rather fair-skinned, with a streak of red-hair going on – so I burn in the sun. Freckles, mole and UV radiation are not a good combination. With the amount of time I spend outside, I need to cover up – before I end up having to have something cut out of me.

I have prefered Merino as a material for a long time, and had my eye on the First Lite products – so figured this would be a good opportunity to try some out and ordered the top from Point South.

The shirt has impressed, Merino doing its job of managing temperature, moisture and smell. I find I can wear it on cool or hot days, without causing massive issues on either end. With the ASNL on top of it – I am covered for most temperature swings during the day.

The stretch panels, venting panels etc all seem to work as you would expect – and from the first wear, it was a comfortable, not itchy wool top.

The one thing I would say is it seems to have pilled more around the stomach that I would have expected. In addition, it really seems to pull – before even heading out, I have some marks on the shirt where I have brushed up against something and the material has been ‘scratched’. I am not sure what the technical term is for this. But feel it’s going to be a mess if I hit some bush-lawyer or the like. By comparison, I have Icebreaker shirts that are ripped, torn and well past new that don’t seem to have pilled/marked in the same way.

UF Pro P40 Shorts

This is my second pair of these. The first I basically wore every day where the temperature allowed me to – and due to normal wear and tear (and ripping my rear on the door frame the truck, twice), it was simply time to replace them.

I have already written a bit of a review on them, which I suggest you pop over and read. This are simply to best pair of 3/4 shorts I have ever come across.

The Belt is from Shellback Tactical, I would like to replace this with a Ferro Concepts Inner at some point – then I can just run my battle belt on either the Striker HT’s or the P40 Shorts. I tend to still wear the longs when spending all day shooting the rifles – both for the back of leg sun protection and the knee padding they offer.

In the cargo pockets, I generally carry more wound packing and a CAT Tourniquet, my phone, my wallet a little Altoids Can first-aid-boo-boo kit and my earplugs. Waist pockets have the leatherman, pen, keys, lighter and flashlight.

On the Feet – big changes!

Lowa Locarno GTX Lo Shoes

This is the first pair of shoes I have bought in at least three years – most likely five.

I have been wearing the Z-8S GTX non-stop since I bought them. It’s been at least 3 years of near-daily use, and while the boots themselves are the most comfortable they have ever been – the tread is understandably starting to wear.

I have normally either worn the boots or jandals, and I decided this year, that I was tired of jandals coming off at inappropriate times, and wanting something I could wear most the time instead of them. Casual, more casual than boots anyhow.

So – I tried a pile of tramping shoes, all seemed to have too much of an instep rise for my flat feet – and, not so-ironically really, ended up with the Lowa Shoes. Comfortable instantly, flat insoles, nice design and style and ability to be worn everywhere from a fancy restaurant to the range.

I imagine I will go back to the boots for primarily outdoors use, certainly if I am carrying a load, but think these shoes are going to serve me well.

Icebreaker Socks

Don’t know the model, don’t really care. Grabbed a couple of pairs at the outlet store, know then will do the job well. Easy decision.

Decision Fatigue

During the MSC Firearms Licencing Course – I often talk about Heuristics – and the way the human body tends to create shortcuts to enable us to get through the day. While in a Target Identification situation, this can be an issue, when it comes to what I am going to wear or eat, I have no problem setting myself up to not have to think about it too much.

So, when it comes to clothes, if I can narrow down my options to a couple of key pieces of gear, it’s one less thing to worry about when I get up, and I can instead spend my energy on other things. Running this website, for example. 😉

Good BlokesFor Blokes finding their way in the modern world.

The OKO Original Filtration Bottle

Cryptosporidium and Giardia Lamblia

Chemical Treatment

UV Treatment

Filteration

The OKO Bottle

Comparisons to the existing system

Any downsides?

Yes. Get one.

Why did he get lost?

Learn your kit!

Also…

Quick Quide – and I guess a bit of a spoiler!

Remember the rule of three?

The evolution of the first aid kit

Less Camo

Less straps though, please.

Getting there, getting lost.

Get your electronics sorted.

Testing testing.

Deer, right there!

Sore legs, good trip.

Keen to try out some RADIX?

A bit of my history

The vegan years

A Meat Based Diet

Organ meat

An elimination diet?

Ketones and Low Carb

But, but, but, fibre!

Initial Results

But once, cry once…

From Top to Bottom

All Skill No Luck – Drug Rug (The Cali Combat Hoodie)

Contents

First Lite Wick Hoodie

UF Pro P40 Shorts

Contents

On the Feet – big changes!

Lowa Locarno GTX Lo Shoes

Icebreaker Socks

Decision Fatigue

Good BlokesFor Blokes finding their way in the modern world.

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