Every Day Carry – EDC
After my first attempt at organizing an emergency bag (or Bug Out Bag, B.O.B.), I haven’t done anything to refine/complete the setup. This is mainly due to lack of time. However, recently I started listening to In the Rabbit Hole podcast and there are a trove of useful information. From the EDC episode, I realize my EDC (Every Day Carry) is really inadequate so last week I set out to improve it.
Previously I had a Fenix EO5 flashlight and Leatherman Squirt PS4 on my keychain. When Leah gave birth to the girls I gave her the flashlight and Leatherman for her diaper bag, and I bought myself a JETBeam BA10 and Leatherman Juice CS4 as replacement. They are obviously too big to be on the keychain so I carry them in my messenger bag for my daily commute. After listening to the podcast, I realized some important items are missing.
First, because of the increased number of items I want to carry with me, it is much easier and better organized if I store the items in a bag. I picked the Maxpedition E.D.C. Pocket Organizer and put my JETBeam and Leatherman on the left hand side. A spare battery is added for backup. A disposable lighter (I’m not a smoker but the ability to make fire is useful in any emergency) and a simple first-aid kit round out the left hand side of the organizer. On the right, I added the iPhone charger and cable so I will be able to keep my phone charged in an emergency. That plus a iPhone backup battery pack from MonoPrice and a face mask goes into the pocket. The face mask will help me through any dusty situation. Having the equipment in the Maxpedition mean I can just pick it up from my messenger bag and put it into the Timbuk2 Stork messenger/diaper bag when we go out during the weekends.
For the keychain, I added three items. First, a PocketToolX Brewzer. It is kind of mini-multitool in that it has a flat head screwdriver, a box opener, and a bottle opener. It is made of high-grade stainless steel and is TSA compliant. Then I have the LaCie iamakey USB flash drive. I can use it for carrying general files, but the feature I wanted it for is the built-in encryption software. This allows me to store scanned copies of our legal and travel documents (passports, driving license, greencards, etc.) on the flash drive securely. And since the software for decryption is on the drive, I can use it on any computer as I won’t need to download and install any software. Finally, the green tube is a glow ring. It is basically a plastic tube filled with a small amount of tritium gas (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) which glows as it decay. Why is it useful? If I drop my keys while I was out in the dark, say while camping or a park, the glow ring will allow me to find it if it is within about 30 feet. It is not available for sale in the US and I purchased mine from Nite GlowRing in the UK.
I’ve also learnt a lot from the podcast about other items that I should include in the B.O.B. In addition to the B.O.B, I’m going to build a baby B.O.B. for the girls specifically and a mini B.O.B. for the car. All of these will be in future posts.
It’s all about the details
During the holiday season last year, I traded in my Golf GTI for a Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Acura, being a luxury brand, means even the base model has lots of features and plenty of attention paid to details. Even though I miss the ‘pocket rocket’ power and handling of the GTI, the TSX is no slouch either despite much longer, heavier and with less torque from the engine. It still drives great and the multi-link suspensions handle bumps way better than the GTI, which become more important with two sleeping babies in the backseats. The increase of trunk space (more than 3X the space GTI has) is the feature that both Leah and I love.
However, couple of minor details remains to be improved by Acura:
- There is no way for me to change the temperature gauge from Fahrenheit to Celsius. Why? The Canadian version of TSX uses Celsius, so why not offer a configuration setting to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius?
- This is the first car I own that has seat memory and it has been so useful when I park in the city. The parking attendent always move the seat back and changes the mirror (to aid the tight parking no doubt). Before I always had to spend a few minutes in the GTI to adjust the seat, the mirror, etc. back to my settings. Now in the TSX, I just push a button and the seat moves back to my preferred position automatically. But not the mirrors. What? Surely that must be a mistake?
Acura, to their credit, has been pretty responsive when I voice my complain on Twitter. They even have someone phone me to follow up and promise my opinion is taken seriously. Would my complain change the next generation of TSX? Perhaps, or perhaps not. We’ll see in four years time when the car lease expires and it’s time for me to look for a replacement.
Why The Movie Industry Can’t Innovate and the Result is SOPA « Steve Blank
One of the claims that studios make is that they need legislation to stop piracy. The fact is piracy is rampant in all forms of commerce. Video games and software have been targets since their inception. Grocery and retail stores euphemistically call it shrinkage. Credit card companies call it fraud. But none use regulation as often as the movie studios to solve a business problem. And none are so willing to do collateral damage to other innovative industries (VCRs, DVRs, cloud storage and now the Internet itself.)
The studios don’t even pretend that this legislation benefits consumers. It’s all about protecting short-term profit.
via Why The Movie Industry Can’t Innovate and the Result is SOPA « Steve Blank.
(Some) Assembly Required
One of my happiest memory from my childhood time in Hong Kong was “building” (more like assembling) my own radio-controlled buggy. I “built” two RC cars, starting with one (Tamiya Boomerang) that had less parts to assemble to ease me into the learning process, but also I think my parents wanted to make sure I could do it so not to waste money on the more expensive models from the get go. The second, more advanced, model (Kyosho Optima Mid Special) required almost every parts to be hand assembled. I greased up the front and back differentials (it was a four-wheel drive model) before attaching the belt and the front-end and back-end assemblies that connected them with the motor. I attached the suspension arms, tracking arms, hubs, drive shafts. I filled up the shock absorbers with oil and loaded it with springs. I soldered the wires that connected Novak speed controller to the motor and connected the radio receiver with servo that steered the car. I soldered my own battery pack from seven NiCad cells. Finally I painted the polycarbonate shell with my own choice of color and design. When it was finally ready, I could truly claim that I “build” that. I also made extensive modifications of my own afterward.
Contrast that with the type of RC cars one can purchase now. They are all ready assembled, ready to provide instant gratification for the impatient generation of children. The very few RC car kits that require assembly are the large, expensive, gas-powered buggy, which obviously not suitable for young children (I was around 13-14 years old when I assembled my first one). Likewise with electronic/computer. One purchase a game console or computer and all one need to do is connect the cables and press the power button. And it is not confined to children and toys. Large portion of the adult population stumble over assembling even simple furniture such as those from IKEA. Oh, how the adults blame the lack of instruction or tools as if skills should not be required to assemble anything!
