Posted tagged ‘Gear’

GSARGear Review: Lumabiner

December 9, 2009

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Lumabiner: a Ground Search and Rescue Gear Review. This is the CRKT Lumabiner. Combination knife, carabiner, and LED flashlight, this little tool (approximately 5″ long open, 3.4″ closed”) is really just a handy thing to have for SAR.
It clips directly onto your gear or belt(loops) which means you don’t have to go looking through pouches and pockets for it, it’s right there on top.

The flashlight is actually brighter than I thought it would be. Not a replacement for a larger flashlight, but a quick source of light for finding things in the dark.
Very nice design, detaches easily and quickly from wherever you have it clipped on, and can be operated with one hand, and there are two thumb studs, one on each side, so you can open it with either hand. It also has a nifty little switch which locks the carabiner latch into place, making sure it doesn’t fall off your gear by accident.

The knife blade itself is relatively small, but it’s quite sharp, cutting through paracord and duct tape and just about everything else you can throw at it. It doesn’t have a screwdriver, or pliers, or tweezers, or a saw, or anything like what you’d find on a multitool or swiss army knife. But then the Lumabiner isn’t supposed to replace them, just allow you to tuck them out of your way when you don’t need them but keep access to the most important tool, the knife blade.

The whole Lumabiner is really lightweight, but it just feels solid and well-balanced.
I would highly recommend this to anyone in SAR, as a quick-access knife/light.

(All content Copyright© GSAR GEAR 2009)

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GSARGear Tip: Moist Towelettes

December 8, 2009

Moist Towelettes*

Moist towelettes. The multi-tool of sanitation.

They pack tight, and make great space-fillers anywhere in your pack or pouches, and can be used for just about everything, from washing hands or faces to cleaning watches, glasses,electronics, flashlight lenses, and any other gear needing a wash. They’re quite cheap, but they are a great help in the field. They even come in bug-repellent variety for even more uses.

I always pack several extras in extra nooks and crannies in my gear, they’re just useful little things to have. Be sure to pack some on your next misson/training exercise.

*Image © Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.

GSARGear Review: Modular Shear Sheath

November 18, 2009

Ground Search and Rescue Gear Review:

Jones Tactical Modular Shear Sheath.

Scissors/Medical Shears are really useful on GSAR missions, but most medical pouches have the shears holder inside the pockets, and getting them out in a hurry is always difficult, and a lot of times you end up spilling the contents all over the place. This sheath is specially designed to mount on PALS webbing or a belt, which means you can mount it on the outside of your gear, which in turn makes it easier to get to than digging through the rest of your equipment. The sheath has a simple hook-and-loop flap which runs through the shears handle, so the shears stay locked in and don’t slide out, but you can draw the shears one-handed without any trouble. It performs really well, stays well out of the way until you need it, and just generally does what it was designed to do. It’s about 4.5″ long by 2″ wide, and it can hold smaller shears in place or bigger ones by attaching the flap higher up.
I highly recommend this piece of gear to anyone, it’s really sturdy and just works.

  Photo By Ranier Gear.

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