Kifaru E&E

Among all the other stuff I have from Kifaru is one of their E&E packs. Meant as a detachable day pack, or grab and go pack, or escape & evasion pack (hence the name), whatever you want to call it. Great little pack, about a 1000 cubic inches, and built with the usual Kifaru attention to detail.

The pack comes with very simple 2" straps. If desired, they can be replaced with beefier X-Ray straps. If you were to regularly carry fairly substantial loads in it, I could see that proper padded straps would be nicer than straight forward 2" webbing. I’d rather keep the weight and the bulk down myself.

I opted to replace the stock sternum strap with a Whistle Loc.

The side of the pack is only two PALS channels wide, which I find a bit limiting. I always wanted to stick a first aid pouch on there, but most of the ones I have are three channels wide.

The top of the pack with a carry handle, covered zipper and of course, the zipper pulls replaced with paracord sinnets.

A slot pocket sits along the back, which can be used for storing maps or a hydration bladder. It can also be used for storing away the straps, which can be disconnected at the bottom.

The bottom with three (optional) drain holes.

On the bottoms of the straps I added some velcro to secure ends when rolled up.

Here it is with Maxpedition Cocoons mounted on the sides.

Here it is with a Maxpedition M-1 mounted to the side.

Here it is with Tactical Tailor 1V Accessory Pouches mounted on the sides.

And here with the same pouches mounted on the front.

And here, again with the same TT1V’s on the front, but this time mounted atop an Emdom Large Utilishingle.

I had an umbrella with me a few days ago, but needed to have my hands free at one point. Looking for a way to lash it on, it dawned on me that crossing over the side straps made for a pretty good umbrella carrier. One of those “duh! How obvious moments.” but it might work for trekking poles as well.

The version that I have is the G1. In the interim, the G2 has come out, which has a zipper that goes all the way around the sides, so that it is now a full clam shell opening pack, more PALS along the top and bottom, more organizational options inside, and, most importantly a Velcro area on the front to stick cool guy patches.

Small Tool Pouch

While I have all sorts of tools, and while they come in very handy for a variety of tasks, I obviously can’t carry them around with me all the time. But I still like having some tools on me sometimes. I always have my Leatherman Wave on me, but it only goes so far. So I set out on a quest for some tools that weren’t much longer than 15 or 20 cm and could fit in a Maxpedition Cocoon.

I added some bungee cord and a cord lock to it, to eliminate the jingle jangle of tools rattling around inside it.

Of course, I had to add a sinnet to replace the zipper pull. In this instance a square sinnet done with two shade of orange.

Tools include a precision oiler pen, Veritas Flat Bob (although not so surprisingly, the plastic windlass is not up to the challenge of being battered by metal tools), modified pry bar (the L cut off and ground down), Japanese nail set (nail set, punch, drift pin, tack hammer, or even a small anvil for straightening nails), Veritas carpenter’s gauge (ruler, compass, marking gauge), card level, (small ruler and level)  pocket wrench (wrench, small ruler, pry bar or a handle for hex bits)

I found that the Rig’mups mates nicely along the back, the PALS webbing on both allowing them to be joined together. A pair of forceps is another handy tool and also slips into the PALS webbing.

While not in any way a comprehensive tool kit, and while I don’t carry it around all the time, it has proven very useful at times.

Any suggestions for any other small and or multi-purpose tools would be greatly appreciated.