Been a bit quiet on the blog front this week.
The truth of the matter is that I got stuck on a post I was trying to write regarding last week’s crane accident. But… if the momentary political culture, and social media in general, show you one thing quite clearly, it is that just because you can say something, this is a long call from it being necessary or wise to do so. Sometimes a text flows, ideas are easy to express – and other times you get stuck.
QED.
Which got me thinking about niggling things that annoy you on a daily basis, but just not enough to warrant you sorting them. Like the flap of the first aid pouch on the back of my harness. Because I have the spring-loaded retracting whatsisname and the whistle stowed out of the way underneath it, there is not enough contact surface for the two velcro patches to reliably fix the flap. So the whistle falls out and flops around, the flap flaps – this really annoys me.
So I decided to sort it out.
Isn’t it amazing how long it can take to reach a point where enough is enough? A bit like the time it can take before you pump a flat bicycle tire, to then realise how little effort it took – and how much less hard work it is to ride a pumped bike. Same here… first aid pouch? Super quick fix: I simply riveted a loop of shock cord into place to fix the flap by passing it round the back of the pouch.
I used a retrieval cone to make a toggle to release the loop easily. The spring-loaded retracting whatsisname and whistle now stow nicely under the flap. Also, while I was about it, I realised that the compression bandage actually sits really tightly in the first aid pouch, so that in case of an emergency, possible with slippery fingers, this could make it really difficult to extract the bandage. So I simply made up a loop of webbing and have the compression bandage sitting in this loop. So all you need to do to remove the bandage is pull on the loop, job done.
This is really simple stuff, you are switched-on people so you probably do not need me to point out blindingly obvious things like this to you, but what it demonstrated to me was that it is worth sorting such matters out, make it easy to use – work with your gear and not against it. This may seem like a small matter, but ultimately it allows you to focus upon what is going on around you, rather than only your immediate vicinity and the things that are annoying you there.
The good news? This may take no more than a couple of minutes of your time, some thought, a rivet and a piece of shock cord.
But then… what about that crane post?
I will fix that another time.