Mike

That's cool, John. The hospital gave me most of the stuff I needed to restock my bag. I ordered the rest this morning. For you people that like to see this kind of stuff... Link - Picture of Wound The laceration was 2-3/4" long, 1/2" wide, about 3-4mm deep. 7 vertical mattress sutures and 1 simple suture.

The earlier granulated versions of quick clot would cause minor burns due to it heating up. Does the newer quick clot and the celox cause the same damage? I was under the impression they had fixed this in the newer formulations. I will also add if you are a private citizen, do not apply a hemostatic agent to another person. You are not covered to do this under the good Samaritan law. Mike

The celox impregnated gauze is good. It combines two steps. Blood clotting agent and wound packing. Good stuff to have at hand. Mike

I liked the book, I hated most of the movie. I was very bored at the 2/3ish mark and by the end I was wanting the kid to get eaten by the people on the beach. He really got on my nerves.

I'll try to answer all of these. Pictures. I have none yet. I'll grab one when I change the dressing next if you really want to see. As far as what is in my bag. This is in no particular order. The only meds I have are benadryl and a bottle of 200mg advil. 2 tourniquets 2 rolls of compressed gauze 1 large H bandage 2 rolls of celox impregnated gauze 1 14g catheter 1 nasopharyngeal airway 2 large safety pins 1 minor surgery kit, scalpel, hemostats, etc. 1 5-0 ps-2 suture 1 4-0 p-3 suture 4 cyalume chemlights 1 small bottle of iodine Trauma shears Petrolatum gauze 1 stream light stylus flashlight 1 basic, non-trauma first aid kit. Bandaids, etc. 1 hydration bladder 1 esbit stove 1 stainless cup 1 glock field knife Water purification tablets 4 clif bars That's all I think. The bag is a maxpedition falcon II, I think. It hold a lot for it's size and it stores well in my truck. Plus it's bright red so when I ask someone to grab "the red bag" out of my truck it isn't hard to figure out. I've stitched myself up before. No lidocaine. It sucks. A lot. Bronker, I have no reservations about sticking myself if necessary. However under the circumstances, I had the bleeding controlled and I was only 20 minutes from Williamson medical center. So I chose to go where I could have it done with the aid of some local anesthesia. I'd like to have some lidocaine on hand but I worry about it's shelf life and efficacy due to the environment it would see. My bag sits in my truck most year round. Extreme heat and cold cycles. Any advice on storage? Mike

Thanks. For those of you who don't, I would highly recommend carrying at minimum a basic trauma kit. I had mine close by and had my bleeding under control in just a few minutes. It made the trip to the ER much less stressful than had I been bleeding all over the place. Put it together, have access to it, know how to use it.

...unfortunately it was on myself. I was out finishing up clearing a fence row today with the chainsaw and I was almost done. I had been cutting the small trees abut 3/4 the way through and pushing them over to cut the last bit so they would fall to the side of the fence we were collecting them on to haul off. I had about 5 trees to go when I cut into the tree. I did the same thing I had been doing all morning. I reached up to push the tree over and I guess I got in a hurry. I dropped the chainsaw down before the chain stopped running and I cut through the pants I was wearing and into the front my thigh. I cut the saw off and yelled to my buddy to grab the red bag in my truck and throw it to me. After he got the bag I told him to get the truck ready to go. I ripped the leg off my pants and got my VOK out of the bag. A few minutes later I was bandaged up and controlling the bleeding. My buddy pulled up with the truck and we were off to the ER. I was able to walk into triage and got them up to speed as to what was going on with my injury. Removed my bandage and replaced it with one of theirs. A bit later I got called back to have the doc stitch me up. So overall I got some stitches, a lesson in paying attention to the task at hand, and a great feeling of relief that I had the materials at hand to deal with the situation that came up. -Mike

The springs in the kit make the reset very nice. It is much more forceful than the stock spring.

Rollover minutes?

Talk about a "Whoa, WTF just happened" situation. I look over and he was looking down at his holster. I looked and saw the powder burn and hole. Scary situation. We didn't have a med kit out with us or anything. Bad stuff when you are out away from immediate help. Mike

This is the latest. I will probably be getting a new backstrap to stipple like I have the frame. I like the dot effect quite a bit more than the lines. Also I will most likely start trimming some, if not all, of the beavertail away. Mike

A white light should be part of anyone's home defense strategy. Target identification is supreme above all. Aimed fire will always outperform a hipshot. There are thousands of pages of data that support that. If the shotgun doesn't fit your granddaughter they make youth/short length or pull stocks that aid in bringing the weapon to bear. I myself use a short LOP stock and I'm 6'2". My comments were not intended to be a personal attack, only a retort with my opinion on the matter. Mike Edit: Just to add I've been shooting since I was seven. My granddad taught me as much as he could. He's an Army veteran, worked for the TN Highway Patrol for 30 years, and was a competition shooter. He knows a thing or two. I am by no means an expert, but I'm no johnny-come-lately either.

Take it easy.

Some of the beretta shotguns are extremely sensitive. They take just a bump of the hand on the stock to reset. Very well designed and beautiful shotguns. Mike

No. Shoulder fired weapons are most effective when fired... From the shoulder. A load of 00 buck or a slug will keep some one from taking it away from you much better than poorly aimed hip shooting. Mike

My advice would be to pick up a nice used one. It is one of the few weapons I've seen that can literally be drug behind a vehicle with little to no adverse affects on it's function. You just can't hardly bust them. Keep it simple. Aftermarket accessories rarely add to the function of a shotgun. Mike

Nice, it looks great. I've been wanting to get another tattoo for a while now. I can't nail down what I want though.

Apextactical.com Randy is a good guy. The DCAEK is one of the nicest installations I've done on a pistol. A very good upgrade. Mike

The Revolver Malfunction Drill Just wanted to post this for those who might find it useful. Mike

Go for it. They're awesome.

Any interest in getting it stippled? Mike

Does the brass hit you? Ive been hit with a lot of stuff at the range. Empty brass has always been pretty low on the list of hazards.

Smith and Wesson has a Gadsen engraved 442 out.

I wait until the first hard frost. I can't stand the little buggers. I usually end up getting into a huge nest of seed ticks. Not worth it IMO.

Been out shooting the bow for the last three weeks. If it's inside 40yds it's coming home. Only going for that one big boy this year. I've still got plenty of meat in the freezer due to my trip out west in January. So this year it's trophy's only. Bow hunting killed the fun for gun hunting for me. Theres nothing like the rush of having the bow halfway drawn and have the deer look directly at you. AHHHH!! Ive had to hold the bow at half draw for several minutes before they looked away. And sometimes you just come down to I've got to finish the draw or drop it... Can't wait. Mike