For those who pack squeeze tubes of things like antibiotic ointment in your FAK, do yo take any steps to protect them from being crushed? I was thinking about putting them in one of those travel toothbrush containers, but that's a little bit bulky, so I was just wondering if anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks,

Chris.

I only keep the tubes in my BIG FAK. I leave the tubes in the box and put them into individual small compartments. All the smaller kits have individual use packets, saves space and nothing gets destroyed. The big FAK is ridged and all the smaller kits are soft bags.

Hutch66:

You could always go to the local hardware store and buy some pvc pipe about the same diameter as the tubes you use. Cut the pvc to length, and cap one end permanently, and tape or just friction cap the other end. If the kit is not going to be tossed around too much, you can leave one end uncapped and just insert some paper or whatever so the squeeze tube is held in the pvc tube by the packing you use. Extra cotton or some other tinder material would serve a secondary purpose if necessary.

Bountyhunter

Check out crystal light containers and see if they will do what you need.

just a side question to the pvc, how do you get the cut ends so smooth and not scraggly or with the frayed ends and hairs hanging off it?

everytime i cut a piece of pvc the ends were never clean as id like.

Depends on how you cut them. If you use a pipe cutter it gives smooth edges. But if like most of us you cut it with a hacksaw you get a ragged edge. Take a sharp knife and run it around the outside to trim the strings. Then do the same to the inside called reaming. If this is not smooth enough for you run some sandpaper around the inside and inside. If the cut is not square enough for you put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and scrub the end of the pipe over it until flat. Start with fairly course paper to remove the most materia until flat. Use progresseively finer grades until you get the smoothness you want.

I´ve covered the little tubes in my kit with shrinktube (those with glue inside). Till today no tube has ben punctured anymore but I carry them in an otterbox...

Molf

NY Rat:

If you know the length, most hardware stores will shear them for you at none or minimal charge. For PVC they use a tree pruning type of ratcheting cutter to cut the PVC, and they usually ream and round the edges as part of the process.

Otherwise use a knife and sandpaper for rough edges.

One way to keep your cut square is to take a straight piece of paper and wrap it around the PVC at the point you will be cutting. Take a marker and lay down a mark using the edge of the paper as your guide. Cut part way into the PVC, turn 90 degrees and cut part way thru, turn 90 degrees,-------etc., until you have cut entirely thru the piece. You will have a much more square cut. When capping PVC or glueing a threaded fitting on it, perfect square shoulder cuts are not that important as the permanent cap is friction fit and glued, and the other end is either open, friction fit capped, or has a fitting glued to it for a screw on cap.

Good luck!

Bountyhunter

I think Home Depot will do it for free here in the US.

If you are going to do several, invest in a PVC cutter, looks like a short bush pruner. It ratchets down on the PVC and does a nice quick easy square cut. Less than $10.00 at Ace Hardware. If you do any work on sprinklers and PVC it's a must have.They can cut anything up 2 inches or so.