G'day

Hi. Just thought I'd come out of the woodwork and say hello. I am from UK but I live in New Zealand. NZ is a dangerous place to live due to the risk of floods, earthquake and volcanic activity. It is also a popular place to endager yourself on hikes and climbs. I wanted to say a few words on availability of gear here, specifically for a PSK. Firstly, I am building up a 72hr house kit to handle the possibilty of a local disaster (actually I lived for a time in the SF Bay area and I really should have put together an earthquake kit there. Now I'm finally getting round to it). I am also undertaking Civil Defence training, which is an 'official' organisation run by volunteers and some government staff to set up and coordinate relief efforts in case of a declared civil emergency (such as earthquake, flood and anything else you'd care to name). In addition I am a trained first aider.

My EDC until now has been a SAK Champ (the big one), keys, mobile phone, LED torch and Laerdal face shield (for emergency CPR). I stumbled upon this site after contemplating a small PSK for the times when I am not at home, and to tide me over until I equip the car properly. Not only does it seem to be a good idea, but it's a lot of fun sourcing parts and putting them together.

In New Zealand there's not much to choose from. There is plenty of stuff but not much variety. You can get most of what you need, but don't worry if you can't as most places will ship here and you can order stuff on the net. I have to say I cheated and got a head start by ordering an ETS kit from Concept Aviation (thanks Doug for making it available), and I am buying some more bits and bobs to add to it. I have been guided by Doug's PSK, and am adding to my kit what is listed in his but missing from the ETS PSK. So far I have waterproof matches (from Coleman), potassium permanganate (from a local pharmacy), Potable Aqua tabs from a hiking shop (both packed in glass vials from Arthur Holmes) and a tiny tube of petroleum jelly (was an airline toothpaste tube that I emptied and refilled). There are other things to add, but it depends what I can get in my tin.

We can't get Altoids here, but we can get tobacco tins, both used and the new "stash" tins. At the moment I am trying a Shrek candy tin. It is slightly smaller than a tobacco tin and has a hinged lid. It's not the best, but it'll do for practice until I find something better. The tin is like a small suitcase with a handle. I removed the handle but that left the holes that were punched in the case. I'll cover them with tape and see how much gear I can put in it. I'd really like some Gerber bags, but you can't get them either.

I better stop now, this is getting to be a really long post. Thanks to all who have put up information here. I read up to page 120 or so, which was going back to early this year, but I'll use the search engine from now on...

Anyone else in New Zealand?

A

Welcome ame,

Congrats on getting started on your kits. Its a fun hobby comparing gear and adding it in and out of your kit. I laughed when I saw tha NZ was a dangerous place -- at least people wise, it has a very friendly reputation.

TRO

The ETS Map can help answer this question. If you add yourself, maybe someone else there will notice. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Obviously, it's entirely up to you whether or not you add yourself to the map. Rest assured that no logs are kept, and the information isn't used for any other purpose. I would even encourage you to fuzz the location enough to avoid identifying yourself while still staying in the general area.

Hi, thanks for the comments. I am now on the map (in the middle of the ocean) but I seem to be the only one. This is not surprising based on the number of news reports we get of hikers going out with no supplies and climbers regularly getting trapped on the mountains. Even a cursory glance at this site makes it clear to me that being prepared really doesn't take much effort, nor much money. In the first instance it's all about thinking about possible danger or problems- some of which you can avoid by taking gear you already have. After that it's about having extra stuff just in case, and having some idea what to do with it.

Aside from floods and earthquakes the biggest hazard is the weather. It can change from bright summer's day to icy winter chill in less than an hour. We have no land masses to protect us from incoming weather systems, so it can be hot and humid with a breeze from the NW (from Australia) and then bitter cold with a southerly all the way in from Antarctica.

Yes, the people are friendly, and it's a great place to visit. In Australia there are many things that would like to eat you (or at least give you a nasty nip). Here in NZ it's the elements that want to do you in, although I think readers of this site would have no worries.

A

Hey! Glad you crawled out of the woodwork!

G'day Ame

Its nice to see someone closer to Antarctica on the ETS map than me. Somehow that makes me feel warmer <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have similar probs with getting items down here too so if you are looking for something specific, send me a personal message and I will see if I know somewhere over here to get it. Alot of the time I find it easier to get things sent over from the US because I cant find it around here.

I have only seen 1 other person from NZ on the forum, but there might be a couple of others I didn't notice. Unfortunately I cant remember their name.

Nice to see someone else on the southern side of the globe around here.

Good to see you <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> !

It was going to happen sooner or later... I'm amazed it went this long without any trouble.

Sometime early this morning, someone deleted several sites from the ETSmap. I have restored those sites from backups. Unfortunately, I lost yours, ame. You added your site after the most recent backup. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

There is at least one other NZ person on here, or was. I remember asking them about whether or not the entire country is as beautiful as the parts shown in LotR. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Fixed. I was wondering about the potential for abuse. Perhaps LAT/LON could be added as a field in your personal information on this site and then sent to you regularly for display on your site? Then the only way to change it would be via this site with your username and password.

Yes, I am a computer programmer.

A

Welcome aboard and happy posting.