RSS
7 Feb 2010

DIY: Emergency Car Kit

Author: Cam | Filed under: DIY, Opinion, Words

Claire-Lise and I got our first car this year. We used to be members of Zipcar and we used it a lot. Probably for these reasons, my parents very generously gave us their PT Cruiser. My sister and brother-in-law drove it for years while she was in North Bay going to school and surprisingly it still runs excellently (they must have switched it).

On the weekend I went and picked it up my sister looked at me sternly and said “You need to make yourself a emergency kit for the trunk. I’m not giving you mine. Oh you are also the best brother anyone could ever have, your intelligent and beautiful to a fault and I’m sorry for never finishing my ninja training.”*

(Click the picture to enlarge. She chose to stop her training and become a Doctor instead, we’re all disappointed.)

She showed me hers. It was nice and I could see how useful it could be. But more importantly I could see she was proud of it. Now of course, I could not let my sister outdo me in making a cool emergency kit. The world just doesn’t work that way. So after some research using Lifehacker and a few other places online I have built a pretty impressive emergency kit.

Now I’ve expanded the term “emergency” to meaning “if I’m stuck in a place that’s not home”. I put a rather significant amount of thought into this so I’m really jazzed to share it with you.

(Click on the above image to see a larger version of this image… and don’t judge the picture quality, it’s far from being my best work.)

So here’s a list in case you want to assemble your own. Most of it was assembled from the local Dollar store and stuff I already had at home.

(I’m going left to right, top row to bottom row if you want to follow based on the image)

• a pen – I have paper in the car already
• lighters – to light things on fire, why 3? Murphy’s law… the odds of three being dead are slim
• flashlights – so I can see in the dark, one’s wind up, one’s one of those crazy D-cell ones, one is LED… the last two also blink/strobe very brightly
• sunblock – SPF 2,000,000 since I burn like crazy, and it’s non-oily because oily sunblock on a shaved head? Bad idea.
• bug repellent – because Claire-Lise attracts mosquitoes like nobody’s business
• Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli – 2 cans with the tear off lids (smart, I know)
• iPod/iPhone cable – we both have iPhones (there’s a cigarette lighter to usb adapter up front)
• ziplock full of dryer lint – need to start a fire fast… meet dryer lint!
• roll of Duct tape – IT’S DUCT TAPE!!!
• backup cell phone – cheap Moto flip-phone… already saved my butt a number of times.
glow sticks – good long lasting ambient light, or in case we’re stuck at a rave.
• stack of newspaper – multipurpose… best one though: wrap tightly into a log tie of with string… long(er) lasting fake log.
• mini-screwdriver Kit – Ever had to fix anything electronic in the middle of nowhere? Carry a torx screwdriver with you everywhere? Thought so.
• roll of string – it’s string… there’s a million uses for it.
• electrical tape – 2 rolls in two different colours, the stuff is super versatile… like string and duct tape.
• wind-up radio – in case I’m stuck somewhere and need to listen to some Easy Rock.
• camping knives – 2 of them, with forks, spoons, knife, can-opener, bottle opener and cork screw
• multi-tool - pliers, and stuff
• velcro – useful (see eletrical tape, duct tape and string)
• big old bottle of Tylenol Extra Strength – do I need to explain?
• Tide-To-Go stick – I make messes… it happens
• Benedryl dabber pen – see bug repellent
• towel to go tablets – these are everywhere now, they’re little towels that open up with water
• tire pressure gauge – 2 of them… because I don’t really trust them
• bag of fuses – because I have blown a fuse far away from Canadian Tire
• Krazy Glue – useful, and how many times have you said “it’ll hold but man do I wish I had crazy glue.”? I’ve said it a lot.
• bag of toe/finger warmers – used one already when I was shooting this.
• battery operated electronics charger – in it is an adapter for iPhone, PSP, Moto cell phone, USB and Mini USB, stupid thing was costly, but saved me a number of times
• mini road cones – or emergency gnome hats
• cigarette lighter power inverters – 2 of them, one is mini. the second handles a bigger load and has a gauge to tell me when I’m about to scorch the battery, can you guess which one I got first?
• first-aid kit – inside it: bandaids, gauze, tape, sterile pads, lots of alcohol pads, burn cream
• tensor bandage – it didn’t fit in the little first-aid kit
• Benedryl tablets – I have allergies
• case with batteries inside – I have a 9V and a pile of AAs and 2 AAAs
• small deck of cards – ever been stuck with nothing to do, guess who has?
• a clamp – there’s a few more in the car… falls under useful categorie
• phone adapater for Moto cell phone – obvious no?
• glass cleaner wipes – Claire-Lise and I wear glasses
• granola bars – sustenance
• sticky notes – to make notes with
• pile of rags – formerly sweaters I was given at work, size medium… which begs the question “Cam, you don’t look like a size medium?” to which I answer, “Yes I know.”
• lint roller – come on, you know you’ve said “I wish I had a lint roller.”
• medical tape – it also did not fit in the first-aid kit
• deodorant – spray and stick, why? Oh you know why.
• hand sanitizer – because everyone has 3 million of these now
• candy – to keep the blood sugars up in a pinch
• paper clothes soap – I was once in Montreal for a week with 2 pairs of socks…
• tooth brush – oral health, come on.
• bar of soap - obvious
• bags of tea – boiling water to drink is good to keep you warm, but tastes boring, mix it up with some tea
• bungee cord - did I mention the useful categorie?
• socket driver – i should probably have a ratchet set, but this will do for now
• multi-head screwdriver – because I’d be screwed without it…
• tea-lights – light, heat-source and food warmer upper, use with a large coffee can, and it’s a stove!
• jumper cables – good ones… there are cheap ones out there… I know I had a set before these ones.
• extension cord – to be used with the power inverter

That’s everything in the box, most of it is in Ziplock bags. However, I also have in the car:

• a bag of clothes – socks, mitts, hats, long-johns, t-shirt, sweater
• blankets – two blankets, because Claire-Lise and I don’t share blankets… ever!
• case of water – gas station special… 8 for 2.99 or something like that, replaced every 3 months
• windshield washer fluid – well duh
• bag of sand – no more slippy slip
• umbrellas – 2 small ones and a gold one… we have tons of them in the house, not quite sure how though
• container of nuts – good snack, and tasty
• a varied array of re-useable bags – these things are almost as prevalent as the hand sanitizer these days.
• a tripod – I always wave a camera one me, so this is just obvious for me to have in the trunk
• a towel – because Ford Prefect said so.

Not bad huh? I know I’m missing a few things, I’ve got a short list of things I want to add to it too.

• tow-ropes – I hear bad things about chains
• coffee can – I don’t know anyone who uses coffee in that size… it’s kinda frustrating
• small shovel - I found once but it was like $100
• a small foldable saw – ’cause a stack of newspaper will only burn for so long
• small solar panel – just seems logical
• a power pack - like this one from Canadian Tire, when I shot this I had the video camera plugged in the lighter jack… I had to let the car idle a few times. I can see using this a lot.

Ok, so what do you think I’m missing, leave me a comment.

*It’s my blog, so I reserve the right to paraphrase my sister’s words to what I know she was really trying to say.
















Ok, this week has been hectic, and I have had very little time to write anything of substance. So today you get a list post! I know you love it don’t you.


But as you can see from the screen cap I took from Google Reader below I read a heck of a lot of stuff. So what site’s keep my eyes and mind coming back for more?

5 – Core77

At it’s essence Core77 is a damn well written design blog. The sheer amount of cool design stuff posted on the sites blog blows my mind. It’s a tossed salad of cool design for today, from yesterday and some future stuff too. They even throw in “series” into the mis to by doing a whole series of posts on a certain topic (like a week of posts about Bombay’s design industry).

So here’s a taste of what I’ve really dug on Core77 of late:

one – Package Designs from the Past
two – A shrinking, more designy SUV for urban professionals
three – Emerging Markets as a Source of Disruptive Innovation: 5 Case Studies
four – Postcards from Asia: Bombay: The Busride Design Studio
five – Short film: The best of American design, circa 1958

4 – Torontoist / BlogTO

While this is technically two different sites I read both simultaneously. So I could tell you which I like better or which I read more. Since I read 99.9% of the sites I do via RSS both Torontoist and BlogTO are in a group called Toronto and they’ve just blurred together for me. These two sites keep me informed and hip to what’s going on in my favourite city in the world. From daily news roundups of the city’s news, to events going on in the City, restaurant reviews and metric ass-ton of other Toronto-centric content.

Like what? Like this:

one – The End of the Big Bop
two – Historicist: An Illustrated Business Quartet
three – The Best New Cheap Eats in Toronto, 2009
four – The Fantabulous Contraptions of Matthias Wandel
five – Reel Toronto: Fever Pitch


3 – The Unoffical Apple Weblog (TUAW)

It’s no secret I’m an Apple lover. Have been since my Dad helped me buy my first Mac (Power Macintosh 6400, oh yeah yo never forget your first.). I used to read MacWorld magazine back in the day. Now a days I could read my Mac and iPhone news (and a surprising amount of rumours) from about a gazillion different sources. But TUAW consistently delivers with news, reviews, tutorials and tons of other snipits I find interesting and useful (read: geeky).

Here’s some Apple Geekery to tease you with:

one – Found Footage: Sir Patrick Stewart adores his iPhone
two – Logitech gives away free wireless mouse and keyboard (it’s an app)
three – BookBook: A classy way to protect and hide your MacBook
four – How to present like Steve Jobs
five – Scratching the surface: DJ’ing with your Mac


2 – Lifehacker

Lifehacker is to geeks to what the swiss army knife was to aaMacGyver. The site is a the epientre for Do It Yourself geekery and creative (and fun!!) ways to repurpose things to do things it wasn’t planned to do. From computers, to cooking, to building, electronics and survival Lifehacker always has something to deliver (it was one of their posts that motivated me to make an emergency kit for the car – more on that soon)

MacGyver. The site is a the epientre for Do It Yourself geekery and creative (and fun!!) ways to repurpose things to do things it wasn’t planned to do. From computers, to cooking, to building, electronics and survival Lifehacker always has something to deliver (it was one of their posts that motivated me to make an emergency kit for the car – more on that soon)

Lately I’ve dug these:

one – Remove a Stripped Screw with a Rubber Band
two – Learn to Make Delicious Hash from Your Leftovers
three – Learn Proper Sushi Etiquette to Make a Good Impression
four – Find the Best Spots in New Cities with These Tools
five – BetterTouchTool Customizes Your Mac’s Multitouch Gestures


1- Boing Boing

There’s no real description for Boing Boing. Take the above 4 sites, mix them all together with some great writing and you have Boing Boing… they write about everything and are usually on the cutting edge of what’s going on on the net and in the world. It’s thanks to them that I go to discover the David after his Dentists visit (the funniest thing I’ve seen ever) and got explanations and insight on foreign politics, culture and tons of other stuff. Heck their navigation bar reads : Tech, Gadgets, Science, Biz, Ent, Art/Design, Culture, Action, News, Weird, OffWorld and BBVideo… that quite the mix.

I should also note that their writers are by far some of the best writers of our time, who somehow manage to find some of the worlds coolest stuff with apparent ease… I could wax poetic about them for a few hundred words, but instead I’ll share 5 nuggets:

one – Canadian MP demands answers on secret copyright treaty
two – Incredible miniature photography
three – Superman – The 1948 Serial
four – Canada’s National Film Board online archive: a success story
five – Interview with bOING bOING’s founders

Pffft… short post.


3 Feb 2010

No milk bags in the US?

Author: Claire-Lise | Filed under: Words

One of my favorite blogs, Neatorama had the most jaw-dropping post today – apparently you CANNOT buy milk in bags in the States. Yes, you read that correctly, you cannot buy milk in bags in the USA!! I was shocked!!! They posted a link to another blog showing a video of a girl explaining how milk comes in a bag, how we pour it, and how it’s better for the environment. Now anyone that knows me, knows that I used to drink milk by the gallons, so I know how to pour milk, yet I was so fascinated by the process, and watched the entire thing! Mind-blowing!


31 Jan 2010

Kids and their iPhones

Author: Claire-Lise | Filed under: Food, Personal, Techie

So recently, Cam forwarded me this great link about how a guy who gave his 3 year old an iPhone, and how much it’s been a source of entertainment (and relief for the parents) for the child. I was a little skeptical until we went to a party last night.

Last night was the annual Fondue party set up by the Swiss Club of Toronto. It’s a night where we stuff our faces full of unlimited cheese fondue (and for some, booze), and see friends we only see at this event.

Our friends Nicole and Steve were there and they have this beautiful little 3 year old boy named Kyle, who melts our hearts every time w e see him. After a couple hours, Kyle was getting board, so his Dad turns to me and says, “watch this”. He hands Kyle his iPhone. Kyle took the phone, swiped the touch pad, and entered the security code – this kid doesn’t know most of his numbers, but he could enter a numerical code!!

He then flicked through the icons until he found the one he wanted. Then he picked it up and started taking pictures!! He then knew that if he pressed another button, he could colour the picture!!!! This kept him entertained for about 10 mins. Then he started shaking the phone – I jumped thinking I would have to catch it, but his dad reassured me and said, “he figured out that if you shake the phone, it’s like an etcha-sketch – the colours erase!! Un-freakin’-believable!!! I think he took pictures and “coloured” for more then 30 mins. At that point, he had enough, and went back to playing with the other kids. His mom told me that he plays on the computer for about 30 mins every couple of days, and he’s really good at it.

Cam and I both agree that Kyle was a mini-Cam!!! It was super cool to see a child that young be able to figure out something that most adults can’t figure out. It showed me that in small amounts, allowing your child to play with technology is not as bad as I thought it would be. Very cool!


31 Jan 2010

You’re my city Toronto

Author: Cam | Filed under: Opinion, Photo

Every once and a while Toronto has a great way of reminding me why I love her so much. This picture I took Friday night at the Humber Bay Park East on my way back from my buddy Reto’s garage is one of those times. I did practically freeze my balls off though.

(Click for a full size version)