Armor, Ammo, and the Kitchen Sink: The Secret to Deployment Bags and how to pack them

"Survival of the fittest" is a term that is thrown around liberally, but what does it mean? The meat of the phrase means that those who are most prepared, equipped and alert will be the ones that will come out on top of the pack.  Going into a battle situation, it is to your benefit to give yourself every advantage you can think of which means to more than satisfy the criteria of the definition of being "fit."

The secret to being prepared and equipped is having with you everything you may need in any given situation. This can be challenging when you have to carry all of your gear. However, with the right TA-50 or deployment bag, you can have enough room for everything you need, and if you pack carefully, perhaps even a small kitchen sink!  The perfect deployment bag begins with essentials in an orderly arrangement.  Essentials will be different for everyone, but at the core should be your body armor, some ammunition and a small first-aid kit. Here are some tips for packing the perfect bag:

1. Combinations are KEY! Try combining articles such as putting gloves, a pair of socks and a couple extra rounds in the cavity of the body armor.  This will enable there to be more room in the bag as well as keeping things that you will need to use together also packed together so there is no time or energy lost in grabbing something you need.  Body armor is bulky and odd shaped for packing, and chances are that if you need one piece, that you will need the same things each time so put them together in a way that they all work together. For example, if you have an extra pair of shoes to pack, consider putting something else that you will be using at that same time in the shoe to save room in your bag.

2. Zip tight bags are awesome!  Water leakage inward to your bag (if it’s not waterproof or if it gets a hole in it somehow) or liquid/gel leakage outward of a container can prove to be a huge problem if you are traveling or on deployment. Zip tight baggies can save your day! Put shirts or outfits, socks, underwear into gallon size baggies if you are going to be deployed to a wet area with a lot of rain or will be trekking through water. If not, zip tight sandwich baggies around your toiletry items individually can prove extremely helpful. If one thing spills then it doesn’t get on each item turning it into a gooey mess. Also, with the use of zip bags, you will know that socks are always in one bag, underwear is always in another bag, and so on alleviating wasted time spent rearranging or hunting down items that you need NOW. Time spent hunting should be for your adversary instead of for your socks.

3. You can pack your kitchen sink and your bathroom medicine cabinet. Just because you are deployed or traveling does not mean that you have to go without necessities due to lack of space anymore. There are some deployment bags out there that are so ultra-roomy and sturdy that you can pack what you need; one of which is a safety/medical kit. Keep a few bandages, muscle pain patches, minor pain meds in travel packages, snap-light fishing glow sticks, all in one mini-tool, and snap-released hand warmers. Maybe put those in a round of duct tape or a funnel and put that in a zip baggy or just in a little toiletry case.

4. Why leave strategy to the battlefield?  To win the war on clutter and mess, you have to plan a method of attack. Strategize and think about putting together your bag right the first time. What will be easiest for you and save you time? What will be something that you will actually do and maintain? Will zip baggies be something that you can do? Will arranging socks with socks work better for you rather than arranging whole outfits together? Does it make sense to pilfer through your bag each time you need something? Plan what you are going to do and then keep it up so you know exactly where everything is! Arrange things considering shape and frequency of use. Does it make sense to put something you use three times daily on the bottom of the stack? Arranging in slices instead of stacks helps. Think bread slices in a bag. That way you don’t have stacks of stuff to look under but rather can see a small sliver sample of each thing you have. Planning your bag will make your time more efficient and lower your stress level because you are more prepared in a shorter amount of time.

Incorporating a few of these ideas or using them as a holistic system really can aide you in being more prepared, more equipped and more "fit" than your counterparts or competition. Saving time, energy and mental stress will aide you in keeping your performance at an optimum while still not compromising your personal comfort. Performance levels at their optimum will ensure you are among the most "fit" and will help to guarantee your success at your mission, both on the battlefield and beyond.

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Altria to Launch Marlboro Filter Kretek in Indonesia

 

PT H.M. Sampoerna, the Indonesian world's largest tobacco company, has begin launch clove flavored cigarettes or the Marlboro mix 9 brand name.

The subsidiary of Altria Group Inc. will start selling filtered Marlboro Mix 9 from July 9, its first new brand in 18 years, said the people, who declined to be identified before an announcement next week. Clove-flavored cigarettes, known as kretek, dominate sales in the Southeast Asian nation, the world's fifth-largest tobacco market.

The launch may help Indonesia's largest producer of tobacco products win a larger share of the estimated $10 billion market for kretek cigarettes by attracting customers of PT Gudang Garam, owned by the family of Indonesia's richest man, and the Djarum Group. Sampoerna's sales growth has been cut by tax increases.

"It's a fantastic and excellent strategy," said Rezza Zulkasi, an analyst with PT First State Investments Indonesia in Jakarta, which manages 1.5 trillion rupiah ($167 million) in assets. "People want to have the international brand, but also want the local taste."

Sampoerna will start selling the kretek Marlboro in Java and Bali, the people said. Leo Burnett, a unit of Publicis Groupe SA, the world's fourth-biggest advertising firm, will help market the product. The ad agency created the "Marlboro man" advertisement campaign in 1955.

Where To Buy
Salecheapcigarettes.com start selling on July 12, the most trusted website that sells clove cigarettes. With a long history in the clove cigarettes business and over 8 years of offline or online experience, Salecheapcigarettes.com not only offers the quality cigarettes with competitive prices they also guarantee full satisfaction that all of their products are freshly deliver to their customers.

For more information please kindly visit http://www.salecheapcigarettes.com or http://www.saleclovecigarettes.com.

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A Crack in the Teacup

The Crack in the Teacup, by C.M. Albrecht, is a mystery fiction novel with a slight seasoning of romance and suspense to spice things up. The story line is centered in a small Californian town where an 11-year-old boy, Jerry Beakey, goes missing on his way to a music lesson. Author C.M. Albrecht skillfully walks the reader through every aspect of the case and what happens in police departments, support centers and within the family of the missing person.

There are two main characters in The Crack in the Teacup. Detective Steve Music and his co-workers butt-heads with the FBI while working on the case. Lovely, and sympathetic, Shelly Lambert guards an awful secret and harbors a guilt that drives her to volunteer at the Missing and Exploited Children Coalition whenever she could get away from her job as a Notary.

Whenever Detective Music and Shelly meet during the investigation, something deeper between them happens. Neither of them seems to know what to do about it. Steve discovers Shelly’s secret when he looks into her past and creates a huge rift between them that could destroy their romance.

A classic who-dun-it written in the Agatha Christi style with a very unusual motive for child kidnapping. I suspected nearly everyone involved at some point in the book and I liked that the characters represented true society, with people of different races, ideals and backgrounds. The Crack in the Teacup has very little violence, but a lot of mystery and a happy ending.

ISBN#: 1-59466-037-9
Author: C. M. Albrecht
Publisher: Port Town Publishing

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A Journey To Happiness And Balance

 Why go through all the trouble of working hard and being successful if it won't make you a happier person? That is the question noted author and leadership expert David Fischman asks of readers in his new book "The Secret of the Seven Seeds" (Jossey-Bass, $22.95).

First published in Latin America, this engaging book tells of the successful entrepreneur and writer's personal struggle for happiness in his out-of-control life.

In it, Fischman reveals his personal story through the fictional character Ignacio Rodriguez, who, like many businesspeople from New York to New Delhi, is desperately trying to keep up with the speed of life.

The 40-something stressed-out entrepreneur is utterly overwhelmed, at risk for a heart attack, losing money at his business and has no time or energy for his family. His doctor recommends that he try meditation to regain balance in his demanding life.

A Spiritual Guide

Instead, Ignacio's journey leads him to a spiritual guide, who helps him heal by finding his path in the secret of the seven seeds, which represent self-knowledge, meditation, egolessness, service to others, goodness, balance and freedom.

"'The Secret of the Seven Seeds' begs the question: Why go through all the trouble of working hard and being successful if it won't make you a happier person?" said Fischman about writing a book mostly based on his life. "The old cliché says that money can't buy you love, but research is proving that it can't buy you happiness either." Being happy, he asserts, should be one of our primary goals in life and this book will take readers on a path to get there through seven simple steps. True happiness comes from learning to be, getting in contact with your inner self, helping others and living a balanced life. Ignacio was caught in the classic ego trap, but gradually becomes liberated and ultimately sated.

How To Define Happiness

The book redefines success, proposing that it is measured in happiness and not in assets. "I am certain," he states, "that when a person takes their last breath he/she will never repent how many cars they did not buy. They probably will regret not having been close enough to their family or not having helped other people."

But far from suggesting quick-fix prescriptions, this book, based on ancient Oriental wisdom and written as an easy-to-read novel, uses ancestral stories, anecdotes, analogies and humor. It is now available in bookstores.

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