How my E-Kit saved the day.

Sorry to those who have been waiting on the 2nd “awaredness” post. I’ve been busy. Though, this current entry will be a good lead-in to the next awaredness post, which will be on the subject of improvising (with what you got).

Of course, emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. One of the things I love about our kits is that they are useful in a variety of everyday predicaments, not just catastrophes. They can, at best, save your life, and at least save you time, money, and…perhaps the lives of your dogs, as was the case with me last Thursday.

On that day I found myself in a compromising situation and was saved by my own Mother Eagle E-Kit. After exiting the dog park, I had just loaded my dogs into my minivan (think “Get Shorty”). I was sliding the door shut when one of their tennis balls rolled down into the track of the door. The door stopped, almost closed, but not quite. It was jammed. With all my weight I couldn’t get the sliding door to budge, forward or back. The door handles, inside and out had become totally useless, as if the door was locked. I could have driven to the dealership, with the “door ajar warning” dinging and flashing the whole way (and my side mirror turn signal flashing), hoping they would have some way of fixing it, losing at least an hour of precious time, incurring an exorbitant bill and, worst of all, risking that the door would pop open when I hit a bump, allowing my dogs to jump out in LA traffic. But knowing the budget I’m working with and how much my dogs mean to me, the only real choice was to improvise. As I always do in a tight situation, I think about what is immediately available to me that I can use to fix my problem. Of course, having my Mother Eagle kits right there in the vehicle, I have a lot at my disposal to play with. Laying down on the concrete, I was able to get a view of the ball. There was about a 1″ gap where I could get a tool in. So I went to my kit, pulled out my EMT shears and my SOG PowerLock multi-tool and got to work. I was able to first make a short slice in the tennis ball with the knife on the SOG tool. Then I inserted the EMT shears and started cutting away at the ball. I was able to cut it enough to weaken its structure and get my SOG pliers in there to grip a flap and pull off a couple pieces, weakening the ball even more. After pulling several pieces off I was able to completely dislodge it and solve my problem. I think I could have done this with the standard Kutmaster pliers, but I’m quite sure the SOG-patented “compound leverage” (giving me twice my hand’s gripping power) made it a lot easier. The door worked fine after that. Problem solved, emergency diverted.

Of course, this was not a life-threatening situation (though it could have been for my dogs if the door had popped open in transit), but what I love about this story is that I know in practically any situation, I have the tools and gear to get me through it. I also know that this mini-rescue would not have been possible with the tools included in any cheaper kits. In fact, using a cheap multi-tool with the intensity and in the tight space that I was using mine in, could have easily resulted in injury. Again, my experience impressed upon me that our kits are not just for disasters. They cover all of a person’s fundamental needs, all the time, and give a person the tools to improvise. What I like to say is that if you have a real need, it is covered by our kits.

I’m looking forward to hearing many more stories like this from my customers who have used their kits to get them out of tight situations.

Give-away Game: If I wasn’t able to get the ball out and unstick the door, using the items included in our G.O. Kit, I can think of at least one temporary solution which would have ensured the door would not pop open and let my dogs out.  Can you?  The first two people who can come up with a reasonable solution, permanent or temporary, using only the items in that kit, will win a free Nite Ize LED Wand.  (One hint: I wasn’t able to fit the 4-in-1 tool into the space, so rule that out.)