Survival Gear Review: Grid-It by Cocoon

Don’t you think it’s about time you get organized?  As survivalists we pride ourselves in having our “You Know What” together, but most of us lag way behind in having certain elements of our prep ducks lined up in a row.

By Dr. John J. Woods, a contributing author to SurvivalCache.com

Get Organized

Some may have 10,000 rounds of ammo stored but “oh my gosh” they forgot water, bandages, and the gas tank in the Bug-Out vehicle never gets above a half tank full.  Are they really ready?  Now where did I put that map again…..

If you read the top survival/preparedness sites buzzing around the internet these days, you probably notice the pepper themes focusing mostly on guns and ammo to ward off the gremlins.  Then comes food, water, living essentials, edged weapons, clothing, boots, housing, tools, meds, yada, yada, yada in no particular order.

Not that I am highly biased, but see the article posts here at Survival Cache and you’ll notice a distinct diversity of discussions and prep articles.  At least the SC guys make a concerted effort to cover all the essential bases on a regular cycle.  Now don’t get me wrong all these categories are essential and require inordinate amounts of time and fluid cash to achieve any measure of readiness.  I admire those discussing (and likely cussing) how to pare down their essentials into a concise micro-horde of gear to Bug Out with.   All the more happy I am to Bug-In.  At my age and health the Bug is definitely out.

Bags and Cases in Point

I hope you are not like me and have found yourself bag poor.  I literally have something for everything to go in.  Well almost it seems anyway.  Then the problem becomes finding what I need in whatever bag or container.  I have one cross shoulder bag I carry afield often with different colored bread ties on the zippers to denote different items in the compartments.  Fine.  Trouble is half the time I can’t remember which color is for what, so I end up opening all the zippered pockets anyway.  Yeah, laugh it up guys…..your time is coming soon enough.  I have all my clear plastic storage boxes permanent ink marked now.  I have mag totes and cases in different colors so I know the black ones are full of defensive loads, and the brown or green ones contain hunting loads.  Same with primary handgun ammo, black for 9mm and desert tan for .45 ACP.  Get yourself some kind of storage system and make it work for you.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Last Christmas my eldest daughter of 26 got me the neatest thing.  It’s small, and at first reaction my thought was, “What in the heck am I going to use that for?”   I put it up on my dresser drawers in the man cave and occasionally would look at it.  Then it dawned on me what
to do with it. The gadget is a Grid-It made by Cocoon Innovations (.com).  Essentially it is a flat panel the company calls a “rubberized woven elastic object retention system for gadget organization.”

It is sturdy and unbend-able in structure.  The back side is flat and plain with a nylon loop strap to hang over things like small knobs, door hooks, etc. On the front side is a series of elastic straps going both vertical and horizontal depending on how you orient the panel to yourself.  With the loop at the top of the narrow side of the 7.5 inch by 10.5 inch panel of the model I received I thought it had to be turned up that way, but it can be used horizontal.  I am in the process of “rebuilding” mine to turn it that way, but it still has to hang by the loop if you use it.  Just make sure all items are secure under a strap.

As stated by the Cocoon info page on the product the Grid-It offers versatile organization, and endless configurations for digital devices and personal effects.  Of course, you can put into the secure elastic loops anything you want.  You can check out the associated photo I took of
my Grid-It to see what I have loaded up so far.  I’m still adding things that come to mind.  In terms of flexibility of use I could see one configured for rifle accessories/items, one for a pistol, one for electronics, like a cell phone, small camera, GPS, wind meter, and such.  Another
could hold medications for immediate or daily needs.  One could be a first aid kit, or a small tool kit.  Another for a gun cleaning kit.  Use your own creativity to configure one.

Final Thoughts

The Grid-It panel could be hung from a coat hook in the car or slipped into a laptop case, backpack, or other bag.  I plan to put mine in the pocket behind the passenger seat of my Chevy Silverado extended cab truck.  That way I can reach it from the driver’s seat when needed.
Cocoon makes a number of different sizes and shapes of Grid-Its for multiple uses.  Check out their website for full details and specifications on the many models they offer.  I am betting like me you will eventually find a use for one or more of these neat little gadgets.   Just one
more step toward organization.

Photos by:
Dr. John J. Wood
Patrick Breen

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