PMCI - October 2014
Slightly later than planned due to operational commitments, the second issue of PMCI is now available. Steve Barret writes about his 1st-hand experience of the Taliban's attack on his compound in Kabul, while Columbia-based security expert, Ban Hockman, points out some of the dangers faced while travelling in unknown locations. There's loads of reviews on everything from footwear to computers and we get to Meet the Manufacturer, Snugpack. As always, PMCI is FREE to the reader. We hope you enjoy this issue - wherever you are in the World!
Slightly later than planned due to operational commitments, the second issue of PMCI is now available.
Steve Barret writes about his 1st-hand experience of the Taliban's attack on his compound in Kabul, while Columbia-based security expert, Ban Hockman, points out some of the dangers faced while travelling in unknown locations.
There's loads of reviews on everything from footwear to computers and we get to Meet the Manufacturer, Snugpack.
As always, PMCI is FREE to the reader.
We hope you enjoy this issue - wherever you are in the World!
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Garmin Fenix<br />
The Fenix has been around for<br />
a while now but Garmin are<br />
releasing a military version all<br />
in black with a few upgrades. I<br />
have had the Fenix for around<br />
three months now and I can say<br />
that I am converted it’s a GPS<br />
and a watch all thrown in to one<br />
which saves me a hell of a lot of<br />
space, time and batteries.<br />
The watch is charged up<br />
by USB from the mains or a laptop and a full charge<br />
in watch mode can last up to 4 weeks when used in<br />
conjunction with the GPS at times for things like<br />
grid references it knocks it down to around 2 weeks<br />
depending on how you use it but saying that all you<br />
do is put it on charge over night at the end of the<br />
week and its charged again ready to go.<br />
The functions of the watch do take abit of getting<br />
your head around and the logic if not used to this type<br />
of device can get you a bit worked up but once you<br />
have got it then your set up. It has different ways of<br />
displaying the time and date to suit preference and<br />
you can set it up in different modes i.e. Mountaineering<br />
and so on. You will need to have a play around<br />
with to find out which one best suits your needs but<br />
Mountaineering is the one I have put it on as it allows<br />
me to be able to have a one button press to get the<br />
grid up on screen. It has the normal stop watch function<br />
time and date and compass, the best bit though<br />
is the GPS if like me you have had a watch and a<br />
decent one at that and a gps in your pocket of grab<br />
bag well this combines the two in one and the gps<br />
is very quick and very accurate. You can turn it on<br />
and off while leaving the watch function still active.<br />
When the GPS is on I have no problems in obtaining<br />
a gps signal while inside a B6 armoured vehicle<br />
and not with my are up against the windscreen it<br />
gets while just sat in the car normally and it finds the satellites<br />
very quickly. You can set up which gps screens you want to<br />
see just like you do on a handheld and which order you want<br />
to see them in then it’s a simple case of just pressing the up or<br />
down buttons on the right hand side of the watch which makes<br />
it very simple indeed. I have mine set up for Afghanistan with<br />
the MGRS Grid system and the right datum’s and the screen<br />
is big enough unless you wear jam jars to be able to read it off<br />
the screen very well.<br />
Maps can be found on the internet for the Fenix but I would<br />
advise to do some of your own testing first and load the maps<br />
on one by one as it can slow the watch down to a crawl and<br />
the more way points you put the worse it gets but just for a<br />
normal map say of Kabul of Kandahar will be just fine and you<br />
will get the roads up on the screen, it’s not a TomTom by any<br />
stretch of the imagination but it’s not supposed to be but you<br />
do get basic maps on it and way points but who needs that out<br />
there in this roll I don’t know, it’s the grid reference to hand<br />
or wrist in this case that matters and it will get you as close a<br />
grid reference then any GPS out there on the market. I good<br />
kit bag buy this watch you will not go wrong with it. For more<br />
info see Garmin’s website and for prices shop around abit I got<br />
mine for a very good price.<br />
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