I know that insulin is only half of it. It’s tough to carry a large supply of sugar around. But…eventually the shelf-stable glucagon will make that very easy.
For now, I wanted to take care of the insulin.
I thought of this a few months ago, when the boys soccer team was stuck in the cave in Thailand. I just want to level the playing field if I was in that cave. As long as I have insulin with me, I have about the same chance as anyone else.
It took me a while and some experimentation, but I wanted to have an insulin supply that was always with me, no matter what! With that in mind, it needed to be small and easy to carry, and also with a method of delivery.
Here is what I came up with.
Started with some mechanical pencil cases, because of the size.
Wrapped it in tape to keep the insulin from light exposure (since I am wearing it all the time now):
I went with a 28 gauge syringe, since I would only have one syringe and would need to be reused, the syringe needs to be very durable. The 28 gauge will last longer than the finer needles. I also shortened it by cutting the barrel and the plunging mechanism and also the cap so it just fits with no excess:
I used a NovoLog Flexpen cartridge, because they are smaller than the Humalog cartridges. It has 80 units in it, which is about 6-7 days worth of insulin for me under starvation conditions. Maybe even more if I needed to push it!
Here are some of the parts, before putting them together. The protective cover for the insulin cartridge is one of the mechanical pencil parts. It fits perfectly!
Now, how am I gonna carry it?!? I made a paracord bracelet that wrapped around the mechanical pencil protective cover.
Here are all the parts:
And here it is all together. 80 units of insulin, well protected in a plastic case, and a small but sturdy syringe, all enclosed in a very small paracord bracelet that is now something I am used to wearing. I don’t even notice it anymore, it’s very comfortable.
Once the shelf-stable glucagon comes out, I will incorporate that into the whole thing.
But anyway, this is what I consider a real survival bracelet.
I also made a different version that fits on a keychain. But this one feels pretty cool to me, and I don’t know that I would always have my car keys. So this is the default one I carry.