We've just got back from the MLR Vertical Expo in Hamilton, Ontario, and it was one of the best shows we've done.
Vertical Expo brings rope access, firefighters, technical rescue and arborists together under one roof. We even had police tactical response units come through the Reecoil stand. The whole event ran out of a huge custom-built warehouse with a gantry crane spanning the full width of the ceiling, which the organisers used to rig an artificial high directional and demo a patient rescue from the crane itself.
Running the stand were me (Dan Dass, founder and head of product development, arborist and entertainment rigger) and Isaac Allin (@firefightingarborist), who brought his experience across fire and rescue, rope access, entertainment rigging and arb.
90 seconds at height
For me, one of the highlights was running two DEPLOY Trauma Kit demos. Our day one demo was inside on the demo tree, close to the crowd, showing how the DEPLOY Trauma Kit is deployed at height and why stopping a bleed straight away matters.
Day two we took it outside to the big demo tree and made it a comparison. Two climbers, each with a simulated serious chainsaw injury to one arm. Isaac Allin ran it from the ground, talking the crowd through trauma first aid from both the arb and the first responder side.
- Climber 1, Isaac Ladore: no trauma kit. The only option was to get to the ground to treat the injury, using only one arm. At the 90-second bell he'd made it back into the trunk, still about 10 metres up and a long way from stopping the bleed.
- Climber 2, me: DEPLOY on the harness. I deployed the kit and had the tourniquet on in under 30 seconds. With the bleed controlled, there was time to get down safely. Or if circumstances were different - time for rescuers to get to me.
The difference was obvious to everyone watching. Carrying a trauma kit on you is the fastest way to stop a bleed.
"What if you drop the tourniquet?"
That was one of the best questions we got after the demo - "what if you drop the tourniquet". So I showed it: how to apply the emergency (Israeli) bandage one-handed, to either apply direct pressure to a bleed, or use as a tourniquet to restrict blood flow to the limb. We designed the DEPLOY Trauma Kit to give you more than one way to stop a bleed, so a dropped tourniquet isn't the end of the road. With the equipment to stop a junctional injury too (that a tourniquet can't be used for).
The Demons Rope Team
One of my proudest moments was meeting three of the Demons Rope Team of Brampton Fire Department, including @firefighterhawkins with their winners trophy from the 2026 True North Rescue Challenge.
They run the Batwing Kit Bag, RopeBag45 and DEPLOY Trauma Kit at work and for rescue competitions as well. Seeing our gear in daily use with an such an awesome fire crew, and a winning rescue team too, is exactly why we do this.
What's next
Next stop is TCI EXPO in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 12–14 November, booth 2538. We'll have the new Batwing Kit Bag and DEPLOY Trauma Kit in Tactical Black, live DEPLOY demos at height, and hands-on wound packing and tourniquet practice on training dummies led by Alex Wichmann. Come and say hi to me, Sherie, Alex and Mike Korzenski.
Thanks to Maple Leaf Ropes for putting on an incredible show, and to everyone who came by the stand.
— Dan, Founder
