[He did say to hold on. Admittedly that wasn't incredibly specific. Under better circumstances he'd love all this hand holding, and at the very least it makes him feel safer, more grounded here. Like they can get through all the shit that is Torchwood.]
That used to be the point of Torchwood; turn alien tech into things we can use. Jack put a stop to it when he took over about a decade ago. So some of that is left over from before. Some of it is just junk that falls through the Rift and we find a use for.