Category: Field Gear

Letter Re: Hurricane Experience

Friends, After reading the contribution about hurricane preparedness, I would like to recommend the bathtub liners for water. We were without water for three or four days. We barely tapped one. I feel that we could have gone six weeks with what the two afforded us. I also keep one full outside contained in a 95-gallon horse trough. There were no problems noted. I so appreciate what all of you do. Thanks. – A. Reader JWR’s Comment: (The WaterBOB bathtub liner is no longer in production, but The Reservoir is comparable.)


Letter Re: Firestarters

HJL, I’ve read with interest and amusement the recent firestarting articles (https://survivalblog.com/letter-re-easy-fire-starting-article/ ) and wanted to add my 2¢. For everyday firestarting in the wood stove at home, I use egg cartons dipped in melted bacon fat. We have bacon once a week and save the drippings in a big plastic coffee container. (I also cook with bacon fat, but that’s another story!) Once a month or so I carefully melt that fat in Mr. Microwave until it’s clear-ish. Then I dip the egg carton egg “cups” into the container and put them in an open gallon Ziploc to cool. …


Letter Re: Easy Fire Starting Article

Hugh, I found the recommended easy fire starter posted a couple of weeks ago to be very interesting. That recommendation involved rolling 2-inch wide newspaper and soaking it in bees wax obtained from a toilet seal ring. My first attempt produced a marginal flame. I realized that I needed more wax absorption. On my second attempt, I used rolled up paper towel. This gave better but still just not adequate results. From the sight of the rolled up paper towel I came up with a better idea– tampons! As a 66 year old widower, I sucked it up and hid …


Neophyte Survival Observations and Lessons from Hurricane Matthew- Part 2, by S.G. in Florida

The extended power outages in Florida after Matthew were due to downed power lines, mostly by wind-fallen trees. Hospitals and other essential services were given priority for power restoration. People who lived near these essential services were more likely to get power restored first. Your proximity to key services might be a good factor to consider when purchasing a home in a suburb or city. After Hurricane Matthew, the city water was cut for an extended period due to the roots of fallen trees damaging city water lines. The two cases of bottled water we had bought for drinking would …


Neophyte Survival Observations and Lessons from Hurricane Matthew- Part1, by S.G. in Florida

Our family of three lives in a suburban area of Florida that was greatly impacted by Hurricane Matthew. While our home survived without damage, we were left without power for approximately a week and without city water for around three days. This article summarizes some observations and lessons, after reflecting on this experience. Hurricane Matthew took a very unusual track in the Caribbean, threading the needle between the mountains of Cuba and Haiti to maintain its strength. After this move, Matthew took a very unusual jog to the West, threatening Florida with a severe Category 4 storm. Once Matthew made …


Firefield Nightfall-2 Night Vision Scope, by Pat Cascio

We all know, or at should know, that there are certain pieces of kit that we should have if we are truly preparing for a SHTF scenario of any type. We always discuss firearms, and that is first on most lists. We then have to add food and water, as well as shelter of some type, because we never know what the emergency might be that brings us to a scenario where we might have to bug out or are left to our own devices to survive as best we can. To many of us, this is an excuse to …


Bugging-in vs. Bugging-out, by John M.

In most preparedness magazines and on most prepper websites, bug-out bags are an ever-popular topic for discussion. The idea of “bugging-out” in a SHTF scenario makes us dream of an idyllic cabin in the mountains where we grow or hunt our own food and live happily ever after, or it’s where we take on an enemy in a Red Dawn (United Artists, 1984) scenario, hopefully minus the attrition rate of the Wolverines. However, practical preparedness should be about looking at possible real-life scenarios, rather than things that rarely happen. In a real-life emergency, would it be better to “bug-out” or …


Do-It-Yourself Ceramic Water Filter, by The Architect

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Years ago, while visiting the South American country of Peru, I was stunned to find that every drop of drinking water had to first be boiled, before it was considered safe to drink. In a country of 22 million people, I thought this an incredible waste of money and natural resources. There had to be a better way. On my return, I set out to design a cheap ceramic filter that could be easily constructed using simple components readily obtained from any hardware or box store. (As a side note, on one of my trips to Peru, I was a …


Letter Re: T.P. for the Bugout or Get Home Bag

I’m constantly looking online at what people put in their bug out and get home bags. So far as I’ve seen their always missing one important item– toilet paper! I keep at least two rolls in every bag. Yes, they take up room but weigh nothing. All of my vehicles also have a couple rolls. An immediate dietary change, going from norm to survival mode, is going to have an immediate effect on one’s system (aka: bowel movement). Yet, as I review preppers/survivalist bag setups, good old TP seems to be never mentioned. So, load a couple rolls in a …


Letter Re: Spam Can Storage

Hugh, Attached are two pictures of Spam cans, Russian Wolf manufacturer, I buried in 2009. You can see the difference of the one I repainted and covered in grease at the time of burial and the one left as bought. All ammo was fine inside of both, even though one rust spot did make a pin size hole. I re-canned them all. The ground was moist most of the time. Ammo was steel case. Thanks for the website. – W.W.


Letter Re: Easy Fire Starting

HJL: Once upon a time after the passing of my father, I told my wife I needed to go on a hike. Being the good woman she is, I went with her blessing. I loaded up early in March and went to a park near Silva, North Carolina, near a place known as Stone Pile Gap. I was drawn to the site because of that name and my fascination with the ancient custom of first building a cairn in the memory of a loved one and subsequently for travelers to add a stone and say a prayer. That people have …


Easy Fire Starting, by A.H.

Next to water, fire is one of the most essential needs for survival. No doubt you have six different ways to start a fire you call favorites and another twenty more you could use in a pinch. Here’s a twist on an old tried but true method. I first learned this method from Boy’s Life many, many decades ago. I wasn’t even a Boy Scout. (They didn’t want me, but that’s another story.) Anyway, I’ve always liked this method for it’s simple elegance. However,, I thought of one tweak to make it an awesome choice. Making the traditional fire starter …


Five Things Women Need, by J.W.

My wife has a love-hate relationship with all this personal defense stuff.  She hates the idea of needing to be prepared and can’t stand that her day-to-day life is affected by potential or perceived and often unseen threats of violence, bUT she loves me.  So that means she agrees to all my training, prepping, security protocols, and most of my gear purchases.  Most? Okay, many of them. Many? Okay, fine. I just buy what I want. She gets mad for awhile and then eventually forgives me! The point of this article is to give you five things that we think …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: SOG Knives Evac Sling 18 Pack

Many folks assume, when I tell them I was in the U.S. military, that I was in at the time when they still had a mounted unit– horses! Nope, I’m not quite that old just yet. Back when I was in the military, we had some boring OD green equipment. Everything was OD green in color– our uniforms, A.L.I.C.E. geat, well, just everything, except out boots, and they were all leather, which we had a shine on the toe that you could see your reflection in, plus something almost unheard of today. You could actually have your boot re-soled. In …


The Fallacy of the Bugout Bag, by J.C.

I began my quest to become self-sufficient in a bug out situation sometime around the end of 2004 or the beginning of 2005.  My first purchase, if I recall was a gravity fed water filter and a small solar battery charger.  The old saying that one can live three weeks without food but only three days without water, in hindsight is what drove me to that purchase.  I don’t regret buying it to this day, but the chances that it will be with me in a true bug out situation, are slim to none. Before I go any further I …