Category: Field Gear

Winter Survival- Part 3, by R.C.

In Your Home In the first two parts of this series, we talked about how to survive on foot and in your vehicle in winter weather conditions. In this third part, we will discuss some plans to survive in your home during a cold weather event. The two worst fears for many of people who read this blog is that “the event” happpens in the winter and the grid goes down. The easy answer would be, I’ll get in my car, use mass transit, or fly somewhere that’s warm. During this past storm, we saw the shut down of all …


Winter Survival- Part 2, by R.C.

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In Your Vehicle In this part, we will discuss how to survive in your vehicle. We have all seen the news of cars stuck in a trafic jams or abandoned on the side of the road. Then we listen to the mayor or some emergency management guy telling us to stay off the roads, not to abandon our vehicles, or please not walk down the middle of the plowed street because the sidewalk is now shoveled. As a former snowplow operator and first responder, I would have to agree. Stay home, and keep your kids home if it’s a bad …


Letter: Safety of Military Surplus DU Round Containers

Hello, I’ve recently bought a M833 artillery round storage/transport tube at a Canadian store known for buying US DOD surplus. I had just opened the tube and dumped out the pressboard packing tube when it struck me that this tube may have contained a DU projectile. A clothing removal, thorough hand washing, and quick web search later proved that the M833 is in fact a DU round. Aside from M833 and M900 tubes I’m guessing that 20mm transport containers would be available on the surplus market and may have held DU rounds. Do you or others you may know have …


Winter Survival- Part 1, by R.C.

In this three-part series on winter survival, we will examine surviving the winter on foot, in your vehicle, and in your home. We have all seen the videos of the recent storms and how even though the news have been reporting nonstop on the dangers of winter travel, the general public is out in it woefully unprepared. If you are reading this from your warm armchair or desk, I’m probably preaching to the choir. In the past I have been a snowplow operator, a first responder, and an instructor of CPR/First Aid and wilderness first aid in the Intermountain West. …


Letter Re: How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag

Hi Hugh, I just want to quickly reply to the post after having first-hand experience in Europe witnessing the refugee flow. Backpacks and roller bags are what many had for a bag. This was, I believe, owing to the fact that boat, bus, and train travel was extensively used by the Middle East refugees. They planned their travel. They also were overwhelmingly young men, capable of hauling more weight on average. I would have guessed by the very modern attire everyone wore, that their bags contained clothing and toiletries. They were well groomed and clean looking refugees! Charles T suggests …


Letter Re: How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag

HJL, There are some good ideas in here, but a few items that may be easily overlooked. First, denim should be avoided for your clothing. While durable, it will perform horribly if you get wet. It’s better to go lightweight with some good synthetic materials. I would suggest convertible pants that can zip out to shorts because you may not know what kind of weather you will bug out in. When you are looking at your base layers, you can’t forget to start with underwear. Materials that don’t wick sweat away or chafe will spell disaster. Compression shorts and a …


Letter Re: Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Beyond Locks

HJL, Often missed in this sort of door up-armoring process are the hinges. Assuming your door is set on its own rough framing (no sidelights), replace at least two hinge screws on the jamb side in each hinge with 4 1/2″ flathead stardrive heavy screws (through the finished jamb into the rough framing). In other words do the same thing you’re doing to the strike, fastening them deep and strong. This works. When we first moved into our present quarters, I replaced the strike and hinge screws is this manner. About a month later my wife came home to find …


How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag- Part 2, by Charles T.

Cooking Supplies On the road or in a refugee camp you will need ways to prepare food. Preparing food almost always involves heat, usually provided through fire. When thinking about preparing food in a refugee type situation, you need to think a lot farther than you would for a typical camping situation. Anything that runs off gas or some sort of combustible liquid should be disqualified. Why? Because you will run out of fuel and end up throwing it out anyway. Don’t spend money on a fancy gas burning camping stove; it’s a waste, unless you go camping a lot …


How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag- Part 1, by Charles T.

The idea of leaving home and “living off the land” is a popular discussion point among preparedness-minded individuals. Many think they will grab their bug out bag and set off for a new life somewhere, foraging for wild edibles and having magical adventures on the way as they live out of their untested $200 tactical bag. Let’s be real for a second. There is a word for someone who has lost their home and is now living out of a backpack; it’s refugee! Last I checked, there was nothing glamorous about being a refugee, and if you are planning for …


How to Use Old Cooking Oil: The Floating Wick

A few months ago, one of my consulting clients mentioned that she had over-stocked her supply of vegetable oil. She had also neglected to store it in her freezer, to extend its storage life. The result after four years was 10 quarts of corn oil and two quarts of olive oil that had gone rancid. She asked if there was anything she could do with the oil. (She bemoaned the fact that that olive oil was particularly expensive.) My reply: Buy some floating wicks, and burn up that oil as a source of light and heat, during power failures. Floating …


Keeping Battery Devices Running In An Austere Environment, by Snaketzu

We all have at least a handful of battery-powered devices that can be very handy in an emergency or even a TEOTWAWKI situation. Weapon sights, flashlights, GPS, handheld radio, a tablet loaded with books and PDFs, night vision gear, and possibly even a cell phone are all things that could be very useful. Although everyone must be prepared to do without these devices, depending on the scenario there is no good reason to believe that these items must be discarded after the initial battery charge fails. Counting on scrounging more batteries or a power source to charge with is a …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Thank you so much for what you’re doing here. I don’t understand people who say they want to prep but won’t put this website on their daily reading list. In reference to Making a Last Run, at first I was appalled that any prepper would go to the store to stock up on even more food at the last minute. At the time I thought, “Why take away from those who didn’t prepare in advance? Let them get what they can. We already have enough.” Then I read the letter stating that with a 10-year larder it wasn’t necessary for …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Hugh, I just wanted to add a tidbit to the article of making a last run when the SHTF by GMJ. Though this was a well written and well thought-out article and most obvious a great tool for the newbie to the art of survival, for me and my family we will not be in need of one last run. Because of all of us being a great student of this business we have benefited greatly from the steps outlined by our fellow survivalists. So for the new comer to this important scene of preparedness, you might want to pay …


Making a “Last Run” When the SHTF- Part 3, by GMJ

In Part 2 of this series, we discussed collecting information about the stores and products that might be available to buy as the disaster unfolds. In Part 3, we practice using our plan before the crisis occurs. Make a Trial Run Before Your Last Run I know this sounds counter-intuitive in the face of TEOTWAWKI, but if you have time, it’s always better to do a test run of something that has the potential to fail or be physically dangerous. If you have the opportunity to go out and observe what actually happens during a crisis event before one can …


Making a “Last Run” When the SHTF- Part 2, by GMJ

In this section, we are continuing to explain how to begin developing a comprehensive strategy for a last run shopping trip. Steps 1 and 2 have been described in how to make a list of what might happen and arrange it according to each event’s likihood to happen. Now, let’s move on. Steps 3 & 4: Determine What’s Necessary to Eliminate/Reduce Problems Step three requires you to determine what you need to do to eliminate, or at least reduce, the problems that each probable event will cause, and then the next step is to make a list of all the …