Category: Field Gear

Prepping On A Budget, by VRP

I once worked with a woman who only gave her dogs bottled water to drink. When asked if she could drive a vehicle with a manual transmission, she replied, “Oh no! I’d rather walk!” Seriously? There was no pioneer spirit there! In post SHTF, people like this may find it difficult surviving, much less finding bottled water for their dog. Preparing for emergencies or post SHTF can be overwhelming and expensive, but there are many ways to prep on a budget. Two years ago when a derecho (Editors note: a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm) came through our area, the …


Scot’s Product Review: S&K Scope Mounts, LLC

I have been growing more and more fascinated with older military rifles. You can often find them at good prices, and they are legal even in some restrictive locales. Most of them are bolt actions, and some of them are better made than most current production rifles. It is tough to beat a Mauser 98 or Springfield, and the Enfield is no slouch either. The venerable Mosin Nagant is certainly capable, and the M1 Garand is one of my all-time favorite rifles. They almost always come in cartridges that are excellent for hunting medium game in the U.S. or for …


Preparing Game Meat For The Table, by Kestrel

As a hunter I’ve often heard the question, “Doesn’t ____ meat taste gamey?” I get this question from people who have never eaten game meat or from those who have eaten improperly-prepared game. The word “gamey”, to me, speaks of meat with a rotten flavor. I’ve had spoiled meat before, and it does indeed taste “gamey”. My usual response to the above question is that wild game just has a different, often stronger, flavor than the beef that we are used to in this country, but there is no reason it shouldn’t be delicious. In this article I will give …


Surviving Financial SHTF and Becoming Debt Free, by K.D. – Part 1

We recently experienced our own financial SHTF situation. Well, that’s true, if you could call six years “recent”. Before I get into our situation, I think a little history would be appropriate. The wife and I had started prepping together in 2002. We actually were taking baby steps prior to that but when the economy trashed we went all in. I thought that was it. There was no way we, as a nation, could just print money and keep the ship afloat. Early in 2009, I realized we may actually have a bit more time. If every civilized country in …


Letter Re: Advice on Caching Containers

Hi Jim, Military shipping containers make great storage, but your readers should be aware that the large plastic cases are not necessarily waterproof if they have a pressure relief valve. Most of them have this due to the need for pressure equalization, e.g. atmospheric changes during aircraft transport. If you are going to bury such a case or use it in a wet environment, the small round valve can allow water to enter the case. Some of them are good at keeping water out for a short time, but if something is going to be stored for possibly years, anything …


Making Your Own (An Ebola Unafraid Followup), by ShepherdFarmerGeek – Part 2

This is the continuation of a list of supplements that you can make yourself to help in dealing with Ebola or any dangerous virus. Disclaimer: There are many foods and supplements with antiviral properties; some of them are common (garlic), while some of them are exotic (star anise). What I’ve tried to do with the recommendations below is focus on the most common and highly recommended. Nobody knows what will work against Ebola, so try your own favorites, to see what you can tolerate when ill. None of this is “medical advice” for purposes of federal obfuscation and interference. Consult …


Advice on Caching Containers

I recently had a consulting client ask me about sources for waterproof containers that she could use for caching guns, ammo, food, camping gear, and so forth. I generally prefer military surplus ammo cans and shipping containers for two reasons: They are made to rigorous military specifications (“mil-spec”), and They are relatively inexpensive, compared to their civilian counterparts. For ammunition caches, I generally prefer military surplus (“mil-surp”) 20mm ammo cans. The larger 30mm cans hold even more, but they are so heavy when full that they are a pain to transport any distance. If you opt for the 30mm size, …


Scot’s Product Review: Legacy Premium Food

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If anyone out there isn’t convinced that we need to store food for an emergency, then they might not have been paying attention to the news. With the need clear, the question we each must ask is, “What kind of food should we store?” Personally, I like a variety of foods– fresh, dehydrated, freeze dried, grocery store cans and boxes, and retort packed foods, which include MRE’s. I even think frozen foods are good to have, though if the power goes out, that’s the first thing to eat. Each type has advantages and disadvantages, based on how easily and long …


Average American Preparation Begins, by C.H.

I am writing this article to inform other average Americans of how I began prepping, in hopes that my suggestions will be helpful for those who are just beginning. I began prepping after watching numerous shows on the National Geographic channel in connection with current news channels. Recognizing that America is vulnerable in several aspects (i.e. our power grid, internal terrorists, and weather events), I began to visualize how unprepared my family and I were in the event of a national emergency. Now you may be saying to yourself “in the event of an emergency, our government will take care …


Letter Re: Rope Making

Hugh, The recent article on making rope by using plastic bags falls into the whole rope making category. A while back, when I still had animals, I made rope every day, a foot or two at a time, while feeding them their grain. I used the twine from the hay bales and made 8 or 10 strand flat braids. I regularly made 50 and 100 foot long ropes that I still use. They are as strong as a similar manila rope; I have pulled a car on the road with one. Learning how to braid flat braids is a skill …


Letter: Manning an LP/OP with Hearing Acuity

HJL, I made an interesting discovery. While I have good night vision for use in my LPOP, when I did a test run this weekend, I took my Howard Leight headphones with me to see how much “Audio Augmentation” would help in my ability to “hear before I see”. I was stunned! With the volume turned up, I am getting an easy 10 Db gain in audio sensitivity and this is as if someone turned on an audio floodlight. I could detect soft conversations 500′ away that were not detectable without the headphone. I heard many small animals that were …


How to Make a Rope Out of Plastic Bags, by Zac T.

Here’s a little about me. I am a graduate student striving towards my Master’s in Public Health, which means I spend most of my time studying infectious diseases, what food people need during emergencies, and how to fight bioterrorism. When I am not pondering these problems, I enjoy backpacking, lifting weights, and growing bell peppers. You wander from aisle to aisle, flashlight in hand, down what used to be your local tool supply store. When the first case showed up over the mountain about three months ago, most of the stores in town were looted pretty heavily. This place is …


Scot’s Product Review: Brass Stacker Products for the Mosin Nagant

I recently reviewed the Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30 bolt action rifle, and while I really like the old rifle, I did see some problems with using it in today’s world. Fortunately, there are so many of them out there these days that there is a market for improving them and some savvy folks stepping up to the chore. The thing I really hated was the safety, but I doubt if the Russian Army ever had the same concerns that we have today about negligent discharges. While the safety is effective, it is very difficult to apply and release. You have …


Taking Care of Your Feet When the SHTF, by J.C.

One January when I was a Boy Scout, my troop and I went camping in Missouri to participate in an event known as “Trappers’ Rendezvous,” an annual gathering of around 6,000 Boy Scouts to trade (almost) anything, from folding knives and rabbit pelts to books and video games. This was an experience I’m very grateful to have had, as I learned not only a lot about bartering (something every serious survivalist should learn) but also a lot about caring for my extremities in cold weather. The thing about Missouri in the winter is…it’s cold! Now that I live in Colorado, …


Slimming Down, by Dan from Alaska

No, this is not an article on weight loss, though it should be; I need to take off a bunch of pounds. It’s more about how I readjusted my lifestyle and budget after a loss of a paycheck. Both my wife and I have been working steadily since our teens, and I consider us to not be rich, per se, but in the comfortably middle class. We have been married for the past 10 years, and we both met each other at work. That is when I first heard the moniker, DINK– Dual Income No Kids. As I stated, we …