Category: Field Gear

Observations on Bugging Out By Foot, by J. Smith

I simulated bug-outs on foot in a variety of environments in order to test gear, test myself, and to learn from that single best teacher: experience. I walked with various loads, pack configurations, and equipment through stretches of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. I walked on every type of road imaginable, from the shoulder of bustling interstates to rural roads with a stripe of grass growing in the middle. I walked on railroad tracks, by rivers, in desert, mountains, forests, prairies, and more. In more than a month, I walked around 200 miles while testing various …


The Fourth Essential, by Bob B.

As any survivalist quickly learns, the “three basic essentials” to survival are air, water and shelter. However, I learned to realize that there is a fourth basic essential, that being a stove–which provides a way to reliably purify the water, cook the food and make the shelter more comfortable. Of course, there are many types of water filters, solar ovens and warmer clothing for those needs but, somewhere along the line, the ongoing need for a practical, portable, concealable, quick and highly-efficient means of heating will be needed. SHTF heating that can purify your water, cook your food and warm …


Letter Re: Pat’s Product Review: PakLite 9V LED Flashlight

Hi Captain Rawles, I’m a long time SurvivalBlog reader and occasional commenter. Just had to respond to EagerGridlessBeaver with his post and review of the Paklite LED flashlight battery life test (WOW!) and the possibilities for IR use.  If you could afford to purchase numerous of the IR LED models, these same could be sequestered around your property connected to clothespin  type contacts and trip wires.  With a quick scan at night with your NVGs you would know instantly if any of your wires were tripped, with invaders being none-the-wiser if they were without NVGs.  It could provide an alert …


Letter Re: Pat’s Product Review: PakLite 9V LED Flashlight

Hi, I am a long time SurvivalBlog reader. I read the review on the Paklite and I wanted to post a link to my non-commercial blog which has some posts on the subject (where I experimented with the battery life). They are great little lights and we now own 3 of them. (Two are standard blue-white LED and one is red LED to retain night vision). I regularly encourage people to get them. Thanks and keep up the good work! – EagerGridlessBeaver


Letter Re: Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight

James, First, thanks for the great blog.  I wanted to take a minute and let the readers know of a great way to test what it is like to be stressed and carry a load of 40 plus pounds for an extended period of time.  Last weekend I participated in a GoRuck Challenge.  The premise is based on Special Forces type training where participants (max of 30 per event) act as a team to accomplish any task that the cadre gives them.  There are a few requirements, the most notable being that each person 150 lbs or more must cary …


Survival Gear Packing 101, by Jim G.

I’ve been reading a lot lately about types of bags and the many different options for BOBs that are out there. A staple of all prep web sites is the gear list and there is no shortage of suggestions on what you should have with you. What I’m not seeing is how to stow your gear. I’m not talking about the actual packing of your bag. I’ve actually seen an article or two about this, tips like keeping the heavy items low and close to your back, use of ditty bags, or packing your rucksack in a columnar system. What …


Common Sense Cooking in a Grid Down World, by Linda in North Carolina

My husband tells it the best: the utility power was out for miles around after the transformers blew. Driving up to our home in a darkened neighborhood after a harrowing commute, our house shined with soft glow outside of solar lights along the driveway and in the windows, candle light flickered inside, food was cooking out back on what appeared to be a stack of blocks, music from a wind up radio played in the background and my wife handed me a steaming mug of hot chocolate as I walked in. No generator in use….no power….yet warmth and reassuring life …


Letter Re: Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight

CPT Rawles, In reference to the article Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight, I applaud the efforts of Joshua H. taking the opportunity to hike 22 miles in three days, however, without any other information, his resulting experience is not surprising.  As a fellow Army officer, you can attest that ruck marching is essentially a practiced art.  One builds up to those distances and weights.  Cutting weight is good, but only those items not deemed necessary.  Don’t cut weight because of a lack of practice carrying a weighted down backpack.  Practice carrying that weight, and build up the weight …


Arctic Survival Footwear, by Richard M.

In a survival situation whether this is a crashed airplane, lost on hunt or a collapse scenario where normal items become scare, inexpensive or both knowing how to construct your own arctic survival footwear could be the difference between life and death, comfort or pure agony! I was reading this old book called “THE ARCTIC SURVIVAL GUIDE” written by Alan Innes-Taylor for the Scandinavian Airline System in 1957, it has a lot of good info in it, and I believe most of it is the same info that is in some of the old US AIR FORCE Arctic Survival Manuals …


Letter Re: Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight

Hi James: I can attest to the veracity of the recent article Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight. My journey to cut weight was spawned by a previous article from your blog. This past May I went camping and hiked 22 miles in 3 days with my bug out bag. The weight was around 41 pounds which is considered light by most standards. I’m 31 years old and in pretty good shape, run 10-15 miles a week and exercise. But just that amount of weight was tougher than I expected, it exhausted me, and caused me to get …


Making Our Bug Out Bags Work: Shaving Weight, by Big Bob

We could endlessly debate which threats are of immediate risk during a wilderness bug out. However, one of the most important is rarely discussed, avoiding injury. A quick sampling of Youtube videos or forum “bug out lists” quickly gives the impression that in the survivalist community, we carry too much weight. Many people plan to carry 60-70 pound packs for days at a time, while covering 15 miles per day. For some readers, this is feasible, but for most people, myself included, it is not. When talking about the dangers of bugging out, I often read about mudslides, wild animal …


Pat’s Product Review: PakLite 9V LED Flashlight

Living out in the boonies, we often have the power go out, especially in the winter months, when trees fall over power lines. More often than not, when the power goes out, it is usually at night, and on a weekend, and it takes repair crews hours, and at times, even days, to get the power restored. When the lights go out in the country, its dark – real dark! I have flashlights in every room of our home, and I can usually just reach for a light when the power goes off, so I’m good to go, in order …


Preparedness for College Students, by An Oregonian

I was raised in a family with a survivalist mentality. We were the family prepared for Y2K. I learned to shoot at age six. We lived on a farm and had the knowledge and ability to grow all our own food. I was taught self-reliance and how to think as a "prepper". Basically, my parents did the best they could to impress on me that the stability and safety we experience in the United States is precious and very possibly temporary. But even with all this training, my first year living away from my family I was caught unprepared. In …


Christmas Gifts for the Young Prepper, by Karyn S.

Is everyone geared up for Christmas shopping? On the first day of Christmas my five children receive presents from their parents, grandparents, and friends and by the twelfth day of Christmas….well, the presents begin earning the label of junk, lying in the basement or being “played with” by the dog and chickens in the backyard. Every year I declare I will not buy anymore useless, plastic toys – and this year I mean it! Lest I sound too much like the Grinch, rest assured that I love giving the kids presents. I love thinking about just the right gift for …


Preparations for a Long-Distance Commuter, by Darin P. in Michigan

Long-distance Commuters face challenges. I average 20 days at work per month.  During those days, I am away from home for 11.5 hours.   Unless the Crunch starts conveniently on a Saturday morning, before I can survive the end of the world as I know it I have to get home.      My daily commute carries me 35 miles each way.  Sometimes while sitting in traffic I’m reminded of real life – and fictional – disaster situations looking a lot like what I face each day; miles and miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic congestion.  The defining difference is this: My traffic jam eventually …