Category: Field Gear

Dressing for Self Defense, by A.Y.

This is a review of considerations for civilian dress for basic self defense in most areas. Be advised some of these suggestions may be illegal where you live, follow all laws when dressing defensively. The goal of this article is to re-think basic aspects of normal street clothes and minimize any possible negative aspects of normal street clothes for purposes of self defense. An important consideration to this task is understanding your own personal Threat Matrix.  A Threat Matrix is the likely risks you personally have to face in your day to day life.  Are you an ordinary citizen in …


A Guide to Chemical Warfare Preparations, by Bryan R.

All survivalists, indeed all citizens everywhere, should give proper thought and consideration to the threat posed by Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) and Radiological agents, particularly chemical agents as they are the most likely to be encountered in dozens of possible situations. It is a fact of life that chemicals are everywhere, be they in surplus military storage depots, the local chemical plant down the road, the chemical laden train moving through the county, the semi hauling a tank filled with chemicals, or the nefarious terrorist who has finally realized that all he needed to make some very nasty blood agents …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Kershaw Zero Tolerance 0300 Knife

I like big knives, folders or fixed blade models. I’ve found over the years that, you can accomplish more tasks with a big knife, than you can with a smaller knife. Of course, that’s not to say that, small knives don’t have their place – they do! My personal preference is for bigger knives, and one reason I like bigger knives is that they are usually built stronger.   I was on-board when Kershaw Knives started their new ZT Division. The ZT stands for “Zero Tolerance”. And, I’ve toured the Kershaw plant several times, to know that, Kershaw has a …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Columbia River Knife & Tool’s “Ultima” Knife

One of my favorite knife companies is Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT). They offer a wide variety of cutlery, at affordable prices. You get quality for your hard-earned dollars, and that means a lot to me. CRKT was started by two former executives from Kershaw Knives. CRKT is now solely owned by one of those executives, Rod Bremer, who I delight in calling a friend. You should see some of the e-mail exchanges between myself and Bremer, you’d think we totally hate one another – truth be told, if one of us started talking nice about the other, we’d …


Preparedness in Megalopolis by John C.

One thing to be said of modern life, you generally wind up living where the work is. Money can be very good, for example, when you’re working as a government contractor in the Washington, DC area, so that’s a plus. The bad side of this lifestyle, though, is that you’re planted squarely in Megalopolis, with guaranteed chaos and congestion during any catastrophic event, severely hindering your ability to get home from work or to evacuate the area.  Those who commute into cities or live in high population areas can relate, as evidenced by what normally might be a 1-hour commute …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Okuden Knives – Ammo Daddy, Alpha Pattern

I’ve been writing about knives for more than 18 years. However, I’ve only been to one knife show in all those years. I attended the Blade Show-West, at the invitation of a large knife company here in Oregon. I’ve been to a lot of gun shows, where there were custom knife makers displaying their wares, but I never attended an actual knife show, until about a year and a half ago.   To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the knife show – there were less than 100 tables there, and my oldest daughter and myself, were done …


Pat’s Product Review: Blackhawk Products Clothing and Gear

For those of you, who are not familiar, with how Blackhawk Products came to be, here’s a little history: Former US Navy SEAL, Mike Noell, was operating in Iraq. He had to hump a ton of gear by foot in an enemy minefield. The pack failed, dumping his gear into the mine field.  Noell promised himself, that if he got out of that minefield alive, he was gonna make stuff the way it needed to be built, so none of his buddies would have to go through a similar equipment failure. Upon returning to the private sector, Noell started Blackhawk Products …


Helping Friends and Family Gear Up, by L.D.L.

As I sit here this evening, I am watching the aftermath of recent Missouri and Alabama tornadoes, Midwest flooding and western fires on television.  In the southeast, hurricane season will be upon them and there is always the possibility of an earthquake throughout the US. The news carries stories of our county’s continuing financial decline and overwhelming debt. I watch as the value of gold, silver and other precious metals climb and the value of our dollar continues to drop. The next segment of the news has reports of increasing gas prices, increasing taxes and increasing crime. The growing unrest …


Letter Re: Parachute Cord Bracelets

Hi Jim,   After I saw Liam Neeson with a parachute cord bracelet at the beginning of the movie The A-Team, I thought “Okay, I got to get one.”   After waiting around for the vendor who makes those to show up at one of the local gun shows, I finally went on YouTube, and guess what? I learned how to make them myself. They’re not difficult to make. As a matter of fact, the company you linked-to yesterday (SportBraceletStore.com) makes a simple two-piece Cobra Weave. I crank those out like candy, using a simple jig I made using a …


A Late April Snow and Wind Storm Illustrates the Need to Be Prepared

James, Things can fall apart rather quickly.  Today’s example is why you always want to carry a survival kit (BOB) in your vehicle.  People are stranded all over western North Dakota on the last day of April.  Who would have anticipated this?  The weather service put out warnings that many ignored and those who stayed home are without power. A total of five major electrical feeds into the state are down which is unheard of.  What couldn’t happen, happened. Mile after mile of power poles are sheared off and snow drifts of up to 10 feet and zero visibility is …


Letter Re: My Bug Out Bag Was a Blessing When the Tornados Arrived

JWR, Thank you for providing all the information in SurvivalBlog. It is truly a lifesaver. I live in Arkansas, and I’m sure you’ve seen the devastation the tornadoes have caused. This season is possibly the worst I’ve seen in the past 20 years that I’ve lived here. The tornadoes and severe weather have pummeled our state. Thankfully, when disaster strikes, neighbors help neighbors, strangers, and everyone in between. I wanted to tell your readers who haven’t considered the value of neighbors, who have a go-it-alone attitude, they are more valuable than all the gold you could stockpile. When the tornadoes …


Using Your Smart Phone as a Survival Phone, by Kelly H.

When preparing for any large-scale emergency or disaster scenario our initial tendency is to seek out the most basic necessities for survival: food, water, shelter. Those serious about survival expand these necessities to include protection, first-aid, mobility, etc. I believe one of the most important tools to include in any survival plan is a smart phone capable of offline card storage.   In my profession, I am attached to my smart phone. I depend upon it to work as much as my Leatherman while backpacking. I also know that during a large-scale emergency or a TEOTWAWKI scenario, a cell phone …


Pat’s Product Review: Smith & Wesson SD9

The first revolver I ever owned was a S&W Model 36, .38 Special 5-shot snub-nose. I remember getting it while visiting some relatives down in Kentucky – this was before the Gun Control Act of 1968, which made it impossible to purchase handguns in a state other than the one you reside in. You can now purchase handguns from a state other than the one you live, however, the transfer must go through a licensed FFL dealer in your own state, these days.   As I recall, I wasn’t a very good shot with that little S&W Model 36 snubby …


Letter Re: Inexpensive Mailorder Eyeglasses

JWR, On a note to the mailorder glasses thread, for all of SurvivalBlog readers that are active duty military, reserve military, federal and local law enforcement, fire, EMS and those holding military retiree credentials, there is a couple other sites that I strongly recommend for buying very high quality eye wear for very discounted prices. The first site is USStandardIssue.com. They are the official site for Oakley military and government sales. They have a spin-off site: ESSeyepro.com. Both of these sites do make prescription sunglasses and Oakley makes regular prescription sunglasses. The ESS site also makes goggles (said to stop …


Letter Re: Inexpensive Mailorder Eyeglasses

Letter Re: Inexpensive Mailorder Eyeglasses James, Just completed an order with Zenni Optical for a pair of “computer glasses” (as opposed to “reading glasses” for the tech age, I suppose) and I am very pleased.  For $11.90 with shipping and handling. I got a pair of glasses that I was able to customize for computer work.  You can hardly get a pair of generic Chinese-made readers from Wal-Mart anymore for that price.  I plan to make a bulk order of backup glasses for the family from them.  It took a while to get them, but it was within the timeframe …