Category: Traditional Skills/Fieldcraft

Range Brass to Finished Cartridge, Tips For The Ubiquitous .223 Cartridge, by R.W. – Part 3

On full charge cartridges, you need to watch for defects, so: Look for any swelling, cracks, splits, or thinning of the brass. Check for fouling, debris, or dirt jammed into the cavity of the shell case. It may be generally noted that discoloring around the top of the case at the neck radius is common with most military surplus brass and will often be polished off in the cleaning of the shell cases. Watch for any heavy corrosion or pitting, as this should be a warning that the bullet has lost some ductility and integrity due to the oxidization process, …


Letter Re: Mushrooms

Hey Hugh. I would like to add some personal information to the interesting article on mushrooms. A few years ago my wife was diagnosed with asthma. We quickly learned that the standard medical treatment was not going to work for her. Our friend at a natural foods store suggested she try a commercially available product called “Breathe”. The capsules contain a combination of mushrooms that apparently help to better or more completely utilize the available oxygen. What sold me was that high altitude climbers use these mushrooms when training for their climb in the thin air. My wife began to …


“Wild” Gifts For Children’s Survival, by Linda Runyon

Childhood these days is a lot different experience than when I was that young. I have photographs of me, as a baby, sitting on a blanket outside our home and looking at the weeds and grass around me. Even then I was fascinated with wild growing plants, and that was the foundation of my lifelong affinity for wild food survival. These days it seems that childhood is an ongoing assault on the senses, from TV to constant, loud music to vaccination needles that contain mercury, and on into school, where there’s the confusion of ill-advised curricula that discourages actual learning. …


The Importance of Bushcraft and Survival During TEOTWAWKI, by M.R.

You’ve all seen it. Hollywood makes films of a plane crash or shipwreck that cause only one or a few survivors to end up on a deserted island. He or she– the main character– frantically panics at first, maybe even screaming. Then a few months go by, the camera cuts back to him or her, and now this person is an advanced survivalist with a wide variety of skills and gear. They seamlessly kill and eat animals and make impractical but cool looking shelters. Then, he, for the sake of drama, is faced with some dire problem and has to …


Letter Re: The Care and Feeding of a Woodstove

Hugh – I enjoyed Jim’s article “The Care and Feeding of a Woodstove“. We have a Blaze King Sirocco free-standing wood stove that, so far, we are very well pleased with, and, no, there is no financial interest involved. As the good ‘ol (sarc on) EPA has proposed new, tougher rules on emissions, this one was the best we could find with the lowest emissions. Like Jim, we heat a lot with wood, with propane back-up, our home is approximately 2500 square feet, and seems to be well insulated. We use mostly pine and fir; our kindling is split from …


Letter Re: How To Obtain Protein From Alternative Sources Without A Firearm

Just a note about small animals: Don’t count on them for the bulk of your diet. Take for example crayfish: The calories for your effort may be very small. There are approximately 3.5 calories in a crayfish tail. (There’s more if you eat the head but not much more.) I’ve seen traps bring in around 50 crayfish on a good day. Therefore, for enough crayfish for a 350 calorie snack, you’ll need at least two traps, and that’s on a good day. Double that for average days. If you want 1/4th of your calories of a family of four to …


Two Letters Re: How To Obtain Protein From Alternative Sources Without A Firearm

Dear HJL, Here’s a low-cost alternative to metal traps-– build a trapping pit. Trapping pits have been used since the Stone Age to put meat on the table. A deer trail or other evidence of animal activity is located, then a deep pit is dug and lined with stone or wood planks to prevent escape. Spikes or sharp sticks are mounted on the bottom of the pit to kill or injure the prey, and the hole is covered with a tarp or branches to disguise it. My family has stored up a dozen or so 4’ re-bars and a couple …


Letter Re: How To Obtain Protein From Alternative Sources Without A Firearm

JWR/Hugh, I loved this article about alternative means for obtaining food. Much of the information was repeat for me, as I do a lot if those things already. I would add as a point for anyone trying to get into trapping that unless you are in a very target rich environment, trapping has a low rate of return. Typically, traps will catch something 1 out of 5 or 1 out of 10 times. Either the animal misses it, or a non-target animal trips the trap. I would recommend having multiple traps (like 6 or 12) and some snare wire around …


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 …


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 …


Letter Re: Blacksmithing

HJL, If you want to be an effective survival blacksmith, it is essential you practice as much as possible now, when supplies are plentiful so that you will have the skills to actually produce something useful. If you start later, you will waste resources that are scarce and time which will be precious during TEOTWAWKI. Denis A, a new blacksmith already in training.


Meat Prices Soar While Deer Populations Explode, by KAW

This headline could sum up a multitude of news reports over the last few years. Droughts and severe winters have left the United States beef herd size at a 63-year low. In response, beef prices have increased steadily with hamburger topping $4 a pound this year. Pork prices have jumped due to porcine epidemic diarrhea that has killed millions of baby pigs. Inflation, a growing human population, and a higher demand for meat in emerging economies also contribute to ever-increasing meat prices. Ironically, America’s deer herd has exploded in the last 30 years. The deer population in North America when the Europeans …


Post-Civilization Smithing, by THS

If I had to choose one tool or piece of gear for survival, a knife would be on the top of my list. A knife can be used to make fires, shelters, weapons, traps, and most of the things needed for survival. With a few tools and some practice, anyone can have a workable knife (or chisel, hook, hinge, or any number of other tools and hardware) in a few hours of work. Besides the usefulness of the self-fashioned tool, it will bring a great amount of satisfaction and pride. The skill of blacksmithing will also put you in a …


Letter Re: Observations of a Shopkeeper

I did not enjoy logging on to Survival Blog this evening and reading about how ignorant we are according to “R.R.” Can’t he just educate their customers about the safe handling and proper cleaning of a firearm. I just can’t imagine why R.R. would continue selling such deadly weapons to us imbeciles. Please publish the name of your shop so we can know never to bother you there again. Thank you ever so much, – D.R. HJL Responds: I think you have missed the concept that R.R. was trying to portray. I was a scoutmaster for 11 years as my …


Musings of a Law Enforcement Paramedic – Part 4, by LEO Medic

Yesterday, we read about TCCC and the “MARCH” priorities of field care. We’ll continue with this five-part article by focusing, today, on emergency treatment for dogs because many of us will be depending ours after the SHTF. CANINE ALS/TCCC A very interesting aspect of TCCC that we have found is that it has extremely high carry over to the canine world. Two of my squad mates have working law enforcement canines assigned to them. In addition, we utilize many search and rescue dogs, from bloodhounds to labs for various missions and searches. I imagine most of you reading plan on …