JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books, and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how-to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on some important items for your medic bag that you might have overlooked.  (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America (The latest in Bill O’Reilly’s outstanding book series)

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This standard reference book has been in print since 1983, for good reason: Garden Way’s Joy of Gardening

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The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea

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Phil Robertson’s latest book, released in August: Jesus Politics: How to Win Back the Soul of America

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And a bit of shameless self-promotion: QUORUM RADIO: James Wesley, Rawles The Ultimate Preppers Survival Guide (Part I). And here is a link the shorter Part II of that interview. This will surely be the first of many interviews about my newest book. But rest assured that I won’t clutter the blog with links to most of these interviews.

Instructional Videos & Vlogs:

How to Field Dress Elk – The Gutless Method – Hunting Field Care of Meat

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How To Butcher An Elk | START TO FINISH

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TINY HOME TOUR || Self Converted Off-Grid All Terrain TINY HOUSE || Former Military Troop Carrier

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And reader A.K. suggested this: What You Need to Know: Thorium Nuclear Power.

Music:

Getz/Gilberto [Verve Acoustic Sounds Series LP]

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Peter Paul & Mary (Moving)

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John Prine: Sweet Revenge

Gear & Grub:

SAM Rolled Splint 36″, Orange/Blue. 

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The genuine article: CAT Combat Application Tourniquet – GEN 7 (Gray Time-Stamp)

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And, even faster: B.O.A. Tourniquet

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North American Rescue Hyfin Vent Chest Seal, 2 Count

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These are good for capturing images of both wild game and burglars!  FHDCAM Trail Camera,1080P HD Wildlife Game Hunting Cam with Motion Activated Night Vision, 120° Wide Angle Lens, Waterproof Wildlife Camera for Outdoor Surveillance.  (Note that I don’t yet own one of these, but I’m assured by the very high number of 5-star reviews that this is a quality, weatherproof camera.)

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The 20th Century classic, and still American-made! Buck Knives 0110BRS 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath

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Make a Suggestion

Want to suggest Recommendations of your own? Then please send them to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!


30 Comments

  1. For the SAM rolled splint I recommend the flat rolled version for your IFAK or med kit. You could flatten it yourself but I’m lazy and I like mine pre-flattened. The B.O.A tourniquet is nice but isn’t TCCC certified if that matters to you. As far as chest seals go they are nice but plastic wrap or even a bag of chips and duct tape work “better”.

  3. Question.
    Why is the price of tourniquets so high? Each Tq. has maybe (manufactured in large quantities), $2 worth of material in it and once the production line is set up, maybe 3 minutes (or less) per Tq. made.
    I have several, but for each family members IFAK, 1-2 in your Aid Bag, 1 on your chainsaw chaps, a few to hand out, at least 1 for training (reusable, of course), pretty soon you’re looking at $200-$350 dollars just for tourniquets, let alone $10+ chest seals for everyone (and once again…1pk of 2 seals for training not really reusable except in a pinch). Same goes for ‘Izzy’ Bandages, $8-$12 each

    Yes, $200 is cheap (life saving) insurance, unless you don’t have $200.

    (and yes I know about the plastic wrapper, duct tape and other alternative trauma treatments)

    By the cost, you’d think they were being made with 9mm ammo… (but I digress)

    1. Rucksack Rob,

      I have put together many IFAK kits for family members over the years, and they really can add up money wise. I carry 2 kits in my car, one in my range bag, and 2 CAT tourniquets in my purse at all times. The price of CAT tourniquets are very expensive, but they are tried and true in combat. A lot of the cheaper ones you may find online are Chinese knock offs, the windlass breaks frequently or the fabric itself is not strong enough For the tightness that needs to be achieved to stop the bleed. I have found a good tourniquet for about $15, half the price, these are made by Recon Medical.

      I have also found a great IFAK kit online with amazon, that comes complete with almost everything I put in mine. And all the products are top tier items, a CAT, HyFin vented chest seal twin pack, an Israeli bandage, scissors, one pack of compressed gauze, a padded alum rolled 24” splint, a triangle bandage, one pair of gloves, a trauma pack (QuickClot,, trauma pad, 2 nitrile gloves, duct tape, a triangle bandage, 2 sterile 4×4’s, 2 sterile 2×2’s, conforming glaze bandage, 6 antiseptic wipes, reusable bag and instructions) and the case itself, which is molle attachable. This sells for $99.95. If you priced this individually it would cost more. I have no monetary interest in this vendor. I have only added a few extra things to this, more gloves (2 sizes small & large), a pair of goggles, several surgical masks And a decompression needle. Some of these items may not be familial to some people on this blog but there are plenty of YouTube videos out there on each of these items. I would caution for most not to try to use the decompression needle (used to relieve a tension pneumothorax) unless you are EXTREMELY familiar and trained in this procedure!

      Tourniquets alone can save many lives, they must be readily accessible and used immediately, and you must try to occlude the distal pulse of the injury site. Work on learning where pulses are located and get used to feeling them. Do not loosen the tourniquet before
      you reach a higher level of medical care. The old wisdom of loosen every 15 min is not up to date….don’t mess with them.
      Hope this helps.

    2. Rucksack Rob,

      I think I just remembered you are a paramedic(?), and your wife is a nurse, So my first post to you is probably not needed, but may help some others.

      I totally get what you are saying about The prices though, years ago when we first went to computer charting at the hospital we had access to many things on the server. On really slow days during the summer sometimes we would not have any patients in our unit, but we were always required to have 2 nurses in the unit at all times. So sometimes after we had cleaned up and made sure all rooms were stocked we would looked up prices of hospital items that would be charged to the patients! That was always a very eye opening experience. Probably one of the worst I ever saw was a pair of heel protectors, basically made out of lightweight like sleeping bag material with filling, and a piece of Velcro to close. This probably had about $10 worth of material tops, but patients were charged $748 for a pair……I just about fell over that day!! Go figure – modern medicine ripoff! I really learned back then why people have trouble affording healthcare insurance! Needless to say our ability to look up prices on the computer did not last long!

  8. I lost that gardening book during a move but it brings back memories for that garden genius telling a tomato story (as best I remember) of a farmer who used a shovel to cut the roots in order to make them grow better.

    I also recall photos showing him using a tiller for his garden, which was refreshing to see considering that is all we have, too.

  9. Have to recommend a book, The Castaways War. It is a biography of a navy officer during WW2. He is severely injured when his ship is sunk and ends up on a Japanese occupied island. You’ll have to read the book to learn more. Great story on survival.

  11. Dear JWR:

    Please don’t apologize for your “shameless self-promotion” — LOL. You and your books & blog are a blessing!

    BTW, will you be doing any interviews on “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory? If so, please give us a “heads up.” I’m not a regular Coast listener but, nearly ten years ago, I happened to be listening one night and you were a guest on the program. It was there that I discovered Survivalblog and have greatly benefited ever since.

    So many on the west coast are really suffering from the wildfires. One million acres have burned in just Oregon, not even counting the other western states. Entire towns have been wiped out, and untold numbers of persons have been killed or displaced. I’m sure that prepping and security are on the minds of many as never before. It’s an opportune time to encourage and instruct everyone to prepare (not only physically and emotionally, but also Spiritually) for the difficult days ahead.

    Blessings!
    Cliff (in Oregon)

  12. Not sure if this is the place, but since it’s for recommendations: Our Vacuum Food sealer is getting pretty long in the tooth, and wondered if anyone has any recommendations as to a Manufacturer and model number. We’d like to get a new one before this one goes to the vacuum sealer in the sky (two is one after all!).

    I’ve read Food Saver is still very popular and would gladly accept any recommendations or feedback of that brand or any other brand with model number. We’re also planning on vacuum sealing jars (dry canning) so we’ll be adding that attachment as well.

    Thanks in advance for any advice!

    2. We have the Food Saver Model V3460 and have been very satisfied. We have have the attachments and seal a lot of jars with stuff like rice, nuts, candy, meat before freezing, and even batteries to keep them dry. We also have found some cheaper sealing bags by Kitchen Boss which have worked well with no problems. It also makes us more inclined to seal more stuff when it is not as expensive. We like the bags better than rolls.

    3. Seymour Liberty… We’re also Food Saver fans! Ours has worked very well for us. We use the bags (not inexpensive, but the results have been excellent), and haven’t tried vacuum sealing jars (except for the oven dry canning of dried beans). Look forward to news of your endeavor and thoughts about this process too!

  13. I have recommendations for two books:

    Active Measures by Thomas Rid

    The review says it is a book laying out the long history of Russian disinformation in America.

    This one is quite old, and worth looking for: Public Works-A Handbook for self Reliant Living edited and compiled by Walter Szykitna. It is a compilation of many hundreds of pieces of public domain literature relevant to self-sufficient living.

    Carry on

    1. Hey Marine! I can also recommend ‘Public Works’. I’ve had my copy for 25 years or more. Since you mentioned it, I’m going to have to take it off the bookshelf, dust it off and re-read it. Thanks for the reminder

  14. Will someone who does canning please give me a recommendation for a book or video with lots of information? I really need to learn and do not even know where or how to start. My Mother knows how, but she is elderly and doesn’t can any longer. This is one area where I am so lacking. Thank you in advance!

    1. Ball’s Blue Book of Canning is the first Canning book to get. It’s been around and updated for 75 years or more. It’s available at almost every hardware store in the housewares section and of course on Amazon through this sites link(s) on Wednesdays. Another book is Jackie Clay’s book(s) on canning available through Backwoods Home and Self Reliance magazines. (Highly recommended magazines)

    2. SETX,
      I agree with Rucksack Rob, I started out with Ball’s Blue of canning more than 35 years ago, and I still use it as a reference. There are many good canning books out there and I have a few others, they all seem to have good info. I learned on my own, it’s not hard but can be time consuming, but the results are worth it!

      I would ask your mom if she still has her canning equipment, anything she does not use anymore may be a great windfall for you.

      2. Hi TXNurse,

        Thank you for chiming in. I truly appreciate it. I still have so much to learn and I’m behind in that process! I wish my Mom did have her canning supplies, but alas, she didn’t think us girls would want them and gave them away. I have been buying some jars and lids, at least. And I’ll be buying some books very soon as well.

    3. SETX,
      The book already mentioned is best, but videos are great, too. I really like the ones by Guildbrook Farm. Go to YouTube and check out their “Canning 101” video to get started.

    4. I am no fan of social media, but Rebel Canners on Facebook is really a tremendous resource for new canners. They are happy to answer questions, oftentimes on the fly and will not get nasty over ‘non-standard’ approaches. Just take care with OPSEC in setting up your account if you choose to join.

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