Pat’s Product Review – Cold Steel Recon Scout

Over the years, I’ve tested quite a few knives from Cold Steel, and I’ve yet to be disappointed in any of them. We’re going to take a closer look at the Cold Steel Recon Scout. This is one brute of a fixed blade knife, which is made In Taiwan, for those who ask. I’ve known Lynn Thompson, who owns Cold Steel, for at least 20 years or more, and he is one of these people who is dead serious about his knife designs and the final product. Lynn has, on more than one occasion, sent back an entire run of knives after he received them and inspected them. He won’t settle for shoddy workmanship with the Cold Steel name stamped on his products. To be sure, once in a while a “second” will slip through or a customer returns a knife for “whatever” reason. He won’t sell those knives as new; he sells them as “seconds” so you don’t ever have to worry about buying someone else’s used knife when you buy a new knife from Cold Steel. Once a year, Cold Steel holds a yard sale at their offices, where you can buy discontinued, “seconds”, or returned knives at a huge discount.

The name of this website is SurvivalBlog, so many of the knives (and other products) we test and report on are designed for survival, not just wilderness survival but survival on the mean streets. We also cover products suitable for camping and hunting needs and products that you can use around your home all the time. However, the Cold Steel Recon Scout is without a doubt one of the absolute best all-around survival knives you will ever find. It is designed to take whatever you can throw at it and come back for more, again and again!

Just a quick run down on the specs from the Cold Steel website on the Recon Scout is in order. We are looking at a fixed blade knife with a blade that is 7 1/2 inches long and made out of SK-5 High Carbon, NOT stainless steel. However, there is a black powder coating on the blade to help ward-off rust. One of the things I like best about carbon steel blades is that they hold an edge for the longest time, and when they do dull they are easy to bring back to scary sharp in a couple of minutes. The overall length of the Recon Scout is 12 1/2 inches, and it weighs a hefty 15 ounces. The blade thickness is 5/16-inches. Read that again; it is more than a quarter of an inch thick. The handle material is Long Kray-Ex, and I’m not sure what it is exactly, other than it feels like rubber, hard rubber. It has cross checkers for a good hold, and there is a lanyard hold in the butt of the handle. The sheath is made out of Secure-Ex, and it is a polymer material.

I’ve tested a lot of Cold Steel fixed blade knives, as well as folding knives over the years, and I believe that the Recon Scout is my favorite of the lot for camping, hunting, military use, and survival use. If you can break this knife, you should join the U.S. Marine Corps. They can break just about anything. I’ve tried to do some serious damage to the Recon Scout, all to no avail.

First off, the Recon Scout came as sharp as sharp can be. I would have been disappointed if it wasn’t up to my expectations. Then again, I’ve said it many times, I honestly believe that Cold Steel set the gold standard when it comes to sharp factory knives. I could take a piece of copy paper and slice off a piece from the top of the paper that was ever so thin. Try that with another knife that is 5/16th of an inch thick. It can’t be done.

This knife was made for chopping, too. It has just the right blade length and amount of heft to it to enable you to really chop. I have a lot of timber on my small homestead, so I never lack for a tree or branch to chop on. The Recon Scout is like a hatchet, when it comes to chopping. I also took some free-hanging poly rope, which is tough to cut because it is so slick. I could easily cut right through it, with one swing of the blade. Try that with many other fixed blades knives.

One test I don’t normally do with many knives is trying to break off the blade’s tip. It’s easier done that you think. How many times have you taken your pocket knife and used it for prying on something,only to have the tip snap right off? Yeah, that’s what I thought. I pounded the Recon Scout’s blade into a tree, about half an inch or maybe a little deeper with a hammer, and I “snapped” the knife out sideways numerous times trying to break the tip of the blade off. It didn’t happen! It won’t happen, either!

I took an old used car tire with steel belts and went to work on it with the Recon Scout. It easily cut through the rubber and the steel belts. Try that with many other knives and see what happens. I chopped on 2X4 wood, cut through cardboard boxes, and even used the knife in the kitchen a few times. It came through with flying colors. I threw the knife at a big pine tree, trying to make it stick. It never did. I did manage to finally scuff the black coating on the blade but just a little bit. I also did some digging in my yard, and we have a lot of rocks in our soil. I finally, at long last, managed to dull the blade. A few minutes on the croc stix had the blade scary-sharp all over again.

The Recon Scout used to come with a Nylon-type sheath, and while it was ok, I always wanted something more. Current knives come with the Secure-Ex sheath, and it is really a dandy one. You don’t have to worry about the sheath getting wet, staying wet, and causing the knife to rust. Nor do you have to worry about the tip of the knife poking through the sheath, if you’re not careful putting it back into the sheath.

The Recon Scout retails for $199.99, but you can sometimes find it discounted a bit, if you check around. Yeah, it’s not cheap, but quality never comes cheap. Now, for the bad news. If you go out and get a Recon Scout for your survival purposes or camping/hunting use, it might just be the last fixed blade knife you’ll ever need. I can’t recommend this knife highly enough. It is impressive and will handle many jobs that lesser fixed blade knives can’t handle. So, be advised, this might be the last fixed blade knife you will ever buy.

Letter Re: Cliven Bundy Support

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you today in support of Cliven Bundy. I attended Saturday’s rally at the Bundy Ranch in support of this rancher and his family. It is true that his family history of ranching this land pre-dates the BLM. It is also true that the BLM has regulated approximately 52 ranchers out of this area of Nevada in the past several years. Mr. Bundy refused to give them anymore of his money, reasoning that why give them the funds to regulate against him to remove him from the land.

The BLM has frequently used the tactics of endangered species to garner public support. It should be known that the desert tortoise reserve near Las Vegas has recently been closed, according to the BLM, due to lack of funding to support the tortoises. Many have been euthanized as they are considered un-adoptable. However, that same agency without funding for the tortoises has spent millions, I would guess, building a militarized compound outside the Bundy ranch, scrambling BLM personnel from neighboring states, and hiring outside contractors to rustle Mr. Bundy’s cattle and corral them. They also hauled heavy equipment onto his property and broke up water lines and cisterns that the Bundy’s had paid for themselves to water the cattle. These water supplies are also used by the wild animals that enjoy the same range land. The personal accounts of the family, as they told their story, was heartbreaking. This is the instance of one rancher and his family. We are all as vulnerable as they. The heavy hand of the federal government was never so visible as it has been this past week in Clark County, NV. I am proud of my fellow countrymen and women that gathered to stand with the Bundy family.

Thankfully, the BLM pulled back and for now it appears peaceful at the Bundy ranch. I was proud to be present and take a stand for the Bundy family this past Saturday. – H.D.

HJL Replies: It’s good to see people exercising their rights. The battle will continue on and rumors abound, so people need to keep a close eye on what is happening. What I find surprising is that the main stream media hardly covered the event at all, even when it escalated. The alternative media and Internet have proved invaluable here, as it has abroad, in keeping the power in the hands of the people. This will not be the end of this situation, and other situations may crop up both here and across the country. The people need to stay vigilant to reign in the abuses.

Economics and Investing:

Every Central Bank for Itself

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More indications of the state of the economy and how people like you are responding to it: A SurvivalBlog reader reports that time to delivery of his PM shipments are averaging about 133 days from order to delivery.

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Items from The Economatrix:

20 Price Increases That Are Breaking America’s Middle Class Families

Retailers Still Have A Lot Of Heavy Lifting To Do Despite March Gains

Russia Announces Decoupling Trade From Dollar

The U.S. Dollar: Currency Masquerading as Money

Goodbye American Middle Class: New Report Reveals That 62 Percent Of Americans Earn $20 Or Less Per Hour. Household Income Stuck In Neutral For A Generation.

Odds ‘n Sods:

This is so preposterous, yet it fits right in with Obama’s history of governance. Mark Levin warns: Obama preparing country for coup against Constitution. – P.M.

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EBOLA Detection Kits Deployed To National Guard Units In All 50 States. – T.Y.

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Shakedown: Treasury now seizing tax refunds from adult children to pay parents’ decades-old Social Security debts. – SDS

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Denver Schools to hire previously illegal immigrants. – B.R.

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Make Matches Waterproof With Nail Polish. – R.F.

Note that the picture only shows the heads of the matches covered. Wood is porus, and if you don’t seal the whole match, it may not matter as the water can be drawn up into the head through the wood via capillary action.

Notes from HJL:

As of Saturday afternoon (April 12, 2014), it appears that the supporters of Cliven Bundy, through their rapid response and willingness to escalate, have successfully forced the hand of the Feds. The court orders still stand, but the BLM has (wisely) decided that to pursue the matter further would endanger the safety of the public and their employees. You can bet that the situation is not resolved, but the inappropriate escalation of the BLM is done for now. Hopefully, this will go back to the courts for resolution rather than to the field.

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Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepperis providing a $500 gift certificate.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.

Round 52 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

My Two Cents, by G.H.

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I read with interest the after action reports for Sandy and the ice storm in the South, and I wanted to let people know what I have learned after three natural disasters, two ice storms, and a microburst. They all came on with little notice. The ice storm in January wasn’t supposed to be much of anything until it covered the area with over two inches of ice. In some areas there was no power for 42 days after that one! The microburst came at 2am in July and knocked down every power pole on the main road for miles. Recovery took five days for that one. It wasn’t bad because it was in the summer, and we didn’t have to deal with heating. Then there was ICEMAS 2013, Christmas week. Four days there were temperatures down to -17°F.

If you are on municipal water, don’t trust it after the power goes down. Fill your jugs and bathtub from the treated water in the pipes. Then don’t use any without boiling or treating it because having no power means you have no treated water. If you are on a well, after the power goes out is not the time to think about storing water. If you have time to prepare, get that bath tub filled to the overflow line. Not having a flush toilet just because you didn’t store some flush water is just one more thing you wish you had.

If the disaster comes on suddenly, like a microburst, there is no time to prepare at that point. The preparation happens when you purchase a storage tank and keep it filled. This can be done easily with a “Temper Tank”. This is a 42-gallon, fiberglass pressure tank that is installed at the point just before the water enters a hot water heater or an on-demand, instant type heater. The tank’s job is to even out the differences between summer and winter water intake temperature. If you are on municipal water when the power goes down, close off the valve to this “Temper Tank” to prevent contaminated water from entering. Then, the water is always fresh because you have been drawing hot water every day, thus, refreshing the “Temper Tank”. All you have to do is open the drain valve on the bottom of the tank and draw off potable water as needed via gravity. Located at the top of a “Temper Tank” is an air admittance valve that allows air into the tank as you draw off water, so the tank doesn’t implode from vacuum.

If you don’t have a generator, you should have at least four gallons of frozen water stored in your freezer to keep your fridge cool for short power outages (up to a couple of days). Move two of the frozen 1-gallon jugs from the freezer to the fridge to draw out warmth. These can also be used as potable water after they have melted. If you do have a generator, only operate it four hours at a time to stretch your fuel reserve. Swap your gallon water jugs between the freezer and the fridge each cycle. If it’s cold enough outside, simply re-freeze the jugs outside overnight.

I decided to optimize my resources by utilizing only one fuel– kerosene– for heat, lights, hot water, and cooking. It can be stored in large quantities safely, and it will not deteriorate if kept in a sealed container and out of the sun. Heat is obvious with kerosene. Open a window 1″ in each room where there is an operating kerosene heater and you will not die! Really! The portable heaters are available everywhere. I use a mixture of modern portables (non-pinned wicks, 22,000btu) and antique Perfection brand heaters (11,000 btu). I like the Perfections because they heat up faster than the modern units and shut down with way less smell. Additionally, you can fill the founts away from the heater, and the heaters are easily carried about. However, you must clean them between every tank of fuel. Don’t worry; it only takes about two minutes. Wick replacement can be accomplished without any tools, and you don’t have to spend an hour without heat. Wick replacement should only take five minutes. For more information: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KeroseneHeaterandStoveCollector & http://heatburner.websitetoolbox.com/ See Miles Stair for replacement wicks.

Military Thermo-Electric Kettle Fans keep ALL the heat from these heaters on the floor. They pop up as new surplus all over the Internet from time to time, but be aware they are pricy yet essential for not heating the ceiling (unless you live on the ceiling).

For everyday on-grid use, I use a Toyotomi Direct Vent kerosene fueled heater as my primary heat source. My water is heated by a Toyotomi kerosene-fueled water heater. Why these? Both can easily operate on a generator or, for a day, on a battery inverter/charger/switcher setup. (I used Dual Optima 8050-160 D31T batteries and a Surefire Heater Sentry 600w inverter/charger/switcher.)

For emergency cooking, few people use kerosene. It seems everybody turns to the Coleman portable propane or white gas, twin-burner camping stoves, but you can’t use them inside. I prefer to stay indoors to cook when it is -17°F!

A hundred years ago if you didn’t have access to gas, kerosene stoves were the preferred stove. Sure people can and do heat things up on a kerosene heater, but a kerosene stove produces a more concentrated heat with a blue, gas-like flame. There are several modern Korean multi-wick kerosene stoves available, Alpaca being the most recognized. These are tiny portable single-burner stoves. They can be purchased and ganged together in a stand for multiple burners. There is also a single-wick, #2688 Sockwick stove by Butterfly. It is a modern version of the Kerosun portable stove.

I prefer the vintage single-wick Perfection kerosene stoves in either the stand-a-lone cooktops or portable stoves, which can be purchased with one to five burners. The top of the line stoves have a built-in oven. I personally use an antique (1950’s) Perfection dual-burner portable kerosene stove. New reproductions are available from Schwartz Manufacturing, 1261 W 200 S, Berne, IN 46711-9779. You have to write them because it is an Amish concern. These stoves are also available through Shetler’s Wholesale, (260) 368-9069, fax: 260.368.9902 P.O.Box 8, 630 High St. Geneva, IN 46740. The single-burner portable stove is the 600MFG-Q model, and the double-burner portable stove is the 620-WQ model. New selected stand-a-lone models show up from time to time at Lehman’s https://www.lehmans.com. While kerosene stoves do produce a flame-like gas, you will heat things slower because the pot or pan must sit atop the tall chimney of the kerosene burner to produce the correct burn without smoke. Unlike the Alpaca’s, Sockwick’s, or the Kerosun models, you heat with an intense column of heat rather than a flame. By the way, the food doesn’t taste like kerosene either, if you were wondering.

There are also portable ovens that set on top of the kerosene burners. Perfection was the most famous cook-top oven. Boss made them as well as Griswold. Modern reproductions of the Perfections are still available from the above stove links and Lehman’s . I have found the portable stove-top ovens bake superior to a modern oven because of the flow of heat. There are no hot or cold spots. Don’t be fooled by the knock-down camping ovens. They’re not in the same league as a true Perfection or Schwartz reproduction. Kerosene stoves can also be used for emergency heating and will produce heat for over half a day on a single gallon of kerosene. Antiques are available on Ebay and generally cheaper than new, if you don’t mind rebuilding them. The fuel for these stoves (and lamps/lanterns) is water clear kerosene ONLY. Do NOT use pink stuff because it clogs up the wicks. In a pinch a SAD heater can also be used for cooking with kerosene only; do NOT use Kleen Heat for cooking. The best emergency lighting, off generator, is accomplished with Propane-powered wall lights by Humphrey. You get 50-60 watts of light per mantle with 2000 Btu of heat. One pound of propane delivers 11 hrs of light. If you use gas for cooking, it is easy to tee into the gas line and place a gas light above your cooktop. Make sure you have extra mantles on hand!

For portable light, I use kerosene with both wall-mounted and table models, burning Kleen Strip’s Kleen Heat. You can turn the wick higher without smoke and obtain more light with the Kleen Heat, plus there is almost no smell. It is basically Low Odor Mineral Spirits with the flash point raised to the kerosene level of 140°F. In kerosene carry lanterns, I prefer the Dietz #90 D-Lite style. They output less light than the tall style Hurricane lanterns, but for walking with a lantern as your only light, the #90 D-Lite puts more light on the ground and runs for a really long time between fillings. You can get them from W. T. Kirkman. Either antiques or modern reproduction lamps or lanterns work fine. For maximum light with flat wick kerosene lamps, not lanterns, I recommend replacing the 7/8″ (antique) or 1″ (modern) wick of a #2 Queen Anne or Eagle burner with a #3 Queen Anne Burner that utilizes a 1-1/2″ wick for more light. It will retrofit the #2 oil lamp collars to #3’s with dual size threads. This jumps the output of a single burner from 12 CP to 20 CP. They are available from http://www.Oillampparts.com . Duplex burners, if American and using 1-1/2″ wicks, can output up to 45 CP. A Rayo center-draft lamp can output 80 CP but only if you have a borosilicate glass chimney (e.g. Pyrex) and ONLY when using Kleen Heat or Low Odor Mineral Spirits (not kerosene) in center draft lamps. See Miles Stair for the premium chimneys . He also has high quality OEM-style replacement wicks, not the poor quality ones found at the local hardware store.

Why kerosene? During a storm power outage, it may be impossible to get your propane tanks refilled or if you have a large tank, getting a home delivery. Kerosene can not only be stored safely for years but with five gallon cans you can obtain it yourself. I prefer to store my kerosene in recycled plastic drums. If you hunt around, these can be found intact with bungs. Get drums with a minimum capacity of 30 gallons, preferably 55 gallons, and in blue color to keep the light out. Then, purchase 5-10 gallons of kerosene every pay period. You will fill that 55-gallon drum in just a few months. Speaking of kerosene cans, the California mandated CARB gurgle cans are a POS! Please spend the $ and obtain real high-flow cans. My recommendation is the military “Jerry” cans. Usually things were made better years ago. However, with military “Jerry” cans, unless you already have the metal ones, look at the Scepter plastic 20 liter/5 gallon plastic cans. The first time you pour out 5 gallons of kerosene, you will wonder how you ever got along without them! Ebay is the place to acquire used Scepter cans. You can legally own the Canadian versions but not the ones marked as U.S. military. Note: Scepter is a Canadian company, so they all come from Canada anyway! Look here for Scepter accessories: http://www.jagmte.com/index.php?route=common/home. These are two websites with instructions for making a DIY high-flow pour spout: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/off-roading-trails/224756-scepter-jerry-can-alternate-spout.html and http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/56733-2-quot-to-1-quot-PVC-fitting-for-Scepter-Military-Fuel-Container-Spout.

I am fussy about my kerosene. You can use K1 from “locked” pumps. However, if you can find it, Canadian #1 Stove Oil is the best due to its 15ppm sulfur content. I then add .5 oz of Kero-Kleen Scented Kerosene Treatment per five gallons of kerosene. I like vanilla. I use the Kleen Heat Kerosene Substitute in all my lanterns and lamps.

One tip for finding food after a disaster, stay away from the grocery stores. They are most likely all picked over anyway. Hit the convenience stores for fast food and drug stores for canned goods. Most of the drug stores are just convenience/grocery stores that happen to sell drugs. Also, always take a flashlight with you. Most times the store personnel will let you in unescorted, if you have your own flashlight. Also, always have cash! Have lots of it and in small denominations because without power or banks, change will be hard to come by. Have another way to charge your cell phone besides plugging into the wall, too. Either a car charger, USB, or solar work okay. I notice that the crank units don’t seem to work all that well.

Letter Re: Banksters

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Jim,

Just wanted to share with you the experience I just had with the Banksters a few minutes ago. I am currently living in a military town (after retiring from the military) but had to go to Virginia to handle some business for my elderly mother. I took her to the bank to cash a personal check for an account that we are both on. I was flabbergasted when told by the teller that the computer systems had been down all week, on and off, and at this time we could not get anything more than $100, unless someone knew my mother personally (which makes no sense since that still would not be verification of what’s in the account). The manager told me that even though they couldn’t verify she had $100 in her account either, their protocol was to allow people to take out $100.

I fortunately live only 200 miles away and have my credit card, but I only have a small amount of cash on me. This is criminal and the epitome of incompetence on the part of the banks. Needless to say I am closing her accounts. However, interestingly enough the banker matter-of-factly said, “You can close the account, but it’s like this in all banks since we all are on computer systems.”

Odds ‘n Sods:

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It would appear that the Federal government is having trouble figuring out who they are supposed to protect and who should be prosecuted… Mexican soldiers draw guns on U.S. agents .

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PG&E offers $250K reward in California grid attack – SFGate – B.B.

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Regarding the immigration issue: Sen. Sessions: ‘Deliberate Plan by President’ to Collapse U.S. Law Enforcement System

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Honey, the delectable condiment for breads and fruits, could be one sweet solution to the serious, ever-growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, according to researchers who presented their findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Honey is a new approach to fighting antibiotic resistance. – H.L.

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Sad that our own soldiers would treat Americans this way. Sadly, it’s what this government wants. That’s why they have their employees do firearm training with pictures of pregnant women, grandmothers, and children as targets. This is what if you see something say something leads to: Vacationing Family Pulled Over, Handcuffed At Gunpoint By Air Force Base Security – P.M.

Notes from HJL:

The Bundy Ranch continues to spiral with the BLM not backing down, and the militias are beginning to show up. This escalation of the conflict is not good and will result in bloodshed, unless the federal government backs down. For those who are not sure about what rights are being violated, I’ve broken it down into several sections here:

  1. First Amendment rights.

    “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

    Make no mistake, the entire land in question is public land, managed by the BLM. The BLM violates the rights of the U.S. citizens when it tries to create “no free speech zones” by cordoning off sections of the land for people to express their First Amendment rights. Not only the highway but also the the land itself (managed by the BLM) is public. As stated yesterday, there already exists a zone for people to express their First Amendment rights– it’s called the United States of America. It is completely repugnant for the BLM to attempt to restrict those rights, and it suggests that the true intent of their actions and possibly the actions themselves are shameful. Today, we have unconfirmed reports that the cell towers that serve the Bundy’s ranch have been shut down, suggesting that the law enforcement are intent on hiding their own actions. We have already seen the near riot that ensued when BLM officers with dogs, drawn tasers and slung AR-15s/M16s were confronted by protestors armed only with wagging fingers and cell phone cameras. The BLM engaged with escalated violence first, and then reported to the mainstream media that their dog was kicked and the protestors had to be tased to be controlled. Watch yesterday’s video again and see for yourself if their claims hold true. The dog was clearly released on the person who then kicked it. The officers tased a person who was only armed with a wagging finger. For this reason, they want a communications blackout to perpetuate their skewed and false narrative.

  2. Prior usage rights.

    The southwest states of the United States of America have a long tradition of recognizing “prior usage rights”. There are land grants that trace their history clear back to the 1600s. Water rights are similarly recognized based upon when the water was first used for agricultural usage. Cliven Bundy’s family’s grazing rights can be traced back 150 years to the formation and recognition of the State of Nevada in 1864. The BLM was formed in 1946. It is clear that the Bundys have prior usage rights that predate even the formation of the BLM. If you include the predecessor of the BLM– The General Land Office (GLO), which was formed in 1812, their formation could be considered to predate the Bundy’s usage, but the fact that the land was continually grazed for over 150 years shows that the GLO and the subsequent BLM not only allowed but agreed to the land usage by the Bundy family. The courts have erred in their rulings over these usage rights and have either set a dangerous precedent or followed in the footsteps of decisions that overstep moral and ethical boundaries regarding eminent domain. This dangerous trend is becoming the powder keg that we see being worked out in this case. The fact that multiple branches of the federal government have ruled against what should be standard law simply shows that they are either colluding or ignorant. The rulings by the judges are a prime example of progressive judges creating law, rather than interpreting law.

  3. Open range laws.

    Under open range laws, if you don’t want cattle grazing on your land, it is your responsibility to fence them out. By requiring the rancher to fence his own cattle out of the BLM land, they are placing unfair, unprecedented, and unlawful burden on the rancher. It is the responsibility of the BLM to erect fences around property they don’t want grazed.

  4. Moral and ethical issues.

    Morals are what we do; ethics are what we ought to do. In this case, the Bundys have chosen to press for their rights rather than knuckle under the heavy-handed tactics of the federal government. No tortoise nor any cow is worth the loss of human life, yet that is where this is headed if the federal government does not back down. There is suspicion that the contractors who have been brought in to remove the cows are killing many of them (whether by accident or design). There is suspicion that some wearing the BLM uniform are not duly sworn law enforcement officers.

  5. Escalation of conflict.

    So far, the conflict has been between the Bundy ranch, neighbors, a few friends and the BLM. As this drags on, the conflict will escalate with militia and others from across the country getting involved. The emotions will run higher. The thin line between anger and action will be narrowed, and at some point either a law enforcement officer who feels threatened or a protester who is being unfairly attacked will pull their firearm, and it will escalate into bloodshed. The longer the conflict runs, the greater the chance of this escalation occurring. The governor has already weighed in verbally in support of the Bundys. Where is Harry Reid?

o o o

Today we present another entry for Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepperis providing a $500 gift certificate.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.

Round 52 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Self Defense Methods to Hone the Modern Prepper, by J.D.E.

It’s a warm summer evening. Your children have been begging you all day to take them to that new cartoon playing at the theater. It’s a Saturday, and you don’t have to be at church until noon the next morning. You give in to those little “pretty pleases” they’ve been charming you with all day. The movie is over around 11:00pm, and two tired but content children follow you out to your truck. There are very few people in the parking lot, and you are 15 feet from your vehicle when the hair on the back of your neck stands at attention. You’ve felt this before and know to listen to your senses, but it’s too late. Suddenly you are slammed to the ground from behind. A large man sits on your chest, while delivering blow after blow to your head and face. The weight of your attacker forces the air out of you, and his strikes feel like someone is slamming you with an anvil. You can hear the screams of your children as another man drags them toward a van you hadn’t even noticed parked by your truck. Now your fight has just begun. Are you ready?

I would guess the answer to my previous question is “no”. These days there are a lot of misconceptions about training for real violence. We sit in our recliners and watch our favorite action hero fight off assassin after assassin, and we think that this is how a real fight would play out. He sucks up more punishment than superman could endure, and right when he is about to be finished off he rises up and defeats his enemy. As entertaining as these films may be, this couldn’t be further from reality. On the contrary, real violence is much less poetic. It is fast. It is ruthless, and it will never come when you are ready for it. So what do we do? How can we prepare for an attack that will be hidden until the last second? Let’s begin with the human condition.

Every human is unique in their thoughts, experiences, beliefs, and abilities, all of which influence the way we will respond to a stressful life or death encounter. A large proportion of society walk through life thinking of violence as something they see only on the news or in the theater. It is not something they wish to address, and it is always something that happens to someone else, until it happens to them. If you count yourself among this group, then it is time to change your thought process. Violence is something that happens daily. According to the FBI website 1,203,564 violent crimes were committed in the U.S. in 2011! Your odds of being involved in a violent encounter are around one in 300. There are predators in this world that, if given the chance, will attack, beat, rape, or murder you and your loved ones without hesitation. If you are okay with rolling the dice, then stop reading here. Those of you reading this who want to develop the tools and the mindset of a survivor should continue reading.

I have been involved in martial arts for the past 16 year. I am also a Tactical Medic for our county SWAT team and have spent the past six years as a medic on a 911 ambulance and in a rural Emergency Room. I have studied many different arts, such as Tae Kwan Do, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Filipino Martial arts, and Jeet Kune Do concepts. After years of training, teaching, and application (not to mention years of providing medical treatment to victims of beatings, stabbing, and shootings), my ideas have shifted about training in hand-to-hand combat. I now prefer to teach less technique and instead help my students develop their attributes. It is our attributes that separate a warrior from a fighter, but for the sake of this article I will cover some basic techniques as well.

The Stance

A good fighting stance should be simple. Feet shoulder width apart with your lead foot, roughly a half step ahead of your rear foot. If you are too spread out your mobility is limited; if your feet are too close together you will be easily toppled. Adopt a solid stance, similar to your shooting stance but shifting your weight back and forth on the balls of your feet. Keep your hands up in front of your face with knuckles about the height of your eyebrows (but not in front of your eyes) and hands relaxed. Your body should be relaxed, not tense, or you will limit the speed and power you can deliver. Now practice moving in all directions. If you wish to move right then your right foot moves first, if you wish to move left then your left foot moves first. The same concept applies to moving forward, backward, and diagonal. Now that you look like a fighter, it’s time to train like one.

The Range

There are five ranges that we teach in empty hand fighting. These ranges are: street fight, kicking, punching, trapping, and grappling. Street fight range is where you are safe; your attacker can’t touch you with any body part or weapon. Kicking, punching, and grappling range are pretty straight forward, but trapping is something most people are unfamiliar with. Trapping range is between punching and grappling range. Most people have punched or wrestled before, so when they find themselves in trapping range they want to step back to punch or close the gap to grab you. They are unfamiliar with this range but this is where you can inflict the most punishment. Headbutts, knees, elbows, and thumbing the eyes are the tools for this range. Not that being on the ground is a range, but train to get off the ground fast. Being stuck on the ground is a death sentence. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” -Sun Tzu

Practical Tools

Choose practical tools to put in your tool box.    Knees and elbows are strikes that bring maximum force with minimal risk to you.  The skull is what nature designed to protect your body’s super computer. It is hard for a reason.  There are 27 small bones in the hand. Smashing a sack of fragile bones (a fist) into the skull is a great way to fracture a metacarpal, rendering you combat ineffective.  An eye gouge will work on anyone, no matter how tough they are. It’s hard to fight when you’ve lost your sight. The same goes for a kick to the groin. Anyone can do it, and 99 times out of 100 it will yield better results than a spinning hook kick. To quote Bruce Lee, “It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum.”

Hone Awareness

Being aware of what is going on around us is difficult these days. We seem to be in a constant rush, and we tune out things that are happening all around us. Awareness is what will keep us out of a deadly conflict; it’s that awareness and our inner voice telling us that something feels wrong. Have you ever felt the hair stand up on the back of your neck and you dismissed it. Your senses were trying to tell you something that you weren’t picking up on. Here is a simple drill you can do anywhere: Sit with your eyes closed and try to count how many sounds you hear. You’ll be amazed at what you’ve been tuning out. Now, plug your ears and look all around at the things you ignore and the things behind those things. Get the idea? “Intuition is always right in at least two important ways, it is always in response to something and it always has your best interest at heart.” – Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

Train

Commit to your training so that it is not a thought but a response.   I was 20 when I had my first “real” fight.  There were four of them and two of us.  I had just become an apprentice instructor in JKD/FMA************* and had trained five days a week to do so.  We were significantly inebriated, and these guys figured they’d have an easy fight on their hands.  Once the fight was over, they were packing each other away.  I don’t remember the entire ordeal because once the adrenaline hit me, brought on by my body’s natural stress response and a whole lot of liquor, I blacked out.  I do know that they threw the first punch and I threw the final elbow that put my attacker down hard.  I regained my conscious thought and vision instantly after, and we took off. (A fight is like an ambush; you fight hard and fast and then escape because you don’t stick around for more of them to show up.)  My body and mind worked together without my conscious thought and carried me through what could have been a trip to the ER or the morgue. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman said it best, “You do not rise to the occasion, you fall to your highest level of training.”  

Test and Revise

Best sure to test your training and constantly revise. The last place you want to find out that something doesn’t work is in the heat of the moment.  This is why we train countless hours, honing our mind and body to a razors edge. We can afford to make mistakes in the gym but not in a real situation. “Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.” -Sun Tzu   

Train in Every Condition

This goes for physical condition as well as environmental.  Train sick. Train tired. Train hung over or intoxicated. Train angry; train sad; train happy. Train in the rain; train in the snow. Train on slopes and slippery surfaces.  Train for any type of condition– mental, physical, and geographic.  You will never be attacked when it is ideal for you. “It is not enough that we do our best, sometimes we must do what is required.” -Winston Churchill  

Attributes, Attributes, Attributes!!!  

Attributes are the most important thing you can train, period. Attributes include speed, timing, endurance, reaction, strength, accuracy, explosiveness, flexibility, mental toughness, killer Instinct, combat breathing, and pain tolerance.  This is just a small list of critical attributes that can help you overcome a high stress critical incident.  Your skills will never be 100% without a superior mind and body.  What if you saw a loved one in immediate danger, and you had to sprint 300 yards to get to them. Would you have enough endurance to do that and then fight off three hardened street thugs with your bare hands?  It’s said “The firstest with the mostest is the bestest” (a modified quote from Nathan Bedford Forrest).  Train your attributes.  

Take It To the Next Level  

In terms of a hand-to-hand combat high stress encounter, victory goes to the violent.  Understand that when your life or your loved one’s is on the line, there is no such thing as excessive force.  In the real world, it’s win or lose, live or die.  You must be able to go from a loving and compassionate soul to a merciless storm of controlled violence. This takes practice for most people. Throw a raw chuck roast into a t-shirt and set a timer for 10 seconds, have your training partner do the same. Close your eyes and think of the most calming, happy thoughts you can. Have your partner start the timer. Then, you tear into your roast using only your canines. (If you bite with all of your teeth it will only bruise, but the canines are designed to rip flesh. Hence the term biting off more than you can chew.) Race your partner to see who can chew their roast up faster.  This is a twofold exercise because you can practice a very aggressive defense– your bite– and you and your partner will know what it is like to chew into raw, bloody flesh. (Do not swallow; wash your mouth out thoroughly afterward with a disinfectant.) Disgusting right? Most people would laugh if you told them that this is how you train biting and develop killer instinct, but it will surprise you the mental edge you will develop. “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ but I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?'” – George Bernard Shaw. Think outside the box!  

Make Stress Part of Your Training

I used to teach kids martial arts classes, and two of my students happened to be the sons of our local *******LEO’s K9 trainer.  I somehow found my way into a bite suit, which was an experience to say the least.  Having seven trained German Shepherds and Belgium Malinois waiting to take turns tearing your arm off is a great way to inoculate yourself with stress. Being afraid of something and trying to avoid it is normal for all living beings. Consciously make the decision to put yourself in uncomfortable situations, so that when your body is slammed with adrenaline in preparation for fight or flight, it is not foreign to you. It is just another feeling like hunger or thirst– uncomfortable but not uncommon. “It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” -Hans Selye

The Punch Line

You can spend your life reading about a subject, but until you put the knowledge into action it will only be a thought. Take the tools and concepts above and incorporate them into your training. Remember, you have to train for your body type, age, gender, disability, strength, and so forth. What works for everyone else may have no use to you. Above all, right now, this very second, you must ask yourself how far am I willing to go? Make up your mind where your limitations lie. Determine what line will you absolutely not cross. There is no limit to what I will do to save my life or that of my loved ones, but you are not me, and I am not you. Regardless, the time to figure this out is now, because in the heat of the moment you will not have time to hash out your moral dilemmas.

Let us return to the beginning “Suddenly you are slammed to the ground from behind and a large man sits on your chest while delivering blow after blow to your head and face. The weight of your attacker forces the air out of you and his strikes feel like someone is slamming you with an anvil. You can hear the screams of your children as another man drags them toward a van you hadn’t even noticed parked by your truck. For a split second the pain is unbearable, but then your training takes over. You thrust your hips up driving your attacker’s chest toward your face. Grabbing him around his back, you pull him in tight and begin tearing pieces of flesh out of his chest as if someone were flicking a scalpel against his skin. He screams out in pain, and you roll him over, pinning his shoulders to the ground you smash his nose with a powerful headbutt and deliver three fast strikes to his groin. Before your mind can catch up to your body, you have smashed his face with a heal stomp. He is out of the fight. You’re sprinting now, like a lion chasing a gazelle. The other man has no clue his friend is lying in a puddle of blood, motionless, and you are on him before he can open the sliding door of his van. He turns just in time to meet your elbow strike, which was intended for his spine, crushing his trachea. He folds at the waist gasping for air as you drive your knee into his jaw, like a 12-gauge slug. The would-be kidnapper crumples to the pavement, and the attack is over. Because of your dedication and resolve, you have turned a murder/kidnapping into a triumph over evil and possibly prevented this from happening to another family. Your children will go home safe tonight and live long happy lives. Well, what are you waiting for? Hit the gym. You’re wasting time!

“Sweat saves blood.” -Erwin Rommel

Letter Re: Clark County Nevada Cattle Situation

Hugh,

I have been a long time reader of this site and find it informative and useful. I think it would be prudent of you to do a bit more research into the accusations that Mr. Bundy is making regarding his cattle. I am not an investigator or a lawyer and do not want you to take what I am saying at face value. Please do your own research. Mr. Bundy is probably a good guy fighting what he believes are injustices to him and fighting in the only way he knows. The bottom line is that according to media reports including “Theblaze” he admits that he has not been paying grazing fees to the Bureau of Land Management since 1993 for the grazing use of public land managed by that agency. When people do not pay their grazing fees, it means they are taking public resources without compensating the public for that “takings”. We, you and I, are the public so he is taking from us by not paying his fees.

Apparently, in 1998 the BLM and USFWS set aside the land he grazes on for the threatened Desert Tortoise. So he no longer has any “right” or permit to graze that land. Because of his family’s long history in the area and that fact that this designation may harm him and his families future that battle seems like the one he should be fighting not the grazing fees.

Having said that, I will also say there are no real good guys here because the BLM has fumbled this from the start. Setting up a so called “First Amendment Area” and/or arresting those that are protesting their actions outside of those areas is obscene and unconstitutional. I also can not see why they need to close such a large area of roads in order to accomplish their goal of rounding up his cattle.

I am only going off of news stories, and to be honest stories in the news are not always factual, so I wouldn’t bet my reputation on them. I am just providing a bit of background information so you can do your own research and realize that this is a bit more complicated situation then Mr. Bundy being persecuted by the feds. And honestly, I think comparing this situation to Ruby Ridge incident where Mr. Weaver was persecuted for a relatively minor infraction and his family members injured and killed is inflammatory to say the least. – Anonymous

HJL Replies: We have received a number of responses similar to this one, and at first glance they seem to have a valid point. Mr. Bundy isn’t paying his fees and shouldn’t be allowed to graze. The point being missed is one called “prior usage rights”. Most people in states on either coast generally have a very limited knowledge, because the Federal government “owns” very little land within those state boundaries. In the Southwest, though, the issue is often forefront because resources can be so scarce. The issue generally comes up regarding water rights due to the scarcity of water, but land and mineral rights also occasionally occur. This case falls under that category. As stated in my notes today, the Bundys had prior usage of the land (and possibly prior usage to the formation of the state of Nevada). This means that the BLM’s options according to long standing tradition and case law are pretty limited. By bringing the Desert Tortoise into the mix, it is unclear whether that is simply a ploy by the federal government to pre-empt those usage rights and declare eminent domain or if it is a real problem. It is even unclear if the federal government has any standing on owning land in these states, as there is a clear trail suggesting that the federal government was supposed to turn over that land to the states upon them becoming states. There is no cut-and-dried explanation for any of the BLM’s actions, and there is clear precedence on Mr. Bundy’s actions. In any case, the federal government’s heavy-handed tactics should be reigned in.