Those Altoid tin survival kits can be handy, but space restrictions mean carrying a more functional knife is out of the question. Is there a way to combine the best of the mini survival kits with the workhorse of a fixed blade knife?
Yes, as survival authority Jim Cobb shows in the video above. His knife sheath DIY survival kit strategy combines the portability of small kits with the utility of a knife.
This technique would work perfectly as an outdoor survival kit, a travel survival kit, emergency kits for cars, camping survival kits or even a fun project as survival kits for kids (with proper adult supervision, of course).
Putting Together a Knife Sheath DIY Survival Kit
Cobb first made a couple Altoid mini survival kits before attaching a camera pouch to a large knife sheath. The tins slip nicely inside the camera pouch. Additional compartments in the pouch can hold a number of other helpful items.
Cobb points out these items in his knife sheath DIY survival kit:
Tinder tabs LED light x2 Snare wire Over-the-counter pain relief and caffeine tablets Butane lighter Signal whistle Small folding knife x2 Button compass Can opener Magnesium fire striker Water purification tablets Bandages Signal mirror Paracord (18 feet)
Knife Sheath DIY Survival Kit: Considerations
As Cobb mentions in the video, adding the DIY survival kit makes the sheath heavier to carry. It might be better to wear the sheath on a shoulder instead of on a belt.
There are lots of survival shelter designs out there, but ideally they should all be located according to these five tips.
Editor’s note: The first step in knowing how to build a survival shelter is to choose a location. These tips from Creek Stewart in his new book, The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide, might seem obvious at first, but don’t blow them off. In a survival situation, your mind might be racing and not thinking clearly. Fall back on what you’ve learned to save time and energy.
There are many survival shelter designs, but ideally they should be situated according to the following criteria. Then a fire can be built, water can be boiled and the odds of survival go way up. ~Ben
Survival Shelter Location Consideration #1: Dry
No matter what kind of weather, region, or environment you find yourself in, you must choose the driest possible shelter site. Wet and/or moist shelters kill people. If you are wet, you can develop hypothermia.
Remember, water travels downhill so, typically, elevated areas are drier. Southward-facing site locations are also drier because they receive sunlight as the sun travels east to west.
Survival Shelter Location Consideration #2: Away from Hazards
Flash flood areas mentioned above are prime examples of naturally hazardous areas. Other well-known hazards include:
Poisonous plants
Stinging or biting insects
Rock cliffs
Large, dead tree limbs overhead
Survival Shelter Location Consideration #3: Close to Resources
You need some resources to meet your basic survival needs. Make sure you have access to:
Water
Building materials
Fuel for fire
Survival Shelter Location Consideration #4: Meets Purpose of Shelter
The survival shelter designs you choose should be heavily influenced by why you need a shelter. What is the purpose of your shelter?
There are no black-and-white rules to shelter configurations. Every scenario is different, which is why it’s absolutely critical that you be able to improvise.
However, learning some basic shelter configurations for a variety of scenarios will give you a knowledge base to work from. Your creativity and on-hand resources will fill in the blanks.
Survival Shelter Location Consideration #5: Energy Conservation
Energy conservation should be at the forefront of every survival decision you make—especially shelter. Building even a simple survival shelter can be a very labor-intensive task.
I’ve worked eight hours of back-breaking labor building cold-weather debris huts that, in the end, gave me only the bare minimum shelter I needed. Working like this spends thousands of calories, and that will eventually catch up with you.
I’m not suggesting that you be lazy, but rather make intelligent decisions that help you save time and energy. Try to develop a partnership with Mother Nature instead of working against her. Let her do some work for you if you can.
Traveler’s Diarrhea is a broad term for diarrhea contracted while traveling, most often associated with consuming contaminated foods or drink. This general definition could cover international, domestic or even local travel (to a neighborhood restaurant, for example).
Because remedies are readily available in the developed work, some may not take the illness seriously. But travelers at home, abroad or around the block need to be wary of the affliction at all times. Diarrhea can cause severe dehydration, which can kick off a host of other health concerns.
Traveler’s Diarrhea: Prevention
As Vincent Zandri points out in his Living Ready University Online Course, Travel Safely Outside the Country, there are some common sense ways to avoid Traveler’s Diarrhea no matter the location.
Zandri recommends avoiding ice from questionable establishments, watching for tap water being sold as bottled water and carrying a portable sterilizer, such as a SteriPen.
On the food front, Zandri says to trust your nose. If it doesn’t look good to begin with, don’t eat it. Remember that restaurants might serve food that looks safe, but the conditions in the kitchen could be appalling. Food served hot usually offers the best odds of a safe meal.
As a rule of thumb, remember the old traveler’s rule of “boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it” when it comes to food.
Traveler’s Diarrhea: The Disturbing Fact
Even if all the advice in Travel Safely Outside the Country is followed, that still might not be enough to prevent Traveler’s Diarrhea. Here’s why, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found in the Living Ready University Online Course.
The earliest study that addressed the question of food and water precautions was published in 1973; it concluded that “drinking bottled liquids, and avoiding salads, raw vegetables, and unpeeled fruits failed to prevent illness.” In a study of returning travelers from Mexico and Peru published in 1978, in which >70% of travelers reported TD, the author noted that “avoidance of tap water, uncooked foods, and ice cubes did not make a difference in the outcome.”
In a famous study in 1983, a survey of over 10,000 travelers worldwide found not only that observing food and water precautions failed to prevent TD, but also that people who claimed that they exercised more caution were at increased risk of acquiring TD: “Diarrhea seemed to occur more frequently the more a person tried to elude it!”
That’s right. Just by virtue of traveling outside your regular area (in or out of the country), your odds of contracting Traveler’s Diarrhea go way up. So what can you do about it?
Traveler’s Diarrhea: It’s Not What, But Where
The CDC goes on to state that it’s not what you eat or drink, but where you consume it that makes the difference. This is because food preparation conditions can vary.
From the CDC:
Some restaurants fail to provide sinks for employees to wash their hands after going to the toilet. Cutting boards may not be washed between cutting raw meat and peeling and cutting vegetables. Foods are cooked but then may be left to sit at ambient temperatures for extended periods of time because of a paucity of refrigerator space or power cuts.
Windows may not be screened to keep out flies. Defrosting meat can sit on a refrigerator shelf and drip juices on already cooked foods.
Again, this could happen while traveling in or out of the country. On your home turf, you know the best places to get safe food and drink. Away from home you don’t. Your odds of Traveler’s Diarrhea go up.
Traveler’s Diarrhea: The New Rule of Thumb
That doesn’t mean you should abandon common advice about Traveler’s Diarrhea. Avoid tap water, eat cooked foods, etc. But the new rule of thumb is to either prepare the food yourself or to find out if where you are eating is truly offering safe food and drink.
Jim Cobb is back with another of his innovative survival kit ideas. This time he focuses on making a workplace survival kit.
No, his mini survival kit video isn’t about navigating awkward water cooler discussions or office politics. The aim here is to have a pocket survival kit that can be carried to and from the workplace.
Workplace survival kits are an often overlooked part of emergency preparedness. In a given week, a person working full-time likely spends a high percentage of the day away from home (don’t forget the commute). Home survival kits are great, but they don’t carpool.
A full-blown disaster doesn’t have to happen for workplace survival kits to become necessary. Severe weather could prevent employees from leaving. A power outage might make things uncomfortable. Sprinklers could drench employees as they exit because of fire. In the winter, that could be deadly.
Workplace Survival Kit Items
Here’s Cobb’s workplace emergency kit checklist from the video:
Candles Lighter Pen light Small knife Coins (money to use in vending machines) Cash Emergency blanket Snack foods Pain relievers & over-the-counter medicine Emergency whistle Batteries Hand sanitizer First Aid kit
Other items could include bottles of water, prescription meds, N95 face masks, extra clothing, a cell phone charger and anything else specific to the workplace location.
Your Workplace Survival Kits
Of course, every workplace survival kit will be different. This video is just to get you thinking. The only hard-and-fast rule is that something is better than nothing.
Have you made a workplace survival kit? What items did you include? Leave a note in the comments below.
Editor’s Note: This tutorial on how to make debris huts is excerpted from The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide book.
What is a Debris Hut?
Just as people use lightweight, fluffy insulation in their walls and attics to keep out the cold, we can keep cold away from our bodies by covering ourselves with forest debris — leaves, grasses, pine needles, cattail down – anything that resembles lightweight insulation material.
Like insulation, piles of dead leaves, grasses, and pine needles create dead air space. Dead air is air that is trapped within the debris. A layer of dead air helps keep cold air from reaching you from the outside and keeps your body heat next to your body instead of letting it escape.
Debris huts are simple to make. Make a huge pile of leaves and forest debris and crawl inside. Be sure to place some debris under you as well to prevent the cold earth from sucking the warmth out of you.
Remember when I talked about building emergency shelters near important resources? If you build a debris hut, you’ll want to be near lots of leaves, grasses, or pine needles. The great thing is that in cold months, when you need lots of dead leaves, Mother Nature helps you out by dropping them on the ground for you to scoop up.
How to Make a Debris Hut
A debris hut involves building a simple framework of sticks and then piling forest debris on top of it. It’s also important to stuff the inside with debris as well to help retain heat.
Here’s how I build a debris hut:
Step 1: Using two Y sticks and one long, center ridge pole, create a framework long enough to contain your body.
Step 2: Lean a framework of sticks against the center ridge pole 1″–3″ (3–8cm) apart to create a sturdy roof area.
Step 3: Pile on a bunch of smaller branches, briars, or brambles that will hold the debris in place as you dump it on.
Step 4: Keep piling until the frame is covered with 2’–3′ (1m) of debris – the more debris, the warmer the hut.
Step 5: Fill the inside with debris and crawl inside. Be sure to plug the door hole with debris to prevent heat loss out the front of the shelter.
Your Turn: Ever Made a Debris Hut?
What tips do you have for making debris huts? Post them in the comments section below.
Editor’s Note: This piece on gun myths was submitted by reader Joseph Terry. Terry is a retired law enforcement instructor who now offers tips for using firearms as a tool for preparedness.
It’s important to stay level-headed with any element of preparedness, but it’s especially true when it comes to firearms. There are plenty of assumptions about their use during personal protection encounters. Don’t fall for the hype. If firearms are part of your preparedness plans, you owe it to yourself and your family to seek training from professionals.
~Ben
Three Gun Myths that Need to Die
by Joseph Terry
Guns come with a ton of mythology that can get you killed. Here I will bust three of the most common gun myths.
Gun Myth #1: It’s Enough to Just Have a Gun for Personal Protection
Purchasing a firearm for personal protection when you don’t get adequately trained in its use is just like handing your kid the keys to the car without a driving class.
Think about the effective use of that firearm. It’s the ability to deliver, in less than two seconds, two adequate projectiles into the center chest area of a person who has demonstrated the intent and capacity to do you lethal harm at distances of 10 feet to 25 yards.
Do that while you are so amped on adrenalin that you can’t see straight, take a deep breath or perform any fine motor functions.
Get the picture? A gun without effective and frequent training is a hollow threat.
Gun Myth #1 Solution
When you go to the gun store, don’t buy a gun (yet). Ask where you can get good training.
All serious shoot schools and gun clubs have “loaner” guns, and they are both friendly and effective at giving a beginner a good launch pad.
Before you buy any gun, get trained first in basic gun handling safety and see which guns seem to fit well in your hand and point naturally. (Pick a spot on the wall, close your eyes and point the gun at where you remember the spot to be. Open your eyes. If the gun is on-target, it fits you.)
Get the gun type that is most simple to operate and that fits you, then pick the caliber. Shot placement is much more important than what the gun shoots. Figure into the price of the gun the cost of 500 rounds of ammo for it. (It will take you not less than three hundred rounds to learn to shoot your gun.) Store the remainder of the ammo in a cool, dark place. Price and availability on ammunition will vary widely with the political winds. A gun without ammo is as useful as a microwave oven in a power outage.
It’s also a good idea to take a concealed carry class if one is offered in your area.
Gun Myth #2: I Can Just Take My Gun Out and the Bad Guy Will Go Away
Do not point a gun at anybody unless you are legally justified to use lethal force. Train using verbal commands, such as, “Back off or I will shoot you.” And for goodness’ sake, sound like you mean it.
Gun Myth #3: I’ve Shot My Gun, I Know How It Works
Think so? Let me tell you what basic firearms proficiency is as a police firearms instructor. It is the ability to consistently:
Pick up the gun from a table and quickly confirm that it is unloaded, or safely unload it.
Combat load (with a cartridge in the chamber and safety “on” if magazine fed).
Holster or sling without looking.
Draw the handgun or shoulder the weapon smoothly, in a good stance without endangering other shooters or bystanders.
Demonstrate standing, kneeling, prone and barricade shooting positions.
Aim using the sights properly and sweep the safety “off” (only after the gun is pointed on target).
Engage multiple targets at varied distances appropriate for the firearm, then immediately return the weapon to “safe.”
Reload while moving to another shooting position without looking at the gun or ammo pouches.
Clear jams if they occur, smoothly and quickly, without losing sight of the target(s).
Field strip, clean and return the firearm to whatever condition required by the instructor.
Gun Myth #3 Solution
Do that drill at least three times a year (which means you have to find a range that lets you move while you shoot) and guess what? You are still a “novice” defensive shooter.
Then, take a class at one of the many excellent schools that offer personal defensive shooting techniques and rise to the intermediate proficiency level.
Filter water before purifying it. In this example, a bandana is used to remove particles before purifying water in a metal container.
How do you purify water? Here are some quick tips for water purifying in wilderness survival situations.
Unlike snow, ice should be purified before drinking. This is because of the potentially dangerous contaminants frozen inside. (Watch what the snow is falling in or on, though.)
Turbid (murky) water has a drastic impact on the effectiveness of water purifying tablets. Your water must be clear and free of floating debris for water purifying tablets, or any other chemical treatment, to work. Filter the water before applying the chemical.
The same goes for using sunlight to purify water. Murky water contains particles that will block UVA sunlight from disinfecting. Clear water is best.
A sock, a bandana and a shirt are just a few quick makeshift water filters to use in a pinch.
Sycamore trees are a great indicator that water is nearby. Sycamores usually grow near water. Get to know how to identify their distinctive bark.
There are three kinds of biological contaminants to watch for in water: protozoan cysts (such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium), bacteria and viruses. Make sure any commercial product you buy, such as a water purifying straw, is capable of handling all three.
Keeping a pot of water stable over a fire can be tricky sometimes. Instead of managing a balancing act, heat rocks in the fire. Place the hot rocks in the water. This will boil the water. Don’t place the rocks back in the fire for reheating, since doing so could drown the fire.
Sap from non-poisonous trees is drinkable and does not need to be purified. In a pinch, cut a V-shaped sap wedge a half-inch into the tree. The sap will seep to the bottom of the V. Placing a leaf at this intersection will act as a wick, and with a little finesse the sap will drip from the tip of the leaf into a container below.
When tapping a vine for water, make a slice in the vine about 5 to 6 feet above where you’ve cut it off. This helps to speed the flow. The cut acts as a breather valve, similar to one in a gas can.
After all that water purifying, don’t chug your water! Your kidneys can only process 8 fluid ounces (237ml) of water every 15 minutes. Pace yourself when rehydrating. Keeping with this schedule ensures the most efficient use of your precious water.
Editor’s Note: These tips on how to purify water are excerpted from The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide.
Living a Healthy Lifestyle Equals Disaster Preparedness
Disaster statistics pretty firmly show the relationship between health and the ability to make it through disaster situations. The elderly and sick, for instance, face the far greatest risks after disasters strike.
The deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina very clearly show that fact. The majority – about 71 percent – of deaths in Louisiana attributable to Hurricane Katrina involved victims 60 or older. About 47 percent of those were older than 75.
This proves that survival, regardless of anything else, requires some levels of physical ability and well-being. To be blunt, the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle are that you get to keep living.
But are Preppers Living a Healthy Lifestyle?
Preppers are often as guilty as the next when it comes to ignoring fitness needs.
There are certainly some out there who, while otherwise dedicated to the preparation lifestyle, fail to steer clear from the many unhealthy traps that tempt the majority. They’re working against themselves.
Those who exercise, eat well and have some great healthy living habits would very likely be in a far better position to get through a disaster.
Many might have that full array of gear that was carefully planned under the rule of threes to meet any number of situations. They’re still in a losing position should they have high blood pressure, cholesterol issues and require a variety of medications.
Without proper fitness, preparations might only provide a really nice collection of tools and supplies for someone else who kept his body in far better physical condition.
What does it mean to be in shape?
“In shape” isn’t quite as easy to define as “out of shape.” There’s a very elementary way to illustrate what it means to have an appropriate level of fitness for survival or disaster recovery: “round” isn’t among the shapes that’ll cut the muster when trouble is calling.
Those looking to make their way through tough times don’t need chiseled bodies. But they should all follow some sort of blueprint for healthy living, striving to have lean frames and some muscle.
Those working through a survival situation or disaster recovery would come to realize efforts aren’t a matter of strength on some occasions and endurance during others.
Both would often come to play at the same time. The bug-out bag provides an example. Mine has a diverse assortment of goods addressing shelter, water and food and weighs in at just more than 40 pounds.
For many folks, that doesn’t sound like all that much. Then again, 40 pounds while standing in place carries a far different feeling than 40 pounds while on the move. That 40-pound bag feels far heavier after that first mile, and its stress on the body only increases with every step forward.
The bug-out bag might not be the lone weightlifting you will encounter while out on the move. I remember having my 4-year-old son in tow a number of years back while taking the five-mile walk over Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge. He did his best and I gave the youngster due credit, but by the time we were about a mile and a half into the walk, he didn’t have another drop of energy to give. I had to carry him the rest of the way.
Get Started on Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Building cardiovascular health is the primary task for those getting started with living a healthy lifestyle. As a very basic yardstick, anyone in their 40s or 50s should still be able to walk five to 10 miles without much of a struggle.
Those in that age group who aren’t at that place should make a point to get moving whether it’s a brisk walk or jog on a regular basis. You should always go a bit farther than comfortable and allow the body to build.
Your own blueprint for healthy living will look different from anyone else. The only requirement is that you follow it. You’ll have the best chance of beating the odds when disaster strikes.
Firearm Training is Required for Effective Personal Protection
Werner’s response: Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people defend themselves each year with firearms and do not have the slightest bit of training. Therefore, the statement “A gun without effective and frequent training is a hollow threat” is utterly false and unsupportable. So this myth is not a myth at all.
Original Gun Myth Article Claim #2
Don’t Count on Just Taking a Gun Out and Hoping the Bad Guy Will Go Away
Werner’s response: The bad guys do indeed “go away.” True, we shouldn’t pull a gun on anyone we are not justified in using deadly force against, and verbal challenges are a good thing. Statistically, only a few thousand criminals a year are actually shot out of the 1000 times more who are dissuaded.
Original Gun Myth Article Claim #3
Drill at Ranges that Allow You to Move and Shoot, and Take a Training Course There
Werner’s response: When we look statistically at the availability of ranges where people can shoot on the move, very few have access to such a place. If we examine the numerical output capability of the entire firearms training base, the base is able to train perhaps one to two percent of the private sector gunowners annually. So telling people to take a training course isn’t much of a solution, either.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense to make a SHTF plan for TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). Here’s why it’s important to live, not just survive.
An asteroid just wiped out all life on Earth right down to the bacteria? Good thing you spent all that money on a 50-year supply of food.
When it comes to preparedness, you shouldn’t worry about the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). Those preparing for the end of days would eventually have to recognize that any supplies they have in place would eventually run dry.
Conversely, it’s pretty smart to have the appropriate provisions in place to live comfortably outside your normal, day-to-day lifestyle if hurricanes or tornadoes frequently touch upon your region, or if there’s a call for a SHTF plan anyway.
If Not TEOTWAWKI, Where Should SHTF Plans Start?
You can get a really good sense of a proper starting point by stopping and looking at your food and water supplies among other provisions.
At that point, think about whether you could close the front door, shut down the power and comfortably live for two weeks without leaving the home. When considering all of the potential risks across the country, two weeks provides a pretty reasonable ground floor wherever you might be. You wouldn’t want any less.
Common Sense, Not TEOTWAWKI
Those who are just getting started should let common sense be the guide, not TEOTWAWKI. Those without any degree of planning are setting up their families to suffer far more than necessary when an emergency comes to bear.
Those who planned well in excess of reasonable needs could’ve probably done better with their time, efforts and money. A level of preparedness that would support safety and comfort after the most typical and even the most serious of documented disasters wouldn’t resemble the preparation or lack thereof that sits at either extreme.
I shudder to think about the completely unprepared in light of the documented reality that disaster — whether isolated or wide-scale — affects hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.
Don’t Let Preparing for Disaster Turn You Into One
As for the other side of the scale, I’d suggest preparation shouldn’t be all consuming. You shouldn’t overextend your finances for the sake of preparing a SHTF plan or let the risks out there affect your ability to enjoy day-today life. You shouldn’t prepare from a place of fear.
I saw a number of people suffering deeply after Hurricane Katrina who could’ve had it easier with appropriate forethought and respect for Mother Nature’s devastating abilities.
As for the opposite end, those who were convinced of approaching cataclysm before the Y2K scare probably ate a lot of rice for an awful long time after that New Year passed quietly.
All of us try to live balanced lives. Good preparation fits well within that scope.
This woman offers a persuasive argument in favor of the practicality of survival shotguns with a view of the business end of her 12-gauge Mossberg 590A1.
For most wilderness, farm and ranch utility duties or home-defense situations, the survival shotgun is an outstanding tool.
You could do just fine if it was the only weapon you had for those purposes. It can be useful, too, during civil unrest, and while it shouldn’t stand unsupported, it is a good mid-range and close-quarter battle (CQB) weapon in many situations.
Of course, if it is the only firearm you have or can afford, like so many other things in life, you make due.
Having a survival shotgun for defense is certainly better than throwing back the rocks hurled at you by the mob that wants to tear you and your family apart.
Short-Barreled Shotguns: Good as Survival Shotguns?
Short-barreled shotguns, starting with the 1897 Winchester pump, used to be known as a “riot” shotguns. This was back in the day when it was still alright for cops to shoot lead pellets (rather than rubber), at people who were causing mass property destruction and injury to others.
Don’t worry about going through all the BATFE paperwork and obtaining the NFA tax stamp for a short-barreled shotgun. You lose too much in terms of ballistics by going shorter than 18 inches.
The barrel length for survival shotguns should ideally be 18 inches. A 20-inch barrel will also work, but 18 is best. Twelve- or 20-gauge models are the gauges that will work best. Leave the .410-bore out. It simply doesn’t have enough longer-range power for riot duty outside the home. The 20-gauge has more than enough power but with less recoil than the 12-gauge, which means faster follow-up shots.
Survival Shotguns: Go with a pump
There is only one type of survival shotgun that should be selected for riot gun-type purposes and that is the pump. The pump shotgun is simple, fast, reliable, and can digest any ammo of the proper gauge and length you can find.
The semi-auto shotgun is much more complex to operate, more expensive, and more likely to be sensitive to different power levels within a gauge range. Too, other than the recoil-operated Benelli shotguns, the majority of semi-autos will require more maintenance and cleaning to continue their functionality. That is why police agencies never went to semi-auto duty shotguns en masse and limited their issue to specialized units like S.W.A.T.
The survival shotgun should be of the type termed the “tactical shotguns,” which I cover extensively in my book, The Gun Digest Guide to Tactical Shotguns.
Survival Shotgun Extras Not Worth It
Don’t worry about needing a flash suppressor or compensator on the barrel in either gauge.
You or another selected user should be able to handle one without compensation, and if that’s not possible, then get a different weapon.
Also, the bore should be choked Cylinder or Improved Cylinder. Don’t waste money on a gun with an interchangeable choke system.
Those are for sporting use and, in addition to racking up the cost, mean parts that can be lost or, worse yet, used with the wrong type of ammo. It would be a bad thing to shoot rifled slugs through a shotgun wearing a Full choke, for instance.
Do not get a shorty pistol grip-only shotgun without a buttstock. A folding stock is okay and is useful for defending yourself from inside a vehicle, but don’t forgo a buttstock altogether.
A Survival Shotgun Extra Worth It
The survival shotgun should have a tough protective coating, Parkerizing or some sort of matte finish, and be a model in common use by military or civilian police forces.
The Final Verdict: What Survival Shotgun to Buy
Go for a quality survival shotgun or riot shotgun made by a recognized manufacturer is not that expensive compared to most AR-15s.
When is it time to bug out? That depends largely on location.
Bug Out, Shelter-in-Place or Both?
What plan should you be working on, sheltering in place, bugging out, or a mixture of both?
The answer depends on what the real estate agents always say is important—location, location, location. Simply put, is your home someplace you would want to get to or away from? The answer to that requires an equally simple set of additional questions: Where do you live? Is your home in the middle of a city? Is the area already high crime? Who are your neighbors? How aware of your neighborhood are outside people, i.e., is it a high-value area that might provide the best return for the least amount of work by marauders?
Next, ask if your home and property can be reasonably defended for a long period of time. Do you have the ability to harden any area of your house? Is there any chance your utility services or any other aspect of modern comfort, safety, and convenience will remain intact, even if it is through your own power generation?
Finally, is your home a place you cannot leave due to an invalid family member or some other such limiting condition? If your answers to these and other questions point to relocating to a different piece of real estate rather than staying in place, then you will need to be focused on being able to take as many essential items with you as you can, maybe at a moment’s notice, leaving behind only non-essential, replaceable items of little survival value.
When Is it Time to Bug Out?
Hopefully, some of you have already looked ahead, or thought ahead, and have realized that living in a trendy urban area in the midst of or proximate to a big city with major crime problems isn’t the best of ideas.
Cops and firemen who regularly deal with the dregs of society have made it a long-standing tradition to live and keep their families as far away from the urban mess as possible.
In the rural area in which I live, there are firefighters and cops from both the nearby major urban police department, as well as from many of the now decayed suburban municipalities surround ing the main urban center that used to be considered safe.
In my neck of the woods, an average cop with any time under their belt has dreamed of, and sometimes managed to obtain, a “cabin in the woods” on a few acres of defensible land. Those of us who have made this choice are already ahead of the game and are not trying to work our way out of a hole. Cops in particular have been moving out and away from their jurisdictions for the 32 years I have been a cop, but so, too, have many firefighters.
Recently, more and more of those cops who have been moving “out” have been doing so not just to keep their families away from day to day criminal activity and other undesirable conditions, but to find a location from which they may be able to withstand a larger societal collapse. This is an entirely new twist on the practice.
If you are hemmed into living in a location near large centers of our population (the epicenters of civil unrest), and you are living in a home that is part of a shared building, such as an apartment or other multi-unit, multi-family condo structure, or a rehabbed or converted factory or warehouse, you will be lucky to just make it out of your unit in one piece.
In those kinds of living spaces, the chance of being able to defend yourself against a large number of desperate neighbors or interlopers for any long-term period is very poor, since you cannot protect all sides of your living area or even have visibility on all sides, due to the common-wall construction. If you live in these types of structures, your plan should be for you to leave at the first sign of trouble and know where you are going to go via the safest route.
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Extreme Temperatures: Not Dramatic, but Not Unimportant
Extreme temperatures rarely result in big, national headlines. It isn’t as dramatic as the destructive earthquake. The toll taken on our country by temperature extremes isn’t often a matter of a single, crushing, attention-grabbing moment.
Extreme temperatures nonetheless present a pretty compelling level of danger when viewed in comparison to other disasters as shown through statistics.
The nation averaged an annual 569 heat-related deaths in the period from 1999 through 2005, according to the CDC.
It goes to show that disaster doesn’t always have to mean the big, attention-grabbing weather events such as tornadoes, earthquakes or regional flooding.
Extreme Temperatures: A “Compelling Level of Danger”
The extreme hot or cold weather events that strike many communities a few times every year might very well qualify as disasters on individual scales depending on the abilities of people to regulate their body temperatures.
Extreme temperatures nonetheless present a pretty compelling level of danger when viewed in comparison to other disasters as shown through statistics.
Figures on deaths directly attributed to individual, severe weather events show heat waves have been more deadly in the United States than tornadoes in recent decades.
From 1988 through 2011, stretches of excessive heat and humidity took an average of 146 lives per year.
Tornadoes, meanwhile, took an average of 76 lives during each of those years, according to National Weather Service statistics.
Heat waves took nearly triple the toll on human lives than hurricanes did when viewed from that broader 24-year average. It might be a mind-boggling statistic at the surface.
Memories, after all, tend to focus on events such as Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy. We lean on thoughts of all the devastation that reaches our homes through images on our computer and television screens.
Hurricanes, though, when viewed over that wide-view, 24-year scale brought an average of only 56 annual deaths, the NWS reports.
Extreme Heat: Nothing to Brush Off
Although devastating, statistics state that hurricanes claim fewer lives on average compared to extreme temperature swings.
Heat is a notable killer annually. Those living in or near Chicago wouldn’t need a reminder on the toll that extreme temperatures can take. A sweltering heat wave that struck the city in July 1995 caused more than 700 deaths. Temperatures rose in excess of 100 degrees in the Windy City and elsewhere in the Upper Midwest.
That stretch of heat was made all the more miserable by accompanying high humidity. More than 3,000 people in Chicago sought care in emergency rooms before the mercury on the thermometers began its merciful decline.
It was a crisis that might not have stuck to the country’s collective memory in the same vein as so many others have.
Heat waves, unlike hurricanes, aren’t given first names. For a point of comparison, Hurricane Ike in 2008 was among America’s most damaging in terms of property loss. Its irreplaceable toll was less so. It took 195 lives as it moved through the Caribbean, into the Gulf of Mexico and onward into Louisiana and Texas.
That’s less than a third of Chicago’s 1995 losses from the all-important human standpoint.
That major heat wave, as well as its corresponding death toll, was far and away an anomaly. The human lives taken by heat in our country are more often spread thin across the summer months and among many different places.
It’s a danger that quietly comes to bear one death at a time. The prepper should take note. Those who don’t ay close attention could lose track of some fairly significant risks.
Statistics tell the bigger story. The United States, believe it or not, is occasionally fortunate to have some years pass by without a single death attributable to a hurricane.
There wasn’t a single hurricane-related death in either 2006 or 2010, according to the weather service. Only one died from a hurricane in 2007. There were only two throughout 2009.
Extreme Cold: Bundle Up
That simply isn’t the case when it comes to extreme temperatures. In 2011, 29 deaths were attributed to cold weather events in the United States, according to the weather service.
In 2010, 34 died from extreme cold events. In 2011, extreme temperatures took 206 lives. Extreme heat brought 138 fatalities across the country the year before.
Prepare for Extreme Temperatures as You Would Any Other Disaster
Extreme temperatures happen frequently enough. You fall to a severe disadvantage when either extreme is combined with an inability to escape. Shelter requires urgency.
It makes the very best sense to have plans to eliminate a pressing and dangerous threat. The big-time hazards that accompany inadequate shelter are ultimately preventable for those who do their homework.
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The Mossberg Flex cranks the classic Model 500 shotgun platform up a notch with the versatile TLS (tool-less locking system).
This Mossberg Flex review examines what makes this 12-gauge shotgun so versatile: TLS (tool-less locking system). The Mossberg Flex is a great survival gun.
The new Mossberg Flex continues the long tradition of the popular Model 500 shotguns, but with a twist. The stock, forend, and recoil pad of the Mossberg Flex can be changed in than a couple minutes with no tools.
This is true for any of the 12-gauge models in the Mossberg Flex series: the Flex 500 All-Purpose, Flex 590 Tactical, Flex 500 Tactical and Flex 500 Hunting.
The TLS is the Key
The TLS (tool-less locking system) is what makes the Mossberg Flex exceptional.
The TLS (tool-less locking system) is what makes this system work. It was tested by the military, and they heaped abuse on the shotgun and the TLS system.
It works like this: A zinc coupling and socket locks the stock to the action. The bolt is pulled up, turned and the stock comes off.
The forestock comes off and attached by way of a spring latch. Changing the recoil pads is as easy as pushing a button.
Transform the Shotgun
The Mossberg Flex can be transformed from an all-around utility shotgun, to a turkey gun, a waterfowling gun, a slug shooter for deer or as a tactical shotgun for home defense.
Barrels offered range from a 28-inch ventilated rib to a short and stout breaching barrel for tactical uses.
There are three sizes of recoil pads and a wide variety of stocks and forends are available in black, Realtree and Mossy Oak camouflage.
The Mossberg Flex versions available range in price from approximately $600 to $750 depending on numerous add-ons.
To get started with making survival shelter plans, follow your gut instincts about what is needed. Plus: A free download on how to make survival shelters.
Survival Shelter Plans: Listen to Your Gut
Survival shelter plans, just like every other piece of preparation, starts with listening to that strong voice of common sense that developed through all of our experiences.
Each of us has a pretty firm understanding of “hot.” Many of us know a pretty good thing or two about “cold.” Simply living is enough to give most people some sense of the dangers at hand as it pertains to emergency shelter needs.
Problems most often grow from minor and manageable to severe and dangerous when people, for whatever reason, decide to ignore that “gut feeling” that something just isn’t right.
You should always take advantage of what the body has to say and with full urgency when it comes to emergency shelters. The clock is already ticking toward that three-hour mark when the gut feeling starts talking to the mind.
Those beyond the home or any adequate cool or warmth can’t afford to waste a minute. Try to imagine the growing stress and the racing thoughts that would come should troubles grow from bad to worse when there’s limited time and no adequate relief in sight.
Survival Shelter Plans: Start with the 3-Hour Basics
Survival shelter plans might begin outside of any concerns of disaster. It should be thought of from the perspective of basic survival.
Those heading off from home should think ahead toward the possibility of an emergency and have some provisions to warm up or cool off along with them. Always think, “three hours.”
Ideas and the flexibility to improvise could, in some cases, make up for what you are lacking in gear.
Survival Shelter Plans: An Example for Bug-Out Shelters
My bug-out bag was very intentionally designed to recognize survival shelter’s critical place in the rule of threes.
Several survival shelter contingencies are kept in a pouch on the outside of the pack. In the event of an emergency, I wouldn’t have to root through the entire bug-out bag to locate those items of most immediate need.
My bug-out bag includes several ways to start a fire at close reach. There’s a poncho I could grab quickly if the clouds decided to open up and make life that much tougher.
The contents of the bag include a change of warm, dry clothing. There’s a tarp tucked inside and I have a small tent to provide some refuge from any potentially troublesome elements, whether it’s cold winds, rain or the hot sun.
A bug-out bag goes a long way toward making life easier, but of course, that’s assuming you thought your plan through and dutifully grabbed your gear before venturing out.
Survival Shelter Plans: Tap Your Inner Child
Those who become caught in the elements without an assortment of supplies might have to revert to some childhood creativity. All of us growing up had the imagination to build all kinds of different forts and in many different ways.
Few pieces of techie survival gear pack the cool factor punch of portable solar panels. But before you fall under the spell of any portable solar generator, there are some things to keep in mind.
Portable Solar Panels: How Much Energy Do You Need?
The Goal Zero Guardian is perfect for charging car batteries.
Remember that prepper rule of thumb that says too much is never enough? It’s still a good rule, but it does not apply nearly as much with portable solar panels. Overkill means you’ll be wasting money and space.
For example, this GoalZero Guardian 12V Solar Recharging Kit will juice a car battery. At $200, that’s too much if all you’re only looking to keep your $100 cell phone charged.
A better option for small gadgets would be the Goal Zero Switch 8 Recharging Kit. It offers a smaller panel and a sleek, rechargeable battery to take anywhere. That’s it in the video above.
Aim for the Goldilocks zone. Not too much. Not too little. Then go ahead and buy multiples of that particular model.
Portable Solar Panels: How Much Abuse Will You Put it Through?
The Goal Zero Escape comes with a tough outer shell.
“This is cool” or “this is good” isn’t enough of a qualifier when it comes to portable solar panels. “It didn’t fall apart when it fell out of my truck and got mauled by a bear” is better. If it can’t stand up to conditions, it’s not worth your money.
This is another Goldilocks scenario. There are portable solar panels with reinforced shells, such as this Goal Zero Escape, that can take a beating and then some.
However, if your portable solar panel never leaves the backyard, all that armor is just going to cost you extra. Go with something more efficient for your dollar, like the Goal Zero Nomad.
Portable Solar Panels: Is it Easy to Use?
At $80, the Goal Zero Nomad is simple and economical.
Simplicity equals versatility with all survival gear, and that’s especially true with portable solar panels. If you can’t tell how to use it without opening the box, it’s probably not worth the time.
On that note, check to see if the portable solar panel comes with the adapters you need (USB, cigarette lighter) before you buy it. It can be a big headache to mess around with scores of cords, plugs and wires just to get you the point of actually using the portable solar panel.
Don’t forget that those adapters and cords need to be on-hand. If they don’t fit in the carrying case for the portable solar panel, chances are they could wind up lost.
Portable Solar Panels: What Do You Think?
What sorts of portable solar panels have you used? What did you think? Leave a comment below.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 of the best concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
