One day you could be relaxing, and you’re home watching a movie with your kid, and 15 minutes later, you’re evacuating because of a flood, hurricane, or earthquake. In situations like this, it’s great to have a bug-out bag you pick up and go. Most preparedness-minded people already have a bug-out bag for themselves, but many haven’t remembered to make one for their children. If you have a child, this is something you want to do immediately. When constructing your child’s bug-out bag, remember that it must be lightweight, multi-purpose, and have high-quality items that will help them. Also, remember…
Author: dody
A prepped pantry is well-stocked, organized, and rotated through regularly with three to six months worth of food for the household. A prepped pantry can help a family get through a job loss, financial hardship, supply chain shortages, and rationing on the shelves. Just two years ago, it would seem inconceivable for most Americans that there would be rationing in our grocery stores or empty shelves due to supply chain shortages. However, now that we know this is possible and happening in some places, we must prepare for that by having a prepped pantry. This way, we can purchase items…
Traditionally when we talk about self-defense tools, the first item that will pop into your head is a gun. Whereas guns are the most effective tool, there are some people who aren’t comfortable using them, so we will be covering other items that can be used to protect ourselves as well. Hopefully, you won’t ever be in a situation to have to use these tools, but it’s always good to be prepared. Stun gun- Any stun gun that can deliver 1,000,000 volts is enough to stop an attacker. Sometimes it’s hard to conceal a stun gun though, and in those…
There are seven parts to camouflage that need to be taken into consideration if you want to be successful in hiding yourself. Camouflage isn’t just for wartime, hunting, or playing games like a manhunt. It can be essential to primitive camping and bugging out. Silhouette- The silhouette is something that needs to be broken up so that you cannot see the human form or shape. Not only must you break up the human form by wearing a ghillie suit or some other camouflage but think about the environment. If you’re running on top of a hill in a ghillie suit,…
Most of us think of survival skills and picture land, mountains, a beautiful placid lake, or a desert. The truth is surviving in modern society can be pretty dangerous too. We can all look to the summer of 2020 and realize that riots and looting can lead to fires and deaths. During the latest incarnation, a 17-year-old kid in Kenosha had to defend himself with a firearm. Previous to 2020, however, there were significant riots that occurred inside Los Angeles during the 1992 L.A. riots. A small minority mounted an effective resistance against the rioters and looters when police aid…
If you’re in a rush and need to leave your home due to a wildfire, flood, or any other disaster without being able to pack or grab your bug-out bag, you might want an emergency supply cache hidden somewhere. Supply caches that are hidden off your property can be helpful in emergencies when you can’t bring your bug-out bag with you. A basic supply cache would have everything you need to survive for three days. Supply caches can be specialized and divided throughout specific Geo locations but we’re only going to handle basic supply caches and how to hide them…
The Arctic is one of the most unforgiving landscapes on the face of the earth. It is white and seemingly devoid of life. In addition, the temperatures can be cold enough to freeze your skin quickly. Staying alive in the Arctic takes a specific skill set, and here are ten tips to help you in that situation. Find shelter immediately. While we would all love to find a hotel wherever we’re going, sometimes that isn’t an option, especially when lost. Building a lean-to or a snow hut can be the difference between life and death. Make sure not to sleep…
Usually when you read up on a survival site about equipment it’s some fancy thing that costs a couple of hundreds of dollars. While we all love the latest tech and gear, sometimes the simplest things are the best. After all, if you only have one part, that’s less parts to break down later. What is this wondrous piece of gear I’m talking about? It’s a tarp. I’m going to give you several uses for a tarp. Obviously, a tarp is the primo choice for making a shelter. You can make an A frame shelter, a teepee, a lean to,…
While swimming in the ocean this summer, it’s essential to keep in mind there may be some other critters in the water. Besides the typical jellyfish sting or the occasional nibble at the toes by little fish, there can be sharks in the ocean too. Shark attacks are very rare. However, when they do occur, they are often fatal. We aren’t a shark’s preferred food, so it’s not like they go looking for humans to eat. The easiest way to avoid a shark attack is to stay out of their habitat, but sometimes we find ourselves in situations we didn’t…
No one wants to come in contact with a bear while out in the wilderness. Below will be some strategies to prevent a bear attack, how to handle it, and the gear you should probably have on you anytime you decide to go into the wilderness. Gear: The number one thing you can carry on your person to stop an aggressive bear is bear pepper spray. Make sure you get one that was specifically designed to stop aggressive bears. This is not a repellent, so you don’t spray yourself with this. Instead, you use it like mace. It’s important to…
Using a compass is a skill which few people know how to do today. It is an essential wilderness skill in order to find your way around using a map or even by itself. In order to use a compass, you must be familiar with its parts. When you look at a compass, that floating needle in the middle is magnetized and the red end is always pointing towards magnetic north. Try to keep your red arrow inside the red box so that your compass always tells you the correct direction you’re headed. When you are facing north, the magnetized…
Having gear in top condition is important but also having that gear blend into surroundings can be important too depending on the situation. You can buy readymade camo gear for a premium. Modern camo produced gear is durable but there are still advantages to do-it-yourself homemade camouflage. Long ago before we had the dip coating and silk screening of commercially produced camo, your local outdoorsman had to make their own custom camouflage. There are several advantages to making your own custom camouflage. Most homemade camo is made with Krylon paint which adds an additional layer of protection from the elements…
A long-forgotten skill since the proliferation of GPS in every cell phone, is being able to navigate out in the wilderness. Now you can argue everybody has a cell phone on them at all times these days and Google Maps is sufficient. What happens when your cell phone battery dies because your solar charger fell off of a cliff? In these instances, it would be very important to be able to navigate without a cell phone or a GPS unit. That’s what we intend to cover today is how to navigate through the wilderness without a whole lot of modern…
The ABC’s of wilderness first aid are very similar to first aid in the city. There are some things that you do have to keep in mind. The first thing that you need to take into consideration is the time it will take to get to a doctor’s office or for a wilderness search and rescue team to respond. It’s not like being in the city where you can dial 911 and expect someone to show up with the next 30 to 60 minutes. In the Bush it can be hours or days until your patient could get professional care…
Bushcraft first aid or wilderness first aid is important when outdoors. The most basic first aid skills are learning how to observe and properly assess a patient. Most outdoor incidences are minor and easily treatable. Most first aid and the wilderness has the goal of keeping the condition from worsening so that you can either continue outdoors or so that you can make it to professional medical help. Some basic steps in bushcraft first aid are below. Is the area safe? If you have a patient that had a tree fall on them and there were still some parts of…
Wilderness survival is more than bug out kits and survival kits. A large component of wilderness survival is skill sets and how those skill sets can help you survive without equipment. Surviving without the ideal equipment is the goal of every wilderness survival expert but it takes many years to get there. Below is a list of survival skills, how they are useful, and how they replace heavy equipment you would typically bring with you in a backpack or a hiking pack. Hunting, fishing, snares, traps, catching my hand, or otherwise obtaining meat from nature is a skill that will…
Nature surrounds every single one of us and in nature we can find wild foods. Foraging wild foods can not only be a fun afternoon hiking and gardening at the same time but it can be a sustainable way to supplement your current grocery bill. Just follow these 10 simple rules to make your foraging experience a profitable, safe, and fun one. Find a local mentor that knows the local fauna. Nothing boosts our confidence about what’s safe to eat and not in the wilderness then having an experienced guide to lead us along the way. Bring along a good…
Being able to create a suitable shelter when in a survival situation is necessary in order to keep yourself alive. Depending on the weather it is necessary to keep the body up off the ground away from the chill of the ground, or the heat of the ground, and cover the body to keep wind, rain, and sun out. Bough bed One survival shelter or rather an addition to a shelter is called the bough bed. About bed can be made using leaves, grass, Evergreen boughs, or other plant material. You can create a frame by rolling up two logs…
Living without refrigeration is often seen as impossible. In certain instances refrigeration is absolutely necessary for the health and safety of the people within your household. Although refrigeration isn’t necessary for condiments such as ketchup and mustard, refrigeration is absolutely necessary for insulin. Below we will discuss several different methods for keeping items that are of the utmost important to be refrigerated cold. A Cooler and Ice One of the simplest ways to keep items cool for a short period of time is a cooler with ice in it. To keep the items dry but cool, ice packs can be…
Anyone that commutes or travels a lot throughout the week should have a 72-hour emergency kit in their van. If you have a van, it’s likely you have a family which includes children. The 72-hour kit that is suggested for emergency use would also include childcare needs. At a minimum each member of the family must have their own 72-hour kit inside of the vehicle. Each kit doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should be tailor made for each individual. Every 72-hour kit should have a minimum at of the following inside of the individual’s bag. Later we will…