The Importance of Cordage in Survival Kits

 Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Apr 222013
 

Cordage is one of those things you could make in the field, at least theoretically and provided you found the right plants. But, honestly, it is so much easier to just pack some in each of your survival kits.

In my opinion, I feel cordage is second only to a good blade in terms of usefulness in a survival kit.

There are just so many tasks that are made infinitely easier with even a shoelace, let alone several feet of good quality paracord.

–Lashing together an expedient shelter.
–Hanging food from a tree to keep it away from animals.
–Tying gear to your pack.
–Replacing broken boot laces.
–Bow drill for starting fires.

220px-Paracord-Commercial-Type-III-Coil

As you might guess, I recommend paracord over other forms of cordage. For those not familiar with it, paracord is a truly wonderful invention. I liken it to duct tape in terms of usefulness. Paracord consists of several strands of nylon cord, with each of them made of 2 or 3 even smaller strands woven together. These inner strands are then covered by a sheath, itself made of nylon. The end result is you conceivably have seventy or more feet of total cordage with just ten feet of paracord.

What I think is one of the coolest features of paracord is that in spite of the incredible strength, it is much thinner than you might expect. Seriously, I have shoelaces that are thicker. What this means is you can easily fit a dozen feet or more in even a very small survival kit.

Coupled with having cordage is knowing how to use it effectively. I highly encourage preppers to head to their local library and find a book or two on knots, then practice some of the more useful ones like the square knot, the bowline, and the clove hitch.

Everyday Survival Skills

 Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Apr 122013
 

We preppers talk a lot about survival skills like identifying wild edibles, canning and preserving food, or marksmanship. Make no mistake, these are all great skill sets. But, for many of us, we don’t necessarily need to utilize those skills on a daily basis.

When I use the term “everyday survival skills,” I’m talking about the skill sets most of use on a very regular basis, even if we might not think of them as necessarily being “survival” related.

One such skill is creative problem solving. Whether the problem is trying to get all the bills paid each month or a troublesome alternator, we often find ourselves having to think outside the box a bit. This is a vitally important survival skill. We all know, or should know, that survival situations rarely ever follow any sort of exact timeline or sequence of events. By strengthening your creativity, you will be in a better position to come up with workable solutions, even in perhaps the most dire circumstances.

Another is conflict resolution. All too many preppers I hear from have sort of a bull in a china shop approach to potential conflicts. While there may certainly be situations where that mindset is warranted, we don’t see much of it in our daily lives. Instead, preppers should work on honing their negotiation skills as well as just being able to talk to others in an effort to resolve problems. Sure, if someone is a physical threat, you’re not necessarily going to try and talk them down from the ledge, so to speak. But, if it is a co-worker who is just dogging you, the first instinct (to knock them upside the head, perhaps) may not be the best.

We’ve talked a fair amount about situational awareness. This is an important skill to practice daily, yet one many people still struggle with.

What other skills do you feel have practical value for survival?

What can you offer a survival or retreat group?

 Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Apr 042013
 

I frequently hear from readers who are looking to join a survival group, asking if I know of any in whatever area they are in. Quite often, they will briefly list some of their qualifications, which almost always center on military experience and/or firearms.

IF there is an existing group in your area and IF they are looking to sign up new members, odds are pretty good they already have the security angle figured out.

Remember, every new member of the group means one more mouth to feed, one more person creating waste that must be disposed of, and one more possible headache.

Instead of focusing on your armaments, look toward developing other practical skills.

–First aid / medical skills
–Gardening
–Animal husbandry
–Carpentry
–Plumbing
–Small engine repair
–Ham radio

I’ll tell you something. A trained EMT, nurse, or doctor will be held in much higher regard than one more guy or gal with a gun, no matter how good they are with it.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying there is no value in becoming a marksman, far from it. No, what I mean is you need to develop skill sets that will set you apart from most other people. Hard skills, practical skills. While weaving a blanket of cattail is wonderful to be able to do, I doubt a community is going to look at that as a contributing skill, know what I mean?

Prepping Is Not A Spectator Sport

 Commentary, DIY, Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Apr 032013
 

While I’m not a rabid, die hard sports fan, I do very much enjoy watching football. And if the victors are wearing green and gold, all the better. Either way, it is an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I also keep up with my favorite team and players by reading news articles, websites, and blogs. Heck, I think I even still have an old jersey hanging in my closet.

Y’know what though? None of that qualifies me to strap on pads and be on the defensive line. I mean, that would be absolutely foolish of me, right? I’m in my early 40s and while I’m in decent shape, I’m by no means a professional athlete.

Yet, this is the exact same approach I see some people take when it comes to prepping. They read a bunch of books, buy some gear, and watch a few movies, then feel they are all set for whatever might come their way. The reality is they are no more ready for survival than I am ready to receive a pass thrown by Aaron Rodgers into double coverage.

Prepping is not an intellectual exercise, or at least it shouldn’t be.

Sure, it does involve a lot of thinking and planning but without some experience under your belt, you’re just living in a fantasy world.

If you want to consider yourself a prepper or survivalist, at some point you need to get off your butt and learn skills by doing rather than reading or watching. Actually starting a fire using a flint and steel is a bit harder than just reading how it is done. And cooking an entire meal over an open flame is as much art as it is science, really.

Watching a movie where a guy builds a nifty little fort to sleep in for a few nights is all well and good but try it sometime and see how well you do. Buying a handgun for self-defense is a wonderful idea but you need to take it to the range every now and again so you can hit what you’re aiming at.

By all means, read the highly regarded books and see the entertaining movies. But temper that with going outside and getting your hands dirty. Don’t wait for beautiful weather either. Odds are when you truly need to use those skills, it isn’t going to be a nice summer afternoon.

Keeping Clothes Clean Without Power

 DIY, Everything Survival, Sheltering in Place, Skills  No Responses »
Apr 012013
 

While doing laundry would seem to fall pretty far down the list of priorities after a disaster, it is actually fairly important. Wearing clean clothes is not only hygienic but a great morale boost. But washing clothes without the assistance of a washing machine, or even running water, is labor intensive.

Post-disaster laundry can be done much easier if you plan ahead.

You’ll need a five gallon plastic pail with lid, a plunger, a hacksaw, and a drill for this simple project.

Start by cutting out a small hole in the center of the bucket lid. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to use your drill to make a hole large enough to accommodate the hacksaw blade, then saw around in a circle. The resulting hole should be just large enough for the plunger handle to fit though easily.

Then, drill 5-7 holes in the plunger, like so:

plunger

At this point, you are essentially done building your new washing machine. To use, fill the bucket about 1/3 with clothes, then pour in just enough water to cover them. Add a little detergent. Thread the plunger handle through the lid, then snap the lid onto the bucket so the rubber part of the plunger is inside. Agitate the clothes by plunging up and down.

You don’t need to pump that plunger like you’re using a manual railroad car either. Just smooth and steady motions will do the job. Incidentally, this is a great chore for the kids in the house.

How long you need to agitate will depend on just how dirty the clothes are, of course. For lightly soiled clothing, 5 minutes or so might be enough.

Once the clothes are clean, you’ll need to rinse them in another bucket. Then, hang them on the line to dry.

Due to the small size of the bucket, you aren’t going to do a ton clothes at a time, of course. But you should be able to do several pair of socks, some underwear, and a couple shirts at a time.

Homemade Stew

 DIY, Everything Survival, Skills  1 Response »
Mar 262013
 

Ok, in the interest of helping those who are all thumbs with scratch cooking, I wanted to share with you my own recipe for a simple stew that is very filling as well as incredibly easy to prepare.

Seriously, there is absolutely nothing fancy here at all. Just good, old fashioned stew.

Stew

Ingredients
1 lb stew meat, cubed
3-4 large potatoes
1/2 lb corn
1/3 lb peas
2 tbs flour
4 packets beef gravy mix
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil (canola or vegetable)

Start by cubing your meat into small chunks. Personally, I like them to be about an inch or so all the way around.

Put 2 tbs flour in a ziplock plastic bag and then put in the meat. Seal the bag and shake it up until the meat looks to be all dusted with the flour. Put about four tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a heavy pot and turn the heat to about medium-high. When a drop of water sizzle when tossed on the oil, dump in the dusted meat.

What you’re doing is browning the meat on all sides. Stir it up frequently until it is completely browned.

Pour in four cups of water. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat a couple notches. Sprinkle in the contents of two beef gravy packets and stir well. Simmer for about 30 minutes or so, uncovered.

While you’re waiting, peel, rinse, and cut up 3-4 large potatoes. I like a lot of taters in my stew. If you don’t like them quite as much, don’t use that many. Again, I cut them up to about an inch in size. After the meat has been cooking for about a half hour, add the potatoes as well as two more cups of water. Sprinkle in the remaining two gravy packets, stir it all up, and simmer uncovered for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes seem tender.

By now, you should have people walking into the kitchen, asking what that glorious smell is coming from.

Add the corn and peas, stirring them in. You can use fresh, canned, or frozen, whichever you have on hand. I usually use frozen and since I like corn a little more than I like peas, I add more of the former than the latter. However, you are welcome to use whatever you like for veggies — corn, peas, carrots, green beans, etc.

Simmer for about ten minutes and you’re all set. You could add dumplings too, just follow the directions on the Bisquick or Jif Mix box.

The stew will be very thick, more like meat and veggies covered in gravy instead of in a broth type soup. It will keep in the fridge very well for a few days, provided there are any leftovers. It however does not freeze very well in my experience.

Scratch Cooking

 DIY, Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Mar 252013
 

Cooking from scratch has become something of a lost art. Entirely too many people prepare the majority of their meals by picking a box out of the freezer and tossing it into the microwave. And that’s if they actually heat the food at home and aren’t just getting take out.

The reality is, a lot of those folks will be in for a rude awakening should a disaster strike and they’re forced to figure out cooking on the fly. Of course, a lot of those people might not have food stored to begin with but hey, gotta take it one step at a time I guess.

Scratch cooking

Scratch cooking is an important skill and if it isn’t in your repertoire, you need to fix that as soon as possible.

If you are a total beginner, start by stopping in at your local thrift store and buying one or two decent cookbooks. Personally, I love the Betty Crocker one I’ve owned for about 20 years now. Don’t worry about any of those themed cookbooks, like “101 One Skillet Meals” or some such nonsense. Just get a basic cookbook that has instructions on how to prepare a bunch of different stuff, as well as guidelines for cooking in general. It should define terms like braising, simmer, and poach.

Then, pick one recipe a week to try. Doesn’t need to be anything fancy and, in fact, if you can’t pronounce the name, pass on it for now. Maybe start with basic soups and stews, adding dumplings if you feel adventurous.

The main reason why preppers should learn scratch cooking is because storing basic ingredients is way cheaper than storing complete meals. By knowing how to turn dried split peas and a few potatoes into a tasty soup, you’ll be way ahead of the game.

Cooking isn’t hard if you know how to read and follow directions. Rest assured, you’re going to mess things up here and there. That’s ok, as long as you learn from the mistakes. Hell, one time I made meatballs from scratch and instead of putting in parsley, I put in mint. Just wasn’t paying close enough attention to the spice rack. I didn’t realize it until my wife and I sat down to dinner. It was…interesting. They actually weren’t that bad, just different. She still ribs me about it from time to time. Believe it or not though, we did happen across a meatball recipe a few years ago that called for mint too.

Incorporating Survival Skills Into Your Child’s Education

 DIY, Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Jan 112013
 

Many parents of public school students are concerned about the quality of the education those children receive. That’s one reason why home schooling is becoming so popular. Either way, preppers often look for ways to help teach their children survival skills.

One really great opportunity I recently heard about was to use history as your guide. Remember, just because your child attends a public school, that doesn’t mean you somehow aren’t allowed to augment their education at home. So, this applies to both home schoolers as well as parents of public school students.

An example would be teaching your children about Native American tribes from your area. Rather than just have them research the different tribes and their history, apply some experiential learning. Find out together what sorts of shelters those tribes made and go in the backyard to make one with your children. Maybe you don’t need to use animal skins but instead substitute tarps. Cook a meal or two using the same primitive tools they used back then.

Medieval Europe is another suggestions. While you may not want to build a stone hut or building in your yard, you can make the same sorts of foods over an open fire, eating them without utensils.

Let your imagination run a bit and see what you can come up with.

By incorporating these types of studies into your child’s education, they’ll not only learn potentially valuable skills but also gain a better appreciation for the world they live in today.

Wilderness Survival — Core Skills

 Bugging Out, Everything Survival, Skills  2 Responses »
Dec 062012
 

When it comes to surviving in the field, there are several core skill sets you should possess to greatly increase your odds of success.

1) Fire making — you should know as many different ways to start a fire as possible, with a bare minimum of three distinct methods. Knowing how to start one is just the beginning too. You need to know how to properly feed and care for a fire to control it and get it to do what you need.

2) Shelter building — you need to know how to use the materials at hand to keep you out of the elements. Debris huts, snow shelters, lean tos, there are many different types of shelters available, based on terrain and climate. Learn as many as possible and practice making them.

3) Navigation — learn how to use a map and compass so you can find your way to safety. Instill a sense of compass direction by practicing it over and over. After a time, you won’t necessarily need to look at a compass to know which direction is north.

4) Signaling for help — having a signal mirror is one thing, being able to use it effectively is a whole ‘nother matter. Whistles are pretty easy to use, provided you have one with you.

5) Wild edibles — you should know several plants that grow locally that are good to eat, as well as how to prepare them. In most cases, it will be far easier to gather a few nuts, berries, and leaves to fill your belly than try (possibly in vain) to catch an animal or fish.

6) Water acquisition — know how to find water, how to filter it and purify it for consumption. Survival is going to be vastly easier if you’re not having to stop and squat every ten minutes.

7) Knot tying — learn several different types of knots and their applications. If you can tie your shoes, you have the brain power to learn a few more knots.

Even if you live at your retreat and plan on sheltering in place for pretty much every situation, you never know when you might end up bugging out on foot. These skills will keep you alive until you can reach a safe location.

Lose a Tail

 Everything Survival, Skills  No Responses »
Nov 202012
 

As I’ve mentioned a time or two, my day job is working as a private investigator. I’ve been working in this field for close to twenty years now. While I don’t know all there is to know about surveillance and such, I’ve learned a few things over the years.

Today, we’ll talk about how to lose someone who is tailing you in a vehicle. Why in the world would someone need to know that, outside of a movie or thriller novel? Well, one ploy criminals use, particularly this time of year, is to watch for a car all loaded up with gifts and follow it home. They then know a great house to hit with burglary later. Some sex assaults happen this way as well.

If you think you’re being followed, make four consecutive left turns. While there’s a chance someone might legitimately make a couple of those turns with you, the odds are about nil that someone who isn’t deliberately following you would make all four of those turns.

You can also speed up, slow down, and change lanes at irregular intervals. Do not do anything that is dangerous or hazardous to other drivers though. There’s no sense in putting innocent folks at risk. Just keep an eye on the vehicle you think is following you and see if they mirror your movements here and there.

If you still feel you are being followed, drive directly to the closest police department. Do NOT go home or to your workplace. If they don’t already know those locations, you don’t want to clue them in. If you have a cell phone, call the police and explain the situation. Try to stay in well populated areas, rather than heading off into the boonies.

Remember, it is better to feel a moment of embarrassment if you’re wrong rather than lose your stuff or your life because you didn’t want to look stupid.

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