Stealth Survival

LifeStraw Giveaway - Congratulations to the Winners

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0000

The winners in each category have been chosen and they will now become the owner of their very own LifeStraw Personal Water Filter.

Here are the winner’s comments in each category:

1. Hiking:

William Bovee -

I always carry a source of water with me when I am hiking. I live in Southern Nevada and hiking excursions can be a day in the desert to a climb at Mt. Charleston. The rule of thumb being 2 is 1 and 1 is none make having a back up source to procure water a life saving item to the kit. Getting lost in an area like Red Rock canyon for instance and running out of water would not be life threatening if you could find your bearings but the pools of water in the area are not the safest in the world to drink. Having the LifeStraw on hand would be a great item to help secure valuable drinking water. In this case lowering the waterline and raising my survival rate.

2. Traveling:

Stormcrow Group said-

Having traveled to several third world countries, like

Peru

India

and

Malaysia

, I'm very familiar with the warning "don't drink the water". Being lightweight and low profile, this straw looks like a no-brainer to keep on hand when bottled water is nowhere to be found. Looks like it would store easily in a pants pocket or daypack. Great giveaway!

3. Preparedness:

Josh B said...

I can also see how this would be a great preparedness device. When not hiking, I would keep this with my emergency kit. Many of my camping and hiking stuff stays with my emergency kit - Steripen, firesteel, MSR stove, etc. and this would be a great addition.

This post was a good reminder that I need to add some sort of filtration system to my gear.

The winners will need to contact me at riverwalker_texas@yahoo.com and furnish an e-mail so that your LifeStraw Personal Water Filter can be shipped directly to you. Your information will be sent directly to my good friends at eartheasy.com who will ship your free LifeStraw Personal Water Filter directly to you.

My congratulations to the winners in each category and a special thank you to everyone for some really great comments on the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter.

A special thank you to Ben at eartheasy.com who helped make this great gear giveaway possible.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker’s Book Review - Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook: The Portable Guide to Getting Out Alive

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:43:00 +0000

Hawke’s Special Forces Survival Handbook is a “portable guide” that contains a significant amount of useful survival information. Being portable and having pages that are water-resistant makes it easy enough to include with your other gear items in your “BOB” or “GHB” or you might just want to keep a copy handy in your vehicle’s glove compartment or console.

It’s important to remember that this book is exactly what it says it is...portable. Don’t get confused by the title either because it’s not a “combat training” manual. While not as comprehensive as his first book (Hawke’s “Green Beret Survival Manual”), it is a more concise and to the point “civilian version” that covers the basics of survival. This is done in a manner that makes it easy to find the information you need quickly. This book actually reads more like a field manual than an encyclopedia. While I wouldn’t consider it the “ultimate” reference guide for survival information, it is a very functional “field” guide. Hawke’s simple “Stay or Go” philosophy may just save your life.

Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook provides relevant information and numerous illustrations on all the basic areas of survival. These areas include shelter, water, fire, food, first aid, tools, navigation, signaling, and his thoughts on survival psychology. This handbook will give you the basic information necessary and help you to survive numerous disaster scenarios and make it out alive. Hawke also includes his own recommended survival kit items that you should carry on your person and further recommendations for what you should also have in your bug-out bag.

Riverwalker highly recommends Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook: The Portable Guide to Getting Out Alive.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Simple Survival Gear - Tactical Tealights

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Tactical Tealights

When it comes down to a small scale action that serves a larger purpose, tealights are often overlooked as a practical solution in a survival situation. Tealights are a multi-use item that has very distinct uses readily apparent to most everyone. Tealights are great when you are looking for a small solution to big problems.

Tealights can have a variety of functions that make them ideal for use as a simple piece of survival gear. Here are just a few of the possible uses:

Survival Uses for Tealights

1. Use a single tealight to make a portable lantern.

2. Use a plate full of tealights to heat a small space or room.

3. Use the flame of a tealight to sterilize a knife.

4. Use several tealights to heat a can of food.

5. Use as tinder to start a fire.

Tealights also have several qualities that make them great for use as survival gear. Here are a few of their useful qualities:

Useful Qualities of Tealights

1. Tealights are inexpensive.

2. Tealights are available in bulk.

3. Tealights are lightweight.

4. Tealights are small and portable.

5. Tealights are readily available most everywhere.

Tealights are a simple piece of survival gear that can provide you with a source of both heat and light that comes in a small and inexpensive package.

Got tactical tealights?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Win Free Gear - The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:51:00 +0000

Here’s your opportunity to win a free LifeStraw Personal Water Filter. Stealth Survival is teaming up with my good friends at eartheasy.com to bring you a chance to win one very essential piece of survival gear.

It doesn’t matter if you’re out for a hike, doing a little traveling or simply want to be better prepared. Safe, clean drinking water is going to be a necessity. The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter is just the solution to this problem and is an extremely portable way of always having a good source of drinking water available.

So how do you win a free LifeStraw Personal Water Filter ?

It’s simple! Pick one of the following three categories and tell us in the comments section how you plan to use your free LifeStraw Personal Water Filter. List the different ways you think it could be useful to you or your family and tell us about your plans to use the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter if you’re a winner.

Here are the categories for you to choose from:

1. Hiking

2. Traveling

3. Preparedness

A winner with the best response will be chosen from each category. You can also post comments in more than one category for an even better chance to win. You might even win more than one.

The winner will then need to send their contact information to riverwalker_texas@yahoo.com and your free LifeStraw Personal Water Filter will be shipped directly to you from eartheasy.com.

The winners will be announced on February 14th (Valentine’s Day). So hurry up and get your comments in and let us know how you plan to use this free gear if you’re a winner.

You can also stay in touch with my friends from eartheasy.com at:

https://www.facebook.com/lifestraw

For those of you who may not be familiar with this particular item, you can read my review of the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter here:

Survival Gear Test - LifeStraw

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Survival Gear - Choosing Clothing for Survival - The Pocket

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:12:00 +0000

Clothing is often our first line of defense in a survival situation. It is quite simply shelter for our bodies. No matter how “thick-skinned” we think we are, the human body is quite fragile when compared with most of the creatures in nature. Although this may at first seem to be one of our weaknesses, it is actually one of our greatest strengths. Clothing gives us the ability to readily adapt to almost any type of environment.

Being able to adapt quickly to a changing environment is often overlooked as one of our most important abilities. We easily put on a heavy coat or jacket and brave the worst that winter can throw at us. We avoid the effects of a heavy downpour with a poncho or a rain slicker. Nature can do its worst and we can devise a solution that will protect our bodies against the harshest of conditions. Environmental conditions that might otherwise be fatal are easily handled with the proper clothing.

One important and very fascinating part of clothing is the pocket. Whether the pocket is on a shirt, a pair of pants or a jacket, it’s a simple feature of clothing that serves a multitude of purposes. A pocket is truly an amazing thing. In a winter coat, it is a shelter for our hands if we’ve lost our gloves. And what would a survival vest be without pockets? A pocket can also serve as a container for our daily survival gear. Many of those items which we pack in our pockets on an everyday basis would be a lot harder to carry without pockets.

In fact, the more pockets an item of clothing has will quite often determine its ultimate usability. All you need to do is look at all the pockets on a set of BDU’s to realize this simple fact. Not only is clothing ranked quite often by the number of pockets it has, it is also applied to many clothing accessories as well.

Probably one of the worst disasters you can face on an everyday basis is getting a hole in one of your pockets. Not only do you face the possibility of a sudden lost of important items but your ability to carry many needed items has been seriously diminished. In fact, a great many items have been designed directly as a result of the simple pocket and its ability to carry needed items in an extremely handy manner.

Many times items are specifically designed to fit in a pocket (i.e., pocket knifes, pocket books, etc.). Even if it wasn’t specifically designed to fit in a pocket, many times items will still wind up in someone’s pocket. If it needs to be kept handy, someone will figure out a way to get it in a pocket. One way or another it will eventually wind up in someone’s pocket. It’s simply one of the best and most versatile ways to carry “stuff”.

Pockets have even become a part of our daily ritual. Many times we can’t wait to get home and “empty” our pockets. We’ve survived another day and can rest easy now.

When choosing clothing for survival, you might want to count the number of pockets.

Got pockets? You betcha!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Bushcraft - Central Texas Style - Using Bones for Survival

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:57:00 +0000

Deer Mandibles

Recycling was an everyday part of the lives of most Native Americans. They knew the value of their resources and seldom let anything go to waste. They quickly realized this importance and knew that resources could sometimes become limited. As a result, they always sought a beneficial use for everything in their environment. They also became extraordinarily skillful in using bones for survival.

When resources are limited, it was important to find a beneficial use everything. Bones are one such resource. Bones have always played an important role in survival and were used in many different ways. Bones became a regular part of everyday life and were vital for survival.

One of the primary survival uses for bones was to make tools. Handles, hoes, scrapers and many other various tools were fashioned from bones. This was especially true in areas where other tool making materials such as wood or stone were scarce or non-existent.

Many times the bones that were used as tools required very little modification. Deer mandibles (see the above picture) were often used to make bone sickles by merely attaching a wooden handle. They were then used to harvest crops or to gather grasses for thatched roofs. Many times they were used “as is” to scrape the kernels from ears of corn.

Bones were also used for protection as well. Many times the mandibles were used to make crude but effective tomahawks for defensive purposes. Quite often, portions of the mandibles were used to make handles for stone knives. This was considered an important and very valuable skill.

Bones also played a significant role in ceremonial rites and spiritual beliefs. Besides being used to fashion tools for everyday use, elaborate necklaces and other jewelry were often fashioned out of these same bones. Bones also played an important role in their spiritual beliefs. Many times jaw bones were hung in their lodgings because it was believed that the spirits of these creatures would bring similar living creatures into the path of hunters in the tribe.

Currently, the most common modern day use for deer mandibles is as a game management tool. They are mainly used to help determine the age of deer by examining the condition and wear of the teeth. This is a skill that requires extensive knowledge and practice in order to become proficient because there are a wide variety of factors involved.

Using bones for survival is just one more way in which resources can be utilized to a greater extent. No bones about it!

Got bones for survival?

Riverwalker

Survival Mistakes - The Change in Plans

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:43:00 +0000

There’s no room for mistakes if we want to survive. Even a small mistake can have deadly consequences and place us in a dangerous situation. We may inadvertently be courting a disaster of our making when we make a simple change in plans.

The headlines are full of stories where people made a simple change in plans that had fatal or almost fatal consequences. Most days start out normal and usually end that way. Unfortunately, some days don’t end normally. If you fail to expect the unexpected, you may suddenly find yourself in a situation where your survival is at stake.

If something goes wrong, it’s a lot harder to find you or get help to you if nobody knows where you are. Most people don’t plan on having an accident, getting lost or being stranded. Even though it’s not part of the plan, accidents happen and people do get lost. When something of this nature happens, it can seriously ruin your day and may even affect your chances for survival.

You can avoid “The Murphy Effect” by using using these simple tips in your plans.

1. Make your plans known to others.

2. Always include an alternate route in your plans.

3. Include departure, arrival and return times in your plans.

4. If you need to make additional changes, make it known to others.

5. Have more than one main emergency contact...just in case.

If nobody knows where you are going, how you are going to get there or when you’ll be back, you may just find yourself in a very bad situation because when things go bad, they go really bad in a hurry.

Got a change in plans?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

The Survival Trio - The Knife, the Stick, the Rock and One More

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:12:00 +0000

The right tools can create a solid foundation for your survival. They can be used for a variety of useful purposes and provide the basic elements to make your survival a lot easier. In fact, your survival may ultimately depend upon the tools you have available to make what is needed.

The Knife

The most basic and perhaps the most useful of any survival tool is a good knife. While there are basic items that can be used to fashion a cutting implement in a pinch, the presence of a good blade makes the entire process a lot simpler. There is a wide range of knives and cutting tools available but it’s important that you have it available for use when needed. If at all possible, a good blade of some form or type should be an absolute must for everyday carry. In essence, don’t leave home without it. A decent blade can also be used to give you an additional element of protection and will probably be used in more situations on a daily basis than any other type of tool.

The Stick

Not only is a stick a very useful tool, it can also be a building block to create shelter, a litter, a splint or numerous other items that may be needed in a survival situation. A good stick can be turned into a protection device by merely adding a point to one end or if it’s big enough it can be used as a club to provide an element of protection. The right type of stick can also be made into a bow or even a raft (if you have plenty of sticks available). A good stick is also extremely valuable in that it can offer assistance when walking or hiking. The right combination of sticks can also be used to make a fire.

The Rock

When you need to pound something and you don’t have a hammer, nothing beats the pure pounding ability of a good rock. If you got a bunch of rocks, things can be even better. They can be used to make a pot stand for your fire, an anchor for your tent or tarp, a wind shield for your fire or just about anything you can imagine. A small rock can even be used as a weight for your fishing line or ammo for a slingshot. A good rock can also make a very formidable weapon in the right circumstances.

One More

There is also one more item that should be considered an essential survival tool. That simple item is cordage. It can be used to bind a knife to your stick for hunting or protection, hold sticks together for a shelter or as an aid to building a raft.

While sticks, rocks and cordage are easily found in both an urban and a rural setting, a good knife or cutting tool may be a little more difficult to find in a wilderness setting. All of these simple items can afford you a wide variety of options to help you in your effort to survive.

Got tools for survival?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker's Pics - Water's Edge

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Water's Edge

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

The Sweet Smell of Success for Survival

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Quite often survival is a simple process of utilizing all of your resources to provide solution to your problems. We can often fail to utilize everyday things that could make a big difference in whether or not we succeed or fail in that process. There are few things that will give you a more positive feeling about your chances for survival than the sweet smell of success.

One of the main things that may be required in a survival situation is the ability to start a fire. What we fail to sometimes realize is that we may be carrying exactly what we need to reach a successful goal. In simple terms, a fire will require fuel as a basic component and we may already be carrying a fuel source without even realizing it.

Perfume or aftershave has alcohol as a significant constituent of their ingredients. Alcohol also makes an excellent source of fuel when you need to start a fire. It only takes a few drops of aftershave or perfume to make your firestarting efforts a success even if you don’t have a significant amount of tinder available.

While most guys don’t carry aftershave in their pocket, it might not hurt to keep a small bottle in the glove compartment or console just in case. Most of the ladies almost always have a small bottle of perfume handy in their purses and most won’t leave home or go anywhere for that matter without some type of perfume.

In a survival situation, it is important to remember that everything will become a multi-use item, even a bottle of perfume or aftershave.

Got Old Spice?

Riverwalker

Conserving Resources - Cooking in a Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:41:00 +0000

In a survival situation, it’s important to use the most effective solution that will create a positive difference in your situation. It’s the positive things you do that will help to offset the negative effects of any crisis. During any crisis, knowing a range of different options will allow you to make the most efficient choice when conserving your available resources. This is quite often a simple combination of the different options that are available which will save time and effort.

Cooking in a crisis can use up valuable resources very quickly. The preparation of meals can be a time consuming activity that can’t be avoided easily. Cooking can make your efforts more productive if you realize that there is a wide range of options to help keep the process simple and efficient by using a combination of cooking methods.

Certain cooking options, such as using solar power, can vary widely depending upon your geographic location but there are several that work great in combination with each other in spite of this fact. Different means of cooking can be integrated into a “cooking system” that will allow you a wider range of choice and additional options for cooking in a crisis. Any “cooking system” you can design using available your available resources will help you in cooking more efficiently. By using different cooking methods in combination, a significant savings in your available resources can be achieved. This can result in a dramatic difference when you are cooking during a crisis.

Does your meal need to be cooked or simply “warmed up”? Perhaps it just needs to be simmered and a “candle powered” stove will do the job. It may be as simple as using an insulated cooker to finish the cooking process that may help to conserve your resources. Always consider your options when cooking in a crisis; it can help you conserve valuable resources when they may be limited.

Got “cooking system” for a crisis?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Survival Skills - Learning to Improvise by Recycling

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:39:00 +0000

Being able to improvise in a survival situation can be a valuable skill. It can be the difference between surviving with what’s available or struggling to survive when resources may be limited. In combination with a little innovation and some creativity on your part, it is usually not that difficult to improvise a solution.

Recycling can be an important part of the process when learning to improvise. People often fail to realize just has resourceful they can be when the need arises. There are numerous things that can be easily done which will help them improvise an effective solution during a crisis. It can form a solid basis for improving your ability to improvise and is a great way to spark your imagination. As a result, it will be easier to find an effective and innovative solution to your problems during a crisis.

The empty soda can which has been turned into a simple alcohol stove, the recycled 2 liter soda bottle that’s being used for extra water storage or the empty tuna can with a piece of cardboard coated in wax drippings from an old candle are just a few of the ways that recycled items have been used to solve a need. This is nothing new to the average survivalist. Most survivalists know a multitude of uses for a variety of items. Many average persons though may not even be aware of the existence of the uses for these items which often get discarded on a frequent and regular basis.

Our “throw away” society has crippled our ability to improvise and we quite often find ourselves needlessly discarding items that may still serve a useful purpose. It’s important to remember that your resources may be limited during a crisis or in a survival situation and need to be utilized to their fullest extent. How many times have looked for an obscure item? You realize it’s just what you needed but suddenly it’s too late because you’ve already thrown it away. This may not happen to you often but sooner or later it will.

Can you recycling everything? Probably not but it can it help you become better able to improvise a solution when your available resources are limited. Check to see if you can fill a need before you discard that "worthless" item. It may be just the solution you're looking for to your problem and it may not be so "worthless" after all is said and done.

After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Got recycled solution?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Simple Survival Meals - The Gravy Solution

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

When it comes down to making simple survival meals, you may want to make your survival meals a much more palatable experience by getting on the “gravy train”. Gravy has been used by many different cultures to turn simple meals into ones that come close to being a gourmet feast. Improving the quality of your survival meals is often a simple process and few things are simpler than adding a little gravy to your survival meal.

Unfortunately, even simple things require a little attention to detail. Gravy has a tendency to range from the inedible to better than the actual meal itself. This usually depends upon who’s making it. Gravy recipes are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the world of cooking. In fact, it may be easier to get the location of someone’s survival cache before they’ll give up their recipe for gravy. So before you start trying to figure out the most effective methods of “gentle persuasion” to get grandma to give up her gravy recipe, here are a few simple tips that will help most anyone be able to make a decent gravy.

Simple Survival Tips for Making Gravy

Tip #1: Start out by using stock for gravy that is room temperature.

Tip #2: If your gravy is too thick, add a little more stock to the mixture.

Tip #3: If it's too thin, keep it on the stove until excess liquid boils away.

Tip #4: If it’s still to thin, add a little more thickener to your gravy.

Tip #5: Stir your gravy constantly. This prevents burning or getting lumps.

Tip #6: Use a metal spoon for stirring. It’s easier to flatten the lumps.

Tip #7: Use spices, herbs and other seasonings to enhance the flavor.

Tip #8: Pre-cooked meat, sausage or eggs can also be added to your gravy.

Tip #9: Make the consistency appropriate to the meal being served.

Tip #10: If all else fails, use “gentle persuasion techniques” on grandma.

If you find yourself in a survival situation and someone happens to asks you “What’s cooking?” You don’t need to inform them that the bread is a little stale or the biscuits are kind of hard. Just say “Don’t worry. We’re gravy!”

It’s always best to keep things simple when your survival is a concern and when you’ve got a decent meal, everything else is “gravy”. BTW, please feel free to leave your gravy recipes in the comments section.

Got gravy recipe?

Staying above the watered-down gravy line!

Riverwalker

H&R .410 Gauge Tamer Shotgun - Tip #4 - Shell Storage Compartment Adjustment

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:41:00 +0000

One of the great features of the H&R .410 Tamer shotgun is the shell storage that is integrated into the buttstock. This feature allows you to carry extra shells that are easy to access when needed. Unfortunately, this feature may need adjustment due to wear and tear to insure your shell cartridges stay secure in the holder integrated into the buttstock.

There are two screws on the backside of the buttstock that actually secure the shell holder to the buttstock of the Tamer. These may need additional tightening from time to time in order to keep the shell holder secured to the buttstock. The main adjustment for shell retention is the two screws located on the front side of the shell holder.

The screws on the front side of the integrated shell holder have a small compression washer underneath that puts tension on the shell cartridges. This helps to hold them in place but also makes them easy to remove when needed. There are basically three things you may need to do in order to make sure your shells remain secure in the holder.

If the compression washer is in fairly good shape, all you need to do is tighten the screws a quarter to one half turn in order to tighten up the retention of your cartridges. If the wear on the compression washer is bad in a certain spot, the compression washer may simply need to be rotated to a spot that has less wear or turned upside down and then tightened. If the compression washer has extensive damage or wear, it may need to be replaced.

Similar adjustments can also be made to H&R 20 gauge Tamer shotgun shell holders.

Got a little tension?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Types of Knives - The Muskrat

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

This is a specialty knife that normally has two identical clip blades, one on each end of the knife. This type of knife was used primarily for skinning animals. Having a sharp blade available to work with is always a good thing and the “muskrat” type of knife fulfills this purpose in admirable fashion.

One of the best things about the “muskrat” style of knife is its ability to allow you to “finish your chores” without stopping to sharpen your blade. Many times in the skinning process your blade may no longer be as sharp as when you started. In a fairly quick manner, the dull blade can be stored and an identical blade with a sharp edge can be brought into use which will allow you to finish the job with ease.

With the muskrat style of knife, there is normally less of an upward sweep on the blade. This usually makes for a straighter cutting edge which makes it a lot easier to sharpen the blades in most instances. When combined with a good sharpening stone, a “muskrat” style of knife makes it easy to keep a sharp blade handy at all times.

Muskrat style knives normally have a somewhat more delicate clip style blade and should be used mainly for cutting chores that require a really sharp blade. Its primary design doesn’t lend itself to heavier cutting tasks. As with any task, it is important to have the right tool for the job.

Got “muskrat”?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker's Pics - Alone in the Woods

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:10:00 +0000

Alone in the Woods

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

No Guarantee of Survival - The Limitations of Survival Gear

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Survival gear does not guarantee you will make it long enough to be rescued or keep you alive until you are found. In fact, most survival gear is a poor substitute for proper training and survival skills that don’t necessarily rely on equipment. Many people strive to become self reliant but end up building a very strong dependency on gear for their survival. Ultimately, it is your own thoughts and actions that will make you a survivor.

Survival gear has some serious limitations that need to be considered if you really plan on surviving. When you consider some of the limitations of survival gear, you might want to give your survival a little more thought. Sometimes doing the simplest of things ahead of time will be more valuable and productive than a reliance on gear that doesn’t come with a guarantee. Gear is no guarantee that you will survive. Here are a few things to consider when you rely too strongly on your survival gear.

The Limitations of Survival Gear

1. Gear gets left behind.

2. Gear gets lost or misplaced.

3. Gear breaks.

4. Gear may fail to function properly.

5. Gear may be inadequate for the task.

Any one or all of these limitations can cause serious problems if you plan to survive with gear alone. Common sense, skills and training are things that don’t get left behind, lost or broken. These things are always with you when needed and are always available to help you survive. Survival gear is a great thing to have with you but its limitations could affect your ability to survive if you become too dependent upon it. It is possible to survive without it. It may be harder or a lot more difficult but it is till possible for you to survive without it.

Got limitations?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Simple Survival Tips - Using “C.O.L.D.” to Stay Warm In Winter

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:37:00 +0000

Most military personnel are taught to use the simple acronym "C.O.L.D." to stay warm during cold weather. It is useful in remembering the important things you need to do to keep your body warm during periods of cold weather. Here is an explanation of that simple acronym.

C.O.L.D.

C. is for clean. Make an effort to keep yourself and your clothes as clean as possible. Clean clothes also work more effectively to insulate your body.

O. is for overheating. Avoid becoming overheated in cold weather. If your body gets overheated, you will start to sweat. This can cause you and your clothes to become wet due to perspiration. This needs to be avoided during cold weather.

L. is for layers. Always dress in layers of clothing that fit loosely. You can add additional layers of clothing if you become cold and you can remove extra layers of clothing if your body begins to overheat. Air space between the layers of your clothing will also help further insulate your body from the cold weather.

D. is for dry. Make an effort to keep yourself and your clothes dry. Items of clothing that dry quickly or wick moisture, such as polypropylene or wool, are good choices to help you stay dry. Use water-proof and “breathable” items to keep rain, snow and wind out but which will also allow perspiration to leave your body. This will also help to keep you dry. You should also make sure all of your essential gear items are kept dry. Give special attention to gear items that need to be protected from cold temperatures. Make sure those items are also well insulated.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker's Pics - Dark Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Dark Clouds

The dark clouds of winter are a typical weather phenomenon this time of year.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

DIY Survival Gear Mods - H&R .410 Tamer Shotgun - Tip #3 - Stealth Storage Compartment

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:04:00 +0000

Proper cleaning is one of the most important things that needs to be done with any firearm. Unfortunately, you may not want to carry the additional weight of a full cleaning kit. The H&R Tamer has a storage area that allows you to carry a bore snake, an oil wipe and a silicon cloth in order to do an expedient field cleaning of your pack gun. This requires a very simple modification that can be done in minutes and doesn’t require a permanent alteration of your shotgun.

All you need to do is take advantage of the “stealth” storage compartment that already exists on your shotgun. The H&R Tamer’s synthetic stock has a pistol grip which is hollow. This hollow area is sufficiently large enough that you can carry expedient field cleaning items for your shotgun. Should the need arise to do a cleaning before you get back to camp, you can use the items stored in the hollow area of the pistol grip to clean your shotgun.

In order to take advantage of this storage area, you need to do a simple and easy gear mod. All that is needed is a piece of heavy packing foam. If you look closely in the above picture, the piece of heavy foam is readily visible. In this case, a piece of black packing foam was cut to fit the opening in the bottom of the pistol grip.

The foam was cut to make a tight fit and seals off the end well enough that the expedient field cleaning gear won’t fall out. The piece of fairly stiff foam material is also easily removed to access your cleaning gear. The weight of the foam and gear is very insignificant and you won’t even notice it’s there. Cost of this simple gear mod was a couple of minutes of my time and no dollars out of pocket because the foam was obtained free. This type of foam packaging is frequently thrown away by most people. You do need to make sure that the piece of foam used to “plug” the opening is a tight fit.

Got recycled foam for “stealth” storage?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Avoiding a Survival Crisis - The Importance of Routine Maintenance

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:39:00 +0000

Many times a crisis is one that we have unwittingly created ourselves and our actions will often determine whether or not we will survive that crisis. It’s the little things we often ignore or fail to give proper attention that will quite literally turn a small disaster into an even bigger one.

One thing that is easily forgotten is routine maintenance. There is a reason why they call it routine. It quite literally means what it says...routine. The routine maintenance of your vehicles, equipment and other items should be included as a part of your daily routine. It will make surviving a crisis a lot easier.

Items have a tendency to wear out, break or simply go bad and then they will fail to work properly when they may be needed most (i.e., Murphy’s Law). The solution is to avoid that happening at the worst possible time. Things will last longer and work a lot better if you give them the proper care and provide it with adequate maintenance on a regular basis.

There is going to be a cost factor that is associated with regular maintenance but it will usually be far less than the cost of the needed repairs that may be incurred otherwise. Many times simple maintenance will allow you to recognize a problem before major and very costly repairs may be required. Failing to do the proper maintenance on your equipment is a disaster waiting to happen.

The most important benefit of routine maintenance is the ability to avoid costly repairs and a breakdown at the worst possible time. Things will still break and wear out but it shouldn’t happen as frequently. As a result, you might just make it easier to survive with a little routine maintenance.

Got routine maintenance?

Riverwalker

Riverwalker's Pics - Off the Trail

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:55:00 +0000

Off the Trail

Sometimes you have to get off the trail in order to see some of the natural beauty in nature. You just need to make sure you don't get lost when you make the decision to take a little detour.

Got detour?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

9 Key Food Storage Tips for a Down Economy

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Most folks would agree—the economy really sucks. Sorry—there’s just no better way to say it.

It is at times like this that we see more people out there coming to the realization that crisis preparedness does indeed make a lot of sense … that having extra food, supplies, household products, and savings to draw upon can really soften the blow of an unexpected downturn in fortune or circumstance.

At this point in the game, it may not be as easy as it would have been a few years ago when there was more disposable income to be had. But the rules say you have to play the hand that you are dealt. If you want to stay in the game, then you need to be determined, resilient, and optimistic. And that means you start getting serious about preparedness because unfortunately, the future is not going to be any brighter for a long time. What you can be optimistic about is that you and yours are going to be just fine, since you are planning ahead.

Food in the Pantry is Priority #1

The number one priority for most beginners in preparedness is to get an adequate supply of food laid away—food that will not expire in the near-term and that will store well without refrigeration.

Let’s assume you are looking to do some prepping right now, with a limited budget. If that is the case, then my recommendation is that you determine what you can afford to spare every week toward a modest, systematic food acquisition effort.

1. 1. Use that budgetary allotment you set—don’t use credit if you can’t afford to or if you are feeling a sudden panic. The fear will pass. The need to prepare and to pay your bills and meet all your normal obligations will go on and on.

2. 2. It’s cliché, but there’s a lot of truth to this: “Store what you eat, eat what you store.” That means, store the kind of food that you are used to eating. If you eat a lot of rice and beans, then you can put away a lot of storage food quite cheaply. If you are like most Americans, you are used to eating entrees, meats, greens, fruits, and many types of processed foods, so you would be best served storing similar foods that you will know how to prepare and you and your family will enjoy eating. The second part of that wise adage refers to rotating your food so that you do not let it spoil. Common sense.

3. 3. Canned foods are an excellent choice for beginning food storage programs. Even wet-pack canned foods will generally store for years (acidic foods such as tomatoes and citrus will go bad within about a year).

4. 4. Dry foods are great for storage, but if you want to store bulk foods like rice, beans, pasta, grains, etc., for any length of time, then you either need to rotate your food into your diet to keep it relatively fresh, or you want to repack those items (typically purchased in 40-50 pound bags) into food-grade buckets, using mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Doing so can double or triple your shelf life, so you can buy in bulk and store your food well without feeling the pressure to keep rotating those foods continuously.

5. 5. If longer shelf-life is important to you and you want food that is the type of food you are used to eating, then find a reputable online storage food dealer and purchase well-established brands and food varieties that your family will enjoy. Food brands such as Mountain House freeze dried foods have been doing what they do for many decades, and their freeze-dried entrees are certified to store for several decades. So that’s a unique kind of peace of mind you acquire with storage food such as that.

6. 6. Keep your food of all kinds in cool, dry conditions to maximize shelf-life. Don’t expose your storage food to high heat or dramatic swings in temperature—especially freezing and thawing.

7. 7. Buy your storage food on sale and use coupons when possible.

8. 8. Supplementing your food storage program with home-grown foods can be economical—but don’t think it will be easy. A productive garden requires, work and over time, your acquired knowledge will improve your results. At harvest time, you’ll have some great fresh food to enjoy on the dinner table, but you’ll want to can, freeze, or dehydrate most of the bounty. Each of those approaches to food preservation can be rewarding and economical.

9. 9. Many people are confused by what a serving means. Disregard serving counts. To get a real sense of how much food you are storing, you need to calculate calories. Figure 2000 calories per adult daily. That is less than what Americans are accustomed to eating, but it is a healthy level and will keep you alive for a good long while, assuming your diet is nutritious and well-balanced.

By Vic Rantala.

Vic Rantala is the owner of Safecastle LLC and is a leading crisis preparedness provider of emergency storage food such as Mountain House freeze dried foods, Safecastle steel-plate shelters and saferooms, and other unique survival gear solutions.

Thanks go out to my friend Vic for a timely and informative article.

Thanks Vic.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Stealth Mode

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

RW, Jr. recently captured some video footage of one of the local species in action. This little critter was in "stealth mode" but was making enough noise you couldn't help but notice his presence. If he had remained still, it would have been a little difficult to spot him.

Got dillo in "stealth mode"?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Bushcraft - Central Texas Style - Natural Insulation

noreply@blogger.com (riverwalker) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:51:00 +0000

Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a natural insulating material. Spanish moss is sometimes called long moss or graybeard but it is not a real moss. It’s what is known as an epiphyte. Epiphytes don’t rely on their host plants for nutrients.

Unlike air plants that have aerial roots, Spanish moss does not have any roots. It has a special ability to trap moisture and nutrients from the air and surfaces around it that allows it to be extremely drought tolerant. The only real threat from Spanish moss to host plants is from the extra weight on limbs or branches and the effects of shading that can reduce the ability of the host plant to get the proper amount of sunlight.

One of the unique characteristics of Spanish moss is that it has the ability to act as a natural form of insulation. After being processed (dried), Spanish moss was quite often used to stuff mattresses because the natural insulating properties of Spanish moss made the mattresses cooler and more comfortable to use. It was even used as packing material and its primary use today is as a mulching agent for plants.

A little caution should also be exercised around Spanish moss because it is home to one of nature’s peskiest little critters. Redbugs (more frequently called chiggers in my area) are also found living in Spanish moss that is found close to the ground. These little creatures can cause some very irritating effects if you get them on you. A little dilute bleach water will normally kill these pesky little bugs when applied to the affected area.

Spanish-moss is normally found in areas of the southeastern United States that range from Texas to Florida.

Got natural stuffing?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker