Survivors edge summer 2016

4THE 4 33 ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR STAYING ALIVE

HOW TO SPOT HOMEGROWN TERRORISTS

LESSONS FROM SAN BERNARDINO

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Alternative Defense Weapons

Last Man Standing BUNKER DOWN SHELTERS

The First

72 Hours

Cash Collapse FOOD, MEDS, GUNS & AMMO AS CURRENCY

ACTIVE SHOOTER SURVIVAL

PANDEMICS • CIVIL COLLAPSE FOOD & WATER SHORTAGE MEDICAL CRISIS + MORE

RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!

FAMILY EVACUATION STRATEGIES

Prepper Gear Must-Haves

OPERATION CHILD SAFE

SURVIVAL SKILLS YOUR KIDS MUST MASTER

TENTS4FIRST-AID4BACKPACKS WATER PURIFICATION4BOWS HANDGUNS4FIRE STARTERS

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SUMMER 2016

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MULTIPURPOSE WEAPONS Pg. 94

Display Until July 4, 2016

WEATHER ALERTS Pg. 22

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¸/LUY` YPÅLZ ^PSS VUS` IL THKL PU (TLYPJH VY [OL` ^VU[ IL THKL H[ HSS š Anthony Imperato President of Henry Repeating Arms

Henry .22 Lever Frontier Model with Octagonal Barrel.

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It’s not a prideful boast. It’s a solemn oath from all of us at Henry Repeating Arms. Every Henry rie is and always will be made in America by American workers. Decent, hard working folks like you who take great pride in their work. We won’t follow the path of other manufacturers who have their products made overseas and slap their name on them. When you read the rollmark on the barrel Henry Golden Boy .22 LR /.22 Mag / .17 HMR of a Henry, it’s going to read Made in the USA. We start with only the ďŹ nest ingredients - gun barrel quality steel from Ohio, genuine American walnut from Missouri and Iowa, steel castings from Wisconsin and brass components from Pennsylvania. We manufacture a rie that you will be proud to own - with the smoothest action, awless reliability, and pinpoint accuracy.

Henry Big Boy .44 Magnum / .45 C / .357 Mag We are a family owned business and stand behind every rie that leaves our plant. You’ll ďŹ nd our customer service second to none, and we’ll do whatever it takes to guarantee your complete satisfaction.

Henry American Beauty .22 S/L/LR ÂŽ

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Follow us!

We invite you to become part of the Henry family. Please order our free catalog, which includes information about our ries, a list of dealers in your area and a free Henry window cling.

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Contents Natural Disasters 644

NAVIGATING DISASTER Looking past tomorrow’s crisis to plan for future catastrophes.

By Cara Donaldson

1044 BEYOND THE FIRST 72 HOURS

Long-term disaster prepping means thinking beyond your bug-out bag.

By Fred Mastison

10

28 44 RAPID RELIEF

6244 CYBER SAFEGUARDS

By Donald J. Mihalek

3244 BUNKER IN OR BUG OUT?

6644 STAND YOUR GROUND

Medical emergency teams help turn the tide during a widespread disaster.

How to make the right call to hit the road or stay at home.

By Charley Hogwood

Protect your personal information against ruthless internet criminals.

By Donald J. Mihalek

17 threat-stopping rifles to secure your home against a violent attack.

By Will Dabbs, MD

7044 OUT OF THE CROSSHAIRS

Prepare yourself to escape an active shooter anywhere, anytime.

By Dr. Martin D. Topper

36

66

3644 SUSTAIN YOUR STASH

Emergency food sources for long-term survival.

By Russ Adler

Self-Reliance + Defense 4444 ENEMIES AMONG US

Identify and report suspicious activity to disrupt a future terrorist attack!

By Donald J. Mihalek

4844 ESCAPE A TRANSIT ATTACK

Survive your daily commute with these lifesaving counterstrikes.

By Dan Vigil

1644 DEADLY OVERFLOW

Prepare for destructive floodwaters before it’s too late!

By Will Dabbs, MD

2244 RAGING TWISTERS

Tornados can destroy your community, home and life in an instant!

52

By Scott Conditt

22

7444 STAY ALERT, STAY ALIVE

Living in Condition Yellow could save your life!

By Fred Mastison

8044 CASH COLLAPSE

By Will Dabbs, MD

5844 RIPPED TO PIECES

8444 ARE YOU READY?

By Sara Ahrens

By Scott Conditt

5244 CRISIS GEAR

| 4 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

Everyday-carry tools to give you the edge in any situation.

Lifesaving essentials to help you escape a deadly canine ambush!

Must-have items to stockpile for trade and barter when paper money is worthless.

By Jim Cobb

How to handle panic and disaster in major cities and get out alive!

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

114

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

®

Publisher Stanley R. Harris Group Publisher Shirley Steffen Associate Publisher Karin Levine Editor Cara Donaldson Art Director Socrates Gomez Graphic Designers Dawn Blaschick Evelee Estevez Brenda Drake Lesch Copy Editors Ryan Pasquale, Greg Lickenbrock Editorial Assistant Richard Ortega

Backwoods 8844 BEAT BACKCOUNTRY

DISASTERS Outdoorsman Creek Stewart’s 8 must-master survival skills for beginners.

By Michael D’Angona, with Creek Stewart

9444 SURVIVAL SECURITY

New self-defense tools to keep you and your cache safe during a disaster.

By Will Dabbs, MD

10044 HUNTING 101

Don’t become the bait!

By Bill Vaznis

10644 BACKCOUNTRY BACKUPS

10 ultra-reliable pocket shots for off-grid hunting and defense.

By William Bell

11044 NEXT-GEN SURVIVALISTS

The Wildland Awareness and Educational Institute teaches wilderness survival skills to college students.

By Robert A. Sadowski

SOG’s quick-access packs keep you stocked and mobile in any environment.

By Michael D’Angona

11844 CRITICAL CORDAGE

Add paracord and bankline to your must-have survival cache!

By Jason Hunt

118

Advertising Coordinator Danielle Connard Social Media/Online Director Claudia Bircu

Digital/Mobile Director Kim Shay Send retail/dealer sales queries to: dealer.sales@harris-pub.com

12244 TAKE SHELTER

11 bug-out-ready tents to safe- guard you against Mother Nature.

Harris Tactical Group can be reached at: Phone: 212-807-7100; Fax: 212-463-9958 harris-pub.com realworldsurvivor.com personaldefenseworld.com

By Fred Mastison

Comments: realworldsurvivor@harris-pub.com Online Store: harristacticalstore.com

12644 I SURVIVED

10 true survival stories!

THE

ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR STAYING ALIVE

HOW H HO W TO TO S SPOT POT PO H ME HO HOMEGROWN MEGR GRO OW WN TERRO TER TE TERRORISTS RROR RR ORIS IST TS S LE L LESSONS E SS S S ON SSO O N S FROM ONS F R OM FRO FR OM SAN SA A N BERNARDINO B E RN BE BER R N AR RNA A R DIN DII NO D NO

®

Alternative A lternative Defense Defense Weapons Weapons

Last L ast M Man an Standing Standing BUNKER BUNK BU NK KER RD DOWN OWN OW SHELTERS SHEL SH EL LTE TERS TER RS

The First

72

Cash Cash Collapse Collapse FOOD, FOOD FO D , ME M MED MEDS, E DS DS , DS, AMMO GUNS GU S&A MMO MMO MM CURRENCY AS C UR UR RR R E NC REN RE NCY NCY

Hours

ACTIVE A CTIVE SHOOTER S HOOTER SURVIVAL S URVIVAL

PANDEMICS • CIVIL COLLAPSE FOOD & WATER SHORTAGE MEDICAL CRISIS + MORE

R U N, RUN RU RUN, N , HIDE, HID H I D E, ID E, F FIG FIGHT! IGH IG G HT HT! HT!

FAMILY FAMILY E VACUATION EVACUATION STRATEGIES STRATEGIES OP OPERATION PER ERA AT TIIO ION ON CHILD CH HIL ILD S SA SAFE AF FE E

SURVIVAL SUR SU S R V IV RVI RV I V AL IVA A L SKILLS S SK KII LL K LLS Y O UR YOU YO YOUR U R KIDS KIID K IDS M U ST MU MUST S T MASTER M MA A S TE AST AS TE ER R

TE TENT TENTS ENT NTS TS FIRST-AID FIRSTFI RS STT-A AIID ID BACKPACKS BACK BA BACK CKPA PA ACK CKS S WA WA ATE TE TER ER PURIFICATION PU P URI RIFI FC CA ATI TION N BOWS BOWS WATER HA HAND AND NDG DG GU UNS S FIRE FIIRE RE S ST STARTERS TART TA TART RTER TER ERS S HANDGUNS

PRINTED IN USA

MODERN FIREARMS TM PRESENTS

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$9.95

MULTIPURPOSE WEAPONS Pg. 94

WEATHER ALERTS Pg. g. 22

EDC TOOLS

Pg. 52

Display Until July 4, 2016

5th: 399 485 C 6th: DIGITAL 6th: NONE None NEWSSTAND SPINE: Perfect 5/32”

Cover Image

SHIP SHIPGRP: GRP:12/15/15 3/15/16 12/02/15 3/11/16

IMGA TX6 2 CX54

Straight 8 Custom Photography

Please note—the Young Living essential oils mentioned in the Survivor’s Edge Spring 2016 article “Off-Grid First Aid” have not been evaluated or approved by Young Living or the Food and Drug Administration, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness, injury or disease.

Print Advertising Manager Heila Nir

Send editorial queries to: realworldsurvivor@harris-pub.com

Prepper P repper G Gear ear Must-Haves Must-Haves

EDITOR’S NOTE

Advertising Sales Leticia Henry

Circulation Director Tim Hannon

MODERN FIREARMS TM PRESENTS | SURVIVOR’S EDGE ® | REAL WORLD DISASTERS S

110

SPRING 2016 SUMMER 2016

11444 DO-IT-ALL PACKS

Contributors Russ Adler, Sara Ahrens, William Bell, Jim Cobb, Scott Conditt, Michael D’Angona, Will Dabbs, MD, Mike Duke, Matthew Hogan, Nick Jacobellis, Charley Hogwood, Jason Hunt, Laura Lancaster, Fred Mastison, Donald J. Mihalek, John Phillips, Robert A. Sadowski, Creek Stewart, EJ Snyder, Dr. Martin D. Topper, Bill Vaznis, Dan Vigil

Insets

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Gear

ON THE COVER

Absolute survival begins with absolute preparedness. To ensure the safety of yourself and your family, you must plan for the many stages of disaster—the first 72 hours, an extended shelter-in-place event and a long-term crisis.

Stock your emergency closet with enough gear and supplies to last at least 72 hours, and have go bags and a well-rehearsed family evacuation ready to go at a moment’s notice.

AXTS Weapons Systems MI-T556; KUHL Burr Jacket; Old Navy Cargo Pants; Outdoor Research Silencer Gloves; Rogue American Apparel Shield Beanie; Karrimor SF Delta 25 Backpack; Rothco OD Rubber Poncho.

Subscriptions/Back Issues: 800-866-2886 backissues@harris-pub.com subscriptions@harris-pub.com To The Readers: Be advised that there may be products represented in this magazine as to which the sale, possession or interstate transportation thereof may be restricted, prohibited or subject to special licensing requirements. Prospective purchasers should consult the local law enforcement authorities in their area. All of the information in this magazine is based upon the personal experience of individuals who may be using specific tools, products, equipment and components under particular conditions and circumstances, some or all of which may not be reported in the particular article and which this magazine has not otherwise verified. Nothing herein is intended to constitute a manual for the use of any product or the carrying out of any procedure or process. This magazine and its officers and employees accept no responsibility for any liability, injuries or damages arising out of any person’s attempt to rely upon any information contained herein.

SURVIVOR’S EDGE® (ISSN 2375-3617) is published four times per year by Harris Publications, Inc., 1115 Broadway, NYC, NY 10010. Single copy price: $9.95 in USA, $10.95 in Canada. Subscription price: 4 issues for $23.97. Submissions of manuscripts, illustrations and/ or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Copyright © 2016 by Harris Publications, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in the USA.

Navigating Disaster

Looking past tomorrow’s crisis to plan for future catastrophes. BY CARA DONALDSON

T

TEOTWAWKI—the end of the world as we know it—could happen at any minute. That doesn’t necessarily mean Armageddon, as there’s always a chance to rebuild. What it does mean, however, is that the ways of life we are accustomed to, and the daily grinds we are comfortable with, will all come to a screeching halt, and everyone will go into survival mode. This will mean different things for different people depending on their level of preparedness. Those who planned ahead will hunker down to protect what is theirs from those who are resorting to panic and lawlessness.

Not only can life as we know it stop at any second, but it could come from a variety of sources. Mother Nature could careen out of control, an enemy assault could reach our shores or we as a society might succumb to self-inflicted wounds, like an economic collapse.

Unfortunately, we need to be prepared for any number of disaster

| 6 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016

scenarios, and that is not an easy task.

No matter how much you stockpile, no matter how many times you do a dry run of your escape route, you never know when a situation may change from bad to worse. This is why having the means and supplies to be adaptable and flexible is one of the most important keys to surviving any disaster scenario.

Your supply cache should allow for you to stay alive in the most densely populated city in the country one day and then bug-out to the thickest backwoods imaginable the next. In addition to adapting to different locations, you should be prepared with gear and rations that will also save you if you’re trapped in one place for an extended amount of time.

The reality is, crisis scenarios can last as little as a few days or continue for months at a time, and you and your family need to be properly prepared.

In addition to keeping your emergency supplies well stocked, you must also

know the lay of your land. What kind of weather threats are possible where you live? Are there evacuation routes in your city or is it better to have an in-home shelter? Who in your neighborhood might be a potential danger in a catastrophe? This applies to both people and animals. And if you’re not home, how would you deal with being away from your primary base? What’s in your everyday-carry kit that would save your life?

What weapons do you depend on? Do you know how to fire a pistol or defend your life with a blade? Probably the most terrifying ordeal would be being stranded in an unfamiliar environment. What would you do for shelter if lost in the woods?

Can you make fire? How would you know if water is safe to drink?

Answering questions like these is hard, but it’s vital to our survival. It forces us to recognize our weaknesses and better plan for the potential disasters of tomorrow. Read on to get started.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Shutterstock Photo

A R E YO U R E A DY ?

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

DID YOU KNOW? Shutterstock Photos

Flood Awareness

Flood Awareness Week is this March. Spring weather can bring with it torrential downpours and deadly floods. The NOAA National Weather Service campaign Turn Around Don’t Drown (TADD) works to educate people about the hazards of driving a vehicle or walking through flood waters. For more information, visit tadd. weather.gov.

Prepare For A Wildfire National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is May 7, 2016! Participate in national activities that will make your community safer from the impacts of future and past wildfires.

For more information, visit nfpa.org.

Displaced By Disaster A report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, an independent, nongovernmental humanitarian organization studying displacement states, has found that since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by disasters brought on by natural hazards. This is the equivalent to one person being displaced every second.

Tsunami Security

2016’s Tsunami Preparedness Week is March 27 through April 2. Preparedness campaigns will coincide with the date of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunamis (March 27).

While locations like California, Alaska and Puerto Rico will hold their awareness weeks this month, others have opted for a different date—Hawaii’s is in April, while Oregon and Washington hold theirs in October. source: nws.weather.gov

High-Risk Homes

43 percent of U.S. homes and condos—a total of 35.8 million homes—are at a high risk or very high risk of at least one type of natural disaster. The states with the most homes in high or very high risk-counties, according to the latest RealtyTrac report, include: 1. California (8.4 million homes at high risk) 2. Florida (6.7 million) 3. New York (2.4 million) 4. New Jersey (2.3 million) 5. North Carolina (2.3 million) The cities with the most homes in high-risk counties are not surprising (due to their large number of homes): 1. New York (3.5 million homes at high risk) 2. Los Angeles (2.5 million) 3. Miami (1.9 million) 4. Houston (1.2 million) 5. Riverside-San Bernardino (1.1 million) source: realtytrac

| 8 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

High-Tech Weather Alerts

IBM and The Weather Company (parent company of The Weather Channel) have partnered on a new severe weather predictive tool dubbed the “Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities.” The new platform marries live weather forecasts with a hyperlocal map of a city’s infrastructure, painting in yellow and red the predicted damage to come. Outside of weather, the technology can assist with public safety and citywide power outages. source: ibm.com/time.com

24/7 Evac Strategy

Fires and floods cause evacuations most frequently in the U.S. and almost every year. Many disasters allow little to no time for people to gather basic supplies, so planning ahead is essential. Prepare your family for an evacuation by doing the following: 4Plan places where your family will meet, both within and outside of your immediate neighborhood.

4Take your emergency supply kit unless you have reason to believe it has been contaminated.

4If you have a car, keep a full tank of gas in it if an evacuation seems likely.

Keep a half tank of gas in it at all times in case of an unexpected need to evacuate.

Gas stations may be closed during emergencies and unable to pump gas during power outages.

4If you do not have a car, plan how you will leave if you have to. Make arrangements with family, friends or your local government. source: ready.gov

THE DHS DOES NOT ENDORSE THIS ARTICLE, SURVIVOR’S EDGE OR REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM.

SURVIVAL + POWER

FORMER CIA OFFICIAL WARNS:

“ISIS TERRORISTS WANT TO CRIPPLE AMERICA’S ELECTRIC GRID!�

How will you keep your family safe when the lights go out? And they will go out. to help you continue to meet your power needs.

And best of all, it harnesses the power of the sun to keep a state-of-the-art lithium-ion phosphate battery charged.

Unlike other generators, you’ll never run out of gas.

You’ll have a power supply that you can recharge endlessly. And at just 37.5 pounds you can take the Patriot Power Generator 1500 with you if you are forced out of your home.

You’ll have an ample supply of AC electricity DYDLODEOH WR SRZHU \RXU IUHH]HU ´UH XS \RXU VORZ cooker, your toaster oven, even your coffee maker... power your cell phones, computers,radios, medical devices... and so much more. You can even use it to power an electric blanket to keep you warm.

IQ D :DVKLQJWRQ SUHVV FRQIHUHQFH IRUPHU &,$ RI´FLDO Dr. Peter Pry, warned, “There is an imminent threat from ISIS to the national electric grid and not just to a single U.S. city.� He explained that attacks on just nine of the nation’s 55,000 electrical substations could result in coast-to-coast blackouts for up to 18 months.

Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy went even further, “... should the power go out and stay out for over a year, nine out of 10 Americans would likely perish.� What could be a more frightening thought than that?

→

It May Have Already Begun. ,Q 6DQ -RVH &DOLIRUQLD VQLSHUV ´UHG RQ DQ HOHFWULFDO substation for 19 minutes, knocking out 17 giant transformers that provide power as far away as PATRIOT POWER Silicon Valley. It took workers 27 days to restore the facility. No arrests were made. A dry run for the real thing?

GENERATOR 1500

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You Know We’re Targeted.

It’s no secret ISIS and other radical groups hate America. Their mission is to destroy us by whatever means possible.

A successful attack on WKH JULG ZRXOG GH´QLWHO\ bring about the end of the world as we know it.

→

Weather Is The Other Enemy.

Even leaving aside a terror attack, there is the constant threat that Mother Nature could strike a vicious blow to the grid.

Remember the Polar Vortex? Only through a massive effort by grid operators were we spared total blackouts across large parts of the country.

It’s happened before and it will happen again.

And the vast majority of Americans will be totally unprepared for the depravation and lawlessness that often follow.

Introducing The Patriot Power Generator 1500.

The Patriot Power Generator 1500 was designed

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There Are No Moving Parts!

The Patriot Power Generator 1500 is an affordable, completely self-contained system that silently provides up to 3,000 peak watts of totally FREE, renewable power. And it’s so easy to use a child can do it.

1. Unfold and set up the solar panel in the sunlight.

2. Plug in the solar panel.

3. Now plug in your electronic devices and enjoy free power from the sun!

Amazingly, it takes just 3.5 hours or less to fully charge the unit. And it will hold its charge for up to 6 months so it’s always ready to use. And it can be recharged up to 3,000 times.

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Call Or Visit For More.

We have friendly folks standing by to answer any questions you might have. Simply call 1-800-367-5057.

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S No one can know how long a disaster will last. Whether it’s just a few hours or several years, you’ll need to plan ahead to ensure your safety, health and resources, especially against those who did not plan ahead.

D N O Y T BE S R I F E H T . s hr

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s n a e m g n i p . p g e r a p b r t e u t o s a g s i u d b r m u r Long-te king beyond yo BY FRED MASTISON thin

| 10 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Y

You’re sitting in a dark room. A candle is burning as you listen to the emergency radio you dutifully added to an emergency kit. The president is preparing to address the nationwide power failure. After a few minutes of talk, you realize that this is not some simple electrical glitch. The entire grid has been attacked and the country is in serious trouble. You have been diligent about preparing for a disaster, but now it is time to evaluate your next steps.

This scenario, while dramatic, is a reality that people should consider. The failure of a nation’s electrical grid, a massive natural disaster or even an attack on U.S. soil can lead to a dire situation. Without power, the structure of any country will begin to break down and individuals will be forced to fend for themselves. The duration of that self-reliance will depend on the nature of the disaster.

“Without power, the structure of any country will begin to break down and individuals will be forced to fend for themselves.”

Big Stock Photo

As a general rule, you are encouraged to break your planning down into three time frames: 72 hours, two weeks and the long term. Inside each of these there will be three things that need to be considered: gear, location and skills. We will explore what is needed for each, but let’s first look at the potential problems.

With the variety of things that can go wrong, it can be helpful to divide them into two categories. First up is the most common phenomenon of natural disasters. These include severe weather, earthquakes or even volcanic eruptions.

Most of these events cause only moderate damage to a country’s infrastructure.

However, large-scale events like massive hurricanes can affect millions of people.

The other type of disaster we will explore is manmade. This can include an actual attack on the U.S. by a foreign power or terrorists. While it is unlikely that a force would invade the U.S., they can easily attack our electrical infrastructure, water supplies and other avenues capable of causing chaos from afar. With these variables in mind, let’s look at some of our options for our three time frames as well as the supplies and skills that are needed.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

| SUMMER 2016 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | 11 |

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

72 Hours

This window will be the most common and is related primarily to weather-related events or other natural disasters. In fact, most people that “prep” do so with this type of time frame in mind. While it is certainly an inconvenience, a 72-hour period of being without power or water is survivable with even fundamental supplies. Even during disasters as short as 72 hours, though, emergency services may not be available and weather can complicate your situation. Sub-zero temps or flooding can make this the longest 72 hours of your life. The amount of supplies you will need is dependent upon the number of people in your party. As a base, though, you should have the following: Water: Water is critical and should be a priority. Avoid using tap water after

a major event unless it has been cleared by authorities. It is recommended that you store a gallon of water for each day.

Multiply this by the number of people in your household to get your requirements.

Bottled water is the easiest to manage in this situation because you may need to move temporarily.

Food: Store non-perishable food.

This industry has blossomed over the last several years and you will have no problem finding not only nutritious meals, but also tasty ones as well. One of the best places to get these meals is the website longlifefooddepot.com. It is also a solid source for a variety of meals. Companies such as the Wise Company also offer a spectrum of solutions.

Emergency Kit: More than just some tape and rope, this kit needs to

allow you to solve problems. This should include a durable flashlight like a Streamlight Scorpion HL, extra batteries, an emergency hand-crank radio such as the Eton FRX, candles and a first-aid kit with any medications needed. Rope or 550 cord is also a must, as are a few simple tools like screwdrivers, a hammer and a small saw such as the Silky Pocketboy.

Let’s now add a knife, such as the Hogue EX-01. Waterproof matches are one of the most important items in this kit.

Cash: If there is a major event, ATMs and card readers will probably not be functioning because of power outages.

The amount of cash you have on hand should be balanced with safety. Never let anyone know you are keeping cash and store it someplace safe.

Weapons: Disasters can bring out

When long-term survival is our goal, we should focus on serious equipment and tools to get us through, like ETON radios, Glock pistols and E-Tools, Remington and Mossberg firearms and Wise Company emergency rations.

| 12 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Shutterstock Photo

Your preparation timeline should include how long it will take you to evacuate large urban centers.

Two Weeks

A two-week time frame is more realistic than some may believe. As with our 72-hour situation, more than likely we are looking at a natural disaster that causes us to fend for ourselves. A disaster that causes this type of situation is serious and may negate the chance for any emergency support from government agencies for a long period of time. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Water: Water will begin to be a complicated factor over two weeks. Unless you have significant storage, you will need to purify drinking water. Remember that water is needed not only for drinking, but also for cooking and sanitation as well. A good option in this category is Katadyn.

This company makes hand-operated water filtration systems to fit any need.

The Katadyn Expedition filtration unit is portable and easy to use.

Food: Food may begin to run thin at this stage. It is not beyond reason that you can store two weeks’ worth of food. This is especially true if you begin to factor in canned foods and meals to add variety.

Most emergency meals are very calorie dense and can last quite a while.

Emergency Kit: We will keep our original kit and simply suggest the addition of a few items. First is an axe to cut wood. You will need fuel for fires, and a handsaw may not be up to the task. A larger fixed-blade knife will be helpful, and the SOG Force knife is a good choice. An entrenching tool such as the Glock E-Tool will also be a welcomed addition.

Cash: As with our short-term problem, electricity may still be out. Currency will still be recognized and useful to get what you need. A point of caution: There will be an urge by some to charge outrageous prices for items. This should be motivation to plan ahead even more.

Skills: Our skill level must move up a notch now. We will need to know how to purify water as well as tend to more serious injuries if we cannot get to medical professionals. You will also need to know how to build a fire for warmth and cooking, and possibly a temporary shelter.

Weapons: We will add a smallcaliber rifle such as a Ruger 10/22 to the

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

EMERGENCY TIMELINE

E

ver wonder why a 72-hour emergency kit or bug-out bag was established? Our federal and state governments are typically well prepared for all types of events, and usually within 72 hours they have a plan in place and have begun executing on that plan. Here’s a general timeline of an emergency event.

FIRST 12 TO 48 An emergency has occurred.

Government officials and nongovernment organizations like disaster relief organizations gather data on what exactly happened and what needs to happen to help secure, evacuate or begin to fix the situation. The media will try to create awareness of the event.

THE NEXT 72 Plans are put in place to fix the situation and help the people affected by the disaster. Rescue and relief personnel are organized to execute those plans.

Media awareness continues.

Volunteerism begins.

WEEKS AFTERWARD Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, ongoing relief is given to residents of the affected area. Cleanup continues. Rebuilding homes and lives continues. Media awareness wanes.

—Robert A. Sadowski

Big Stock Photos

both the best and the worst in people. You are highly encouraged to, at a minimum, have a handgun for personal protection.

The 9mm Glock 17 pistol will fit this kind of situation perfectly.

Skills: Basic first aid and self-care are important any day of the week, and even more important in an emergency. You should also have a basic understanding of electricity and plumbing in the event you need to shut the power or water off.

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Shutterstock Photos

In a disaster, urban environments will be incredibly dangerous because of the lack of resources.

Diseases and toxic contaminants will be a real problem if we have to face a long-term disaster.

arsenal now. There may be a need to take small game and the Ruger 10/22 can make that an easier task.

Long Term

If things have gotten really bad, you should plan on being on your own for a year or even more. Don’t think it is possible? There are thousands of people still living in tarp huts following the earthquake in Haiti almost six years ago. While it is a poor country, over $13 billion dollars have been poured into the small country to improve life. Do not count on the government to come to your aid. Make the most of your situation and, with planning, it can be more than a day-to-day struggle.

Water: You will need to have the means to purify your water by hand. The water filtration products you have may break or be stolen, so you’ll need alternatives. Bleach and boiling are recommended methods, but since you are most likely living a nomadic lifestyle at this point, you’ll have to consider how much you bring as well as what means you have to start fires for boiling.

Food: We are now to the point that we are gathering our own food. This can be done by hunting as well as planting gardens. Plan on including seeds in your preparation kits.

Emergency Kit: Our previous kits are good, but we will need to add additional rope as well as a variety of general tools. Your medical kit should resemble an

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“…break your planning down into three time frames:

72 hours, two weeks and the long term.”

EMT pack at this point.

Cash: Cash at this point will likely be mostly a collector’s item. Barter will be the name of the game, and your ability to offer high-value items will put you in a good spot. One prime item will be ammunition.

Many people will have thought to pack a gun, but few will have the vison to pack a significant amount of ammunition. As with cash, be careful about letting people know what you have.

Skills: We are now beyond just biding our time until help arrives. We are more than likely launching a new life. The necessary skills in this arena include gardening, hunting and cleaning game, building shelters as well as educating our children after schools are closed.

Weapons: We are now as focused on defense as we are hunting. The addition of a Remington 700 chambered in .308 Winchester as well as a 12-gauge Mossberg 590A1 will round out the safe.

Plan For The Worst

There are many other things to consider when we move though our time frames.

The first question often asked is, “Do we leave or stay?” My suggestion is that unless you are forced to leave, you should stay in place. The benefits of sheltering in place are many. You are in a known location and have more than likely been able to store supplies. The desire to use your home as a shelter requires some planning.

You should plan on fortifying your home by adding deadbolts on doors, installing a video-based security system and even developing a safe room should be on your home-fortification to-do list.

There are exceptions to this, however.

The two primary factors are the duration of the event and your location. If the disaster becomes a permanent issue, you may be forced to move on in order to find food and keep your family safe. The other reason you may bug-out is your initial location. Those in major cities will find it very difficult to manage existing natural resources with a large population. New Orleans is not a huge city, yet there was rampant looting along with a great deal of crime during Hurricane Katrina. Many people will not have made any prepara-

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tions at all, and you could quickly become a target. Looting and violent crime will be common threats in this environment.

Have a plan and an alternate location.

Your alternate location should be scouted out long before any catastrophe occurs.

Casual drives in the countryside can easily become scouting trips. A good location should be away from major population centers and provide the chance to not only hunt for game, but to plant gardens as well. Many people pool family resources to secure such a location.

Just as important is how you are going to bug-out. The vehicle you choose should be weighed carefully. While a large four-wheel-drive truck is almost cliché, it may not be fuel efficient enough to allow you to travel the desired distance. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is a good choice but strike a balance between power, load capacity and fuel efficiency. Once you have a vehicle you should have your “togo” items pre-packed and ready. These items include all of the supplies you can fit into your vehicle. Using poly style totes with lids protects the items from moisture and general wear and tear.

Strength In Numbers

Finally, make sure that you have a family plan. Many large families spread across

the country have made plans to meet at a certain location if things ever get bad. It is important that the family understand the plan because communications will more than likely be down. If there are kids involved, establish a meet-up location near them and then bug-out from there.

This movement plan should be more than just “meet here.” There may be special considerations, such as elderly family members or those with special medical needs. You must keep all of this in mind when you factor in things, such as how long it will take to get out, how far you can travel and what special equipment you may need to bring along.

On a side note, training is an important factor to consider. Many of the skills required to survive after a disaster requires some training. Over the last 10 years, there has been a huge growth in the number of courses and schools covering these skills. If you are serious about surviving after a disaster, it is worth your time to seek out training. That training should be family wide in the event someone is injured and unable to help.

No matter the duration of the emergency, the choices we make regarding preparation will determine our success or failure. Most of us lead comfortable lives and rarely give things like this a second

thought. Look ahead, however, and make a plan. With this attitude and mindset, you can not only survive but thrive.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Buy Emergency Foods buyemergencyfoods.com; 888-543-7345 Eton etoncorp.com; 650.903.3866 Hogue hogueinc.com; 800- 438-4747 Glock glock.com; 770-432-1202 Katadyn katadyn.com; 800-755-6701 Mossberg mossberg.com; 800-363-3555 Remington remington.com; 800-243-9700 Silky silkysaws.com; 866-345-2468 SOG sogknives.com; 425-771-6230 Streamlight streamlight.com; 610-631-0600 Sturm, Ruger & Co. ruger.com Wise Company wisefoodstorage.com; 800-393-2570

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Deadly Overflow Prepare for destructive floodwaters before it’s too late!

BY WILL DABBS, MD

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Florida to Maine. When the floodwaters finally receded, 233 people were dead and the storm had wrought more than $71 billion in damage to 24 states. When the storm surge hit New York City, floodwaters inundated the subway system, streets and tunnels and cut power to the city.

Of all the calamities that might befall us, few are more destructive than a proper flood. Floodwaters rise as the result of excessive rainfall, precipitous snowpack, hurricane-related storm surges or devastating tsunamis following an offshore earthquake. Regardless of the impetus, however, little carries the wanton destruction of a massive flood.

In Harm’s Way

While coastal areas are typically most at risk, flash floods resulting from heavy rains can strike even the most arid places.

Record rainfall combined with unusually large snowmelt to flood vast areas from Illinois down to Louisiana in 2011. For the second time in 38 years, the Morganza Spillway had to be opened, flooding 4,800 square miles of rural Louisiana in order to save the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Earthquake activity can occur most anyplace and has produced tsunamis that wipe vast areas of coastline clean. The

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Getty Images

The storm surge and flooding are of of 2005, Hurricane In some August the most Katrina destructive made landfall as a Categoparts of a hurricane. ry 3 storm near New Orleans, Louisiana. The resulting storm surge breached the levee system designed to protect New Orleans in 23 places, and resulted in the greatest engineering disaster in the history of the United States. Approximately 80 percent of New Orleans, much of which is naturally below sea level, was flooded, in places to a depth of 15 feet. As a result, 1,245 people died in the hurricane and its immediate aftermath.

Seven years later, Superstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane ever documented, raked the eastern seaboard from

“Whether you live in the rural backwoods or a Manhattan high rise, few Americans are truly immune to the effects of a major flood.”

tidal surge resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake produced waves that were, in places, more than 100 feet high.

These waves killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. This tsunami spawned from a profoundly powerful undersea earthquake—powerful enough to shift the entire planet about a centimeter—and ranks as the third deadliest natural disaster in human history.

In 1812, an earthquake produced what is known as a fluvial tsunami that caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards and subsequently form Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. The 1812 earthquake measured 8.8 on the Richter scale. This

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quake was one of the largest temblors in all of human history, and it was centered in the midst of the American heartland. The death toll topped more than 1,000 people in a day when few structures extended past a single story. The bottom line is that, regardless of its cause, no one is truly safe from the extraordinary power of a flood.

Gearing Up

As with most things, you should prepare in advance. In one of the more sordid episodes of the Katrina disaster, New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass ordered the confiscation of legally held firearms. More than 1,000 legally

held weapons were illegally confiscated at the very time they were most needed. As a result of this travesty, Congress passed, and the president signed, the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006, ensuring that authorities may not confiscate lawfully owned firearms in a future emergency. Know your rights. If you are comfortable with the responsibility, and your circumstances might demand it, maintaining a firearm for personal protection is typically a good idea for those capable and responsible enough to do so safely in times of crisis.

Maintain a bug-out bag with equipment, food, water and medicines ad-

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DIY Emergency Raft STEP 6 Test your raft out first to see how it floats, for balance and maneuverability. Testing it near shore will give you an opportunity to make adjustments before you actually launch out to rescue. You don’t want

This step-by-step guide from Naked and Afraid’s EJ Snyder can help you build a solid makeshift raft.

to find out that your raft isn’t buoyant enough or that it’s taking on water out in the middle of rapids.

STEP 1 Before you begin, you have to gather as many materials as you will need for your raft to safely carry yourself, other riders and supplies.

Grab base and platform materials like wood, plastic, Styrofoam, plastic bottles, barrels, pallets or even doors (not metal). You’ll also need several

meters of lashing material (ropes or cordage), nails, screws, duct tape or industrial adhesives. Paddles, rudders or long push poles are also essential.

STEP 4 Place another layer of plywood or a door on top of the pallets to form the deck. If you find the deck is slippery, you can mix sand or dirt

STEP 2 Lay down four 55-gallon barrels and lash them to a support beam system made up of four long

beams 10 to 12 feet in length and two cross beams to form the base.

STEP 3 Lay some plywood to support the deck. Then take two pallets to form the deck’s base and lash them to the barrel support-beam system.

Place plastic bottles or jugs and other buoyant material in between the

pallets’ void space to assist in helping the raft float. Secure it with lashing or tape at the opening ends, or jam other material in the ends to prevent any loose material from floating out.

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in with paint and apply it to the deck, as this will give it a non-slip surface once dry. Note: Depending on the amount of lashing material you have, lash as much of the raft together as possible as currents, wakes and waves will put a lot of strain and stress on your raft. More is always better when it comes to your raft.

STEP 5 Fashion paddles, secure a long push pole and attach a rudder if possible. If you are crossing a large lake or the ocean, you may want to fashion a sail if you can to help take advantage of winds and save energy.

EJ Snyder Photos

K

nowing how to build a raft from what you find around you is a key skill that can save your life in the event you need it. You have seen the images on TV news of people trying to survive flooding, like when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, with people actually on top of doors, inside refrigerators or even in plastic pools.

The three main factors for a raft are buoyant base and platform material, lashing and assembly material and maneuverability control systems.

Anything can work in a pinch, and with the right know-how and creativity you can make it work if you follow these key steps. After all, your life could depend on mastering these skills and floating to safety.

STEP 7 Adding optional items for the journey can make the situation a little better. These include a sun shade, a basket for supplies, a large water jug, extra paddles and a rain catch system. Anything you can think of to aid in your survival helps. You may want to fly a brightly colored

flag and have other signaling options available to communicate or aid in rescue. Note: If you have more than two people or more supplies, simply repeat Step 3 and Step 4 by laying a second deck built the same way alongside the first deck, doubling your capacity. The build time for this raft was about three hours with one person, but with help that time could easily be cut in half.

Knowing how to build a raft can save your life in a survival situation. It can also be a gamechanger during long-term survival.

This raft was constructed with junk items and discarded resources you might find when disaster strikes.

You are only limited by your imagination and creativity in a survival situation. —EJ Snyder

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Crossing flooded areas can be incredibly dangerous. Even shallow water can exert tremendous force.

Massive floods can be catastrophic in built-up areas, putting thousands of lives in immediate danger.

equate to support your family for a modest period of time. Keep the bag up to date, rotate food and water for freshness, and make sure everyone in the family is familiar with its contents. This emergency gear needs to be useful, easily accessible and readily portable.

Floods in built-up urban areas can be particularly dangerous and demand special preparations. If your family works or goes to school a significant distance apart, it is a good idea to have a lostcommunication plan that directs everyone to meet at an easily accessible landmark if disaster strikes and communications are down. Consider your own needs but also take into account the inevitable throngs of people who will not be prepared. This situation demands unique transportation and security considerations.

There are several companies that produce inflatable boats that can be stored (deflated) in small spaces and then made ready quickly should your family need to escape floodwaters. However, keep in mind that floodwater can be misleadingly dangerous. Staying out of it altogether is always better than attempting to traverse swollen tributaries.

Never drive a vehicle through flooded streets, and take great care walking through even shallow waters. The hydraulic force exerted under these circumstances can be deceptively strong. Hidden objects or debris can also be sufficiently jagged to cause a serious injury, making a bad day even worse.

Heed government evacuation instructions when crisis looms. During Katrina, 80 percent of the city’s residents escaped before the storm, but that still left thou-

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Shutterstock Photos

Thinkstock Photo

Floodwaters can rise with minimal warning, quickly turning residential spaces into swamps.

“Have an escape plan, plan primary and alternate routes in advance, and keep the gear, supplies and fuel handy to get out...” sands who had to be subjected to rescue and support efforts. Have an escape plan, plan primary and alternate routes in advance, and keep the gear, supplies and fuel handy to get out if needed. Keep in mind that gasoline has a finite shelf life and must be stabilized for long-term storage. Fuel stabilizer is available at any auto parts store. Also take into account children, the elderly and pets. Every selfreliant, prepared American is one fewer victim that must be rescued.

Post-Storm Recovery

The danger does not necessarily recede with the floodwaters. Wild animals frequently take shelter in abandoned dwellings during a disaster and poisonous snakes, in particular, are an inevitable problem in the Deep South after a flood of any magnitude. Feral dogs can become a dangerous threat, and in urban areas the possibility of dangerous animals escaping from zoos is also a consideration.

Arguably the biggest threat in the aftermath of a flood, once basic necessities like food, water, shelter and security have been addressed, is disease. We take

clean water for granted here in the United States, but floodwaters back up sewage systems and corrupt drinking water predictably and consistently. Be aware of government boil-water notices and follow them meticulously.

Maintain a supply of bottled drinking water at all times and rotate your stock to keep it fresh. The equipment to purify your own water from questionable sources is readily available. Drinking safe water helps protect against devastating diseases like cholera and giardia. Keep in mind that using questionable water for cleaning, washing food and household utility tasks can be just as dangerous as drinking it.

Tetanus immunizations are typically good for a decade, but it is easy to lose track. Keep immunization information written down and updated. Wounds incurred in an austere environment have a greater risk of infection, and illnesses that are fairly readily manageable in times of peace, like diabetes and hypertension, can become life threatening quickly in the absence of chronic medicines.

Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover flood damage and the fed-

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S eral government manages the National Flood Insurance Program for those living in flood-prone areas. Investigate the particulars in advance and keep an inventory of valuables in a safe place to use after the immediate crisis recedes. The time to find that your home was not covered is not when you are standing in your living room knee deep in mud.

Restore & Rebuild

A study in 2001 showed that 49 percent of New Orleans and the immediate surrounding areas actually lie below sea level, in places by as much as 10 to 12 feet. Following severe flooding from Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the U.S. Corps of Engineers designed and began construction on the current flood-control works.

In 1965 this entire project was projected to require 13 years for completion. When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, the project was still not complete even 40 years after its inception.

As a result of Katrina, Army Corps of Engineers specialists visited the Netherlands to study the extensive Delta Works levee system there. The Netherlands

While the U.S. government can provide aid through FEMA and other resources, you can’t rely on it alone.

has a unique history of reclaiming land from the sea and its expertise in this subject is considered state of the art.

This relationship resulted in a $150 million contract to a Dutch engineering firm for the evaluation, design and construction management of a new series of levees and floodwalls around the New Orleans area.

Since Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers has invested $14.45 billion to produce hundreds of levee improvements, the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, the longest such structure of its kind in the U.S., and the Seabrook Floodgate at the connection of Lake Pontchartrain and the Industrial Canal, as well as the world’s largest water pumping station.

This pump station alone cost $1 billion and can pump 1 million gallons of water per minute. An entire freestanding cellular telephone system designed solely for use by government authorities has been erected across the South as well to ensure that communication remains intact in the face of the next big disaster.

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the Army Corps of Engineers invested

Photo Courtesy Midland

Heavy-lift military aircraft like this Chinook moved vast quantities of relief supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

Shutterstock Photos

LIFESAVING BACKUP

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Flooding can displace hundreds of thousands of people and often contaminates drinking water.

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he U.S. has more severe weather than anywhere else on Earth. Tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and wildfires cause massive devastation and leave millions of people in life-threatening situations without power for days at a time. You can’t control Mother Nature, but you can plan for emergency situations with the new Midland E+READY ER310, the latest hand-crank emergency radio that just been unveiled for 2016.

Durable, dependable and

portable, the Midland E+READY ER310 can be considered your own personal emergency team.

Receive severe weather alerts through a digital AM/FM and weather-band radio equipped with NOAA Weather Alert Radio capabilities. The radio also includes a built-in LED flashlight with “SOS” and strobe functions to signal for help in an emergency, as well as sustainable power options—rechargeable lithium-ion batteries offer up to 32 hours of continuous use while six replaceable AA batter-

ies provide backup power. The built-in solar panel recharges the lithium batteries, or you can use the ergonomic hand crank.

You can also use the ER310 to charge any USB-compatible device, such as a smartphone, or call out to search-and-rescue groups using the device’s ultrasonic dog whistle.

With the Midland ER310, you’ll have top-of-the-line radio technology that might just save your life one day. (816241-8500; midlandusa.com) —Cara Donaldson

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Flood Facts:

Mississippi River

Shutterstock Photo

hrough history, the destructive power of the fourth longest and ninth largest river in the world has been all too real.

4 Hernando de Soto catalogued the first documented flood of the Mississippi River in March of 1543.

4The Mississippi River flood of 1844 represented the highest water levels ever recorded before or since, and provided the impetus to motivate the United States Congress to pass the Swamp Act that resulted in our current levee system.

4 In 1927 heavy spring rains resulted in a pair of Mississippi River flooding events that displaced 500,000 people, covered 28,400 square miles and resulted in $1 billion in damages.

This equated out to roughly one third of the entire federal budget at the time. —Will Dabbs, MD

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large sums in the nourishment and replenishing of beaches swept away by the storm. Reconstructing these beaches allows the sand to act as a buffer between damaging waves and structures inland. Flood planning in New York City spans the spectrum from relatively miniscule to enormous.

Solar-powered streetlights in some parts of the city went up to ensure that the streets had light despite a power outage. Stony revetments on Coney Island Creek help prevent backdoor flooding after severe surges. The overall plan includes construction of seawalls, the retrofitting of buildings to make them more flood resistant and the redesign of subway tunnels, power stations, hospitals, sewage-treatment plants and the power transmission infrastructure to be better defended against floodwaters.

Expect the unexpected and plan for the worst. Whether you live in the rural backwoods or a Manhattan high rise, few Americans are truly immune to the effects of a major flood.

Consider the possible threats, prepare accordingly and realize that while you cannot prevent a natural disaster, you can be ready to face it head on with adequate gear and knowledge to keep you and your family safe from the storm.

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Tornados are no longer limited to certain areas of the U.S. They can occur almost anywhere at any time. This makes it incredibly important to have a shelter and know how to spot the warning signs.

G N I G RA S R E T S I TW , y t i n u m m o c r u o y y ! o t r t n s a e t s d n i n a n c a s n o i d e a f i l ONDITT d C Torn n T T a O C

BY S home

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| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

“What might begin as a small, low-speed funnel...can quickly grow to a full-blown superstorm tornado...”

A

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Fotolia Photo; Fotolia Photo; Shutterstock Photo; LAcity.org Photo/Public Domain Image; FEMA Photos

As far as natural disasters in the United States go, none emerge more abruptly and violently than tornados. These swirling vortices of destruction emerge from darkening skies above and in the blink of an eye can lay waste to entire towns, all before dissipating completely. Tornados leave a veritable wasteland of shattered homes, scattered debris and displaced residents wandering indiscernible streets where neighborhoods and local landmarks once stood only moments before.

They are perhaps the most devastating and violent force of nature to be reckoned with. As weather patterns have become increasingly volatile in the last few decades, and with tornados now affecting regions in the U.S. that were previously left unscathed, a new generation of early warning systems and shelter solutions are emerging to help ensure that you and your loved ones can endure these storm systems and make it out alive.

Storm Alert 101 Severe Thunderstorm Watch: This designation is issued when conditions are conducive to the development of severe thunderstorms in and around the watch area.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning: You’ll hear this warning when a severe thunderstorm has been observed by spotters or indicated on radar.

Tornado Watch: Conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms and multiple tornadoes in and around the watch area. People in the affected areas are encouraged to prepare for severe weather.

Tornado Warning: Spotters have sighted a tornado or one has been indicated on radar, and it is occurring or imminent in the warning area.

—John Phillips

Fatal Funnels

Tornados in the United States typically occur during the springtime, when warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico combines with cool and dry air currents from the northern region of the continental United States and Canada. Typically, warm air rises, but when the warm and cold fronts meet, the cold air traps the warm air beneath it, and because the warmer air is unable to move upward, it begins to rotate. As the sun heats the ground, more warm air continues to

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Shelter From The Storm

B’Safe JACK

Survive-AStorm

Survive-A-Storm has a shelter option for everyone. For families at home, the company’s compact Twister Pod is a practical aboveground storm shelter solution for up to four occupants. Its largest aboveground models for businesses, schools and mobile home communities can shelter over 100 people.

Its shelters also incorporate the GeoLocator service, which allows emergency service and family members to locate the shelter should it be covered by debris. (survive-a-storm.com; 888-360-1492)

SteelSafe

SteelSafe

SteelSafe produces a six-person belowground shelter for installation in your garage, directly under your vehicle, that takes up no usable space from your garage. It can even be installed to allow quick access without the need to move your vehicle.

This model comes with removable padded steps and benches, a batterypowered fan, LED lights and a hand winch. The best part is, you don’t have to go outside to retreat to safety from the storm. (steelsafeshelters.com; 256-506-9449)

Family SAFE offers an above ground storm shelter and an in-ground storm shelter. Both storm shelters are F5 certified.

The MAX Above Ground Tornado Shelter incorporates a NASCAR-type safety cage and can hold the weight of about 25 midsize cars. The MAX is also bullet resistant to (class III) handguns and shotguns, allowing this aboveground tornado shelter to also be used as a panic room in case of emergencies. (familysafeshelters.com; 918-443-7233) RSC Shelters

RSC Shelters

RSC produces underground custom steel community shelters that can protect more than 100 people at once. These shelters come equipped with LED lighting, bench seating and fresh air ventilation but can also be upgraded with electronic locking systems, handicap accessibility, restrooms and additional features.

RSC provides an extremely secure and welcoming safe haven during violent storms for communities, schools and businesses. (supertornadoshelters. com; 214-455-0560)

B’Safe

This company produces both residential and commercial storm shelters. Its model specifically designed for communities and large groups is called the JACK, which is a FEMA-compliant shelter designed to withstand the winds of an EF-5 tornado. This shelter can be installed in one day once it arrives at the job site. Depending on the size of JACK you select, it can accommodate between 32 and 133 people. (bsafeshelters. com; 307-433-4976)

FamilySafe MAX

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Survive-A-Storm Twister Pod

FamilySafe

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SEEKING SAFE SPACE

FEMA Photo

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“Making it through a tornado unscathed is only half the battle.” rise, until eventually the swirling mass is strong enough to push through the cold air barrier. This rising warm air forces the cold air beneath it and creates a rotating column that can span upwards of 10 miles while twisting at speeds above 200 miles per hour.

The size and wind speeds evidenced in tornados can vary significantly, with some tornados on record spanning over 2.5 miles in diameter at their largest and others only covering a few hundred feet in circumference. The unpredictable nature of tornados is perhaps what makes them such a terrifying force to encounter.

Their size, course of direction and speed of travel can all change seemingly instantaneously. What might begin as a small, low-speed funnel rotating in the sky can quickly grow to a full-blown superstorm tornado, depending on the weather conditions fueling it.

The infamous stretch of “Tornado Alley,” which spans through the Midwestern United States between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains, sees the most tornado activity each year. Generally speaking, the most affected areas throughout Tornado Alley include central Texas, Oklahoma, central Kansas, Nebraska and eastern South Dakota. Tornado Alley can also be considered to include portions of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana through to

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western Ohio—quite a large swath.

In recent years, areas like New England, Ohio and Florida, which have not routinely been impacted by tornados, have incurred extensive damage from these storm systems. Wherever you may find yourself, when the skies darken to an odd yellow-green tinge (often witnessed immediately before a tornado forms) and the eerie wail of the tornado sirens pierce the sky, it’s important that you know how to respond and what to do to protect yourself and your loved ones in a hurry.

Luckily, there are a number of triedand-true methods and practices that will increase your chances for survival, as well as a number of cutting-edge notification products, companies and shelter solutions that have hit the market to defend against Mother Nature’s wrath.

Early Warning

Early warning systems for tornados have increased in efficacy in the last few decades. It is important that you are aware of what specific early warning systems are in place in your residential area and any tornado-prone regions you may be traveling through. Some communities have tornado sirens installed throughout, while others depend on smartphones and mass media to alert residents to severe storms.

The American Red Cross has developed a tornado alert application

f you’re sheltering in place or have found a secure dwelling, these tips will help you escape a tornado with minor or no injuries.

4Seek shelter in the lowest level of your home, such as a basement or a storm cellar. Quickly get to an inner hallway, room or closet if you don’t have a basement.

4Keep your distance from all windows and glass doorways at your location.

4Move to the innermost part of a building on the lowest floor, and don’t use elevators since the power may fail.

4Cushion yourself with a mattress, but don’t cover yourself with one.

4Cover your head and eyes with a blanket or a jacket to protect against flying debris and broken glass, or wear a bicycle or a motorcycle helmet.

4Stay inside since multiple tornados can emerge from the same storm.

—John Phillips

for smartphones that will allow you to receive weather alerts whenever NOAA issues a tornado watch or warning for your community. A unique tone and short text message alert will be triggered on all GPSenabled cell phones capable of receiving the alert within the area of danger.

Available for both iOS and Android phones, you can download and learn more at redcross.org.

Standalone severe weather warning systems for your residence, such as the TornadoAlert early warning alarm for your home (tornadoalert.com), can warn you when tornados are within 30 miles from your location.

When alerted to the formation of a tornado, drop everything and seek shelter right away. It is important to elect a tornado safe room in your home, such as a basement, storm cellar or an interior room on the lowest level of the structure with no windows. Ensure that all members of your family know to immediately go to this location should the alert be sounded, and conduct regular and impromptu drills to prepare your family and keep them on their toes. Don’t forget to bring your pets into the shelter if the situation and time allows. Consider having your safe room structurally reinforced or outfitted with a dedicated tornado-rated safe room.

It is important to always wait for an “all clear” announcement over your

| SUMMER 2016 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | 25 |

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Shutterstock Photo

In Harm’s Way If a deadly tornado touches down near you, take these critical steps to stay alive.

4Go inside any sturdy structure available.

4If you’re driving, pull over and stop the car (but leave it running so the air bags work).

Crouch down below the windows.

4If you can, get out of you car and into a ditch.

Be sure you’re away from the car so that it isn’t in danger of being pushed onto you.

4Never remain in a mobile home during a tornado. Even mobile homes equipped with tie-down systems can’t withstand the force of a tornado’s winds.

4Find the lowest-lying area near you and lie down in it, covering your head with your hands if no shelter is immediately available.

—John Phillips

“Wherever you may find yourself...it’s important that you know how to respond and what to do to protect yourself and your loved ones in a hurry.” emergency radio or cell phone as multiple tornados can emerge within a storm system over a short time period.

Seek Shelter

Do your research and you can find a plethora of companies that are producing entire lines of shelters, from one- and two-person modular shelters that can be installed in your garage or carport, to huge subterranean, tornado-rated community safe rooms/storm shelters that can provide a safe haven for groups of up to 100-plus people. Businesses, mobile home parks and schools have all benefitted from these steel, reinforced and custom-engineered shelters designed to deflect debris and protect inhabitants from the dangers of tornados.

Pack a 72-hour emergency preparedness kit and stock it with items specifically geared for dealing with a tornado incident and post-tornado environment. Leather gloves, work boots, long-sleeved shirts and pants, flashlights, extra batteries, emergency radios and first-aid kits are just a few basic items that will come in handy and help keep you safe when traversing a debris-laden storm zone and tending to those in need of care. Make sure you have enough food, water and other essential supplies,

| 26 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

such as medications, safely stored in your preparedness kit to last at least 72 hours, as help and emergency aid may take a few days to arrive. Many companies sell pre-packaged 72-hour kits, or you can assemble your own from online checklists available at ready.gov/build-a-kit.

After The Storm

Be prepared for utilities to be out of commission and/or pose a hazard.

Electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones could be cut off for days, or even a week or longer, in the wake of a catastrophic tornado touchdown.

As such, be cautious of downed power lines, standing water that may contain sewage and ruptured gas lines. Avoid using open flames when possible due to potential gas leaks and be hyper-aware of your surroundings, as the modern-day conveniences that enhance your day-today life may pose a deadly threat in the aftermath of a tornado.

Making it through a tornado unscathed is only half the battle. As the residents of any tornado-affected region can attest, the storm only lasts for a very brief time, but it’s the rebuilding of the community that takes quite a bit longer.

Having insurance in place for potential tornado damage is wise if you live in

tornado country. Agencies such as FEMA have also provided afflicted regions with millions of dollars in grants and subsidies in recent years to help aid in the rebuilding process throughout Tornado Alley, and a number of private tornadorelief funds have emerged to help those residents in need.

The Salvation Army routinely holds fundraisers in the wake of tornados and has streamlined the process by making donating even easier via the internet.

Most recently, the Texas chapter of the Salvation Army launched the Dallas Tornados and North Texas Flood & Tornado Relief fund, to aid those in the region who were impacted by the recent natural disasters. For more information, visit donate.salvationarmyusa.org.

A real survivor takes the time to study and understand the dangers of their environment, maintains awareness of the changing conditions around them and, when an alarm or alert is signaled, they take action immediately to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Planning for a tornado is no different.

Like all survival and preparedness planning, this means having a strategy in place before the funnel cloud touches down and doing everything you can to outlast the storm.

THE DHS DOES NOT ENDORSE THIS ARTICLE, SURVIVOR’S EDGE OR REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM.

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Rapid

Medical emergency teams help turn the tide

a

As Hurricane Katrina hammered the southeastern United States and turned New Orleans into a vast disaster area where nothing was functional, the city of 500,000 people was forced to evacuate. Once out of the threatened area, the next priority became treating the sick, wounded and injured.

The earthquake that rocked the nation of Haiti caused the displacement of close

to 3 million people as it destroyed an entire nation and caused massive catastrophic damage and injures, including an estimated death toll of 160,000 people.

The extent of the injuries was horrific and required an expertise that went beyond the Haitian government’s capabilities.

When tragedies strike and mass medical care is needed, the U.S. government makes one call to the National Disaster

Medical Service (NDMS), our nation’s tactical medical response team.

National Response

The NDMS was created to supplement and integrate a national medical response capability for major disasters. The idea was originally formed during the Cold War in order to respond in a case of catastrophic casualties. Since then, the

The horrific events of Hurricane Katrina showed us the absoloute need for fast-acting emergency medical teams.

Photos Courtesy HHS/NDMS

It’s comforting to know that these teams can support a massive air evacuation if needed.

| 28 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Relief during a widespread disaster.

NDMS has retooled and primarily assists state and local agencies dealing with medical care during major disasters. Their mission is supported by the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical systems. Upon request, the NDMS will also deploy to a foreign country to assist that government, as it did in Haiti and other locations around the world, to address major medical disasters.

BY DONALD J. MIHALEK

This 6,000-person civilian force is always on call and, according to Murad Raheem, a regional administrator for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The NDMS system is always ready and has teams pre-positioned, and is able to respond anywhere within 12 hours of a request, similar to the way the National

Guard responds when called out.”

This force will respond to disasters, major events like Inauguration Day and the Super Bowl, and support any state or local entities needing increased medical support. “The NDMS has three main missions—the emergency medical response

by NDMS medical teams, including the equipment and supplies, to a disaster area; the movement of ill and injured

When Superstorm Sandy slammed the East Coast, the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) of New Jersey was there to provide medical aid to those affected by the disaster.

DMAT also provides assistance to those with special needs, like at this emergency shelter.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

| SUMMER 2016 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | 29 |

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

When an area is devastated by a disaster, the NDMS deploys to help those who have been affected.

Ready To Respond Along with the NDMS, these other Public Health Emergency (PHE) divisions give supplies and support during mass medical crises resulting from natural or manmade disasters.

patients from a disaster area to areas unaffected by the disaster; and the definitive care of patients at hospitals in areas unaffected by the disaster,” said Raheem.

The NDMS has the ability to partner with federal agencies, including FEMA, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. According to Raheem, “These partnerships give us capabilities and resources to draw upon to help us accomplish our mission and handle any surge operations that we may be asked to support.”

Crisis Support

Like any capable force, the NDMS system relies on the team concept to work efficiently and effectively. “When people apply for and are hired into the NDMS system, they are assigned to a specific team based on location, expertise and mission set,” said Raheem.

He continued, “Once hired into the NDMS, you could be assigned to any one of the following teams.”

DMAT: The Disaster Medical Assistance Team is a fully functioning field hospital that can handle everything from minor injuries to bruises and broken bones. They travel with a host of medical professionals and gear.

DMORT: The Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team can handle mass-fatality situations. Once they set up, they handle the identification of remains by using scientific techniques and collect information about the deceased from family members.

NVRT: The National Veterinary Response Team is a group of veterinary professionals to care for both the working animals onsite and any animals belonging

| 30 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

to victims in an effected area.

IRCT: The Incident Response Coordination Team is deployed to keep track of all team members and coordinate the group’s multi-faceted response.

IMSURT: The International Medical Surgical Response Team essentially sends the operating room to the field, resembling sort of a MASH unit specifically for disaster areas.

Disaster Gear

All of these teams have access to their own as well as pre-established caches of equipment and supplies, including all types of medical equipment to set up an emergency department in the field. They also come equipped with a host of support equipment, including tents, cots, food, water, communications gear and generators for longterm operations.

The equipment caches are stored at warehouses around the country. All of these locations are discreet and kept that way to protect their capabilities. In addition to gear and medical supplies, these caches have medications of every variety.

Due to the aforementioned partnerships, once the caches run low on medications, the NDMS can tap the Veterans Administration for more medications from their stockpile or use commercial sources just like a hospital. To get from one place to another, the NDMS uses its partnership with the Department of Defense for transportation. The different military branches’ airlift capabilities support the NDMS’ medical support mission.

Team members receive regular training on the non-medical portion of their equipment, including how to package up

Federal Medical Station (FMS) The FMS is a deployable healthcare facility that can provide surge beds to support healthcare systems anywhere in the U.S. that is impacted by disasters or public health emergencies. Each FMS comes with a three-day supply of medical and pharmaceutical resources to sustain from 50 to 250 stable primary or chronic-care patients who require medical and nursing services.

Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) The MRC is comprised of organized medical and public health professionals who serve as volunteers to respond to natural disasters and emergencies. The MRC program provides the structure necessary to deploy medical and public health personnel in response to an emergency.

Photo Courtesy HHS/NDMS

Photo Courtesy HHS/NDMS

Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) The SNS is a national repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, life-support medications, IV administration and airway maintenance supplies, and medical/surgical items. The SNS is designed to supplement and resupply state and local public health agencies in the event of a national emergency anywhere and at anytime within the U.S. or its territories.

Applied Public Health Team (APHT) The APHT is composed of experts in applied public health and can function as a “public health department in a box.” An APHT can deploy within 36 hours of notification and provide assistance in public health assessments, environmental health, infrastructure integrity, food safety, vector control, epidemiology and surveillance.

Mental Health Team (MHT) The MHT consists of mental and behavioral health experts who assess stress and suicide risks within the affected population, manage responder stress, and provide therapy, counseling and crisis intervention. The Mental Health Team can deploy within 36 hours of notification. source: phe.gov

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

their gear for rapid transport and deployment. The gear is packaged on pallets in deployment cases that are designed for rapid shipment and setup. A team’s typical deployment time is 12 hours from the initial request to becoming fully mission capable.

Join The Team

To become a member of the NDMS, the group will announce openings anyone can apply for on the usajobs.gov website. The teams use doctors, nurses and other medical professionals but also require communications specialists, logisticians and coordinators. Once hired, you’re assigned a team in your area.

Teams are on call in three parts of the country: west, central and east. If a mobilization order comes, those on-duty teams get the call first and respond where directed. Reserve teams are then placed on call to respond if mobilized.

Emergency Plan

According to Murad Raheem, “The most important thing anyone can do is prepare for a disaster. Preparation starts way ahead of the actual disaster and starts with developing a disaster plan, depending on where you are and what you may face.

“The main components of a good

disaster plan include provisions for three days. You also need to have plans to stay in place and another to evacuate. These become the building blocks for what you may need, like essential clothes and prescription medications, so you don’t become part of the problem.”

Raheem continued, “When it comes to planning, whether it be a manmade or

That is where the authorities are going to communicate where to find help or safety.

Flashlights and matches with maps of the roads for your evacuation route make it easy no matter if it’s day or night.

“If you evacuate, leave a note in your house with contact information, which can be critical for search teams so they can clear your house and not waste time look-

“A team’s typical deployment time is 12 hours from the initial request to becoming fully mission capable.” natural disaster, the basic elements of a plan are the same. The only thing that changes is what you would bring. Either way, make a list and ensure you have things like food and water and a method of communications, which these days is usually a cell phone.”

Raheem also added, “You should also ensure you have all of your medications and a contact list of family and friends. It’s also important to stay informed so having a portable radio with extra batteries or windup capability could be critical in a disaster.

ing for persons that aren’t there. These and other items could be essential pieces of your survival plan.”

Finally, Raheem ended by noting how important every person’s individual planning can be to disaster-relief professionals. “At the end of the day, while the NDMS and others will respond to save the day, it is up to each individual to plan, prepare and be ready to execute a plan if disaster strikes, and the ability to survive rests solely on you.” For more information, visit phe.gov.

n i r e k BUn ?

T U O G U B r o o t ll a c t h ig r e h t e k a . e How to m m o h t a y a t s r o d hit the roa D O

BY CHARLEY HOGWO

| 32 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

S

tay or go? This is the first and sometimes most difficult question we may have to ask ourselves in an emergency. Emergency events are not only disruptive to our physical situation, but they are also disruptive to our mental status as they can happen anytime, anywhere and to anyone. One moment you may be sitting down to dinner and the next the building may be shaking, the lights flickering and smoke filling the room.

When something like this happens, most of us will fall back to our primal instincts of either fight or flight. In a situation that suddenly changes from what is expected to chaos, the longer we take to accept that new reality, the longer we delay our required response. From a disaster psychology perspective, it is normal to take a moment as we struggle to wrap our mind around what just happened. This can take longer if there are injuries, and the less we expected something to happen, the more difficult it may be to understand.

The usual cautions all apply, such as knowing your surroundings, exits and being situationally aware, but what is the next step once something happens? To aid in your preparedness and response, it is helpful to know that there are similarities to every emergency. We do not need to prepare separately for every possible event—we just need to prepare to attend to our safety first, then transition to the length of the event. If the event is a house fire, we just need to escape to immediate safety. If the event is widespread, such as severe pandemic, we should plan to shelter in place for long periods of time.

Hazard Analysis

Sheltering in place, or bugging-in as we often call it, just means to stay where you are because it is the best option at the time.

The best way to decide how to bug-in is to understand what events could cause you to close the doors on the outside world in your area. Doing a hazard analysis will help you in this. In simple terms, ask yourself what could possibly happen, how likely is it to happen and how much impact would it have if it does happen.

Be prepared to think outside of the mental box. Hazards often cause other hazards, and the chain reaction can be something you never considered until now. If a dam breaks two towns away, will it wash out the road you plan to use to evacuate? Could a hurricane cause travel restrictions? Could a flooded river cut you off from emergency services? How often do these events happen in your area? How will they impact you if they do happen?

Once you have a list of potential hazards in your area (do this for all of your frequented locations), you can then prepare accordingly with supplies, skills, equipment and people. There are eight major areas of preparedness we need to consider when planning for survival: food, water, shelter, safety/health, security, energy, communication and transportation.

If you don’t know where to start in your planning, use this list as a guide. The important part is not to be lopsided in your planning. Too much of one area and nothing in another can lead to problems later. Rather than quantity, think in terms of time. All the food in the world won’t

You have to properly weigh the dangers facing your area ahead of time—you can’t shelter in place if the shelter has been destroyed.

P.R.E.P. TO SURVIVE Whether you are new to prepping or are a seasoned veteran, there’s always something new you can learn. To do this, Personal Education Readiness Programs (P.R.E.P.) takes you from reactive to proactive based on years of military, personal and professional experience with natural and manmade emergency situations.

The expert staff at Personal Education Readiness Programs are committed to understanding what you and your family or small business needs to actually be squared away. From personalized emergency plans, to private and group classes, to custom assembled equipment and supplies, the group offers a variety of ways for you to improve your preparedness level and self-confidence.

You can also purchase a copy of Chief Instructor Charley Hogwood’s book, The Survival Group Handbook, on amazon.com.

help you if you can’t protect it or move it in an emergency. And storing it all in some distant place won’t help you if you cannot effectively get to it.

If you live in an urban area, you will have slightly different preparation requirements than the rural survivor. Urban dwellers often live in multi-unit structures or tight neighborhoods with limited access points, limited storage space and perhaps no independent transportation. If a dirty bomb or large explosive devices were detonated or a chemical agent dispersed in such an environment, you may find yourself sheltering wherever you can with almost no advance notice. A citywide blackout could strand you away from home with no way to communicate.

Getty Images

Are We Safe Now?

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

As a basic rule, the easy answer to whether you stay or leave is as simple as asking if you are safe in this location at this time. If so, maybe you should sit tight. This is not the end of the question, though. Since conditions can change in an instant, we must constantly reconsider our situation. How long can we stay? Do we expect the situation to deteriorate? Are we prepared to leave? And what supplies would we need for a successful evac?

| SUMMER 2016 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | 33 |

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S For our sample scenario, we’ll make the case for sheltering in place. Our simulated emergency event will be contagion. There are several levels of contagion, from the common cold to community killers such as hemorrhagic diseases like Ebola or smallpox. If deadly contagion has overcome your community, there will be a strong chance that many people will decide to stay home and/or practice social distancing. Most families are not prepared to shut in for long periods of time, however.

We live in a convenience society and usually don’t think twice about running out to the store for supplies or services. When is the last time you were forced to cut ties with the outside world for more than a day or two? Since we expect a hardy pandemic to pass through a community in waves lasting upwards of two months at a time, possibly for four cycles before it dies out, we must look at how we would survive in such conditions with little to no help from the outside world.

The federal national pandemic plan expects about 40 percent of the workforce to stay home in such an event. This strain

on the workforce would certainly limit our services from sanitation to water, sewer, power, medical and law enforcement agencies. Absolutely everything we have come to depend on could be unavailable in a complex human disaster such as this.

Knowing the possibilities, we can plan appropriately, but how many of us have a true pandemic plan and the equipment to manage such an ordeal? Going back to the similarity in disasters, we may discover that we are not as unprepared as we may think. A pandemic is a contagion event, but so is the seasonal flu. The good news is if you are ready for flu season, you are close to being ready for something much worse. What supplies do you have on hand if your family is forced to stay home with the seaonsal flu?

Add some more personal protective equipment, basic medical supplies, food and water along with cleaning materials and you are now in better shape to successfully shelter in place when the outside world is deathly ill.

As a survivor, you probably already have many of these basics and would only

need to look at some additional infectioncontrol items like disposable Tyvek suits, heavy gloves, eye protection, respirators and rubber boots for those who may need to go out in public. You probably have some of these things already, too.

Shelter In Place

Sheltering in place does not always mean staying home. In actuality, many of us spend great amounts of time away from home everyday. To further the point, many of us spend our days in distant and arguably more dangerous places than home. Additionally, we often have the mentality that we will be at the house when disaster strikes, so we prepare the home more than the other areas we frequent.

For many people this is a mental blind spot. We never know when bad things might happen, so we need to carry our survival mindset and some key supplies everywhere we go.

Working or living in a big city requires adhering to the same rules as anywhere else, you will just need to modify your plans based on limited travel resources

Keep in mind that sheltering in place is exactly what it sounds like—you only get what you have on you or around you at that time, and we cannot count on anything around us to be much help. We also know that the best get-home bag is useless if we can’t get to it.

In addition to the carry items listed below, don’t forget to squirrel away some useful items in places like your work location, briefcase, purse, car or somewhere on your route home just in case.

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The rule of emergency carry gear is to keep it simple to use and easy to carry. This is not the time to overthink it. If an item is too complicated to use, you will struggle when you need it the most, and if it is too bulky to carry, you won’t have it anyway.

There are many lists of things to have with you all the time, but here is what I recommend in order of priority if you are out doing your regular local business. Start at the top and take each item until you find that it becomes too much to keep with you. Remember that we only need to survive with these items until we can get to our next safer location, such as your vehicle or home or cache.

4Cutting tool/multi-tool 4LED flashlight 4Communication/signal device (charged phone, scream whistle, etc.)

4List of important phone numbers 4Tactical pen (as self-defense item) 4N95 mask/four nitrile gloves/ swim goggles (bundled) 4Mylar water packet

4Small trauma first-aid kid (Celox, pressure bandage, roll gauze, etc.)

4Quality paracord 4Protein bar 4Disposable lighter (with duct tape wrapped over a single-edged razor blade) 4Small pocket compass 4Pocket map of area 4Permanent marker 4Waterproof notepad/golf pencil 4Heavy-duty plastic drum liner 4Cyalume 12-hour glowstick The list may seem like a lot, but in reality several of these initial items could be on your person while the rest will easily fit in a small pouch in the bottom of your pack or jacket pockets. Which brings up another good point, consider the climate you may be operating in and have appropriate footwear for an expected situation. Many travel vests and jackets have hidden pockets for just such gear. Dressed as such, no one will ever know you are loaded and ready to survive in the worst conditions imaginable.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Shutterstock Photos; Flashlight Courtesy of First Tactical

iStock Photo

SHELTER IN PLACE: WHAT YOU NEED

Having the ability to pack up and go immediately is preferable over having no choice but to stay put.

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and the biggest hazard of all: masses of other people. For example, if you are caught in an attack on a subway or other transit system, you may only get what’s in your pockets to work with.

If you know this might be a possibility, you would be wise to prepare accordingly with something called an everyday-carry kit. To design such a kit, and make it easy to carry, think of what might happen and then consider some items that would help you to survive in any location you may potentially find yourself in.

Prep Your Response

Seeking Safe Space

Often we are asked which is better to do first from a planning perspective, be ready to shelter in place or be ready to bug-out?

My answer is that it is always better to be able to leave immediately than be restricted to staying in place. If you can evacuate and survive somewhere else, you can also survive with that same equipment

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

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Planning ahead will save you from packing unnecessary items.

Properly planned and executed, bugging out could be just an impromptu camping trip.

Ben Sweep Photo

What are the most common problems in urban environments? Poor air quality from explosions, injuries or entrapment by debris, darkness, dehydration, physical attack, becoming lost, travel restrictions and the inability to contact help or family.

With these hazards in mind, we can consider skills and items to have on hand.

Since we never know when such an event might occur, we should be ready at any time and at any of our usual locations, including our office, car, apartment, school, etc.

Based on the aforementioned hazards, a basic, easy-to-carry kit can be assembled and carried in a backpack, purse or pocket. This includes: 4N95 respirator and swim goggles 4First-aid materials/trauma bandage/ bandana 4LED flashlight/chemlight glow stick 4Mylar emergency water pouches 4Self-defense tool(s) 4Multi-tool 4Compass/area map 4Personal identification 4Communication device All of these basics will easily fit into a small pouch or pockets and could be invaluable to your survival efforts. If you are responsible for others, such as family or children, don’t forget to provide some of these items for them, too. Keep in mind that these are just tools to get you to fresh air and out of immediate danger. From there you will need to use your wits and skills to continue your journey to the next safe location.

“We never know when bad things might happen, so we need to carry our survival mindset and some key supplies everywhere we go.” at home. But if you begin your planning with the thought that you never intend to leave and something happens that forces you out of your home, you will likely have nothing useful to evacuate with. While your home may seem like the best place to ride out a disaster, things don’t always work out that way. You need to be prepared.

In conclusion, you do have some say

in how disaster might affect you and your family. It all comes down to knowing what could possibly go wrong, how likely it is to happen and how it could impact you. With this information, you can easily prepare a plan to either deal with it or be somewhere else when it does happen. For more on this and many other survival-related topics, visit readygoprep.com.

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N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Emergency food sources for long-term survival.

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consistently for an extended amount of time. This cannot only result in mental degradation, but also in death in extreme circumstances.

One thing that will help is to incorporate foods into your daily diet that are part of your storage strategy. Having a variety of sustenance items is not only a matter of physical survival in dire circumstances, but mental as well.

The logic behind those food-reserve figures and the appetite fatigue scare is that everyone should be prepared to weather various storms (natural or manmade) at various times throughout their lives. Having substantial stores of food on hand can relieve a lot of stress when the decision has to be made between a mortgage payment and a meal. However, add to that factor an evacuation scenario and the weight of all of that stored sustenance becomes a serious consideration as to

“...one of the worst things that you can do in a contingency situation is to drastically change your diet by ingesting foreign foods.” | REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

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Depending on the source, standard recommendations for a one-year food reserve for one adult male that contains meats, grains, legumes, dairy products, sugars, fruits and vegetables weighs in around 755 pounds. That doesn’t even include water! Imagine that number doubled for a couple, and add an additional two thirds of that number for each toddler and pre-adolescent residing in the household.

It’s no secret that building up your emergency food supply is important and necessary. The quick and easy solution is stocking up on MREs and canned goods. But one of the worst things that you can do in a contingency situation is to drastically change your diet by ingesting foreign foods. This can cause appetite fatigue, a situation more prevalent in small children and older folks, and can affect anyone who consumes something

BY RUSS ADLER

Emergency Food Stash Sources W

hether you’re preparing for a natural disaster or to escape societal collapse, you’ll need to stockpile a large quantity of shelf-stable food. Check out the following options for expanding your long-term food supply.

Harvest Right Photos Courtesy FarmDaddy

Growing, making or hunting food is of little utility if you lack the means of preservation for those times when it is not plentiful. Salt, chemical preservatives and the mechanical maintenance of low temperatures can all serve to postpone the inevitable decay and degradation that leave otherwise fine foods inedible, but each takes its toll on taste, nutritional value or resources. For long-term food preservation, nothing compares to freeze-drying.

In essence, freeze-drying removes water from food without any change in taste or nutritional value. In the past, the equipment required to manage this process was bulky, complex and expensive. Now, thanks to Harvest Right, freezedrying is finally within reach of the common man.

The freeze-drying process is fully automated in the Harvest Right dryer. Prepare the food to be dried and place it on trays for insertion into the machine. Press the power switch and you are done. The resulting freeze-dried products have a shelf life of between 15 and 25 years. While not cheap, this machine is remarkably productive, and the expense could be spread around a couple of like-minded families if need be. (harvestright. com; 800-700-5508)

Photos Courtesy Harvest Right

Farming used to require lots of land, sunlight and water, but today’s high-tech offerings allow you to harvest dozens of crops for sustenance in any environment.

Thrive Life

Harvest Right offers heavy-duty freeze-driers that can offer you viable food options with a shelf life of 15 to 25 years if prepared correctly.

Nothing preserves food so well and for so long as does freeze-drying but the equipment needed to prep food yourself via this process is expensive.

If your circumstances are such that you cannot justify your own machine, Thrive Life produces a wide variety of wholesome foods that are already preserved. If stored in a cool dark place, Thrive Life freeze-dried foods have a 25-year shelf life.

Thrive Life grows its own foods and then freeze-dries them onsite to ensure complete control over the process and to guarantee freshness.

Its product offerings are broad and the company even offers quantity discounts. (thrivelife.com; 877-743-5373)

MRE Star

While many civilian MREs offer substandard components that are cut-rate and show it, MRE Star is a military supplier. The company’s MREs are the same quality as those our GIs carry into battle. Any time you might require shelf-stable, high-quality food that is available anyplace, MRE Star can hook you up. (mrestar.com; 866-6806737) —Will Dabbs, MD

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ater is the number one survival must-have.

Additionally, it is essential that you include it in your storage plan as well. However, keeping bottles or even gallons of water for long-term survival scenarios isn’t the most practical plan. Large containers take up valuable space or create more weight if you are bugging out, and after the two-week mark, standing water may become undrinkable.

FEMA Photos

Pure Results

While water is space prohibitive for storing, there are many alternative methods of ensuring water is safe to drink that will give you options. Filtration systems, stills and other purification methods can take the most contaminated water source and render it useable.

The Potable Aqua PURE

is a miniature electrolytic generator that converts salt water into a mixed-oxidant disinfectant that can purify dirty water in volumes ranging from 1 liter up to 20 liters. The process takes about 20 seconds for 1 liter and up to 6.5 minutes for 20 liters, with wait times from 30 minutes for bacteria, viruses and Giardia and up to four hours for Cryptosporidium.

This compact unit is extremely durable, meeting military freeze, thaw, drop and load-bearing capabilities. It can be charged via a USB port or through the integrated solar panel, purifying up 150 liters per charge. During my test and evaluation of this product, I

Photo Courtesy Potable Aqua

Securing Safe Water

Don’t get wiped out by a power outage. Make sure you stockpile lots of non-perishable options.

found it to be user friendly with easy-to-understand instructions and a convenient storage pouch.

I would highly recommend this device be added to anyone’s EDC vehicle kit or go bag, as it can ensure an unlimited supply of drinkable water for you and your family during a disaster. (potableaqua.com; 800-5586614) —Russ Adler

Russ Adler Photos

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

The PURE converts saltwater into a mixed-oxidant disinfectant that can then purify dirty water.

Consider the weight of your supplies—especially food and water—when drafting your plans.

“There are a couple of revolutionary self-sustaining food sources...adaptable and scalable to any environment...” what should be taken and what should be left. But what if you could just take your means of sustenance and not your entire survival cache?

Grow Your Own

An alternative method of food storage is the living element. Growing your own fruits and vegetables and raising livestock is nothing new in the preparedness and self-sufficient lifestyle world, but the

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type and methodology can be looked at further for efficiency. Considerations include the type of environment that you live in, whether it’s urban, suburban or rural. There are a couple of revolutionary self-sustaining food sources and growing methods that are adaptable and scalable to any environment or location.

Endless Food Systems offers aquaponics kits that can be adapted to any size family in any environment. From

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Endless Food Systems offers aquaponic kits that are scalable to any prepper’s needs.

Photos Courtesy Endless Food Systems

An Endless Food System kit creates a closed environment that fertilizes itself for growing crops.

a small urban apartment to a sprawling rural homestead, aquaponics is one of the fastest growing and simplistic methods of producing a sustainable food supply.

The system uses a water tank that contains your favorite kind of fish and a grow bed that contains clay pellets mounted on top of the tank. A simple, low-voltage pump system is used to pump fish water (a natural fertilizer) into the grow bed above. The plant roots and clay

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

N AT U R A L D I S A S T E R S

Alternative Survival Foods

Nick Jacobellis Photos

Dry rations (right) are great but often typically require water and preparation time.

Consider canned goods and prepackaged foods to supplement your supplies.

I

n addition to stockpiling some quantity of MREs and other food products that are specifically manufactured for long-term storage, you should also stockpile alternative survival foods that also have a relatively long shelf life. The number one benefit of stockpiling alternative survival foods that can be purchased in local stores is that you can save a great deal of money while building your supply of food if you shop when specific items are on sale. Buying in bulk in popular food warehouse stores is another excellent way to build your stockpile.

Another worthwhile consumer tactic is to shop with a senior citizen on days when sales are offered by local supermarkets to folks who are over a certain age.

The key to stockpiling alternative food supplies is to rotate your stockpile so the items that have the oldest recommended sale date are

consumed first. You must also be diligent about replacing items that you use from your supply of stockpiled food and bottled water.

Sealed Meals

In addition to their nutritional value, canned/jarred or packaged food items are critical to posses, because these types of food do not require any form of preparation, including being heated up or cooked, in order to be consumed. These particular alternative food rations can also be consumed on the move and when you stop take a break.

Cold Rations

Great choices for cold rations include family-size jars of peanut butter, cans of sardines in oil, tuna fish, Spam, any type of beans, chili, beef stew, Kind bars, cereal fruit bars, high-quality dark chocolate, bags of hemp, chia, flax and pumpkin seeds,

pellets filter the water, which then drains back into the fish tank, keeping it clean.

The grow bed is capable of growing your favorite fruits and vegetables, including root vegetables, which can be immediately consumed upon harvest or canned and stored for a later time.

Endless Food Systems offers a variety of sizes for its tanks and grow beds, and some models are even expandable depending on how much room you have to dedicate to this type of food production. A bonus to this system is that the components can be disassembled and moved if necessary.

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bags of walnuts and almonds, bags of jerky, dried Italian sausage, bags of dried fruits, plastic jars of honey and certain brands of cereal.

You must remember that certain types of food have a distinct aroma once the cans are opened, including canned fish. This is an important point because the time may come when you will want to “go dark” and not reveal your position to potential armed adversaries or hungry/ starving survivors who can approach your position if they smell whatever it is that you are eating. Even the sight of a campfire, especially at night, can motivate unwanted individuals to get too close for comfort.

Dry Rations

The problem with nutritious dry alternative rations is that these food items require some level of preparation that usually involves boiling water. Anyone who is serious about

Another portable growing method that utilizes a unique watering system requiring no electricity is FarmDaddy.

This container system has a valve-type mechanical sensor that determines how much water the plants in the container need, and opens the valve to release only the amount of water needed before shutting off. Multiple units can be attached with small connector hoses in between, each with their own valve. These units can be fed by a standard water hose from a spigot or a gravity-fed rain collection system, and can grow just about anything, including small fruit trees.

stockpiling a supply of alternative survival foods that have a reasonably long shelf life should purchase boxes of oatmeal, bags of lentils, boxes of pasta, sacks of rice, dried pinto beans, cases of instant ramen soup and bags of quinoa. If you are surviving with infants and children, you will also need a supply of powdered milk/powdered baby formula. It is also recommend that you maintain a consistent supply of instant coffee, tea bags, powdered creamer, salt, pepper, sugar and sugar substitutes.

Whether you are able to shelter in place or you are compelled to relocate to a safe zone, you will also need to possess acceptable forms of currency and items of value that can be used to purchase/barter for the critical necessities of life when your stockpile of supplies are consumed.

To do otherwise would be foolish and irresponsible. —Nick Jacobellis

Mobile Life Support

Fruits, vegetables and fish are all great options for healthy, sustainable living, but a variety of proteins will help in decreasing the likelihood of appetite fatigue.

When space and possible transportation are considerations in the selection of your meat source in the sustainable-living arena, rabbits are a great source.

High in protein and low in cholesterol, rabbits have a very quick gestation cycle at approximately 28 days. Smaller breeds may yield anywhere from two to four bunnies per litter, while some of the larger breeds can yield up to eight. The

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Bunny Hut Rabbitry breeds and sells not only rabbits, but also chickens, ducks and alpacas as well. The company’s founders initially added four ducks to their homestead and in less than a year now have over 40. Ducks are high in protein, produce richer and heartier eggs than chickens and are very resilient. You can also buy custom cages for permanent housing structures as well as portable units for transportation purposes.

Being able to transport and reestablish a sustainment and storage pattern is as important as food variety, and any design should be broken down into manageable weights and dimensions in case the need to evacuate arises. Live options such as plants and animals should be part of that process as well.

“Being able to transport and reestablish a sustainment and storage pattern is as important as food variety...”

Your vehicle and method of transport will determine what and how much of it you can take, and how far. Various methods for transporting the previously mentioned plants, animals and associated containers can be a utility trailer, large and mid-sized sport-utility vehicles as well as pickup trucks.

The key to maintaining a healthy outlook and way of life during adversity is to have a well-organized plan that contains not only methods of storage, but a continual plan of how to produce and transport what is necessary to survive long-term catastrophic events.

FOR MORE INFORMATION Endless Food Systems endlessfoodsystems.com; 602-845-9990 FarmDaddy farmdaddy.com; 407-310-8270 The Bunny Hut Rabbitry thebunnyhutrabbitry.weebly.com; 386-754-3710

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

DID YOU KNOW?

Recognize Stroke Symptoms

A stroke occurs when oxygen and vital nutrients carried in the blood are cut off from the brain. According to the American Stroke Association, nearly 700,000 Americans suffer strokes each year. Nearly 25 percent of those victims die. A stroke is a serious medical emergency. The victim has only two to six hours to stop permanent brain damage.

Knowing the signs and getting to a hospital as quickly as possible are critical. Stroke symptoms include: 1. Confusion or difficulty speaking or understanding. Ask the victim to repeat the following: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Slurred words, using the wrong words or an inability to speak are stroke symptoms.

2. Numbness or weakness of the face, arms or legs, especially on one side of the body. Often an affected limb on the opposite side of the body from where the stroke occurred will go numb, feel weak or be unable to move. Stretch out both arms with palms up for 10 seconds. If one arm drifts down, that indicates muscle weakness. Also, with their eyes open, lift one leg at a time.

3. Trouble walking, loss of balance or dizziness. Don’t confuse these symptoms with inebriation or the flu.

4. Severe headache with no known cause.

Women are more likely to have a headache with a stroke than men. Don’t hesitate to ask for an MRI in the emergency room.

5. Sagging facial muscles. If one side of the face appears to be sagging or doesn’t move, ask the victim to smile, stick out his/her tongue or show their teeth. The weakness will be obvious. source: stroke.org

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4Use like twine to secure bags.

4Use it as fishing line. It’s the equivalent of 20-pound test line.

4Repair tears in clothing or tarps.

4Make a bow drill to start a fire and use waxed floss to bind kindling. When lit, floss will burn like a candle wick.

4Use unwaxed floss to tie food to a stick for cooking over an open fire.

4Secure your food out of an animal’s reach.

4Tie a tarp to a tree to make a shelter.

4Braid several strands together for replacement shoelaces.

4Use as a suture to close wounds.

4Make a trip line for an early warning of unwanted visitors.

4Can be used as a clothesline to hang wet clothes to dry.

4Secure gear to the outside of your carry pack.

4Tie it through the frame of your glasses to replace a lost screw.

4Secure pants and sleeves against cold and rainy weather, or to keep out chiggers and ticks.

4Save the empty container to store small items source: thepreparedninja.com; crisissurvivortips.com; happypreppers.com

Stay In Touch

The Red Cross Emergency App provides instant access to emergency alerts, life-saving information and ways to contact family and friends in one free, easy-to-use app for smartphones and tablets.

It includes content about what to do in case of 14 different types of emergencies and disasters. Users can customize more than 35 emergency alerts based on their location and where loved ones live.

The app’s features include: 4“Family Safe” allows people to notify loved ones who are in an area affected by an emergency or disaster.

4“Make A Plan” helps families figure out what to do if a disaster strikes.

4Preloaded emergency preparedness content is available in English and Spanish, and it can be accessed without mobile connectivity 4A map with open Red Cross shelter locations and weather information.

The app is available in app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or by going to redcross.org/apps.

Big Stock Photos

Emergency Uses For Dental Floss

Escape An Active Shooter

A recent study out of the University of Alabama shows that the United States has more mass shootings than any other country (phys.org). Authorities are advising the public to take one of three actions to stay alive during these incidents.

1. Run: If you can get out of the building or out the violence, then do so, but you have to know that you can get out safely. You must have good information of where the violence is and you have to know where you’re going.

You shouldn’t run out of a safe zone to a place where you may be in danger.

2. Hide: To hide during an activeshooter incident means to lock and barricade the door, turn off the lights and put everybody out of view of the windows, if possible.

3. Fight: While you’re hiding, you’re going to prepare yourself for the third option—to fight for your life. If the first time you ever think about how you’re going to react to a violent encounter is when it’s actually happening, you probably won’t be successful. source: wishtv.com

Campus Fire Safety

With many students returning to their universities from spring break, educating them on campus fire safety and how to stay safe is important. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 3,800 structure fires in college dormitories and Greek housing in recent years. The National Fire Protection Association indicates these fires cause an annual average of two civilian deaths, 30 civilian fire injuries and $9.4 million in property damage. To encourage students to take prevention actions that can save their lives, the USFA recommends: 4Using safe flameless candles.

4Keeping lamps, light fixtures and light bulbs away from anything that can burn.

4Only using surge protectors or power strips that have internal overload protection.

4If a fire starts in a microwave, keep the door closed and unplug the unit. source: usfa.fema.gov

DHS DOES NOT ENDORSE THIS ARTICLE, SURVIVOR’S EDGE OR REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM.

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The simple reassembly of the barrel and action yields a rock-solid return to zero for consistent, reliable performance. Packed in convenient carry-case (included), the Ruger ® 10/22 Takedown ® makes it easy to keep America’s favorite rimfire rifle by your side.

Barrel and Action Easily Separated and Reassembled for Ease of Transportation and Storage

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022316

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

ENEMIES AMONG US Identify and report suspicious activity to disrupt a future terrorist attack!

A

BY DONALD J. MIHALEK

A small townhouse in Redlands, California, was very popular. It got deliveries at all hours, and the residents seemed to work in the garage all night long, when most people are usually asleep. Some of the neighbors thought it was strange, but no one thought it unusual enough to call the police and report this odd behavior.

One neighbor reportedly noticed this “suspicious activity” at the house but didn’t want to report the activity out of an unfounded fear. That fear materialized when its occupants conducted a terrorist attack and fatally shot 14 people and wounded dozens of others in San Bernardino, California. After the attack, investigators seized roughly 4,500 rounds of ammunition, 12 pipebomb-type devices and bomb-making tools, yet no one reported this suspicious activity. This was a

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tragedy that may have been averted had someone paid attention and took action.

Stay Alert

Like anything in life, paying attention to your surroundings is a key to survival. Situational awareness at its core is being aware of things around you and identifying what’s out of place. Criminals of every swath use this well. They often identify their “prey” largely by targeting victims that aren’t paying attention and using good situational awareness. For instances, you shouldn’t jog off a trail at dusk. You should notice any cars parked in an unlit and lightly traveled area. And you shouldn’t ignore screams in the distance. All of these scenarios, if paid attention to early on, could be a key to avoiding or surviving any hazardous situation.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

123RF Photo

Movies and TV shows are rife with bad guys, but they might not be so obvious in the real world. Pay attention at all times to avoid trouble.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

| SUMMER 2016 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | 45 |

“The freeze response is one of the most deadly physiological responses to a crisis.

Overcoming a freeze response with movement can take you from victim to victor.” a target, watch it to pick up on patterns, behavior, etc., and then strike when the opportunity is right. Telegraphing a target of opportunity versus being a hard target can mean the difference between bad guys choosing to target you or someone else. The less appealing you make yourself as a target, the lower your chances of a bad guy selecting you as prey.

As previously mentioned, bad guys tend to target their prey. This is also referred to as scanning. Someone who is scanning is usually moving their head from side to side while their eyes appear to be searching for something—usually their next target. Surveilling is the next step after scanning. This is when a bad guy has identified a target and then watches it to pick up on behavior patterns. This is where your situational awareness can help and alert you that someone might be watching you.

Once they have enough information, or if you catch them watching you, they may divert their gaze away from you. When a person is trying to mentally process a

Never park in a dark area, but if you must, be wary for hiding spots and those predators lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce.

Hard Target

Pre-attack behavior comes in many forms, but it maintains some key patterns. Paying attention to these warning signs could save your life. All bad guys tend to stalk their prey in one form of another. Preattack surveillance allows them to identify

| 46 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

123RF Photo

Bad guys are often portrayed in movies and TV shows as devious and in many cases hideous looking. The villain is often shown lurking in dark corners, pacing about like a caged animal waiting for something to pounce on. The movies often show the villain dressed in black or dark colors, and often with some type of fixation or mental issue.

While some of these traits might be part of a villain’s personality, it’s a mistake to believe that villians in the real world adhere to any stereotypes. In Ohio, Ariel Castro seemed normal. He drove a bus and lived in a regular neighborhood, in a two-story, four-bedroom home. From all outward appearances, he was “normal.”

This “normal” guy was anything but, and from 2002 to 2004 he abducted and physically and sexually abused three young women. This villain confined Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina DeJesus in a basement prison while the outside world saw nothing unusual.

So, despite the stereotypes, seemingly “normal” people can easily be villains.

situation, it is difficult to multitask, and if they are staring at you and you interrupt their thought—the “gotcha moment”—it’s a natural reaction to divert your eyes from what you are looking at.

Another potential reaction after they divert their glance is an attempt to conceal

their face. Someone on the verge of an attack may attempt to conceal their stress by hiding their face. This way they attempt to not give any indicators away.

A bad guy will also go through some physiological changes just prior to attacking. One of these is someone exhibiting shallow and rapid breathing. This physiological anomaly is an indicator of stress and agitation—when the body is trying to oxygenate itself just prior to action. When adrenaline is coursing through an agitated person, their hands and feet might be trembling or shaking. This is another indication of a potential attacker in an agitated state. A potential attacker may also start to assume an attack-like position, often an involuntary action of the body.

Avoid The Attack

One of the first steps to avoiding an attack is to be aware. As indicated before, situational awareness of your surroundings and the people around you can be the most effective way to avoid walking into trouble.

Picking up on what many people consider strange behavior could be a key that helps you survive. When in doubt, listen to your internal voice.

Planning in life is always important, and even more so when it comes to lifeand-death situations. Whenever you walk into any situation, your mind should be examining “what-if” scenarios. Looking at your present situation, you should be asking yourself what you would do if “X,” “Y” or “Z” happens. Where are the escape routes? Where can you hide? Questions like these, thought out ahead of time, may become muscle memory if something bad actually happens.

Part of your plan will also involve movement—movement can keep you safe by transporting you from an unsafe situation to a safe one. Movement is automatically part of any plan, and thinking about your movement can overcome a freeze response that may inhibit survival. The freeze response is one of the most deadly physiological responses to a crisis. Overcoming a freeze response with movement can take you from victim to victor.

Say Something

What all of this amounts to is keying on specific behaviors of people. Certain behaviors are more indicative of criminal acts than others, and if you are paying

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Big Stock Photo

“Certain behaviors are more indicative of criminal acts than others, and if you are paying attention to those behaviors, it could be a lifesaver.” attention to those behaviors, it could be a lifesaver. Like the public service message says, if you see something, say something. In almost every incident of victim crime that occurs, in its aftermath someone says, “I thought that looked suspicious.” But, just like in the San Bernardino attack last year, people are reluctant to say something out of often unfounded fears.

Police across the United States have a mission to keep you safe. Arguably, keeping someone safe or protecting them from harm is the part of the job that keeps them going. The police never mind a call to report something or someone suspicious. In many cases, the mere presence of police may thwart a bad thing from happening.

At the entrance to the Stade de France in Paris, the magnetometers and uniformed security did just that—they kept the suicide bombers outside the stadium. Those uniformed security arguably saved many lives by their mere presence.

Despite the anti-police rhetoric that some mistakenly believe, when danger lurks, the most important thing you can do is call the police quickly and let them investigate the matter.

Tragedy can strike at a moment’s notice. While you may not be able to avoid a bad situation, and since bad guys don’t always look like they do in the movies, the key to surviving any bad situation is to assess, respond and react.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

ESCAPE A TRANSIT ATTACK Survive your daily commute with these lifesaving counterstrikes. BY DAN VIGIL he most important skill in self-defense is avoidance. If you can recognize trouble before it happens, and not be there when it does, you will survive. Unfortunately for the millions of Americans who use public transportation, it’s not that simple. The moment you step onto a bus or train and join a crowd of people you don’t know in an extremely confined space, your escape options are limited. If you are attacked, you’ll have to fight back, and do it in a way that fits the challenges of the environment.

Statistically, the most common types of attacks that happen on public transit are simple assaults. These are unarmed attacks that attempt to inflict serious, but not great, bodily harm. This distinction is important, because it usually means you are not legally justified in the use of lethal force. If you carry a gun, you would probably not be justified in drawing it, so you’ll have to rely on good tactics, street smarts and empty-hand fighting skills.

> Limit Your Exposure

Following the installation of a $26 million network of security cameras, Chicago reported a 40-percent drop in violent crime on its mass-transit system known as the “L.” This data tells us empirically what we already know intuitively: Cameras deter crime. As such, standing in full view of a camera—or better still, a 911 emergency

| 48 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

call button—can make you a much less appealing target.

When waiting at a station, choose a place where your back is covered and you have the largest view of your environment.

Don’t stick your head in a magazine or fire up your iPhone; keep your eyes moving and let the people around you see you seeing them. Be aware of your nearest exits and escape routes should you have to flee. Pay attention to the footing you have if you should have to fight. Look for suspicious people and circumstances, and be prepared to act. By focusing on your surroundings, you’ll make yourself less of a target, but if a confrontation does present itself, knowing your next move in advance may make all the difference between stopping your opponent or being hurt, robbed and embarrassed.

When on the bus or train itself, stand, don’t sit, if possible. If you have to face an assailant, it’s better to do so on your feet. While you may feel compelled to find a quiet corner in the back, this is not a recommended location. Though it does protect your back, your limited visibility to other passengers may be a draw to would-be troublemakers. Additionally, if a physical confrontation should arise, your assailant will be between you and possible escape. It’s better to stand by any nearby exits where a hasty retreat can be made on the fly if necessary.

> Close Quarters In most mass-transit systems, there are only a couple feet between rows of seats and in the aisle. As the transport fills up, people encroach into those spaces, severely limiting your space to fight and maneuver. The doors are often closed for minutes at a time, literally locking you in a confined space with your assailant.

This small, enclosed environment creates some unique challenges. Chief among them is the lack of space behind you. You cannot step back to avoid a blow and, if you try, you may end up pinning yourself against a vertical obstacle. This further reduces your mobility and leaves you vulnerable to having your head bounced off that obstacle when fists start flying.

Confined areas also limit your options to strike back. Kicks are almost useless and even the full extension of an arm for palm strikes and punches may be impossible due to disadvantageous positioning.

If your skill set is limited to conventional striking arts like karate or taekwondo, you may be way out of your element in a fight where eye strikes, knees, elbows and grappling rule the day.

While a physical altercation in such extreme close quarters seems daunting, by understanding the environment and having a plan to work within its limitations, you can turn the tables. The goal of any encounter is to turn the predator into prey.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

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T

“Look for suspicious people and circumstances, and be prepared to act.” | REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

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SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

“…you’ll have to rely on good tactics, street smarts and empty-hand fighting skills.”

Rather than fearing being stuck in a box with your assailant, rejoice that he’s stuck in a box with you.

> Strike Back The first priority in any violent encounter is stopping power. And one of the most reliable ways to stop an aggressor without making use of a weapon is through incapacitation. In other words, knock him out. Unconscious people can’t attack anyone. Though this may seem a big challenge—particularly in the confined space of a subway car—with three simple principles and a little practice anyone can learn to hit with the best of them.

1. Learn to generate power from the hips and glutes. Bruce Lee made famous the “1-inch punch,” a signature technique where he held a clenched fist only 1 inch away from the chest of a partner and struck him hard enough to send him flying through the air. While this technique has limited combat application, it does demonstrate the possibilities for creating tremendous power in short distances. The key is to use

your glutes and quadriceps to push against the floor to create an explosive rotation of your core. This dynamic generates the power for strikes and works exceptionally well with elbows and knees. It produces devastating results when you…

2. Strike at upward angles. While horizontal space may be limited by seats, walls and people, vertical space is not.

Knees that rise into the groin, upward elbow strikes and the infamous “chin jab” from World War II combatives work extremely well in confined quarters, especially when fueled by good body mechanics.

All these strikes can have a measurable, fight-stopping effect on your would-be attacker if correctly executed.

Upward strikes are also useful because they allow you to hit effectively from a seated position. If possible, fight your way up to your feet, standing up aggressively by pushing against the floor with your legs and rising into a chin jab. Harness the kinetic energy of bolting to your feet and you’ll have your unlucky aggressor spitting Chiclets for sure.

1

2

Stand, don’t sit, near the exit and be aware of others.

3

FENDING OFF A BUS OR TRAIN AMBUSH:

1. Grab the back of your aggressor’s right elbow with your left hand to gain an index and limit his access to a potential concealed weapon. Drive your right foot into the floor and strike explosively with your palm heel beneath his chin. 2. Follow with a low-line knee to the groin. Pointing your toes to the ground will increase your speed, accuracy and power. 3. Seize your assailant and, if called for, slam his head into something hard.

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| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Dominic Mileto Photos

According to statistics, most violent attacks are preceded by a process of victim selection. By being aware and alert wherever you go, a potential assailant may pass you over altogether. But if he doesn’t, you’ll be able to see him coming and react quickly and decisively if needed.

3. Use the environment as a weapon.

Subway trains and buses are filled with all kinds of hard surfaces and sharp corners.

These make excellent opportunities to put the finishing touches on a dazed opponent. Grab him by the clothes, hair,

limbs or scruff of his neck and slam him into whatever is available. Repeat these steps much as necessary, but remember that this tactic represents a higher level of force than unarmed strikes alone. Use it judiciously and carefully.

The key to surviving any situation is understanding your environment and adapting your skills to it. If you ride public transportation, master the concepts outlined in this article and use them to shape your training and your fighting skill set.

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

F Kimber PepperBlaster

Each PepperBlaster unit contains two charges activated by a common doubleaction trigger. A built-in swing-away safety keeps the device on “safe” until the operator is ready to fire but allows instant access when needed. Unlike most conventional pepper spray devices that incorporate a pressurized cylinder that can degrade over time, the PepperBlaster is driven by a pair of pistons that are powered by a pyrotechnic charge activated by the trigger. As a result, the PepperBlaster can ride safely and inconspicuously for years until called upon in an emergency. The PepperBlaster II resembles a small polymer-framed handgun while the original PepperBlaser looks more akin to a small cellphone. (kimberamerica.com; 888-243-4522)

CRISIS GEAR Everyday-carry tools to give you the edge in any situation.

BY WILL DABBS, MD

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Most emergency situations are unexpected, come-as-you-are affairs. Frequently, what you have on you at the time will be all the tools you have available. Fortunately, there are some really innovative folks who have turned their attention to this thorny problem and developed a lot of multi-function gear that is portable enough for everyday carry.

Here are some of the latest and greatest for 2016 when it comes to gear you can reasonably carry on your trek through life.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

F Kershaw TX-Tool

The new Kershaw TX-Tool is a pocket-sized knife maintenance tool that doubles as a general utility driver. The TX-Tool includes five key bits plus slotted and Phillips bits to tighten screws or adjust the tension on a variety of knives. A magnetic bit driver makes swapping bits easy. The bits store inside the handle, and the handy pocket clip secures the tool as easily as a pen or pencil. The bits are steel, the handle is aluminum and the tool measures only 4.8 inches long. (kershawknives.com; 800-325-2891)

F Brite-Strike EPLI

The Brite-Strike Executive Precision Lighting Instrument (EPLI) was designed specifically to provide a highquality, reliable source of brilliant illumination. With a maximum output of 160 lumens in a pen-sized platform, the EPLI brings professional-grade performance to a tidy chassis. The EPLI includes high, low and strobe functions, and it will typically run for a half-hour on its high setting and up to 2.5 hours on low or strobe with a pair of standard AAA batteries. The EPLI is 5.12 inches long and comes in its own stylish gift box. (brite-strike. com; 508-746-8701)

BioLite PowerLight Mini ƒ

The new PowerLight Mini enables you to see, be seen and stay charged practically anywhere.

Think of this light as a clippable lantern that moves with you when you’re biking to work or walking down a dark alley. This rechargeable light provides up to 52 hours of light with four lighting modes: white lantern, red night vision, strobe and point light. It can also be used to power up your phone, and a bike mount is included. Keep hours of power on your person with this slim but highly capable little light source. (bioliteenergy.com)

Ï SOG Cash Card

The SOG Cash Card is the minimalist’s dream knife.

Weighing only 2 ounces and built to SOG’s expected level of quality, the Cash Card is a money clip/pocket knife you can always have on you. Boasting a 2.75inch, clip-point blade, the Cash Card opens easily with one hand and is made from robust stainless steel. (sogknives.com; 425-771-6230)

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

F Survive Outdoors

Longer Traverse

The Survive Outdoors Longer Traverse is a compact survival kit that is small enough to ride comfortably in a pocket but covers four fundamental areas of survival: shelter, fire, water, signaling. This no-frills kit includes an emergency blanket, water purification tablets, a Fire Lite Sparker and Tinder Quik, a slim rescue Howler whistle and survival instructions. The entire kit fits neatly into a pressed aluminum box that itself has dozens of uses in a survival situation. It’s small, inexpensive and practical enough to offer genuine utility. (surviveoutdoorslonger. com; 800-324-3517)

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Ï Kershaw Jens Anso

Carabiner

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Designed by Danish custom knifemaker Jens Anso, the Kershaw Carabiner incorporates a cord cutter, a bottle opener, hex drivers and a carabiner gate in an affordable and robust stainless steel chassis. The Kershaw Carabiner snaps onto most anything for easy carry and comes in black, blue and grey colors. This versatile carabiner is nearly weightless and could serve as a handy improvised weapon in a pinch as well. (kershawknives.com; 800-325-2891)

Zippo Windproof Lighters ƒ

Efficient and effective, the compact design of the Zippo lighter is timeless. The classic housing is available with literally countless different adornments and decorations, but at its heart the Zippo lighter is the very image of simplicity.

The flip-open top protects the workings of the device when stored in a pocket and the perforated chimney provides a reliable flame in harsh conditions. (zippo.com; 888-442-1932)

Ï BulletSafe Bulletproof

Baseball Cap

The BulletSafe Bulletproof Baseball Cap offers discreet ballistic protection for the head that can be worn anytime and anywhere. Designed originally for police and security guards, the Bulletproof Baseball Cap offers Level IIA protection against .380 ACP, .38 Special, 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP rounds. This cap includes a hard plate of compressed polyethylene that covers the front third of the hat to offer ballistic coverage for the head from frontal aspects while remaining unobtrusive. Lightweight and comfortable enough for daily wear, the Bulletproof Baseball Cap is available in three different sizes. (bulletsafe. com; 800-809-0610)

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fSnugpak SquadPak

The SquadPak by Snugpak is a versatile and robust over-the-shoulder utility bag.

Covered with MOLLE webbing on front and back, the bag can be customized for individual missions and applications.

The main compartment is intelligently divided with zippered mesh bags and slots for pens, cards and sundry items.

Multiple dividers and pouches keep gear organized and readily accessible.

The SquadPak has a padded carrying handle on top as well as a wide shoulder strap with a shoulder pad to distribute weight. The SquadPak is tough enough for hard use in the field yet stylish enough to tote around town. With enough space for food, basic gear or books, and a weapon if the circumstances demand it, the SquadPak is adequate to keep a single operator supported in the field. (snugpakusa.com; 305-436-7984)

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

ƒ

SOG ParaTool

The SOG ParaTool is the only multi-tool that incorporates a multiple-angled plier head designed to reach into awkward spots. The comfortable grip handles are smooth on the outside and feature SOG’s classic ventilation holes for maximum gripping. The 14 incorporated functions include multi-angle needle-nosed pliers, a threesided file, a fully serrated blade, a bolt grip channel and a straight-edge blade. The ParaTool from SOG closes to 4.3 inches and weighs only 6.2 ounces. (sogknives.com; 425-771-6230)

F Steel Will Censor

The Censor from Steel Will is a compact, fixed-blade knife designed for daily use. With an ergonomic overall curve and a razor-sharp edge, the Censor is a dedicated close-combat tool.

The overall length is a portable 7.68 inches with 3.5 inches of cutting edge on the end. The Censor comes with a robust, rigid sheath that sports multiple carry options and a nylon handle.

The blade is made from AUS-8 steel. For quick use in tight quarters, the Censor is a handy and effective everyday-carry weapon. (steelwillknives.com; 877-969-0909)

LazerBrite Flashlight System ƒ

The LazerBrite Modular LED Light System reinvents the flashlight. Traditional glowsticks glow and flashlights produce a beam, but the LazerBrite Modular LED Lighting System does both, and a whole lot more. These modular LED lights can emulate a glow stick, function as a wide-angle flashlight, split into two lights for sharing, produce a focused spot and can also be linked together to create a longer light baton in a variety of color combinations. The LazerBrite is waterproof, visible in darkness from over a mile away and made in the U.S.A. (lazerbrite.com; 888-740-4327)

Ï LOKSAK

f

LOKSAK waterproof storage sacks are made from heavyduty plastic and are remarkably effective. Available in a variety of sizes, LOKSAKs protect everything from cash to cell phones to assault rifles from water and the elements. Just drop something in the sack and squeeze the top shut. Think of it as a zip-seal bag on steroids. The resulting LOKSAK package

F Outdoor Edge Razor-Lite EDC

is hermetically sealed and waterproof down to 200 feet.

The LOKSAK provides protection from water, humidity, sand or snow. Similarly, SHIELDSAK versions provide comparable protection against electromagnetic interference for cell phones and credit cards as well. (loksak. com; 239-331-5550)

The Razor-Lite EDC is a knife system that incorporates replaceable razor blades in a package that is imminently portable, accessible and attractive. Available in several colors, the Razor-Lite EDC is suitable for everyday defense and utility tasks, and it comes with a removable/replaceable pocket clip for easy carry. The Razor-Lite EDC is literally razor sharp and weighs about nothing. When the blade inevitably dulls, just drop in a replacement. The Razor-Lite EDC opens with one hand and comes with six replacement blades. (outdooredge.com; 800-447-3343)

Ï Coast HP3R

Rechargeable Penlight

The HP3R is as small as a writing pen yet produces brilliant white light from its long-lasting LED bulb.

The light is adjustable from spot to flood via a rotating bezel, and the internal rechargeable battery offers six hours of runtime on the low setting. The light charges via a USB port using the included cable. Whether I am traveling, working, running errands or hanging out around the house, my HP3R is my constant companion. This robust light is powerful, tough and effective while remaining small enough for painless carry. (coastportland.com; 800-426-5858)

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The Spartan CQB is a multi-function tool optimized for close-quarters combat.

Designed with input from Greg Thompson, an instructor in hand-to-hand combat techniques for U.S. Special Forces, the CQB is a slim, easily stowed knife designed to be used in a desperate grappling situation. The ring on the top of the handle allows quick access in dire circumstances and the Kydex sheath will mount literally anywhere on your gear. Nearly 7 inches in length, the Spartan CQB is crafted specifically to give you the edge you need to stop the threat or retrieve your primary weapon. (spartanbladesusa. com; 910-757-0035)

Ï SOG

MacV Tool

Designed to resemble the original skull from the MACV-SOG group insignia after which the SOG Company is named, the MacV Tool is a versatile everydaycarry keychain tool that will prove handy in a variety of situations. Made out of durable 3Cr13 stainless steel, the one-piece design will last through years of hard use. It has 12 basic components, including a pry bar, a bottle opener, a small flathead driver, a large flathead driver, a small Phillips driver, a line cutter, a blade sharpener and various wrenches. The MacV tool weighs a mere 0.6 ounces and is TSA approved for airline travel. (sogknives. com; 425-771-6230)

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Storage Bags

Spartan CQB

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

f

Steel Will Adept

Sporting a comfortable, easy-to-grip handle that offers perfect symmetry, the Adept from Steel Will is comparably effective at cutting or thrusting maneuvers. The Adept combines the timeless ergonomics and engineering of warriors’ blades of eons past with modern manufacturing and metallurgy. The Adept is 10.95 inches overall and sports a Kydex sheath and G10 grips. For daily carry, the Adept provides peace of mind in an imminently portable package. (steelwillknives.com; 877-969-0909)

Ï Fox Outdoor Covert

Carry Sport Duffel

The Covert Carry Sport Duffel allows you to carry off-the-body tactical gear without arousing suspicion or causing alarm. This versatile duffle weighs 2.85 pounds empty and has a 3,024-cubicinch capacity. The large main compartment is arrayed with modular attachment points to keep magazines and gear organized, and it includes an adjustable hook-and-loop divider along with a zippered mesh pocket. Loop cloth on the inside accommodates rip-away pouches or holsters. A large U-shaped opening makes for quick access to the bag’s contents and wraparound web handles add strength and durability. (foxoutdoor.com; 800-523-4332)

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

RIPPE D TO PIEC E S

Lifesaving essentials to help you escape a deadly canine ambush!

A

nyone who has ever posted a pet picture on social media followed by a family photo probably realizes that pet photos get far more attention than photos of people.

It was no surprise to me that my law enforcement agency faced public scrutiny in 2010 when officer-involved shootings against dogs surged. Our police-citizen relations were strained at the end of that summer, and our department was looking for a way to simultaneously keep officers safe while minimizing these incidents.

I was tasked with researching aggressive canine behavior and identifying nonlethal options for dealing with it. As the training sergeant, I agreed that training on identification of aggressive behaviors was important. I also knew officers would

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| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

123RF Photo

BY SARA AHRENS

Fight For Your Life How you choose to fight back against an attacking dog is an important decision. Whether you choose a firearm or various less-lethal options, here are the pros and cons for each to consider before an attack occurs.

Firearm

Warning Signs

Having witnessed the injuries canines can inflict on their victims, I am convinced that dog attacks fall at the level of deadly force.

Utilizing a less-lethal option when dealing with an aggressive canine is risky and shoule be a personal choice, not a mandate.

Always remember that an unsecured, aggressive canine is armed with a mouth full of edged weapons and upwards of hundreds

of pounds of bite pressure (for some larger aggressive dogs). I will discuss three options of the options we considered for dealing with aggressive dogs.

During my research, I was surprised to discover that 95 percent of dog bites within my county consistently stemmed from loose dogs running at large. Furthermore, the vast majority of dog bites occurred when people

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

tried to separate fighting dogs. These bites are defensive in nature, which is significantly different in nature from aggressive attacks. The first step to defending against dog attacks is to be able to identify the difference between the body language of an aggressive dog versus a defensive one.

Before we can discuss how to handle a dog attack, we should identify it by observing a dog’s body language. There are several visual cues that will help to identify an aggressive dog, including: 1. Ears tilted forward and erect 2. Hackle or hair on the back stands up 3. Direct stare, nictitating eyelid (third eyelid) may be exposed 4. Nose wrinkled to bare teeth 5. Ends of the lips and mouth curled in a “C” shape 6. Tail stiff and raised 7. Charging or weight forward The nictitating eyelid is the dog’s third eyelid. It is an opaque or clear (depending on the breed) eyelid that may become exposed when the dog is aggressive and staring at you. The purpose of this third eyelid is to lubricate and protect the eye.

So if this is exposed, it could be one of many indications that the dog is preparing to attack you.

Compare the body language of an aggressive dog to these characteristics of a defensive one: 1. Ears back 2. Pupils dilated 3. The dog’s stare may be indirect with its head turned 4. Nose wrinkled 5. Lips curled, teeth bared 6. Tail down and tense (and probably between their legs)

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benefit from training that helped them identify alternative ways of handling aggressive canines, especially since there are times when firing a weapon isn’t an option.

From my experiences, I knew already two things about defending against canine attacks: 1) You can’t always shoot a canine due to their movement and the safety of yourself and others in the area, and 2) Even if you do shoot a canine, depending on the breed and the round, it may be ineffective.

Shutterstock Photo

Most dog bites occur when people try to separate fighting dogs by kneeling down and getting too close to the action.

• Ability to draw in time • Round may not penetrate the skull • Shot placement may not be good enough to stop the threat • You may not be able to simultaneously fire and avoid being bitten • You must be careful not to shoot oneself or others in the vicinity

Pepper Spray • Nictitating eye lid minimizes or delays the effects of the spray • Task-oriented dogs may not immediately feel the impact of the spray • You must be close and accurate enough to hit a moving target • Will be carried by the wind or hang in the air, potentially impacting the user

Cattle Prod/Electronic Control Device (ECD) • Can be difficult to conceal • May be illegal to possess in some states • If the ECD has wires attached, it is likely the dog will run and break the wires if you are not close enough • If the ECD shoots vertical probes, most people won’t train enough to remember to orient the cartridge to the target (horizontally) • Many ECDs and cattle prods do not produce enough amps to achieve the desired results • From my experience, ECDs tend to inflame the canine’s aggression and determination to attack when it fails • May need to be reloaded for follow-up shots

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g o D e v i s s e r g The Ag

Hackles, or hairs on the back, stand up.

Ears tilted forward.

Direct stare, nictitating eyelids.

Charging or weight forward.

Ends of the lips/mouth curled in a “C” shape.

“…an unsecured, aggressive canine is armed with a mouth full of edged weapons and upwards of hundreds of pounds of bite pressure…”

7. Hind legs bent/crouched 8. Hackles may be up The body language of an aggressive dog is one where, in the fight, flight or freeze paradigm, the aggressive dog is choosing to fight. By design, the characteristics of their body language are intended to make themselves look bigger

and more intimidating.

By comparison, a dog that exhibits a defensive posture is one that would choose to flee but cannot. Dogs in this situation may not be able to run because fences, leashes and corners confine them.

They would prefer to avoid the encounter, but, when it is forced upon them, they will fight. These dogs are actually afraid, which is why the tail is down and they crouch—their body language is a survival mechanism intended to protect their body by making as small a target as possible.

If bitten, visit a doctor to prevent an infection.

Fotolia Photo

Self-Defense Gear

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There are several personal defense tools, both lethal and non-lethal, that are commonly used by law enforcement to deal with aggressive dogs. Three of the most common tools are firearms, pepper spray and cattle prods or other electronic control devices, but there are considerations and drawbacks for each one. We evaluated the success we had with these tools and found that there would always be some considerations our users needed to be aware of.

There are other products on the mar-

ket for defenses against aggressive dogs, such as ultrasonic devices. I have never tested these products with a determined and aggressive dog, however. With the items above, I have witnessed their use and have studied the shortcomings of each tool. Refer to the “Fight For Your Life” sidebar for more information.

Escape Plan

After years of being around dog bite victims, I have learned several things from their accounts, the accounts of medical staff and the accounts of animal control officers regarding how best to survive a dog attack. Here are some of the most important points I have learned through my experiences over the years: 1. Expect the unexpected and have a plan. Some of the most brutal attacks have happened to pet owners whose dog never showed any sign of aggression until the attack occurred.

2. Don’t stare down an aggressive dog. Staring back at an aggressive dog poses a challenge you probably didn’t intend to make.

3. Don’t allow fear and anxiety to

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Shutterstock Photo

Nose wrinkled to bare teeth.

control your emotions. It may seem impossible to remain calm, but your survival depends on it.

4. Don’t yell, kick or throw things at the dog. The dog wants you to be stressed, so by acting like it, you are doing precisely what it wants.

5. Stand at an angle. By standing at an angle to the dog, you make yourself a thinner target.

6. If you have a walking stick, umbrella or cane with you, put it out in front of you to increase your size and show command of the space in front of you.

This is only suggested if the dog begins to calm down.

7. Mentally prepare for the likelihood of a bite. If you never consider the possibility that you could be bitten, if it does happen, you will be paralyzed both by fear and shock.

8. If you are bitten, you may cause the greatest damage. Much of the damage in

dog bites arises from the victim struggling with the dog. If you can resist the temptation to pull away from the bite while attempting to resolve the situation, you will most likely walk away with a puncture wound versus a tear.

9. The dog is likely to take the first available limb. Feed the dog a coat or anything else you may be carrying. It only has one mouth, so keeping it occupied with some other object might be a great option to avoid a serious bite.

10. If a dog bite becomes unavoidable, it is better to feed the dog your non-dominant forearm or shin. This is a far better scenario than allowing it to bite your neck, face or thigh. Also, keep your hands in fists to avoid losing a finger.

When it comes to surviving a dog attack, remember that most encounters can be avoided by keeping your dogs locked up and not separating two dogs that are fighting between each other.

Big Stock Photo

k c a t t A g o D A d e iv v I Sur

I don’t claim to be an expert on dog attacks, but I have survived two with little and no injury, respectively. Recognizing signs of aggression helped me to position myself for a rapid, successful response.

Some common indicators that I noted in my encounters included raised hackles, growling with ears back, blocking the way, standing their ground, direct eye contact, tail curled over the back accompanied by a confident gait. Barking is, in fact, not often an indicator the dog wants to attack.

In my first and most memorable dog attack, I was a police officer responding to a vicious dog complaint. When I arrived, I didn’t see one in the area, so I got out and spoke to the lady

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who called it in. She advised the dog headed towards her backyard. I stepped off her porch and rounded the corner of the house, and there he was, a large black Chow just a couple of feet away and moving in my direction. I put both my hands in front of my groin and stood still. He came up and sat right in between my legs, his muzzle inches from my crotch, his eyes locked on me.

I started talking in a high-pitched tone, praising him. “You’re such a good boy!

A pretty boy!” He seemed to be calming down, so I reached my index finger out and lightly rubbed his muzzle a little while I kept talking. He growled, ears laid back and hackles up. I moved my finger back and kept

talking high pitched and nice.

He eventually seemed to relax.

The lady on the porch quipped, “Looks like you made a friend!” I didn’t think so, but I hoped. I looked back at the Chow and said, “You wanna go to the car?” again in a highpitched, happy tone.

I turned slowly, and as I did, he lunged up at my throat.

I reflexively shoved my left hand sideways as far down his mouth as I could and front kicked him in the chest with my lead foot as I started reaching for my gun. It knocked him back, but as soon as his feet planted, he jumped at my throat again. I shoved my left hand deep into his mouth again, and this time kicked him in the throat off my rear foot as I drew my gun out. That was enough for him. He didn’t like the throat shot and backed off.

I had pushed my hand so far down his mouth that he didn’t have enough leverage to break the skin. I ended up with some bruised teeth indentations and minor bone bruising.

Nothing else. An instinctive but unorthodox tactic paid off.

—Mike Duke

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

CYBER SAFEGUARDS | 62 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

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Shutterstock Photo

six breaches mentioned, it’s as if a record for every citizen of the United States has been stolen. Those responsible include criminals and state actors that seek to obtain this information for profit, financial leverage or espionage.

Within the dark corners of the internet, opportunity presents itself to the skilled and nefarious to rob the most sacred of things: your identity. Learning to protect yourself and safely navigate those spaces can mean the difference between staying whole and having your life torn apart.

These days, electronic records not only include your name, date of birth and your address, but also family members’ names, emails, phone numbers and credit information. In many corners, this information is stolen to be used to commit fraud or possibly worse. In the dark corners of the internet, websites exist where you can traffic in this information for profit and power. Your identity is worth millions of dollars, making it the most important thing to safeguard and protect.

Scam Alert

Hackers and scammers are constantly vying for your personal and financial information. Only safe surfing can protect you.

Protect your personal information against ruthless internet criminals.

BY DONALD J. MIHALEK

I

N JUNE 2015, THE UNITED States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had been the target of a data breach targeting the records of as many as 4 million people, with indications that a state actor had performed the breach.

Later, it was discovered that it was actually multiple breaches impacting 21.4 million people. The incident has been

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described as one of the largest breaches of government data in the history of the United States. Every bit of the personally identifiable information of 21.4 million people was stolen.

This comes after Premera Blue Cross had 11 million records stolen, Home Depot 109 million records stolen, J.P. Morgan 83 million, eBay 145 million and Target 110 million records stolen. Between the

Unfortunately, surfing the internet and using email exposes everyone to a plethora of scams and schemes. Credit card fraud is perhaps the most prolific type of fraud.

It’s relatively easy to obtain and use unauthorized credit or debit card information and “bang it out.” The scammers in the world use internet schemes to obtain these numbers or, in some cases, use surreptitiously stationed credit card readers to capture your card’s information. Investigations have revealed the placement of these card readers at ATM machines, gas stations and even in restaurants.

Internet auction fraud is another type of scheme, which uses the misrepresentation of a product on an internet auction site to lure someone to input their credit card information to buy the item. Needless to say, the item never shows up. Get-richquick schemes and investment fraud offer scammers the ability to solicit investments or loans to buy fictitious, forged or counterfeit securities. This type of scheme carries an inherent element of danger, because sometimes the scammers will want the individual to meet them or travel to a foreign country in order to secure the potential “investment.”

Another prolific scheme is the “419” scam, named after Section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code. This scam combines impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance-fee scheme, in which a phone call, a letter, an email or fax is received by the victim requesting them to send an amount of money to secure some type of lottery winnings, inheritance

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“Your identity is worth millions of dollars, making it the most important thing to safeguard and protect.”

is designed to steal your identity or vital personal information, including passwords. A phishing email often asks you to verify certain information, and compromises your accounts once you do it.

Another form of phishing comes in the form of fake websites via “spam” mail.

These sites are set up to look like a legiti-

STOP IDENTITY THEFT In this digital age, there are more threats than ever to your privacy. Your sensitive information can fall into the wrong hands in seconds with just a flash of a beam from just feet away. Credit cards, computers, phones, tablets and passports contain information that could be used to rob you or steal your identity.

Passcodes to your home alarm system or personal vaults can even be stolen. Protect your family’s personal and financial information from hacking, tracking or scanning with the

SHIELDSAK from LOKSAK. This fabric Faraday cage blocks signals that are capable of reading your personal information. Originally developed for the U.S. military and government, SHIELDSAK has proven its ability to block radio frequencies, infrared and

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skim/quick-scan technology.

For example, when a mobile device such as a phone or tablet is placed in the SHIELDSAK and sealed correctly, the item and its file contents become invisible. Signals are blocked from entering or leaking from the bag and phones will not even ring. Items with ID chips, like passports and credit cards, cannot be scanned.

Vital information is secure and tracking is impossible.

SHIELDSAKs are available in sizes that cover most smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. (loksak. com; 239-331-5550) —–Cara Donaldson

mate site, but they are anything but. These sites may look identical to a real site, but if you check the website address, it might be off by a number or letter. If you bank with ABC Bank and their website is ABCbank. com, a fake version might be ABCbank1. com. Make sure you know where you are before you provide any information.

Similar to phishing, “vishing” (voice phishing) scammers also seek to get you to provide your personal information.

However, instead of using email to request the information, vishing scammers use the phone and social networking sites to make their requests. You may be directed to call a phone number to verify an account or to reactivate a debit or credit card. If you have received one of these calls, report it immediately.

Fighting Back

Photo Courtesy Loksak

or foreign investment. The initial amounts are usually small but grow over time as the perception of enrichment becomes enhanced and scammers pretend to need more capital to free up the fake investment or winnings.

Phishing is a common internet scam where you receive a fraudulent email that

Despite the number of scams out there, some basic cyber security practices can help you avoid being victimized. One of the most important things is to ensure your computer and internet software have the most up-to-date security and firewalls.

Since most of us keep some type of personal information on our computer, this is a great line of defense against viruses, hackers and illicit cookies.

When surfing cyberspace or reviewing your email, pay attention to where you are and what you are receiving. Make sure the websites are legitimate. When reviewing emails, pay attention to the sender’s

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“…surfing the internet and using email exposes everyone to a plethora of scams and schemes.”

address and remember that legitimate companies never ask for your password or account number via email. These types of emails may even use threats if you don’t reply, but don’t believe them.

If you receive a suspected fraud email, don’t open or click on any links in the email.

They can contain a virus that can harm your computer. They may redirect you to a fraudulent website. If you believe that the email is invalid, contact the company using the phone numbers listed on your statements or in the phone book. Tell the customer service representative about the email and ask if your account has been compromised.

If you mistakenly click on any links in the phishing email or reply with the requested personal information, contact your bank directly to let them know and ask to have fraud alerts placed on your accounts, have new credit cards issued or set new passwords.

computer or internetaccessible device so a child can only access internet sites you deem appropriate is a safe thing to do. This is another firewall that could prevent a problem.

Finally, teaching a child some good internet rules of behavior will only help prevent them from knowingly surfing into a dangerous situation. These could include establishing parameters for online and cell-phone use; not giving out or posting photos or personal information without a parent’s permission; informing adults immediately if someone is attempting to meet with them or makes them feel uncomfortable online; never communicating with anyone they don’t know; protecting passwords and never downloading anything without an adult’s permission.

Since the internet is a complicated place, if you do find yourself a victim of a cyber crime, it’s imperative to report it as soon as it’s discovered. To report cyber

Shutterstock Photos

Danger lurks in dark corners of the internet for children. Make sure to monitor where they surf.

Family Firewall The majority of children victimized by a child predator had their first contact with them on the internet. Similarly, many adults have been victimized by trusting an unknown person they met via the internet.

Instead of an alley, the internet offers the anonymity that criminals depend upon.

The world of social media has also created opportunities for these despicable miscreants to actually identify and target adults and children. Social media is a predator’s paradise that offers photos as well as personal and geographical information.

The first level of protection for children on the internet is adults. Knowing what your child is looking at and where could prevent a host of issues. Locking down a

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crimes, first file a police report with your local department and then contact the Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint Assistant (ftccomplaintassistant.gov) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3. gov). If it’s financially related or identify theft, you’ll also want to notify your banks and all three credit-reporting agencies.

Notifying these entities will maximize your coverage and level of protection. Always remember, when in doubt, click the “X” and log out.

REPORT A CYBER CRIME Forward all suspicious emails to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov.

Steve Woods Photo

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

r u o Y d n a t S und Gro

Huldra Arms Mark IV Tactical Evo

17 threat-stopping rifles to secure your home against a violent attack. BY WILL DABBS, MD

hen life truly goes sideways, the only thing better than a handgun is a long gun. With literally scads of firearms to choose from these days, the task of selecting the right ordnance for the right application can be daunting.

The first step is to analyze the potential circumstances under which you might need to be armed. Whether you expect to be in a city or in the country will determine the sorts of threats you might face, the potential ranges involved and whether or not alarming the local populace is a concern you should consider.

Owning and using a gun is a tremendous responsibility, but in times of crisis a firearm can be your most critical possession. The right rifle will feed your family, secure the perimeter and cause potential attackers to look for easier pickings elsewhere.

W

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The 5.56mm Huldra Arms Mark IV Tactical Evo takes all that is good about the AR-15 rifle and optimizes it to modern standards. The Mark IV’s 14.5-inch, 1-in-7-inch-twist barrel is made from CrMoV 4150 steel and is Melonite treated both inside and out for long life and wear resistance. The gun runs off of a gas piston operating system for optimal reliability. The Huldra Arms Mark IV Tactical Evo comes standard with a Samson Evolution free-floating handguard that can be customized with rails. The most unusual aspect of the Tactical Evo is its 14.5-inch barrel length. A permanently attached, reduced-radius flash suppressor provides adequate overall length to avoid any tax stamp issues while still offering ready access to the gas piston for cleaning or servicing. The final package is one of the shortest, most maneuverable AR rifles available today. (huldraarms. com; 218-822-2804)

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

i i i i i

IWI Galil ACE Owing its origins to the combat-proven Israeli Galil infantry rifle that outfitted the Israeli Defense Forces for decades, the new Galil ACE is a modern upgrade to this classic design. The Galil was itself a melding of attributes from the M16, the AK-47 and the FN FAL. With this proven chassis as a foundation, IWI has improved upon what was an already superb gun. The new Galil ACE has an easy-to-use ambidextrous safety, a reciprocating leftsided charging handle and plenty of Picatinny rail space for accessories. A full-length top rail supports any imaginable optics. (iwi.us; 717-695-2081)

Steyr AUG A3 M1

Sig Sauer SIG556xi

When it was introduced in 1977, the Steyr AUG was the most advanced infantry rifle ever devised. Making use of a revolutionary bullpup design (the action of the gun resides behind the pistol grip) and incorporating advanced polymers in the stock, the AUG turned the gun world on its ear. Now, nearly 40 years later, the AUG is still at the vanguard of tactical rifle design. The AUG A3 M1 balances wonderfully and its simple controls are easy to manage under stress. Magazine changes are fast and intuitive on the new models thanks to an automatic bolt-hold-open, and the reliability of the AUG’s adjustable piston system is well established. (steyrarms.com;

Whether it is a pistolcaliber semi-automatic version of a submachine gun, a wide variety of rifle-caliber weapons or the extraordinary SB15 Stabilizing Brace that truly revolutionized short-barreled guns in 205-417-8644) America, Sig blazes the trail. The SIG556xi chassis evolved from the company’s original European military rifles and offers a reliable gas-piston operating system and the ability to swap out major parts to fire either 5.56mm NATO or 7.62x39mm ammunition. Offering a 16-inch barrel and a Swiss-style folding stock, the next-gen SIG556xi is a versatile design ready to be adapted to the shooter’s most critical needs. (sigsauer.com; 603-610-3000)

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Kel-Tec RFB

Faxon Firearms ARAK-21 The Faxon Firearms ARAK-21 melds the best features of the AR-15 with the best attributes of the AK-47 to deliver a robust tactical rifle sporting modern ergonomics and old-school reliability.

The long-stroke piston system of the Kalashnikov is one of the most reliable rifle action ever devised.

Meanwhile, the advanced ergonomics of the AR-15 make for a rifle that is smooth in action and quick to feed. The ARAK-21 combines both into a sleek rifle that is both versatile and functional.

The ARAK-21 upper receiver mounts to any mil-spec AR-15 lower and swaps calibers between 7.62x39mm, 5.56mm and 300 BLK in minutes. The reversible charging handle is easily accessed and fast in action. (faxonfirearms. com; 513-674-2580)

RFB stands for “Rifle, Forward-ejecting Bullpup,” and it is the absolute smallest platform available for launching full-sized .308 rounds. Brilliantly conceived and professionally executed, the RFB feeds from standard 20-round FN FAL magazines and ejects through a tube out in front of the weapon. The RFB weighs just over 8 pounds unloaded and has an overall length of only 26 inches.

Because of its forwardejecting design, the gun is fully ambidextrous and comparably amenable to either shoulder. For full-powered .30-caliber thump in the tiniest possible package, nobody else even comes close to the Kel-Tec RFB. (keltecweapons.com; 321-631-0068)

Cobalt Kinetics Black Tactical Built with a .223 Wylde chamber to allow the use of either .223 Remington or 5.56mm ammo, this optimized rifle sports a dual-drop bolt release, a 45-degree safety selector and an extended mag catch. The mag well is beveled for fast magazine changes, and the fire control pins are threaded.

The 16-inch, standardprofile, Melonite-coated barrel makes for a handy, lightweight package. For furniture, the rifle has an Archangel buttstock, a Hogue pistol grip and a 12.5-inch, free-floating Odin Works M-LOK handguard for mounting accessories like lights and lasers for quick targeting. The mid-length gas system balances maneuverability and reliability. (cobaltkinetics. com; 435-656-0599)

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Colt AR15A4 The name Colt is synonymous with the AR-15, as Colt has made these rifles for decades. In a sea of AR rifle producers, Colt has remained consistently reliable. Colt AR rifles are available in a wide variety of configurations with long barrels, as well as short, fixed or collapsible stocks. The AR15A4 is chambered in 5.56mm and features a 20-inch barrel with a 1-in-7-inch, right-hand twist. Built with a direct gas system and locking bolt, the rifle weighs 7.71 pounds in hand. This is a top-grade AR from one of the best makers in the industry. (colt.com;

Remington 700

Eugene Stoner designed the .22-caliber AR-7 survival rifle as a collapsible survival arm for American military aircrews. The receiver assembly, barrel and magazine all broke down and fit into the buttstock for storage.

The modern-day iteration of the AR-7 is the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle. Made in the U.S.A. from rugged synthetic materials and aluminum alloys, the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle does everything the original did. It breaks down into an easy-to-pack profile that weighs about 3.5 pounds.

If your circumstances demand a small-caliber, semi-automatic rifle suitable for general utility purposes, check out the Henry U.S. Survival Rifle. (henryrifles. com; 201-858-4400)

(remington.com; 800-243-9700)

Chiappa M6-22 The Chiappa M6-22 rifle is a modern-day rendition of the original military M6 survival rifle. The M6-22 is an over/under weapon that sports a shotgun tube in either 12 or 20 gauge above a rifled barrel launching either .22 LR or .22 WMR rounds. Twin triggers control each barrel separately. The M6-22 folds for storage and has enough rail space for lights, lasers or optics. When combined with the X-Caliber chamber insert system, the M622 will shoot literally any common centerfire handgun cartridge you might encounter as well as .410 shotshells. The M6-22 is a purpose-designed survival arm that takes up little space. (chiappafirearms.com)

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800-962-2658)

Ruger Mini-14 While the basic Mini-14 rifle has a more pedestrian look than the classic AR or AK, aftermarket parts abound for the gun that are sufficient to militarize it as much as might be desired. The Mini-14 has been around for quite a while and, as such, is available in a wide variety of styles and configurations. Available in 5.56mm NATO with either a wooden or synthetic stock, the Ruger Mini-14 offers a 16.25- or 18.5-inch barrel and a relatively light weight for better maneuverability. The Garandstyle action is optimized for reliability in any environment. (ruger.com)

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Henry U.S. Survival Rifle

If your survival scenario demands a rifle that can reach out a little farther, then the Remington 700 will fill that mission. Introduced in 1962, the Remington 700 has accounted for literally countless whitetail deer in the Deep South alone. Chambered for 30 different cartridges and available in a variety of configurations, the Remington 700 is America’s precision rifle. The standard Remington 700 has an internal magazine and a nice factory trigger. There are countless aftermarket stock options available, and the rifle remains remarkably inexpensive thanks to Remington’s modern industrial production techniques.

Ares Defense SCR

Springfield Armory M1A

Chambered in 5.56mm NATO, the Ares Defense Sport Configurable Rifle (SCR) is a domesticated version of the classic AR-15 that eschews “scary” features like a pistol grip and flash suppressor. The SCR comes with polymer furniture and accepts standard STANAG M4 magazines. At 37 inches in length and 5.7 pounds in weight, the SCR is comparably effective as more common AR rifles without the military flavor. The Ares Defense SCR runs just like an AR rifle but is sedate enough to pass muster in the parts of the country that cling to excessive gun restrictions. (aresdefense. com; 321-242-8410)

Archangel AA9130 The Mosin-Nagant 91/30 and M44 were the bolt-action infantry rifles that carried the Soviet Union through World War II. Antique bolt-action military rifles with loose tolerances may not seem particularly impressive by modern standards, but these old guns are no less lethal today than they were when they were used to beat the Nazis. The AA9130 stock updates any surplus Mosin-Nagant package with a carbonfiber-filled polymer stock that’s pre-inletted for a Timney trigger.

The stock is designed for comfort, control and superior weapon retention. (archangel

Century Arms RAS47

manufacturing.com; 800-438-2547)

Air Force Texan

Springfield Armory produces new versions of the venerable GI-issue M14 called the M1A. Chambered for the hard-hitting 7.62x51mm cartridge and feeding from 20-round box magazines, the M1A brings barrier-penetrating power to a nicely portable chassis. The new M1A SOCOM 16 CQB is designed for tight spaces.

The rifle has a 16.25-inch barrel, a collapsible stock and an XS tritium front sight. Thusly configured, the SOCOM 16 CQB maneuvers indoors and within an automobile like a much smaller rifle while retaining .30-caliber punch. The SOCOM 16 CQB is a fast-handling, powerful rifle that is proven, versatile and effective for many tasks.

Made entirely in the U.S.A., the new RAS47 from Century Arms is a close facsimile of the stamped-receiver AKM rifles that have shaped the geopolitics of the planet since the Cold War. Unflinchingly reliable and firing a heavy .30-caliber round adequate to drop any reasonable North American game animal, the same attributes that make the Kalashnikov such a popular military rifle make this rifle a good survival choice as well. The newest versions of the rifle sport a proprietary returnto-zero scope mount riveted to the left side of the receiver that will accept any imaginable optical sight. The RAS47 is a reliable rifle that will protect you and your family under most any circumstances.

The Texan from Air Force is the most powerful production air rifle on the planet. Firing .45-caliber bullets ranging in weight from 143 to 450 grains, the pre-charged Texan air rifle is adequately powerful to hunt deer or wild pigs. Unlike traditional pellet guns, this is a legitimately serious air rifle. The Texan is powered by an onboard, pre-charged air tank that runs at 3,000 psi. While this tank could theoretically be powered by a hand pump, realistically the rifle requires a carbonfiber parent tank or scuba tank as a pressure source. The Texan sports a Lothar Walther barrel and an incredibly precise target trigger.

(springfield-armory.com; 800-680-6866)

(centuryarms.com; 800-527-1252)

(airforceairguns.com; 877-247-4867)

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SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

OUT OF THE

CR SS

Ichiro Nagata Photo

If an active shooter strikes your location, will you fight back or escape?

Evaluate the threat before engaging.

| 70 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

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HAIRS

Prepare yourself to escape an active shooter anywhere, anytime.

E

ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY DR. MARTIN D. TOPPER

ven concealed carriers who avoid gun-free zones and bad parts of town are still at risk from active shooters, because active shooters can strike anywhere. This relatively new type of killing spree that first shocked the nation in 1966, when Charles Whitman killed 17 and wounded 32 in Texas, has become more common as terrorists, alienated students and others seek publicity for their causes and revenge for real or imagined injustices by publically slaughtering innocents. Malls, theaters, fast-food restaurants, military facilities, stores, churches and schools have all been turned into killing fields by active shooters. The person with a concealed-carry license must therefore be ready to survive whenever an active shooter strikes.

Active shooters are different from other criminals. They’re not after your money, and they don’t care about getting away. Their goal is to kill as many people as they can before they’re stopped. Dealing with active shooters requires a different mindset and a special set of skills.

Know Your Threat A number of trainers teach courses in active-shooter response, and I was fortunate enough to attend John Farnam’s Armed Response to a Terrorist Attack course. John was a Marine 2nd Lieutenant in Vietnam and was wounded three times in intense combat in just 51 days.

After Vietnam, John began 43 years of service as a deputy sheriff and also began privately teaching defensive tactics to police, military and civilians licensed to carry firearms. He owns Defense Training International and is the author of several books on guns and gunfighting.

Armed Response to a Terrorist Attack is a weekend course that runs from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. It begins with a classroom presentation on

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John Farnam demonstrates the trigger finger “register” position during a safety briefing at the beginning of the class.

firearms and tactics for daily living. John believes in an integrated approach that involves using both handguns and long guns. Long guns are important defensive tools because active shooters often employ tactical movement, and John believes that handguns are 20-yard weapons against mobile assailants. During the course, he stressed the importance of buying tactical rifles in 5.56mm NATO rather than .223 Rem. He also stated that the 7.62x39mm and 300 BLK cartridges were acceptable choices, as was the M1 Carbine when used with expanding ammo like CorBon’s DPX load.

As for pistols, he prefers double-stack 9mms for people large enough in stature to conceal them. Otherwise, John favors single-stack 9mms like Smith & Wesson’s Shield, the Glock 43 and similar striker-fired pistols. John also believes that rifles are preferable to shotguns because shotguns generally don’t have the range or precision of rifles.

When discussing active shooters, John emphasized the difference between civilians and law enforcement officers.

Law enforcement officers have a duty to respond to active shooters. Civilians are responsible for protecting themselves and their families, and should escape whenever it is safe to do so. A CCW permit is not a license to enforce the law, and John was very clear that the person shooting in self-defense must be able to articulate a lethal threat to themselves or loved ones before using deadly force.

If the threat is focused elsewhere, running to the sound of the guns may just cause the police to mistake a wellmeaning CCW holder for a terrorist. John also provided specific instructions on how to interact with police after shooting in self-defense.

Real-World Defense The course combines tactical theory with live-fire exercises. The Saturday range session began with a safety lecture in which John described basic gun-handling

This participant transitioned to his pistol behind weak-side cover to neutralize a target at close range.

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

Each participant checks the sight offset of their particular rifle/optic combination before live fire.

When you move between cover, you should be fast and present the smallest possible target.

techniques. John runs a hot range. Every gun that is not stored in a carrying case is loaded and must be carried in a safe manner. In addition, all guns that are carried on the range must be maintained in a fully loaded condition at all times, because that’s the way they are carried on the street.

After the briefing, John and his instructors worked with the participants to be sure that their skills would be equal to those needed for the live-fire scenarios that would be presented on Day Two. Individual attention is given to each participant. After lunch, the afternoon was occupied with a series of moveand-shoot and cover drills. Participants practiced moving, shooting and reloading while engaging hostile targets that were partially obscured by no-shoot targets.

John emphasized several important defensive techniques here, including keeping your eyes on the threat and scanning for additional targets, transitioning from pistol to rifle while on the move, reloading on the move and never appearing from cover in the same location.

At dusk on Day One, we began two hours of low-light shooting. Participants turned on their tactical gun lights,

employed their lasers and individually ran a set of drills that involved identifying threats and engaging multiple hostile targets while on the move in the dark. To make things more difficult, the instructors used their own tactical lights to illuminate portions of the area downrange. At times the instructors’ lights were set on strobe mode. This made it harder to tell hostiles from innocent bystanders. John’s philosophy of training is to challenge the existing skills of the participant to promote skill development, and this clearly was a challenging exercise.

Saving Lives Day Two was spent engaging a variety of targets in active-shooter scenarios.

Targets representing different types of threats, like guns, RPGs and explosives, were set up downrange along with no-shoot targets representing innocent bystanders. The participants had to determine which threats must immediately be neutralized, which ones did not need immediate action and shoot the immediate threats without jeopardizing bystanders. Periodically, the targets and the large drums used to represent cover were moved to different locations. In addition,

Sometimes it’s faster to transition to a new gun instead of reloading.

Never crowd your cover, even when you’re shooting from prone.

John Farnam’s debriefing sessions ensure that the class learns the most from every exercise.

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Canting your rifle and exposing as little of yourself as possible provides maximum protection when firing from cover.

John randomly selected starting points at various places on the firing line for each run of the various drills.

These changes were done in order to teach the participants to conduct a fresh evaluation of the whole problem each and every time they ran a drill. Drills were run individually and were also conducted with several participants moving on the line. John and the instructors de-briefed participants at the end of each run, asking why they made certain decisions and providing feedback on their target selection, gunhandling, use of movement, use of cover and situational awareness. In addition, John and the instructors coached the participants as they conducted the drill and constantly monitored them for safety. A variety of drills were run throughout the course, including pistol/ rifle transition drills, reloading drills, rifle retrieval drills, weak-hand drills and onehanded rifle drills.

The threats presented by active shooters can come at any time in any place and they can involve one or several shooters. This variability requires the armed civilian to be employ flexible tactics if he or she is to survive and protect loved-ones. John Farnam’s Armed Response to a Terrorist Attack course is designed to help attendees develop that flexible mindset and be able to choose from a range of options if they have no choice but to fight back. Visit defensetraining.com or call 970-482-2520.

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SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

STAY ALERT STAY ALIVE

Living in Condition Yellow could save your life!

BY FRED MASTISON | 74 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

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I Shutterstock Photo

Living in Condition Yellow will help you see threats ahead of time—allowing you to react with pepper spray, for example.

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In the minds of many, surviving a disaster will depend on how well they are prepared.

Did they buy enough emergency food? Is there enough water? Is the emergency kit up to the task? While these are the physical items needed for survival, there is a deeper skill that must be developed if we are to make it through a long, tough time—situational awareness.

In day-to-day life, you are encouraged to have good situational awareness. Situational awareness is as simple as it sounds. It is being aware of not only your surroundings, but also the potential dangers they can present. It is not enough to know that a large dog is nearby, it is equally important to know that it can bite you.

The late Colonel Jeff Cooper developed a four-stage color code system to teach awareness. While not originally designed for a tactical situation, the applications are seamless. Col. Cooper was a proponent of a prepared mind. The color codes were a way for people to develop the right mindset to deal with danger. It ranges from unaware to “ready for battle.” The optimal dayto-day state is what he labeled “Yellow.” This is a state where you are aware of everything around you. While not paranoid, you are simply plugged into what is going on around you and living in Condition Yellow.

DAILY DETECTION

Always be aware of your surroundings and who is nearby. This skill will allow you a better opportunity to escape or fight if you face trouble. This skill can take some practice, however, in order to not seem paranoid. Small, smooth moves with your head and eyes will allow you to scan a wide area without seeming to be looking around. Another skill to practice is storing relevant items in your mind. This can be especially helpful with people you may see.

One trick of the trade is to give them a fictitious name. Comparing them to a similar-looking celebrity is a good way as well.

Situations where extra awareness is warranted occur in our everyday lives. The reason is that we get so accustomed to these locations that we tune things out. This is demonstrated by the fact that most auto collisions occur closer to people’s homes, as many people just go into cruise-control mode as they get closer to home.

Use your environment as a tool. The reflective surfaces and natural barricades we encounter each day can be valuable assets. Use reflections in shop windows to scan behind you as well as car mirrors you pass by on the street. These are natural tools that allow you to covertly watch behind you as you move though day-to-day life.

Avoid static groups on the street by walking behind cars or other blockers. Groups assembled for no apparent reason rarely have an upside. While they can be benign, it is always better to err on the side of caution. While we do not want to develop a sense of paranoia, we must respect the fact that spontaneous groups are generally reacting to

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“Basic martial arts training goes a long way...You must prepare your mind with the fact that you will more than likely be fighting by yourself.”

anything that might be a threat. Awareness provides us opportunities. It allows options in tough situations, and that can make all the difference in the world.

CONSTANT DEFENSE

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something that we know nothing about.

Steer clear and stay in Condition Yellow.

When you are inside, your sense of awareness must continue. Use more than your eyes. Is there a different smell or sound that catches your attention? Use all of your senses, including the most important one—your intuition. If a little internal alarm goes off and gives you the feeling that something isn’t right, you should listen to that voice in your head.

The best plan is to move away from your current location. Once again, we do not want to panic or seem paranoid. Just calmly and directly walk away from the situation via the closest exit.

Living in Condition Yellow is a lifestyle more than anything else. It takes some practice to master, but in short order you will instinctively be plugged into what is going on around you. You will notice people you may have missed before.

You will see the stranger sitting in a car down the street, and you will be better at keeping yourself at a safe distance from

Security Codes Colonel Jeff Cooper was one of the greatest tactical minds of the 20th century . A Marine officer and firearms pioneer, Col. Copper developed an easy-to-understand series of color codes to teach awareness.

These are broken up into four sections.

WHITE

In Condition White, you are unaware and relaxed.

Generally, you are unaware of what is going on around you. The times when you may be in this condition are when you are sleeping or safely settled in at home for the evening. This is also the state that most people enter, however, when they obsess over their mobile devices in public. Condition White is essentially being unprepared to respond to any form of danger.

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YELLOW

In Condition Yellow, you are relaxed yet aware of what and who is around you. You are “plugged in” to what is happening and paying attention to your surroundings. This is the optimal condition for day-to-day life and should be the basis of your awareness. Being in Condition Yellow allows you to react to threats quickly should they arise, because you will not be surprised.

Being in Condition Yellow requires that you have the means to respond to danger. There may be times when escape is not an option and you may be forced to defend yourself. The tools of that realm are easy to carry and can easily become a part of your everyday life.

The first suggested item is a multitasker and an essential part of any kit: a flashlight. A good choice for this is the Streamlight ProTac HL. It is small, bright and includes a scalloped bezel that can double as a weapon. Another multi-use tool is a tactical pen such as the Tuff Writer Frontline. This pen doubles as a writing instrument as well as a great selfdefense tool. One last item is designed purely for self-defense. Pepper spray is carried by police officers for a reason: It is effective. A good option in this area is the Kimber Pepper Blaster. It is an easy-touse and accurate weapon that mixes the ergonomics of a gun with the less-lethal option of pepper spray.

All of these items fit easily in your pocket or purse and should be a part of your everyday carry loadout. All of these weapons gain effectiveness with some simple training. A scalloped-bezel flashlight becomes even more effective if you know how and where to strike. The same holds true for our tactical pen.

Basic martial arts training goes a long way and does not require decades in a dojo to master. The primary lesson we learn from the martial arts is to strike soft areas with hard objects. For example, striking the neck or eyes with your flashlight can produce much better results

ORANGE

In Condition Orange, you have become aware of a potential problem. While it may be nothing, it has caught your attention and increased your level of alertness. If you are attacked during this state, your response time will be much faster. You have identified a problem and are already searching for solutions. Your mind is running through a series of possible “what-if” scenarios as you look at options.

RED

In Condition Red, you are ready to fight. You may not actually have to act on that, but your body and mind are now prepared for physical conflict. While this does not mean you instantly attack someone, you are certainly ready and waiting for a specific trigger or predetermined action that will launch the process.

This state is where you have made a decision that you are ready and willing to fight back.

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Phot o Cour tesy Stre amli ght

knives. There are many factors involved in the use of these weapons, and your chances of success improve with serious defensive training.

DURING DISASTER

than trying to hit your attacker in the head.

While the physical lessons are important, the mental training that you receive will be equally empowering.

The first thing you will learn is that you are responsible for your own safety and defense. The news is littered with stories of women that yelled “rape” or simply screamed for help, only to be ignored. You must prepare your mind with the fact that you will more than likely be fighting by yourself. While not an optimal situation, it is not as dire as it may seem. With professional training, you can accomplish things you may have never thought possible.

More powerful weapons to consider include knives and firearms. With these selections, we have now entered the lethal-force zone and care must be taken to respect that. While you should never hesitate to use lethal force if your life is in jeopardy, it is essential that you weigh the situation carefully. Keep a Glock pistols cool head and like the G17 are quickly evaluate known for their what is going on. simplicity and Once again, the reliability in harsh survival benefits of environments. situational awareness arise.

For personal protection the Glock 17 is tough to beat.

Lightweight, easy to use and reliable, it has been a standard in the law enforcement community for decades. In the knife category, the Hogue EX folder is a prime candidate. Strong, sharp and lightweight, it is a great knife for personal protection.

Professional training cannot be emphasized enough when it comes to guns and

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Photo Courtesy Glock

Streamlight’s ProTac HL is a great option for your EDC kit because it’s powerful, compact and has a scalloped striking bezel.

Tragic and stressful events have a way of changing people’s behaviors. While short-term events with a foreseeable end do not affect people much, long-term situations with no clear solution can dramatically change behavior. During a disaster, people will always panic. Their lack of preparedness and disbelief that something could actually happen are the driving forces behind this. As an event draws out, though, their panic will oftentimes turn to desperation.

That resulting shift moves them into the potential threat category.

Someone who is rational and calm in day-to-day life can transform under great pressure. Their desire to survive or provide basics for their family can make them do things they would have never thought possible. These people have the potential to be dangerous if they see you and your supplies as an answer to their problems. I have long suggested that people not make public the specifics of their emergency preparedness plans or supplies. You are simply advertising to those who failed to prepare where they can potentially get what they need.

Beyond the individual threats, civil unrest can become a major threat as well. New Orleans experienced this during Hurricane Katrina.

Looting was rampant, and chaos ruled for some time.

In a disaster, your situational awareness must be “on” at all times.

This awareness, coupled with carrying personal protection gear, can make all the difference in the world. Your everyday-carry gear in a disaster situation should include four primary items: a handgun, extra ammunition, a knife and a flashlight. Less-lethal options can also be useful. Pepper spray can be useful against animals and allow you to preserve ammunition. Once again, part of any serious disaster preparedness must also include training with these

The great mind behind Condition Yellow is the same mind behind one of the best firearms schools in the world. Gunsite Academy, located in Paulden, Arizona, is a great place to not only learn more about a color-code lifestyle, but to get fantastic training as well.

What is unique about Gunsite is its vision and understanding of the dangers that people face. Its instructors provide training across the spectrum, including for those who live in gun-restrictive states. Gunsite’s Edged Weapons class is an example of that. It is a two-day class that provides the fundamentals of self-protection using an edged weapon.

Regardless of size, strength, age or gender, you can learn to defend yourself with any type of edged weapon using the concepts you will learn in the Gunsite class.

“Awareness…allows options in tough situations, and that can make all the difference in the world.” children about situational awareness and the color codes as early as possible.

The method you choose, however, should be less about the lethal dangers around us and more about awareness.

Simple games like challenging them to remember the color of a passing car or to count how many people are on a corner There are many triggers that force us from create lifelong skills. If they begin when one color code to another. It could be they are young, the skills become second something as obvious as an attacker with nature and awareness is just part of their a knife or as subtle as a gut feeling. The everyday lives. framework around elevation of our color Living in Condition Yellow is a lifestyle codes is all based around threats and poabove all things. The phrase of “ignotential threats. In short, the more dangerrance is bliss” is true. It can also be lethal, ous it becomes, the higher we move up however, if you are caught unprepared. our scale. With practice, the transition will Awareness of problems allows us time to be smooth, but it can be challenging in the create solutions. From everyday events beginning. It is because of this challenge like seeing an accident down the freeway that you are encouraged to teach your and taking an early exit to avoid traffic, to seeing a mugger before he can get FOR MORE INFORMATION close to you, Condition Yellow is where we should GLOCK: glock.com; 770-432 1202 be. We live in a dangerous HOGUE: hogueinc.com; 800-438-4747 world, and the best way KIMBER : kimberamerica.com; 888-243-4522 to deal with it is to stay in STREAMLIGHT: streamlight.com; 610-631-0600 Condition Yellow and enjoy TUFF WRITER: tuffwriter.com; 480-329-6105 the options it provides. weapons. Simply owning a gun or occasionally plinking with it will not provide you sufficient skills. This also holds true for your knife. You must know how to use them and use them well.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO

CRISIS PLAN: Gunsite also offers a Disaster Preparedness course. This is an intensive five-day course that covers not only firearms training, but also the skills and tactics to help you prepare for surviving the likely civil unrest following the first days to weeks after a disaster. The unique class listings go on with Active Shooter/Terrorist Response for Civilians, Defense Against Street Crimes and Home Defense as well as Emergency Medical Preparedness. If you are serious about training, Gunsite should be on your to-do list. (gunsite.com; 928-636-4565)

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Photos Courtesy Gunsite

SELF-DEFENSE MASTER CLASS

SELF-RELIANCE + DEFENSE

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CASH COL

Must-have items to stockpile for trade and barter when paper money is worthless.

BY JIM COBB

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When the value of paper money disappears, goods to trade and skills to barter will be our currency.

hat to stockpile for trade after some sort of societal collapse always makes for a fun topic of discussion among preppers and survivalists.

Everyone, it seems, has their favorite items. Listening to some folks talk, you’d think they are looking to set themselves up as some sort of cross between Mad Max and Sam Walton.

As a practical matter, we engage in barter every day. But rather than trade two eggs for a pack of gum, we use small pieces of paper to trade for what we want.

Using paper money makes things easier all around, since we can all agree on a fixed value for them. Not to mention that, unlike eggs, paper isn’t likely to cause a mess in our pockets when we sit down.

But should a major calamity strike, something that leads to an economic collapse, all that paper will be worthless.

Here’s the thing: Currency is only worth something if we believe in it. Let’s face facts. Paper money is, in and of itself, worthless. Coins are worth a little more, because they are actually made of a precious metal, though the amount of precious metal varies based on the mintage and such. But, really, since you can’t eat

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it, drink it, purify water with it or perform any number of other tasks directly related to survival, the actual value of money in a disaster is questionable at best.

While we should be working toward being able to meet all of our own needs if society collapses, we’re only human.

We’re likely going to forget to stockpile something, or we’ll not have set aside enough of it. Or, perhaps, a needed item breaks or gets lost. There are innumerable reasons why we might find it necessary to enter into a trade with someone.

When that time comes, kindness and a dazzling smile will only get you so far.

Finding Value

As you consider what items you might want to set aside for future trading, keep a few guidelines in mind. First, the items should have value to you. Stick with items you’d likely use yourself at some point if you never need them for trade purposes.

It makes very little sense to invest time, energy and money into stockpiling items that may just end up in the trash someday. If you don’t need them for trade, you should still have a use for them.

Second, the items should be relatively inexpensive now but are likely to have great worth later. The idea here isn’t to go into debt just to stockpile a bunch of stuff you might someday need for bartering.

There are dozens of items that cost pennies today but will be worth their weight in gold should big-box retailers and convenience stores be closed for good.

Third, and this one should be obvious, the items should store well for long

periods of time, ideally at least a year, without special storage requirements.

The last thing you want is to desperately need to trade for medicine or some other lifesaving good only to find that your barter items all rotted away in the four years since you put them into storage. Choose items you can keep in a dry basement or other cool, dark place without issues.

Stocking Up

So, what items make the cut, so to speak? Here are a few things I’d recommend as potential barter goods. You can tailor these recommendations to your specific needs and storage capabilities.

Multi-Vitamins: When diets become more about just filling bellies rather than getting three square meals a day, many people are going to start suffering from nutritional deficiencies. A decent multi-vitamin, while not nearly as good as eating fresh food straight from the garden, will go a long way toward keeping people at least somewhat healthy.

Store the bottles in cool, dark places and leave them sealed until needed. When it comes time to trade, you could dole out the tablets in specific quantities rather than entire bottles, if needed.

Sewing Supplies: Few homes today probably have much more than a travel sewing kit squirreled away in a junk drawer. When running to the mall to get a new pair of jeans just isn’t a workable solution, people are going to find it necessary to repair clothing instead of just tossing it into a rag bin because it is stained or torn. Needles, thread, patches

Keeping an accurate inventory of your stockpile will help ensure you rotate your supplies, including trade goods that could expire.

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L LAPSE

If the cupboard comes up empty, trade goods can help replenish it.

and all that other fun stuff will be in demand. This stuff is all fairly cheap at any big-box retailer. Don’t overlook rummage sales as sources, too.

Consumables: Unless you have quite a surplus of food, you won’t want to be trading much of your staple edibles.

However, there are a few inexpensive consumables you could stock up on for bartering. Salt has long been valued, is very cheap right now and lasts just about forever. Honey is a little pricier but well worth the investment. Just make sure you’re getting real honey and not corn syrup. Tea and instant coffee, for example, won’t last forever but will be very much prized among the caffeine addicts in your area should the local coffeehouse close its doors.

Toiletries: Disasters are rarely clean and tidy affairs. After just a few days without running water, let alone full showers or baths, many people will start

Gold and silver have been considered valuable for centuries. Both have practical uses above and beyond being shiny.

For example, because gold doesn’t tarnish, it is used in many electronic components. Silver is used in solar panels and is a tremendous conductor of both heat and electricity.

But for all the industrial applications, along with their natural beauty, are gold and silver truly worth the investment for preppers and survivalists? As with most things in life, the answer is…it depends.

REAL VALUE: Precious metals, whether we’re talking about coins, bars or jewelry, are really only worth what

feeling considerably less than fresh. After a few weeks, when their current supplies of soap, shampoo and toothpaste begin to run dry, they’ll likely pay dearly for a new supply. Stock up on these items at the dollar store. When you’re traveling, be sure to avail yourself of the supplies left in your room by housekeeping.

Lifesaving Skills

The flip side to the stuff you can stockpile is having the ability to perform services for people in need. Think of it as invest-

someone else is willing to give us for them. That’s true of anything when you get right down to it. I could have a Hank Aaron rookie card in mint condition that, on paper, is easily worth $5,000, but if I can’t find a buyer, it isn’t worth anything. On the other hand, if everyone around me is starving and I have a stash of canned soup in storage, I could probably name my price.

My suggestion is to first make sure you’ve stockpiled food, water and other necessities to the level at which you feel comfortable. Only then should you look at investing in precious metals for potential use as currency down the road.

ing in your post-collapse career. There are many skill sets that just naturally lend themselves to usefulness in the aftermath of a major event.

One important consideration, though, is that many of these jobs will require a stockpile of necessary supplies, equipment and tools. That said, most people who possess these skill sets likely already have the necessities in place.

Medical: Any healthcare-related skills will be prized. While family practice doctors and nurse practitioners are often

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STOCKPILING GOLD & SILVER

at the top of the list, everyone from paramedics to podiatrists will likely find work rather easily.

Dental: Most of us hate going to the dentist now and will put off dental work for as long as possible. In a post-collapse world, though, any infection could turn deadly. We might also not have the luxury of anesthetic, so consider getting that work done now rather than risking having it done by candlelight and with a bottle of alcohol as your only numbing agent.

Build & Repair: Those who know

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how to build and repair will never lack for work. Plumbers, carpenters and electricians all have skills to offer a society that is rebuilding or even just struggling to stay alive day by day.

Butchering: Hunting and trapping your own food is one thing, but processing it in such a way as to preserve as much meat as possible is another. Those who possess such skills will probably be able to work out lucrative deals trading for a portion of the meat.

When hunting and trapping become the primary sources of protein, butchering will be a highly sought-after skill.

Brewing & Distillation: When times are good, people like to drink.

When times are bad, they like to drink even more. It is an escape, however temporary, from the drudgery of day-to-day life. Those who have the knowledge and the supplies to provide alcohol will probably never lack for friends nor food.

Tool Maintenance: It takes maybe a few minutes to show someone how to use an axe properly. Teaching someone how to properly sharpen that axe, though, takes longer. The same principle applies to knives, saws and other tools.

These aren’t difficult skills to learn and the investment in supplies is actually fairly minimal. But it does take time and practice to learn how to do it correctly.

Bartering is a skill, one that should be practiced and fine-tuned. Visit flea markets and rummage sales, as those are places where dickering is not just acceptable but expected. The goal isn’t to get one over on the other person, but rather to find a way where each person involved in the trade feels they got the better deal.

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ARE YOU READY? How to handle panic and disaster in major cities and get out alive!

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BY SCOTT CONDITT

When it comes to survival training resources, the volume of highquality instructive video content and the pedigree of the experts at Panteao Productions are simply unrivaled. Offering everything from firearms training, to wilderness survival skills, to doomsday-based personal defense tactics for all environments on one website, Panteao’s line of educational videos succeed in delivering reliable, high-quality training videos in DVD or online streaming formats via its subscription-based service. One of the most popular series in the Panteao library currently is the Make Ready series.

Master Class This series of educational and instructional skills-based video tutorials essentially provides any survival-minded trainee, from any background or skill level, with a wide range of preparation and educational overviews for numerous scenarios, and then further breaks down the training into more specific skills-based regiments.

For example, components such as hunting, medical treatment, basic survival, competitive shooting and even physical exercise contain a number of subchapters for each of these topics. One aspect that distinguishes the Panteao instructional videos from other online content is that the videos are straight and to the point, welledited, hosted by respected members of the training community and typically run no longer than 15 minutes each.

In short, the training is really high quality and leaves you feeling like the instruction you’ve received is coming from certified instructors during a paid training session.

And, of course, you can pause them and review them again later to refresh your memory as needed. Two survival selections from the Make Ready To Survive series that I recently reviewed included the Suburban & City Environment and the Civil Breakdown instructional videos.

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Save Yourself In the Suburban & City Environment video, a number of experts from military, law enforcement and survival backgrounds lead the viewer through the basics of surviving during a “medium-term” catastrophic event. All of the training and skills covered in this module center around the basic scenario that you may find yourself sustaining your family off the grid, without power and basic utilities for a weeks to months.

Food and water storage, communications, sheltering in place, securing your home and neighborhood, and advanced first aid are a few of the chapters within this video. The basic skills of budgeting and rationing supplies based on the size of your survival group and the consumption needs of the group are also discussed in detail.

Another chapter in the video with a good deal of practical (and often overlooked) advice is the chapter on workplace survival gear. If a disaster, such as a hurricane, blizzard or blackout event, occurred while working away from home, this chapter advises you to carry a few very sensible items in a small workplace gear bag to increase your comfort and overall chances of survival. Overall, the Make Ready: Suburban & City Environment video provides a very comprehensive, fundamental base of knowledge and solid beginner’s skills

training for newcomers to survival culture, all while introducing some very sound tips and tricks that will also benefit those who have been prepping for a while.

Guardian Gear

The Civil Breakdown video more specifically covers the threats and possible scenarios one will face during an instance of civil unrest or where martial law may be enacted, such as during Hurricane Andrew or Hurricane Katrina. The video also discusses how to prepare and plan for potential rioting, looting and situations where neighborhood safety may be threatened. It also covers how to organize, communicate, defend and protect neighborhoods and small communities during such times.

This video contains chapters that really focus on specific lifesaving equipment for such scenarios, such as firearms selection, load-bearing vests and plate carriers, survival optics, medical and triage equipment and handheld communications devices.

The instructors in this section also engage the viewer to consider the stresses, both physical and mental, that they and their neighbors may be enduring during such times. This is a critical aspect of survival preparedness, and it reinforces the idea that practicing with your gear and reviewing your survival plan, travel routes and other contingencies are crucial to being able to react under pressure during a critical incident.

Panteo Productions’ training videos rival, or are a great supplement to, attending training courses in person. Undoubtedly, learning and practicing the skills contained in the Make Ready To Survive video series will leave you more knowledgeable and prepared than you were before. For more information, visit panteao.com or call 800-381-9752.

Panteao’s Make Ready videos, on DVD or streaming, can help you prepare to outlast any disaster in any environment.

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Go-Anywhere Glue

Glue can be made from a combination of pinesap and charcoal. This glue can be melted time and time again and lasts forever!

Bears begin to wake from their hibernation around April, and can be disoriented and aggressive. Here are three tips to help you survive in bear habitats: 1. Know The Predator: North America is home to three bear species: The black bear, the brown bear (a species that includes the grizzly bear) and the polar bear. The average brown bear encounter is more dangerous—3.5 times more likely to result in injury—than the average polar bear encounter, and 21 times more dangerous than the average black bear encounter.

2. Don’t Attract Them: Bears have a better sense of smell than dogs. Take steps to minimize or eliminate scents and odors on and around you, like food, deodorant and even chewing gum.

3. Carry Bear Spray: This type of pepper spray can be up to 92-percent effective in stopping a bear attack, especially against grizzlies. Practice in advance how to operate the spray, including being familiar with far it shoots.

Wear it in a holster in front of you so it is always at the ready. source: national geographic

Full Moon Mania

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Deadly Encounter

More Cordage

There is only one retail store in the world solely dedicated to selling paracord, and it’s located in the United States! Formed in 2011, Bored? Paracord! is a small, veteran-owned business that started online and has grown into its own brick-and-mortar space located in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. With over 250 colors of paracord and a variety of accessories, this is the perfect place to start stocking up. For more information, visit paracord.com or boredparacord.com.

There is a full moon approximately every 29 days. Each season usually has three full moons. The weather and the moods of people and animals can be affected by the moon’s phases, so be aware.

Natural Pain Reliever The green under the bark of tress can be scraped out and used as aspirin.

Just steep it in hot water as you would tea and consume.

7 Survival Uses For Socks

Spring is a high-risk season for snakebites.

Most snakebites occur during this time, when the weather is warm and outdoor activities are popular. After November, snakes tend to hibernate during the winter, similar to bears.

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Snakebite Season

1. Warm your hands 2. Filter water 3. Make an anchor 4. Dress a wound 5. Improvise traction 6. Carry small items 7. Make a weapon 8. Wash food source: backpacker.com

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Tough, rugged, tac tic al handgun ammunition featuring the patented FlexLock ® bullet that delivers “barrier blind” terminal performance when shot through common urban barriers.

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With the popularity of “survival” at an all-time high, many everyday people are now pursuing the benefits of being prepared for the unknown. Whether a manmade emergency occurs or nature decides to let loose its wrath upon your area, being prepared is definitely a worthwhile pursuit. However, the world of survival is vast and highly detailed, and like any other field, hobby or job out in the world, there has to be a starting point for learning the

| 88 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

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BY MICH

fundamentals. You can’t expect to be able to survive successfully no matter the situation without a solid foundation of basic skills.

Luckily, outdoorsman and survivalist Creek Stewart can help guide you down the right path by introducing you to eight skills that every beginning survivalist or outdoor enthusiast must learn in order to have a fighting chance against the forces of nature. Creek Stewart is a survival

expert who has honed his survival skills through his lifelong study of outdoor living and thousands of hours in the field. He is the owner and founder of Willow Haven Outdoor Survival Training School, located in central Indiana.

“In a survival scenario, it’s all about priorities. The survival ‘Rule Of Three’ helps you to remember those,” said Stewart. “In extreme conditions, humans can live three hours without shelter, three days without

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Photos Courtesy Willow Haven

far more at you than you are probably prepared to handle. As such, wind and sun burns, hypothermia, heat stroke and even skin rot can all take you out of the game fast, and in some cases permanently. This fact makes shelter an absolute must.

Unfortunately, what most beginners give priority to when building a shelter is making sure that they have some sort of covering overhead. This is not bad thinking by any means. The thought to be sheltered from rain, snow and wind is a good one, but what they tend to omit from their initial shelter design is the absolute need to elevate themselves off the cold ground.

Through conduction, the cold ground can drain your body heat, dropping your core temperature and resulting in possible hypothermia or even death. This oftenoverlooked skill can be easily rectified by constructing your own raised bed frame.

Once complete, you can then focus on overhead protection using branches, tarps or other materials secured by Creek’s canopy knots.

A taut-line hitch is perfect for tightening a ridgeline or staking out guy lines to stretch out the corners or edges of a tarp. Both Evenk hitch knots and taut-line knots can be used to construct simple shelters with a tarp or an improvised banner sign.

1. Building Raised Bed Frames: Your first task when building

Creek Stewart water and three weeks without food. Shelter is almost always number one.” And when it comes to survival supplies, Creek offers a unique choice for your number one supply: “Many people forget that the body is their first and most important survival tool. If you do not take care of your body, then do not expect it to take care of you when the going gets tough. Meticulously maintain your body just as you would any other piece of important survival gear.”

Creek offers two essential beginner’s skills that are included under each of the “Core Four” survival categories: food, water, fire and shelter. Think of these as your first steps into the survival world, steps that will help you reach the next level and beyond. Remember, nothing is guaranteed in life, let alone when trying to survive out in the wild. But Creek’s tips and tricks, based on a lifetime of learned and practiced survival skills, will give you an edge over those that think they can learn survival on the fly.

Building Shelters Nature can be brutal, plain and simple.

Most people, from the safety of their homes, can’t fathom the ferocity of the elements on the unprotected human body.

From high winds to blistering cold to sweltering heat, Mother Nature can throw

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your raised bed frame is to cut (or chop, if all you have is an axe or hatchet) logs between 4 and 10 inches in diameter and create a log-cabin-style frame that will elevate you 6 to 24 inches off the cold ground. Lash the intersection points on all the corners to create a stable base frame.

Next, slide in two crossbars (2 to 3 inches in diameter) approximately where your knees and lower back will be positioned when you sleep. These will aid in providing you with some spring in your “mattress,” giving you a more comfortable night’s sleep. Run several small saplings (0.5 to 1 inch in diameter) perpendicular to the crossbars stretching from your head to your toes. Lastly, use thin branches or tree boughs for insulation and lay them in a herringbone pattern on the top of the saplings.

Make any adjustments needed and enjoy a night of comfort under the stars.

2. Tying Canopy Knots: Two knots that are essential “must-learn” items for any beginner are the Evenk hitch and the taut-line. These knots are indispensible when setting up your overhead canopy.

Both of these knots provide a secure line that releases quickly and efficiently without a fight or need to cut valuable cordage. When used in conjunction with one another, these knots will give you peace of mind that your canopy will remain intact when Mother Nature sends harsh winds your way. Both of these knots are very easy to learn, and with a bit of practice, you

Here you can see the transition from “log cabin” frame to finished product. Elevating yourself off the cold ground can mean the difference between a restful night’s sleep and the onset of hypothermia.

will soon have the skills you need to secure tarps, tents or any other campsite needs.

For a detailed video of Creek demonstrating the knots himself, visit willowhavenoutdoor.com.

Stay Hydrated If you go for three days without water, then you will die. That alone should emphasize the great importance of finding fresh drinking water when out in the wild or in any urban neighborhood. However, there is a two-step process to accomplish before you’re able to quench your thirst. First, water must be located and secured. And second, it must be purified. Drinking unpurified water is like rolling the dice.

Yes, you may make it through without any harmful side effects, but, on the flip side, you could suffer immense stomach pains, crippling diarrhea and vomiting, and all-around severe body “shut down”

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BACKWOODS

4. Purifying Water Without Boiling: Purification removes harmful pathogens from water, enabling you to drink it without the worry of getting sick.

The number one method to purify water is by boiling it. Five minutes at a rolling boil is sufficient to kill nearly all harmful organisms. But what if boiling is not an option?

It is a definite possibility that you may not have access to fire or the necessary components to boil water when under survival conditions, but you do have other options.

The use of chemicals can purify tainted water. Iodine, basic household bleach as well as purification tablets can make tainted water pure again to keep your body constantly hydrated. Your homework is to test these products beforehand and make sure you know the proper ratio of product to water. Without the correct proportions, you can make yourself sick from overdosing on the added chemicals. Once skilled in treating bad water, always be sure to carry at least one of these purification options with you at all times.

Finding Food Without calories to provide energy for your body, both your mental sharpness and overall physical strength will suffer greatly during a survival situation. Knowing how to

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Creating a gig for small game or fish offers you the chance to secure your dinner when out in the wild.

It’s easy to make a funnel trap when you’re out in the wild to passively help you secure food without expending too many calories or time.

A snare trap is a relatively simple way to try and catch small game. Increase your chances of securing dinner by setting several traps along noticeable game trails.

A bow and arrow set is an effective hunting weapon that can easily be created when out in the wilderness.

The materials you need include a strong, flexible sapling, a few thin sticks for arrows, bird feathers and some cordage, and you’re good to go.

secure both plant and animal “products” allows you a greater chance to make it through your ordeal by keeping your stomach full and satisfied. You will then be able to focus all your energy on the remaining survival tasks at hand.

see 80 percent of the time. Basically, give your attention to ones that are readily available and easy to identify.

3. If you’ve never eaten it before, you shouldn’t eat it when bugging out. Odds are you are not familiar enough with the variety for positive identification. Don’t risk illness and make your situation go from bad to worse.

Photos Courtesy Willow Haven

that will greatly hinder your chances of surviving your ordeal. Remember, drinking unpurified water should only be done as a last resort, when the alternative for you would be certain death from dehydration.

3. Finding Safe Water: Where do you start your search for a lifesaving water source? Luckily, nature can provide you with clues that can lead you to this precious resource. First thing, head downhill.

Gravity dictates that water will travel from higher elevations to lower elevations and collect at a point when it can travel no further. This is where you want to go. You may not find the water source initially, but you will certainly be in the right area to make a more detailed investigation.

In addition, as you make your way downward, look for tracks or grooves cut into the muddy or rocky ground. This is an indication of the path water takes to reach the bottom. Follow it straight down and with a bit of luck you will find a small pool or trickling brook at the end of the trail. Lastly, scan your surrounding area for lush green vegetation. Plants can’t survive very well without a constant water source.

Vibrant plant life indicates that water is somehow reaching these plants, and ultimately it can become your life source, too.

5. Identifying Edible Plants: Eating wild vegetation while under emergency conditions may sound like an easy and worthwhile endeavor, yet in reality it can cost you dearly in terms of sickness and possible death. The key to reaping the rewards of local plant life lies in your ability to unequivocally identify the beneficial fauna while passing on those plants that can do you serious harm.

Your first task prior to venturing out in the wild, whether recreational or under a bug-out condition, is to get a very good field guide to edible wild plants. Study the book intensely, especially those plants that are native to your general area. These are the plants that you would most likely come into contact with as you bug-out. After that, practice! Go out in your environment and test yourself. Only through constant practice will you become proficient at identifying edible plants. Creek offers a few tips that should be heeded when considering eating wild edibles.

1. If in doubt, leave it out. If you’re not certain of a plant’s identity, forget it and move on to other foliage.

2. Focus on 20 percent of plants you

6. Building Spring Snares: Catching small game should be your goal when out in the wild. Birds, squirrels, rodents, rabbits and fish are easier to catch than larger animals, such as deer or wild pigs. Using spring snares allows you multiple chances to catch dinner while expending the least amount of calories.

The snare consists of a hook and base trigger, a noose made from wire or other cordage and a flexible sapling to give it the necessary “spring” to secure and elevate your unsuspecting prey.

Use a dead yet strong branch to construct the trigger component. Carve two opposing hooks from the branches and drive the base unit into the ground.

Secure the wire noose to the hook portion of the trigger, tie it to the sapling, pull it taut and lock it into the base. When an animal gets caught in the noose, the trap will be sprung and dinner will soon be served.

Be sure to set your snares on visible game trails or wherever signs of wildlife are evident.

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Creek has a solution that utilizes the powerful rays of the sun. Learn this valuable technique, create a tinder bundle and soon a roaring fire will be a prominent fixture at your campsite or bug-out location.

7. Building Tinder Bundles:

Nature provides several very good sources for fire tinder, including dry, rotting wood, tinder fungus, milkweed ovium and even small animal droppings.

Knowing where to look is an essential skill.

Lifesaving Fire Fire provides you with many luxuries. It can keep you warm, signal for help, cook your food and purify your water. It is one of the “Core Four” of the survival world, and without it your chances of survival can drop dramatically. However, creating a fire is not always an easy task. Mother Nature can throw a variety of obstacles at you, including constant rain, high winds and damp materials. However, all is not lost.

A tinder bundle is your means to take an ember or ignited spark and create a useable flame. A properly made tinder bundle can mean the difference between a warm, cozy night and a cold, damp and seemingly endless night outdoors. The key to having a tinder bundle that works properly lies in your ability to acquire the best resources needed to produce a flame. Fortunately, tinder materials are all around you. You just need to know where to look.

Cattail and milkweed seed down ignite with little effort. The nests of both rodents and birds are incredibly dry and woven with fine leaves, twigs and other small fibrous materials. The entire nest can essentially become a tinder bundle itself. Additionally, tree barks, including birch, walnut and cedar, all contain either essential oils that aid in burning or have fibers that can be fluffed up to produce almost hair-like qualities, making them ideal for igniting the smallest ember or spark.

Once you have your material, lay the

loose bundle onto a flexible piece of tree bark or a wide tree leaf for easy handling.

You can also add a variety of extenders or accelerants to your bundle to help expedite the fire process. These include such items as lip balm, waxes, pine sap, petroleum jelly, liquors, mouthwash and many types of home hair-care products.

8. Sourcing Solar Fire: One great way to start a fire is by using the sun’s intense rays. There are several means by which to accomplish this, but they all essentially perform the same function—focusing the sun’s energy on a particular piece of tinder until it smolders. From there it goes to the tinder bundle, and before you know it you’re on your way to a warm night under the stars. Two types of tinder that work very well with solar fire-starters are char cloth (which, due to its black color, absorbs heat very quickly) and dried animal droppings. Other useful tinder found out in the field include “punky wood,” which is essentially dry, rotting wood, the tinder fungus from birch trees and milkweed ovum, a paper-thin membrane in a milkweed pod that will smolder almost instantly when using a solar fire-starting method. Still other more unconventional tinder sources include tobacco from scavenged cigarette butts

and even coffee grounds, which smolder surprisingly well.

Starting a fire using the sun can be accomplished using a variety of handy items. A magnifying glass, prescription eyeglasses, a camera or binocular lens can all focus the sun’s energy directly onto your awaiting tinder. Parabolic lenses also work well to create a fire. A flashlight reflector, the bottom of a soda can and the shiny interior of a metal bowl all converge the sun’s energy on one focal point where your tinder is held. Believe it or not, a water-filled condom or a chunk of smoothed ice can start a fire in a pinch. Remember, survival is about improvising, practicing and executing when your life is on the line.

Essential Prep When learning survival skills, there must be a proper proportion between book learning and learning while out in the field. There is no doubt that experience supersedes any instructional DVDs that you may have watched, books that you may have read or survival advice given to you by others.

These and other media tools are just that—tools. Tools that give you a starting point to collect as much knowledge on the subject of survival as possible.

Then it’s time for you to venture outside, out of your comfort zone, and confront nature head on. Only then will you truly be ready to not only survive, but thrive when the world throws its worst at you.

For more information on Creek Stewart, visit willowhavenoutdoor.com.

You can expand on all of these beginner’s survival skills and learn dozens more in Creek Stewart’s book, Build The Perfect Bug Out Survival Skills.

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L A V I V R SU Y T I R U C SE BACKWOODS

New self-defense tools to keep you and your cache safe during a disaster.

BY WILL DABBS, MD

I

HAWKE KNIVES PEREGRINE

Designed by esteemed survival expert Mykel Hawke, the Peregrine is a harduse knife suitable for general utility and survival applications. The full-tang blade is made from AUS-8 stainless steel with a Blackstone protective finish. There are multiple lanyard attachment points to turn the knife into a spear point.

The rubber handle provides plenty of gripping surface and the robust tactical sheath sports an accessory pocket and Velcro strap. The tanto-style blade is 5 inches long, and the knife is 10.5 inches long overall. The entire rig weighs only 1.15 pounds. For a nearly indestructible survival blade that is intelligently engineered, the Hawke Peregrine is tough to beat. (shop.hawkebrand.com)

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

n a legitimate survival situation, you will have to protect yourself and your family. All of the food, water and gear in the world is great, but every bit of it goes to the scruffy guy with fewer scruples if you don’t have the tools and will to defend it. Fortunately, the flower of modern engineering prowess has conspired to produce some fascinating tools to help you out in that regard. Whether you gravitate towards guns, blades, crossbows or the truly weird, this new gear for 2016 offers a veritable cornucopia of defensive weaponry.

BENJAMIN PIONEER AIRBOW The Benjamin Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) Pioneer Airbow is something truly fresh and different in the world of primitive weapons. The Airbow fires 375-grain arrows at 450 feet per second using a pre-charged, onboard air tank for power. A full charge at 3,000 psi yields eight consistent shots. The Airbow is designed around a bullpup action that keeps the overall length of the weapon a short 33.5 inches. The ambidextrous, top-mounted charging lever cocks the action, and the weapon comes with a sling, a quiver, three custom arrows and a 6x40mm scope. An integrated pressure regulator keeps the velocity consistent from shot to shot. The Airbow fires fulllength arrows that mount full-weight broadheads for serious hunting and security applications. The action is easily cocked or decocked with two fingers, and the weapon fires eight shots in roughly the time it might take to launch three from a conventional crossbow. (crosman.com; 800-724-7486)

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ONTARIO SP-16 SPAX

The SP-16 SPAX is a remarkably versatile survival tool. At 13.1 inches long, the SPAX is easy to carry, yet its 5.2-inch, flattaper blade is robust enough for the biggest tasks. Hefty enough to chop through sheet steel, the SPAX sports a hardness of 57-59 RC, an indestructible Kraton handle and a powder-coat finish. The steel is 0.25 inches thick, but its modest 2.1-pound weight makes the tool easy to carry. The wrench cutout in the blade will even let you open a fire hydrant.

Whether your day job involves being a first responder or you just enjoy your time in the wilderness, the SP-16 SPAX is a rugged multi-function tool that can get you there and back safely. (ontarioknife.com; 716-676-5527)

CENTURY ARMS .410 SIDE-BY-SIDE

OUTDOOR EDGE HARPOON

It is hard to beat a side-by-side, double-barrel shotgun for reliability and close-range thump. This Century .410 double-barrel is effective at close range while being lightweight and maneuverable. When stoked with slugs or proper defensive ammo, this diminutive scattergun will deliver real results. Century’s version is reasonably priced, includes rebounding hammers for added safety and sports a nice set of sling swivels. For those times when you might need proper protection without alarming the neighbors, a side-by-side .410 shotgun from Century Arms is just the ticket. (centuryarms.com; 800-527-1252)

The Outdoor Edge Harpoon is a multi-function survival weapon that can turn a length of green sapling into an effective weapon for defense or food. The Harpoon includes a hollow handle for matches, a fishing kit and similar survival gear as well as a hawkbill-shaped inletting tool specifically designed to prep a green pole into a spear shaft. The cord-wrapped handle ensures that you have everything handy that might be required to build your survival spear. At 8.25 inches long overall and weighing less than 9 ounces, the harpoon is easy to carry and effective to use. For a lightweight tool that will turn any proper stick into a spear, the harpoon is tough to beat. (outdooredge.com; 800-447-3343)

TENPOINT VENOM XTRA The Venom Xtra features a laminated wood stock with a weather-resistant, semi-gloss finish and a non-slip rubber buttplate. Its embedded, 19.9-inch, carbon-fiber barrel rests on rubber inserts and dual-purpose rubber safety wings to reduce noise and vibration. The stock and shortened barrel configuration results in a crossbow that is a compact 35 inches in length.

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Offering a 185-pound pull, the Venom Xtra weighs 6.7 pounds and shoots arrows at up to 372 feet per second. Made in the U.S.A., all TenPoint models are equipped with rubber safety wings that help prevent a shooter’s foregrip fingers and thumb from moving above the flight deck during operation.

(330-628-9245; tenpointcrossbows.com)

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The WK II Rescue Axe was developed for a military rescue/extraction team to meet their needs for those times when power tools either fail or are unavailable. This axe is designed to cut metal, and the blade will not hang in sheet steel. The tapered tang enhances power and distributes the majority of the weight to the head, to facilitate breaking through crossbeams. The axe features a point on the back of the head that serves as both a glass-breaker as well as a hole punch. The handle of the tool is designed like an enormous can opener and uses a hardened steel cutting edge to cut through auto body steel with relative ease. Rubber or Micarta scales provide a secure grip in wet or dry conditions and excellent shock absorption.

The WK II Rescue Axe comes with a Kydex carrier with a belt hanger, and an optional MOLLE clip carry system is available. (winklerknives. com; 828-295-9156)

KERSHAW FATBACK

The Kershaw Fatback is a robust and functional tactical knife that offers high quality at a reasonable price. With a glass-filled nylon handle and a 8Cr13MoV, modified drop-point blade, this heat-treated knife provides lasting edge retention along with strength and hardness. A black oxide coating offers additional blade protection and non-reflectivity.

The Fatback opens with Kershaw’s SpeedSafe assisted-opening mechanism for smooth and easy one-handed manipulations. The pivot is oversized and decorative, and the handle is drilled to accept a four-position pocket clip to accommodate any possible carrying configuration. The Fatback weighs a mere 3.6 ounces and measures 7.75 inches in length. (kershawknives.com; 800-325-2891)

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

WK II RESCUE AXE

TENPOINT CARBON NITRO RDX The Carbon Nitro RDX is a hightech, reverse-draw crossbow featuring TenPoint’s ultra-light, wrapped-carbon-fiber barrel that’s mated with a newly engineered carbon stock. The Carbon Nitro RDX’s stock features three-piece C3 construction that dramatically reduces weight, noise and vibration.

The crossbow’s rubber cheekpiece adjusts to three separate positions, to create a perfect cheekweld. Likewise, the rubber buttplate adjusts to match the shooter’s length of pull.

The bow’s 13-inch, 165-pound-pull limbs are powered by the custom RDX cam system along with DynaFLIGHT 97 strings and cables.

The bow and stock assemblies combine to create a perfectly balanced, precision hunting machine that weighs 7.8 pounds, measures only 34.25 inches long and shoots its projectiles at 385 feet per second. (tenpointcrossbows.com; 330-628-9245)

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OUTDOOR EDGE BRUSH DEMON

The Outdoor Edge Brush Demon is a full-sized survival blade from the mind of custom knifemaker Jerry Hossom. At 20 inches long overall and constructed from 65Mn hardened carbon steel, the Brush Demon is designed to handle the heaviest chopping tasks. The weight of the tool is kept forward to increase its chopping force. A rubberized TPR handle makes it easy on your hands while a baked-on powder-coat finish keeps the blade in good shape. The durable synthetic sheath can be mounted high on a belt or low on the thigh to provide quick access. (outdooredge.com; 800-447-3343)

ZIPPO 4-IN-1 WOODSMAN The Zippo 4-in-1 Woodsman is a versatile camp tool that can chop, saw, hammer and pull stakes. The Woodsman’s versatile capabilities are due in no small part to its multifunctional design wrapped around a full steel shaft. A 15-inch blade is held tightly by a locking cam and tension compensator, and it can saw wood up to 4 inches in diameter. When not in use, the blade can be safely stored within the Woodsman’s handle. The hatchet safety sheath doubles as a comfortable, nonslip hand grip for the saw, and the hatchet’s 5-inch blade makes chopping wood a breeze. Spin the Woodsman around and the integrated mallet and stake puller will help set up or tear down camp quickly. (zippo.com; 888-442-1932)

HENRY LEVER ACTIONS

Henry lever-action rifles are available in calibers ranging from .22 Short all the way up to .45-70. The classic Henry lever action is as reliable and accurate today as it was one and a half centuries ago when it was originally designed. Henry lever-action rifles provide peace of mind during times of crisis, all in a package that is not as intimidating as some other options out there. Henry lever-action .22 rifles will feed and fire short, long and long rifle loads with comparable alacrity. When stoked with shorts, the magazine capacity is increased and the report is comparable to a proper .22-caliber suppressed weapon. In centerfire chamberings, Henry lever-action rifles can be selected for any reasonable self-defense or survival hunting application. (henryrifles.com; 201-858-4400)

CHIAPPA X-CALIBER ADAPTOR SETS

Chiappa’s X-Caliber Adaptor Sets are available in both 12- and 20-gauge versions, and bring unprecedented versatility to the humble shotgun. The 12-gauge version comes with eight chamber inserts while the 20-gauge version comes with four. These chamber inserts drop into any standard shotgun barrel without a fuss but make a great companion for the Chiappa M6 survival weapon. The 12-gauge version allows the host gun to fire .380 ACP, 9mm, .357 Magnum/.38 Special, .40 S&W, .44 Magnum, .45 ACP, .410/.45 Long Colt and 20-gauge rounds. With one of these sets, you can reasonably fire most any sort of common ammunition you might encounter in most places. The entire kit comes in a handy and compact cloth carrying bag. (chiappafirearms.com)

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SOG QUAKE

The Quake is one of SOG’s largest folding knives, and it is designed for hard use in a harsh world. The Quake is powered by SOG’s SAT 2 (SOG Assisted Technology) that snaps the blade open with a push of the thumb.

The crossguard folds when closing the knife and serves as a lever to assist with the opening motion. Compared to a conventional thumb stud, this system is faster and easier to deploy under all conditions. The 3.5-inch, VG 10 blade is satin polished, and the handles are forged and anodized aluminum. The knife comes with a reversible, low-carry pocket clip and a lifetime warranty. The knife has full-length stainless steel liners and weighs only 5.8 ounces. (sogknives.com; 888-405-6433)

CARBON EXPRESS CROSSBOWS Carbon Express offers a wide selection of state-of-the-art crossbows for a variety of applications, including the Intercept, Covert and X Force series. Incorporating modern materials science with advanced optics and contemporary ergonomics, Carbon Express crossbows produce the power and accuracy needed for hunting, survival and security applications. Naturally quiet and remarkably accurate at reasonable ranges, Carbon Express crossbows fill a tactical niche somewhere between conventional bows and firearms. Carbon Express offers a variety of packages that include a crossbow along with all the gear you need to get started in the sport. Accessories like cocking aids, optics, bolts and illuminated nocks to assist in bolt recovery all bring crossbow shooting into the modern era. Carbon Express crossbows are customizable to the individual operator and powerful enough for serious applications. (carbonexpresscrossbow.com; 800-241-4833)

The SUB-2000 folding rifle feeds from standard handgun magazines but pivots around its center to fold into a remarkably compact package. The SUB-2000 action rests in the back half of the gun while the barrel comprises the front half. Once deployed, the two components lock rigidly in place for hard use and proper accuracy. The Keltec SUB-2000 is available in either 9mm or .40 S&W, and operates via unlocked blowback. Given that this is a rifle shooting a pistol cartridge, recoil is unremarkable and follow-up shots are easily achieved. When stoked with proper ammunition, the SUB-2000 is effective out to 100 meters. The SUB-2000 folds up to stow in a modest backpack yet deploys to serve as a proper defensive firearm should the need arise. (keltecweapons.com; 321-631-0068)

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Designed by Laci Szabo, this modern tomahawk doubles as both a survival tool and a devastating close-quarters defense tool. Formed from a solid billet of D2 tool steel, this tomahawk features an elegantly curved handle that places its center of balance midway along its length for maximum chopping energy. This makes the weapon much faster than more traditional head-heavy designs.

A flared extension on the end of the grip ensures a firm purchase during the swing. The SzaboHawk also features a functional pry tip while the blade is flat-ground for strength. A hammer poll on the opposite end of the head allows the SzaboHawk to be used for camp chores as well.

The hawk is coated in a titanium carbonitride finish, and the scales are G10. A custom-molded Boltaron sheath carries it around safely and comfortably. (spyderco.com; 800-525-7770)

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

KEL-TEC SUB-2000

SPYDERCO SZABOHAWK

BUCK 738 BOW TRX

If your survival weapon of choice is a bow, this new tool from Buck Knives may be just what you need to maintain your primary weapon’s peak performance. The 738 Bow TRX comes complete with eight Torx drivers, a Phillips #2 screwdriver, a set of scissors and a 2-inch blade—everything you need to maintain a bow in the field.

This compact folding tool also comes with its own sheath and includes a separate broadhead wrench. The broadhead wrench features a trianglular hole, hex holes and fits two-, three- and four-blade broadheads. The Bow TRX is perfect for adjusting draw weight, tightening stabilizers, adding accessories, broadhead tip removal and other preventative maintenance, and its convenient size allows for easy carry in your bow case or pocket. Buck’s new bow tool is backed by the company’s famous Forever Warranty. (buckknives.com; 800-326-2825)

CENTURY ARMS TP9SF The starting point for any proper survival loadout is a handgun. While the market is literally awash in pistols of all shapes and sizes, the Canik TP9SF as imported

by Century stands out as unusually capable. The TP9SF sports a striker-fired trigger that is the equal of guns costing twice as much.

The gun comes with two 18-round magazines, a quality synthetic holster with both belt and paddle mounts, a full cleaning kit and two interchangeable backstraps.

The gun is utterly reliable and includes everything you need to arm yourself well without breaking your budget. (centuryarms.com; 800-527-1252)

STEEL WILL CHIEFTAIN

The Steel Will Chieftain is a full-sized survival knife designed for general utility and survival purposes. The Chieftain is made from 1095 steel and has a 7.48-inch blade. The handles are Micarta, and the hard-use sheath is made from nylon. The Chieftain sports a classic clip-point blade and durable full-tang construction. It is designed to be used with any grip, even in gloves. The thickness and strength of its steel make the Chieftain adequate for heavy-duty camp and survival applications. (steelwillknives.com; 877-969-0909)

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BACKWOODS

HUNTING 101 Don’t become the bait!

BY BILL VAZNIS

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iving off-grid is not a life of leisure.Not by a long shot. In addition to procuring a safe place to rest your weary bones, one of your primary tasks is to secure enough food to keep you alive and healthy. No worries, you say, when the nearby woods and waters are teeming with nutritious food, right?

Well, gathering ripe strawberries and blueberries is generally not life-threatening, nor is picking apples or stockpiling barrels of hickory nuts for use later in the year. But bringing pesticide-free protein like a deer or a bear back to your camp to eat can actually be a very dangerous proposition if you’re not careful.

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Several years ago, I shot at a deer with my bow and arrow. The buck arched his back when the arrow struck him in mid body, and I watched him run about a hundred yards or so then lay down. Twenty minutes later, he stretched his head out and laid it flat on the ground. I assumed he had expired, but I waited another half an hour before approaching him.

When I got close, I could see that he was still breathing a bit, so I circled around with the idea of shooting him again in the chest cavity. I did not want to watch him suffer. What I should have done, however, is back off and let nature take its course, because when I walked to within 5 yards

of the buck, he suddenly leapt to his feet and charged me, bobbing his head up and down in an attempt to skewer me with his antlers. Fortunately, he was quite weak and only managed to go a short distance before collapsing. I retreated, and the buck expired 10 minutes later.

On another occasion a “dead” black bear gave us good scare. A member of our party walked into camp proclaiming he had just shot a big bear with his muzzleloader and needed help dragging it out to the cart road. He assured us it had to be dead by the amount of blood it had lost. Five of us immediately picked up the blood trail. Our pal was right; there

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ABOVE: Is it dead? Are its eyes open? Do not approach any animal head on or from a downhill position. Rather, approach the animal from behind, along their spine, not near their hooves. If it is still alive and senses you are near, it could very well try its best to charge your position.

BELOW: Bears are extremely dangerous and easily provoked. If you’ve downed one while hunting, give it plenty of space before trying to harvest it.

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was plenty of blood. But he was wrong about the bruin being dead. In our rush to find the bear, we walked to within 10 or so yards of where it was laying when it suddenly stood up on its hind legs and snarled at us. We fell over each other yelling and screaming, trying to get out of the bear’s way. Fortunately, a member of the party was toting a 12-gauge shotgun and he quickly dispatched the bear. We all learned a valuable lesson that day: It ain’t dead until it’s dead!

Small game animals on the menu can also bring you harm if you are not careful.

Squirrels, for example, have sharp teeth and will not hesitate in proving that to you if you bend over to casually pick a wounded one up off the ground, and of course opossums are famous for “playing possum” before snarling and then baring a set of pointed teeth. But these reactions are nothing compared to what a raccoon can do.

Now, raccoon meat is delicious, and I would never pass up a haunch of dark meat roasted with carrots and white potatoes. It can be a bit greasy, but it is none-

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CLOSE ENCOUNTER

CAUTION Once in a while we may stumble upon a dead animal when hiking or taking a stroll through the nearby woods. Here are a few tips to keep in mind. > The animal may not be dead. It may be sick or injured, and you should not get too close. Foxes and raccoons may be infected with any number of diseases, including distemper, the mange or even rabies. If it is indeed still alive, it could very well attack you. > If you hear flies buzzing around and see that a portion of the carcass has been gnawed on, usually the anus and rear quarters, you can be pretty sure it is dead. But a bear may be bedded nearby and have a claim on the carcass, and it won’t take kindly to your intrusion. > If it is indeed dead and no other critter has laid a claim on it that doesn’t mean you can take any part of it home for a souvenir. Most states and provinces have laws against an unlicensed person picking up a dead game animal, even for food. And if the critter is an endangered or protected species, like owls, bald eagles and some song birds, don’t even think about plucking a feather. Federal and state fines can be quite stiff and may also include jail time. > Children especially may want to help the injured critter. Keep them away. This is a good time to teach them about the cycle of life and death.

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BACKWOODS

theless very tasty. So it was not surprising to me when a friend spied a fat raccoon staring down at us from a tall oak tree and quickly took aim with his single-shot .22.

When it tumbled out of the tree and onto the ground in front of us, “Bob” rushed over to claim it for dinner, first kicking it to see if it was still alive. Well, to his surprise, it was still alive, and it slashed his rubber footwear with a mouthful of sharp teeth before scampering away into the underbrush apparently unscathed. Thankfully, “Bob’s” bloody right foot eventually healed after the encounter.

painful swelling if you are not careful.

How can you avoid those sharp, bony fins? It is best to slide your hand from head to tail, grasping the fish firmly to flatten the fins against its body.

Bullheads, hornpout and catfish have a needle-sharp bone along the leading edge of their pectoral and dorsal fins that, when stimulated, stick out and become defensive weapons. Spread your index and middle fingers apart and slide your hand in the opposite direction as you would a sunfish. That is, from tail to head up to the base of the dorsal fin, wrapping your fingers around the two pectoral fins as they become erect. This allows you to firmly grasp the fish and remove the hook without injuring yourself.

Sliding your catch on a forked stick or along a length of rope can also be dangerous, especially when you are fishing

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Bluegills, pumpkinseeds and other soft-rayed fish often have sharp spines on their dorsal and pectoral fins that can easily puncture your hand and cause

In some circles, snapping turtles are a delicacy.

Check local game laws for season dates and bag limits. Contact local authorities for advisories, as snappers are bottom feeders and often have heavy metals built up in their muscles.

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If the fish is large like this particular catfish, grab it in the midsection, from above, and press the dorsal fin against its body to avoid being impaled by sharp bones.

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Bluegill can make a tasty meal. Beware of the spines in the dorsal fin when cleaning them, however. Predators like northern pike and muskellunge swallow these critters headfirst to avoid those sharp spines!

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Snakes are common in the wild and easy to catch if you are hungry. But be sure to avoid being bitten—not all snakes are harmless. When in doubt, use a forked stick to pin the snake’s head to the ground before you attempt to kill it.

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Dangerous Waters

shallow standing water almost anywhere in North America. Snapping turtles, both the common type and the huge alligator snapping turtle, are attracted to a stringer of struggling fish like moths to a flame, and with their sharp beaks can sever a finger if you are not watchful. The solution here is rather straightforward. Do not stick your hand in the water to put a fish on your stringer. Instead, lift the stringer out of the water first and then securely thread your catch onto it.

Snappers should not be your only worry. Simply washing your knife off in the water can trigger a vicious strike from a northern pike or a muskellunge. Casting brightly colored lures from a boat will get one of these toothy predators to swim in close for a look-see, and then flashing a silver knife blade just under the water’s surface may be all it takes for it to at-

Prepared carefully, raccoons can make a delicious meal. Beware, however, that they can carry rabies like foxes and other varmints. When in doubt, it’s best to keep your distance.

Some fish like pike can reach 50 inches or more in length. If you hook one, do not stick your fingers in its mouth to dislodge the hook. Instead, it’s safer to use a commercial hook remover or a pair of long needle-nose pliers and save your fingers.

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KEYS TO A 5 SAFE APPROACH 1: Never approach a wounded animal head on, but rather from behind and along the spine, mindful that its rear legs can kick defensively.

2: Never walk up on a wounded big game animal, or any animal for that matter, from a downhill position. Gravity works in the wounded animal’s favor, and it will instinctively realize you are in a vulnerable position and come after you.

3: Use a branch, an arrow or the muzzle of your gun and touch the animal’s eye. If it doesn’t blink, you can be sure it has expired. If it blinks, back off and wait at least 30 minutes before attempting another approach.

4: Do not drape the critter over your shoulders like you see so often in the movies to get it home, but drag it using a length of rope stowed in your fanny pack just for the occasion.

Get help if necessary.

5: Don a “hunter orange” hat or vest, and then tie some orange flagging tape to the carcass to avoid another hunter mistakenly assuming the deer or bear you are dragging is still alive and kicking.

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Fighting Infection A dead black bear can still be a lifethreatening critter. Black bear meat, like pork, can carry trichinosis, a nasty parasite that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Nematodes or roundworms are the culprit, and scientists have identified over 25,000 species of them, and over half are parasitic.

Small game animals can also give us grief, even after they have expired. Rabbits are a prime example. As they hop along the edges of open fields and fence lines, cottontails and their big-footed cousin, the snowshoe hare, often come into contact with poison ivy plants and in the process get the oily resin, or urushiol,

on their fur. When we pick up the dead animal, that oil gets on our hands, and then we transfer that oil to our bodies.

The resulting itchy rash can last for days.

Rabbits can also carry tularemia, an intracellular bacterium that penetrates into the body through damaged skin and mucous membranes. A skin ulcer can appear at the entrance point, and our eyes can also become infected. The infection can be serious. To minimize coming into contact with poison ivy and Francisella tularensis, wear rubber gloves when skinning and butchering any rabbit you collect in the wild.

As you can see, living off the land and water is not without its hazards. Just because we humans are at the top of the food chain does not mean we are invincible. If we do not apply common sense, sometimes our food bites back.

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tack—and their teeth are sharp! Keep a towel in the boat to clean your knife and your fingers will be safe.

You must cool the meat of any wild animal as soon as possible to avoid spoilage, and that means removing the skin. Neck meat tends to spoil first.

TRACKING WOUNDED PREY Bright Red Blood With Air Bubbles: Often emitted in a spray; indicates a fatal lung hit. Wait 30 minutes, then begin blood trailing.

Dark Red Blood: Usually indicates a fatal liver hit. Wait at least six hours, then begin blood trailing.

If you jump the deer, wait six hours.

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Small Spots Of Bright Red Blood: Could indicate a minor, non-lethal muscle hit. If the blood is mixed with food particles or there is an odor of feces on your arrow, then you have a hit in the gut. Wait 24 hours, then begin blood trailing.

Any sooner and you are likely to scare the animal.

Your state or province may not mandate wearing “hunter orange,” but when you are dragging an animal back to camp, it is always a good idea to don some bright orange outerwear. Otherwise, nearby hunters may only see a buck’s head bobbing up and down and take a shot. Don’t risk your life!

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10 SURVIVAL HUNTING ESSENTIALS We humans evolved in large part because we learned how to hunt big game animals. Thank goodness, because in a survival scenario the grocery stores have all closed down and we must now hunt for our own food. Here are a few of the basic hunting skills you will need to master.

1: Know exactly where your target animal lives. The periphery of the swamp? On hardwood ridges above bodies of water? What does the animal’s footprint look like?

2: What does it eat? Mast? Green vegetation? Other critters? Where does it fit on the food chain?

3: Where does if find safety during non-feeding times? How does it evade its enemies? What role does the wind play in choosing a bedding area? What role does the sun play?

4: When does your target animal feed? Dawn? Dusk? Midday? Rainy

days? After a cold front has passed through? Indeed, what role does local weather play on animal behavior?

5: What does their feces look like?

Deer drop pellets; bears, foxes and raccoons deposit coils. What can you learn from examining their feces? Bits of blueberries, for example, tell you not only what bears have been eating but where you should be looking for them. Acorn husks tell you deer have been feeding under oak trees. So where is the nearest grove of trees?

6: How sharp is their sense of smell?

Hearing? Eyesight? Turkeys have no sense of smell, but a bear can smell a haunch of venison from a mile away and a deer can detect your footpath six or more hours after you have passed. Why does a deer have a hard time seeing you if you stand motionless?

7: What are its breeding habits?

Monthly? Yearly? Deer, for example,

get goofy during their annual rut but are extra cautious at other times of the year, making them easier to see during the fall breeding season.

8: Know your weapon. How close do you have to be to put a killshot on a big game animal with a bow and arrow? A shotgun? A high-powered rifle?

Headshots are a no-no with a bow and arrow, and birdshot is for birds, not big game animals.

9: Blood trailing is an art and a science. Spatters of blood indicate direction or travel and can indicate where it is wounded and how to proceed along the trail. Participate in as many blood-trailing events as possible. Experience is the best teacher.

10: How do you eviscerate your prey animal? What parts are edible?

Should you discard the intestines? How do you to store meat without spoilage?

How do you smoke venison?

BACKWOODS

Y R T N U O C K BAC S

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Those who travel the backwoods trails, pitch their tent in campgrounds or meander along the banks of streams and lakes in search of fishing holes often like to supplement their outdoor equipment with a small, lightweight handgun. The role of this handgun is multifaceted, as it may be used to kill threatening venomous snakes, pot small game, ward off potential attackers or provide plain plinking fun.

The premise for our outdoor journey may not be taking us into grizzly country, but we still can’t discount running into a rabid fox or raccoon. While there are autoloading pistols that might fill this niche, they are not as versatile as a revolver ammunition-wise, especially if you want to carry shot cartridges.

Let’s take a look at a number of handguns that might offer some comfort and protection in the backwoods with a certain level of convenience.

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ts for o h s t e k c o p le e. s n e f e d d ult ra-reliab n a ng off-grid hunti

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BY WILLIAM B

Heizer Defense PS1 Pocket Shotgun For those looking for simplicity in form and function, Heizer Defense has the PS1 Pocket Shotgun. This is like a single-shot, break-open .410 scattergun that you can literally put in your pocket. It will not only take 2.5-inch shotgun shells, but also chambers .45 Colt cartridges. The grip portion of the receiver is hollow so you can store two extra .45 Colt cartridges inside.

With the many choices offered today in .45 Colt/.410 ammunition, you can match your load with the anticipated need, be it defense, hunting or plinking. The PS1 is all stainless steel and can be had in silver or black finishes. Its operating latches are recessed and snag-free, while the entire gun is about the size of a smartphone. (heizerdefense.com; 888-965-0972) PE

CIFICATIONS

If your tastes or needs are better satisfied with a single-action revolver, then there’s the compact Ruger New Bearcat. This little sixgun was introduced in 1958 with an alloy frame and was replaced in 1971 by the Super Bearcat with a steel frame. It was dropped from production in 1975, but returned in 1993 as the New Bearcat, with a transfer bar action and a stainless or blued finish. The barrel and cylinder mate well with the frame—all stainless or all alloy steel (for blued models)—and the grip panels are made of hardwood. With the New Bearcat, you get the flavor of the Old West combined with modest size/weight proportions. (ruger.com) PECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS:

SPECIFICATIONS:

SPECIFICATIONS:

Caliber: .45 Colt/.410 Barrels: 3.5 inches OA Length: 5.5 inches Weight: 22 ounces (empty) Grip: Rosewood Sights: Fixed Action: SA Finish: Stainless Capacity: 2 MSRP: $568

Caliber: .45 Colt/.410 Barrel: 3 inches OA Length: 4.6 inches Weight: 21 ounces (empty) Grip: Stainless steel Sights: Fixed Action: SA Finish: Stainless Capacity: 1 MSRP: $399

Caliber: .22 LR Barrel: 4.2 inches OA Length: 9 inches Weight: 24 ounces (empty) Grips: Hardwood Sights: Front blade, rear notch Action: SA Finish: Blued or stainless Capacity: 6 MSRP: $639-$689

Bond Arms Snake Slayer If your biggest fear is “Mr. No Shoulders,” you might want to select something like the Bond Arms Snake Slayer.

This over/under, two-shot derringer is configured with 3.5-inch barrels, an overall length of 5.5 inches and weighs 22 ounces empty. It is chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge and will also take .410 shotgun shells. With this gun, you can even swap barrels in a number of different lengths and calibers, adding to its versatility. Crafted from stainless steel and fitted with extended rosewood grips, it has a single-action mechanism with a rebounding hammer, retracting firing pins and a crossbolt safety. Fixed sights add to the rugged simplicity of the Snake Slayer. (877573-4445; bondarms.com)S PECIFICATIONS

Ruger LCR Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Ruger New Bearcat

Another small, lightweight contender for the pack or tackle box is the Ruger LCR. This small-frame, double-action-only revolver can be had as an eight-shot .22 LR or a six-shot .22 Magnum. This innovative wheelgun melds a polymer fire control housing, including a friction-reducing cam system, with an aluminum monolithic frame, which supports a stainless steel barrel and cylinder. The cylinder is extensively fluted to reduce weight and features a nitrided black finish.

The concealed-hammer design will come in handy for pocket carry, though this revolver will take up little space no matter what mode of carry is used. (ruger.com)PECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATIONS: Caliber: .22 LR, .22 WMR Barrel: 1.87 inches OA Length: 6.5 inches Weight: 14.9-16.6 ounces (empty) Grip: Hogue Tamer Monogrip Sights: Front ramp, rear notch Action: DAO Finish: Matte black Capacity: 8 (.22 LR), 6 (.22 WMR) MSRP: $579

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Smith & Wesson Model 60

Charter Arms Pathfinder The Charter Arms Pathfinder is a classic DA/SA revolver that’s been around for many years. I like the stainless steel target version in .22 Magnum. With its matte finish and rubber grips, it will handle rain, snow, sleet or sweat. Even with a 4.22-inch barrel, the overall length is just 8.24 inches. As might be expected, the target version has a fully adjustable rear sight and a sloping ramp front sight. Below the Pathfinder’s barrel, there’s even a full-length ejector rod shroud. (charterarms. com; 203-922-1652)

If you are looking for something a little more heavy duty caliber-wise than a .22 LR, S&W offers the Model 60 with a 3-inch barrel and adjustable sights. This compact DA/SA revolver weighs 24.5 ounces and chambers .357 Magnum and .38 Special +P cartridges. This gives you a choice of potent magnum or +P JHP ammo for defense or milder .38 Special standardvelocity rounds for small game and plinking. Then there’s the CCI shotshell with 100 grains of #9 shot for vipers and varmints. This stainless steel handgun with synthetic grips will stand up to the rigors of the outdoors, but is still small and light enough to not be burdensome. (smithwesson.com; 800-331-0852)

SPECIFICATIONS: Caliber: .22 WMR Barrel: 4.22 inches OA Length: 8.24 inches Weight: 24 ounces (empty) Grips: Rubber Sights: Front ramp, adjustable rear Action: DA/SA Finish: Stainless Capacity: 6 MSRP: $409

Taurus Model 605 PLY Offering light weight, more power and less burden on the belt is the Taurus Model 605 PLY. This DA/ SA revolver has a 2-inch barrel, a lightweight polymer frame and a stainless steel cylinder and barrel, giving it a weight of only 19.75 ounces and an overall length of 6.7 inches. Its construction makes it virtually weatherproof, and control in rapid fire is aided by its hand-filling Ribber grips. It also sports a fiberoptic front sight that mates up with a fixed rear sight for rugged dependability. Chambered for the .357 Magnum, it also takes .38 Special +P ammunition and can be used for sport, defense or plinking. (taurususa.com; 800-327-3776)

SPECIFICATIONS: SPECIFICATIONS: Caliber: .38 Special/ .357 Magnum Barrel: 3 inches OA Length: 7.5 inches Weight: 24.5 ounces (empty) Grips: Synthetic Sights: Fiber-optic front, adjustable rear Action: DA/SA Finish: Stainless Capacity: 5 MSRP: $759

Caliber: 38 Special +P/ .357 Magnum Barrel: 2 inches OA Length: 6.7 inches Weight: 19.75 ounces (empty) Grip: Ribber Sights: Fiber-optic front, adjustable rear Action: DA/SA Finish: Matte black or matte stainless cylinder Capacity: 5 MSRP: $356-$371

NAA Black Widow The smallest handgun you’ll find for your kit will likely come from North American Arms (NAA). For versatility, the version I chose has a 2-inch barrel with three-dot sights that include an adjustable Marble rear. It’s also a conversion model, so it comes with both .22 LR and .22 Magnum cylinders, which each hold five cartridges.

To load the revolver, the cylinder must be removed, and one advantage of the Black Widow is its “pull-down” cylinder pin latch. This rugged little gun is made of stainless steel and has oversized rubber grips. For outdoor carry, I’d use the .22 Magnum cylinder for more useful cartridge power and reserve the .22 LR cylinder for practice and plinking. You can also get a laser sight that replaces the cylinder pin latch. (northamericanarms.com; 800-821-5783)

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SPECIFICATIONS: Calibur: .22 LR/.22 WMR Barrel: 2 inches OA Length: 5.7 inches Weight: 8.9 ounces Grip: Rubber Sights: Front ramp, adjustable rear Action: SA Finish: Stainless Capacity: 5 MSRP: $312

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

BACKWOODS

Taurus Model 992 Tracker One of the most versatile handguns I’ve seen for trail or tackle box use is the Taurus Model 992 Tracker in .22 LR. What is so different about this revolver is the unique conversion system that allows it to also shoot .22 Magnum ammo. It has a quick-release cylinder system that allows you to swap the .22 LR for a .22 Magnum cylinder in just seconds. The downside is this is not the most compact or lightweight revolver, but in return it has a nine-round capacity and a fully adjustable rear sight. It’s also constructed of stainless steel and has a recoil-absorbing Ribber grip that will help it stand up to extreme environmental conditions. (taurususa.com; 800-327-3776)

SPECIFICATIONS: Caliber: .22 LR/.22 WMR Barrel: 4 or 6.5 inches OA Length: 11.4 inches Weight: 24 or 26 ounces (empty) Grip: Ribber Sights: Front blade, adjustable rear Action: DA/SA Finish: Stainless, matte black Capacity: 9 MSRP: $591-$627

Smith & Wesson Model 317 Gun Kit Over the years, S&W’s Kit Gun variations have come and gone, and today the only S&W retaining the “Kit Gun” moniker is the Model 317. Still built on the J-Frame, it has an empty weight of just 12.5 ounces due to its aluminum alloy frame and cylinder. With a 3-inch barrel, its overall length is just 7.19 inches, and it has a fully adjustable rear sight paired with a green HiViz fiber-optic front sight. The revolver has a matte silver finish and black synthetic grips.

Unlike its Model 34 predecessor, the Model 317 is not a sixshooter, but has a cylinder with eight charge holes for .22 LR ammo. (smith-wesson.com; 800-331-0852)

SPECIFICATIONS: Caliber: .22 LR Barrel: 3 inches OA Length: 7.19 inches Weight: 12.5 ounces (empty) Grip: Synthetic Sights: Fiber-optic front, adjustable rear Action: DA/SA Finish: Matte silver Capacity: 8 MSRP: $759

Next-Gen

BACKWOODS

SURVIVALISTS Wildland Awareness and Educational Institute teaches wilderness survival skills to college students.

t’s hard to believe that some people think steak comes from the grocery store and “camping out” means sleeping on your friend’s sofa. Some of us have only felt concrete and carpet under our feet, and some of us are also unaware of what goes on outside of cities and suburbs.

Not only is it important to know that these places exist, but we need to know how to take care of ourselves when we’re traveling through them. The Wildland Awareness and Educational Institute (WAEI) intends to teach college-aged students a love for the outdoors, what it is like to be self-reliant and how to survive out of one’s element.

Some of us are so far removed from nature that we tend to take it for granted or even ignore it. In the event that Mother Nature decides to relocate your home via a tornado or a day hike into the mountains turns bad without warning, WAEI teaches the skills necessary to live and survive in the wild.

Raising Survivors The mission of WAEI is to spread awareness about the outdoors to future generations so they care about wildlife and nature as much as they do about social media and smartphones. To that end, WAEI has gained accreditation through numerous universities in Colorado like Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado. Students attending these universities can take WAEI courses and earn college credits while learning how to pull back a bow string or light a fire.

“The transformation of some students

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is remarkable,” says Bret Roller, WAEI’s executive director. “Once they are in a supportive environment and taught the right way to do things, they come away with a respect and love for the outdoors, and a better understanding of conservation.”

A typical course entails one weekend and three campus meetings (two meetings prior to the weekend and one after the weekend). With about 80 students attending each course, smaller working groups of 10 to 12 are established to make sure students get a truly hands-on experience.

Course instructors offer years of accumulated experience and a collective passion for the outdoors. They volunteer for no other reason than to teach what they love, be it fly fishing, wildlife tracking, kayaking, archery and a slew of other outdoorrelated activities. Other course activities include the proper use of a chainsaw, shooting, survival skills and identifying medicinal and edible plants.

“One of the massive eye-opening courses for students is the Field Cleaning course that gives students experience handling food,” said Roller. “Students start with a cage full of live rabbits and end up with a cooler full of rabbit meat.”

Roller explained that many times this is the first time students have watched an animal die and then be converted into a food product. WAEI was apprehensive about the backlash they might receive for this class or its effect on students, but the course activity has proven to be one of the more popular and enlightening classes among students.

On The Hunt A little more than a century ago, hunting for food was a necessity. There were no convenience stores or drive-through windows. Our forefathers considered firearms as tools to put food on the table and to protect the homestead from two- and four-legged predators.

“Firearms safety is one of the courses taught, and to some students it may be the first time they’ve handled a gun,” noted Roller. It also illustrates one of the more common student misconceptions. From a young age, many students have had it instilled in them that guns are “bad” and “evil.” Roller remembered one student who was deathly afraid to even be in same room with a gun due to her parent’s own beliefs about guns. At the trap range, she proved to be a natural shooter and after the WAEI course became a member of her school’s trap team.

“On the other end of the spectrum are students who sign up for a class without even a basic understanding of the outdoor world and how it functions,” explained Roller. Some students have never spent a night other than in a bed, naturally causing some to have fear of the woods and especially at night. Anti-hunting sentiment is rife with some students until they realize that conservation efforts are funded by hunter tax revenues and that hunters actually eat the animal they’ve killed. It is not just a photo op next to a dead animal but a literal example of the circle of life. Many students come away with a newfound understanding of how hunting helps wildlife conservation.

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Photos Courtesy WAEI

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BY ROBERT A. SADOWSKI

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1. WAEI courses help students work together to accomplish goals like pitching tents. 2. Cooking over an open fire means learning entirely different culinary skills. 3. Lighting a fire is one of the essential survival skills taught in WAEI courses. 4. Kayaking in a controlled environment helps students build confidence. 5. Shooting muzzle-loading rifles helps students understand how our forefathers hunted. 6. Building a makeshift lean-to can mean the difference between life and death. 7. Students are instructed by teachers with years of experience. 8. Horsemanship is also part of the curriculum.

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1. WAEI students learn how to read maps and use compasses in the event their GPS systems go offline. 2. Skinning rabbits for food is a profound experience for many students. 3. Chainsaws are useful yet dangerous tools, so every WAEI student gets careful, hands-on training with these woodcutters. 4. In case any of these students have to bag game or protect themselves in the wild, WAEI teachers help students with all aspects of archery.

Backcountry Skills Students who have taken the archery course have gone from thinking the activity is nothing more than shooting sticks at a bale of hay to understanding the skill and physical power needed to make an arrow fly true. The takeaway for many students is that archery is just like any physical exercise they currently pursue like jogging or weight training, but with the added benefit of being able to hunt for food when the bullets run out.

Fly fishing is another skill that always leaves students wanting more time in the outdoors. Understanding a “hatch” lure means all the difference between catching a cutthroat trout or not. From a sporting perspective, that is why it is called fishing.

If you are in need of food, understanding the hatch and the difference between a

nymph and dry fly means you eat that day.

Not only do students find fishing and the related fly-tying activity fun, they learn from experienced anglers who have a deep passion for not only the fishing, but also preserving the land and water.

Riding a horse or cooking over an open fire are skills WEAI teaches that students can apply on a camping trip with their friends or in wake of a disaster’s aftermath.

Learning to start a fire is mandatory skill everyone should know, just like learning to swim. Many times, activities such as these go hand in hand with conservation efforts.

Roller explained that some students may not want to rush into hunting, but now understand the importance of, for example, the elk population and their habitat. Many students express a desire to help conservation efforts in other ways, like joining the

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Trout Unlimited or by buying a fishing license or hunting license.

WAEI does not expect all of its students to shed their urban environments to homestead, but it aims to help them connect with a new love for the outdoors and the outdoor lifestyle.

“If you are in a bind and have a few skills like the ones taught in these courses, things will be easier for you to cope,” explained Roller. Without these skills, and depending on the severity of the situation, you may or may not survive. “Being in the outdoors can quickly turn into a dire situation. With some skills, you will be able to fare much better,” he added. Appreciating the outdoors means serving the outdoors.

For more information, visit waei.org or call 303-589-4698.

“...WAEI teaches the skills necessary to live and survive in the wild.…” | 112 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

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BACKWOODS

T I DO L L -A S K C A P SOG’s quick-access packs keep you stocked and mobile in any environment.

S

urvival backpacks have come a long way. What began as a single, zippered compartment with two basic shoulder straps has now evolved into a key piece of survival gear.

Now, SOG takes it one step further.

Combining high-quality construction with extreme versatility, SOG has introduced six new survival packs that can meet nearly everyone’s emergency needs.

Whether you call it a bug-out bag, a supply sack or simply a hiking tote, the backpack is essentially your lifeline when a situation goes from good to bad to worse. It holds key components necessary to continue on if lost in an unknown environment, and it allows you to survive the first few days during the aftermath of

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a life-changing natural disaster.

The key to utilizing your pack to its utmost potential lies in planning ahead for many known and unknown survival situations that may occur.

First, you need to examine your specific needs. Do you have large items that require a higher-capacity bag?

Do you need hydration sleeves? Do you carry many smaller items that require multiple compartments easily accessible while on the move? And finally, are you planning for longterm bugging out or just a short, recreational excursion? Once these and other key questions are answered, you can then make an educated decision on the perfect SOG survival pack for you, one that may very well be a true lifesaver when a worstcase scenario comes true. (888405-6433; sogknives.com)

Photos Courtesy SOG

BY MICHAEL D’ANGONA

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While SOG is known for making heavy-duty knives and multi-tools, the company is now creating tank-tough packs.

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“...the backpack is essentially a situation goes TOC 20

SCOUT 24 Good things do come in smaller packages. The 24-liter Scout Survival Pack takes full advantage of every cubic inch of storage space using multiple internal pockets, a padded sleeve for small electronic devices, a hydration carry pocket and a MOLLE loop field, allowing all your goods to be stored properly until needed. Cinch bulky gear on the exterior of the pack using the bag’s included side compression straps, its Hypalon MOLLE field or its unique “wire” long-item carry attachment. The Scout’s innovative design allows a fully loaded pack to be carried comfortably no matter how long you have to travel.

The Scout leads the way in maximizing usable space. MSRP: $190.

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Survival doesn’t always occur in the deep woods. Everyday or urban survival situations can happen in an instant when you least expect them. Thankfully, the TOC has your back! This everyday-wear pack can carry your books to class while holding all your necessary survival gear. Its lightweight construction and padded straps allow you to carry it with ease throughout your daily travels. The TOC features a main section with multiple zippered compartments, two side-access pockets, a molded top, a quick-access organization system and a pass-through side compartment that holds your laptop or tablet.

Whether you’re facing a survival situation or your daily commute, this pack will work for you.

MSRP: $160.

seraphim 35 The Seraphim 35 offers an extra-large internal storage space while providing external carrying capabilities for oversized tools and weapons.

This 35-liter survival pack is perfect for hunters, fishermen or anyone trekking though the wild with large gear that won’t fit cleanly inside the pack. Its integrated shock cord tie-downs firmly hold bulky items, such as bedrolls or compact sleeping pouches, on the outside of the pack, while its internal compartments keep all your smaller goods organized and accessible when needed. MSRP: $260.

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your life line when from good to bad to worse.”

EVAC SLING 18

PROPHET 33

The EVAC Sling is your grab-and-go sling bag. This extremely lightweight pack allows you to access all your goods from the side without removing the bag from your shoulder. The EVAC’s main and secondary compartments, laptop sleeve and top pocket organize your key survival or everyday items while providing quick access when you are on the run and pressed for time. Its front pocket organizer holds numerous smaller items that would normally get lost in other simple, one-pocket packs. When maneuverability and quick deployment is needed, this pack’s unique design won’t let you down.

MSRP: $140.

RANGER 12

Photos Courtesy SOG

Quick excursions in the woods or hiking along a popular trail don’t always require an overloaded, bulky pack. The 12-liter SOG Ranger can tackle all your storage needs while providing comfort and stability during your brisk outdoor hike. Inside you’ll find plenty of storage space, enough to hold your essentials along with a quick snack when hunger strikes.

An integrated hydration carry ensures thirst won’t be a factor during your trip, while exterior compression straps or its included Hypalon MOLLE field keeps your hands free from carrying awkward or oversized items. MSRP: $150.

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Extreme versatility is the backbone of the 33-liter SOG Prophet survival bag. This highly durable pack coverts from backpack to duffle bag in mere seconds.

Its quick-release shoulder straps and hip belt virtually disappear when stowed. Integrated lash points on all sides of the bag allow for carrying long, wide or oversized items. The innovative compression flaps keep the pack’s load close to the wearer, reducing fatigue and pain associated with long-term full-pack hiking. The Prophet 33’s unique Quad-Zip feature allows you to reach bottom-packed goods without unloading the entire bag from the top.

This bag is a true musthave when adaptability on the go is required.

MSRP: $230.

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Big Stock Photo

BACKWOODS

Bankline and paracord are an essential part of any survivalist’s bug-out bag, but they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

CRITICAL CORDAGE Add paracord and bankline to your must-have survival cache!

ARTICLE & PHOTOS

BY JASON HUNT | 118 | SURVIVOR’S EDGE | SUMMER 2016 |

One of the most important items within any survival kit is cordage. Having cordage with you will enable you to complete with much greater ease the myriad of tasks a survivalist may encounter, such as lashing together a suitable shelter structure or replacing a broken boot lace.

Not having enough cordage could potentially force you to rely on natural or trashbased resources, none of which could likely be readily used for tying anything, but they would require some sort of advanced skill

to process them into usable fibers so that twine or rope could be created. That may not be a skill you firmly grasp or perhaps could not perform due to an injury.

Regardless, I’m sure we can all agree that cordage is a must-have item for our survival kits. But what type is the best one to carry? Let’s examine the two primary cordage types within the survival and bushcraft realms: 550 parachute cord and #36 Tarred Mariner’s Twine, also known as bankline.

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This entire bush camp was constructed using only bankline and includes amenities like a kitchen, a sofa and a bunk bed.

CARRYING THE LOAD Parachute cord is basically a kern mantle rope that was used in the suspension lines of parachutes. Because of paracord’s abundance among parachuting soldiers, it made good sense for military survival instructors to prepare troops to use it in the field. When these soldiers started sharing their survival knowledge with others over the years, paracord usage was one of the skills they passed on.

Because of this, paracord usage gained in popularity with civilian outdoorsmen the world over and quickly became the industry standard.

Not all paracord is created equal.

There are several classifications of paracord—I, IA, II, IIA, III, IV—all of which have varying degrees of strength and core yarns. True mil-spec paracord is classified as Type III, also known as 550 cord because of its 550-pound tensile strength. All 550 cord has seven to nine inner yarns, each of which are made up of three smaller strands. A great deal of the brightly colored and commercially available paracord used for crafting and other products is actually Type II, which has a 400-pound tensile strength and includes seven inner yarns, each of which are made up of two or, at times, three smaller strands. Either form is nothing to sneeze at because both perform very well for a variety of uses. Costwise, paracord will run an average of $8 for 100 feet.

Bankline has long been used in the fishing industry for creating nets and harvesting a variety of marine life. It is a nylon twine and has excellent knotholding ability. It is available tarred or non-tarred and braided. It is UV resistant and resistant to unraveling, and it also comes in a variety of sizes ranging from a

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size #9, which is closer in size to thread, all the way up to a size #72, which is about as thick as a pencil.

The standard size used for survival purposes, #36 tarred bankline, was really made popular by Dave Canterbury of The Pathfinder School. Having a background in the maritime industry, Canterbury used bankline for fishing and other uses for many years, and after extensive field research, he concluded that bankline was a better choice for survival and bushcraft purposes over paracord. Typical #36 tarred bankline has a 340-pound tensile strength, and for the money you get a lot more bang for your buck with a whopping 504 feet per pound in comparison to only an average of 210 feet of paracord

per pound. Bankline will typically cost you an average of $15 per pound (that’s around 500 feet!).

TRAIL TIES Of course, there are pros and cons to each type of cordage. Paracord provides the ability to tie knots and lash wood together to create things like a tripod, which can be used for cooking, water filters or shelters. It makes a good ridgeline for a tarp, can be used to create a ladder, can replace boot laces, be used for traps and can be broken down to take advantage of the inner strands for finer needs, such as fishing line, thread for clothing or gear repairs, and even—hold your breath—sutures. Bankline can also perform all of these tasks, but it will do these tasks better.

Paracord has a tendency to stretch after a short period, which means knots loosen over time. When used for making survival traps such as a snare, once the

Bankline is clean and tight when lashing poles together. It grips upon itself for a secure hold while taking up less space than paracord.

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“Having cordage with you will enable you to complete with much greater ease the myriad of tasks a survivalist may encounter, such as lashing together a suitable shelter...” paracord gets wet, from rain or even a morning dew, it doesn’t like to slide, which means your much needed food could get out of your snare. Paracord also takes quite a while to dry (as in days) while out in the field once it becomes saturated with moisture.

Finally, paracord’s inner strands, while handy when you have nothing else, quickly become a pain to deal with because they fray so easily and tangle upon themselves so readily. Bankline, however, does not stretch as much as paracord, and it can serve well as an

improvised bow string for a survival bow.

Once tied, its knots tend to stay in place due to the tar on the line, which gives it a strong ability to hold. When used for survival snares, it does a wonderful job of sliding upon itself either wet or dry because, again, the tar helps protect it.

This also gives it its resistance to sunlight degradation and unraveling when broken into finer fibers for tasks, such as sewing repairs, hafting arrow heads and fishing.

While not as strong initially as paracord, bankline can quickly be twisted to create a small-diameter rope about as thick as paracord to provide you with 720 pounds of tensile strength. And, of course, it makes an excellent net. Probably the biggest down side to bankline is that it can be rough on your hands if you’re tying a lot of knots and it can stain your skin a dingy color where you repeatedly handle the cordage, but that lasts only a short time. And the only color it comes in is black.

LIFESAVING COMBO As a survival instructor, I tend to utilize bankline more than paracord. I have spent thousands of hours in the field, and over the years I have found that bankline is more reliable and easier to work with for the majority of my survival needs in the eastern woodlands. I started my survival teaching career originally with paracord, but after ample exposure to

Betting On Bankline Bankline is really the ultimate go-to cordage for survival purposes not only because it is rot resistant and because you can carry so much more of it than paracord, but because of its knot-holding abilities and ease of use. When I cut bankline, I never have to worry about it coming apart on me, whereas when I cut paracord, I need to go through

One pound of bankline is the same size as three 25foot bundles of paracord.

the extra steps of getting out a lighter to burn the ends closed, to protect the inner yarns from unraveling and looking like a small birds nest.

FIRE-STARTER: When working on friction-fire sets, bankline is superior to standard paracord when using the bow-drill method. Not only does bankline not stretch nearly as much as typical paracord, but the tar on the line helps grip the spindle.

Notice how the strands react This provides greater ability just after cutting. The paracord for the spindle to keep up requires heat or tape to protect with the stroke of the bow. the end while bankline does not.

When it comes to ease of use and packability within my kit, bankline again wins hands-down.

Because bankline comes on a nice tarred roll, there’s no need to tie fancy knots like daisy chains or donuts, as you have to do with paracord, to keep the cord-

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Paracord will stretch when used on a bow drill, as it has with this young survivalist.

age bundle from becoming a big nest of knots.

This is also helpful when packing because 1 pound of bankline (nearly 500 feet) takes up about the same amount of space as 75 feet of paracord.

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bankline, I was an easy convert. I do still use paracord, but only for decorative purposes such as for colorful boot laces, lanyards or guy lines on a tarp shelter, and to aid me in identifying my personal tools when they’re mistakenly set down in the woods. A bright piece of blue or toxic green paracord easily stands out in a dark woody environment.

The combination of a paracord ridgeline with bankline tie outs on a lean-to shelter works very well. I’ve tried several times to go back to paracord, but it just doesn’t make sense to do so considering the costs factors (bankline is less expen-

“Paracord…makes a good ridgeline for a tarp, can be used to create a ladder, can replace boot laces… and can be broken down to take advantage of the inner strands…” sive), pack/size ratio (there’s a big size difference between 100 feet of bankline and paracord) and overall usage (bankline does a better, neater job). And honestly, how often do you really need 550 pounds of tensile strength? In the rare event I did need that much tensile strength, like if a strap on my hammock broke, I’d just quickly twist up a section of bankline to get the job done.

My recommendation is to carry a 25foot section of brightly colored paracord along with at least 1 pound of #36 tarred bankline as part of your survival kit. You can stash the 25 feet of paracord in the center of the core of the bankline so that it doesn’t take up any additional space in your pack and so that your cordage is always together in the same spot. This way you get the best of both worlds for when you need to bug out.

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take shelter 11 bug-out-ready tents to safeguard you against Mother Nature.

BY FRED MASTISON

I

n the event of a major disaster, shelter should be a priority. While many will focus on top-tier items like food and water, shelter needs to be factored in as well. There is a high probability that in a long-term disaster setting, you may need to bug-out from your area. The reasons range from substantial infrastructure damage to the danger of looters and criminal activity. This is especially true for those of us located in large cities. If you have to hit the road, a solid tent can make all the difference in the world.

There are many things to consider when choosing a tent. The first thing you need to factor in is how many people will

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be with you. A general rule for long-term comfort is the need for 25 square feet per person. That may sound like a lot, but it is only a 5-by-5-foot area. In a long-term situation, having enough space can make life a bit more bearable.

The next thing to consider is your location. Tent choices in northern Michigan will be different from someone looking for gear in San Diego. Make sure all of the tent’s seams and zippers are treated to be waterproof while still being breathable. The best way to choose a tent for your climate is by using the “worst-case scenario” rule. Ask yourself what the worst weather will ever be for you there,

and use that to choose your gear.

Lastly, consider the assembly of the tent. If you are a seasoned camper, then multi-pole and line tents will be no problem. If you are just now exploring this realm, you may consider tents with a simpler design. The challenge with simple tents, however, is that they tend to be built for one or two people. If you need larger shelters, you should get some training on tent assembly and practice in your backyard. The situation is rarely accommodating, so being able to set your tent up quickly is important. The following are just a few of the tents that meet the requirements for what it takes to survive.

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Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

BACKWOODS

see itn in actio

> Coleman Longs Peak Fast Pitch Setting up your home base is easy with the Coleman Longs Peak Fast Pitch four-person dome tent. The Fast Pitch system uses pre-attached, color-coded poles and hub, fast-fit feet and snag-free Insta-Clip suspension to let you set up your tent 60-percent faster than a comparable Coleman tent with a conventional setup. If it rains, the tent is 75-percent more water resistant, and the WeatherTec system, with its patented welded floors and inverted seams, also helps you stay dry. (coleman. com; 800-835-3278)

d

> Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 The Fly Creek UL2 tent is a solid, lightweight tent that can stand up to a wide spectrum of weather. It is a compact, double-walled, freestanding tent that comes in under 2 pounds. This three-season tent features a DAC Featherlite NFL pole system with press-fit connectors and lightweight hubs made with an eco-friendly anodizing process. The floor and the fly are made from an ultra-light, rip-stop nylon material. They both have a waterproof polyurethane coating. The Fly Creek UL2’s mesh body offers excellent ventilation. (bigagnes.com; 877-554-8975)

> Black Diamond Skylight A three-season tent built with a hybrid single/double-wall construction, the Black Diamond Skylight offers ample room for two people and a very friendly fit for three. The tent’s front third has a mesh inner wall for excellent ventilation and a panoramic view.

The attached NanoShield canopy can be rolled up in nice weather or rolled down for a spacious vestibule and protection in adverse conditions.

The rear two-thirds is composed of a single wall of NanoShield for breathability and water resistance.

The internal DAC Featherlite tent poles offer a high strength-to-weight ratio and keep the tent quiet in gusty conditions. For interior organization, the Skylight also has four mesh pockets. (800-7755552; blackdiamondequipment.com)

> Hilleberg Staika The Staika is all about simplicity, but simple does not by any means equate to sparse. Easy to pitch, immensely stable, remarkably spacious and quite light, the Staika is an excellent go-to tent for any use where sturdy strength is the high priority. Originally designed for paddle tourers who wanted a highly stable, freestanding tent for handling tricky pitching conditions, the Staika tent has garnered a large, loyal following for its simplicity and completely freestanding construction as well as its roominess, lightness, strength and stability. (866-8488368; hilleberg.com)

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BACKWOODS

> Napier Sportz Truck Tent 57 Series If you’re lucky enough to have bugged out with your truck, consider an elevated approach to tent living. The Sportz Truck Tent 57 Series from Napier includes eight models to fit virtually every truck on the road—or in this case, off the road. Easy assembly in the back of your open-bed pickup truck creates a comfortable and restful sleeping area for two adults. The durable tent comes with a full rainfly to keep you dry through the stormy weather, two side vents and two large windows to encourage optimal ventilation and a sewn-in floor to keep a barrier between you and dirt and grime. (napieroutdoors.com; 800-567-2434)

> BMSR Carbon Reflex 1 The MSR Carbon Reflex 1 is a lightweight, oneperson tent. Weighing in at under 3 pounds, it will fit easily into any bug-out kit. Even though it is light, it is still a double-wall design with a built-in vestibule.

Complete with durable carbon-fiber poles, the tent is easy to set up regardless of the situation. This ultralight, three-season tent provides a strong balance between weight and livable space. Its overall length is over 7 feet. While not super spacious, it provides a comfortable and non-cramped area to stay in. This is a solid single-person tent to consider if you are going solo. (gearshop.co.nz)

> Sea to Summit Specialist Shelter

Photos Courtesy Manufacturers

Those wanting to keep their bug-out packs on the light side will appreciate the Specialist shelters. These shelters offer the interior space and comfort of a tent with a lower overall weight and more compact size than many bivis. They are the lightest fully enclosable shelters in their class.

Seam sealed throughout and available in either solo or duo configurations, the Specialists offer superior waterproof properties while also maintaining impressive breathability to manage condensation effectively. (seatosummit.com; 303-440-8977)

> Cabela’s Instinct Outfitter This tent offers the spacious livability of a wall tent along with the easy setup and lightweight durability of a dome tent. It features a high-rise frame and straight sidewalls to create a living area that is 10 feet wide by 14 feet long, with an 84-inch center height.

And it weighs only 50 pounds. The Instinct Outfitter also includes a weatherproof snow skirt, an oversized, D-shaped door and it has been wind-tunnel tested at more than 50 mph. The strong, lightweight aluminum poles are backed up by internal cyclone straps as well as external cyclone guy lines for extra rigidity in windy conditions. (cabelas.com; 800-237-4444)

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> NEMO Kunai The NEMO Kunai is a lightweight, two-person tent designed to be used during all four seasons. While light in weight, it is strong enough to withstand snow and wind, unlike most smaller tents. Though it is designed for two people, it is relatively spacious at 27 square feet. The tent is double walled and weighs just over 4 pounds. The design of the tent allows for easy maneuvering, as its walls are essentially vertical. NEMO’s double-wall, lightweight design make this a great choice for a smaller tent. (nemoequipment.com; 800-997-9301)

®

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Adventure Medical Kits adventuremedicalkits.com Airforce Airguns – airforceairguns.com Alien Gear Holsters – aliengearholsters.com American Gunsmithing Institute americangunsmith.com BattlBox — battlbox.com Big Foot Belts — bigfootgunbelts.com Bolt Lock Strattec Security – boltlock.com Brownells – brownells.com Echo Sigma – echo-sigma.com Eartheasy Sustainable – eartheasy.com Edgecraft – edgecraft.com Elite Survival – elitesurvival.com Ground EFX – groundefx.com

> Blackpine Sports Turbo Tent Turbo Tents are the leaders in easy-setup tents. Requiring only 60 seconds of setup time, you will no longer waste any time setting up camp with these shelters in tow. The Turbo Tents come pre-packaged to camp so you don’t have to worry about losing or confusing poles. All of the Turbo Tents have a 60-mph wind rating. When you put on the included rainfly and the guy lines are staked out correctly, these tents become virtually waterproof, thus being able to withstand some of the toughest camping conditions. Turbo Tents come in four-, six-, eight- and 10-person configurations. (blackpinesports.com; 801-935-4557)

Harvest Right – harvestright.com Howell Munitions & Techonology freedommunitions.com Lansky – lansky.com Kimber – kimberamerica.com Ontario Knife Co – ontarioknife.com Outdoor Edge – outdooredge.com Panteao Productions – makeready.tv Pearce Grip – pearcegrip.com Potable Aqua – potableaqua.com Reboot – getfood59.com Ruger – ruger.com Safety Harbor Firearms safetyharborfirearms.com SOG Specialty Knives Inc – sogknives.com

> REI Kingdom REI’s popular Kingdom camping tents come in three models: The Kingdom 4, Kingdom 6 and Kingdom 8. Each number designates how many people can sleep comfortably in the tent. With up to 12 feet of floor space and a peak height of 6 feet, these tents offer as much space as they do protection from the elements. The tent can be divided into two private rooms, which adds to the comfort when used for long periods of time. Well made and lightweight, the Kingdom series is a great option for emergency shelter. (rei.com; 800-426-4840)

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Springfield Armory – springfield-armory.com Spyderco – spyderco.com Taylor Cutlery – taylorbrandsllc.com TOPS Knives – topsknives.com Waterwise – waterwise.com/se Wilson Combat – wilsoncombat.com

I Survived BACKWOODS

10 True Survival Stories COMPILED BY MICHAEL D’ANGONA, MATTHEW HOGAN & LAURA LANCASTER

SUBZERO SURVIVOR

Last Line Of Defense

phone as she listened to the intruder slowly make his way closer to her hideout. “I could hear him coming through the living room to the bedroom, and he kicked the bedroom door in,” she said. She prayed that he wouldn’t come any closer. “He kicked the bathroom door once, and I fired the shot,” she said.

Even though she had fired straight through the bathroom door, she missed the home invader. “If he was coming in, I was going to clear the magazine and protect myself,” Miller said. But one close call was enough for this intruder, and, now that he knew there was an armed and trained woman prepared to defend herself, he retreated from the Miller’s home.

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Jolene Mammen, of northwestern Minnesota, began February 20 like every other day. She had left her house on the way to work around 6:00 a.m. when the unexpected happened. Her Ford hatchback hit a patch of ice, causing it to skid off the road and land completely upside down into a nearby ditch.

Suspended by her seat belt in subzero temperatures, Mammen lost consciousness for two hours.

“After the first roll, I blacked out and don’t remember much,” Jolene told the Star Tribune. “When I came to, I was very disoriented and could not feel my toes. I was shivering.”

Jolene luckily was wearing a heavy winter coat that shielded her temporarily from the effects of hypothermia, and it kept her cell phone within arm’s reach. She phoned her husband, but due to her debilitated state, he couldn’t understand her words. Thinking smart, even under her extreme conditions, she managed to text her husband, Jeremy, one key word, “helpp.” Although misspelled, she got her intended message across. Jeremy immediately alerted the local authorities to begin a search for his wife.

Jeremy and the State

Jolene Mammen lost control of her car in icy conditions.

Patrol found her unresponsive and nearly hypothermic about 5 miles from the couple’s home. Medics quickly brought up her core temperature using an electric blanket.

“It was a relief to see her in the ditch, because I didn’t know if she’d been abducted at a gas station or what. I was thinking all kinds of things,” Jeremy said.

Surviving the accident with only a broken wrist, Jolene was a very lucky person. One patrol officer commented that Jolene followed “all the rules” that assisted in keeping her alive long enough for help to arrive. She wore her seat belt, was prepared for intensely cold weather and had a charged cell phone with her at the time.

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Minnesota State Patrol Photo

“I heard the alarm go off, and I thought, ‘Someone is breaking in,’” Pamela Miller said of the moment when a seemingly average day turned into a nightmarish ordeal. She was in the middle of a home invasion. But even though the home security system had been activated, there was no way of knowing where the intruder was on the property.

Miller immediately started taking steps to protect herself. She called her husband, Anthony, grabbed her gun and locked herself in the bathroom before the intruder kicked in the front door.

Knowing that his wife was in immediate danger, Anthony was in a race against time to get to her. He had trained Pamela to use a gun and knew that she would be fighting to protect her life. But he was worried that another call would give away her location to the intruder.

In fact, Miller was already on the phone with emergency responders, having called 911 as soon as she reached the bathroom. She stayed on the

Despite having a security system, the intruder easily made his way inside.

Anthony Miller Photos

Woman’s CCW training helps her repel deadly home invader.

Minnesota motorist’s preparedness helps after wintry crash.

Ron Creavling was hard at work at his home along the Kalama River Road in Washington State, building a berm to protect his property from a local creek that was threatening to flood, when the unthinkable happened— a tidal wave of mud came crashing down a nearby ravine straight toward him.

Creavling, who had his back to the road at the time, could only hear the mudslide as it approached. “You know what it’s like to hear cement being poured?” he recalled to The Daily News Online. “It sounded like that, only about

1,000 times Ron Creavling survived louder.” But getting swept into his the mudslide garage by a mudslide. was not only Fighting panic, he slowly loud, but it began to work his arms free, was also lightning quick, and displacing the mud from with no time to run, Creavling around his head so that he was soon swept away in the could gasp for air. With visflash mudslide. ibility restored, he saw that When the slide finally the mud had carried him stopped, Creavling knew he inside of his own garage, was in bad shape. “I didn’t trapping him under a Toyota know if I was up, down, sideCamry and a metal-working ways. It was lights out.” He lathe. There was no way could move his legs, but his out. “It didn’t do any good to neck and torso were trapped struggle. The most imporin the mud. “My first reaction tant thing was to think and was to catch a breath. But I not get too concerned. I had sucked in water and mud.”

Great Falls Tribune Photo

Washington man outlasts fast-moving mudslide.

Bill Wagner Photo/The Daily News

BURIED ALIVE

air. After I could breathe and spit out the mud, I was OK,” he told The Daily News Online after the incident.

He began to holler for help, hoping to attract attention. After an hour and a half, his quick thinking and persistent efforts paid off when local deputies heard him. After extracting Creavling with the help of a local road crew, they took him to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Mid-Air Emergency

Friends escape burning wreckage moments after plane’s takeoff.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

arm caught fire as well, according to multiple reports, but he was still able to kick through the windshield, as the lone door to the plane was pinned shut.

Able to escape through the broken windshield, Cross had to turn back for Gagnon, who couldn’t get the belt release on his seat to work.

Quick thinking allowed Cross eventually got two friends to escape the his friend free and the burning wreckage of a plane. two exited the plane together. EMTs from North Hampton fractured neck, while Cross suffered Fire and Rescue got to the scene almost burns over more than 10 percent of his immediately and helped transport Cross body. After some time in the hospital, and Gagnon to the Portsmouth Regional both men walked out with their lives.

Hospital for their injuries.

Keeping a level head and proper training According to multiple reports, Gagnon can be credited with their surviving suffered 18 broken bones, including a a plane crash.

North Hampton Police Photo

Even in the most dire of situations, keeping calm and using your wits can be the difference between life and death.

Last summer, Roger Cross and Richard Gagnon were taking off from New Hampshire’s Hampton Airfield in a Piper Cherokee when the plane began to shake.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the problem was caused due to a shift in wind, which affected the plane’s lift. Gagnon, who was piloting the plane, knew they were going down.

“At 250 to 300 feet, there’s nothing you can do, so the one thing I did learn in flight training was if you’re in a ditching or crashing situation, try to keep the nose of the plane up,” Gagnon told WMUR 9 News in New Hampshire. The plane crashed into the woods at approximately 65 mph and quickly caught fire.

“I’ve always been taught in emergency situations to discard the bad and focus on what is good, which wasn’t a whole lot at that point,” Cross told WMUR 9. Cross’

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BACKWOODS

SWEPT AWAY

CBS Evening News

Boy Scout training helps man escape raging flood waters.

Kerry Packer held onto a tree branch for five hours to escape a raging flood.

When KVUE News answered a phone call from Kerry Packer during a series of violent rainstorms in southeast Texas, they thought they were talking to someone who had already escaped the dangerous floods sweeping the region.

They had no idea that, moments earlier, Packer had narrowly escaped being swept away by the storm by

grabbing a sturdy branch and climbing to safety.

“Kerry, you’re still in the tree?” asked the amazed anchorman.

“Yeah,” Mr. Packer answered calmly, “I’m about 20 feet up in a tree “ It would take five hours for Packer to be rescued after an ill-fated, early morning turn down the wrong street. When he reached the bridge that crossed the Guadalupe River, there was no sign of immediate danger, no indication that the water level could reach high enough to flood the road.

But the Guadalupe was out of control after days of intense rain, and as Packer crossed, it overflowed its banks, trapping him in his car. Packer quickly called 911, and then watched

as the river picked up his car and started to carry it downstream.

After about a half mile, Packer caught sight of a tree branch within reach. His mind racing, Packer started to recall everything he had been taught in Boy Scouts.

“We learned how to swim when we had full clothing on. So the first thing I did was take off my boots,” he said. Taking a gamble, he reached up out of his car window and grabbed the branch. Soon after, he watched from the safety of the tree as his car was submerged by the flood.

Packer credited his survival with cool thinking and the training the Boy Scouts gave him. “I knew exactly what I needed to do when I got in that tree.”

GRIZZLY AMBUSH When it comes to mountain climbing, Greg Boswell and Nick Bullock are experts. Now, when it comes to surviving a bear attack, Boswell and Bullock can say the same. The duo was scaling Mount Wilson in the Canadian Rockies when a somewhat routine climb was interrupted by an unexpected guest: a massive grizzly bear.

While tracking a climb in complete darkness, Bullock had walked ahead of Boswell Photo to the edge of the forest, at the iStock highest level of Mount Wilson. The next thing Bullock heard was Boswell sprinting past him while yelling, “Bear!”

The bear ran past Bullock and stopped for a moment, considering which climber it would attack. Up ahead, Boswell had fallen and the bear made its choice. As Bullock ran uphill, Boswell had the bear’s jaws clamp down on his boot.

According to Bullock’s blog, after the initial bite, the bear “lunged once more and crunched into [Boswell’s] shin, placing a paw on his other leg before lifting him off

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the ground.

Greg Boswell and Nick Bullock had to “I’m not evade a grizzly for sure at this several hours. point what other people would do, but Boswell is Boswell and the bear just didn’t appreciate this. He grabbed the bear’s mouth and pried apart the jaws, pushing and screaming, ‘Nick, Nick, help, it’s got me,’” Bullock wrote in his blog.

After escaping from the grizzly, the two followed their tracks into the woods.

However, after a short time, they realized the tracks were from the grizzly and that they were lost. The darkness of the forest concealed potential cliffs and, of course, the grizzly bear, which was on the same level as the two climbers. Bullock and Boswell took the time to devise a plan of action. The duo retraced their path and found where they had gone wrong, which led them to their gear and a chance to survive deep in the backwoods.

Shu tter sto ck Pho to

Two climbers fight for their lives against an angry grizzly bear.

Eventually, the duo rappelled down four different sections of the mountain until they reached the road. Bullock drove his injured friend to the hospital where he was stitched up.

“I was in shock after the incident and didn’t know what to do. Nick got me out of there and drove me to the hospital,” Boswell wrote on Facebook. “It wasn’t a oneman mission to stay alive like the media is portraying, it was a friend doing as much as he could in a crazy situation to keep his friend from dying! I probably would have died of hypothermia or blood loss if he hadn’t kept me going. My stupid idea was to climb a tree and wait until daylight.”

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

LOST IN THE WILD

Stranded For 48 Hours

Family-taught survival skills help 10-year-old boy escape Utah’s wilderness.

Getting trapped in your car in a snowstorm is a dangerous situation. But getting trapped in your car deep in the backwoods, in heavy snow, far from cell phone reception can be downright deadly. That was the situation Wayne Cateron found himself in while looking for a Christmas tree to take back to his family.

Cateron’s truck slid off the road and into a drainage ditch. He spent hours working to dig it out, but to no avail.

He had no cell phone service when trying to call for help, but the good news was that he’d told his family where he was going. He hoped that help would find him, but would it be soon enough?

Hoping to speed up a potential rescue effort, Cateron fired six of his nine shotgun rounds into the air. Thinking of his survival, Cateron saved the last three, just in case he ran into danger. With nightfall approaching, Cateron decided that his best chance of survival for now was to spend the night in his truck.

When no help had arrived by the next morning, he knew it was time to find a better place to wait for rescue. Leaving a note on his truck window for the coming search parties, Cateron walked about 3 miles in search of help. “I didn’t go cross country,” he told KRCR News, “I stayed on the road.”

The first dwelling he ran across was an abandoned cabin, but Cateron quickly realized it was already occupied—a hibernating bear was sound asleep inside. He moved on, and by late in the evening had found a second cabin, this one thankfully empty and equipped with both a bed and a wood stove for warmth.

When asked if he was ever afraid for his life, he was unequivocal: “Never.” Cateron knew that his knowledge of the terrain, coupled with a lifetime spent in the outdoors, would keep him alive until help finally arrived.

| REALWORLDSURVIVOR.COM |

Photo Courtesy Bradley Family

Cateron stayed in his truck until he was able to look for a warmer shelter.

K R C R Ph ot o

Butte Search & Rescue Photo

California outdoorsman survives winter roadside stranding.

Malachi Bradley’s survival skills helped him outlast 30 hours in the wild.

Being lost in an engulfing wilderness can be a scary situation for anyone. Now imagine you’re just 10 years old. But that scenario didn’t seem to faze Malachi Bradley in the slightest. Bradley was on a hiking trip with his family in the High Uintas Wilderness in Utah when he was separated from his group.

He had gone to forage for wild mushrooms when he realized he had wandered too far.

While the area is known for its spectacular views, its remoteness and dense foliage presented an immediate problem with finding Bradley.

But it wasn’t a problem for the 10-year-old thanks to the survival skills his father, Danny Bradley, had taught him. After failing to find his way back to camp, Malachi found fresh water to drink. He even managed to fashion a spear from a stick for fishing to sustain himself while he was lost.

While a search-and-rescue effort was underway, Malachi

realized he had to hunker down for the night, so he created a makeshift shelter in between two rocks so he could stay warm. The next day, Malachi heard helicopters overhead, so he vacated the heavily wooded area he was in and found a clearing, where he was eventually spotted. Approximately 30 hours after losing his group, Malachi was found in “good shape,” according to authorities, and reunited with his family.

Malachi told his mother, Molly Chrisman, that he wasn’t too worried, either. “Despite my best efforts to stay positive, I could not stop picturing my freezing, frightened little guy alone in the woods,” she said.

“Come to find out, according to him, he was not scared, not too cold and slept about five hours.”

“It was weird not having anybody with me, but I just kept going. I knew I had to make it back, or my family would be really sad,” Malachi told USA Today after the incident.

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BACKWOODS

iStock Photos

TEST DRIVE TERROR Quick thinking helps car

salesman survive violent carjacking.

For Jose Martinez, it was just another day at the car dealership where he worked in southwest Texas when things took a turn for the worse.

A new client walked in at around 6:00 p.m. and asked to take a Dodge Challenger out for a test spin.

“I knew that guy was a little sketch when I first met him. He kept on talking weird and I thought let’s just go on a quick test drive and come back,” Martinez later told the Huffington Post.

It didn’t take long for those

suspicions to be confirmed.

Minutes into the test drive, Martinez realized they were being tailed by another car.

But it was too late to change course. The would-be client and the car tailing them pulled over at the same time.

Martinez was quickly overpowered and locked into the trunk of the Challenger.

Once in the trunk, Martinez didn’t waste any time.

He pulled out his cell phone, called 911 and activated the Find My iPhone app. Martinez also saw that the Challenger

had a release mechanism on the inside of the trunk.

When the car slowed down sufficiently, he made a move to escape, but not without attracting the notice of the would-be carjackers.

“The other guy got out of the car. I started fighting him. He dropped his gun. He was trying to pull it out. I just picked up and shot at him and I think I hit him right [in the shoulder],” Martinez said.

The assailants jumped back in the car and raced away. But the phone was still

Martinez was abducted along with a Dodge Challenger by some ruthless carjackers.

in the trunk, and the police used the Find My iPhone app to chase down the carjackers, who crashed the Challenger and escaped on foot.

Martinez was found by police on the highway and taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a broken nose, a cut lip and several bruises.

Lesson learned: Try to always have a charged phone on you at all times. You never know when it will save your life.

Ambushed woman fends off attacker with flashlight.

Lisa, a licensed practical nurse in Everett, Washington, was about to begin her 5:00 a.m. shift at the hospital when her worst nightmare came true. Walking from her car to the hospital door, she caught sight of a man charging straight toward her. He forcibly grabbed her shirt and the pocketbook that was slung over her arm. The idea that this attacker wanted her money quickly disappeared from her mind as the purse dropped to the ground and the man continued pulling Lisa towards the rear of the parking lot and into the nearby woods.

Luckily, Lisa was prepared. Prior to that frightening day, Lisa’s husband gave her a handheld, heavy-duty flashlight

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A powerful flashlight can also serve as a blunt instrument for fending off a deadly attack.

for a life-and-death emergency such as this. Although reluctant at first to carry such a heavy “weapon,” her mind quickly changed as she went on the offensive.

With her attacker still trying to overpower her, she hit him squarely on the side of the head with the heavyweight flashlight.

The blow stopped her attacker dead in his tracks. As he fell to one knee, Lisa turned on the bright flashlight and began to run to the hospital door.

A janitor witnessed the erratic light show outside and met Lisa at the door, then called the police. The police arrived quickly thereafter and found the attacker still dazed and bleeding steadily from a large gash just above his right ear, one that would take over 40 stitches to close. It was later discovered that Lisa’s attacker was wanted for possible rape and sexual assault on a number of other young women.

HAVE YOU SURVIVED? Tell us your story. Survivor’s Edge pays $100 for every story that we print. Send yours to Survivor’s Edge, 1115 Broadway, New York, NY 10010, or email realworldsurvivor@harris-pub.com. Please include your full name, address, email and phone number (including area code). A signed release is required prior to publication.

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