Category Archives: Gear

Gear Organization

Here’s a fun exercise. Call your mechanic buddy and ask him how many 10mm sockets he owns. Then ask him how many of them he can put his hands on right at this moment. If you don’t know where something is, if you can’t find it, then does it matter if you actually own it or not?

While the quickest way to find something might be to buy a replacement, as suddenly the original will be right where you thought it was, despite having searched there a dozen times, in a crisis you may not have the luxury of time. Getting your supplies organized and keeping it all that way takes some degree of work as well as time, but the investment of both is worth it in the end. Continue reading

EDC Tool Kit

Survival gear is often carried in layers. The first is what you carry on your body. This is the critical equipment that you want to be able to access anywhere you go, such as your defense weapon, a pocketknife, a lighter or other fire starter, and such. You’re limited, of course, to what will fit in your pockets or on your belt. Continue reading

Best Knives of 2022

Safe to say, I’ve been a knife guy most of my life. I’m an avid collector as well as a knife user. As many of you know, I write regularly for Knives Illustrated. I also write a fair number of knife reviews for Backwoods Survival Guide. The other day, I posted a short “gift guide” for the holiday season. This time around, I wanted to share a quick list of knives that I heartily recommend and that would make for great gifts, for yourself or for others on your list. Continue reading

The Ten Essentials – what’s needed if things go south

Recently, a friend of mine sent me this link to an article from Scouting Magazine regarding the Ten Essentials. Way back in 1974, the third edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills was published. It is believed that this marked the first time the so-called Ten Essentials list appeared in print. Numerous organizations, Scout groups, and instructors have tweaked this list of outdoor gear over the years. Continue reading

Avoid Prepper Tourist Traps

Pretty much anywhere you go, there are two types of restaurants. There are the large, flashy places that cater to tourists and then there are the places where the locals go to eat. Chain restaurants are successful because people know what to expect. The food might be just this side of crappy but you know going in exactly what you’re going to get, no matter where you are traveling. The food does the job, filling the belly, and if the quality isn’t quite top-notch, at least you didn’t have to pay much for it. Locals, however, know where to get the best meal at the best price, and it is often at a place the tourist has never heard of before.

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