Page 107 – RECOIL OFFGRID

FarOutRide: Documenting a Bug-Out Van Build

Posted on February 18, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Whether you love adventure on the open road, you're looking to become better prepared for a bug-out situation, you want to downsize your life, or all of the above, building a vehicle into a home on wheels is an appealing idea. We've written about many such builds in the past — they range from minimalistic to extravagant, and from 15-passenger vans to converted box trucks. Above all, these vehicles are designed to provide a comfortable place to sleep, secure storage for gear and supplies, and a rugged means of transportation that can traverse countless miles of highways and trails.

FarOutRide Ford Transit camper van bug out vehicle build adventure expedition 5

Photo via FarOutRide

If you've considered diving in to a camper van build project of your own, it's valuable to study other successful builds and learn from the builders. Total cost and time expended are especially important variables, and few builders share these details publicly. Fortunately, we recently came across FarOutRide.com, a web site dedicated to sharing every detail of a Ford Transit van project.

Photo via FarOutRide

The creators of FarOutRide, Isabelle and Antoine, quit lucrative engineering jobs and sold their house before moving into their self-built van in 2017. Since then, they've been continually updating their web site to document the project and encourage others to do the same.

Specifically, the FarOutRide is a high-roof, extended-length 2016 Ford Transit with a 3.7L gas V6. Isabelle and Antoine purchased the van for $45,000 CAD (roughly $35,000 USD). The couple have tracked and itemized their subsequent build expenses, which currently total just over $18,000 USD, bringing total cost to $53,000.

FarOutRide Ford Transit camper van bug out vehicle build adventure expedition 1

Photo via FarOutRide

However, time is money, and it's undeniable that an immense amount of labor has gone into the build. Conservatively, they estimate 640 hours spent on the van, but also admit the reality is probably closer to 1,000 hours including all the small tasks that weren't strictly tracked. Isabelle and Antoine did the work themselves, saving what could have easily been tens of thousands of dollars in labor if it was done by a third party.

FarOutRide Ford Transit camper van bug out vehicle build adventure expedition 2

Photo via FarOutRide

If you're interested in building a camper van, bug-out vehicle, or overland rig, we'd encourage you to check out FarOutRide.com. It's full of a wealth of info that can help you decide if you're ready for van life, and budget accordingly.

Review: Heroclip Hooked Carabiners

Posted on February 17, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

The Heroclip
Our Impressions of the Heroclip
Conclusions

Most of us know the carabiner as a form of mountaineering equipment — these days, you'll generally find them in the climbing section of sporting goods and outdoor gear stores. However, the origin of this name hints at its original use. Carabiner is derived from karabinerhaken, German for carbine hook. The earliest carabiners were used by German riflemen in the 1930s to attach gear to belts. But you don't have to be a mountain-climber or a soldier to see the value of this ubiquitous tool.

Carabiners serve a myriad of purposes for hiking, backpacking, camping, and emergency preparedness. The most obvious of these is — just like the original karabinerhaken — to retain gear on a belt, strap, rope, or ridgeline. A carabiner can snap a loose accessory onto PALS webbing on a plate carrier, hook a handbag to a piece of luggage, suspend a hammock, connect a water bottle to a backpack strap, or stow your keys on a belt loop. We've used them to hang gravity water purifiers, bear bags, and lanterns in the backcountry. A large carabiner also works well as a carry handle for multiple heavy shopping bags, and you could even use one as an improvised weapon in a pinch.

As a result of these uses, we make a point to have a carabiner (or a few) close at hand. Some of these are heavy-duty climbing tools that could be used for rappelling, while others are of the multipurpose every-day-carry variety. Some of the latter category incorporate other functions, such as a bottle opener, prybar, bit driver, or even an integrated USB power bank.

The Heroclip

Much like a traditional carabiner, the Heroclip is constructed of solid billet aluminum and available numerous anodized colors. It features a spring-loaded wire gate, and an asymmetrical body that's larger on one side. Where it differs from tradition is its patented dual-jointed hook and swivel.

When not in use, the Heroclip's hook encircles the top half of the carabiner, remaining relatively compact and unable to be dislodged in transit. To open the hook, the user must press on the gate and rotate the hook to the side. It swivels a full 360 degrees, and also pivots 180 degrees to reach the opposite end of the carabiner.

The hook can now be looped around objects that the carabiner wouldn't otherwise fit onto, such as large railings or tree branches. Additionally, the Heroclip hook has a “beak” tip that's designed to grab flat surfaces — ledges, walls, tabletops, and so on. The beak has a rubberized insert that provides additional grip and reduces slippage.

The Heroclip is available in three sizes, with the following specs:

Medium – holds up to 60 pounds – $20 MSRP
Small – holds up to 50 pounds – $18 MSRP
Mini – holds up to 40 pounds – $15 MSRP

The polymer-encased swivel may not look strong, but it feels quite sturdy and had no problem carrying the maximum rated weight during our testing.

Color choices include various two-tone schemes ranging from silver on gray to bright teal on orange, as well as the monochrome Stealth Black seen in our photos. In case these options aren't sufficiently high-vis for you, the company offers patterns that include blue digital camo and rainbow.

Our Impressions of the Heroclip

We tried out a trio of Heroclips in various sizes to determine if this design adds value for practical use in the outdoors. As we mentioned earlier, one place we commonly use a carabiner is on a gravity water filtration setup, so we set out to see how the Heroclip fared for this purpose.

A quick aside about the setup seen here — it's based around a Hydrapak Seeker reservoir with a quick-disconnect cap and hose. This reservoir holds 3 liters of dirty water, and is suspended from a tree or other elevated surface. Gravity feeds the water down through a Sawyer Squeeze filter using the included inline adapter caps. The clean hose can be inserted into any other reservoir, usually a Klean Kanteen bottle or another hydration system. Total cost for the hydration gear was less than $50, weight is minimal at roughly 6 ounces, and it packs down easily.

We like the Hydrapak Seeker for this purpose because it has several built-in attachment points. Normally, we'd use a plain-jane carabiner hooked around a small forked tree branch. However, we've run into cases where most nearby branches are too big for a carabiner to fit around, or too small to hold enough weight. In some environments, you may have a tough time finding anything to clip the carabiner to. Rather than rigging a paracord ridgeline or MacGyvering something temporary out of zip ties and duct tape, it's helpful to have a more versatile solution.

The Heroclip excels at this task — it actually seems made for it. The water weight will never exceed its carrying capacity, and the rotating hook makes it simple to attach our gravity filtration kit to virtually any nearby object. This includes flat surfaces, like the edge of a wall or rock outcrop. This is a case where the Heroclip is clearly easier to use than a regular carabiner.

So what about other carabiner-y uses?

Obviously, the Heroclip is not intended for climbing, and using it for this purpose would be dangerous. It's also not suitable for use on a hammock or in other high-stress settings. On the other end of the spectrum, it wouldn't be our first choice for retaining keys or other small accessories. It's a bit bulkier than an EDC-specific carabiner like a Nite Ize S-biner or a Keybiner, and we don't foresee needing to suspend our car keys from a ledge any time soon.

That said, when you find a situation where you need to attach Thing A to Thing B and your carabiner won't fit around both, the Heroclip helps tremendously. For example, you might want to hang your 35-pound backpack off the ground and away from critters, but said backpack is heavy enough that it'll snap any of the small branches that would fit inside your carabiner. The Heroclip hook lets you suspend it from a much larger branch — even if the hook doesn't clear the whole branch, its “beak” will hold on to most surfaces.

Speaking of that beak, we found that it tends to slip on smoother surfaces. Its hard rubber construction is more like a hockey puck than a pencil eraser, and it lacks texture. This is one area we feel could be improved, although it's not an issue you'll notice in most cases.

Conclusions

At the end of the day, the Heroclip isn't a replacement for your existing carabiners — at least not most of them. It is, however, a great alternative for the situations when you need to suspend gear from uneven or unusual surfaces. And when you're not using the hook, it works as a decent (albeit rather bulky) carabiner. We'll certainly be using one in our gravity water filter kit from now on.

Pros:

Extremely versatile
Good range of sizes — we prefer the Small
Hook stows neatly when not in use
Reasonably-priced

Cons:

Relatively low weight ratings
Bulkier than most non-climbing-rated carabiners
Rubberized hook “beak” isn't as grippy as we'd like

For more info on Heroclip, go to MyHeroclip.com.

6 Trap Triggers for Survival

Posted on February 16, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Crushing Traps
The Simple Snare
Snaring Traps
Universal Trapping/Snaring Best Practices
Conclusion
About the Author
More From Issue 30

Disclaimer: The concepts shown here are for illustrative purposes only. Be sure to check local laws before setting any traps.

You can’t grill it until you kill it. This expression sends anti-hunter types into full-triggered mode. To some, there’s a preconceived notion that living in the woods will only require eating nuts and berries. The reality of the scenario involves a much larger buffet line of small game and rodents that pack nutritious calories in little fur-bundled packages. Running around trying to hunt them expends more calories than will be returned — so the logical answer to the survival question is developing a series of traps that’ll work for you when you rest or attend to other survival needs.

Check out the most popular survival books in your local bookstore or library, and you’ll find any number of elaborate trap illustrations. Creating these traps may seem like a daunting task, but with enough practice, a rough working example can be made in short order. We’ve seen these books, and we’ve also seen what’s often left out of written instruction. We’ll break down some of the most common traps and focus on the trigger mechanisms to make them both more sensitive and more effective in putting meat over your fire. Check your local regulations as well before setting any traps.

Crushing Traps

Figure 4

The Figure 4 trap trigger is easily carved with nothing more than a blade and some hardwood. This trigger is most frequently used with a crushing weight, such as a rock or large round of wood, but pest control can be handled in urban areas with wood planks, pallets, and cinder blocks. Use dried seasoned branches free of rot, if you can. Green branches will contract as they dry and may split along the grain. If possible, select wood free of knots and about the thickness of a Sharpie marker to start. You can always scale your trap part components up or down. The three components — the upright, diagonal, and horizontal (these terms will make sense shortly) — can all be carved from a single stick. The thickest part of the stick is used for the diagonal stick, the thinnest for the horizontal, and medium thickness for the upright.

The key to carving the Figure 4 is to make precise cuts with the correct angles and orientation to one another. The vertical stick requires a chisel tip as well as a 90-degree angle. The diagonal stick requires a ramped notch on one end and a chisel on the other. The horizontal requires two ramped notches configured 90 degrees offset from each other. The three pieces of this trap trigger are held in place with opposing pressure. The angle of the diagonal stick and the length will vary the speed at which it triggers.

Above: The Figure 4 trap trigger is adaptable to many variations of crushing traps. This trap has an additional weight added to the primary crushing log to increase lethality and effectiveness.

When carved correctly, the Figure 4 will be thrown out of the way when the trap is triggered. To make it more sensitive, keep the points of contact smooth without bevels or scratches. Don’t drive the vertical stick into the ground, but rather rest it on a hard surface instead. The size of the weight will depend on the animal you intend to catch; for example, a 10-pound rock falling on a 2-pound animal will be sufficient to crush it. Placing a flat rock or setting the trap on a hard surface will increase the crushing force of your trap.

Pros: Simple knife-and-knowledge skill (just add sticks). Works well with “cage-like” traps, too.

Cons: Requires a deadfall weight

Paiute Figure 4

Above: The Paiute Figure 4 trap trigger requires less carving with the trade-off of adding cordage to the setup. The Paiute Figure 4 is an incredibly responsive and fast trap trigger; it works well with crushing traps and makeshift cage traps. A cage trap can be created to catch animals live, but must be weighted to prevent an animal from escaping.

A variation of a Figure 4 with increased sensitivity is the Paiute Figure 4. This trap needs less carving, but requires cordage. In the Southwest states where the Paiute lived, Yucca fibers were easily processed into cordage with sufficient strength for trap triggers. In the modern era, paracord innards and jute twine can be substituted if your natural cordage making skills aren’t up to snuff. Make sure your cordage has little to no stretch to prevent delayed action.

The Paiute requires a single chisel tip and ramped notch along with a single groove around the horizontal stick. If you’re using reverse-wrapped cordage, the initial loop created can be looped around the toggle that wraps around the vertical stick. Where many survival manuals get it wrong is showing the Paiute trigger stick and toggle stick carved to perfect flats that maximize contact with one another at the expense of increased friction. To increase the sensitivity of the trigger and toggle, round the ends and smooth them out as best as possible.

Pros: Less carving than Figure 4, very fast trigger.

Cons: Requires cordage and a deadfall weight

The Simple Snare

A simple snare loop can be made from wire. Ideally, the wire should be the braided variety as it has greater resistance to breaking and the braid has a tendency to catch animal fur, adding a level of retention. Aside from the wire, the only other material necessary is a small twig or a stick that serves as a dowel. The process is easy.

Step 1: Cut a small length of snare wire (approximately 18 inches). About 4 inches down from one end, place a dowel horizontally across the wire and loop the wire around three times.

Step 2: With one hand pinching the dowel and the other the ends of the wire, twist it tightly a half dozen times.

Step 3: Break the dowel in half and pull it from the loop. Don’t let the loop close, but pinch it flat.

Step 4: Bend the tail end of the working end of the wire to create an acute hook.

Step 5: Thread the running end of the wire through the twisted loop and position the hook on the other end of the wire in line with the opening. The hook may increase the chances of hooking on the prey’s fur and help close the loop.

Step 6: Measure the size of the loop appropriately for the prey you intend to catch. The size of the loop should be approximately two to three fingers wide for a chipmunk or squirrel and four fingers for a rabbit.

Step 7: Attach the running end of the snare wire to a good anchor. Make sure the anchor is affixed to the ground or a branch the animal cannot break free. If you have them, use a fishing swivel to prevent the wire from twisting and weakening.

Snaring Traps

Goal Post

Above: The Goal Post setup is a bidirectional trap trigger. Regardless of which way an animal runs through the Goal Post, it’ll trigger. Whenever a lightweight snare is used, small forked twigs can be used to prop it open and hold it at the right height above the ground. A simple girth hitch can be used to create the snare loop with a simple stopper knot.

The goal post trap trigger is simple to construct with only three sticks and some form of lifting mechanism (bent sapling, counterweight, tensioned cord, etc). Cut two upright posts and carve ramped notches into them at the same height. Cut the upright sticks into digging chisels or a point. Using a blade, cut serrations in the space between the chisel tip and the notched ramps on each upright to grip the earth and prevent them from being easily extracted. The horizontal stick is the trigger pin; cut it to create two 90-degree angles opposite from each other on the two ends.

The goal post is set by pounding the upright sticks in the ground along a game trail. The width between the goal post will vary, but in general it should be slightly wider than the animal’s body. Make sure the upright sticks are positioned with the ramped notches facing opposite directions inline with the game trail. This allows the trigger pin to fire from either direction. Placing the notches on the uprights facing the same way will only allow the trap to work in one direction. A single or a double snare can be suspended from the horizontal post. When the animal runs through the goal post and is caught through the snare, the trigger pin will be displaced and the tension from the lifting mechanism lifts the animal. Contrary to popular belief, the animal need not be lifted entirely off the ground. All that’s needed is to lift the front legs. Lifting an animal completely off the ground and out of the reach of predators does have its place when they could also be in the area.

Pros: Very strong bidirectional trigger

Cons: Requires additional cordage for lifting mechanism

Toggle (aka the “L7” Trigger)

Above: The “L7” trap trigger utilizes two forked sticks that hook onto one another. It’s very responsive and can be used for many setups, including fishing traps that set the hook when triggered. Forked “Y” twigs are used for holding snares at the appropriate height.

The toggle trigger is shaped and configured just like the letter “L” and number 7. This trigger works on the concept of opposing pressure to keep it from firing. This trigger mechanism can be carved from a single branch. Carve the ramped notches with minimal space from the 90-degree angle and the end of the stick. Bevel the ends of the “L” and “7” pieces to fit together better. Groove the opposite ends with an awl or carved knife tip to create a hole for cordage.

The toggle trigger is capable of holding an incredible amount of weight. It works well in various configurations, from a floating trigger pin to a staked version in the ground. Where the books have gotten it wrong in the past is showing an incredible amount of weight or force suspended with a toggle trigger on a set designed for an animal that can’t trigger it. The friction between the two notched ramps can be alleviated by either working the beveled notches to points or by using a round twig as a “roller bearing.”

The toggle trigger can be used for either snaring traps or for crushing traps. One easily constructed trap set is built with a rock suspended over the head of an animal, funneled into an area where one end of the toggle is attached to an attractant or bait an animal will tug on. When the toggle is released, the rock suspended above falls on top of the animal’s head.

Pros: Easy concept to grasp

Cons: Can stick without “roller bearing”

Twitch Up

Above: The classic twitch up works with a baited stick. When the prey disturbs the trigger stick, the toggle releases and the snare catches around the animal’s neck, neck and front leg(s), body, or leg(s) alone. Note the “Y” twigs propping the snare loop open.

A classic snare trap trigger is the twitch up. This type of trap trigger can exploit natural forks in root systems, or carved forks can be pounded into the ground along game trails. The twitch up is very sensitive and can be scaled to any size to catch a chipmunk or an alien predator with dreadlocks by the leg. In case you’re wondering, this is the one you’d use to lift a person upside down by the ankle like they do in the movies.

Pound a forked stick into the ground, with the same type of serrations described for the goal post. This forked stick needs to be secure enough to hold the force of the counterweight, and there needs to be enough room between the crotch of the fork and the ground for the trigger pin to clear. The trigger pin can be fashioned from a smooth piece of hardwood, bone, or antler. You can taper it like a cone, debark it, and round it so it slips with the greatest ease. Attach the trigger pin to the counterweight with strong cordage, and attach the snare to the trigger pin as well. Pull the trigger pin through the forked stick and align the broad end with the end of the fork facing upward.

Above: Key chain split rings work well to redirect the pull from a counterweight with minimal drag. Logs work well as lifting weights in the woods and cinder blocks do the same in urban environments. With enough weight, a lifting trap can be scaled up for man-sized prey.

There’ll be tension against the fork, and the trigger pin will want to pull through the fork. To prevent this, place a horizontal stick between the two tines of the fork and the tapered end of the trigger pin. The horizontal stick can be tweaked to have a minimum amount of surface area touching it. This will increase the sensitivity. Place the loop of the snare under the baited horizontal bar and prop it up with small forked twigs. When the prey disturbs the baited horizontal bar, the trigger pin will release and the counterweight or bent sapling will pull the snare tight around one of the legs and lift the animal upward.

Pros: Extremely sensitive trap, adaptable to any size prey

Cons: May not react if parts are incorrectly sized and mismatched

Platform Twitch Up

Above: The platform twitch up snare setup requires no bait and fires when the prey steps foot on the platform. The twitch up pulls taut around the prey’s leg and holds under the tension from the counterweight.

While the traditional twitch up is an effective and easy-to-make trigger mechanism, it relies on the prey eating from a baited stick. To increase the odds of success for this trap, a platform can be constructed over it. In this configuration, when an animal steps on the platform, the snare closes around the leg. This can be accomplished as easily as placing perpendicular sticks or a solid flat object like a piece of bark, wooden plank, or hard-ribbed leaves across the horizontal stick.

With more surface area, there’s a greater chance to set off the trap. Unfortunately, this platform is more easily detected as it has a larger profile than the single horizontal stick used in a basic twitch up. A good trade-off is to make multiple snare loops for a prey to step in. Also, instead of creating a flat platform, alternating branches can be placed over the horizontal stick to resemble a “rooftop” platform.

Pros: Greater surface area for greater triggering effect

Cons: Larger footprint means easier recognition by prey

Universal Trapping/Snaring Best Practices

1. Funneling: Using branches, rocks, and logs, create a funnel that forces your prey into your trap. If you can’t bait your trap, funneling draws an animal into a setup they otherwise would attempt to avoid.

2. Multiple Traps: Trapping works best on the principle of the more, the better. A single snare covering a rabbit hole may pay off, but multiple overlapping snares will increase your odds. The same concept goes for crushing traps — a minimum of six should be set with the expectation that just one will be effective.

3. Watch Your Eyes and Fingers: Whenever you’re setting a trap, there’s a possibility you’ll accidently trigger it. Eye injuries or crushed fingers can happen. Respect your traps and what they can do.

4. Check Frequently: Traps can be triggered inadvertently, and a trap that isn’t set won’t catch anything. Traps can be blown over by the wind, or they might just wound an animal, allowing it to possibly escape before you return. Traps should be checked every four to eight hours.

5. Dispatch Safely: Ideally, snares will wrap a loop around an animal’s neck and either snap the spine or strangle it. Ideal is rarely the case, and snares can sometimes catch an animal around the head and shoulder, around the trunk, or around one or both of the rear legs. If you catch an animal that’s still squirming in a trap, you need a way to dispatch it humanely. A good forked stick will help pin it down or against a tree. A baton strike or .22 to the head will do the rest.

6. Reset Traps: Animals are creatures of habit, and the instincts that drew the first animal to the trap you set may lead others there too. If your trap isn’t mangled from the first kill, reset it and check it later.

7. Baiting Traps: Baiting traps will improve your odds. Scavenged mushrooms, berries, nuts, and animal guts can be harvested in the wild depending on the usual diet is the animal you’re trying to trap. You can also sacrifice some trail mix or a small bit of an energy bar to bait your traps.

Conclusion

All of these trap triggers have their quirks and nuances to make them more sensitive and effective. Our photos show the basic traps without the clutter of “fencing” that funnels the animal in. This will increase the effectiveness of the trap. Of course, you could have the best trap in the world, but if it isn’t in the right spot, it won’t matter and you’ll end up hungry. Don’t try to half-ass your approach to game getting. If you’re willing to learn how to make the traps to catch game, learn where your dinner lives, its habits, and the knowledge from seasoned trappers, you’ll be able to bring dinner to you rather than you tracking it down.

About the Author

Kevin Estela has been a professional survival instructor since 2007 first at the Wilderness Learning Center as lead instructor and then with his own company, Estela Wilderness Education. Kevin is a ranked associate level instructor in Sayoc Kali, a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Sifu Chris Smith, and an avid firearms marksman and shooter. When not teaching outdoor skills, he’s a full-time high school history teacher and founder of the Estela Wilderness Education Fund. Follow him on Instagram/twitter @Estelawilded or www.facebook.com/estelawildernesseducation

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

All Washed Up: How to Make Soap from Scratch

Posted on February 15, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Safety First!
Assemble Your Supplies
Get To Work!
Saponification Temperatures
Conclusion
About the Author
More From Issue 30

Hygiene is an important part of any survival scenario, especially the long-term situations. Without the ability to clean your hands and body, skin infections and the transmission of bacteria and pathogens are increased. As a survival-minded individual, you’ll probably have a knee-jerk reaction to the realization that cleanliness is a survival priority; and that reaction is probably to go buy a case of soap. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Soap can last for decades, if you store it out of the reach of rodents (yes, mice and rats love to eat it). But there’s more to self-reliance than just storing the goods that someone else made. The truly independent will learn how to make things for themselves as well. In the event that you don’t have access to off-the-shelf soap, you can take a page out of the pioneer playbook and make your own.

Let’s start with a little history and a bit of chemistry. We get the word “soap” from the Latin word “sapo,” though the invention of this slippery substance predates the Roman Empire. The oldest known soap formula was scribed on a clay tablet in Babylon over 4,000 years ago, and it was a simple mixture of water, alkali, and cassia oil. Over the centuries, cultures around the globe discovered that most oils and fats make an effective soap base, and that many different alkaline substances can turn that fat into soap. We’re still performing this minor alchemy today, when we mix up our own soap.

During the process of saponification, the fat is raised to the right temperature (for that type of oil), and mixed with the right amount of alkaline fluid. As it’s stirred, the soap will thicken and hydrolyze into “salts of fatty acids,” with a few other things present. Once it cools, hardens, and ages a bit, your soap is ready to perform its job, namely mixing with water to remove dirt and oils from our bodies and possessions.

It must’ve seemed like some kind of magic to our ancestors. Fat doesn’t mix with water, but soap does, and soap is made from fat. Soap also has an almost magnetic pull on dirt and oil. There are many different kinds of soaps you can make. By using olive oil, you can make Castile soap, renowned for its mildness. You could make an abrasive soap by mixing a little sand or powdered pumice with your batch. Or you can make granny’s lard and lye soap — a slightly stinky soap with mighty cleansing powers. Here’s what you’ll need to make your own homemade soap from animal fat and lye.

Above: Be sure you keep soap making supplies separate from any items used for cooking. They should not be used interchangeably.

Safety First!

Go back and watch Fight Club again. Not for fun, but for educational purposes this time. Pay close attention to the scene where lye is eating away at the protagonist’s hand. Commit that to memory, as well as these handy safety tips!

Wear disposable gloves and safety goggles while working with your soap, particularly when working with lye crystals and lye water.
Keep an open bottle of vinegar close at hand in case of lye spills. This acidic liquid will help to neutralize the alkaline lye.
Keep children and pets out of your soap-making area (they should never be underfoot, especially when the lye water is sitting there cooling).
Never mix hot water with your lye crystals. It may splatter lye on you!
Only mix your lye water in a glass container that can handle heat (a Pyrex measuring cup is best, as it can handle high heat and has a pour spout).
Don’t mix lye water in metal containers, especially aluminum.
If you refused to wear your safety goggles and got lye water or soap slurry in your eyes, flush them with copious amounts of water and call 911. Don’t rinse the eyes with vinegar.
Make sure that everything you use in making lye soap is labeled and never used for food purposes again.

Since you'll be working with caustic materials, eye protection and gloves are a must.

Assemble Your Supplies

Safety should always be your top concern in the quest for soap, so never forget that you are working with some very caustic materials and residue. If you’re even thinking about soap making, you’ll want to get some gear that serves no other purpose. Don’t use your good measuring cups or the family soup pot for soap. Get some gear exclusively for soap making, label it, and store it together (not scattered through your kitchen).

The Hardware: You’ll need a stainless steel cooking pot (stainless doesn’t react with lye), a large spoon, a Pyrex measuring cup (because it can handle high heat), gloves, goggles, a scale that can register down to 1/10th of an ounce, a thermometer (a meat thermometer works well), plus something to pour your soap into that’ll act as a mold to shape the soap. This could be a non-stick baking sheet, if you want to cut the soap into flat bars. Or it could be round plastic cups, for disk-shaped bars. You could also buy soap molds, in virtually any shape you can imagine.

The Ingredients: For the recipe enclosed here, you’ll need rendered animal fat (this is lard; never use chunks of raw fat right off the animal). You’ll also need a container of pure lye crystals (sodium hydroxide). This is found at hardware stores and some craft suppliers (such as www.bulkapothecary.com). Finally, you’ll need some clean water and some vinegar. The vinegar will not be used in the recipe. It’s simply kept nearby with the lid open as a counteragent to the caustic lye (it’s like a fire extinguisher for alkaline burns); it can be any kind of vinegar (distilled, apple cider, etc.).

Get To Work!

Since the Industrial Revolution, soap went from a rough and ugly homemade cleanser made of wood ashes and leftover grease to a sweet-scented store-bought grocery item — and why wouldn’t it? Buying affordably priced soap from a merchant saved our great-great-great-grandparents a lot of time. Soap making stopped in many families, and soon this homespun knowhow was lost. But thanks to a resurgence of interest in homemade products, the modern DIY movement has resurrected this arcane process and brought it back from oblivion.

Set Up For Safety: Soap is made by mixing together an emulsion of lye water and fat, creating the chemical reaction known as saponification. It’s important to note that strong lye is very caustic and capable of burning the skin and blinding you (think acid burns, but on the other end of the pH spectrum. Ever seen Fight Club?). Before you start making soap, the first thing you should get out is a jug of vinegar and take the lid off. Keep this on standby to pour over your skin, in the event that you spill any lye water on yourself or anyone else. You’ll also want to organize all of your containers and materials, then put on your gloves and goggles.

Measure Precisely: In the days of yore, people would pour rainwater through wood ashes to leach out the lye that naturally occurs in ash. This can still be done, of course, but how will you know how strong the lye will be? You won’t. So for more controlled results in soap making, visit your local hardware or craft store and purchase some lye crystals to add to your preparedness stockpile. It’s a good drain cleaner, and an even better soap maker. You’ll need exactly 2.2 ounces of commercial lye for our recipe.

With gloves and goggles donned, dissolve the lye crystals into 3.5 ounces of cold water in your heat-resistant Pyrex measuring cup. Set the cup on a surface that’s not harmed by heat. As the lye mixes with water, it’ll have a strong exothermic reaction (releasing heat). You should mix these in a well-ventilated space and let the lye water cool on its own. The lye and water mixture will become cloudy and make the container very hot to the touch. While the lye is heating up and then cooling down, you’ll also want to measure out exactly 1 pound of rendered lard (from the creature of your choice).

Start Cooking: About 45 minutes after mixing the lye crystals and water, place your lard in the pot and begin to melt it over a low heat. Most fats work well enough when heated to 120 degrees F (see our list for specific fats). Allow the lye water to cool down to about 85 degrees F before proceeding (this will be about an hour after mixing).

Mix Things Up: Once the lard has reached 120 degrees F and the lye water has cooled to 85 degrees F, slowly stir the lye water into the warm melted lard using a large plastic or wooden spoon. Keep stirring (in the same direction) until you have a thick, milkshake-looking slurry. This change of texture can happen in minutes or it can take longer, depending on the fats, lards, and oils used. Whatever happens, keep stirring until your fat has had a texture change. This motion is need for saponification. When you’re satisfied that it’s well mixed and has transformed into a new substance, pour the soap slurry into molds or onto a pan to cool. For optimal results, insulate the soap slurry so that it cools very slowly. For example, you could wrap a dry towel around your molds.

Above: Anything from ice trays to muffin tins can be used as soap molds. It's up to you what size and shape you'd like to create.

Add Some Age: The soap will harden as it cools (unless you really messed it up), but it’s not ready to use right away. After a few days of hardening and drying, it should still be soft enough to cut a “loaf” or pan of soap into flat bars (don’t wait weeks to cut it; the soap will become very hard). There’s one final step in this type of soap making. You still have to age the soap. Let it sit in a cool dry place for a few weeks to cure. Try washing your hands with a bar after one month. If your skin feels slimy or tingly, rinse your skin with vinegar to neutralize the soap, and age the soap a few more weeks. Then enjoy it!

Saponification Temperatures

Soap is made by blending the right amount of alkali solution into a compatible quantity and type of fat. When there’s too much fat in the mix, the soap is greasy and ineffective. And when there’s too much alkali solution, the soap is too harsh. Getting the correct ratio of these two substances is critical, and so is the temperature at which they are blended. You’ll need to heat your oils so that they are clear, not cloudy (but don’t overheat them, either). Instead of using our general temperature guideline of 120 degrees F for all types of lard and oil, bring these particular fats to these specific temperatures for the best results.

Olive oil: 100º F
Vegetable oil: 110º F
Goose fat: 115º F
Bear fat: 115º F
Pork lard: 120º F
Sheep fat: 125º F
Beef lard: 130º F
Deer fat: 130º F

Conclusion

If you go back into history, many families were self-reliant out of necessity, rather than choice. And in that time, they combined spare fat (when you had enough fat to spare) and lye made from rainwater that had run through wood ashes. The elders who had been making soap for a lifetime could tell the strength the lye by the speed at which the ashy liquid ate away at a feather or how high a potato would float in the solution.

They could also tell the heat of the fat by sticking a finger in it, and whether the slurry had changed to soap by tasting it! (Don’t try those last two.) These folks knew how to stretch their supplies and make what they needed — a powerful role model for preppers. Today, making soap can be a fun home hobby, and it can even be a gateway into prepping for people who aren’t sure about stockpiling beans and bullets. With what you know now, a little fat, some lye, and a bit of elbow grease, you’ll never run out of soap again.

About the Author

Tim MacWelch has been a survival instructor for more than 20 years, training people from all walks of life, including members from all branches of U.S. Armed Forces, the State Department, DOD and DOJ personnel. He’s a frequent public speaker for preparedness groups and events. He’s also the author of three New York Times-bestselling survival books, and the new Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual. When he’s not teaching survival or writing about it, MacWelch lives a self-reliant lifestyle with his family in Virginia. Check out his wide range of hands-on training courses open
to the public.

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Review: Klim Arsenal Vest

Posted on February 13, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

What’s it Do?
How Well Does it Do?
Does it Stack Up?
Klim Arsenal Vest Specifications
More From Issue 30

The market for purpose-built survival gear is substantial and, it seems, growing by the day. From bracelets to backpacks, the “prep” or “survival” gear industry has taken on a life of its own. More often than not, we lean toward the right-tool-for-the-job philosophy: Buy a piece of kit that’s designed from the ground up to do what you need it to. If you need a vest or chest rig or assault pack to hold your bug-out gear, the natural choice would be to purchase from a company that specializes in that kind of equipment. But that’s not to say there isn’t good and effective crossover between end users.

Above: The hydration pocket also accommodates stripped-down MREs or other trail food, and the tool pouch fit our first-aid kit perfectly.

That brings us to the topic of this story — the Klim Arsenal vest. Klim doesn’t produce anything specifically for the tactical, EDC, prepper or survival markets. In fact, their bread-and-butter lies in the high-performance motorsports user group. Snowmobilers, motorcyclists, and off-roaders are likely familiar with their line of technical apparel. But how well do these hobbies reflect the needs of us looking to stay ready in a turbulent world? The answer, in our experience with the Arsenal, is “better than we expected.” The Arsenal vest was specifically designed for endurance motorcycle racers. When compared against the average citizen looking to stay prepared, both groups look for a couple of the same key factors when they shop for gear: high-quality construction, the ability to stand up to long-term use in varied conditions, ample storage space in an efficient and compact configuration, versatility in load carriage and employment, comfort, and ease of use.

What’s it Do?

The Arsenal vest was designed for motorcyclists who spend long hours in the saddle as an alternate option to backpacks and on-bike storage for essentials like water, fuel, and tools. To the author, the layout is similar to an ALICE system LBV (Load Bearing Vest) from way back when, before the military put everything in modular pouches. The Arsenal features three large pouches on the front, with three more on the back, plus a small detachable kit that’s meant to be used specifically for wrenches and tools. It comes with its own hydration bladder and tube topped with a bite-valve. The areas of the vest not covered by pouches are nylon mesh, which provides good ventilation and trims a little bit of weight. The front closes with fastex-style buckles, and the each side has three adjustment straps, so sizing is just about universal, with fit being completely customizable to what your situation requires.

Above: The front pouches of the Arsenal are sized for any number of survival sundries.

Those of you crossing rugged terrain in hot climates may want it cinched tight to the body while anybody packing the Arsenal into blizzard conditions can loosen the vest to fit over multiple layers of cold-weather clothing. The front pouches have nylon webbing in a large grid pattern over them. It’s definitely not MOLLE spec in terms of spacing. But if you have a need to add pouches to the Arsenal, it’s possible. You can also use this webbing to weave fishing line or 550-cord through. The Arsenal is available in two color schemes: a geometric mash-up of dark gray shades that definitely doesn’t qualify as camouflage and, new for 2019, a pseudo-khaki with orange accents and white mesh. This may be a good or bad thing. Both of these options are very un-tactical. In fact, our test sample was literally gray — which may fit right into your low-visibility look. But if the rest of your equipment is coyote brown or MultiCam, perhaps the khaki version makes more fashion sense.

Above: The Arsenal vest includes a hydration bladder standard.

How Well Does it Do?

We ran the Arsenal in a two-day Weaponize The Senses class with Greenside Training, as well as on several weekend hiking adventures. Weaponize The Senses is a curriculum that focuses on tracking animals and humans alike over rough terrain. We moved nearly 10 miles on foot over the course of two days, wearing the Arsenal vest for most of that movement. Moving through brush and cactus across Arizona border country in August was probably the best test we could come up with for the Arsenal’s mesh ventilation. The vest performed well and kept us as cool as possible, given the conditions. The other thing we noticed was how evenly the weight was distributed while moving. Typically, in a class like this we’d use a patrol or assault-style pack. While we’re used to long walks with heavy packs, the Arsenal saved us a ton of shoulder and back pain after our Greenside class.

Above: We found the Arsenal to be comfortable in a variety of climate conditions.

Repurposing the motorcycle racing pockets turned out to be fairly easy. The hydration pocket in the back also fit two stripped-down MREs. That pocket is flanked by two long, narrow zipper pouches that were originally intended for spare fuel bottles. We figured out that we could carry two additional 1-liter bottles of water. In a long-term survival/camping situation, small bottles of fuel for lanterns or camp stoves also fit perfectly. Rolled up flags or signal panels, blankets, balled-up socks or underwear and toiletries could also be stowed in these pockets. The detachable tool kit also straps to the back of the vest. If you have generators, dirt bikes, or ATVs incorporated into your bug-out plan, having some tools on hand would be a wise decision. If you don’t need hand tools, you can convert the detachable tool pouch into a standalone kit for anything from medical supplies to signaling to fire-starting.

: Both of the bottom front pockets include generic pocket-style holsters for small-to-medium frame handguns.

: The side straps offer large amounts of adjustment for body type and outerwear considerations.

: Small additions like a retention clip for the hydration tube prove a well-thought-out design.

On the front of the vest, there are three large square pockets for storage — two low and one high. The two low ones each have a built-in holster for small- to medium-sized handguns. It’s a semi-universal pocket-style holster that you have to Velcro your handgun into. But it’s there in case it’s an option you want to use for a backup gun or survival pistol. Wearing a full vest may inhibit your ability to wear a proper belt holster, so the built-in holsters could be a less-than-optimal alternate to that. Aside from a pistol, the front pockets are general purpose, and can be stuffed with anything you desire. Food, boo boo-fixing supplies, small GPS units, sat phones, knives, multitools, and trapping/fishing supplies all fit. Smaller binoculars, thermals, night vision, or other optics can be made to fit as well. The bottom line is that the Arsenal vest is your blank slate to load out in whatever fashion fits your environment and preparedness plan. It’s lightweight, comfortable, and offers a significant amount of cargo space.

Does it Stack Up?

Since Klim isn’t a tactical or survival equipment company, there aren’t really any direct competitors in the prepping space, but there are a few similar options that stand pretty close. The Arsenal’s MSRP is $190. The aforementioned military LBV can be found for about 10 percent of that price, however, those vests are usually old, tattered, and the pockets are sized specifically for AR-style rifle magazines, with no storage on the back — severely limiting your load capacity. When you expand your horizons to include new-design load bearing vests from reputable manufacturers, the Arsenal quickly becomes one of the most economical options. Many of the purpose-built “tactical” load-bearing vests can run well past $300 and, by our research, don’t offer anything significantly different from the Arsenal. While it may not have been built as a survival product, it absolutely stands up to the rigors of that duty. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced, well-constructed, and comfortable piece of kit for load-bearing purposes, the Arsenal is worth your time and possibly even your money.

Klim Arsenal Vest Specifications

MSRP
$190

URL
www.klim.com

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Young Hunters: Tips for Teaching Kids to Hunt

Posted on February 12, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Offgrid Staff

In This Article

Always Safety First
Mental Preparation
Practice
Day of the Hunt
Life Lessons
More From Issue 30

Caution: Hunting regulations and ordinances apply to the manner in which all game animals are taken. It’s up to the reader to research hunting regulations that apply in your particular situation. Among other things, the use of silencers, the type and caliber of ammunition, and the magazine capacity of your firearm may be regulated by federal, state, or local laws.

We each have our own reasons for wanting to hunt instead of buying meat at the grocery store. For many of us, those reasons are values that we take pride in passing down to the next generation. But teaching a kid a new task, especially one as serious as taking an animal’s life, can be as stressful as it is rewarding for all involved.

We’re going to break down how to prepare your child for their first hunt. And much of that same preparation can be used for any first-time hunter. The anticipation of a first hunt can be nerve-racking, but with proper planning, your child will be confident to pull the trigger. These lessons come from my experiences with my daughter; all kids are different, so don’t take our specific example as a be-all and end-all.

Always Safety First

You can half-ass a lot in parenting, but you can’t half-ass firearms safety. Be truthful about firearms; they’re meant to kill and can be dangerous. If you already hunt, your child has probably already seen a firearm in person, in your home. Either way, start an education session without the gun in the room. Ask questions to see what your child already knows about firearms. Having an open conversation with your child about guns removes the mystery and is empowering to the child.

Next, teach the four main rules of firearms safety:

Always treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot.
Positively identify your target and know what’s in front of and behind it.

After the initial information session, bring out the unloaded firearm you plan to use for your child’s hunt. Show your child the gun is unloaded; have him or her visually inspect the chamber after you. Now explain the parts of the gun and how each piece works. With the unloaded gun, while observing all the safety rules, have your child handle the rifle to understand how to use it. The goal is for your child to be able to tell you how that gun works and the safety rules before you’ve even gone to the range or brought ammunition near the gun.

Above: Hunter Education may not be mandatory in your state, but it will educate your child about firearms safety and how to be a better hunter. If you watch over your kid’s shoulder, you’ll likely learn something from the courses, too.

Being your child’s first teacher about firearms safety is imperative so they know they can always ask you questions. But in preparation for hunting, your child should take a hunter education course. There are several courses offered online, tailored to your specific state; for example, we’ve used HunterCourse.com and Hunter-Ed.com. These state-approved online courses make it possible for your child to get a hunting license. The courses are thorough and teach everything from types of hunting weapons to laws and regulations. At the end of the course, your child will need to pass an exam in order to receive their hunter education card. Even though hunter education isn’t required in some instances for minors, we still recommend completing the course — it’s great information and your child won't have to complete it as an adult when they want to hunt. As an adult, most states require proof of hunter education certification in order to get a hunting license.

Mental Preparation

Learning that your young animal-loving child has decided they want to shoot a deer is surprising. Some children want to mimic their parents and don’t fully understand what hunting is. Be honest and tell your child every detail, even the gross stuff, that comes along with hunting. Make sure they comprehend what they’re asking to do.

Explain why you hunt, such as knowing where your food comes from, the joy of being in the woods, or to bond with family. There are countless reasons why we hunt — talk about them with your child so he or she can have a greater appreciation and understand the hunt isn’t only about the kill.

Above: We cover a lot of topics in this article to help your child become a successful hunter, but it’s your duty to make sure you and your child are compliant with state and federal laws. For example, some states have minimum caliber restrictions for big game, ban the use of suppressors, and limit how many rounds can be in the rifle. Be sure to thoroughly read the laws for the area you’re hunting.

If you’re hunting whitetail deer, show your child pictures of whitetail deer. Using animal anatomy diagrams, explain what a kill shot is and where to aim. From there, have them look at deer presenting in multiple ways; in other words, show them pictures of deer facing different directions, and have them point to where the aiming point would be in relation to the animal’s orientation.

Sometimes animals don’t die immediately from one shot. In those situations, you may need to track the animal and shoot it again. Explain this to your child. The fear of making a bad shot is stressful for many hunters. Explain that it’s the hunter’s job to take the most ethical shot possible and to end the animal’s life as quickly and painlessly as possible. Be honest that the deer may not be dead when you walk up to it; it may be making heart-wrenching sounds. But assure your child that you’ll handle this if this happens. Your child could take a poor shot, and you’ll need to step up to finish the job because your child will likely be overwhelmed with emotion. Explaining all of this is for your child’s mental preparation. In a perfect case, a heart or double-lung shot will be made, and the animal won't suffer.

The hunt doesn’t end after pulling the trigger. If your child wants to hunt, tell him he’ll have to help with cleaning the animal, as well. This is where we opted to show our daughter pictures of dead deer and videos on how to clean a deer. We told her she wouldn’t be expected to know how to do it, but she at least had to be there to help and gain knowledge of how to clean a deer. Soon after our daughter’s first hunt, we used that deer meat for a meal and told the family she had provided meat for supper; it was a proud moment for everyone.

Practice

Now it’s time to hit the range. Make sure your child has the needed equipment, including eye pro, ear pro, hunting clothes, etc. Most rifles aren't child-sized, but can be accommodated to fit. When your child gets behind the gun, and you explain eye relief and body positioning, if he or she can’t see through the scope, understand that you may need to fit the gun to him or her.

Above: The hunt is more fun than the kill. Even when a hunt doesn’t result in meat on the table, it still makes for priceless memories with your child.

If the rifle doesn’t fit your child, look for ways to adjust the length of pull, eye relief, and cheek weld. Many modern hunting rifles have pieces that can be removed from the buttstock to adjust the length of pull. For eye relief, you can move the scope back in the rings or move the whole scope mount if possible. A consistent cheek weld is important because it'll ensure your child looks through the scope the same way each time. If you don’t have a rifle with an adjustable cheek piece, there are aftermarket cheek pieces that you can attach to it. Or you can just go old school and tape foam on the buttstock. All of these possible adjustments are another reason why AR platform rifles can be a great first rifle for a child to use for hunting. AR platform rifles allow for endless adjustment options that are quick and easy — so much so that you could use the same rifle by just extending the collapsible buttstock.

Resist the urge to gun up for your child’s hunt. You don’t need a large caliber to take down an animal. You need good shot placement and quality hunting ammunition. A rifle with a lot of recoil isn’t fun for anyone to shoot and will likely discourage your child from wanting to hunt. In most cases, your child can have a successful whitetail hunt using a .223 Remington or .243 Winchester and hunting ammunition.

Once you’ve confirmed zero and had your child confirm zero, it’s time to practice shooting from different distances and different positions. Shooting from different distances will help your child understand bullet drop compensation and will help you assess their capabilities. For example, start at 50 yards, shooting at an 8-inch piece of steel or paper target. After you see your child can consistently hit the 8-inch plate at 50 yards, go back another 50 yards and repeat the process. This practice session should be fun and should give your child a lot of trigger time to understand what a good sight picture looks like and how to reduce the wobble zone. When we did this with our daughter, we went all the way back to 200 yards. Realistically, we didn’t expect our 9-year-old would shoot a deer at 200 yards, but she was having fun shooting and doing it well, so the practice session continued. If she couldn’t have consistently hit the 8-inch plate at 100 yards, we would’ve known her capability was 50 yards and not allowed her to take a farther shot.

Above: Hunting with a suppressor has many benefits:

Negates the need for hearing protection when you’re trying to be sneaky in the woods; you can hear everything, including each other.
Decreases the chances of anticipating the shot and jerking the trigger due to the loud noise from the rifle.
Reduces recoil of the rifle.

How and where you’re hunting dictates the position you'll be shooting from. Shooting from the prone position, laid-out flat on your belly, is stable and excellent for learning marksmanship fundamentals, but terrain and obstacles dictate that prone shooting is rarely used when hunting. So, practice positions you're likely to encounter. For example, if you’ll be seated, in a blind, and using a tripod, practice that. If you’ll be walking through the woods and plan to set up, practice setting up with tripod or bags quickly with your child. These are dry runs for the main event.

Determine each of your roles for the hunt. Both of you should be scanning for deer; the easy way to do this is to give your child half of the area to scan while you scan the other half. Explain that your child’s main job is to listen to you and pull the trigger when they believe they have a good shot. You should range the animal with a rangefinder, tell your child what the holdover (if any) should be, and adjust the elevation turret for her. The only thing on her mind should be to get the crosshairs in the kill zone and make a clean shot.

Above: Assisting in the whole process helps your child fully understand where meat comes from.

Day of the Hunt

Kids might have unrealistic expectations and think a big buck will walk out immediately. Help them understand that some hunts end without even seeing a deer all day. Because kids need a little more than adults, as far as entertainment and food, starting in a blind is ideal. Hunting from a blind allows your child to move around without startling wildlife. Definitely bring extra snacks and water for the day — the extra roominess of a blind helps. Make sure both you and your child have comfortable chairs to sit in. When you get into the blind, set the gun up and have your child practice shooting positions before it’s time to take the critical shot.

When one of you spots a deer, both of your heart rates will skyrocket. Just breathe and go through the motions just like you both had practiced. Range the deer and determine if it’s at a distance your child could take an ethical shot. From there, have him quietly and quickly get set up behind the rifle. Tell them to wait until it’s a good shot, with minimal wobble, and to go ahead and pull the trigger when ready. These seconds may feel like an eternity while he’s looking through the scope and you’re looking through binos. When they take the shot, you should try to spot where the deer was or wasn’t hit. Your next steps will be determined on the shot.

For the sake of this article, we’ll assume all of that practice and preparation resulted in a clean shot and the animal fell close to where it was shot. You and your child will be emotional and excited — let it happen and savor the memory. Tell them you’re going to wait a few minutes before going out to get the deer; this is so it has time to die. Large animals can take a few minutes to bleed out, and even the nerves firing can be alarming to the child. So enjoy 20 more minutes in the blind, take pictures of his or her shooting position, praise them for their hard work, and make this moment special.

When you walk up to the deer, you should have the rifle in-hand, loaded, and on safe. If for any reason the deer isn’t dead, you’ll need to act quickly to dispatch it. When you find the deer is dead, unload the rifle and start your steps for either field dressing or hauling it back to where you plan to process it.

Life Lessons

Teaching a child to hunt is rewarding for you and your child. It’s a lesson they'll keep with them forever. Hopefully, you’ve helped spawn the next generation of hunters. But if not, you’ve at least provided him or her with the knowledge to hunt for their own meal if survival becomes a necessity.

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Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 31

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Review: African Sun Compass

Posted on February 11, 2019 at 10:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Solar Navigation
African Sun Compass
Assembly and Calibration
Finding North
Navigation & GPS Coordinates
Daily GPS Fix
Our Experience with the Sun Compass
Conclusions

In this era of GPS satellites and smartphone apps, it's easy to forget about the navigational technology that preceded these modern conveniences. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors didn't have the luxury of Google Maps. Early magnetic compasses first saw use in the 11th century, but these were only temporarily magnetized using a lodestone and were far too large to be considered portable. The pocket-sized, liquid-filled, mass-produced compasses we know today have been around for less than 100 years.

So, how did our forefathers figure out where they were going in the days before GPS and reliable magnetic compasses? They used celestial navigation — techniques for determining position based on the location of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.

You may think that these techniques are obsolete today, but every prepared individual knows that it's wise to develop knowledge of alternative navigation methods in case Plan A (or B, or C) isn't an option. Even the U.S. Navy has reintroduced celestial navigation to its training programs after briefly phasing it out. In a SHTF scenario, it can be a very effective means of getting your bearings.

Solar Navigation

One of the most straightforward forms of celestial navigation relies on the sun. You've probably heard of rudimentary solar navigation techniques such as the shadow stick method or the analog watch method, but depending on your geographic location and the season, these improvised techniques have the potential to be inaccurate or entirely ineffective. This is why our seafaring ancestors developed more precise mechanical instruments such as the kamal, astrolabe, octant, and sextant — but we'd be willing to bet you don't have any of those stashed in your bug-out bag.

An engraving of a sextant, circa 1768. (Via Wikipedia / Wellcome Images, CC 4.0)

Fortunately, it's still possible to learn solar navigation without expensive and fragile tools or in-depth knowledge of spherical trigonometry.

African Sun Compass

The African Sun Compass was developed as a durable, lightweight, pocket-sized tool for solar navigation. Its creator, Timm Irvine-Smith, is a South African who loves traveling the world with his wife Melina. Based on his knowledge of the imprecise shadow stick method and other ancient devices, such as the Ottomani Compass and the Viking Sun Stone, Irvine-Smith set out to make a simplified device that could provide orientation, latitude, and longitude. His first prototype was a simple piece of wood with lines drawn on it:

He wrote, “Eventually while traversing Switzerland I managed to determine my position (Latitude & Longitude) to within 27 km with the version on this page. I then knew that I was onto something.”

This evolved into the African Sun Compass, which is available in either white TroPly polymer or natural bamboo. The markings are deeply laser-etched on each side of the 0.2-inch-thick disc. Each Sun Compass includes the following parts:

Compass disc
Plumb line
Gnomon
Pendant weight
Copper retention ring
Card with web link for detailed instructions

Assembly and Calibration

Africa Sun Compass solar celestial navigation tool GPS latitude longitude survival 12

Clockwise from top: plumb line, pendant weight, copper ring, and gnomon (with spare).

Before using the Sun Compass, you'll need to do some quick assembly. Run the plumb line through the hole in the center of the disc. On the side with the cardinal directions, pass this string through the pendant weight (a metal ball for TroPly models, or a stone for bamboo models), and tie it tightly around the tiny copper ring to retain the weight. On the other end, tie the string to the hole in the gnomon. This small metal chip will be inserted into the groove that runs between North and South.

To calibrate your Sun Compass so it reads True North, you'll need to follow the steps shown in the instructions.

Note: If you're using the sun compass in the afternoon, you'll need to start with the stick shadow cast from West to the center hole (as pictured in steps 1-8 above). If you're using it in the morning, you'll need to start with the shadow cast from East to the center hole. The “AM” and “PM” markings on the face refer to the side the plumb line must be placed on, not the side the shadow starts on — the instructions aren't entirely clear about this at first glance.

Above: Pointing the stick shadow at the center hole, tracking the shadow's new position after 5 minutes, and aligning the gnomon shadow with the plumb line at the East marker.

Once your Sun Compass is calibrated, make a note of the exact gnomon position using the hash marks along the groove. You'll need to go through these steps to re-calibrate it once a week to retain maximum accuracy.

Finding North

To orient the compass to True North, you'll need to start by checking the declination figure on the back side of the Sun Compass. We tested the compass on February 7th, which gives a declination of -16. We were using the compass in the afternoon, so we started at East and moved 16 degrees towards “Feb/Oct” on the compass face.

Checking solar declination for February 7th.

With the gnomon calibrated and the corner of its shadow touching the plumb line, you'll find True North.

Navigation & GPS Coordinates

The Sun Compass is capable of doing far more than simply pointing out the cardinal directions. It can also help you triangulate your position on a map, chart a course to a landmark, or even calculate your latitude and longitude once a day at noon.

Triangulation

To triangulate your current position on a map, you'll need to find North, then follow the steps pictured in the instructions to find your location in relation to three visible landmarks (mountain peaks, islands, etc.). It's worth mentioning that the instructions don't have a step 7 — this numbering error is present in the original documentation on the Sun Compass web site.

A similar process can be used to chart a course to a landmark and walk a bearing in that direction. Instructions are also provided for this purpose.

Daily GPS Fix

With the Sun Compass, you can calculate your latitude and longitude once per day at Local Solar Noon. This is a complex process, and is explained in detail in the instruction PDF file on the African Sun Compass web site. For the sake of brevity, we'll summarize the process below:

Point the compass North and wait for Local Solar Noon, when the gnomon shadow aligns exactly with the N/S line.
Determine Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and how much you're ahead or behind of it.
Use the dashed “Equation of Time” line on the back of the Sun Compass to establish the date-based deviation figure.
Calculate longitude: (720 minutes – GMT @Local Solar Noon in minutes) + (Equation of Time) / 4 minutes
Measure sun angle by hanging the pendant weight vertically as a pendulum.
Calculate latitude: (Relative Hemisphere*) + (Declination**) + (Sun Angle)

* Either -90 or +90 depending on whether the gnomon is placed in the North or South side of the center groove.
** Obtained from cross-referencing the date with the solid line on the back of the Sun Compass.

Our Experience with the Sun Compass

We did some hands-on testing with the Sun Compass on a clear and sunny February day in Arizona. Setting up the Sun Compass for the first time was easy enough, and the tightly-knotted string keeps the gnomon and pendant weight from getting lost in transit. If you do lose or damage the gnomon, a spare is included.

Calibration was fairly straightforward, although we got started on the wrong side due to confusion about the previously-mentioned AM/PM issue. After flipping the dial 180 degrees, it took about 3 minutes to calibrate the compass once the stick's shadow moved sufficiently. After calibration, we looked up our declination (16 degrees) and rotated the disc until the gnomon shadow told us we reached True North. Again, this step is dependent on whether it's morning or afternoon, so be sure your plumb line is on the correct side.

Triangulation and setting a bearing was more complex. Aiming with the plumb line is much like shooting an azimuth with the sight wire of a lensatic compass. However, keeping the Sun Compass perfectly level and the plumb line at 90 degrees throughout the steps isn't easy, and deviations can lead to less accurate readings. On the upside, you don't need to worry about memorizing or looking up magnetic declination like you would with a typical compass.

Looking up the Equation of Time value for February 7th before calculating longitude.

We attempted the daily GPS fix process, but to say it's daunting for a first-timer would be an understatement. We found ourselves repeatedly re-reading the instructions and scratching our heads about converting Local Solar Noon to GMT to minutes. Since we didn't have Arizona's GMT differential memorized we had to Google it — it's GMT-7, meaning we needed to add 7 hours to local time to reach GMT. If your area observes daylight savings time, you'll also need to factor that in.

Local Solar Noon occurred at 12:41, which is 7:41 GMT, which is 461 minutes. The chart on the back of the compass indicated our Equation of Time value of +13 minutes. Plugging it into the formula, we got the following result:

(720 minutes – 461 minutes) + (13 minutes) / 4 minutes = 68 degrees

Evidently we did something wrong, since the actual longitude at our location was 111.606 degrees West. Going back over the numbers, we realized our error: the calculation must be done with time in the 24-hour format. This seems obvious in retrospect, but isn't mentioned in the instructions or the provided example, so we overlooked it in our first calculation. The correct longitude formula would be:

(720 minutes – 1,181 minutes) + (13 minutes) / 4 minutes = -112 degrees

Recalling the “East is + and West is -” reminder on the compass, we get a longitude of 112 degrees West. This seems pretty close to 111.606, but more on that later.

To determine latitude with the sun compass, you have to measure the angle of the sun, another substantial task that requires more instructions and pendulum-dangling. Then you need to check declination on the chart and calculate the result of a second formula. Here's what ours worked out to:

(90 degrees relative hemisphere) + (-16 degrees declination) + (-41 degrees sun angle) = 33 degrees

This positive value indicates 33 degrees North. After plugging our actual location into an online GPS distance calculator, the difference between our actual GPS coordinates (pulled from a GPS app with 7 decimal places) and the Sun Compass's result worked out to an error of roughly 26.1 miles. That's within the device's claimed accuracy range of 50 kilometers (31 miles).

Conclusions

The African Sun Compass is a surprisingly capable device. It's a disc of bamboo with a string through it — no electronics, GPS chip, or even a measly magnet — yet it still manages to act as a self-contained navigational system that works almost anywhere the sun is visible. We were able to determine True North, chart courses to landmarks, and even calculate our latitude and longitude with reasonable accuracy. That's a seriously impressive feat.

However, we approach all survival tools from a practical standpoint, and this is where the African Sun Compass begins to show its flaws. Would we rely on it in a life-and-death situation? Yes, but only if no modern navigational tools were available. We say this for the following reasons:

Complexity. The Sun Compass is far from idiot-proof. While the instructions are helpful and detailed, you'd certainly struggle to use this tool without reading (and re-reading, and re-re-reading) those instructions. Also, the instructions are only offered in digital form. You'll need to read them on a computer/smartphone, or print the PDF files yourself. A portable pocket-sized instruction booklet would've been a godsend.

As we learned firsthand, there are many points at which values can be misread or miscalculated, potentially throwing off your orientation or position. We did our best to remain patient while using the compass, but it definitely tried that patience at times — we can only imagine how frustrating it would be in a true survival situation, suffering from hypothermia, dehydration, or physical injury.

Reliability. Unlike a magnetic compass or GPS, the Sun Compass can only be used outdoors during the day and in reasonably clear weather. If fog, clouds, or a dense forest canopy obscures the sun, you lose your ability to navigate.

Taking readings requires you to stop moving, pull the line taut, measure a shadow, and in some cases do some mental algebra. The compass's use changes from morning to afternoon, and it also requires re-calibration at least once a week to maintain accuracy.

Geographic position is also an important variable. If you live in an area that ever gets less than 7 hours of sun per day, such as Alaska, northern Canada, or Scandinavia, the Sun Compass will be rendered ineffective during winter months. And if you're in the tropics — such as Central America, Southeast Asia, or (ironically) most of Africa — your relative solar hemisphere may change throughout the year, changing how the compass must be used.

Cost. The Sun Compass is currently available for 899 South African Rand, which currently equates to about $66 USD. You can get a very respectable Silva or Suunto magnetic compass for that kind of money — or several cheaper compasses, if you want backup options.

That said, the African Sun Compass is a great tool to have in your toolbox, and a fun challenge to undertake. It teaches you to truly delve into precise solar navigation, rather than shoving a stick in the ground and using it to guesstimate where North is. If you invest the time it takes to master this tool, you'll become a more knowledgeable and prepared person — even if you still rely on your GPS device or magnetic compass in 99.9% of situations.

For more information on the African Sun Compass, go to AfricanSunCompass.com.

UPDATE 2/18/19: After reading our article, Timm reached out to thank us for the feedback, and let us know he's been making revisions to the Sun Compass to address some of our concerns. Specifically, he has made the following changes:

24 hour time format is now mentioned in the instructions
The AM / PM issue is solved in the front face design
The numbering on the navigation instructions has been fixed to have the seventh step and not jump to eight

We're glad to hear that the Sun Compass is improving, and we commend Timm for being so open to user feedback.

Household Ingenuity: 13 Specialized Tools for Survival

Posted on February 8, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

1. Torque Multiplier
2. Low-Profile Sockets and Ratchets
3. Hose and General-Use Picks
4. Service or Thin Wrenches
5. Universal Sockets and Extensions
6. Slide Hammer
7. Cordless Impact Gun
8. 8-Point Sockets
9. Battery Tools
10. Line Wrenches and Sockets
11. Swench
12. Clamp Tool
13. Stud Pullers
More From Issue 30

Photos by David Merrill

Tools frequently separate those who can’t from those who can. Those who fancy themselves as self-reliant and prepared truly aren’t unless they have an assortment of basic tools to work with and the knowledge to use them. Whereas many take the low-cost disposable option, those of us bent on preparedness should choose durable, reliable, and repairable gear — this applies to items in your home, your vehicle, and your bug-out bag. Everything we do for preparedness is predicated on the belief that one day we may not be able to easily replace many of the items that are often taken for granted or have them serviced by an outside technician.

While an assortment of basic tools is critical, some jobs require tools that are more specialized. Many times, a specialty tool can save hours of needless work, such as removal of other parts to get at a fastener in an inaccessible area. Sometimes a bolt is just plain stuck or was installed with so much torque it may be difficult or impossible to remove it with hand tools. And sometimes power tools or air tools that we’d normally rely on won’t be feasible due to lack of power. Certain specialty tools can help overcome the lack of power in an emergency. Here we list and discuss a few you may not know about. There are many brands and types, but we’ll focus on a handful of our favorites.

1. Torque Multiplier

X-4 Tool
(Various)

Common Use
Removal of extremely tight fasteners without the aid of power tools

MSRP
$400+

URL
www.x4tool.com

A torque multiplier, as the name implies, is a hand tool that when utilized with a normal ratchet can substantially increase the amount of force applied to a fastener. The amount depends on the gear ratio of the torque multiplier. The example shown is a 4X multiplier. What does this mean in real-world terms? If an individual can apply 250 foot-pounds of torque with a normal ratchet, the same person could apply 1,000 foot-pounds of torque with the aid of the torque multiplier.

The torque multiplier can make quick and easy work of lug nuts on large trucks or military vehicles and can loosen or tighten stubborn fasteners. This could likely only be otherwise accomplished through the use of power tools or an unwieldy large breaker bar.

2. Low-Profile Sockets and Ratchets

Snap-on
10 pc 3/8” Drive 6-Point Metric Flank Drive Low-Profile Ratchet/Socket Set (8, 10, 12–18 mm)

Common Use
For use in tight areas

MSRP
$266

URL
store.snapon.com

Frequently, a fastener is in a spot with limited access — especially in automotive applications. Standard sets of sockets and ratchets are often too long to fit into a location you may really need to get to. If your tool can’t reach the work, you may need to remove additional parts just to free up space, which only increases the amount of time you have to spend on the job.

Low-profile sockets and ratchets are made to get to those limited-access fasteners, potentially helping you avoid a lot of extra work. These tools are about half the height of standard sets, allowing you to get into those hard-to-reach areas.

3. Hose and General-Use Picks

Snap-on
Set, Radiator Hose Pick, Soft Grip, 6 pc

Common Use
Removal of stuck hoses for repair or replacement

MSRP
$192

URL
store.snapon.com

After years of use, hoses (such as those on a car’s radiator) can often be stuck firmly in place. These picks are used to separate the hose from its connector without damaging either. Without hose picks, people often try to loosen the hose with channel lock pliers, which can lead to damaging not only the hose, but potentially other hard-to-replace parts, such as a radiator end tank.

The picks are used by loosening the hose clamps and sliding the tip between the hose and the connector/hose barb. It can then be worked around the circumference of the hose to lift it from the barb. The pick can also be used to help pry it off the barb. Like many tools, picks can be multi-use; examples include scraping, retrieving lost tools or parts, and removing old gaskets.

General-use picks can be utilized in applications where E-clips, split rings, O-rings, and cleaning or debris removal are required. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and are invaluable once you have them. They’re also super handy for cleaning guns or installing small parts.

4. Service or Thin Wrenches

Snap-on
5 pc SAE 15° Offset Low Torque Slimline Open End Wrench Set (7/16–1”)

Common Use
Low access / small wrench flat fasteners

MSRP
$287

URL
store.snapon.com

Service wrenches are thin in profile compared to standard wrenches, allowing them to work with very small wrench flats, such as those found on bicycles and muzzle devices on firearms. They’re sometimes referred to as “bicycle” wrenches. They’re also very handy when working in limited-access areas — for example, close to a vehicle firewall.

One application we’ve found them very useful for is holding a studded fastener with a ground wire attached to a nut, such as frequently encountered on intake manifolds. Using the service wrench prevents the wire from getting broken or mangled. We also use them frequently on muzzle devices with very small wrench flats and minimal clearance next to a barrel.

5. Universal Sockets and Extensions

Snap-on
Six-piece universal socket assortment

Common Use
Reaching fasteners at odd angles

MSRP
$307

URL
store.snapon.com

Universal sockets and extensions are named for their “universal” joint. The U-joint on these tools allows them to be used at an angle, for locations where a straight approach simply isn’t possible. These are also often referred to as “wobbly” sockets. Universal sockets are available in all the usual drive sizes, in six- and 12-point configurations, deep and shallow versions, and versions for use with impact guns. You might find one or two of these in a standard hardware store ratchet set, but they’re so valuable and versatile that it’s always worth expanding your collection.

6. Slide Hammer

Snap-on
8-Way and 10-Way Slide Hammer Puller Sets

Common Use
Pulling seals, bearings, axles, and hubs

MSRP
$226

URL
store.snapon.com

A slide hammer allows its user to apply hammer force more effectively to pull an item rather than push it. An example would be to remove a wheel bearing or its race without damage. It’s extremely useful where prying on an object to remove it isn’t possible. Anytime you need to apply force to remove something you have no rear access to, a slide hammer is a great option.

We use them for removing grease seals without damage to axles and hubs. There are even slide hammers to break tire beads off of wheel rims in a pinch. It’s a very useful tool that has little to no substitute when you absolutely need one.

7. Cordless Impact Gun

Milwaukee Tool
½-inch Cordless Impact Wrench

Common Use
Loosening or quickly tightening fasteners

MSRP
Approx. $450 with battery and charger

URL
www.milwaukeetool.com

Modern high-torque, lithium-powered, rechargeable, electric impact guns are becoming more common, but unless you frequently work on cars, you might not own one yet. They’re an incredible tool and can replace an air compressor, hoses, and pneumatic impact guns. Better yet, they frequently meet or exceed the torque ratings of air-powered versions, making tire changes and dealing with fasteners with high-torque specs easy. But they’re not limited to the garage. This particular tool features 1,400 foot-pounds of removal force and 1,000 foot-pounds of torque for tightening.

It’s often used for fast lug nut removal and installation, but any work where there are many high-torque fasteners will benefit from it. The 3/4-inch air-powered impacts can be used for large military vehicle lug nuts, but this 1/2-inch drive cordless version has enough power to make quick work of those, too. It’s a very worthy addition to a preparedness toolkit, along with provisions to keep it charged. We haven’t yet met a fastener that this tool couldn’t handle in the normal course of operations.

8. 8-Point Sockets

Snap-on
(Various)

Common Use
4-point drain plugs, 8-point fasteners

MSRP
Varies

URL
store.snapon.com

Six- and twelve-point sockets are the norm. But what about four-point fasteners, such as those found on many drain plugs? Eight-point sockets are primarily used on these type of fasteners. A stuck drain plug can be difficult to remove with conventional open-end wrenches or adjustable wrenches without rounding off the fastener. An eight-point socket is made for this purpose.

Although rare, there are eight-point fasteners as well. Should you encounter one, good luck removing it without one of these sockets. If you have to scavenge gear lube from abandoned vehicles for heat or fuel, an eight-point socket may be a better way than ventilating the oil pan with a .45 ACP. They’re very common on differentials and transfer cases.

9. Battery Tools

Snap-on
Battery Service Kit

Common Use
Maintenance of lead acid batteries

MSRP
Approx. $400

URL
store.snapon.com

In a grid-down situation, batteries take on a whole new importance. There are specific tools to help install, remove, and maintain wet-cell lead acid DC batteries that can make those tasks much easier. Batteries can be the difference between life and death, so having tools to work on them just makes sense. The basics are angle-nose pliers, side battery terminal cleaner, cable clamp pliers, a cable clamp puller, and a battery terminal cleaner.

Angle-nose pliers hold the square bolt head so you can loosen or tighten the nut on the terminal clamp. Side terminal cleaner cleans the terminal connection on side post batteries, which are flat and frequently hard to get to. Cable clamp pliers spread terminal leads for installation without deforming or damaging them. Cable clamp pullers remove stuck terminal leads without damaging them or the terminal posts. Terminal posts are easy to break if you aren’t careful. Battery terminal cleaners clean terminal posts and ensure a good connection, which is probably the most common problem with batteries in general. They also reshape terminals and make a better seal against corrosion.

Also pictured are a load tester and a specific gravity tester. Diagnostic tools such as these are important because they can tell you if you have a viable battery. The load tester is used by attaching the clamps to the appropriate terminal of a fully charged battery, then the tester will apply a load and tell you whether the battery will hold a load or not on its meter. If it reads bad on the load tester, it’s time for a new battery. The specific gravity tester can also be used to determine if a battery is viable by opening the battery and drawing the electrolyte/acid into the tester itself. The tester has a float and, based on where the float line is, will tell you individual cell state of charge — a good way to tell if your battery is on its way out.

10. Line Wrenches and Sockets

Snap-on
(Various)

Common Use
Loosening or installing nuts on tubing

MSRP
Varies

URL
store.snapon.com

Brake, air, transmission, power steering, and air-conditioning line fasteners can be difficult to deal with using conventional wrenches. Line wrenches and sockets are slightly open to allow them to pass onto the line being worked on and prevent damage to both line and fastener. They also allow more torque to be used to remove stubborn fasteners. Crows feet and cut-away sockets are designed to help you in limited access areas, which are frequently encountered when dealing with air, water, coolant, and oil lines.

It’s very common to damage line fittings using conventional open-end wrenches or crescent wrenches. Frequently, there might not be a ready replacement or a good way to repair a damaged line in these circumstances. Using the proper tool such as line wrench sockets can prevent additional damage that you’ll need to address. It’s much more difficult to damage these soft fasteners when using the proper tool.

11. Swench

Power Hawk Technologies
Swench

Common Use
High-torque manual applications

MSRP
Approx. $3,000, depending on the model

URL
www.powerhawk.com

The Swench is a manual impact wrench. It works like a ratchet or torque wrench. When it cams over, a spring-loaded striker is released and impacts the fastener, similar to what happens with an impact gun. This tool helps loosen very large or high-torque fasteners without electric or air power. If you need to change the track on a tank or propellers on an aircraft this is the tool for you. Unfortunately, this power comes with a stratospheric price tag.

12. Clamp Tool

Mayhew Pro Tools
28650 Spring Loaded Hose Clamp Pliers

Common Use
Removal or installation of spring type hose clamps

MSRP
$130

URL
www.toolsource.com

This clamp tool is used to reach into hard-to-access areas and remove or install spring-type hose clamps. It features a long, flexible cable with a hose-plier end that’s actuated by a trigger — when pulled it locks open and releases the clamp. When used to install clamps, the opposite is true.

Spring-type hose clamps have become very common in automotive applications and can be very difficult to address with conventional pliers. This tool allows you to reach and easily remove hose clamps to deal with the underlying issues. It’s an invaluable tool for working on newer automobiles.

13. Stud Pullers

AST
Stud puller set

Common Use
Removing screw-in studs

MSRP
Approx. $100

URL
asttool.com

This is a really cool socket that addresses the issue of removing threaded studs with minimal to no thread damage. Without this tool, the method commonly used is to tighten two nuts on the stud against one another. When being used, one simply slides the socket over the stud. The tool has a segmented sprag, and when rotational force is applied the sprag grips the stud and removes it or installs it.

Having used both methods, this tool is far more efficient and is just plain cool to use. These types of studs are frequently encountered in almost all automotive applications and are used in places such as timing covers, oil pans, water pumps, and so forth.

More From Issue 30

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.

Primitive Technology: Stone Yam Planters

Posted on February 7, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

When we think of gardening for survival purposes, we often envision neat plastic planters with pre-made trellises, wire fences, and drip irrigation. If you're starting a garden now, such a setup may be attainable, but there are many scenarios where these modern supplies may not be available. You might be facing a long-term disaster that interrupts the supply chain, a remote location that makes transporting these items difficult, or simply a restrictive budget. In any case, you can always turn to more primitive methods of gardening.

In the following video from Primitive Technology, you'll see how the host constructs round planters in the Australian jungle using soil and river rocks. He then plants yams around a tall pole in the center of the planter. This setup offers protection against wild turkeys and pigs that might otherwise ransack his crops, and also offers an elevated surface for the yams' vines to cling to.

The garden is finished off with horizontal beams that connect the yam planters into an improvised trellis. After a few months, a thick network of vines should offer the plants the sunlight they need to thrive. Check out the full video below:

Battle of the Boomsticks: Kel-Tec KSG vs. SRM 1216

Posted on February 6, 2019 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

SRM 1216
Kel-Tec KSG
Head to Head
Decisions, Decisions
Final Thoughts
More From Issue 30

Whether your objective is getting back to your family after a large-scale event throws the local population into chaos and anarchy or fending off a home invader in the middle of the night, when it comes to close-range combat, there are few weapons more formidable than a shotgun. It's hard to surpass the simultaneous injection of eight .33-caliber pellets at 1,500 fps or a one-ounce piece of lead at 1,200 fps.

While the shotgun is a platform that’s often unaffected by the Draconian laws meant to specifically target ARs, it has always had three major limiting factors: accuracy, range, and ammunition capacity. The accuracy issue has been mitigated through better barrel and ammunition technology over the years, and range isn’t a big issue when we’re talking about close-quarters confrontations, leaving ammunition capacity as the major concern for many users. Fortunately, several manufacturers have recognized this shortcoming and have begun building guns that combine the benefits of the defensive scattergun with a double-digit shell count.

Choosing a tactical shotgun can be a daunting task, especially if you haven’t spent a lot of time getting to know them. To make the decision a little easier, we took a closer look at two contenders in a side-by-side comparison to see how each of these models addresses the long-standing capacity issue and what advantages they bring to the self-defense arena.

SRM 1216

The SRM 1216 is a high-capacity, self-loading shotgun developed for tactical and home defense applications. It’s the flagship product of SRM Arms, a small arms manufacturer specializing in shotguns and shotgun components.

The 1216 has a polymer lower receiver and a steel upper receiver, barrel, and bolt group. A pushpin disassembly and break-open design allows for easy takedown, similar to an AR-style firearm. A roller-delayed blowback action reduces felt recoil and ensures fast cycling.

The 1216 push-pin, break-open design allows for easy disassembly that AR fans will find familiar.

The controls on the 1216 are fully reversible to accommodate right- and left-handed shooters. These include the bolt handle, bolt stop, ejector plate, and safety lever, as well as the front sling plate. A 6-inch, three-way Picatinny rail atop the upper receiver provides an accessory mounting platform for 12, 3, and 9 o’clock positioning, while a separate 1½-inch rail located 4 inches from the muzzle offers an attachment point for an aftermarket front sight.

Putting a twist (pun intended) on the traditional shotgun tube magazine, the 1216 uses a detachable, rotary magazine to supply a steady stream of 12-gauge ammunition. The magazine works off the same concept as a standard tube magazine, but with four integral tube that rotate into place, each of which has its own spring, follower, and shell retainer. The tubes each hold four rounds of 2¾- or 3-inch shells. In case the name designation isn’t obvious at this point, the 1216 is aptly named because of its ability to hold 16 rounds of 12-gauge ammunition.

The 1216 four-tube rotary magazine and open magazine well.

The magazine is removed from the shotgun by pressing the magazine release lever located at the front of the magazine hanger near the muzzle and pulling downward on the front of the magazine. Reattaching the magazine can be a little bit tricky, as it requires the user to angle the magazine into the magazine well, then press the tube upward into the magazine hanger. Once in place, however, the 1216 is ready to deliver enough firepower to remove the wall your home invader is hiding behind.

Operation is simple. A pull of the charging handle chambers the first round. When the current magazine tube is spent of all four rounds, a forward press of the magazine index lever unlocks the magazine, so it can be rotated in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Once the next loaded magazine tube is aligned with the carrier, the bolt will automatically release to chamber the next round.

There’s a California-legal version of the scary-looking 1216 with a magazine lock release that requires a tool to remove the magazine. Since the magazine consists of four separate four-round tubes and requires that the user manually index the magazine to switch to the next tube of four rounds, rather than continuously feeding all 16 rounds, it complies with California law.

SRM Arms 1216 Specifications

Caliber
12 gauge

Barrel Length
18 inches

OAL
32.5 inches

Height
8 inches

Weight
7.5 pounds

Magazine Capacity
16 rounds

MSRP
$1,800

URL
www.srmarms.com

Kel-Tec KSG

The KSG is a dual-magazine, select-feed, pump action shotgun produced by Kel-Tec CNC Industries. Its unique bullpup design has made it one of the most recognizable tactical shotguns on the market. It has even found its way onto the big screen in movies like John Wick and Peppermint.

The KSG has an interesting design that’s both familiar and foreign at the same time. The general operation is the same as a traditional tube-fed, pump-action shotgun. The fore-end connects to the action bar and slides across the magazine tubes (plural in this case), the action bar moves the bolt carrier to the rear, a lifter lifts the shell from the magazine tube toward the chamber, and the bolt assembly pushes the round into the chamber as the action of the pump is reversed.

Disassembly of the KSG is less intuitive than the 1216 because of its unique design. Manual reference required.

Unlike a traditional pump, however, the KSG uses a combined loading and ejection port. Rather than kicking spent shells out of a side ejection port, they're ejected out the bottom. Also, the hammer, hammer bar, action lock, and sear are built into the grip assembly, along with the ambidextrous action lock button and safety.

The side-by-side, dual six-round magazine tube has a three-position magazine selector lever. The center position prevents access to either magazine for loading or feeding and can be placed in this configuration when empty or loaded, acting as an additional safety feature. Switching the lever toward the desired magazine gives the user access to that magazine for loading and feeding. This function provides the user with the option to carry and select from two different loads (such as 00 Buck and rifled slugs) for specific tactical situations. The loading procedure for the KSG differs little from that of a traditional pump action once the desired magazine is selected, except that the tubes are recessed deep in the buttstock and more difficult to load quickly than a typical shotgun.

A view of the KSG dual six-round tubes and common loading and ejection port.

The underside of the polymer fore-end of the KSG has a 5-inch standard Picatinny rail section for mounting accessories. Given the compact bullpup design and the short distance from the fore-end to the muzzle, a hand stop is a highly recommended accessory. For our testing, we attached a Magpul AFG-2 Angled Fore Grip, which mated well with the pump action.

Kel-Tec KSG Specifications

Caliber
12 gauge

Barrel Length
18.5 inches

OAL
26.1 inches

Height
8 inches

Weight
6.9 pounds

Magazine Capacity
12 rounds

MSRP
$990

URL
www.keltecweapons.com

Head to Head

Aside from sharing the same ammunition, the SRM 1216 and the Kel-Tec KSG have little in common. To level the playing field as much as possible, we used the same sighting system on both guns, a Vortex Venom mounted on a LaRue Tactical riser. The 6 MOA red dot makes a perfect shotgun sight and ought to be considered when purchasing either one of these shotguns, since neither comes equipped with factory sights.

In terms of size, the KSG has the distinct advantage when you consider the amount of gun per square inch. The KSG packs an 18.5-inch barrel and 12 rounds of ammunition into a 26.1-inch package. That’s an extra ½ inch of barrel over the 1216 and four rounds less in capacity, with a difference in overall length of 6.4 inches. With such a compact design, the KSG can be stashed just about anywhere but the tank of your downstairs toilet.

When it comes to rate of fire, the 1216 takes the prize. The automatic, roller-delayed blowback action cycles quickly and mitigates felt recoil quite a bit. With an aggressive shooting stance, the 1216 can easily be emptied of its 16 rounds in just as many seconds. The pump action KSG with the magazine selector lever is a bit slower, as would be expected.

One of the biggest concerns for any firearm being used for self-preservation is reliability. The manual operation of a pump action tends to be a little more reliable than an automatic, as long as you don't short stroke it. However, the KSG pump can be a little challenging. It’s very easy to short-stroke if you don’t handle it with authority.

The pump has a point where it meets some resistance, about ¼ inch from the rear. That resistance is where the lifter catches and drops below the tube to catch the next round. It’s easy to reach that point and think you’ve reached the end of travel. We experienced this a few times on the range during some speed drills and heard some hollow-sounding clicks as a result.

The blowback action of the 1216 operated almost flawlessly. We had one hang-up during our live-fire evaluation. As soon as we rolled the gun to the side to inspect the chamber, the bolt slid forward into battery and we were back up and running.

Decisions, Decisions

Based on our experience with these two shotguns, it would be hard to go wrong with either one. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages when compared to the other. It ultimately comes down to shooter preference.

If you’re looking for a compact, reliable, high-capacity shotgun that you can tuck away or throw in a bug-out bag, the KSG would probably be your best choice. If you want maximum firepower and minimal recoil, then the 1216 is sure to tickle your fancy.

The final factor to consider when choosing between these two lead blasters is the price. The 1216 retails around $1,800, whereas the KSG is about half that price at $990. Both can be found for a couple hundred bucks less than the MSRP, but there’s still a significant cost difference between the two. Kel-Tec also offers other variants of the KSG, including the KSG-25, which holds a whopping 20 3-inch shells.

Final Thoughts

The role of any defensive firearm is to stop the threat as quickly as possible. In close quarters, the shotgun reigns supreme. The Kel-Tec KSG and the SRM 1216 are two excellent specimens of the high-capacity, tactical shotgun variety. When the grid goes offline, or something goes bump in night, reaching for one of these big-bore scatterguns will give you the firepower you need to ensure the safety of you and your loved ones.

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Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original version for the web.