Although most Americans know Mercedes as a luxury vehicle brand, the German automaker has produced some seriously rugged trucks throughout its long history — the legendary Unimog is one notable example. The Mercedes G-Class, also known as the G-Wagen or Geländewagen (meaning “cross-country vehicle”), is another. In the United States, most of these SUVs are outfitted with fancy chrome wheels and low-profile tires, and rarely see terrain more challenging than mall parking lots — but the underlying platform is surprisingly capable.
An early civilian G-Wagen. Photo: Matti Blume / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The G-Wagen has been around since the 1970s. It was originally developed as a military vehicle but later offered in civilian form, much like the Humvee. Although newer versions of the G-Class have transformed into luxury SUVs, they’re still off-roaders at heart. They feature true body-on-frame construction, three locking differentials, short overhangs, and respectable ground clearance.
For the latest RECOILtv Transport episode, Mike Glover and George Bell of Fieldcraft Survival took a 1996 G320 out on the trails in Arizona to review its performance. This G-Class was imported straight from Germany, so you’ll notice its appearance is a bit more barebones than that of newer American models (especially the flashy AMG version).
The duo also discussed considerations for a search and rescue vehicle, and how a PACE plan — primary, alternate, contingency, emergency — should be applied to communications gear in the backcountry. Check out the full video below:
This article originally appeared in Issue 9 of our magazine.
Photos by Michael Grey and Jorge Nuñez
Among the most common complaints heard from preppers, an unsupportive or uninterested spouse ranks just behind not having enough money in the disaster readiness budget and just ahead of not being able to find like-minded folks in their local area. While the world would be pretty boring if we all agreed on every single thing, it can be nearly impossible to work out a complete disaster readiness plan if you’re the only person in the household interested in doing it.
Even if you’re unmarried and living alone, undoubtedly there are people in your life you’d like to get involved with prepping, but they’ve thus far resisted your efforts.
Here’s the thing. If these are people you truly want around you, odds are they’re fairly intelligent, rational human beings, right? That being the case, and this can be difficult to admit, odds are that they aren’t the problem. Most likely, it’s you, or at least your approach when it comes to talking about preparedness. In other words, you’re not selling it very well.
Preparedness isn’t necessarily about being ready for the end of the world. It’s a practical mindset.
One-Trick Pony
You know that guy at work who’s way more interested in football than seems sane? It seems like you can’t have any sort of conversation with him without passing plays, injury reports, or the latest trade rumors being somehow brought up. All you were trying to do is be polite in asking him how his weekend was and now you’ve been trapped for the last 30 minutes as he goes all Monday morning quarterback on you. Sound familiar?
Guess what? That might very well be exactly how you sound when the subject of prepping comes up. If your spouse’s eyes tend to glaze over rather quickly any time you talk about bug-out bags, home canning, or first-aid supplies, odds are pretty good you’ve overdone it a time or two in the past.
Being passionate about disaster readiness is one thing, obsessed is quite another. Honestly, it just isn’t healthy for any particular interest to have such an overriding effect on a human being. Remember your teen years when your primary mission in life seemed to be to attract the attention of a potential girlfriend or boyfriend? Remember all the dumb stuff you said and did back then? That, my friend, is what obsession can do.
If all you ever talk about is prepping, you begin to sound like a used car salesman who’s just trying to close a deal. Expand your horizons just a tad. Let people see you as a well-rounded person rather than a one-trick pony. Then, when the subject does come up, they’re more likely to pay attention and not feel as though they’ve heard it all before.
Slow Your Roll
Another very common mistake is going from 0 to 60 in 0.2 seconds flat. Here’s how it often plays out: Coworker comes and up and says, “Hey Bob, did you see the sale this week on canned chili?” Within moments, Bob is explaining, in excruciating detail, just how many cans of chili are necessary in a comprehensive food-storage plan, one that’s designed to last a family of four at least 10 years, taking into account all of the caloric and nutritional needs of each individual in the family. Ten years, of course, being the minimum time necessary for society to rebound from the coming zombie apocalypse, a disaster the government has been grooming us to handle for years, as they’re the ones behind all of the wildly popular undead TV shows and movies.
Associating practical preparedness with zombie-apocalypse fiction can make it seem unrealistic or absurd.
Coworker probably lost interest about four seconds into that conversation, and now thinks Bob is a weirdo.
If you truly want to get more people on board with prepping, you can’t go from zero to “end of the world as we know it” at the drop of a hat. You need to ease them into it. Talk about far more common, though admittedly more boring, disasters like severe weather, power outages, and such. Leave the world-altering disaster discussions for later, once they’ve caught the prepping bug.
Dollars and Sense
Money, or the lack thereof, leads to more marital strife than any other cause. The reason spending habits cause so many arguments is because the two people involved don’t agree on the relative importance of the items being purchased. If you both agreed that Jimmy Choo shoes were absolutely essential to life, there wouldn’t be an argument at all, right?
Here’s the thing. Some preppers do go overboard and put their families into serious financial trouble. Of course, so do many non-preppers. But, the fact is that prepping costs money. While there are many things you can learn to do on your own, such as gardening, home canning, and such, there are expenses involved no matter what. Your significant other might see these purchases as being wasteful because they don’t believe a disaster will ever strike.
Here’s the counter-argument: By maintaining a decent food pantry at home, you can eat tomorrow at today’s prices. Do some homework and keep track of what you spend on food supplies and let your spouse see how you’re actually saving money in the long run. Of course, you should also be using coupons and taking advantage of sales, rather than just buying for the sake of buying.
Insurance
Here’s a secret that many non-preppers don’t know. Most of us who are actively preparing for potential disasters truly and deeply pray we never need to use our plans for real. You know what else we spend money on and hope we never have to use? Insurance.
Think about it. Car insurance, in particular, is something that costs us a lot of money, and yet we’ll go out of our way to never use it. If we’re in a small fender-bender, we’re far more likely to try and work things out privately than we are to call our insurance agent. If we drive for 50 years, spend a total of $30,000 or more in insurance premiums during that time, and never once file a claim, we call that a win.
People often think (incorrectly) that preppers are all about the doom and gloom, hoping and praying for a major disaster to wipe out significant portions of the population. Really, though, that’s like saying anyone who buys house insurance is praying for a fire to turn all their possessions into ash. The reality is that we buy insurance because it’s a necessary evil. If our house burns down, we need the insurance to help us rebuild. If we get sick, we need health insurance to help us afford the proper treatment. If a major disaster strikes, we want our preparations to be able to keep us safe and alive until all is right with the world again. It truly is that simple.
Unsurprisingly, insurance companies frequently attest to the value of a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan — this article from USAA is a great example to share. Here’s a relevant excerpt:
“You don’t have to live in Tornado Alley or along a major geological fault line to have a plan for surviving and riding out a disaster. It’s prudent to have an emergency plan and an emergency kit in place no matter where you live, because even if you’re at low risk for a hurricane or earthquake, events like house fires and power outages can happen anywhere.”
Conclusion
We each have a vested interest in getting our friends and family on board with prepping. Not only will doing so reduce the overall stress in your life, every person who preps is one less person likely to be knocking on your door, looking for a handout, if disaster does hit.
Something else to keep in mind — you can lead a person to knowledge, but you can’t make them think. There will always be people who will refuse to see the light. That doesn’t make them bad people. But, if they are close to your heart, you might consider doing a little prepping on their behalf.
About the Author
Jim Cobb is a recognized authority on disaster preparedness. He has studied, practiced, and taught survival strategies for about 30 years. Today, he resides in the upper Midwest with his beautiful and patient wife and their three adolescent weapons of mass destruction. His books include Prepper’s Home Defense, Countdown to Preparedness, and Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide. Jim’s primary home online is www.SurvivalWeekly.com. He’s also active on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jimcobbsurvival. Jim offers a consulting service as well as educational opportunities at www.DisasterPrepConsultants.com.
An enraged stranger suddenly draws a blade and rushes you from just a few feet away, fully intending to end your life — this is a nightmare scenario for anyone who has studied self defense. A knife attack doesn’t require a lot of training, strength, or technique. In fact, it’s disturbingly easy for a bad guy (or gal) to maim or kill a victim using relentless “sewing-machine” stabs with a screwdriver, or repeated slashes to the neck and abdomen with a cheap paring knife. And as you may know, it’s also easy for that individual to close the gap between the two of you in the blink of an eye, even if you saw them coming. These primitive methods are used in street killings, prison riots, and crimes of passion around the world, and their deadly effectiveness is undeniable.
However, by studying knife attacks, it’s possible to learn how they typically unfold and prepare to defend yourself against them. We spoke with Patrick Vuong, the founder of Tiga Tactics, about how his company trains students to deal with the challenges of protecting yourself against an edged weapon attack. His methods are intended to be practical and accessible to the average person, so you don’t have to be Rambo or an experienced martial artist to find them helpful. Read on for our exclusive knife attack Q&A.
In addition to working as Editor of RECOIL OFFGRID in the past, Vuong has always been a practitioner of self-defense...
RECOIL OFFGRID: Tell us about how the idea for the Tiga Tactics Stab/Slash Survival Skills Seminar came about. What does it cover and who is it for?
Patrick Vuong: We jokingly call it the Stab “Slash Slash” Survival Skills Seminar because of the slash symbol in the written title. But the slash symbol is there to show that the principles we teach covers both piercing and hacking attacks. As you might have guessed, we take our craft seriously, but not ourselves. After all, if you’re not having fun, you’re not gonna want to train.
The seminar is for anyone who wants to learn how to survive a knife attack. You could be a cop or a survivalist, a bodybuilder or a grandmother. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never trained before or if you have a black belt with 10 stripes on it. Anyone will find value in our seminar because of our unique approach.
How has your martial arts background — and that of your Director of Training, Conrad Bui — influenced Tiga Tactics’ approach to edged weapons?
PV: Conrad and I like to say that Tiga Tactics is “all martial, no art.” What we teach is devoid of martial arts myths, tactical mall ninja bullshit, and all the other cultural nonsense. Our edged weapon curriculum is instead based on real-life knife attacks — particularly the most common types that occur regardless of age, gender, or region.
However, having said all that, we couldn’t have gotten to this “all martial, no art” point if we didn’t first pay a big debt to martial arts through decades of blood, sweat, tears, and injuries. Between the two of us, we have 12 instructor ranks, 60-plus years of continuous self-defense training, and dozens of medals and trophies from competing in combat sports. Many of the systems we’ve studied are bladed arts. Plus, Conrad has real-life experience as a bar bouncer. So we’ve distilled all that down to a program that’s “all martial, no art.”
It’s kinda like fire-starting. How will you know the best method unless you’ve learned a buttload of techniques first and practiced them in a variety of adverse conditions? Imagine if you only learned the fire bow method; you’d probably think it’s the best fire-starting technique in the world. Then you try it in the middle of winter in three feet of snow while someone else walks up and starts your tinder with a Bic lighter.
There seems to be two schools of thought on defensive use of a blade: either it should be primarily a stabbing implement (e.g. an icepick) or a slashing implement (e.g. a box-cutter). Where do you stand on this?
PV: Both can be quite lethal. Anyone who tells you differently is either lying to you, lying to themselves, or have been lied to by their instructor. Again, it goes back to the cultural nonsense. And I don’t mean cultural in the sense of ethnic or regional culture. I mean it in the psychological sense of “my way is better than your way.” Cultural nonsense could refer to any concept people have deep emotional attachments to, from the “9mm versus .45” debate to the “drink your own urine to stave off dehydration” myth.
So where do I stand on stabbing versus slashing? I think you should be well-versed in both concepts because in the real world there are just too many factors involved. Everything is contextual. One method that’s great in one context might be a total failure in another. Think fire-bow in the dead of winter.
If your intent is to end someone’s life quickly, then a thrust to the brain, neck, heart, or lungs will do it quite efficiently. If your intent is to stop their attack but not necessarily kill them, then a deep slash could do that. But don’t get me wrong, a slash to the carotid artery can be just as fatal as a stab to the brain. It’s just that one method will be faster than the other.
Plus, there will be legal repercussions, so you’ll need to understand the laws in the area that the altercation took place.
But I don’t believe that you should focus on only one type of defensive use. Learn both of them so that you can choose the right technique at the right time in the right context.
However, the best method is the one in which you don’t need to use a knife on anyone because you’re not forced into that situation in the first place.
We’ve heard the old saying that “in a knife fight, the loser goes to the morgue and the winner goes to the hospital.” What are your thoughts on this statement?
PV: I’m not sure how accurate that is, but it is an effective warning. It reminds us all that if you engage someone who has an edged weapon, serious damage is going to go down and someone (or everyone) is going to have a bad day.
Of course, we teach our students with the hope that they both prevail and don’t get hurt at all. That’s why our curriculum gives our students life-saving knowledge by identifying the most common types of knife attacks (the problem), provides street-effective defenses against those likely attacks (the solution), and drills those defenses in a realistic way against a resistant partner until they become ingrained.
If you’re facing a foe who has an edged weapon, what does your “fight or flight” decision-making process look like?
PV: First, we must start by saying that if you’re facing someone who already has a knife deployed and you’re empty handed, you done screwed up a long time ago, partner.
At our Stab/Slash Survival Skills Seminar, we teach many of the pre-incident indictors of an impending knife attack. We’ve watched tons of videos of real-life attacks since YouTube came along 15 years ago. Anyone who has done as much research as we have can tell you that before someone gets ambushed with a knife, there are some obvious signs that something’s about to go down. We teach the most common ones and provide four defensive tactics to avoid having to face a knife in the first place.
Of course, even if you know all the pre-fight behaviors and memorized all four of our defensive tactics, you could still just experience bad luck and be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s when you need to have life-saving knowledge, street-effective techniques, and the realistic training to use those techniques when SHTF.
We’ve read claims that carrying a knife for self-defense is only for mall-ninjas and wannabe tough guys, because those who are really serious about self-defense will just use a gun. How would you respond to this?
PV: These claims fall into that cultural nonsense category I mentioned earlier — the whole “my way is better than your way” type of thinking. It’s no different than preppers who claim that you’re not serious about prepping unless you have an underground bunker and two years’ worth of food stored up. Again, context matters.
If there’s a mass shooter, then, yes, I’d absolutely want to defend myself and my loved ones with a gun. But despite what the mainstream media want to play up, mass shootings are a rare occurrence — especially when compared to the tens of thousands of empty-handed or edged-weapon attacks that happen in the United States every year. And in some of those situations, a gun might not be the right solution.
What most people don’t realize if they haven’t done the kind of research Conrad and I have done is that the vast majority of violent attacks happens in bad breath distance. Criminals don’t train. They don’t practice. So they’re not accurate or precise. They want to be as close to their victim as possible and have the element of surprise before they launch their ambush to increase their chances of success.
The moral of the story is that you should learn to use as many self-defense tools as possible, be it a gun, knife, flashlight, or pepper spray. Practice with all of them until they’re ingrained. Then figure out which makes the most sense for you.
How does training with an edged weapon compare to training with other defensive tools?
PV: Conrad and I are instructors in a dozen systems and studied many more, which has given us the opportunity to train with many different weapons — from German longsword to the AR-15. There will always be similarities in training various defensive tools, but each weapon platform requires its own approach and training.
Fortunately for us, we’ve studied Filipino and Indonesian combat arts, which tend to be concept-based rather than technique-based. That means I could pick up a knife and use it in a very similar fashion as I would a flashlight, a tactical pen, or a baton. Why? Because I understand the general concepts of movement, angles of attack, and the biomechanics involved with targeting. So, I could train someone how to use a knife and, after they’ve reached a certain level of competency, I could put a tactical pen in their hand and show them how to apply knife concepts with a different weapon.
Why do you emphasize the importance of working with a resistant training partner?
PV: Because any self-defense technique will work on paper, in theory, or in a sterile environment. But bad guys aren’t going to just stand there and let you counter with whatever weapon or technique you have in your arsenal. They’re going to be doing everything in their power to end your life or beat you down as quickly and brutally as possible. So, if your training doesn’t even remotely reflect that, you’re gonna be in for a world of hurt on the street.
Let’s use that fire-bow analogy again. If you’re a survivalist who only trains on a clear sunny day when conditions are dry and warm, you might not know how to respond if you’re trying to start a fire in high winds, in the dark, or in the dead of winter.
A similar concept can be applied to those with a concealed carry weapon license. If your only form of practice is going to an indoor gun range and shooting a paper target that’s 12 yards away, you’ll have no clue what to do when someone’s charging at you with a hunting knife from six yards away. You haven’t been forced to deal with the OODA Loop or the negative physiological effects of an adrenaline dump — which can cause tunnel vision, the loss of fine motor control, and shallow breathing, just to name a few symptoms.
That’s why Tiga Tactics emphasizes training with a resistant partner in a realistic, progressive manner. You need someone who will do a bit of role playing to safely replicate how a criminal might act before, during, and after an attack.
Of course, if you’re newbie or just learning a new technique, you want your training partner to be a little compliant so you can learn the concepts properly. But eventually he or she will need to give you some resistance to test your skills. Otherwise, you might as well just get into war reenactments if you want to know exactly who loses the fight and how.
Where does a blade fit into a well-rounded self-defense skillset alongside empty-hand skills, impact tools, and firearms?
PV: I always advocate being as well-rounded and versatile as possible because you never know what you might encounter, when, and where. So naturally an edged weapon should be a part of your overall self-defense training plan. The more skills you have, the more tools you have to draw from your toolbox when a certain job calls for it.
Explain your selection criteria for a defensive knife. What are some characteristics you would recommend, and some you’d avoid?
PV: First and foremost, you have to consider the knife laws where you live, work, and play. It would be doubly sad if you had to use a knife to defend yourself only to be in legal trouble afterward due to ignorance of local laws.
Secondly, if the knife is going to be used solely for defensive reasons, then consider a fixed blade if it’s legal to carry one in your area. It doesn’t require you to push a thumb-stud or nudge a flipper tab; just yank it from the sheath and it’s ready to go. Plus, fewer parts mean less chance of a fixed blade breaking on you.
A simple fixed blade is ready to use the second it leaves the sheath, with no moving parts to malfunction.
Thirdly, the blade profile and handle shape should fit comfortably in your hand and stay there regardless if it’s cold or hot, or if you’re sweating or bleeding.
As for characteristics to avoid…
If you choose to go with a folding knife over a fixed blade, avoid models that have intricate locks or opening mechanisms that require fine motor control. In a life-and-death situation, you’ll have far less time than you think you’ll have. And not only that, but the adrenaline dump will really mess with your finger dexterity.
Also, avoid knives that lack a tip. Tactical cleavers are trending right now, but those with extremely angular blades don’t have much of a pointy end. For a defensive knife, you want both a sharp tip and a long cutting edge. Actually, that’s what I’d want from a bushcraft knife, too. The more versatile a blade, the easiest it’ll be for you to adapt to a given situation.
A simple and versatile blade shape offers advantages for self-defense and other survival tasks.
We’ve enjoyed your Death by Martial Arts Myth video series. How does the typical portrayal of a knife attack in movies or TV compare to the reality of an attack?
PV: Movies and TV reflect very little reality when it comes to knife attacks, or violence in general. Action scenes on the screen are meant to entertain and tell a story.
In a real knife attack, there’s often no time to draw your own weapon to defend yourself. And if someone does manage to do it, the ensuing fight never ends as cleanly or smoothly as Hollywood portrays. Real bladed attacks are lightning fast, extremely messy, and launched as surprises.
As Vuong demonstrates, bad guys don’t strike a dramatic pose before attacking. In reality, attacks are sudden.
If you could teach everyone one lesson about defending against a knife attack, what would it be?
PV:Learn how to run. And fast! [Laughs.] In all seriousness, the best lesson to learn about knife attacks is to not get caught in one in the first place. One of the defensive tactics we teach is to avoid physical confrontations whenever and wherever possible.
If you get into an argument, just keep on walking (preferably not with your back to the other person, though). Do your best to avoid, de-escalate, evade, and — if needed — run. Because you just never know if the other person is unstable, evil, or straight up murderous. Your best defense is not putting yourself in that kind of situation in the first place.
Check out the video below for a brief recap of the recent Stab/Slash Seminar. For more information on Tiga Tactics or to sign up for a future self-defense class, go to TigaTactics.com.
Shooting — much like fire-starting and other critical survival skills — should be considered a perishable skill. In other words, if you don’t use it regularly, you might lose it. In the context of a survival situation, that could mean an inability to protect yourself and your loved ones from harm. So it’s advisable to get out to the range regularly and practice with your weapons in a variety of positions and conditions.
Performing a few easy drills on a regular basis can help your shooting skills stay fresh, and this is exactly the reason the RECOILtv Training Tune-Ups channel exists. In the three latest videos on this channel, Dan Brokos of Lead Faucet Tactical demonstrates three simple carbine drills to practice with your AR or other preferred carbine. They don’t require a lot of range space or any special gear, just some paper targets, a shot timer or friend with a stopwatch, and (for the third drill) a few barricades to shoot around.
The first drill is a variation of Around the World, a drill we previously wrote about when Dan demonstrated it for handguns. It involves shooting a dozen 3-inch dots with two rounds per dot, reloading once during the drill. The goal is to complete all 24 shots and the reload in less than 13 seconds, with each shot outside the dots adding one second to your time.
Carbine drill number two is exceptionally simple, but challenging nonetheless. Shoot 10 rounds into a 5.5-inch bullseye target at 50 meters. The entire drill has to be completed in 20 seconds, and eight of the rounds have to be within the circle to pass the test. This one focuses more on accuracy and precision than all-out speed.
Finally, drill number three also starts at 50 meters, but places some barricades at 45 and 40 meters. You’ll need to hit a silhouette target twice at the starting line, four times standing at 45M (twice on the left of the barricade, twice on the right), four more times kneeling at 40M (two left, two right), and then run back to the starting line and shoot it two more times. The entire drill should be completed in 25 seconds. If you don’t have barricades, you could simplify this further, or even work in different positions such as prone. This one should get your heart rate up after a few runs, which is ideal for simulating the reality of a life-threatening situation.
The following article was originally published in Issue 8 of our magazine.
When’s the last time you got your hands dirty? Really dirty? Like, stuck-them-in-the-dirt-on-purpose dirty? It’s OK if the answer is never. You can still grow your own food, with very little in the way of experience or materials. And this home gardening can happen if your home has a backyard, or just a balcony, or even just a sunny window. You just have to pay attention to the details in gardening.
There are lots of reasons to take up this skill set, beside the taste and enjoyment of growing your own food. A significant crisis could cut off our current food supply, and a widespread grid-down scenario could mean that food would be at a premium. Even a job loss could be the culprit behind your hunger.
One of the best ways to inoculate yourself against starvation regardless of the cause is to have your own sustainable garden. But how can a city dweller get started?
So many of our ancestors were once gardeners, farmers, foragers, and capable agrarian types. They had to be. The food-packed grocery store is a luxury that is only a few decades old. Our hardy progenitors successfully built and maintained sustainable gardens that weren’t dependent on modern conveniences. They did it because they had to.
But waiting until you “have to” is not the right approach for the modern, would-be gardener. There’s a learning curve you can’t afford in a contemporary crisis scenario. Get started now, before trouble arises. You eat every day — why not tend some plants every day (within the growing season)?
5 Critical Things
If you want to succeed, you’ll need to pay attention to five vital areas: light, soil, water, plant selection, and damage control. When these five issues are in balance, plants can thrive. When even one of these areas has a problem, your plants have a problem.
Light: The area where you grow your vegetables will need at least eight hours of direct and uninterrupted sunlight each day. Less than eight hours of direct light means that their growth will be severely stunted, and interrupted light signals to the plants that night is coming, which also disturbs their growth. In a standalone house, duplex, or townhome, try to find a south-facing patch of yard where no trees, structures, or buildings block the sun. For apartments or condos, the south side of the building may offer you all the light you need. You may be able to set up on your balcony or fire escape. Better yet, get permission to place containers on the roof. Failing that, purchase a few sturdy window boxes to hang on sunny windows. Finding light is often the biggest hurdle for backyard and urban gardeners.
Soil: Unless you’re working on a hydroponic system, you’ll need some dirt. Potting soil can be purchased as your soil medium, and it is usually weed-free. Bagged topsoil is cheaper, but may be full of weed seeds. In a yard, just use the dirt that’s already there.
Water: If your plants are in the ground, in a backyard for example, they can draw some of their own water from the soil. Container plants, however, are very dependent on your regular and thorough watering. If using tap water, fill a bucket (or several) and let the chlorine evaporate away for two to three days before watering the plants. A better way to water is by collecting as much rain water as possible for your plants (if it’s legal in your area).
Plant Selection: Each species of vegetable plant usually has several “varieties” for you to choose from. For plants in containers, it’s best to select plants that are meant to stay small. Look for words like “patio” or “miniature” in the description. These don’t need as much space to grow, or such a big container of soil. Also pay attention to the calories the veggie would provide. A post-apocalyptic salad might be nice, but salad leaves are painfully low in calories. Focus on higher calorie vegetables (see sidebar below).
Damage Control: You aren’t the only thing that wants to eat your vegetables. Insects smell the plants you are growing and come to wreak havoc on your unsuspecting crops. Diseases can also affect your plants. Many vegetables are susceptible to viral and fungal ailments, which could kill them quickly. Be vigilant for signs of pests and disease to maintain the health of your plants. Frost will also damage or kill plants. Find out the date of the last expected frost in your area. Don’t plant frost-susceptible plants till the danger of frost has passed for the season.
High-Calorie Crops
Calories are the whole point behind a survival garden. Sure, salad plants look nice and grow fast, but you couldn’t eat enough lettuce to sustain you. Leafy greens like lettuce can have as few as 10 calories per cup. It’s a smarter path to focus on high-calorie crops. Here are some survival garden veggies to consider, and their calories per 8-ounce cup (seeds and beans counted dried, roots and fruits counted cooked
Peanuts (a massive calorie payout at 1,200 calories per cup)
Sunflower seeds (800 calories)
Soybeans (775 calories)
Chickpeas, kidney, lima, and fava beans (about 600 calories)
Sweet potato (180 calories)
Potatoes (140 calories)
Carrots (80 calories)
Tomatoes (50 calories)
Turnips (35 calories)
As soon as you have your game plan in mind, it’s time to get busy. Follow these steps to vegetable glory.
Step 1: Go Shopping
Once you’ve found your sunny spot, it’s time to buy some basic supplies. For backyard gardens, you’ll need:
Shovel: A round-point full-length shovel, to dig your garden bed and harvest root crops like potatoes and carrots.
Fertilizer: There is a dizzying number of fertilizer types and numbers on the bags. Those numbers are the NPK numbers. This stands for nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It’s always in that order. Nitrogen is needed for leaves, stems, and green growth. Phosphorus helps flowers and fruit. Potassium is needed for root growth. The average organic fertilizer has about a 3-3-3 rating and a good conventional fertilizer has a 10-10-10 rating. Follow the instructions for application rates.
Plants or seeds: If you have time to wait for seeds to sprout, this is a cheaper way to get your veggies. If time (or patience) is short, buy seedling plants that are already several inches tall and growing strong.
For container gardens, you’ll need:
Containers: These can be pots, buckets, even small garbage cans. If there are no holes for water drainage, you’ll need to punch some in the bottom. You may also purchase (or build) self-watering containers. These are filled up with water every few days, and they water the plants slowly and automatically. Window boxes are also an option if you truly have no space to use.
Soil: Potting soil is a great choice, and it can be purchased with fertilizer already included.
Fertilizer: If not included in the soil mix.
Step 2: Prep Your Soil
You can’t just throw out some seeds and hope for the best. Contemporary vegetables are not as hardy as their wild edible forebears. To perform well, your plants will need loose, rich soil and no other plant competition. Get out your shovel and dig up the grass sod from new backyard garden spots. Then dig deeply and chop the dirt clods with the shovel until they are loose soil. Dig down at least 1 foot if you can, but 2-feet deep is even more productive.
While this is backbreaking work for most people, it’s worth the effort. Deeply prepared soil allows deep root growth, more nutrient and water uptake, and happier earthworms and other beneficial organisms. For container gardens, the work is much easier. Open a bag of potting soil, fill the container, and move to step three. Although potting soil lacks many nutrients and helpful soil creatures, it’s easy to work with and reusable for several years.
Step 3: Plant Your Veggies
If you’re sowing seeds, study the package info on the depth and spacing requirements for each plant. You can use your fingers to poke holes in the loose dirt, and a tape measure or ruler to get the spacing right. Cover the seeds with soil, unless the package says differently. Water the soil gently and wait for the seedlings to emerge. Large seeds grow quickly, since they contain more fuel for growth. Expect beans and squash to pop up in days.
Small seeds are generally slow to sprout, tomatoes taking several weeks to rise from the soil, while peppers and eggplants take more than a month to emerge. Live seedling plants give you a major head start. Bury each root ball in your prepared soil and water deeply. Again, pay attention to spacing. Overcrowding stunts all of the plants that are in competition with each other. As a final option, you could plant living shoots. Cut sprouting white potatoes and sweet potatoes into chunks. Plant each one a few inches deep, and 1 foot apart.
Step 4: Maintain Your Garden
Once the seeds or seedlings are in, water them gently each morning until they are established. You may be able to back off to watering every other day once their roots are deep and the plants are healthy. You may also want to mulch the bed or container to maintain moisture in dry climates. In the beginning of the growing season, you’ll still need to be alert to frost and freeze warnings in your area. Cover plants with a light plastic or bed sheet, and anchor it in place if frost is expected. Remove the plastic as soon as the sun rises to prevent the combination of light and condensation from burning the leaves.
With container plants, if frost or freeze is predicted, just bring the whole container inside. Not all plants are this sensitive to the cold, just plants of tropical descent like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and a few others. Later in the season, heat can also be an issue. For urban gardeners, be careful that summer sun and heat aren’t reflected off walls, fences, and other structures. This extra heat can actually cook them. If plants are well watered, but still become “droopy” in mid-afternoon, move them to a cooler spot.
Step 5: Be Patient Till Harvest Time
Gardening isn’t like the push-button activities of the modern world. Plants grow at their own pace. Some are faster than others, but they are never fast enough to suit an impatient person. Consider the length of time until harvest as you plan your vegetable selection. Radishes offer you the quickest turnaround, growing from seed to harvestable root in about one month. The bad news is that they only have 19 calories per cup. High-calorie plants like peanuts can take four months or more for the edible part to reach maturity. Be patient and be realistic, as you wait for your food to reach maturity and ripen; and be watchful for pests and disease.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
There are a few areas where new gardeners often screw things up. Avoid these likely pitfalls and blunders, and your plants will thank you for it — by feeding you.
Using Too Much Water: The western ideal that “if some is good, more is better” doesn’t apply to watering. Overwatering can cause the soil to remain too damp for too long, leading to fungal diseases which can kill otherwise healthy plants. Too little water is a mistake also, leaving the soil dry and stunting plant growth. Water deeply and regularly, preferably in the morning. Nighttime watering can breed fungus as well.
Ignoring Pests: You never know when an insect invasion will arrive. Frequently inspect the plants for bugs and bug eggs (underneath the leaves). A few bugs are helpful, like pollinators, but the rest are enemy combatants. Crush them with extreme prejudice.
Using Too Much Fertilizer: You may be head over heels for your new vegetable plants and want them to do well. But don’t overdo it on fertilizer. The overuse of conventional fertilizer can cause harm to your plants. Follow the package instructions for directions on the use of the product.
Foregoing Regular Checkups: Plants can pick up diseases from insects, fungal spores on the wind, and even from you! If you smoke around your tomatoes, for example, they can pick up a nasty virus from the tobacco. At the first signs of sickly leaves or messed up vegetables, prowl the Internet or good gardening books to find out the cause. Many diseases can be remedied — if caught early.
How to Cultivate Your Own Seeds
It’s surprisingly easy to save seeds from year to year, and continue your own gardening traditions (and genetics). This isn’t legal when dealing with modern protected plant varieties. Heirlooms, on the other hand, still exist because of home gardeners saving their seeds. Here’s how you can carry on the heritage of seed saving in your own family.
Plan ahead for seed saving by growing single varieties of each vegetable species. This will help you avoid unpredictable results from cross-pollination and mutant vegetables next year. Let the fruiting part of your plants mature fully. This will mean mushy tomatoes, dry crusty bean pods, and rock-hard squash. This also means that the seeds are fully formed.
Next, cut or tear open the fruiting body and pick out the seeds. Large seeds are easy to pick from the flesh, smaller ones take a little time. Place them on newspaper to dry in the shade. Once they are thoroughly dry, pick off any dried flesh and place the seeds in a jar with a small desiccant pack. Store these seeds in a cool, dry, dark place until next spring. A few odd seeds require a fermentation process or scratching with sandpaper for best results, but generally, it’s that easy.
Conclusion
Like all living things, plants want to grow. Their roots dig deep, and their leaves reach toward the sun. If we provide the right plants with the light, fertile soil, water, and protection mentioned throughout this article, chances are that you will have some success. But like most endeavors, there’ll be some missteps too. Learn from your mistakes, do some research and find out what went wrong. Use that information the next time, and your results should speak for themselves. There’s no such thing as a green thumb, just dirty thumbs with calluses.
The following article was originally published in Issue 8 of our magazine.
It goes without saying that we should all be proficient in basic bushcraft skills to ensure a certain level of self-reliance. Knowing how to build a fire, provide clean water, and hunt and defend yourself is crucial to surviving and thriving. But you don’t have to do it all alone. If you’ve read Jim Cobb’s “It Takes a Village” feature in Issue 7, you know one of the advantages of joining or forming a survival group is teaming up with others whose skills complement your own. Within those groups, various individuals will have specific skills and/or products that will contribute to the greater good. Essentially, that’s the way civilizations have functioned long before there was a grid to go off of.
Looking back on thousands of years of history there’s one skilled individual who has always been as essential as the hunter or the healer. One person who appears to be as integral to the fabric of society as a clean water source. That person is the guy (or gal) who knows how to…wait for it…make beer!
The role of beer in society goes far beyond grabbing a cold one and watching ’Bama football. It’s one of the oldest beverages created by humans. It goes even further back than the classic European monastic breweries founded after the Romans stopped sending Christians to the lions. In fact, archaeologists have found 4,000-year-old clay tablets that described beer recipes in great detail.
So maybe we’re waxing a little too poetic about “cold gold.” Nonetheless, within certain survival groups, your brewing skills could be almost as good as gold (did we mention that beer was used as currency at one time). The really good news is that — unlike learning medicine or gunsmithing — brewing is a skill easily acquired and practiced in the comfort of your own living room and/or kitchen. Whether you’re prepping for TEOTWAWKI where all bars have shuttered or you just want the extreme satisfaction of drinking an ale you gave birth to, having your own do-it-yourself brewery could be more of an asset than you think.
Setting Up Shop
You don’t need high-tech gear to start your home brewery.
If ancient cultures with no running water and poor hygiene were able to make beer, there’s no excuse should we fail to make a quality brewski with the resources we have today. It’s a pretty simple process, and the equipment is easy to find and store. And if you’re emotionally attached to your homemade tap, the buckets can be used to carry other things while you’re bugging out.
It’s easy to get started because you don’t need expensive gear. In fact, the process you’ll use will be basically the same even if we get thrown back to a 19th-century lifestyle after a massive solar flare or electromagnetic pulse attack. You don’t need any exotic cooking kettles, fermentation tanks, or bottling systems. Everything can be found at and/or made from stuff at your local home-improvement store. That being said, there’s no need to run out to The Big Orange Box and start playing MacGyver. Online supply houses like The Home Brewery are inexpensive resources for even the most basic ingredients. Plus, the folks there will have more expertise than you’ll find in this article. They will get you up and running, even if you only want to set yourself up for SHTF brewing.
Get the basic setup and you’re good to go; upgrade it and you’ll find the process a little easier and your end product a little better. Even with the much recommended upgraded kit, there’s no high-tech equipment. Below are the items you’ll want to gather.
The Gear:
A stainless steel brew pot big enough to hold 3 gallons of water
Thermometer
Large stirring spoon
Straining bags
Fermenting bucket (clean unused 6.5-gallon bucket) with an airtight lid
Bottling bucket (a 6.5-gallon bucket with a spigot)
Bottles and corks or caps (actually growlers with lock tops work great since they’re reusable and you don’t need a supply of caps and a capper)
Transfer tubing
Hydrometer to measure the alcohol content as an indicator of when to stop the process
An accurate thermometer is essential for brewing homemade beer, lest you just want flavored water
The essential upgrades are a 6.5-gallon glass secondary fermenting bottle (called a carboy), as well as a coil of copper tubing used in cooling the pre-beer mixture so you can add the yeast that turns boiled grains and malt into beer.
You’ll also need a reliable means of rendering all your equipment germ and bacteria free. If there’s one unbreakable rule in brewing: sanitize and sanitize again! You can stock up on sanitizing mix at online sources like The Home Brewery.
Now that you have the equipment, you’ll need ingredients. Every beer has the same basic ingredients. They are also the same staple ingredients you’ll need on hand to make bread, feed poultry, and season other foods. To start you’ll need to get your hands on the following items.
The Ingredients:
Yeast
Water
Spices
Grain (oats, barley, or wheat)
Sugar (cane sugar, honey, corn sugar, or milk sugar)
Hops (different strains yield different tastes)
Malted barley extract (if SHTF, you’ll need to make your own, which is a more detailed process than we have room for here. But commercial extracts are available for you to use until you need to make your own.)
Keep in mind: You don’t have to worry about sourcing all this at first. You can pick your favorite style of beer and purchase a kit that will have everything you need to cook up the recipe.
You can customize your post-apocalyptic beer by adding certain grains and spices.
Beer Pioneer?
Who made the very first mug of beer? Was it made out of a survival need or through serendipity? No one knows for sure. There’s a theory that says that cerveza was discovered because someone accidentally left soggy bread out to ferment and decided to give the run-off a swig. If you believe the ancient Egyptians, divine inspiration gifted an elder with the knowledge of taking a combination of water, grains, and wild yeast, and letting it age to create a drink that helped ease the stress of building pyramids — or at least one that would give the pharaoh a buzz. Beer was held in such high regard in Egypt that beer historians say if a gentleman gave a lady a sip of his beer they were engaged (yikes!).
The mystery as to how ale materialized might never be solved. But it’s certain that beer is so cross-cultural and enduring because the ingredients are easy to grow and are the same items used in bread making. Or perhaps it’s because beer can be a bacteria-free alternative to less reliable water. Any way you look at it, beer has been produced by virtually every civilization on earth for millennia, and it’ll surely be around for many more.
Two Types
There are two main classifications of beer: ales and lagers. They’re determined by the type of yeast used in the fermenting process.
Ale is a top fermenting beer, meaning the type of yeast used rises to the top during the process. These include pale ale, India pale ale, and Belgian ales.
Lager, conversely, is a bottom fermenting beer. The type of yeast used falls to the bottom during the process. These include bocks, dark lagers, light lagers, and pilsners.
Let’s Cook
So you’ve got your equipment and your ingredients kit — now what? Let’s get to brewing. As we mentioned, the prime rule in brewing is sanitizing. Anything that isn’t in boiled in the kettle needs to be sanitized thoroughly. Nothing ruins a brew quicker than errant bacteria. After that, in a nutshell, beer-making is simply taking the ingredients through a four-step process: boiling, fermentation, priming, and bottling. The timing and order in which to add the ingredients will determine whether your lager is worthy of a Super Bowl ad or if it’s a sad waste of water and liquid bread.
Step 1: Boiling
Beer making starts off a lot like making a good cup of tea. You’ll bring 3 to 4 gallons of water up to a pre-boil temperature of 170 degrees F. At that point you’ll fill a straining bag full of various grains and steep it like you would a tea bag. The types of grains you use will render specific tastes. When the grains have steeped, you bring your concoction to a boil. At a rolling boil, you’ll mix in your malt and hops. This mixture is called the wort and it starts to smell like beer. You’ll be boiling the wort for a good 60 minutes. Now is the time to sanitize the fermentation bucket, the lid, and the airlock if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Fermentation
If any part of the brewing process is frustrating, it’s cooling the wort after the boil. Remember: we’re brewing 5 gallons, but only boiling 3. Add the hot mixture to your sanitized fermenting bucket, then add 2 more gallons of cold spring water. You’re trying to get the mixture down to 75 to 80 degrees F so you can add the yeast. Any hotter than that and you’ll kill the yeast — meaning no alcohol will be produced.
This is the wort, a mix of malt and hops that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol.
The cooling process is expedited with a wort chiller, a coil of copper tubing that connects to a faucet. Put the sanitized chiller in the wort mixture and run cold water through it. This takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes off the chilling time.
Now that everything has cooled down, it’s time to add the yeast. Just like making bread, yeast is the key ingredient in the process. If the yeast isn’t active, then kiss a good batch goodbye. Different types of yeasts are required for different types of beer.
After you pitched your yeast and sealed the bucket with the sanitized lid, the waiting game begins. The lid will have an airlock on it that allows the fermenting gases to escape without letting unwanted bacteria in. So now the waiting begins…for about two weeks. You’ll see the airlock bubbling — that’s how you’ll know your sweet barley pop is on its way.
Make sure your fermenting bucket is sanitized. Nothing kills a brew like errant bacteria.
Step 3: Priming
When your brew has stopped fermenting, it’s time to prime. This is the stage in which you add a measured amount of sugar or malt extract right before bottling. This fuels the yeast and creates a new fermentation process in the bottle and, more importantly, CO2. The gases produced in the next step carbonates the beer. (Refer to the experts in our source box or other qualified breweries for information on fermentation times, amounts of sugar, and other exact details.)
Step 4: Bottling
The last stage is to bottle your brewski in sanitized bottles. Bottles that require you to press on a cap are good for the casual brewer. In an off-grid scenario, however, bottle caps will be scarce; that’s why it good to start using snap lid growlers. After you’ve bottled your suds, wait for another week or two and it’s ready to drink.
That’s it. All in all, an easy process — unless you’re super impatient. The great thing is that when it’s TEOTWAWKI you can learn to recycle the yeast to make another batch of beer. The grains you use are good for bread and animal feed. Hops are easy to grow and can also be used for feed. In addition, the soggy grains and hops left over from the process can be used as fertilizer. So, as the brewmeister, you’ll be not only lifting the morale of your loved ones and producing a valuable bartering commodity, you’ll also contribute to your survival group’s overall well-being in several ways. And that’s something we can all drink to. Cheers!
When you think of Volvo, what sort of vehicle you recall? Most of us tend to think of the boxy, reliable sedans and station wagons made by the company throughout the ’80s and ’90s. However, the Swedish company has done far more than build passenger cars, producing everything from semi trucks to guided missiles. We recently learned of Arquus, a division that produces some seriously cool armored vehicles.
Arquus was formerly known as Renault Trucks Defense, originally a subsidiary of the French automaker Renault. In 2001, it was acquired by the Volvo Group, integrating Volvo parts and engineering to its product line. The company produces armored 4×4, 6×6, and 8×8 chassis and complete vehicles for military and security organizations around the world. These range from light multi-purpose vehicles like the Trigger to medium-weight infantry fighting vehicles like the VAB Mk3.
The latest offering from Arquus was unveiled to the public at the 2019 Paris Air Show this month. It’s known as the Scarabée, meaning “beetle” in French. Arquus calls it a “natively-hybrid military vehicle” because it has two motors — a 300hp traditional diesel engine and a 103hp electric motor. The Scarabée can run both simultaneously in Boost mode for increased power, or it can be operated in Stealth mode using only the electric motor for up to 6 miles at a time. The latter reduces acoustic and thermal signature to sneak through potentially-dangerous areas.
This 6.6-ton vehicle can hit a top speed of 75mph, but its most impressive feature is its independent rear steering. If it’s turned one way, the system can help the Scarabée turn around in tight spaces; if it’s turned the other way, it allows the truck to move diagonally like a crab. The suspension also features adjustable height modes — high for off-road clearance, and low for fitting into parking garages or aircraft cargo holds. It’s said to be ready to fight within 15 minutes of being dropped off by a C-130 or Chinook.
Sliding side doors provide easy loading of four crew members — the driver takes a central forward seating position for 270-degree visibility — as well as their weapons and gear. The Scarabée is fully armored including ballistic and mine/IED protection, and can be set up with a variety of accessories depending on its mission. These include a remote-controlled machine gun turret, 30mm cannon, missile launchers, radar or thermal camera arrays, and anti-drone systems. A motorized electric trailer is also available, and can be remotely called to join the vehicle on demand.
Popular Science reported that the Scarabée is “a candidate to replace the French Army’s fleet of 730 light armored vehicles by 2025.” For more information, see this press release on Arquus-Defense.com.
Earlier this month at Blade Show, we stopped by the Hogue booth and noticed a new knife on display as part of the company’s HK Knives line. The new Mini Incursion is an out-the-front automatic knife with a sub-3-inch blade, making it a good option for those who like the slick action of an OTF but want something more compact and EDC-friendly. We can see the appeal, since we often find ourselves minimizing gear while wearing light shorts in the hot summer months.
The new HK Knives Mini Incursion is made in the USA with an ambidextrous push-pull switch that swiftly deploys and retracts the blade. The handle/frame is machined from 6061-T6 aluminum and anodized in either a matte grey or matte black finish. It also features a deep-carry, tip-down pocket clip with the HK logo and a built-in carbide glass breaker.
Pushing forward on the switch reveals the 2.95-inch 154CM steel blade, which is heat treated to 57-59HRC and ground to either a tanto or clip point profile. Available blade finishes are tumbled (matte black frame and clip point blade only) or black PVD coating. Each knife is hand-sharpened and honed.
MSRP for the new HK Knives Mini Incursion is $290 for the tumbled-finish model, and $310 for all other models. For more information, go to HKKnives.com.
One century has passed since we started wearing watches on our wrists, and it appears that the wrist-mounted timepiece has yet to become obsolete. Companies continue to create a variety of features beyond simply telling time that adapt to the ever-changing needs of the tech-savvy consumer. This also raises an important question — why do you need a wristwatch when you can just look at your phone? The key question that you should ask is what kind of watch will serve your lifestyle best in the absence of a cell phone? Is it an analog automatic watch, serving the very simple task of keeping time accurately? Is a multi-function watch for work and play the way to go? How about a Bluetooth-compatible watch that’ll let you access your smartphone features at a glance?
Having an accurate, dependable timepiece has served me well on missions and in the classes I teach. Not only do they provide the ability to monitor this most precious commodity, time, but certain makes and models can also measure ambient temperature, barometric pressure, compass direction, and altitude. So what does this data translate to in austere circumstances or tactical situations? By having environmental info like temperature, you can better monitor your team’s diagnostics (gotta keep them horses watered). Temperature, barometric pressure, and altitude are factored into ballistic calculations for long-range shooting. Barometric pressure can alert you to unexpected weather, which could affect things like line-of-sight visibility.
You might think that an altimeter may only be relevant to pilots and mountain climbers — think again. In 2010, while navigating with GPS in the Sierra Nevada mountains, I had a power failure and interference that rendered the device as useful as a paperweight. I was alone and eight miles into my trek, trying to locate a designated landing zone. Since I’d mainly been following the GPS, I pulled out a map from my cargo pocket to do some terrain association. As I stopped for a map check, the GPS died. I was at 8,000 feet, it was 30 degrees F, and it was getting dark. Orienting my map to north, I looked around and tried to associate my position with visible landmarks in order to get an idea of where I was.
With my compass, I shot two azimuths, or lines of direction, in order to triangulate a resection — a method used to locate your own position on a map. In this terrain, it was very important to determine my exact location on the map because false peaks could be the difference between spending the night in the bush in very cold conditions or in my hotel. By having a general idea of where I was, I used the altimeter on my watch and matched that up with the contour lines (elevation indicators) on the map to get my exact location. This saved my bacon, and could save yours one day too.
An analog watch face can be used as an improvised compass in a pinch.
Do a web search for EDC gear. You’ll probably see a watch in almost every photo. Time keeping, orientation, coordination, and distance calculation may be the most common uses for wristwatches, but did you know there’s a hell of a lot more ways a watch can serve you?
In a SHTF scenario, it’s important to keep a chronological journal of even the most mundane activities. An accurate sense of time and date provides orientation and can keep the looming depression monster at bay.
Those unsightly, ginormous watch faces are useful as a data board in a pinch. I often write reminders or other info I may not be able to recall later on my watch faces. You can use a Staedtler felt pen (map pen) or fine-point Sharpie.
I used to have an older watch that had a sliver of space in the battery compartment. I kept a microSD card in there with important documents on it. Key fobs work great for this as well.
Pop the face off and work it to an edge to use as a cutting tool in an escape scenario.
Here we take a look at 10 of the latest watches on the market, with functions that go from simple to complex. See which watch has a place in your EDC.
Notes The triple chrono features a 60-second, 30-minute, and one-hour dashboard. Also handy is a tachymeter with which you can estimate speed, distance, and other metrics. The “non-luminous for black ops” specification was a bit amusing. It has great, large hands with a contrasting background, plus you can use the large face as a mini data board to write on. Water-resistant to 100 meters, with a two-year limited warranty. The design of the watch body is inspired by a centerfire cartridge, with its underside mimicking the look of brass with a primer. The bullet-case design on the backplate is a nice tribute to shooting sports and 2nd Amendment rights. The details in the markings and jewels are very appealing to classy watch folks. It’s a little heavy and bulky, but that also seems to be the trend. Six-year battery life.
Notes Features include a digital and hand display compass that measures and displays magnetic north, 16 direction points, and bearing memory. This watch also features an altimeter for navigation tasks and barometer for predicting weather and long-range marksmanship. It has an LED backlight with neo-brite luminous hands and markers. It has world time with 31 time zones. It’s water-resistant to 200 meters and mud resistant as well. The auto compass north feature is great, and I found myself engaging compass mode just for the fun of it. For the price, this is an excellent tool for land navigation short of getting a GPS. However, its bulk is a little obtrusive, and the strap is very stiff. Despite its size, it weighs only 3.3 ounces. Battery life is approximately two years, and its warranty is three years.
Notes Oversized analog numerals with a moonglow electroluminescent function. Large hands and a contrasting background make it easy to read day and night. Rated at 5 ATM (165 feet) of water resistance. Analog watches have always served me well as an instructor for monitoring timed events. The soft band was very comfortable. Overall the Dakota brand is a cost-effective choice, available at many large department stores. In fact, it’s one of the only watch brands I’ve seen in the Walmart hunting/sports section. Its simplicity, durability, and price point under $100 make it a great everyday watch choice. With so many other watches boasting features beyond time keeping, the Dakota may not meet all the needs of a serious outdoorsman who has other options at a comparable price point. It has a two-year warranty, and battery life is one to three years.
Notes Isobrite is known for making the first tritium dial-lighted watches. This model has tritium vials at every hour marker, with two at the 12 o’clock position. The bezel has tacky contours with positive “clicks” and contains tritium vials at the 12 and 3 o’clock marks. The crown is nice and big with a smooth three-position function — my favorite turning crown of all the watches. The polycarbonate case is lightweight and strong. It comes with a matching silicone band, which I found to be thick and uncomfortable, or you can opt for a nylon NATO-style version. The watch is deceptively rugged and water-resistant (rated to 200 meters). The tritium vials (jewels) are amazingly bright — hence the name. Large positive clicking dials make for easy adjustment, even with sausage fingers. The tan desert color, although a low contrast color that may be a good choice for sneaking around in the bush, can make this watch look cheap or toyish to those who’d prefer other colors. Its lithium battery should last 10 years.
Notes The “Carbonox” construction was very light. The company claims it’s six times lighter than steel and three times lighter than titanium. It was the lightest watch we reviewed at 80 grams. A huge, positive clicking single dial does everything. Tritium vials perform as advertised, and the single distinctive orange jewel at 12 o’clock was helpful for orientation. The watch has smooth contours with a low profile, easily accessed with long-sleeve uniforms or dress shirts. There are large bright numbers on the bezel, along with a tritium jewel at the zero mark. The strap is oil resistant, lightweight, and very comfortable — you forget you’re wearing it. It has a two-year limited warranty and 10-year warranty for the tritium tubes. It’s water-resistant to 300 meters and features an eight- to 10-year battery life.
Notes The MTM’s three-dial chronograph can measure down to 1/10th seconds. Features include tritium glow hands, bright tritium jewels, and a unidirectional ratcheting bezel. This is a man’s watch that says “business tactical” and looks like something John Wick would wear. You can bash someone’s face in with this timepiece due to its heft, but that weight may be a turnoff for some people. MTM offers many options for finishes, as well as band, case, hand, and dial color. The size of the band is easily adjusted with an Allen key rather than the typical swear-inducing, spring-loaded pins, and you can also select from numerous nonmetallic band options. The watch is water-resistant to 200 meters and has a three-year limited, nontransferable warranty. It comes in a watertight tactical box that’d rival many gun cases for durability. Four-year battery life.
One Eleven Master SW1 Solar 3-Hand Black Nylon Strap
Notes This watch design looks like a wrist compass and can be used in that manner like all analog watches. You could wear this watch with a business suit during the week and in the bush on weekends. The strap has a unique spring release switch to remove and clean it; it’s also very comfortable and easy to adjust. The crystal allows for image refraction that gives it an appealing look. It’s water-resistant to 10 ATM. The large solar cell watch face ensures great light collection in order to keep it ticking. The compass-like face not only provides cool compass nostalgia, but also makes it easily interpretable as a field expedient compass. Nice crystal glass gives this watch a great look, and in a pinch could be used as a cutting implement. The markings are a little small, and the hook and loop strap keeper will wear out with time. The watch has a two-year limited warranty, and the battery is rechargeable.
Notes The Resco has a matte black dial with C3 SuperLuminova luminous markings; C3 refers to its yellowish color. It has a unique internal rotating bezel, operated by the upper rotating crown. The NATO nylon strap, while functional, seems like a cheap feature for a watch at this price point, but other options are available. Overall, though, it has very nice aesthetics. It’s water-resistant to 200 meters and has a one-year warranty. A great feature is the internal bezel that can be used to mark time elapsed or a direction for navigation. A unique service provided by Resco is factory conversion of an automatic watch to a quartz battery movement for many of their models. They also donate 20 watches per year to programs that support wounded service members; it’s great to see companies that support our nation’s heroes. Three-year battery life.
Notes This watch has it all. The weather barometer is excellent for reading environmental conditions. Bluetooth functionality with your smartphone is simple and intuitive, and the GPS navigation feature easily pairs with Suunto’s iOS or Android app, so you can track your progress and health diagnostics. The touch screen is responsive. Along with the amazing spectrum of features offered, you can monitor the last incoming text message while avoiding the distractions of trying to catch a glimpse of the peripherals of your smartphone. The battery life is a big con, ranging from 10 hours to 14 days, depending on which functions you’re using. And don’t forget your charge cable, because you can’t use just any USB cable. With a stainless steel bezel, it’s still very light and water-resistant to 100 meters. For a large smart watch, its contours are very unobtrusive with no sharp edges. The time face is adjustable for layout and color. Two-year limited warranty.
Notes Known for their illuminated watches, Traser offers a proprietary “Trigalight” technology, using tritium gas in miniature tubes that light up at night. This is the same type of technology seen in self-illuminating night sights for guns. The markers are very bright, and the hands are easily picked up at the first hint of dusk. The bezel is excellent for marking time elapsed. The Traser has an overall masculine look and feel to it, and the strap is easy to remove for cleaning. The main issue that users may wish to consider is that it has a high profile and edges that may catch or snag on gear or equipment. It’s water-resistant rated to 200 meters with a two-year warranty.
Humans are social creatures — while many of us enjoy moments of solitude, we thrive in the company of other people, whether they’re family, friends, or team members. Our greatest accomplishments, from circumnavigating the globe to landing on the moon, have been group efforts. However, as anyone who has endured a difficult relationship can tell you, other people can also make our lives into a living hell. It’s a classic catch-22: we often can’t live with people, but also can’t live without them.
In a survival scenario, there are numerous advantages to having at least one other person by your side. Assuming you’re able to work together, you can divide and conquer tasks, watch each other’s backs, and assist one another in the event of an injury. But your partner can also become your worst enemy, whether through unintentional panic or deliberate opposition and conflict. Think of a drowning situation — if you attempt to grab the floundering swimmer and help them stay afloat, they may end up dragging you under so you both die.
We’ve all seen the stereotypical movie scene where the hero’s buddy gets injured and selflessly exclaims, “Go on without me! Save yourself!” Usually, the hero bravely refuses to leave anyone behind and drags his pal to safety as the music swells dramatically. Cue fiery explosions in the background as they reach safety; fade to black, roll credits. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple in real life.
Sometimes you’ll have to work with someone unpleasant to make the best of a bad situation, while other times it may be wise to cut and run immediately. Where do you draw the line?
This is the question we pose in today’s edition of Survival Scenarios. For those who have missed our previous installments of Survival Scenarios, here’s how it works. We ask you how you’d handle a difficult choice in a hypothetical survival situation. These exercises can help you mentally ready yourself for an event you might encounter in real life someday, and consider adjusting your emergency preps accordingly. As always, the article will end with a poll where you can make your choice and see how others felt.
Background Info
Photo: Flickr.com/Yisnd_2b (CC BY-SA 2.0)
You live approximately 40 minutes north of San Diego, CA, and work near the city center. Normally, you get on the freeway around 7am for your morning commute to work, but your trusty old SUV hasn’t been so trusty lately. In fact, it broke down last week and left you sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow.
Photo: Flickr.com/cooljuno411 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It seems like your vehicle’s reliability problems aren’t too serious, but it’s going to take a few days to get the parts and install them — in the mean time, you still need to get to work. So, you asked a few of your coworkers if they wouldn’t mind giving you a ride. Unfortunately, everyone who lives near you apologetically explained they couldn’t carpool… except for one person.
Steve is widely-known around the office for being a pain to work with. He never seems to be able to agree with anyone, and acts like a pompous know-it-all most of the time. You could mention that the sky is blue, and Steve would start a debate about how it’s actually cyan, then lose his temper if you didn’t agree with him. However, despite his disagreeable and childish behavior, your boss keeps him around because his sales numbers are second to none and he hasn’t taken a day off in years.
Steve overhears you asking another coworker for a ride, and chimes in to say that he will pick you up (probably because he wants to show off the Audi he just bought). Knowing you’ve exhausted your other options, you put on a smile, thank him, and agree. Hopefully your SUV will be fixed soon and this will be a one-time occurrence.
He picks you up the next morning — right on time, as expected — and greets you with a smug expression before you drive off together. After 15 minutes on the freeway, several low-flying jets scream by overhead. You look out the side window and see military helicopters flying in formation in the same direction you’re headed.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Parker Gyokeres
Living this close to Camp Pendleton, you’re used to seeing similar activity, but never this much at once. Especially not concentrated in this area. As traffic slows to a crawl, you can see a huge column of dark smoke rising on the horizon. Cars begin to jostle for position to exit the freeway. Whatever this is, it doesn’t seem like a training operation.
Steve frowns and turns the radio to a local news station. An automated message is playing, instructing everyone to stay calm, remain indoors, and keep the roads clear for emergency personnel. Maddeningly, it doesn’t share any details on what’s actually happening. You check your phone but web pages don’t seem to be loading — maybe poor signal, or maybe an overloaded network. Steve shrugs this off and says it’s just a drill, and that he’s not missing a day at work because of something stupid like this. You protest and try to explain that this seems serious, and he responds with “Quit being paranoid. If you don’t like it, you can walk. Otherwise we’re going to the office.”
Conditions & Gear
Photo: Flickr.com/slworking (CC BY 2.0)
It’s a typical southern-California summer morning, with clear weather and temperatures in the mid-80s. Your gear consists of only your lunchbox and a few items on your person. The office has a strictly-enforced “no weapons” policy, so you only carry a small folding knife inside your pocket. You also have your cell phone, keys, and wallet with about $30 in cash. You’re wearing business casual apparel and dress shoes.
Sticking Together
You don’t feel comfortable continuing on to work given the indications of some sort of major emergency. You considered the possibility of a wildfire, but the vague radio message, increased military activity, and location of the smoke in the distance suggest this is something more serious. It might be anything from an isolated industrial explosion to a dirty bomb, bioterrorist attack, or the start of a war.
If it’s an isolated issue, you should be able to complete the remaining 25-minute trip to the office and decide what to do once you have more information. If it’s some sort of large-scale attack, you could end up stuck in the car with your belligerent coworker — possibly the last person on earth you’d want to survive alongside.
However, you can’t exactly force Steve to turn around, and he’s the type of person who would stick to his word and leave you on the side of the road. In an absolute worst-case scenario, you could probably take the car from him by force, but you don’t feel like adding felony carjacking to your résumé unless you’re positive your life depends on it. Anything short of that means you either keep going with him at the wheel, or get out while it’s still relatively safe to do so.
If you decide to stay in the car, you might be able to convince Steve to let you out somewhere more preferable further down the road. Then again, you’re pretty sure he won’t want to leave the freeway at all unless it’s obvious that he has no other choice. This might lead him to drive the two of you right into the middle of a dangerous situation.
In the mean time, at least you’d be mobile with access to radio news broadcasts, and wouldn’t be standing outside directly exposed to anything the smoke on the horizon might contain.
Going Your Own Way
Photo: Flickr.com/jenni61 (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Although your head is telling you to think about the pros and cons of both options, your heart is saying tell Steve to go to hell and take his Audi and his smug attitude with him. Doing so would mean you’re independent, and don’t have to worry about the possibility that he will stubbornly endanger both your lives. For the time being, you’d be able to focus entirely on your own safety.
The obvious downside to this plan is that you lose your only guaranteed mode of transportation, aside from walking. You could try hitchhiking, but based on current events, you suspect that most people will want to get home to their families rather than stop to pick up a stranger. You’re about 10 miles from your house, but you’re not sure you should be walking around right now without knowing what’s going on or how widespread it is. And your stiff dress shoes wouldn’t be your first choice of footwear for that journey.
Photo: Flickr.com/darinrmcclure (CC BY 2.0)
One option would be to walk a short ways to the nearest business to check the news and ask around for more information. But if the situation escalates, you could end up stuck there. You’d much rather be at home where you have supplies set aside for a disaster, instead of stranded in some coffee shop with no gear and a bunch of panicking strangers.
Going on foot would undoubtedly feel better than staying with Steve, and reduces your risk of getting dragged into danger against your will, but it also limits your mobility and leaves you vulnerable.
The Decision
Based on the location, circumstances, and your gear, which course of action would you choose: stay in the car with Steve or head out alone on foot? Enter your decision into the poll below, and feel free to leave a comment on the poll to justify that choice.
