Page 126 – RECOIL OFFGRID

GeoGuessr: A Free Game to Hone Your Navigation Skills

Posted on June 21, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Imagine for a moment that you're on a cross-country road trip with a friend. After many long hours on the highway, your friend offers to take the wheel and let you get some rest. You doze off in the passenger seat, but awake with a jolt to find yourself alone in the car on the side of a completely unfamiliar road. You have no idea how long you've been asleep, where your friend went, or where you are. The car appears to have a flat tire and there's no cell reception, so you'll have to set out on foot.

This hypothetical scenario would test your ability to ascertain information from your surroundings, and use that information to navigate to safety. What does the terrain look like? Is the road a well-maintained highway or a rural backroad? Are there any identifiable signs or structures nearby? Is there evidence of cultivated land, crops, or livestock? What sort of pedestrian traffic and vehicles do you see, if any? All of these questions will help you establish where you are and, hopefully, where you need to go.

GeoGuessr is a free browser-based online game that could also be referred to as Google Street View: The Game. It uses the massive database of existing street-level photographs, virtually drops you onto a random street somewhere on Earth (or any specific country, state, or city), and tasks you with guessing your location. You can pan, zoom, and move the camera in any direction to gather more information, but the goal is to mark your guess on the map as close as possible to your virtual location. The closer you get, the more points you receive. There's also a timed Challenge Mode where you can compete with other players.

While this might seem like little more than a fun way to kill some time, it can actually help to improve your observation and navigation skills. GeoGuessr provides a compass, but the rest is up to you. Just like if you're lost in real life, you may need to travel down miles of empty road to find a highway marker, intersection, or even a building with signage that indicates where you are. You can also narrow it down based on other clues, such as passing vehicles (although license plates are blurred, so you can't determine the state you're in that way). The “World” version of the game amps up difficulty further, since the signs may all be in a language you can't read.

If you've got some down time and are interested in testing your land nav skills, you can play the game at GeoGuessr.com.

Review: Athos & Aerial Summer Apparel from 5.11 Tactical

Posted on June 18, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Athos Shorts
Aerial Button-Down Shirt

If you've ever been to Arizona in the summer, you'll know it's not the most pleasant place to be outdoors during the day. In the Phoenix area, we've already reached highs in excess of 110°F, and summer doesn't officially begin until later this week. In another month or two, it'll probably hit 120°F here (if not even higher). So just like in the midwest during the dead of winter, choice of clothing is an important consideration if you're planning to venture outside.

5.11 Tactical has released an array of new summer apparel this year, and was kind enough to send us a shirt and some shorts to try out. We had several options to choose from, so we picked those that looked most hot-weather-friendly: the Athos shorts and Aerial button-down shirt. Read on for our thoughts on each after a few weeks of wearing them.

Athos Shorts

Colors: Black, Stone (khaki), Lunar (grey), Raisin (brown)
Materials: 98% cotton, 2% elastane
Size Range: 28 to 44
MSRP: $45

The Athos shorts have a discreet look that resembles a pair of chinos, and a 10-inch inseam that comes to just above the knee. We like the asymmetrical cell phone pocket on the left thigh, which perfectly fits a plus-sized iPhone in a slim Otterbox Commuter case.

Two normal front pockets feature stairstepped hems to comfortably accommodate knives, flashlights, and other clip-on EDC gear. Back pockets are pretty standard with button closures. The Athos also features 5.11 Tactical's MAG pockets at the 4:00 and 8:00 position — we liked these a lot on the 5.11 Defender Flex jeans we reviewed, and we appreciate them here as well. This brings the total pocket count to 7.

We found the Athos shorts to be a great choice for everyday use or trips to the range. They don't have oversized cargo pockets or flashy stitching so they don't scream “tactical”, but they provide enough space for the gear you do need on a daily basis.

Aerial Button-Down Shirt

Colors: Black, Lunar (grey), Eclipse (navy)
Materials: 100% polyester-dissolving yarn
Size Range: XS to 2XL
MSRP: $50

The Aerial shirt is amazingly breathable — closely examining its grid pattern reveals hundreds of tiny perforations throughout the fabric. If you hold this silky material up to a light source, these pinholes are clearly visible. The end result is a featherweight shirt that wicks away sweat and allows for constant ventilation. That's a godsend when stepping outside feels like walking into a giant oven.

There's a single chest pocket and collar, but aside from these features there's little more of note. Eight snaps can be easily pulled apart with one hand to access a concealed weapon, but nothing about this shirt looks tactical, and we greatly appreciate that design. Many apparel manufacturers go overboard with hidden pockets, velcro, and other features we'd rarely (if ever) use, so it's nice to see 5.11 Tactical sticking to the basics.

Like the Athos shorts, the Aerial button-down is a solid choice for everyday wear, and one we see ourselves using frequently this summer.

For more info on 5.11's new summer apparel, check out 511Tactical.com.

Last Man Projects: Lessons Learned from a 26-Mile Hike

Posted on June 17, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

An Impulsive Trip
Gear Impressions: Goal Zero Nomad
Gear Impressions: Dragon Egg Pack
The Reality of a Long Walk
Conclusions

Editor's Note: The following article was written by contributor Brandon Barton for his Facebook page, Last Man Projects. We've shared the post in its entirety with permission. It includes some valuable lessons on the realities of walking long-distance in an emergency scenario.

On Memorial Day I posted a brief teaser about my 26-mile road hike down Route 66 with my Direct Action Dragon Egg pack and Goal Zero Nomad 13 solar panel. As promised, I wanted to spend a little time giving you all my impressions of the gear, as well as (and maybe more importantly) my two cents on the overly romanticized idea of bugging out on foot or walking home after the SHtF.

An Impulsive Trip

First, I have to lay out a little backstory. I chose to do this hike at the spur of the moment. At about 09:00 I decided I didn't want to sit around the house all day, so I grabbed the loaded pack, filled the water bladder, threw in a few extra bottles, strapped the solar panel to the outside PALS webbing and took off.

I was already sort of worn down from an 8-mile hike Saturday and two heavy upper-body workouts plus a 3 mile run Sunday. I hadn't done a walk even close to this distance in about two years and didn't prep for it; no building up my endurance, no carb-loading, no rest beforehand. After all, no real emergency scenario is gonna give you time to prep your body for it. You either have the ability to do it live or not. It was as close to “oh shit I gotta go now” as you'd want. Sometimes it pays to be a little impulsive.

Gear Impressions: Goal Zero Nomad

First off, the Goal Zero Nomad; I usually carry back up batteries that the panel feeds while I walk — this is the universally accepted and recommended way — but this time I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to directly charge my iPhone. Reason being, I know there are people out there that are trying to short-cut their preps. If you're one of these folks you're probably saying “but wait, I hooked up everything in my kitchen window and it showed my phone was charging!” Yep, and it does… sorta.

If you're doing anything more than setting it in the sun and leaving it for hours you’re going to have problems. If you're moving, which is the point of bugging out, I found it to be a pain in the ass and basically ineffective. The planets almost literally have to align right or the panel doesn't get enough CONSISTENT charge to keep the phone going. That’s the point of storing that inconsistent charge into a battery that will discharge at a consistent rate.

An external battery pack, such as the Goal Zero Sherpa series, can deliver a more consistent charge from a solar panel.

How do I know the Nomad's direct charge is picky and inconsistent? Well I'm glad you asked… because of that helpful and irritating tone the iPhone makes when you plug it in. It chimed off and on incessantly every time the sun went behind a cloud, I went under branches, or turned so my shadow even slightly blocked the panel. I tried a few different things, and it didn't really matter how I positioned the panel on the bag either. Point is that solar panels are very particular, so prep accordingly.

Gear Impressions: Dragon Egg Pack

I was pretty impressed for the most part with how the Dragon Egg performed over the course of the ruck. My pack weighed in at about 33 pounds and it carried the weight well. I had really sore trapezius muscles from lots of back work the day before and a sunburn I earned on Saturday. Still, the straps were wide, very well padded, and it never felt like they were putting unreasonable pressure on my muscles. The back board was supportive and the thick padding was comfortably ventilated even in the 94-degree heat. The sternum strap was very important to keeping the shoulder straps snugged up and in the right place. I wish I could’ve gotten it tighter or there was a second strap lower on the shoulder straps, but it wasn't a huge deal.

I only had two real issues with the pack. The first is that the hip belt is basically worthless. It’s not padded and bears no weight, so I ended up not using it after about 4 miles. I know that on an intermediate to smaller pack that this isn't unusual, but I can't help but think the pack would've been even more comfortable had it had a padded hip belt. (That way I could've taken some weight off my sunburned shoulders every once in a while.)

The second issue — and I know this SEEMS minor — is that I wish the pack had thumb loops built into the shoulder straps. Have you ever hiked long enough to have your hands swell and fingers turn to sausages? I noticed it too, but thanks to my awesome nurse-girlfriend I now know that’s called dependent edema. Its caused by the blood pooling in your hands from carrying your arms low and swinging them as you walk for miles and miles. Its uncomfortable and robs you of some fine motor skills. The way to keep it from happening is carry your hands up every so often, which is kinda awkward unless you have something like thumb loops to hook onto while you walk. Sure, you can hook your thumbs other places, but it’s not as comfortable over that kinda distance, which brings me to my last point…

The Reality of a Long Walk

Walking 26 miles sucks. Look, I get it. There’s a lot of great prepper fiction out there built around the protagonist getting stuck out and making that long, dangerous, and action-packed walk home. Franklin Horton‘s “Borrowed World” and “Locker Nine” series are my absolute favorites and there are countless more, some better than others. At least I know Franklin — he's an avid hiker and knows what it takes out of you to put miles like that under your heels.

Unfortunately, many authors do not, and the vast majority of the prepper community doesn't either. Most folks will pack that bag… then OVER-pack it. It will either sit in the corner or closet, or at best get carried to a vehicle and back every day, but that’s about it. Those same “Hypothetical Preppers” will just assume that because the hero of their favorite book series did it, they can do it. I’ve heard it over and over first hand “Well, if the EMP hits I'll just grab my bag out of my truck and start home. I figure I can make 20 to 30 miles a day easy”. Sure you will man… sure you will.

Unless they engage in regular hiking, most people can't do a fraction of that if they are being honest with themselves. If they did get a jump on their trip and somehow managed to make 20 – 30 miles a day, I'm guessing they wouldn’t be going ANYWHERE for a few days after that while their body recovers. They never tend to mention that in most of the prepper fiction I've read. “Bill walked his ass off that first day, but because his muscles seized up overnight and his feet were totally shot, he laid around for the next three days trying to limber up and get feeling back in his blistered feet while his family fought off looters at home.”

My point is this, you have to be walking fit. Even if you’re gym fit, or work fit, you can't count on that to get you home. It doesn't matter that you can put up 300 on the bench if you can't walk to the bench to do it. It doesn’t matter if you work “on your feet all day” because that still doesn’t equate to humping a pack miles on end. And it doesn't matter if you used to be able to do it a few years ago — all that matters is if you can do it NOW.

No matter how good your shoes and socks are, your feet are going to get torn up. Since you don't walk around with a pack most of the time your muscles will ache and be sore from being used in ways they’re not used to. You'll have greater chances of mechanical injury, overheating, dehydration, and you’ll burn more calories than you'd probably planned on. I lost 4 pounds from that 26 mile walk. Regardless if it was water weight or fat burned, that’s still my body’s resources I lost… in ONE day.

The next day I was back in my gym and out running again, but I’m pretty fit and hike a lot of shorter distances. Still, it was really miserable and I’m pretty worn. Multiply that over several days to simulate a trip home and I can’t tell you how rough I’d be by the time I hobbled through my front door… or maybe if I’d have made it home at all. The constant fatigue could have caused me to make a stupid decision somewhere on the road and that would be it.

Conclusions

So get out there and hike with your packs. Feel what it’s like to walk with your favorite dystopian hero. Figure out where your preps are weak and fix the issues before you have to count on them. Prepping isn’t a hypothetical activity, it’s a full-contact sport.

For more prepper projects, survival tips, post-apocalyptic artwork, and more, be sure to follow Last Man Projects on Facebook. You can also check out Brandon's previous articles, Explaining the Prepper Philosophy and Survival Lessons from a Road Tramp.

Book Review: “100 Deadly Skills” by Clint Emerson

Posted on June 15, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

OFFGRID Library of Recommended Books
More From Issue 26

The Premise: As the name implies, 100 Deadly Skills is a primer written by former Navy SEAL Clint Emerson. There are, in fact, 100 separate tips, tricks, and survival hacks to help the reader prepare for any number of possible worst-case scenarios from natural disaster to criminal abduction. Each of these skills is based on the training or operational experience of a former Special Warfare Operator who also spent time working, in some capacity, with the National Security Agency.

The 411: The skills in the book are broken down into two-page panels. One side is a storyboard-like illustration, often with step-by-step comic book panels showing how the skill is to be executed. The opposite page gives written instructions, sometimes with background or operational context that gives relevance to the skill being taught. The skills are broken down into larger parts loosely based on a military Operations Order — Part I being Mission Prep and Part IX being Exfiltration and Escape. There’s also a foreword and final conclusion by the author, as well as the obligatory “don’t try this at home” warning, emphasizing the potential risks involved in attempting any of these tricks in real life.

The Verdict: The format of this book is an excellent way to present survival-style skills. Graphic illustrations are always helpful since many of us are primarily visual learners to begin with. Having both illustrations with captions and written instructions paired together aims to reduce the trial-and-error curve, and cut back the ever-frustrating “am I doing this right?” results that land somewhere between flawless success and total failure. For somebody new to these kinds of skills or unsure how much time and effort they’re ready to commit, 100 Deadly Skills gives a lot of just-enough overviews that’ll quickly prompt the more avid preppers and independence-minded among us to do further in-depth research. Both the larger parts and individual skill pages keep the information well organized and highly manageable for reading in bits and pieces over weeks or even months. This book is a great way to get your brain percolating about things that could save your life with about the same level of effort that you’d spend on anything else while sitting in the bathroom or on an airplane.

Having said that, the actual practicality of 100 Deadly Skills is somewhat suspect. Some of the skill panels make brief yet meaningful intro-level presentations for the completely uninitiated, like skills 002 and 003, Create an EDC Kit and Create a Vehicle Bolt Bag, respectively. But many of the skills are grossly oversimplified and, in some cases, border on an injustice to the amount of effort and training required to become proficient — as in skill 044, Pick a Lock, or skill 063, Win a Knife Fight. Others still are rather sensational in nature and will likely prove absolutely useless, even in a total-grid collapse. Our favorite examples of this particular folly are skill 026, Steal a Plane, and the aptly placed skill 007, Construct a Rectal Concealment.

Speaking of sensational in nature, 100 Deadly Skills feels heavily seeded with buzzwords and shock-value language. While it may be entertaining taken at face value, anybody serious about prepping, personal security, or simply training to be more self-sufficient might be as turned off by it as we were. The introduction refers to Special Operations veterans as “action heroes for modern times, one-part James Bond, the other Rambo.” The alumni of those units who we know, have worked with, and who contribute to our magazines would likely shy away from such a cavalier and self-approving description. But to give credence where it’s due, this is a stereotype that’s well-ingrained into mainstream media and pop-culture portrayals. So maybe it’s an effective attention-grabber to get this book into people’s hands and get them thinking. Emerson goes on further to refer to these same operators as Violent Nomads — “a nod,” he says, “to their disregard for international borders and their bias for swift, brutal action.” The Violent Nomad reference in particular is carried on and off throughout the book.

At the end of the day, 100 Deadly Skills is a mixed bag. There’s no denying that there are useful tidbits presented in a very accessible way that may inspire readers to dig deeper into an education on potentially life-saving skills, like 018, Hotel Safety And Security Awareness. But the inclusion of skills like 032, Make a Newspaper Nail Bat, and 085, Dispose of a Body, ensure that this book keeps one foot firmly planted in the survivalist novelty aisle.

Novel & Author
100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation by Clint Emerson

Publisher: Touchstone
MSRP: $20
URL: www.simonandschuster.com
Pages: 272

Rating:
~~Thrive~~
>Survive
~~Die~~

OFFGRID Library of Recommended Books

Tactics and Firearms
- Two Person Close Quarters Tactics by Special Tactics
- On Combat by Lt. Col. Grossman.
- The Irish Republican Manual of Guerrilla Warfare
- Violence of Mind by Varg Freeborn
Skillsets and DIY
- Visual Guide to Lock Picking, 3rd Edition
- Primitive Technology Survivalist Guide Book by John Plant
- 101 Skills You Need to Survive in the Woods by Kevin Estella
- The Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph & Amy Alton
- Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski
Novels and Literature
- The Final Day by William Forstchen
- The Savage by Frank Bill
Scenarios and Survival
- Lights Out by Ted Koppel
- Waste Land by David T. Hanson
- Choose Adventure: Safe Travel in Dangerous Places by Greg Ellifritz

More From Issue 26

Don’t miss essential survival insights—sign up for Recoil Offgrid's free newsletter today!

Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

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

Debunked: Sucking Venom from a Snakebite

Posted on June 14, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

The Myth
The Reality
The Alternatives
Know The Symptoms
Snakebite Stats
More From Issue 26

WARNING: This article is meant to be an overview and not a detailed guide on dealing with venomous snakebites. Professional medical treatment should always be sought before attempting any of these methods.

Your hike in a remote area seemed great until a searing pain hits your ankle. Instinctively, you jump back in surprise and glimpse a coiled snake with brown and tan markings. Burning pain begins to spread through your lower leg. With your pulse and fear rising, you realize that you’ve just been bitten by a venomous snake.

The Myth

Outdated survival manuals and old movies often illustrate the “cut and suck” practice of snakebite treatment. This medieval medical method involves cutting the flesh at the site of the bite, then sucking on the wound with your mouth or an extraction device. In the stressful aftermath of a real snakebite, we might decide to fall back on the pop culture practice, but this procedure is likely to increase the damage already done.

The Reality

Unless you know exactly where arteries and nerves are located in the area of the snakebite, you could sever tendons, nerves, or blood vessels. You could end up compounding a venomous bite with potentially severe bleeding.

Many medical authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agree that almost no venom will be removed by extraction and that extraction kits are essentially useless. One study suggested that less than one-thousandth of a percent of venom gets removed by extraction. Furthermore, the venom may be introduced directly into the bloodstream if you accidentally slice a blood vessel adjacent to a pocket of venom.

Many doctors and herpetologists have estimated that roughly one quarter to one third of the bites from venomous adult snakes are a “warning bite,” more commonly called a dry bite. This is an attack intended to repel a perceived threat, with little or no venom expended. Since adult snakes can control the amount of venom they inject, they don’t want to waste it on something that won’t fit into their mouth (like a human). You’ll usually know in less than one hour if the needle-like stab is the only sensation you feel or if more signs and symptoms follow.

The Alternatives

Take the following steps if you or someone in your group is bitten by a venomous snake:

Seek medical attention as soon as possible, if it’s available (dial 911 or local EMS).
Wash the bite with soap and water, or a disinfecting solution like iodine and water. Cover pit viper bites with a clean, dry dressing. For the bite of a coral snake, use an Ace bandage or an improvised wrap (like a strip of stretchy fabric) to create a compression dressing, starting above the bite and then covering it.
If EMS can reach you quickly, keep still and calm. This keeps your heart rate down and can slow down the spread of venom. If you have to move, walk as slowly as you can. And if help is inaccessible for the foreseeable future, lay down with the bite below the level of your heart and pray to God that it was a dry bite. If it wasn’t, you may be able to survive pit viper venom. Unfortunately, the paralytic effect of coral snake venom means that your chances aren’t good at all in austere conditions.

Know The Symptoms

Envenomation is unpredictable, and the signs and symptoms can vary depending on the type of snake, the amount of venom, and your body’s reaction to it. Reactions can begin in minutes or be delayed for hours, and any venomous snakebite can cause dangerous neurotoxic complications and problems with blood clotting. The most common bites in the U.S. are from pit vipers (rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths). Expect some or all of these signs in a victim:

From a pit viper, a pair of puncture marks in the skin or, very rarely, one mark (when a fang is deflected by some other obstruction, such as clothing).
Redness, swelling, and severe pain around the bite
Increased salivation, sweating, and a “coppery” or metallic taste in the victim’s mouth
Nausea and vomiting
Numbness
Difficulty breathing

Don’t try to catch or kill the snake. Take a picture of it if you can, from a safe distance. Or try to remember the color and pattern of the snake.

Never apply a tourniquet. Even with neurotoxic venom, don’t cut off the blood flow. Tourniquets hold the venom in one area, causing greater tissue damage after the fact. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. Applying ice to the bite won’t help.

Snakebite Stats

Of the 50,000 snakebite deaths that occur worldwide each year, the U.S. accounts for less than half a dozen of them, on average. Of the thousands of annual U.S. snakebites, one third occur when people are handling or otherwise taunting the animals. Many of these bites occur on the hand or forearm.

When people aren’t harassing venomous snakes, 85 percent of bites occur below the knee. At least one venomous snake species is found in every state, except for Alaska and Hawaii, although Hawaii residents experience attacks by non-native species, such as the Brown Tree Snake, which had inadvertently been introduced to their ecosystem. Most species and subspecies of venomous snakes in the United States are rattlesnakes.

For more on snakebite avoidance and treatment, refer to our article “Slithering Danger: How to Avoid and Survive a Snakebite” by wildlife trapper and dangerous animal rehabilitator Mike Searson.

More From Issue 26

Don’t miss essential survival insights—sign up for Recoil Offgrid's free newsletter today!

Read articles from the next issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 27

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 25

Check out our other publications on the web: Recoil | Gun Digest | Blade | RecoilTV | RECOILtv (YouTube)

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

Review: Fast-Act Chemical Decontamination Ready Kit

Posted on June 13, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

What’s Included
Put it to the Test
Safety
Conclusion
Specifications
More From Issue 26

In the current political environment, self reliance and disaster preparation have become a priority for many people. You don’t have to look very far to understand why. While most would say they have the basics of preparation covered: food, water, shelter, self defense, and so forth, the mere thought of having safety measures in place for a chemical exposure is daunting. Not only because of the vast possibilities of solid, liquid, or gaseous hazards, but also the potential cost of such preparations.

Fast-Act provides a kit that seems to have you covered, at least in general hazmat terms. At a list price of $190, their chemical decontamination kit isn’t beyond the budget for most people and covers a lot of ground in a small package. At first glance, it seems to have the critical pieces for initial decon from exposure to a chemical. Fast-Act claims to not only contain but to chemically break down and neutralize a wide variety of chemical compounds.

The Fast Act Chemical Decon Ready Kit includes masks, an absorbent “mitten,” two-pack of microfiber towels, and two...

Given the compact size of the kit, there are limitations to the amount of product for which it can be used, but in all fairness, you don’t buy a kit like this to provide large-scale decontamination. The Chemical Decon Ready Kit contains enough components for you to execute gross decon and neutralize a small amount of product. The kit can be purchased pre-built, or the products within it can be purchased à la carte, but the decon-ready kit itself includes key pieces that you’ll want to provide a basic amount of chemical protection.

What’s Included

Masks: Three air purifying respirator masks are included in the kit and intended to provide a barrier against hazardous particulates as well as minimize noxious odors. Although the masks aren’t to be used as a replacement for legitimate gas masks, they boast “patented neutralization technology,” which, according to the website, has been evaluated against dangerous chemical warfare agents, including mustard gas (not that we’d recommend cleaning up a mustard gas spill with this — leave that to the pros). We found the masks to be lightweight and comfortable. They provide a good seal around the mouth and have a malleable nose clip for a custom contour over the bridge of your nose.

Decon Mitt: Inside a sealed, green foil pouch is a paper mitt that’s absorbent on one side, allowing you to quickly wipe product from yourself or some small equipment. A hook-and-loop strap around the base of the mitt permits you to secure it to your hand so it doesn’t slip off in your haste to remove the chemical or when the mitt catches on something. It’s a simple but effective design. No need for anything fancy here. You stick your hand in, cinch it tight around your wrist, and quickly wipe away the hazard. A single mitt doesn’t offer a whole lot of absorbency, so the four mitts that come with the kit provide more reasonable coverage for anything more than a minor exposure.

The green microfiber towel is used for quick absorption of a liquid product. Gloves would’ve been a smart addition,...

Microfiber Towel Set: The kit also comes with a set of two microfiber towels. It’s a conveniently packaged set to conduct gross decon, followed immediately by a more thorough decon. As with the rest of the kit, the towels aren’t really intended for anything other than a small area — personal use or small equipment. The two towels are different in purpose and easily distinguishable: one green and one black. The green towel is intended to be used first as an absorbent, followed by the black towel, which is coated in the proprietary Fast-Act sorbent powder that allows it to be used for surface decon and neutralization of a large variety of chemical residue. The convenience of the resealable pouch is especially handy when the towels have been used. Simply place them back in the pouch and reseal.

Powder: Two 50-gram bottles of Fast-Act sorbent powder are packaged together in a similar resealable packet as the towels. The powder is a proprietary blend of metal oxides that creates a large, porous surface area, which, based on a lot of testing found online, does a really good job doing exactly what the company claims: breakdown and neutralize. The powder is easily accessible and simple to use. Because the bottles are in a sealed pouch, once you rip it open, there are no pesky, frustrating seals or safety packaging to battle. Simply flip open the lid, aim, and squeeze.

Put it to the Test

To test the kit, we used the microfiber towels to see if they’d clean up and decontaminate an area with spilled chlorine bleach and then tested the sorbent powder to verify if it would neutralize home pesticide. First, though, we donned the mask to check for odor detection. It blocked the odor of the spilled bleach. To double-check the effectiveness, in a separate location, we opened a full gas can and were unable to detect any odors. The mask doesn’t carry a NIOSH certification, so it should only be used as protection against offensive odors or “nuisance particulates,” such as dust. I wore it throughout the remainder of the tests, and the seal remained intact.

We then poured chlorine bleach onto a flat concrete floor. The spill spread out to cover about 1 square foot. The resealable towel packet opened with ease and the black towel was nested in a tight roll beneath the green towel. As advertised, the green microfiber towel absorbed much of the small spill. Upon using the black towel, exercise caution when you deploy it or you and everything around you will be covered in powder. The black towel coated the spill area in powder and left no odor of chlorine. Both towels fit conveniently back into the pouch for disposal.

The black microfiber towel, coated in sorbent powder, follows the green towel to absorb and neutralize the chemical.

To test the sorbent powder bottles, we created a small spill of home pesticide (bifenthrin). In an effort to simulate a real incident, we hurriedly opened the foil bag and retrieved one of the powder squeeze bottles. We popped the top, pointed it at the spill, and squeezed until the puddle was covered. The spill was approximately 8 by 8 inches; it took about one-third of one bottle to cover, so the powder will blanket more area than you might think. Checking the pH prior to applying, it was acidic (yellow). Once the powder was applied, the pH showed to be neutral (orange). It performed, at least on pesticide, as promised.

Here we apply the powder to a small puddle of bifenthrin, a common pesticide.

Fast-Act claims this decon kit will work on a vast array of chemicals, but because of the required EPA certification, they cannot make any claims against “biological” hazards. Biological hazards include things like E. coli, salmonella, and clostridium botulinum — the nasty stuff that causes botulism. They do, though, tout that their products work on a broad spectrum of nasty chemical-pairing agents such as hydrogen deuteride, VX (nerve agent), as well as toxic industrial chemicals and materials, and have been certified by several independent laboratories.

The first pH paper, now yellow, shows the acidity of the pesticide. After applying the sorbent powder, the area was...

Safety

The Fast-Act products are certified nontoxic and have been tested for safety by multiple outside agencies including the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine. The sorbent powder isn’t harmful when it comes in contact with skin. However, just as any other time you’re dealing with a hazardous material, all available safety precautions should be taken. Depending on the chemical, skin and eye protection could be extremely important, so take whatever measures are necessary with the specific chemical you’re dealing with.

If it’s a spill of unknown origin, even with this kit, you should avoid touching it. Hazardous materials can be quietly lethal. While this chemical decon-ready kit provides a good deal of protection, it also may boost your confidence in a way that could be dangerous if you don’t apply a little common sense as well. If you follow the instructions and use appropriate precautions, this kit provides even a nonprofessional the ability to contain small amounts of a wide spectrum of chemicals. Don’t forget that after the use of this kit, disposal of any kind of hazardous materials should be done in accordance with your local city ordinances for hazmat disposal.

Conclusion

Entire emergency agencies are dedicated to hazardous materials mitigation, so creating a compact and effective kit for personal use is a bold endeavour. The Fast-Act Chemical Decon Ready Kit has done it, but with some limitations. A few simple additions could add to the overall safe use of the product, such as a pair of neoprene (or other chemical-resistant) gloves and a pair of safety glasses. A shelf life of about five years is somewhat limiting by many prepper’s standards, but isn’t out of the ordinary for decontamination agents.

The greatest benefit would be when there’s a chemical spill on a hard, solid surface. If a hazardous chemical comes in contact with your skin or clothing, it could potentially cause problems before you can get to your decon kit, and even then, the benefit would be limited. But given the scope of chemical threat readiness, Fast-Act has delivered a solid product. In the event of chemical exposure, they narrowed down to the bare essentials what might be needed while keeping the price tag reasonable given the potential for the exorbitant costs that could be incurred preparing for a hazmat incident. It’s an impressive kit that seems to be as inclusive as possible, while remaining condensed and portable.

Specifications

FAST-ACT Chemical Decontamination Ready Kit

Includes:

FAST-ACT Decon Mitt (4 Mitts)
FAST-ACT Sorbent Powder Bottle Set
FAST-ACT Microfiber Towel Set
FAST-ACT/VapourKlenz Face Masks (3)
User Manual and Product Information

Applications*

Unknown Chemical Release
Chemical Contamination
Smells/Vapors of Unknown Origin
Chemical Attack
Decontamination of Personal Equipment and Gear
Cleanup of a Chemical or Fuel Spill
Unknown Hazard Exposure

(*This information obtained from their website)

MSRP
$220

URL
fast-act.com

More From Issue 26

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

Slithering Danger: How to Avoid and Survive a Snakebite

Posted on June 12, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Snake Close Encounters
Coral Snake
Copperhead
Water Moccasin or Cottonmouth
Rattlesnake
Constrictors
While Waiting for Medical Help
Shock Treatment
EpiPens
About The Author

It’s summertime, and warmer temps mean people are enjoying the outdoors with greater frequency. So, RECOIL OFFGRID is here to provide you with some tips to keep from provoking the bite by one of nature’s oldest predators.

Whether you’re wandering through their habitat, or should they make their way into yours, it’s helpful to identify the venomous snakes and know how to treat a bite.

WARNING: This article is meant to be an overview and not a detailed guide on dealing with venomous snakebites. Professional medical treatment should always be sought before attempting any of these methods.

Snake Close Encounters

The majority of people bitten by snakes were either trying to handle a snake or inadvertently got too close. Encountering a snake should be dealt with in a manner similar to what you tell a child about finding an unattended firearm:

Stop
Don’t touch
Leave the area when safe (usually the snake will lose interest and move on)

If you’re gathering firewood in snake country and searching in areas where a snake could potentially be burrowed, use a tool or a stick to roll the log or branch away from you, lest a snake be beneath it.

Should you hear a rattlesnake’s telltale warning sound, remain as still as possible and try to determine the snake’s location. Their vision isn’t the best, but they detect thermal patterns in the air, and if they’re rattling, they’re warning you to stay away. Movement of any type toward the snake will be perceived as a threat, and the snake will defend itself. When it’s safe to move (for example, when the snake lowers its head or moves away) do so quickly and away from the snake, keeping in mind that they can strike a distance of one-and-a-half times their body length.

Most snakes you’ll encounter in the wild aren’t venomous, but even these guys can bite if provoked. If you know that the snake is non-venomous, treat the bite as you would treat a puncture wound. Clean the wound and treat it for infection. Soap and water, alcohol, even Listerine mouthwash will do the job. Non-venomous snakes are known to eat carrion and their mouths can carry bacteria and toxins that lead to disease if left untreated.

There are four general types of venomous snakes found in North America. With the exception of the coral snake, they’re all pit vipers, identified by their thickset bodies, wedge-shaped heads, and elliptical pupils. Copperheads and water moccasins are most commonly encountered in, or near water.

Coral Snake

Two subspecies: Eastern and Western

Range: Florida to North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma

Coral snakes are neither aggressive, nor prone to biting and account for less than 1 percent of the number of snakebites each year in the United States. Their fangs are relatively short, but any bite that penetrates skin should be treated as a medical emergency requiring immediate attention. Coral snakes have a powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes the breathing muscles. Coral snakes are more worm-shaped, thin, and have a distinctive color pattern of red, yellow, and black bands (in that order). They can often be confused with the similarly colored, but non-venomous milk snake or scarlet king snake.

Copperhead

Five subspecies: Southern, Broad-banded, Northern, Osage and Trans-Pecos

Range: Florida to Massachusetts and as far west as Texas

Copperheads aren’t typically aggressive, and bites are rarely fatal. The venom is hemotoxic and destroys red blood cells, disrupts blood clotting, and can cause generalized tissue or organ damage.

Water Moccasin or Cottonmouth

Three subspecies: Florida, Western, and Eastern

Range: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, north to Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana

Water Moccasins are extremely aggressive, and their bites contain powerful cytotoxic venom that destroys tissue. Bites are rarely fatal, but are painful and can cause gangrene rapidly. You may not lose your life to one of these snakes, but the writer knows of two people who each lost an arm as a result of a bite.

Rattlesnake

There are numerous species and subspecies of rattlesnake (between 95 and 100 by some sources), discussion of each type goes beyond the scope of this article.

Range: Canada to Argentina. Most are found in the American Southwest and Mexico.

Rattlesnake venom is hemotoxic. It destroys tissue, causes necrosis, and disrupts blood clotting. The tiger rattlesnake and some varieties of the Mojave rattlesnake have a neurotoxic venom component that can cause severe paralysis. Behavior varies across the different species with some being more aggressive than most.

If there’s any chance that the snake is venomous, the victim has difficulty breathing, or loses consciousness, call 911 if possible. People allergic to bee stings may be more sensitive to snake bites as well.

Constrictors

In the Southeastern United States, particularly in Florida, there have been outbreaks of pythons roaming the wild. These pythons are non-native species that have invaded the ecosystem and have no natural predators. Some grow to lengths of over 15 feet. While many have escaped from breeding facilities, the majority are former pets that irresponsible owners set free when they grew too large.

Should you find yourself face to face with one a constrictor, don’t panic. Attacks on adult humans are rare. A python will typically bite its prey and throw its coils around the victim in an attempt to strangle it.

Don’t try to pry the mouth from your body, instead go for the tail and either attack it directly (most of the snake’s nerves are located in the tail) or grab the tail and start unwrapping the coils from that end as the muscles in its body will be stronger toward the front.

While Waiting for Medical Help

Move the victim away from the snake and beyond striking distance. Have the victim keep the wound below the heart. Keep the victim calm and at rest, remaining as still as possible to keep venom from spreading.

Remove any jewelry from the area that was bitten because it will swell. If the leg or foot was bitten, remove shoes for the same reason as removing the jewelry. Cover the wound with a loose, sterile bandage.

Despite what you may have read in 1950s Boy Scout handbooks, never cut a bite wound, attempt to suck out venom, apply a tourniquet (or ice), or give the victim alcohol, caffeinated drinks, or any other medications. Snakebite suction kits are equally worthless in this regard. [See our article “Debunked: Sucking Venom from a Snakebite” from RECOIL OFFGRID Issue 26 for more on this topic.]

Photograph or at the very least take note of the snake’s coloring and overall appearance. Describing it to emergency staff will help identify what you’ve been bitten by and the appropriate countermeasures. Medical treatment will be in the form of anti-venom. This is a serum made by injecting small doses of snake venom into a large host animal, such as a horse. For this reason, people allergic to horses may not be able to take anti-venom.

The host animal’s blood generates antibodies to counteract the effects of the venom. The blood is drawn from the host, freeze dried, and used to make the basic serum that’s further refined to treat snakebite in humans.

Due to anti-venom supplies being limited, and in many cases unavailable, If you’re in an extremely remote location with no access to medical attention there may be only one alternative.

If you’ve been bitten by a snake you can’t positively identify as venomous, treat it as if it is venomous and...

Shock Treatment

For close to 60 years, an alternative method has been used to treat snakebite victims: electric shock treatment. When neither medical facilities nor anti-venom are accessible, first-aid electric shock has been touted as an acceptable alternative for treating snakebites by people in the field. The challenge remains that the responder needs an adequate source and method of delivering the shock.

Only limited clinical testing has been performed in the area of shock treatment efficacy. No one can say for certain why it works. The main working theory is that the voltage disrupts the chemical compounds in the venom and subsequently dilutes them. Another is that the shock triggers the body into another response mode, making the venom less potent because the shock kick starts the healing process to overcome the damage potentially caused by envenomation. If medical attention isn’t an option, it may be the only method available; however, it doesn’t come without peripheral risks, so this is of course a last resort.

A proven method is using electricity from spark plug cables found on an internal combustion engine, such as an outboard motor, air compressor, or lawn mower.

With the spark plug removed, the lead from the ignition circuit is applied to the bite victim and the starter pulled. Typically, the victim receives several pulses at the location of the bite before their limb jerks away. This may be done three or four times, at intervals of several seconds between each treatment.

Some authorities recommend the use of a modified stun gun. However, there’s so much disparity between makes and models that their recommendation and subsequent modifications are well outside the scope of this article. In April 1990 the FDA banned the advertising of stun guns as a treatment for venomous bites for this very reason.

EpiPens

There is very little research in the area of EpiPen efficacy in treating snakebites. Speak to your doctor before attempting to use one to counteract envenomation. Recent news indicates that researchers at the University of Arizona are working on an EpiPen-like device that may eventually be approved for use in combatting the effects of rattlesnake bites, but at this point, it’s still in the experimental phase.

About The Author

Mike Searson has worked with dangerous animals as a wildlife trapper and exotic/dangerous animal rehabilitator in Florida. He has years of hands-on experience with chimpanzees, lions, bears, alligators, wolves, and primates and specializes in various spiders, snakes, and other reptiles. Known mostly for his gun, knife, and self-defense articles, his first published work was about breeding albino cobras in 1992.

Review: Ryker Nylon Gear Ankle First Aid Kit (AFAK)

Posted on June 10, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Why You Need to Carry Medical Supplies
Lessons from the Battlefield
From the Battlefield to the Streets
Medical Supplies for Everyday Carry
Carrying Your IFAK
The Ryker Nylon Gear AFAK
Final Thoughts
About the Author

One of the most frequently-neglected categories of every-day carry (EDC) gear is emergency trauma supplies. We tend to focus our EDC efforts on items like firearms, knives, flashlights, multi-tools, spare magazines, and perhaps some counter-custody tools. In our efforts to be prepared for a violent assault, we try to carry the tools that will help us answer the threat, but often overlook the necessity of having lifesaving tools that can keep someone alive until medical professionals arrive.

Why You Need to Carry Medical Supplies

Whether one likes to admit it or not, we live in a hostile world with many bad people who would like nothing more than to deprive you of life. Aside from that nasty fact, injuries happen. Good people have accidents, nature strikes, and the laws of gravity and motion are constantly at work.

What happens when that active shooter walks into your church and gets off four or five shots before you can react? Or when that drunk driver runs into oncoming traffic? Or when a guy in a rented van plows through dozens of people on a public sidewalk? You must be prepared to render medical aid if you are going to save lives, lives that could include those of your dearest loved ones, or even your own. Being prepared means having the right mindset, the right training, and the right equipment for the task.

Lessons from the Battlefield

The battlefield is the proving ground for trauma management technology and techniques. The mid-‘90s brought about the introduction of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC). Originally designed for the Special Operations medical community, TCCC has become the standard model of care in prehospital battlefield medicine.

TCCC provides a set of evidence-based best-practices for battlefield trauma care with the objectives of providing lifesaving care to injured combatants, limiting the risk of further casualties, and achieving mission success. Prehospital battlefield care is divided into three phases:

Care-Under-Fire (CUF): In the CUF phase, combatants are under attack by effective enemy fire. The essential initial action during this phase is to return effective fire to neutralize the threat and prevent continued effective fire from the enemy. During this phase, medical actions are limited to movement to cover, self-aid, rapid assessment for massive extremity hemorrhage, and rapid tourniquet application if practical.

Tactical Field Care (TFC): TFC is rendered while still in the tactical environment, but not under effective enemy fire. This phase focuses on assessment and management of massive hemorrhage, airway, respirations and breathing, circulation, and hypothermia.

Tactical Evacuation Care (TACEVAC): This phase of care encompasses the same management and procedures included in TFC with the additional focus of advanced procedures that may be performed while en route to a medical treatment facility.

These TCCC protocols have proven extremely effective at reducing preventable death on the battlefield. The fatality rate in current combat operations has decreased to roughly half of the 15% fatality rate seen in Vietnam.

From the Battlefield to the Streets

The proliferation of mass killing events in the United States over the past several years has demonstrated the need for a paradigm shift in civilian prehospital medicine. As a result, many of the lessons learned from the efficacy of TCCC protocols on the battlefield have been brought into civilian emergency medicine in the form of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC). Most law enforcement agencies are now training officers in TECC principles and outfitting them with tourniquets and individual first aid kits (IFAKs). Some even at the basic academy level.

In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security launched a national awareness campaign called Stop the Bleed to educate and encourage bystanders to respond to bleeding emergencies using direct pressure, pressure dressings, and tourniquets. Specialized TECC courses like the Dark Angel Medical Direct Action Response Training (DART) and the Independence Training IFAK Life Saver course are now commonplace within the tactical training community. With so much information and training available, it’s hard to have an excuse for not knowing what to do in a trauma situation.

Medical Supplies for Everyday Carry

Having established the need to carry medical supplies and the knowledge to use them, the question then becomes, “What should we carry?” From what we have learned from over 10 years of TCCC research, we know that the three most common causes of preventable death in combat are blood loss through extremity wounds, tension pneumothorax (build-up of air in the space between the lung and chest cavity wall), and airway problems. It would then stand to reason that we should carry items that would allow us to treat these injuries.

Tourniquet: A tourniquet is probably the absolute minimum piece of medical equipment you should carry on your person. It needs to be accessible with either hand and staged in a manner that allows it to be self-applied in less than 30 seconds. A severed femoral artery can lose 3 liters of blood (over half an adult’s total blood volume) in less than 120 seconds. The C-A-T and the SOFTT are the only compact tourniquets currently recommended by the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

Hemostatic Gauze: Hemostatic gauze like the QuikClot Combat Gauze is a wound dressing treated with a blood-clotting agent. It can be used to pack penetrating wounds after the initial tourniquet application or at the junctions of the body where a tourniquet is not effective.

Pressure Bandage: A pressure bandage is used to provide direct pressure to a bleeding injury while covering the wound. This can be used on less severe bleeds that do not warrant the use of a tourniquet, or in conjunction with a tourniquet or hemostatic gauze.

Occlusive Dressings: Penetrating chest trauma must be covered with an occlusive dressing to prevent air from entering the plural space of the chest cavity, which can result in a tension pneumothorax. You should carry at least two occlusive dressings, one for an entrance wound and one for an exit wound. Chest wound kits like the HALO Chest Seal usually include two seals for this reason.

Nasal Airway: A nasal airway (NPA) is the most versatile airway device you can add to your kit, because it is light, compact, and can be used on either a conscious or an unconscious patient. Your personal kit should contain an NPA sized for you. The most common sizes are 8.0mm for males and 7.0mm for females, which should serve as a good starting point.

These items provide the basis of a good minimalist trauma kit. Of course, having several pairs of medical exam glove on hand is also a good idea for body substance isolation (BSI).

Carrying Your IFAK

Unless you’re running around in full battle rattle every day, finding room for emergency medical supplies on your person can be very challenging. Sure, it’s a good idea to throw some of these items in your car, but in a tactical trauma situation, seconds count. You need these items with you.

The most obvious place to stash your IFAK is in a pocket, but this may be problematic. Wearing tactical cargo pants 24/7 isn’t exactly discreet, and the pockets on a pair of regular jeans or shorts are likely to bulge uncomfortably with your kit inside. Anyone who has carried a concealed handgun with an ill-fitting holster or belt knows how irritating this sort of continuous discomfort can be, and how it can lead to excuses about leaving important gear at home.

Just like a CCW, your IFAK needs to be easily-accessible, discreet, and comfortable enough to wear every day. So, if pocket carry isn’t feasible, you’ll need to consider an alternative carry method.

The Ryker Nylon Gear AFAK

One excellent solution to this carry space conundrum is the Ryker Nylon Gear Ankle First Aid Kit (AFAK). The AFAK is a lightweight (2.3 ounces) ankle system for carrying essential medical items. The three vertical pockets will easily hold a tourniquet, hemostatic gauze, mini pressure bandage, NPA, and trauma shears. An internal horizontal pocket is perfectly sized to fit a HALO chest seal or other occlusive dressing. MSRP is $55, and the system is available in four colors — black, ranger green, grey, and coyote. All Ryker Nylon AFAKs are made in the USA.

While wearing the AFAK, we found it to be surprisingly comfortable and concealable under long pants. The divided pockets tend to mold the contents around your leg, locking the AFAK in place and preventing shifting. Even without high boots (an elastic boot extension piece is included) or long socks, the AFAK is comfortable to wear and easy to forget about. It is an outstanding solution for on-body transport of trauma supplies.

Even if you’ve already found a carry solution for your medical gear, Ryker says the AFAK can be used to carry other items. The AFAK provides an excellent carry solution for a spare pistol magazine, flashlight, knife, or other EDC gear that you might not have room for in your pockets or around your waistline.

Final Thoughts

An IFAK can be carried even when law prohibits the carrying of a firearm. Most IFAK items are TSA compliant as well, so there is little excuse not to have one at all times. Even when your wardrobe makes carrying an IFAK challenging, the Ryker Nylon AFAK offers a viable option to limited cargo space.

A recent study of the tragic Pulse Nightclub Shooting that claimed 49 lives found that almost one-third (16) of the victims had potentially survivable wounds had immediate prehospital trauma care been provided. These findings further illustrate the importance of carrying an IFAK and having the knowledge to identify and treat casualties with preventable causes of death and keep them alive long enough to reach definitive care.

About the Author

Chad McBroom is a 21-year veteran law enforcement officer with most of his time spent in the tactical unit. He has also served as Tactical Emergency Medical Technician within that unit. Chad McBroom is the owner of Comprehensive Fighting Systems and offers training in empty-hand tactics, edged weapons, impact weapons, and firearms tactics. Follow him on Instagram: @cfs_combat.

Cooler Heads Will Prevail: Wide Brim Hat Buyer’s Guide

Posted on June 9, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Understanding Wide Brim Hat Sizes
Web-Exclusive: Boonie Hats
Akubra Coober Pedy
Conner Mountain Trail
DPC Outdoor Design Outback
Outdoor Research Ghost Rain
Pantropic Logan
Sun Day Afternoons Charter
Tilley LTM6 Airflo
Wallaroo Jackson
More From Issue 26

Basking in the warm sunlight on a cool day is a pleasant feeling. But when temperatures continue to climb and you can’t avoid its merciless heat and blinding glare, that same sunlight quickly becomes a source of frustration.

Even if you’re wearing polarized glasses to protect your eyes, the skin on your face and neck will be left wide open to ultraviolet radiation that can eventually lead to painful sunburns or skin cancer. Well, I’ll just wear sunscreen, you may think — but that’s also fraught with flaws. It’s an expensive consumable that’ll eventually run out in a survival situation, and sweating from heavy exertion can cause it to wash away and run into your eyes. On top of all this, an unprotected head will inevitably get hot in direct sunlight — in extreme climates, this can result in an elevated core temperature and heat stroke.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to all these problems: Physically block the sunlight with a wide brim hat. Unlike a ball cap, this type of hat offers 360-degree protection for your head and neck. All of the hats in this guide are also rated with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of 50+, which is the highest available rating for UV protection and indicates blockage of about 98 percent of these sunburn-causing rays. Additionally, many of these hats offer water-resistance to keep you dry and insulated from spring and summer rainstorms.

We selected and evaluated eight wide brim hats that’ll let you keep a cool head, no matter the situation. Read on to hear our thoughts on each.

Understanding Wide Brim Hat Sizes

It’s important to select a hat design that meets your needs, but it’s equally necessary to order your chosen hat in the correct size. A hat that’s too small will feel constricting and can cause headaches, while a hat that’s too large will constantly shift on your head and might fall off or blow away.

Unfortunately, manufacturers use several different forms of measurement: inches, centimeters, letter size (e.g. S/M/L/XL), and U.S. hat size (a fractional number between 6 ½ and 8). Adding to the confusion, some manufacturers don’t transition between sizes at the same points — a 23 ½-inch head may be considered large by some manufacturers, but an X-large by others.

For the purposes of this article, we have converted all hat sizes to inches. To determine your size, simply wrap a tape measure or string around your head at the level where you’d normally wear a hat, keeping it snug (but not excessively tight). The resulting measurement can be converted to any other hat size using the size charts available on each manufacturer’s website. If you’re on the fence between sizes, we’d recommend going with the larger of the two — you can often add padding inside the sweatband or cinch it down to fit more securely.

Web-Exclusive: Boonie Hats

One well-known category of wide brim hats is the boonie hat. These hats gained popularity among members of the U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War, and are still frequently worn by members of military and law enforcement organizations around the world.

Boonie hats offer several distinctive features other wide-brim hats may lack. They’re usually available in muted colors or camouflage patterns, and their soft, wavy brim is designed to crumple and pack down into a pocket or rucksack. Most notably, boonie hats have a foliage ring around the crown, which can be stuffed with vegetation to conceal the wearer’s silhouette in dense jungles or tall grass.

As a web-exclusive supplement to this article, we reviewed three boonie hats from 5.11 Tactical, Propper, and Rothco. Click here to read our complete Boonie Hat Buyer’s Guide online.

Akubra Coober Pedy

Materials
Imperial Quality rabbit fur felt, satin lining, vent eyelets, reeded roan sheepskin leather sweatband, ribbon band

Colors
Moss Green, Santone Fawn

Sizes
21 1⁄8 to 25 inches

MSRP
$145

URL
davidmorgan.com

Notes:
The roots of Australian hatmaker Akubra can be traced all the way back to 1874, when founder Benjamin Dunkerley moved from England to Tasmania and opened a small fur felt hat business. Since then, the company has flourished into an Aussie staple, producing iconic designs such as the slouch hats used by the country’s military since the early 1900s. All Akubra hats are made in Australia to this day, and exported to distributors around the world. The Coober Pedy is a classic outback-style hat, named after the remote desert mining town. It features a high-pre-creased crown and stiff 3 1⁄4-inch brim that’s turned down in front and rear for sun and rain protection. As with most fur felt hats, the Coober Pedy can be reshaped and contoured to the wearer’s preference using steam and gradual pressure.

Pros:

Top-shelf materials and outstanding build quality
Brim and crown shape can be precisely adjusted by applying steam from a teakettle.
Thin fur felt is light and breathable enough to wear in hot weather

Cons:

Storage is a problem — the firm brim and crown cannot be crushed or packed.
Lacks a chin strap, although one can be purchased separately and attached to built-in hooks
The Australian-market version of this hat gets a cool kangaroo leather band, while the U.S.-market hat comes with a simple ribbon.

Conner Mountain Trail

Materials
Waxed cotton, organic cotton sweatband, mesh vent eyelets, removable leather chin strap

Colors
Brown

Sizes
21 1⁄4 to 24 inches

MSRP
$51

URL
connerhats.com

Notes:
With an emphasis on responsibly sourced materials and environmentally friendly manufacturing, Conner aims to make the world a better place one hat at a time. The Mountain Trail hat is made in Sri Lanka from waxed cotton, a treated material that sheds water quickly to keep your head dry in the rain. Its 2 1⁄2-inch brim shields the wearer’s eyes from the sun, but is compact enough to avoid feeling cumbersome in tight spaces. A leather chin strap with cinch slider keeps the hat firmly in place in high winds, and a hidden pocket in the liner is big enough to conceal a spare key, cash, or other small valuables. Four large eyelets provide ventilation to the wearer’s head. Unfortunately, we noticed several long stray threads on our sample hat’s brim and liner, leading to some concern about the long-term durability of its stitching.

Pros:

Waxed cotton construction provides a waterproof exterior
Compact design won’t snag on nearby objects while hiking through dense brush
Hidden inner pocket is useful for emergency items

Cons:

Lacking in quality control — our hat arrived with many loose threads, some of which were nearly a foot long.
Bucket-style brim is angled downward, providing less sun coverage than we’d like

DPC Outdoor Design Outback

Materials
Weathered cotton, shapeable brim, vent eyelets, removable leather chin strap

Colors
Black, Brown

Sizes
21 1⁄4 to 25 1⁄4 inches

MSRP
$50

URL
tenthstreethats.com

Notes:
With an uneven weathered appearance out of the box, this Outback hat from DPC Outdoor Design looks right at home on a backwoods trail. It also won’t leave you worrying about scuffing up or discoloring the finish if it gets dropped in the dirt or mud — that just adds character. This hat’s material feels slightly waxy to the touch and has no trouble shedding light rain, although heavier precipitation may eventually seep through the stitching. The 2 3⁄4-inch brim includes a flexible wire at the edge that can be easily shaped into a cowboy-style curve or a more subdued flat profile. A simple chin cord is cut from a strip of leather, and includes a wood bead to keep the hat in place if the wind picks up.

Pros:

Weathered appearance gives it a unique look and eliminates the awkward break-in period of other fresh-looking new hats
Shapeable brim lets you contour the hat to your exact preference in seconds
Available in a large range of sizes

Cons:

Black cotton/polyester sweatband isn’t soft or moisture-wicking.
Rigid crown can’t be crushed and packed away, so you’ll need to hang the hat outside your bag.

Outdoor Research Ghost Rain

Materials
70-denier PU-coated nylon main shell, GORE-TEX Paclite stowable rain cover, Supplex nylon underside, mesh crown, hook-and-loop cinch strap, removable chin cord

Colors
Charcoal, Khaki

Sizes
21 1⁄4 to 24 inches

MSRP
$79

URL
outdoorresearch.com

Notes:
When the weather forecast is uncertain, it’s wise to prepare for all eventualities. Knowing the compromises necessary to design apparel that’s functional in both scorching heat and pouring rain, Outdoor Research developed a hat that converts from ventilated warm-weather mode to downpour-shedding waterproof mode. The Ghost Rain hat features a GORE-TEX crown cover, which is held in place by a magnet at the front of the crown. In warm and dry weather, this cover can be peeled back, rolled up, and stowed in a hidden pocket at the rear of the crown, revealing a large section of breathable mesh that helps keep the wearer’s head cool. The hat also includes a cinch strap inside the sweatband and a removable chin strap to ensure a snug fit in all weather conditions.

Pros:

Opening the convertible crown yields excellent breathability in dry weather
As the name indicates, this hat offers very good water-resistance due to the polyurethane-coated nylon and GORE-TEX materials

Cons:

Brim is 3-5⁄8 inches front and rear, but 2 1⁄2 inches on the sides, resulting in less sun coverage for parts of the head and neck
OR doesn’t recommend packing or crushing this hat, since the flexible plastic at the edge of the brim may become bent or deformed in storage

Pantropic Logan

Materials
LiteFelt, leather chin strap, tagua slider

Colors
Black, Burnt Orange, Cranberry, Dijon, Green Mix, Heather, Rust, Toffee

Sizes
21 to 24 inches

MSRP
$75

URL
pantropic.biz

Notes:
This hat is made in the USA from 100-percent wool LiteFelt, a material that’s soft and flexible enough to be crushed or packed in a suitcase without damage. If you read our wool baselayer guide last issue, you’ll recall it excels at moisture management, repelling water from its surface and insulating your skin — the Pantropic Logan offers those same benefits. Its 3-inch brim can be steamed into a slight contour, but remains floppy when worn. The high-quality leather chin cord continues up to wrap around the crown, forming a simple but elegant band. It’s topped off with a slider made from tagua, the hard white “vegetable ivory” produced by South-American palm trees.

Pros:
Retains the classic look and beneficial properties of wool felt, but in a soft
packable form
Several colors available, ranging from bright to subdued

Cons:
The 1/8-inch-thick felt material is comfy in fall, winter, and spring, but may feel a bit stifling in warm summer months.
While steaming the hat can add a slight contour to the brim, it’s too soft to hold it for long.

Sun Day Afternoons Charter

Materials
Nylon with buoyant foam core, mesh crown, wicking sweatband, cinch strap with buckle, chin cord

Colors
Chaparral, Cream, Sand

Sizes
22 to 24 1⁄4 inches

MSRP
$52

URL
sundayafternoons.com

Notes:
The Charter hat offers a 3 1⁄4-inch brim that tapers down to 2 3⁄4 inches at the sides, and contains a layer of foam that’ll keep your hat from sinking if you drop it in a body of water. Examining the base of the crown reveals Sunglass Lock slits, which can retain your shades when you’re not wearing them, provided the earpieces are straight. The inside of the Charter hat contains a soft moisture-wicking sweatband, an adjustable cinch strap to tighten the fit, and a pocket that spans the entire length of the crown. Although the chin strap is sewn into the sweatband and cannot be removed, it can be tucked into this pocket when it’s not needed — along with any other valuables you may want to conceal.

Pros:

The large hidden pocket provides plenty of room for cash, documents, or even a small map
If you store your shades on your head, the Sunglass Lock will stop them from sliding off during strenuous activities

Cons:

Sides of the crown don’t offer much breathability
Chin strap can’t be removed, but can be tucked away in the hidden pocket

Tilley LTM6 Airflo

Materials
Supplex nylon with buoyant foam core, polyester mesh crown, wicking sweatband, removable front and back wind cords

Colors
Black, Brown, Green, Khaki, Natural, Navy, Olive, Red, Wine

Sizes
21 5⁄8 to 26 1⁄2 inches

MSRP
$85

URL
tilley.com

Notes:
Canadian apparel manufacturer Tilley is well-known for its hats, and has been making them since 1984. Each hat’s label bears the phrase “handcrafted with Canadian persnicketiness” alongside a lifetime guarantee. The LTM6 Airflo is Tilley’s best-selling model. It features breathable and water-resistant Supplex nylon fabric, plus a 3⁄4-inch polyester mesh around the crown for additional ventilation. The brim is 3 1⁄2 inches at front and rear, with 2 1⁄2-inch sides and a foam core that allows the hat to float on water. We found the sweatband on this hat to be particularly soft and comfortable, as well as moisture-wicking. The front and rear wind cords are a clever touch, and they can be tightened against the head by sliding the fisherman’s knot tied on the rear cord to remove slack.

Pros:

Dual wind cords keep the hat from shifting during strong gusts
Secure hook-and-loop closure on the large hidden pocket keeps valuables from sliding out
Huge range of sizes and colors to choose from

Cons:

The brim on our sample seems to be a few degrees off-center from the crown, causing the hat to appear slightly crooked no matter how much we adjust its position.
Shorter brim sides limit sun protection from certain angles

Wallaroo Jackson

Materials
Microfiber, ventilated mesh crown, drawstring cinch, removable chin cord

Colors
Camel

Sizes
23 to 23 7⁄8 inches

MSRP
$40

URL
wallaroohats.com

Notes:
As the most affordable hat in our guide, the Jackson avoids high-tech synthetic fabrics, instead opting for a soft microfiber shell with a tall 3 3⁄4 -inch mesh window that spans the entire circumference of the crown. This provides superb breathability for warm-weather use. Unfortunately, it’s not well-suited for rainy climates, as water absorbs rather than beading up on its surface. The 3-inch brim slopes downward in a cone, shielding the wearer’s face from all sides. Fit is adjustable via a simple drawstring in the sweatband, and a long chin cord with cinch prevents it from blowing away in the wind.

Pros:

Excellent ventilation for hot climates
Thin and lightweight material naturally collapses into a flat shape for packing

Cons:

About as water-resistant as a sponge with holes punched in it. A sudden rainstorm will leave your head cold and wet.
Cinches down easily to fit smaller heads, but the largest size may feel tight if you have a very large head.
Only available in one color

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

Infographic: High Altitude Sickness

Posted on June 8, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

Even if you're not an extreme mountain-climber, altitude sickness can be an insidious threat. I learned this firsthand not too long ago on a hiking trail in the mountains above June Lake, California. Elevation at the trailhead was about 7,700 feet, but as I hiked the elevation rose to roughly 9,000 feet. I was carrying a light pack and moving at a moderate pace, but soon began to feel strangely nauseous and dizzy with a headache. My father-in-law, an experienced climber, recognized this as the early stages of acute mountain sickness (AMS).

Infographic altitude sickness mountain climbing safety oxygen medical health 7

A photo from my high-altitude hike above June Lake.

In the situation above, I was able to take more frequent breaks and watch for worsening symptoms. Fortunately, the symptoms plateaued as I reached the top of the trail, and diminished as I hiked back down the mountain. But left unchecked, altitude sickness can rapidly develop into severe and even life-threatening conditions: high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE). It's essential to know the warning signs to avoid danger.

The following infographic from Worlds Ultimate explains some of the basics of altitude sickness, including symptoms of AMS, HAPE, and HACE. Click here to download the full-size graphic.

For more information on prevention and treatment of altitude sickness, check out the following articles: