Page 129 – RECOIL OFFGRID

Zeer Pot: An Evaporative Cooler to Keep Food Fresh

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

Survival in ancient times wasn't easy. Even today, food spoilage is an issue, but back then it was absolutely critical to make the most of any food that was hunted, gathered, or grown. If a family's food spoiled, they might end up starving until the next harvest or hunt.

This dilemma led to the development of basic food preservation methods. Meat was salted or smoked, vegetables were pickled or fermented, and fruits were dried or turned into jam. However, in order to preserve produce in its fresh state, refrigeration was needed. Electricity was obviously not an option, so ancient societies turned to evaporative cooling, the same principle that allows sweat to cool our bodies. As dry air passes around a wet object, the evaporation of that moisture creates a cooling effect.

As far back as 2500 B.C., Egyptians recorded the use of a device called a zeer pot. This primitive evaporative cooler is constructed of the following components:

Large porous clay pot
Smaller clay pot (may be glazed to prevent moisture from seeping in)
Sand
A cloth to cover the pots
Water

The small pot is placed inside the large pot, sand is used to fill the space between the two, and water is used to soak the sand and cover cloth. As water seeps through the porous outer pot, warm, dry air causes it to evaporate continuously, drawing heat out of the sand and innermost pot. This can be used to keep vegetables, fruit, or drinking water cool in arid regions. The zeer pot is still used to this day in third-world countries where access to electricity is limited.

The following video from YouTuber CrypticCricket shows the effectiveness of a zeer pot cooler, even in the high humidity of Florida. Hotter and drier climates with strong breezes will increase the pot's evaporative cooling effectiveness.

The Myths of Dealing With Frostbite

Posted on February 14, 2018 at 5:07 pm.

Written by Offgrid Staff

In This Article

Alternative Treatment
More From Issue 24

Disclaimer
This article is meant to be a quick overview and not a detailed guide on how to deal with frostbite in an emergency situation. Professional medical treatment should always be sought first before attempting any of these methods.

Subfreezing temperatures and biting winds are a recipe for disaster, particularly when you find yourself ill-prepared and suffering from the onset of frostbite. When you're stuck outdoors, there's a lot riding on your choice of emergency treatments. But will you make the right choice?

The Myth: Since friction generates heat, and it's instinctive to rub an injury, it only seems logical that we should rub frostbitten skin to thaw it out. People also have a habit of using hot or scalding water to defrost frostbitten/frozen tissue and thawing tissues, which are still under the threat of refreezing. Unfortunately, each of these ideas can lead to painful and permanent consequences.

The Reality: When the mercury drops below 32 degrees F and exposed skin starts to freeze, there are a number of mistreatments that'll exacerbate winter injury. Here we'll dispel some of the myths associated with proper frostbite treatment.

Frostbite occurs when ice forms in your skin and the underlying tissues. Superficial frostbite frequently happens to exposed skin (typically the face), but it can also affect the ears, hands, and feet (particularly fingers and toes). This lightly frozen tissue may appear waxy and pale, feeling stiff on the surface, but the underlying tissue still feels soft. Pain or numbness will likely accompany the aforementioned symptoms.

If the frostbite is severe, freezing can strike deeper tissue across a wider area. This extreme form will cause skin to appear pale and firm, and underlying tissue to feel solid. Tissues with deep frostbite will generally feel numb and joint movement will be restricted. Severe frostbite could result the loss of appendages due to infection and necrosis (tissue death).

The proper treatment of frostbite is gentle, gradual rewarming of the skin and tissues. This can be done both in the field and in the hospital, but should only be attempted if there's no danger of refreezing.

For any frostbite treatment, first seek shelter from the cold. Then prepare for the intense pain by taking Ibuprofen, unless you're allergic to this medication. For superficial frostbite, place a warm body part against the frostbitten tissue. This could mean placing your frosty foot against your friend's warm belly or tucking your own fingers under your bare armpit. Rewarm the tissue until it is soft and the color has returned.

Deep frostbite requires gradual rewarming of the tissue using warm water at stable temperatures. Use a thermometer to make sure the water isn't over 105 degrees F. And if a thermometer isn't available, use an uninjured body part to gauge the temp. Using a suitable container, slowly immerse the frosty extremity. Add more warm water as needed to maintain the water temperature in the container. If possible, pre-treat with pain meds before you begin rewarming (consult your doctor before taking higher-than-normal doses of any meds). Advil and Motrin are other alternatives that can be used to reduce pain. And resist your temptation to rub or massage frostbitten areas — this will only result in more tissue damage.

Once thawed, do your best to protect yourself or your frostbitten patient from refreezing, and monitor for hypothermia and shock. Continue your care with Ibuprofen every eight hours until you or the person suffering frostbite can receive proper medical care. Eat foods high in calories and protein to fuel the body and restore your overall temperature. Finally, avoid smoking and alcohol after this kind of injury.

Alternative Treatment

Avoidance: Prevention is the best strategy. Cover your exposed skin with garments capable of blocking wind. Temperatures that are barely below freezing can still lead to frostbite when strong winds are involved (or if you have been exposed to the cold for a long period). The threat grows as temperatures drop near 0 degrees F with any wind. Frostbite can occur on exposed skin in mere minutes when the temperature is below 0 degrees F and the winds are over 20 mph.

Know the Location: Frostbite typically first affects the extremities that have minimal blood flow. Just remember this rhyme, “fingers, toes, ears, and nose.” This can help you remember to check these areas frequently for blood flow and warmth during your outdoor travels. Check capillary refill by squeezing fingers and toes, then watching how quickly the blood returns after letting go.

Time Will Tell: If you were stranded in a remote area and experienced severe frostbite, it only takes a few days for skin to blister and begin turning black. A week or two after the injury, frostbite shifts to necrosis, which will likely lead to massive infection. Deep frostbite is an unbelievably painful condition with a high rate of infection. Even after weeks or months of medical care, the frostbitten tissue can still be at risk. As the ice crystals form in healthy cells, the jagged points pierce and stab the cell — killing it and even neighboring cells. These areas are laden with dead tissue that often turns black and requires surgical removal. Daily care is necessary for weeks after a moderate to severe frostbite occurrence. Skin grafts and amputations can still occur even a month after the initial injury. Always seek professional medical care as soon as possible if you've experienced frostbite.

More From Issue 24

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

RECOILweb: PHLster Flex Appendix Carry System

Posted on February 14, 2018 at 2:00 pm.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

It's important to carefully choose the gear you carry on a daily basis, but it's also important to consider how you carry it. Clipping items like your folding knife and flashlight to the hem of your pocket provides quick access, but also takes up valuable pocket space and isn't exactly discreet. Add in a few larger EDC items, like a tourniquet, hemostatic gauze, fixed blade knife, and/or multi-tool, and your front pockets will quickly end up stuffed full. And nobody wants to walk around town looking like knock-off version of Adam West's Batman with a utility belt full of exposed gadgets.

Holster manufacturer PHLster came up with a smart solution that incorporates modular gear storage into an appendix inside-the-waistband (AIWB) setup. Many of us already carry a concealed handgun and extra magazine in this position, so it makes sense to tuck in a few other essentials as well.

This system is called the PHLster Flex, and it's basically a piece of pre-cut polymer material with holes, slots, and attachment hardware. It can accomodate belt loops or hooks on either side, plus a holster and any other gear you may need to carry. We could see this being especially helpful as a way to carry emergency medical gear like a TQ, Quik Clot, or an Epi-Pen while retaining pocket space for other daily-use items.

For more details on the PHLster Flex and its possible configurations, check out Dave Merril's article on RECOILweb.

Merino Wool Baselayers Buyer’s Guide

Posted on February 14, 2018 at 9:00 am.

Written by Rob Curtis

In This Article

WHAT'S A BASELAYER?
WOOL
FUNCTION
FABRIC
POWER WOOL
THE WHOLE SHEEP
Merino Wool Baselayers
More From Issue 24

For all our opposable thumbs, ability to reason, and interstellar ambition, we humans have a pretty narrow environmental survival zone. We do fine in warm, dry conditions — say, inside a temperature band that ranges from 50 degrees F to about 95 degrees F. But outside that environment, our bodies have trouble maintaining a core temperature.

The human body is a thermal engine that produces heat as it converts calories to energy. The by-product of the conversion keeps us warm when it's cold out, but as we use more energy, the body dumps excess heat in a bid to maintain its perfect internal temperature. The body's primary method of shedding excess heat relies on the principal of evaporative cooling; specifically, the body produces sweat on the skin's surface to speed cooling.

This process works fine when we're naked and sweat can evaporate. But when the skin is covered by insulation, two things can happen. First, sweat gets trapped against the skin, and, second, that moisture soaks the surrounding clothing. The result is evaporative cooling combining with conductive and convective cooling actions to produce a rapid cooling effect that, if unchecked, leads to hypothermia in cold climates.

So, the trick to staying warm has as much to do with managing sweat as it does with providing insulation. Maintaining a buffer of air next to the skin (called a microclimate in marketing circles) is the key to warmth, comfort, and, ultimately, survival.

WHAT'S A BASELAYER?

When we think of a baselayer, we think its job is to provide insulation. But its primary role is actually to counteract the effects of cooling by managing moisture. In a proper layering system, a sweater or other lofty midlayer provides the primary insulation, while the baselayer keeps the skin dry. It's a team effort.

Since physics tells us air pressure forces moisture in the direction of cool, dry air, we need to maintain a small buffer of air that's warmer than the outside air, but cooler than skin temperature, to keep moisture moving in the right direction.

WOOL

There are a bunch of fibers out there that provide loft and more than a few that can wick moisture away from the body. But none does both as well as wool. For all its itchiness, wool is a crazy combination of features that reads like a textile engineer's wish list. For example, it's both hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Weird.

Wool's major downside as a clothing fabric is its itchiness. The itch comes from the scaly surface of coarse fibers found on most sheep. But there's a genetic strain of sheep that produces a fine wool fiber that takes itch out of the equation. That family of sheep is known as the merino, and its bounty is nature's itch-free, super fiber: merino wool.

FUNCTION

Merino wool does well enough as a thermal insulator. Its ultrafine fibers are naturally crimped so that when they're spun into a yarn, at a microscopic level, they interlock in a zigzag orientation that creates lots of small air pockets. Those air pockets hold air that's warmed by heat radiating from the skin. This quality is also responsible for wool's ability to stretch.

Where merino excels is at the important task of moisture management. A wool fiber's outer surface allows moisture vapor to pass into the fiber's hydrophilic core where it's trapped until it's released into a cooler, drier environment. Each fiber can hold as much as 35 percent of its own weight in liquid in the fiber's cortex, or innermost core. Without oxygen in the cortex, there's no way for stinky bacteria to breed, so smells are held at bay.

Now for the science fiction; wool fibers are hydrophobic, too. They repel standing water and prevent, to a certain extent, the kind of wet-out that cotton is known for. Since the wool yarns can maintain a matrix without collapsing like wet cotton, they continue to trap and warm some air … as long as you're still putting out heat. This explains wool's warmth-when-wet ability. Along this line, we've also read some science journals that suggest whenever wool absorbs moisture into its cortex, the chemical reaction produces a tiny bit of heat. We can't disprove this idea, but we've never felt a perceptible boost in warmth when jumping into a frosty lake while wearing merino, either.

We already touched on odor control, but wool is also quiet and nonreflective. And, lastly, wool's capacity to hold moisture means it's flame resistant. It's not flameproof, but its self-extinguishing, no-melt, and no-drip qualities make it far better than synthetics in fire-prone environments.

FABRIC

The base fiber of a merino yarn is tiny sheep hairs, chemically treated, washed, and dried, then either spun into yarn alone or combined with other fibers to make an intimate blend. These merino yarns, either alone or alongside yarns of other fibers, are knit into a cloth. The thinner the fibers, the more supple and itch-free the yarn. Synthetic fibers are sometimes mixed in to add other properties to the finished product. For example, merino isn't the most durable fiber, so it's often blended with nylon to add strength to the fabric. Wool garments are also known to steadily shrink when washed over their lifetime, and they don't dry quickly. Merino blends are formulated to help with these issues, too.

POWER WOOL

A textile that's managed to capture merino's benefits while mitigating its shortcomings is Polartec Power Wool. “The idea behind power wool was to put the wool where it makes the most sense, next to skin,” says Karen Beattie, Senior Product Manager with Polartec, “and then mitigate the negatives using synthetics.”

Power Wool combines merino wool with synthetics such that only wool is in contact with skin and a smooth polyester fabric faces out, providing more surface area than wool alone for moisture to evaporate. The synthetic inclusion makes Power Wool more durable than 100-percent merino, and means it doesn't shrink, dries faster, and layers better thanks to the smooth outer fabric.

Clothing makers use fabric weight to describe the amount of warmth a garment provides. This is somewhat useful when comparing garments of similar fabric construction, such as flat knit jerseys. But in general terms, fabrics under 100 grams per square meter feel like a light T-shirt, 100-200 GSM baselayers feel like heavyweight T-shirts, and 200 GSM fabrics feel like a light sweatshirt. Anything around 100 is appropriate for warm weather; 150 -180 is a midweight and ideal for mid to high output endeavors in cold climates. 200+ fabrics are best for sedentary activities in cold temps or high output activities in frigid weather.

THE WHOLE SHEEP

Once past the fabric level, the most important aspects of the baselayer are a close fit (the fabric has to be in constant contact with the skin to wick moisture), seam quality and location, durability, and the ability of the garment to stay in place. Oh, and dudes might like a pee slot. But every added seam means more expense and bulk. There's no free lunch.

We pulled a bunch of merino and merino blend baselayers together to learn what we can about the way fabric choices, garment constructions, and other features combine to keep us warm and dry.

Merino Wool Baselayers

Arc'teryx LEAF Cold WX T-Shirt & Boxer AR – Wool

Make & Model - Arc'teryx LEAF Cold WX T-Shirt & Boxer AR-Wool
Fabric - ABMT 180gsm nylon core spun merino wool, 81% wool / 12% nylon / 7% elastane
Weight - 5.8/3.0 ounces (medium)
Colors - Black, Crocodile
MSRP - $99/$64
URL - http://www.leaf.arcteryx.com
It seems odd to wear wool in temperate weather, but merino's moisture transport superpowers work just as well when it's warm.
Arc'teryx LEAF Model Cold WX Zip Neck & Bottom AR – Wool

Make & Model - Arc'teryx LEAF Cold WX Zip Neck & Bottom AR-Wool
Fabric - ABMT 180gsm nylon core spun merino wool, 81% wool / 12% nylon / 7% elastane
Weight - 7.4/5.7 ounces (medium)
Colors - Black, Crocodile
MSRP - $139/$109
URL - http://www.leaf.arcteryx.com
Arc'teryx's wool baselayer blend uses a lot of wool, adds some nylon for strength, and finishes with an elastic chaser to keep things tight.
Beyond Clothing A1 – Power Wool Pullover Top & Long John Bottom

Make & Model - Beyond Clothing A1-Power Wool Pullover Top & Long John Bottom
Fabric - Polartec Power Wool, 28% wool / 72% polyester
Weight - 8.8/7.8 ounces (medium)
Colors - Coyote
MSRP - $135/$75
URL - http://www.beyondclothing.com
Beyond's A1 Power Wool thermals are the warmest, and heaviest, of the thermals we tried.
Duckworth Vapor Hoody & Wool Brief

Make & Model - Duckworth Vapor Hoody & Wool Brief
Fabric - Duckworth Vapor Wool, 38% Helle Rambouillet merino wool, 50% polyester, and 12% modal
Weight - 7.0/3.1 ounces (medium)
Colors - Olive, Gray, Gray/Blue
MSRP - $110/$40
URL - http://www.duckworthco.com
Duckworth's Vapor Wool Fabric isn't a full-on cold weather solution. It's more like the best shoulder season Fabric we've ever worn.
First Lite Wilkin Half Zip Aerowool Top & Glenbrook 3/4 Length Aerowool Bottoms

Make & Model - First Lite Wilkin Half Zip Aerowool Top & Glenbrook 3/4 Length Aerowool Bottoms
Fabric - First Lite Aerowool (intimate blend of merino wool and Cocona 37.5 infused polyester fibers), 65% wool / 35% polyester
Weight - 7.6/4.7 ounces (medium)
Colors - Black, Conifer, Dry Earth, First Lite Cipher, First Lite Fusion
MSRP - $115/$90
URL - http://www.firstlite.com
Aerowool Fabric uses a merino wool base fiber with a Cocona 37.5 polyester kicker.
Mammut Klamath Half-Zip & Long Underwear Bottoms

Make & Model - Mammut Klamath Half-Zip & Long Underwear Bottoms
Fabric - Polartec Power Wool 145 Jersey, 31% wool / 69% polyester
Weight - 6.4/4.9 ounces (medium)
Colors - Gray, Navy
MSRP - $99/$79
URL - http://www.us.mammut.com
Compared to the other Polartec Power Wool product in our roundup, Mammut's Klamath baselayer Fabric is thinner with a lot more stretch and return.
Ortovox 185 Rock'N'Wool Long Sleeve & Short Pants

Make & Model - Ortovox 185 Rock'N'Wool Long Sleeve & Short Pants
Fabric - 100% virgin merino wool
Weight - 6.2/5.4 ounces (medium)
Colors - blue, green, gray, red
MSRP - $110/$100
URL - http://www.ortovox.com
They are the European masters of merino, but you've never heard of Ortovox because the company only brought their clothing line to the U.S. a couple years ago.
Rab Model Merino+ 160 LS Crew & Pants

Make & Model - Rab Merino+ 160 LS Crew & Pants
Fabric - 160 Merino+, 65% wool / 35% polyester
Weight - 6.4/5.9 ounces (medium)
Colors - Amazon, Ebony, Gray, Red
MSRP - $85/$110
URL - http://www.rab.equipment
Rab's 160 Merino+ Fabric is a blend of merino wool and Cocona 37.5 polyester.

More From Issue 24

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

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

The Diabetic Survivalist

Posted on February 13, 2018 at 4:25 pm.

Written by Offgrid Staff

In This Article

Important Supplies
Proper Preparation
What to Expect
In Summary
About the Author
More From Issue 24

Disclaimer
This article is meant to be a quick overview and not a detailed guide on how to deal with diabetes in an emergency situation. Professional medical treatment should always be sought first before attempting any of these methods.

Surviving an apocalyptic event will be a serious challenge for healthy people. As both a doctor and a Type 1 diabetic, I can say that the challenge is more formidable for those of us with this chronic condition. Preparation is necessary to survive for any amount of time, especially for a diabetic.

Diabetes is a1 disease of the balance between calories consumed and insulin produced (or injected). Normally, a diabetic should aim for a blood sugar of 110 to 130; however, in a survival situation I would recommend a blood sugar near 180 to 200. Your body is much more tolerant of high blood sugars (hyperglycemia) in short-term survival situations; low blood sugars (hypoglycemia) can quickly be deadly below 20. Taking the time to prepare and acquire the diabetic supplies you need could mean the difference between life and death.

Important Supplies

In the event of an emergency you may not have time to get your gear and enough medications together quickly. Most of us will have a bug-out bag and extra basic supplies to give ourselves a chance to last for a while. However, as a diabetic, you'll need time to acquire all the supplies you'll need to last days, weeks, or possibly months. Supplies to consider include medication, syringes for insulin, test strips, two glucometers, a solar charger, batteries, glucose, and water purification equipment.

With different medications, there are important factors to consider. Every medication has a shelf life and expiration date. As a general rule, for prescription medications in pill form, I will keep them up to one year after I acquire them; after one year, I dispose of them. Keep them somewhere cool and away from direct sunlight. Insulin is best kept in the refrigerator, but it may be kept at room temperature for up to a month without losing its potency. The warmer the temperature, though, the faster the insulin will become ineffective. If the insulin is past the expiration date or has been sitting at room temperature for 30 days, I wouldn't recommend using it.

Metformin is a popular pill for diabetes, but if you are dehydrated and your kidney function declines, this drug can cause lactic acid to build up in your system. Your chance of dying due to lactic acidosis is twice as high if this happens so make sure you stay hydrated! Glipizide and Glimepiride are two other medications commonly used for diabetes. These two medications are usually tolerated well even when your body is under stress.

Keeping redundant supplies, such as syringes, insulin, test strips, and insulin pumps are a must for disaster...

There are many types of insulin (e.g., long acting and combinations of long and short acting). They come in 10mL vials or 3mL pens. Knowing what your type of insulin will do for you is incredibly important before an emergency. If you don't know, ask your doctor. Keep in mind that insulin can be kept at room temperature for about 30 days if needed. Make sure you have enough syringes or pen needles for four injections a day. I don't recommend reusing these.

For testing blood sugars, you should have two of the same meters and enough strips to test four times a day. Keep a few batteries as backup. Some meters now come with USB chargers and no separate batteries; thus, it is a good idea to have a solar charger.

If you're an insulin pump user, a solar charger can also be used to charge your pump. Having enough supplies for your pump is important, but will take up a lot of room. Most pumps now have continuous glucose monitoring capabilities and are an excellent way to monitor your sugars in a survival situation. The most important thing for pump users, however, is to be comfortable going back to injections in the event your pump quits working or you run out of supplies.

Proper Preparation

If a disaster were to occur today, would you have all of the diabetic supplies you needed to survive for any amount of time? You should anticipate needing three months of supplies in the worst-case scenario. After those three months, you may be able to scavenge supplies from casualties. In order to save enough supplies, you may need to prepare a year in advance of a SHTF scenario. Since it is impossible to predict when that event will occur, you will need to have a plan in place to improve your odds of survival.

When you think about stockpiling medication, realize that most insurance companies will allow you to pick up your prescriptions five days early. If you are taking oral medication once a day, filling it five days early will allow you to collect five extra days of medications a month. With insulin, the amount you need will depend on how much you use and whether you use long-acting or short-acting insulin. In general, the older insulins are U 100, which means that there are 100 units of insulin per 1 mL. Vials of insulin have 1,000 units (10 mL) and pens have 300 units (3mL). Newer insulins are concentrated (U 200, U 300, and U 500) and have more insulin per milliliter. As an example, if you take 30 units a day of U 100 insulin then you will use 900 units a month. That leaves 100 units extra each month. If you still pick up your prescription on time every month then in 10 months you will have stockpiled one vial of insulin. Insulin pump users should stockpile pump supplies, but also have backup syringes in the event the pump fails.

For test strips, keep in mind you will probably need to be checking your blood sugar more frequently the longer the survival situation persists. Be sure you refill your tests strips monthly even if you don't use all the allotted strips. By doing this, you may be able to procure several hundred extra strips within a year. When you find that you have to check your blood sugar four times a day in a survival situation, these surplus strips can last months.

Make sure you are keeping the test strips in a dry, cool place to help them last longer. I wouldn't recommend using test strips beyond the expiration date due to the potential for less accurate readings. Usually your meter will come with a control solution which tests your meter's accuracy. Most meter companies will send you a control solution for free if you call the number on the back of the meter. Ask your doctor about getting a spare meter or call the meter company: they often have extras to give to you.

What to Expect

The stress of a survival situation will likely increase your blood sugars in the first few days. The stockpile of medications will help with hyperglycemia, and the food storage (e.g. canned goods and MREs) you have saved should help combat the hypoglycemic events early on. You should be checking your blood sugars one to two times a day at this point.

As the event moves from days to weeks, checking your blood sugar is more important (two to three times a day). Your food sources will begin to dry up, and you'll now need to forage for food and water. The risk of hypoglycemia increases as your energy expenditure increases and caloric intake decreases. I would recommend checking at least four times a day as the disaster stretches from weeks into months.

Stocking up on calorie-dense foods, such as ration bars, is a good idea in the event of food shortages. See Issue 7 for...

The possibility of death due to hypoglycemia increases the longer the survival scenario persists. The ability to be productive when the blood sugar drops below 60 is difficult, and the ability to survive once it drops into the 20s isn't guaranteed. Resources such as glucose tablets, glucose gel, and glucagon pens are an option to fight hypoglycemia, but aren't long-term solutions. Knowing what kinds of fruits (e.g. raspberries, blackberries, oranges) grow naturally in your area will also be helpful if your sugar goes low. High-calorie emergency ration bars can contain 400 calories per bar and may be used as a bridge until food can be procured. These items should also be stockpiled.

In Summary

As a diabetic, the importance of stockpiling medication and resources for a survival scenario cannot be overemphasized. It's important to know how your body and blood sugars respond to stress. Maintain a balance during a crisis situation, and you'll be better prepared to succeed.

About the Author

David Miller, DO, FACOI, is an internist in private practice. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1990, he has a unique perspective on patient care and disease management. Experiences away from the office have included being a fight doctor for regional MMA bouts and a team physician for a Division I university in west central Illinois. Dr. Miller is an instructor for the Civilian Crisis Response Team (medical section) based out of Indianapolis.

More From Issue 24

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 25

Read articles from the previous issue of Recoil Offgrid: Issue 23

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.

New: Mora Garberg Black Carbon Knife

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

Written by Patrick McCarthy

Swedish knife-maker Morakniv is well-known in outdoor industry for producing quality knives at a price anyone can afford. For example, the Mora Robust is priced at $15, but has proven to be impressively durable. The company offers quite a few knives that'll set you back less than $20, but it also offers higher-end options for those with more specific needs.

The Garberg is Mora's top-of-the-line survival knife, with a full-tang design intended for durability and shock-resistance. Since its launch in 2016, the Garberg has only been available in stainless steel, but many bushcrafters and outdoorsmen expressed an interest in a carbon steel version. Compared to stainless, carbon steel is substantially easier to sharpen in the field, and it can also be struck against flint or other hard stones to generate fire-starting sparks.

The new Mora Garberg Black Carbon knife is made in Sweden, and features a 3.2mm thick and 4.3-inch long carbon steel blade. To resist corrosion and scratches, a black DLC finish has been applied to the steel. The classic scandi grind and drop point profile are versatile for a variety of outdoor tasks, and the spine is ground at a 90-degree angle for striking a ferrocerium rod.

Made from Mora's famously tough custom polyamide material, the handle is said to be “extremely stress-resistant and nearly unbreakable”. The butt of the handle displays a section of protruding steel, indicating the knife's full-tang construction. A lanyard hole is also present.

The Mora Garberg Black Carbon is available with either a black leather sheath or a polymer sheath with multi-mount kit. The multi-mount version is MOLLE-compatible and can be attached to a variety of surfaces, as seen in the video below:

This new Black Carbon version of the Garberg will be available starting in Spring 2018. MSRP for the leather sheath version will be $120, and MSRP for the multi-mount sheath will be $109. For more information, go to Morakniv.se/en.

Review: Kifaru Reckoning Backpack

Posted on February 11, 2018 at 6:00 am.

Written by Patrick McCarthy

In This Article

Kifaru's Story
Specs: Kifaru Reckoning Pack
Specs: Hunting Platform Frame
Loadout & Add-Ons
Carry Impressions

How much gear can you carry, and how far can you carry it? The answer to these questions will substantially affect your preparedness as you head outdoors.

Higher gear capacity means more tools, more food, and more potable water. It provides space for a better shelter, clean clothes, and emergency medical supplies. Of course, we're not saying you should cram your pack full of unnecessary items — that's obviously unwise. But when you're on your own in a remote location, a few extra resources can spell the difference between a miserable night's sleep and a restful one. And in a survival scenario, the resources in your pack will make the challenge of staying alive a little easier.

Although your physical fitness dramatically affects your carrying capacity, it's not the only variable. The pack you choose is also an extremely significant factor. Forty pounds of gear in a cheap bookbag will be drastically tougher to carry than the same amount of weight in a well-thought-out pack. A supportive frame, padded shoulder straps, an adjustable sternum strap, and a wide hip belt go a long way to distribute weight evenly and reduce fatigue as the miles tick by.

Choosing a high-quality backpack will allow you to carry more essential gear, and to feel less exhausted at the end of the day. Whether you're going on a multi-day backpacking trip, carrying meat back home from a successful hunt, or preparing a bug-out bag for an emergency situation, your pack is one of the most important pieces of gear you own.

Kifaru's Story

Kifaru International was founded in Colorado in 1997 by Patrick Smith, an avid backpacker, hunter, and outdoorsman. Smith had previously founded another well-known Colorado-based outdoor gear company, Mountainsmith, in 1979. But as is often the case in this competitive industry, Mountainsmith eventually moved production offshore to save money. This left behind a large pool of skilled production staff in the United States, and Smith took the opportunity to hire them and form a new venture: Kifaru.

Over the last twenty years, Kifaru has remained a small company with a strong emphasis on quality over quantity. Rather than outsourcing its designs to a foreign manufacturer in pursuit of lower prices, all Kifaru gear is proudly made in the United States. On its About Us page, the company states, “Every dollar you spend with Kifaru is kept right here in the United States. Instead of fueling foreign economies, we put funds right back into American pockets. The taxes reaped from our sales and salaries support our infrastructure and our communities – not those in Asia or Latin America.” That's a bold and clear statement that we can certainly respect.

You may not have heard of Kifaru yet — that's because most of the company's marketing is by word of mouth. In fact, that's exactly how we heard about the brand. Survival instructor and RECOIL OFFGRID contributor Kevin Estela gave us a recommendation, and after checking out Kifaru's web site, we knew we had to try one of the packs.

Specs: Kifaru Reckoning Pack

In search of a pack that could easily handle week-long backpacking trips and carry all our bug-out gear in an emergency, we came across the Reckoning. This pack features a cavernous 82-liter main compartment with a roll top that can expand vertically up to 106 liters. The sides of the pack also feature 8-liter bellowed pockets for tall items. Five colors are available: Ranger Green, Coyote Brown, Wolf Gray, MultiCam, or Kryptek Highlander camo.

The Reckoning is built from tough 500-denier Cordura nylon with a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating. While many other tactical pack manufacturers use denser 1000-denier Cordura, that material can be quite heavy — we've found 500D to be a good balance between wear-resistance and weight.

The pack's contents can be accessed in one of two ways:

Center-Zip — disconnect the compression straps and unzip the main compartment from the bottom
Top-Loading — loosen the drawstring at the top of the pack and unzip down to open the main compartment

Three horizontal compression straps keep the contents of the main and side pockets securely in place, and two vertical straps cinch down the roll top or optional Guide Lid (more on that feature later). The straps feature strong Autolock buckles to prevent accidental loosening, and hook-and-loop strap keepers to neatly stow excess webbing slack. Sturdy grab handles are also present at the top and bottom of the pack, making it easy to pull out of your closet or truck bed.

It's important to note that — like most other Kifaru packs — the Reckoning is sold as a bag only and requires an external frame and suspension system. We'll discuss that portion of the pack below.

Specs: Hunting Platform Frame

This is the point where Kifaru clearly departs from the “one size fits all” design of most consumer-grade 72-hour packs. The Duplex external frame system is offered in 22, 24, and 26-inch lengths (though only 24 and 26 are compatible with the Reckoning). Hip belt sizes range from 27 to 39 inches, and a flat or normal back profile can be chosen. When ordering a frame from Kifaru, you'll also need to specify your height, weight, waist size, and inseam.

The combination of all these variables allows Kifaru to precisely tailor the frame's fit and suspension lifter strap functionality to the individual who'll be wearing it. If you're over 6 feet tall, this system dramatically improves comfort and ensures weight is distributed across the hips.

Raised foam pads on the upper back and lower lumbar area provide cushioning and space for airflow around the wearer's back. The wide contoured waist belt stabilizes the pack's load and cinches securely to any bag paired with this frame. Unbuckling the straps that secure the backpack to the frame reveals a space for a hydration bladder, and loosening these straps creates a shelf for carrying meat back home after a hunt.

Loadout & Add-Ons

This author is 6'5″ tall, and as a result, often has quite a bit of trouble finding gear that fits. Wearing a small day pack bears a comical resemblance to a full-grown man who borrowed a first-grader's book bag, since the pack sits so high on the back. So it came as a surprise to find that the Kifaru Reckoning fit flawlessly right out of the box. After a few seconds of positioning the sternum strap and cinching the waist belt, the Reckoning was ready for the trail. With a 26-inch frame, the pack was positioned at just the right height for this author's torso.

We loaded the main compartment with a sleeping bag, hammock, and insulated air pad from Klymit — stay tuned for a review of these items — as well as a mesh pouch with spare clothes. Three Ultralight Pullout pouches from Kifaru hold freeze-dried food, stove and mess kit, and toiletries/medications.

Additional Pockets

After loading up the main compartment, we installed some accessories to add quick-access storage for tools and loose items. Three small belt pouches were mounted on the PALS webbing around the base of the Reckoning pack, and a fourth was attached to webbing on the left side of the waist belt.

These pouches hold the following gear:

75 feet of paracord in pre-cut bundles, small tin with mini Bic lighter and matches, large perforated tin full of char cloth, heavy-duty black trash bag
Sawyer Mini water filter, back-flushing syringe, water pouch, and chlorine tablets
Handkerchief, sunblock, hand sanitizer, insect repellent, 5000mAh USB power bank, micro-USB and iPhone cables (an ultralight solar panel is also stowed in the main compartment for long-term off-grid smartphone and headlamp recharging)
Headlamp and gloves (in pocket on waist belt)

On the right side of the waist belt, a water bottle pocket was added to hold a 40oz Klean Kanteen bottle. All these accessories attach via Kifaru's unique Lock & Load system — four oval-shaped metal buckles are pushed through the PALS webbing, then rotated to lock the pouch into the webbing.

The Guide Lid

The final addition to our pack was a Kifaru Guide Lid. This 20L pouch attaches to two buckles at the top of the backpack, and two more clipped to webbing on the midsection. Its large zippered compartment serves as additional storage space when it's attached to the Reckoning — but it's also useful on its own.

Unbuckling the Guide Lid from the backpack and examining it closely reveals a hidden hook-and-loop pocket on the back of the lid. Inside this pocket are a carry handle and two shoulder straps that attach to the buckles on the bottom of the Guide Lid, converting it into a simple day pack.

This is extremely helpful, since it means you can quickly set down your full-size pack at your campsite, and head out to gather water or firewood with a small pack of essentials. For bug-out situations, it could also serve as a last-resort SHTF pack if you need to ditch your main bag and make a run for it.

We loaded our guide lid with the following gear:

Snugpak Stasha tarp with paracord ridgeline, guy lines, and ultralight stakes
Rain jacket and wool cap
GRAYL Ultralight water purifier bottle
Kifaru Chamber Pocket with small items: compass, signaling whistle, Bic lighter wrapped in duct tape, Leatherman multitool, small first aid kit, mylar emergency blanket

Exterior Storage

For quick access, we stored our White River FC5 fixed-blade knife on the left side of the pack, with its leather sheath retained by the compression straps. If we head out for a walk without the backpack, it's easy to remove and carry in drop-leg configuration. It also has a ferro rod and divot for making a bow drill, in case other fire-starting methods are inaccessible.

Remember the bellowed side pockets we mentioned earlier? We found those were a good spot for a set of trekking poles. Both parts of a 10/22 Takedown rifle will also fit into one of these side pouches, or you can use them for a bow and quiver, an ax, a rolled-up tarp, or any other long and narrow item.

Full-size rifles can be carried vertically on the outside of this pack. This is accomplished by emptying the centermost add-on pouch, placing the rifle's stock inside, and retaining the body of the rifle behind the compression straps.

We loaded a Hydrapak 3-liter hydration pouch into the space between the frame and pack. With the rigid frame and firm lumbar pad, the hydration system can't be felt against the wearer's back — there's no awkward bulge like you'd get after adding it to some frameless packs.

Lastly, we rolled up a Thermarest foam pad and attached it to the straps at the base of the Reckoning pack. Although it's not needed if we're using the hammock and air pad setup, it's a good lightweight insulation layer in case trees are sparse and we end up sleeping on the ground under a tarp.

Carry Impressions

With the Reckoning pack, Hunting Platform frame, Guide Lid, and accessory pouches, this setup weighs about 8 pounds before filling it with any gear. That's certainly not ultralight, but that's also not this pack's emphasis. Fully-loaded with all the gear in these photos, plus three days of food and one gallon of clean water, the pack weighed 40 pounds. While heavy, that's still under the common 20%-of-total-body-weight recommendation for this author. To add a rifle and ammo to this loadout, we'd probably ditch a few of the redundant items inside the pack and guide lid to reduce weight sufficiently.

Although 40 pounds is a substantial amount of weight to carry, the Kifaru Reckoning made it feel surprisingly easy. The suspension system and hip belt keep the pack stable and distribute its weight across the wearer's midsection, keeping the strain off the back and shoulders. (Trekking poles help, too.) Additionally, every stitch, strap, buckle, and seam on this pack feels rock-solid. We didn't see a single loose thread or odd wrinkle anywhere — that's the sort of workmanship we wish every gear company could achieve.

From a design standpoint, the Reckoning backpack is simple and elegant. Its cavernous main compartment handles smaller loadouts easily, and expands to swallow up bulkier gear if necessary. It's a great choice for hunters due to this expansion capability. As we used the pack more, we continued to find new ways of stashing gear inside and outside it. The only real limitation of this pack's capacity is your own physical strength and endurance — its size can almost certainly hold more gear than you can comfortably carry.

The addition of a few exterior pouches helped to organize small gear and provide quick access to fire-starters, water-purification, and other tools. Without these pouches, we'd be shoving everything into the main compartment, so we consider them a very worthwhile upgrade. We also grew fond of the Guide Lid, since it's an easy grab-and-go storage option for short hikes away from camp. The lid's tucked-away shoulder straps lack any form of padding, but they work well enough for light contents.

Now for the elephant (or perhaps the rhino) in the room: price. The Kifaru Reckoning is made in America with an immense list of features and some of the finest materials available. That does not come cheap. Here's a breakdown of the Reckoning as seen in this article:

Kifaru Reckoning (Ranger Green, bag only) – $284
Hunting Platform Frame and Suspension – $336
Guide Lid – $77
Small Belt Pouches – $128 (4 at $32 each)
Water Bottle Pocket – $28
Chamber Pocket – $13
Ultralight Pullouts – $45 (set of four)

We'll save you the trouble of whipping out a calculator — that's a total MSRP of $911. However, remember our statement at the beginning of this article on the actual value of a quality pack. You can't go backpacking without a backpack, and your bug-out bag would just be a pile of gear if not for the bag. Your backpack is the cornerstone of every outdoor trek, and if it's not up to the task, you will feel the physical reminders of that fact after a few miles of hiking. An inadequate backpack will also reduce the amount of gear you can comfortably carry, providing you with less survival tools and resources.

Expense aside, we found the Kifaru Reckoning to be a truly outstanding pack — you'd have a very hard time finding other backpacks that can compete with this level of craftsmanship, durability, adjustability, and modularity. This is a pack we know we could put our trust in for any backpacking trip, hunt, or bug-out situation.

To learn more about the Reckoning and other Kifaru packs, go to Kifaru.net.

Video: Make Your Own Ultralight Camp Chair

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

Written by Patrick McCarthy

After a long day on the trail, there's nothing better than sitting down and kicking your feet up by the campfire. But sitting on the hard, dirty ground probably isn't what you have in mind. Folding chairs are available at your local sporting goods store, but they're large, heavy, and a pain to carry on your pack. Small ones are available at camping stores, but those are often close to $100 and still rather unwieldy. Fortunately, there are ways to solve this problem with a little preparation.

DIY folding camp chair stool bushcraft camping seat 1

Chairs like these are a nice luxury, but finding space for them in your pack can be difficult or impossible.

Lonnie of YouTube channel Far North Bushcraft and Survival came up with a simple and effective way to build an ultralight and compact camp chair. It's only 2 ounces and packs down into a shirt pocket — this is possible because the legs can be cut in the field. All you're building is a triangular fabric top that'll connect the seat legs.

The basic materials you'll need are:

Large sheet of paper, scissors, yardstick, and a pencil to make a template
Durable fabric, such as Cordura nylon
Sewing machine or needle and thread
Knife, ax, or saw
Cordage to bind the legs
A source of wood

In the video below, Lonnie shows how he created this simple camp chair, and discusses potential reinforcement points for the fabric:

Video: Perfecting a Paiute Deadfall Trap

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

Written by Patrick McCarthy

Hunting for food isn't easy — chasing down animals in the wild burns a lot of time and energy, and it can be highly inconsistent. The ideal situation is to sit back, relax, and let the food come to us. That's why we transitioned from foraging for wild edibles to growing our own crops near our homes.

However, primitive trapping isn't easy either. There's a lot that can go wrong with a trap. If the trigger is too sensitive, it'll go off with a slight breeze; if it's not sensitive enough, the prey will scamper away with your bait. There's a lot of trial and error involved unless you can learn from someone more experienced. In the past, this knowledge was taught from one generation to the next, but these days we can all learn from each other through the internet.

In the following video, YouTube survival instructor Bob Hansler shows how to make one of the most well-known primitive traps of all time: the Paiute deadfall. This trap, which is named after the Paiute Native Americans who invented it, is composed of a large flat-faced stone or log, four sticks, and a piece of cordage.

The parts are as follows:

Lever: Supports the deadfall weight. One end is connected to the trigger stick with cordage.
Fulcrum: A sturdy forked upright stick to support the lever. The base of this fulcrum should be placed on smooth, flat, solid ground (or a rock or wood plank).
Toggle: A small piece of wood tied to the lever stick and wrapped around the fulcrum.
Trigger: This long, thin twig is placed between the toggle and deadfall weight, and used to suspend the bait.

Hansler explains the configuration and necessary angle in the video below. He then demonstrates making a large trap for raccoons, coyotes, rabbits, and other medium-sized animals, as well as a smaller trap for scurrying rodents. As he wisely notes, you'll need to set several traps in varying sizes and locations to improve your chances in a survival situation. You should also be actively hunting, fishing, and foraging for wild edibles if you expect to eat consistently.

Advanced Fire-Starting Techniques in Cold Weather

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

Written by Offgrid Staff

In This Article

Location
Kindling
Fire Starting Methods 1. AA Battery
Fire Starting Methods 2. Chain saw
Fire Starting Methods 3. Ice lens
Conclusion
More From Issue 24

Disclaimer
This guide is meant to be a quick overview, and not a detailed guide, on improvised fire-starting methods. Any use of the information contained in this article is solely at the reader's risk.

Your fingers are numb. Your face stings from the bitter icy wind. Everything around you is wet. Shelter from the excruciatingly frigid environment is nowhere in sight. You need to start a fire — now! Can you do this with limited tools? The answer is yes; read on a little further to see how.

Whether it's for warmth, cooking, signaling, or most likely, all of the above, having the knowledge and skill to generate fire can mean the difference between life and death. Television shows often feature a lone protagonist twisting a stick onto a larger piece of wood until smoke appears, establishing a life-saving fire. But have you ever tried to start a friction fire? It's not as easy as the TV shows and books may lead you to believe. More often than not, an inexperienced person winds up with a broken stick, blistered hand, uncontrollable shivers, and an altogether pissed off state of mind. Add in a critical factor such as your life depending on it, and suddenly creating fire becomes an entirely different task. Mastery of this takes practice, but there's hope, even for the inexperienced with a bare minimum of implements.

The key thing about starting a fire is that it's only as easy as your ignition source and the quality of your fuel. Waterproof matches, windproof lighters, and the classic flint and steel are items no prepper or avid outdoorsman or woman should be without. One can even go a step further by carrying petroleum jelly-soaked cotton or dryer lint, solid fuel cubes, or any other variety of fire fuel. Since we live in a world where Murphy's Law is commonplace, imagine you find yourself caught in a snowstorm or lost in frigid temperatures. You need to start a fire, but you don't have the Supplies: that you so carefully purchased, tested, and packed. Do you still have the knowledge it takes to start a life-saving fire under those conditions?

For fire to occur, four things must be in place: oxygen, fuel, heat, and a chemical chain reaction. This is known as the fire tetrahedron. To create fire, all four elements must be present, just as to extinguish fire, you can simply remove any one of those four elements. Rarely would someone attempt to start a fire in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and, when all other elements are in place, the chemical chain reaction will naturally occur. That leaves two parts of the equation that must be provided: something to start the fire and something to burn. Finding dry fuel and an ignition source can be daunting, particularly in a cold and wet environment, one of the most difficult settings to establish a fire.

The cold will be more of a factor on your fingers than it will on the fuel that you want to burn. Science tells us that more energy will be needed to bring the fuel to its ignition temperature, but for our purposes, the difference is negligible. The damp conditions are another story. Anyone who has tried to start a fire when everything is seemingly wet knows what a frustrating challenge it can be. Fortunately, challenging doesn't mean impossible. When attempting to burn wet wood, over half the heat is utilized in drying the wood before it can burn. Often, though, dry wood is available with a little bit of effort and ingenuity.

Location

Before discussing alternative methods to start a fire in cold, adverse conditions, a few considerations must be addressed. First, the location of the fire is of utmost importance. Ideally, your fire should be placed away from moisture, out of the wind, and near a large rock wall or another noncombustible surface or structure.
Much warmth can be absorbed by the radiant heat reflected by a boulder, rocks stacked in a horseshoe shape around the fire, or even large logs stacked on top of one another (possibly leaned against a few small trees). If you're able to utilize a large boulder or rock wall, you can build the fire a few feet away from the wall so you can place your body between it and the fire for maximum warmth.

Nearby melting snow can hinder a small fire that you're trying to build into a big fire. You should elevate your fire by building a base of rocks or logs. The small spaces in between them provide water runoff channels as well as a dry foundation for you to build on. Also, avoid building your fire under a tree that has accumulated snow or ice on its branches, for obvious reasons.

Kindling

Successful creation of a fire begins with proper kindling. When you don't have fire-starting supplies on hand, you must learn how to find some in nature. Dry, finely fibered, and easily ignitable wood or dead grass are often the most prevalent and utilized. Start small and slowly add larger and larger tinder.
There are some trees that are well-known for providing valuable tinder:

White Birch: Its paperlike bark provides easily accessible and ignitable tinder. White birch also, almost exclusively, grows Chaga (birch tinder fungus) that's widely utilized for its flammability.

White Pine: The pine needles make superb fire tinder, and the flammable sap is invaluable when trying to keep a fire going in rainy conditions.

American Basswood: It's soft enough that it makes an excellent choice for starting a friction fire, but not so soft that it crumbles when pressure is applied.

Maple: Twigs are often readily available and yield effective tinder.

There are other tinder options that you may need to use if trees in the immediate vicinity aren't helpful. As with most survival scenarios, a certain amount of ingenuity may be required. Check your pockets. You may have pocket lint or rogue threads that can help you get a fire going. The lip balm that you carry with you religiously during the winter months can help start and maintain a small fire. As painful as it may be, paper money can be used as tinder. The pocket itself, as long as it's not part of the structure of your garment, can be pulled out and cut or ripped to create tinder. Dry bird feathers, bird nests, hair or fur, cigarette tobacco and filters, dry animal dung, and any clothing not necessary for warmth or to keep dry can all be used to get a fire going.

With no ax or saw available to cut deadwood into manageable-sized pieces, you'll have to locate deadfall and carry or drag it to the vicinity of where you'll build your fire. You can break up larger pieces by wedging them between two standing trees and using leverage by pulling until the branches break. Green logs are OK to use, but only after your fire is large enough and generating enough heat to burn them. The general rule is to have three dry logs for every green one.

Fire Starting Methods 1. AA Battery

Difficulty: 2

Supplies: AA battery and a gum or cigarette wrapper

Many people don't carry a traditional tool that'll allow them to start a fire, but may have the means to start a fire right in their pocket and not even know it. If you have a flashlight or other electronic device that utilizes AA batteries, you're halfway there. Next you simply need gum with an aluminum wrapper or cigarette package paper. The gum or cigarette foil wrapper is thin enough to create resistance, which will generate heat. Steel wire could also work, but only if it's very thin (steel wool), otherwise it'll be too thick to provide adequate resistance. This is important because even a paperclip or standard aluminum foil is too thick to offer enough resistance to generate the heat required. Even copper wiring won't work. Copper has very low resistance that's good for carrying current, but not for generating heat. So it won't produce the results you need.

Steps:

Remove the battery from the flashlight.
Cut or tear the gum wrapper into an hourglass shape where the thin part is about as wide as the width of your knife blade.
Hold the foil side of the wrapper against the positive and negative posts of the battery. Almost immediately the thin part of the wrapper will ignite.

Notes:

This method is very simple, but requires a fairly exact shape of the gum wrapper, which will take practice to perfect. If the narrow part of the wrapper is too wide, it won't ignite. If it's too thin, it'll burn through before it catches fire. The width of the top of a knife blade should be about right. Sometimes this method can create a lot of heat on your fingers. You should use gloves or even the gum that was removed from the wrapper to create a barrier between your fingers and the foil against the battery posts.

Some cell phone batteries have exposed positive and negative terminals as well and could potentially achieve the same result. Because the terminals are typically recessed it can be more difficult to make contact with them. Steel wool can be used with greater success, but people don't often carry steel wool with them.

Another method that should only be utilized in a dire survival situation is to pierce a lithium-ion battery with a knife. When the lithium becomes exposed to oxygen, a chemical reaction occurs that produces heat and flame. This will obviously ruin your cell phone battery, and, more importantly, the reaction is unpredictable and could be potentially violent. Therefore, only attempt this when there are no other options.

Fire Starting Methods 2. Chain saw

Difficulty: 3

Supplies: Chain saw

It's not uncommon to head out in the woods on a winter day to locate and cut firewood. It's also not unheard of for the weather to quickly change or to get turned around and find yourself lost and in immediate need of warmth. You may not have matches or a lighter, but if you have a chain saw, you can create fire.

Steps:

For safety reasons, remove the bar and chain from the saw.
Find a depression in a log (or rock) that can confine liquid.
Pour a small amount of gasoline from the chain saw into the depression. (Consider adding bar oil from the other reservoir in approximately a 50/50 mixture to lower the flash point.)
Soak a small amount of quality tinder in the mixture.
Remove the spark plug from the engine and pull from the plug wire.
Place the chainsaw tool (a piece of wire would also work) into the boot of the plug wire.
Place the other end of the attached tool near (but not IN!) the fuel. The tool must be close enough to create a ground, but not so close it is in the liquid. Roughly 1/8 of an inch is about right.
Pull the pull cord to create a spark, igniting the fire.

Other Considerations:

Consider using a stick to hold the spark plug in place so the spark doesn't “bite” you.
You could also dip a stick in the gasoline, creating a makeshift match, and ignite with a spark plug the same way.

Fire Starting Methods 3. Ice lens

Difficulty: 5

Supplies: Ice

Lens-based fire starting techniques are commonly known and practiced. Some find them easy, while others find them rather difficult to successfully create fire. Commonly used lenses come in the form of a magnifying glass, water bottle, eyeglasses, or any other actual or makeshift lenses. One option, which may be more prevalent than others in cold weather, is ice.

Steps:

Locate as clear a piece of ice as possible.
Cut or break off a piece about the size of your palm.
With your hand, rub the ice smooth on one side and convex on the other.
Prop the ice with a rock or wood to allow sunlight to pass through and focus on one specific spot.
Place light kindling (the darker the better) at the focal point of the sunlight.

Other Considerations

Only use your ungloved hand to shape the ice if there are immediate ways to rewarm your hand, otherwise you could expedite frostbite.

Conclusion

For every person you ask, you'll get a handful of differing responses as to the best ways to start a fire in a survival situation. There are tried-and-true methods that've been utilized for as long as humans have walked the earth. You certainly have your own opinions. One thing everyone can agree on is to start with the easiest methods first. If those are not an option, some outside-the-box techniques may need to be employed. It's those unusual and extreme techniques that must be practiced before needed. Try these out and become proficient with them so when the need arises, it's not the first time you've tried it. One sure way to improve your chances for success is to prepare in advance!

More From Issue 24

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