Topic:

Gear & Equipment – General equipment and tools used for preparedness, survival, outdoor use, and self-reliance activities.

  • Do you have enough candles stored away?

    note: article first appeared in August 2015 I have a number of preparedness friends that talk to me about their generators. I listen patiently and allow them to go on and on about how their generators can run their house, run their air conditioning or run their freezer for some number of days. I invariably…

  • LED Lenser T-Square 240 Lumen Flashlight

    note: article first appeared in December of 2015 Yesterday I did a review on a tactical flashlight that I have been using for a number of years now. It is the LED Lenser V2. I absolutely love that flashlight! It has done everything I’ve ever asked of it and then some. It has never failed…

  • LED Lenser V2 Flashlight

    note: article first appeared January 2015 Let me start this review of the LED Lenser V2 by describing what I was looking for in a flashlight. The mission was: “A single flashlight that was compact, lightweight and bright enough to standardize on a single brand & model.” Here were the flashlight requirements: To sum it all up…

  • Ozark Trail 150-Lumen Multi-Color Headlamp

    This is one of those “Wow!” moments. Yeah…seriously. You know me, I am a gear junkie of the worst sort. I am always looking at emergency preparedness gear. It is sooooo bad I have had several hundred dollars worth of small-battery chargers sitting around my home office for months while I work on those articles.…

  • Wilderness Instructor Belt – Best freaking belt!

    This is one of those articles I write because I have a special affinity for the item itself. Yes, I like writing, sometimes it is because I feel that I need to test, evaluate, report on a piece of gear. This article is not one of those…I am writing this out of pure appreciation for…

  • Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpener

    I’ve got a lot of knives…I mean a lot of knives. I also like them sharp…I mean really sharp. I have been using a Smith’s diamond stone and I am pleased with it. I actually like the coarse side a lot better than the fine side. I know it may sound crazy but it feels as if it puts…

  • Where to stash your survival cache?

    note: first appeared in March 2015 There are lots of good places to hide your cache. There are lots of bad places to hide your cache. The trick is to find the places to hide your cache where no one else will find it. So the cardinal rule is – Don’t hide your cache where…

  • Survival Cache to Stay Alive & Start Over – Part #3

    note: first appeared in March 2015 In this article I will cover items in your survival cache that will help you conserve (or at least not destroy) resources associated with the incident you find yourself in. You don’t want to destroy any resource you may need later. The items in this category will help you…

  • Survival Cache to Stay Alive & Start Over – Part #2

    note: first appeared in March 2015 In this article I will cover items in your survival cache that will help you stabilize the dire situation you find yourself in.  These items will be the gear and equipment that assists you in keeping a bad situation from getting worse. It won’t solve all of your problems…

  • Survival Cache to Stay Alive & Start Over – Part #1

    note: first appeared in March 2015 I have been a “prepper” most of my adult life. I have been a member of fire departments or worked for the federal government in wildland fire most of my adult life. I have learned incredible life-saving skills through my emergency services training as well as some great private…

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