It was 1864 the location, the rough desolate southern ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica. A sailing vessel, the Grafton, and small crew of five were outfitted to explore islands in the area for minerals to make tin, which was in those days, the equivalent of plastic. They left the Harbor in Sydney, Australia and [...]

EDC or Every Day Carry is supposed to be the core of a basic survival kit. EDC should be those things you are NEVER without. In fact what most of us have for EDC would more correctly be called, MDC or ODC, since it is really carried Most days or Occasional days. What’s the point of EDC [...]

About a year ago I did a video “Cheap Water Purification” on a method of treating water that was inexpensive, effective, simple, reliable, and chemical free. This method was developed by the Swiss group eawag and was primarily designed for use in third world countries where a principal cause of death was related to water [...]

It was a clear bright day in early February, the first in a while, and though the sun was blinding it was still a nippy 43 below zero. Ralph Flores the owner and pilot of the five seater aircraft had already fueled up and was ready to go. Ralph lived in the San Francisco area [...]

I was so fortunate to grow up close to my Grandfather, and could be along with him on many adventures, exploring the high deserts of central Utah where he grew up, looking for interesting rocks, or twisted cedars, or just enjoying being out there alone, no crowds, no highways, and usually no people. Grandpa had [...]

Most likely you’ll only really need your survival gear when you don’t have it, so if you ALWAYS take it, it’s kinda like insurance against Mr. Murphy and his crazy law.   Well I was all set to write a blog on another subject when my automatic web search plopped a story in my lap [...]

When I was young what is today most often called an Emergency Blanket, was invented and it changed the world of survival and preparedness. NASA developed the material in 1964 for use in the space program. The plastic film is PET, the same material used in water bottles, aluminum vapor is bonded to the film [...]

Survival, Thankfulness and Hope It’s still dark, just after five a.m., the air is freezing, a biting breeze scours my face as I walk the two miles to the bus stop, and as is often the case my mind wanders to assorted thoughts. This morning I seem to be captivated by a certain theme, thankfulness. I’m [...]

In the world of survival and preparedness the most popular topics are such things as knives, guns, fire starting, shelter building, and food procurement, these are all valuable topics which we address as well. Astonishingly, almost no attention is paid to sleep, as if it’s something we don’t need or can do without. There is [...]

The time is upon us soon at least in our part of the country in the Mountain West for the big hunts. It’s a pretty big deal around here, when I was a kid the opening days of the deer hunt were practically state holidays, school was conveniently out. We had enough weaponry out in [...]