IS HOLLYWOOD ENTIRELY OFF-BASE WHEN IT COMES TO SURVIVAL MOVIES? Many of us enjoy survival-oriented films. With some of them, it gives us a chance to wargame, in a manner of speaking, and allow us to see how some situations may play out. There are other movies that seemingly share vital pieces of survival knowledge and techniques. Let’s take a look at three films that fall into the survival movie genre or niche. The summaries will be brief and will gloss over quite a few details, due to space constraints as well as an attempt to avoid spoilers for those who’ve not seen the movies yet. But, the ..read more

7 BACKPACKING BRANDS FLYING UNDER YOUR RADAR Some of the best brands out there for outdoor gear are ones of which most people have never heard. These are the cottage companies, small businesses and start-ups with low-to-zero overhead who started out making their own gear in garages or basements (or possibly still do) because what they wanted wasn’t already on the market. Most of these companies are ultralight-minded; the gear that the big brands were selling simply didn’t cut it for them, so they set out to do it better. Their costs are low (small teams, no massive inventories) and their quali ..read more

NYERGES’ “URBAN SURVIVAL GUIDE” ADVOCATES LIVING SIMPLY TO BE RESILIENT AGAINST ADVERSITY Did you ever feel as if you were on life’s cruel treadmill? You work long and hard to pay for the possessions you accumulate only to find you have little time to use those things because you’re too busy working to pay for them. There is an alternative. Christopher Nyerges details a different approach in his book, “Urban Survival Guide, How City Dwellers Can Live Well, and Frugally, Even in Dire Times.” While this book is likely to be of interest to those seeking to be secure in the possible event of a nat ..read more

The DC Project, Women for Gun Rights, returned to Washington, D.C. on September 13-16, 2022, to deliver its core message to Congress. The group’s 51 delegates representing 48 states met with legislators from both sides of the aisle. The DC Project advocates that gun rights are human rights. Their effort concluded with a rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court. A Voice for Gun Rights DC Project Founder Dianna Muller commented, “This was our fifth fly-in and it was the most impactful trip we have experienced.” Muller added, “We built bridges by sharing our personal and emotional st ..read more

THE AUTHOR USED MINIMALIST BACKPACKING GEAR FOR HIS OVERSEAS ADVENTURES What kind of people go on a planned adventure in the jungle? All over the world, there are guided trips to remote places in the jungle that require an overnight stay or a multi-day trip. Destinations include places such as the Zambezi River in Africa and the jungles and rain forests of South America, Mexico, and Central America. Southeast Asia probably has the most overseas/jungle excursions out of Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Usually, some package deal provides transportation via van, boat ..read more

GARMIN’S LATEST GADGETS TRACK YOUR LOCATION, MONITOR YOUR FITNESS, AND KEEP YOU CONNECTED I had been using Garmin handheld GPS units for many years on my backcountry hunts. However, I wasn’t paying attention to all the recent tech products the company has been offering to wilderness explorers, off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and fitness fanatics. Garmin continues to introduce new products and to add features to its existing product line, all with the aim of keeping you safe, in touch, and up-to-date on your personal goals, whether those goals entail making it to a remote mountaintop or reaching ..read more

RECALLING AN ENCOUNTER WITH A MASSASAUGA SNAKE THAT RESULTED IN A THREE-DAY ORDEAL In 1972, I was 15 years old and had been an after-school fur trapper since age 12. Many adults regarded my fascination with nature as unnatural. They said, “Boy, you can’t be in those woods all the time.” I persisted against their advice. Because typical teenagers prefer other activities, most of my outings were solo. That was okay because being alone meant being quiet, and seeing more cool things. But being alone also got me into a few scrapes, like the one I experienced that June. Most of the time, you’ll know ..read more

TRY THESE SIMPLE HOMEMADE FIRE STARTERS In a way, fire might be considered a multitool, given how many uses we have for it out in the field. It keeps us warm on cold nights and dries us out if we get wet. It boils water to render it safe to drink and it cooks our food to make it more palatable. It lights up the night to keep the boogeyman away. Pixabay photo Make no mistake, there is a strong psychological component at work, too. Being able to get a fire going, especially in challenging conditions, provides a sense of control over a situation that might otherwise feel absolutely chaotic. This ..read more

WHY CAMPING BY KAYAK CAN PROVIDE A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO BACKPACKING If you’re looking to try something a bit different on your next camping trip, I would recommend a paddle camping outing, specifically by kayak. When our kids were young, my wife and I used to load up the family and head to one of our favorite destinations: Raquette Lake in New York State’s Adirondack region. There we’d paddle out to Big Island and stay in one of the lean-to’s that were available for free on a first-come basis. All it cost was the food we brought and the gas to get there. That was a big consideration for a growi ..read more

DEPENDABLE ANIMALS FOR HOMESTEADING What do soaring gas prices, food shortages, a deteriorating supply chain and crowded, mismanaged cities all have in common? They’ve all got a lot of people thinking about dipping their toes into homesteading. Chancelor Havlik of Czexas Ranch in Goliad, Texas can barely wrangle his smallest kid, Pea, for photo ops anymore. Pea was born in March 2022. Whether you plan on forsaking your day job to become self-reliant and make a living off homesteading, or you simply have the space and time to add another hobby to your repertoire, homesteading can be made a lot ..read more