The best survival gear in the world does no good if you forget or lose it somewhere! Mark you equipment so you won’t lose it.

by Leon Pantenburg The rattle of musketry came from over the hill, and in a few minutes, our pickets were driven back. The order came to form ranks, so I drained my canteen and wished for more water. It was late in the afternoon of the Civil War re-enactment battle of Champion Hill, near Vicksburg, [...]

Aboriginal people looked to the forests, deserts and plains for survival tools and materials for shelter. Today, modern urban and wilderness survivalists should be looking in the dumpsters, trash cans and among roadside litter!

Is your best choice a hatchet or a saw?

Either choice has advantages and disadvantages. When choosing any tool for wilderness or urban survival, start by anticipating where you might be when you may need the tool, and what tasks it will need to perform.

The Easter earthquake in southern California and the recent catastrophic quake in Chile should have been a wakeup call to anyone who lives in an earthquake zone. You need to make a personal earthquake survival kit that you can carry with you at all time.

And let this be your mantra: “My survival kit won’t save me. My equipment or gear can’t save me. I will save me.” And include common sense with every outing!

The best survival knife is the one you have when it’s needed.

The ability to hang onto your survival tools can be critical. But many of the items you need are small and are difficult to secure to your coat or belt. Here’s a quick, easy way to secure just about anything.

By Leon Pantenburg Here’s a great way to keep your bladder style water hydration system from attracting mold and mildew: store it in your freezer. I heard about this idea from a fellow shopper at REI. I was looking at the complex assortment of brushes and tools for cleaning bladder hydration systems, and complaining about how hard it [...]

Different fabrics have radically different properties. Choosing the wrong type, or mixing clothing of different materials, can be disastrous