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FEATURED POSTS

Best canoe? 40+ years and this Coleman is still going strong

 600 341 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Good gear is an investment. I bought my 15-foot Coleman Ram-X canoe before setting out on my 1980 Source-to-Sea voyage on the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. The canoe is still being used. 

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Survival Knives

Review: Condor Terrasaur – best knife for bushcrafters on a budget?

 600 338 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

A good, useful knife doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive. But it does have be dependable and be able to work hard. This  Condor Terrasaur is a good choice for budget-minded users.

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Hunt|Fish|Camp

Knife review video: First look at the Benchmade Meatcrafter

 400 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

The right knives make backcountry meat cutting a lot faster, more efficient and safer. Two knives can do the work: a skinner/gutting knife and a boning/fillet knife. Make good choices in both categories.

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Making Fire

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Video: Surefire way to start a survival fire in standing water or really wet conditions

 600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

The more desperately you need a survival fire, the harder it will be to start one. That’s Murphy’s Law, and it is generally true. Here are three common items that virtually guarantee that you can get a fire started, even under really adverse conditions. In this case, the technique is used in standing water.

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Emergency Shelter

g the tarp correctly will determine how well it will p

How to pitch a tarp to survive in heavy winds

 533 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Winds can rip a tarp to pieces if it isn’t secured correctly. Here’s how to make your survival shelter safe and secure.

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Survival Gear

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Videos: Ten+ survival items under $20 each that work really well

 557 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness
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Your survival gear needs to work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need the most expensive stuff. Here are 10 excellent survival items that cost under $20 each.

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Survival Skills

How to enjoy hiking in the rain

 593 400 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

It sounds counter-intuitive, but hiking in the rain can be fun. Here’s how you can learn to love it. Or at least not dislike it. Too much. Regardless, rain happens. Here is how to make the best of the situation.

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VIDEOS | TIPS & HOW TO's

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Video: What you need to make a Dutch oven survival kit
 600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Beginners frequently ask for a list of tools to get started in Dutch oven cooking. So, here’s a basic, bare-bones list.

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Video: How to make charcloth, a miracle survival kit fire starter
 600 300 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Catching a spark and blowing it into a flame is a skill that can save your life. Properly-made charcloth will easily catch a spark and grow into an ember.

This T-18 Mora knife has had the sheath modifed for safety and is moderately priced. (Leon Pantenburg photo)
Best beginner knife? We (video) review the Mora 840 Companion
 600 335 Survival Common Sense Blog | Emergency Preparedness

Take a hard look at the Mora 840 Companion if you’re looking for the best beginner knife.

Leon Pantenburg writes a survival skills blog with tips and techniques to help typical folks survive an unexpected urban or wilderness emergency, using their common sense and emergency preparedness training. Topics include survival knives, survival clothing and camp cooking, making a fire, emergency shelter, hunting and fishing, competent survival skills and survival gear reviews.