Table of contents for Winter 2014 in RECOIL OFFGRID

With our cities weathering everything from natural disasters to an aging infrastructure, power outages are becoming an all too common occurrence. Aside from needing power to run everything from lights to microwaves, many people depend on electricity to run critical medical equipment and refrigerators for medicines. If the power does go ofline for a few days or more in your area like it did during the large-scale blackout of the Northeast in 2003, do you have a plan to get your home up and running? Having a power generator handy is definitely a great idea and should be on the top of every prepper’s musthave list. We’re going to take it one step further than to simply have a generator at your beckon call. We will prepare our house so…

We’re often asked, “What’s the one thing to think about when trying to prepare for SHTF?” Two words sum it up quite nicely — Murphy’s Law. What can go wrong will go wrong. An unfortunate corollary to that is “That which you are least prepared for will happen when you’re the least prepared for it.” It’s during those times that you need to be able to improvise like a drunken jazz guitarist. We often take the ease of getting from where we are to where we need to be for granted. It’s as simple as taking your choice of conveyance and going, whether by car, motorcycle, bicycle, train, bus, or by foot. Knowing what routes to use to head home from work or the gym can be done in your…

We all know that having instant access to a bright stream of light anytime you need it can not only be incredibly useful, but also in some situations, it can even be a potential lifesaver. Many of us may rely on a trusty flashlight that we’ve had for years to light up dark areas and some of us even lean on a flashlight app on our smart phones when in a pinch. While the reasons you’d want light in low- or no-light spaces are obvious, it isn’t always obvious that your all-important choice of light implement can end up tying up another crucial tool of yours, such as your hands. If you’ve ever explored the crevices of your truck’s undercarriage or the dark corners of your basement, you’ve probably run…

SIMPLE (CLOSED) FRACTURE COMPOUND (OPEN) FRACTURE From simple daily activities to deadly armed combat, our bodies are at the mercy of our bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscles all functioning seamlessly in unison. However, even the strongest bodies have a breaking point where too much applied force can lead to sprains or bone fractures. Unfortunately, the common Joe Schmo does not have MacGyver-like abilities to solve all misadventures with some bubble gum, a Q-tip, and a soda can. There are a few important tips that everyone should learn and remember in order to deal with injuries that can occur. Sprains First and foremost, it is always crucial to quickly stabilize the victim of any injury and make sure that certain key vital signs (such as breathing, pulse, and body temperature) are…

Last year was a sobering reminder of just how volatile our world is — and how fragile our lives really are. A slew of devastating natural disasters hit the United States, as well as other countries throughout the world, in 2013. Here at home, we experienced everything from tornadoes, flooding, earthquakes, wildfires, snowstorms, ice storms, avalanches, and more. Abroad, we saw massive death and destruction on an epic scale in the form of a typhoon in the Philippines, earthquakes in China that impacted more than 2 million people, and destructive floods in Argentina, just to name a few. We do what we can to prevent disasters from occurring, but the fact is that when one does strike, there is little we can do in that instant other than to bear…

In a recent survey conducted by American Pet Products Association, studies have revealed that roughly 83 million dogs are owned in the United States. With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that pets have become an increasingly important extension of our families — and for some, their only family. The smiles they bring and the personalities they share have made them an integral and intimate part of the new family household and further studies reveal just how important they have become. Further investigation by Kelton Research also reveals that there are blurred lines when it comes to dogs and children. Although humorous (and disconcerting at the same time) the studies show that many consider their dogs as equally important as their children. Needless to say, we can all understand the…

*Artist’s interpretation, affected areas are not to scale. 20 - 50 MILLION DEATHS Spanish Flu (H1N1) 1918-1919 One of the deadliest outbreaks, ever — not just in terms of the number killed, but also in how quickly they were killed. It is estimated that one third of the world’s population was infected, resulting in 20 to 50 million deaths (some researchers peg the number closer to 100 million). Not only that, but the virus killed mostly healthy young adults instead of the old and weak, who are usually more at risk with influenzas. The death toll in the U.S. was roughly 675,000. Just as quickly as it laid waste to the globe, it disappeared. Its exact origin remains unknown and a topic of debate. 150K- 600K DEATHS Mexican Flu (popularly…

If you believe you are prepared for everything, here’s a little reality check to easily illustrate how your best laid plans can go straight to hell. Let’s say you’ve spent months of study and selection (not to mention hundreds of dollars) to assemble the finest bug-out bag ever conceived. Now let’s say that you had to evacuate your city due to some kind of calamity, such as a dirty bomb or other radiological event. Your world went from normal to nightmarish as you listened to that emergency radio broadcast stating that your home is now uninhabitable, perhaps forever. And if you thought things couldn’t go any more wrong, here’s the part when the worst day of your life gets even more horrific — you lose your bugout bag. Now everything…

There’s no debating it, the item taking up the most real estate in your emergency supply cache is food — boxes, bags, and bottles of it. We spend a lot of time, money, and effort making sure we have enough of what we hope is tasty sustenance. But, as we found out in our last issue’s taste tests, even the highest-quality prepackaged, storable food leaves the palate wanting. Animal proteins commercially packaged for long-term storage are at best mediocre meat-like chunks in an Alpo-like sauce, and at worst something akin to the sole of a jungle boot. A couple of meals like this and you’ll be dreaming of your favorite cut of beef or a delicately fried piece of yard bird. Well, just because the fan is covered in crap…

Since the days when a man cave was literally a cave, a reliable source of fire has been essential for thriving in any environment. Fire is elemental in all the key components of survival: warmth to fend off cold weather, heat to cook food, and as a means to purify water. In an off-grid scenario, the portability and type of fire source is of utmost importance. Unlike our knuckle-dragging ancestors, we don’t have to schlep around a well-guarded embers from place to place to guarantee having flames for the night. Lucky for us, there are more than a few options in our quest for fire. This guide presents some of our handpicked selections for when the excrement hits the flabellum. With so many options, how do you know what to…

G-10 isn’t the latest business jet that all the iced-out rappers are flying in these days. It’s a durable material that’s popular as handle scales for knives. Its use on folders and fixed blades has become more prevalent in recent years — particularly among cops, troops, bushcrafters, and outdoor adventurers who are looking for something that can take a serious beating in the most serious conditions. Some people assume that the blade is the most (and only) important part of a knife, but the handle is just as important. Without a sturdy grip, you wouldn’t be able to keep the tool in your hand, let alone use it for any vital tasks. So the handle is the yin to the blade’s yang. Both are equally important; that’s why more and…

Ring-a-round the rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down. Just a silly nursery rhyme? Or a reference to the bubonic plague, which ravaged Europe and so many other lands, from the 6th and 7th centuries until the late 1800s? Symptoms of the plague included swollen blisters, spots, rashes, fever, and vomiting of blood—hence the rosy rash. It is also said that people would carry posies of herbs in hopes of protecting themselves. Estimated mortality rates for various types of the plague ranged from 30 percent to nearly 100 percent — hence “we all fall down.” In fact, folklore scholars (did you know there were such things?) say this interpretation is likely flawed. But, the truth remains that the Black Death was a shockingly devastating pandemic…

Smallpox is caused by the Variola virus, spread by humanto- human contact (e.g. from coughing or exposure to smallpox scabs or contaminated clothing). Initial symptoms typically include fever, vomiting, fatigue, and aches, followed by the infamous rash and bumps spreading from the face to arms and legs. An ancient disease at least 3,000 years old, smallpox killed an estimated 300 to 500 million people in just the 20th century, and it had an estimated mortality rate (depending on who you ask) of 30 to 40 percent among those infected. At least it was a purely human disease, so it could not be transmitted via other means like the bubonic plague. It is also the only human disease that was defeated by a massive global vaccination campaign. This cross-border achievement, accomplished…

FROST NIP Frost nip by definition is damage to the skin and underlining tissue as a result of exposure to severe cold. The signs of frost nip are: Possibly red or pale grayish skin tone Hard and waxy appearance with a burning sensation Numbness and stiff joints Cracking and painful skin This usually occurs to exposed areas of the body, such as the hands, fingers, toes, noes, ears, or cheeks. While this is occurring, you may not even be aware of it once the numbness sets into those areas. If exposure to the elements continues, the next level of severity would be frostbite.…

A friend who served overseas with a U.S. Marine Force Reconnaissance company is fond of saying, “It’s easy to be hard. It’s hard to be smart.” This may be the most apropos thing to be said about surviving a natural disaster—or any kind of disaster—particularly in an urban environment. Mistakes can quickly become tragic news stories or abject lessons. We spoke to many people while developing this story. Some survived the September 2013 floods in Colorado, while others survived Hurricane Sandy. One was on the ground in Haiti during the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. The word these people used most commonly in retrospect? Preparation. We interviewed emergency responders who were on the ground during and after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, 2011’s EF5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and last year’s EF5 twister…