Table of contents for August/September #38 2020 in RECOIL OFFGRID

By the time you read this Editor’s Letter, it’ll be mid-June. But thanks to the requirements of print production and distribution, I’m writing it at the end of April. Normally, that couple of weeks of lag time doesn’t add up to much in the goings-on of the world. But, from where I sit right now, our nation is still in the thick of COVID-19 lockdowns, quarantines, stay-at-homes, and social distancing. So, this time, I feel sort of like I’m writing a letter to the future. I hope, by the time you get this, we’ll have sufficiently “flattened the curve” so that most of the country will be back to normal, or close to it. I also hope that your preparations were adequate to keep you and your loved ones healthy…

Several years ago, my fellow rescue technicians and I conducted a search-and-rescue operation. We were in the middle of transporting our subject out of the woods when we realized that our transport UTV was getting a flat tire. The escort ATVs were unable to safely evacuate the subject, so we needed to come up with a quick solution to get our subject out of the woods and to a proper ambulance. Thankfully, we had several viable solutions available to us, and we were able to get to safety with only minor delay. What did we do? More importantly, if you find yourself in an austere environment or off-the-grid scenario, what are your options and what can you learn from our event? First, let’s talk about changing a tire. Some folks…

There’s discussion ad nauseum in preparedness circles about redundancy and layering. Like many survival concepts, grand-scale guidance is distilled down to a catchphrase that’s then so beat-to-death that people lose track of what it actually means. One of our favorites is “two is one, one is none.” It makes sense on the surface, but gets tossed around so much in forums and discussions that it becomes its own form of radio static. So, we thought we’d go down to brass tacks and talk about exactly why layering is important and how to do it. As always, what we present here is one way — not the only way. And, as a concept, layering is scalable to your own readiness needs. We’ll provide some specific examples as a handrail for you.…

“I don’t want to be qualified. I don’t want my accomplishments qualified,” explains a currently multitasking Lisa Jaster, graciously chatting from the car in between her children’s rugby and jiujitsu practices. “I went to the State of the Union address in 2016, and I posted a few things online. I was sick of people telling me, ‘You’re strong for a woman,’ or, ‘Wow, you’re fill-in-the-blank for your age,’ or, ‘You really know your tactics for a female soldier.’ Not only had Lisa’s gender and age suddenly become a focus, but so had her resolve. From those comments came #DeleteTheAdjective and a bit of a chip on her shoulder. “Those chips on our shoulders are what make us succeed in the long run,” Lisa explains. She’s not wrong. Her drive has…

Certain knives we associate with cultures, such as the Filipino balisong or the Japanese tanto; other knives we associate with professions, like a surgeon’s scalpel or a butcher’s knife. There’s one knife we associate with the U.S. Marine Corps, a branch of the military where culture and profession intersect, and that knife is the Ka-Bar. If a Marine is on active duty, there’s a good chance he has one lashed to his kit or on his belt. If a Marine is no longer in service, he almost certainly has at least one squirreled away somewhere. Although the Marines aren’t the only branch of the U.S. military to use this knife, people as-sociate the Ka-Bar with the Marine Corps, and when people are looking for a good survival-type knife, it’s their…

By now, most people in self-defense or preparedness-oriented communities know what the term “gray man” signifies. It’s the idea that you can walk around with all of your emergency tools at the ready without looking “tactical.” This is funny because it’s so easy to spot. Many of us are never truly gray, because we allow our preparedness to become a lifestyle or culture. To that end, many of us wear something that sends a signal to others and lets them know we are of this mindset, or culture. And believe it or not, there are characteristics of the gray man suit that are easy to profile by anyone who wants to do so, whether friend or foe. This means we’re almost defeating ourselves. However, there’s still a large and legitimate…

What’s the key factor that has made humans the dominant species on Earth? Many would say it all comes down to our ability to use tools, dating back to the first time our cavedwelling ancestors crafted a blade or smacked two rocks together to spark a fire. But that claim overlooks a much greater advantage: our ability to work together through sophisticated methods of communication. As the English poet John Donne put it, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” We have succeeded through collaborating to build societies, and none of that would be possible if we hadn’t developed spoken and written methods to communicate with each other. Although television shows and movies often portray the…

Summer is officially here, and with it comes a natural variation in wardrobe. Warmer weather leads to lightweight clothing and increased physical activity, neither of which is conducive to pockets crammed full of gear. It’s for this reason that many of us pare down our everyday carry slightly for this season. Maybe that means you start carrying a single-stack subcompact handgun instead of a double-stack full-size, or a lightweight folding knife instead of something more robust. What it shouldn’t mean is that you start leaving behind the essentials. Murphy’s Law dictates the moment that happens is the moment you’ll need those items the most. A flashlight is one such essential tool. The light in your pocket will help you figure out what the heck your dog keeps barking at in…

If you’re considering including an air rifle in your SHTF kit, or are just looking for a reasonably priced, self-contained airgun to handle pests and vermin around the farm or homestead, perhaps this review will make your search a bit easier. Break-barrel air rifles, or “springers,” lend themselves admirably to survival because the powerplant of a spring or gas-ram is built-in. This means that no additional accoutrements, other than pellets, are required to put the gun into operation. As with anything, there are pros and cons to these types of airguns for any intended purpose. Pros include sustainability, low cost to purchase and operate, low maintenance, and power. Cons associated with springers include weight (they tend to be heavy), noise (they can be loud due to the power levels reached),…

Skill is like ice cream. There are countless flavors, and it might be “hard” (e.g. fighting proficiency) or “soft” (e.g. awareness of pre-fight warning signs). But in the real world, it inevitably melts over time. This statement on the importance of continuous training was one of the introductory lessons from FPF Training’s Concealed Carry: Advanced Skills and Tactics (ASAT) course. ASAT is a two-day class, but it begins with some pre-class homework in the form of a four-hour YouTube video playlist created by instructor John Murphy. If you’d like to watch some free lessons from the comfort of your couch, you can find it at bit.ly/2QJ5xMO. Although the ASAT curriculum certainly involves shooting — each student fired about 700 rounds over the course of the weekend — it places an…