Table of contents for February/March 2018 in RECOIL OFFGRID

To paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt, don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back. You probably know someone who’s oblivious, rarely considering potential threats in times of peace, but the first to panic when the smallest problem arises. Conversely, there’s a good chance you’re reading this magazine because you want to dispel any fears by absorbing a healthy dose of survival information. That difference is what separates a proactive survivor from a reactive victim. I was reminded of this dichotomy recently when a wildfire threatened to destroy my neighborhood. That day, thick smoke billowed high into the sky as helicopters circled overhead. The blaze seemed unnervingly close to my house, and the growing wail of fire engine sirens told me it was only growing. But I didn’t let fear…

If you read our Survivalist Spotlight on Les Stroud in Issue 21 you’ll remember how critical he said it is to carry cash as part of your EDC. However, we often overlook the importance of the tools we use to carry our money, credit cards, and IDs until they’re lost or stolen. Ask anyone who has experienced that headache and they’ll tell you it’s no laughing matter, particularly if you’re away from home. For more ways to integrate one-piece tools into your EDC gear, check out our OFFGRIDweb-exclusive review of three metal-framed minimalist wallets and a leather key fob bottle opener from Trayvax. http://www.offgridweb.com/?p=7033…

One aspect of knife selection that has a tremendous impact on sharpenability is blade steel. In recent years, the development of steels suitable for or specifically geared toward cutlery applications has exploded. The carbon steels and relatively simple stainless steels that used to dominate the production knife world have now been superseded by exotic, powder-metallurgy steels packed with ultrahigh levels of carbon, as well as vanadium, molybdenum, cobalt, niobium, and other elements. These alloys can greatly enhance the wear resistance and toughness of blade steels, allowing them to hold an edge better than ever. Remember, though, that there are tradeoffs to everything. Blades that are resistant to dulling in use are also notoriously hard to grind and therefore more resistant to your efforts to sharpen them. Some high-performance alloys refuse…

Jared Wihongi is a 16-year veteran law enforcement officer with considerable time serving in the SWAT community, a specialist in close-quarter combatives, and one of a handful of master-level instructors of the Filipino combat art Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. Moreover, Wihongi has more than a decade of experience instructing armed forces around the globe. He’s the tactical consultant and frontman for Browning’s Black Label line of knives. Learn more about him at www.jaredwihongi.com.…

Hunt at morning/night: Animals are most active during the early morning and late hours of the day. They tend to hunker down during the brightest hours of the day. To be more effective, avoid hunting and fishing when the sun is high. Spend your time building your kit and planning your predation during these hours. Camouflage: Animals aren’t foolish. Unless one is injured or ill, you probably won’t be able to walk right up to it. Camouflage yourself to the environment. Use natural concealment to hide your presence. Minimize your footprint and blend in. Bait/chum: Baiting or chumming animals is often illegal in many jurisdictions, but fair game for survival.. Don’t discard, burn, or bury the entrails of an animal. Use the unwanted bits for scavenger bait. Raccoons and catfish…

Andrew Schrader is a licensed professional engineer and is certified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Structural Specialist. His company, Recon Response Engineering LLC, advises state and federal government organizations on the subject of urban search and rescue and structural collapse. He recently assisted the U.S. Department of State’s Italian Consulate in the development of their post-earthquake response and rescue protocol. www.reconresponse.com…

In the first of a three-part series on cold weather survival, contributor Andy Schrader examines the low-temperature precautions advised by the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare and Cold Weather Operations manual: http://www.offgridweb.com/?p=7561 Think hammocks are only useful during warm summers in the woods? Serac Hammocks’ cofounder Jeff Zhang dispels this myth, and shares three simple tips for hammock camping in cold weather: http://www.offgridweb.com/?p=4046 Lighting a fire can be a real struggle during the winter, especially if all the naturally occurring tinder is soaking wet. However, this DIY guide can show you how to prepare easy-to-ignite char cloth and get your fire burning faster: http://www.offgridweb.com/?p=4599 Frostbite is an insidious threat, silently killing tissue and numbing the pain before the victim realizes the damage that has been done. Learn how to diagnose, treat,…

Tim MacWelch has been a survival instructor for more than 20 years, training people from all walks of life, including members from all branches of U.S. Armed Forces, the State Department, DOD and DOJ personnel. He’s a frequent public speaker for preparedness groups and events. He is also the author of three New York Times bestselling survival books, and the new Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual. When he’s not teaching survival or writing about it, MacWelch lives a self-reliant lifestyle with his family in Virginia. Check out his wide range of hands-on training courses that are open to the public at www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com Scott Finazzo has over 20 years of experience as a firefighter. He is a member of his department’s technical rescue team and has served as an instructor since 2000.…

Unapologetic for his views on survivalism and television executives alike, former U.S. Army Green Beret Mykel Hawke has cut a unique and wide-ranging path through life. He first became famous for his work on the TV show Man, Woman, Wild, which featured him and his wife, Ruth England, being dropped into various real-deal (and at times too real) survival scenarios. He’s also taught survival classes for more than 20 years, earned the Combat Infantry Badge in Afghanistan following Sept. 11, was rated by the Army to speak seven different languages, and has somehow managed to stay humble about all of it. “For me, the Green Berets was the poor man’s passport to the world,” he says. “Some people join because it’s a calling for them. For a lot of people…

Too many survival manuals are butchered and doctored from their original source. Once information leaves the author’s control, editors and art layout folks have the potential to tweak a factually correct point into something foreign that’s more pleasing to the eye than it is effective in the field. Here are a couple common mistakes leading to misconceptions we’ve found in the survival manuals in many bookstores today. Spearing a fish: Have you ever tried hooking a minnow through the body with a steel hook? It isn’t easy, and this is when you have one hand on the fish and one on the hook. How many survival manuals show a single pencil-point-style wooden spear going through a fish floating in the water? The best type of fish spear is a forked…

• Not bothering to tie a stopper knot at the end of your line. To prevent this, make sure the knot is on the end of your rope before you even stuff it in the bag for storage. This way there’s never a question. • Rappelling “Hollywood Style” by bounding and bouncing. The faster you go, the greater the chance of getting your hands or clothing sucked into the descending device. This will stop you cold, and unless you built in a lowering contingency to your anchorage you’ll be stuck there. To avoid being the rescuer who had to be rescued, keep your descent speed to a minimum. • Keeping hands too close to the rappel device. Maintain a minimum 12-inch distance between your hands and the descender to prevent…

Sure, you can eat with your hands. But who wants to do that all the time? Whether camping, surviving, or just taking a snack break on the trail, having handy, easily carried portable utensils can enhance your dining experience. A quick story: During a multi-day rifle marksmanship course, the Tier 1 instructor, he took one morning to explain how to maintain the AR-platform rifle. During his demonstration, he field stripped the bolt carrier group on a sample rifle that had seen several thousand rounds since its last cleaning. For all to see, he held up the tail of the bolt, which had collected caked-on carbon and other fouling. He pulled a knife from his pocket, flicked it open, and showed the class how you could use it to scrape the…

Although it was never confirmed, if you’ve ever seen the movie Into the Wild, it’s speculated that Christopher McCandless’ journey into Alaskan Wilderness ended with possibly ingesting toxic plants in his location that he was trying to survive on in the absence of other, more practical food sources. While it may seem that plants offer enough nutrients to exist on during the harsher months of a survival situation, you may ultimately succumb to a slow starvation or inadvertently poison yourself. The Myth: There’s a belief among certain preppers and survivalists that an experienced forager can survive indefinitely by eating nothing more than wild edible plants. These starry-eyed weed-eaters seem to believe that you can always receive enough nutrition and calories from the plant kingdom, anytime and anyplace. But is the…

The Premise: Since its publication in 2009, Madigan’s The Backyard Homestead has been a staple in the library of anyone with a desire to live life unhindered by GMOs, pesticides, chemicals, and unnatural fertilizers lacing their store-bought food. Long before she collected the materials for this book, Madigan had been the managing editor of Horticulture magazine and has lived, worked, and learned on an organic farm in Massachusetts. Overall, The Backyard Homestead is an excellent resource for homesteaders and preppers interested in sustainability, from the beginner to the advanced reader. Because it tries to cram lots of info into one resource, it hardly has room to delve into scholarly depths. If you’re a beginner, you won’t feel overwhelmed about getting started. The 411: The Backyard Homestead is nicely divided into…

Think of a one-piece pocket tool as a sidekick to your knife. At first glance, they’re often just a funny-shaped piece of steel small enough to slip on a keychain or drop in your pocket. They might not look like much, but they’re designed to shrink a handful of tools into an easy-to-carry package that keeps you running light and always prepared. Even though a knife is the No. 1 tool you must carry in a survival situation, a blade has its limitations. A knife can chip, bend, or snap if used as a pry bar or screwdriver. And yes, if there are no other tools available, there may come a time to push your trusty blade to breaking point. But pocket tools are designed to pick up those tasks…

PROS Hands-free transport. It can easily be packed in a ruck or slung sword-style on your hip. Non-cumbersome. Less likely to be snagging on branches or walls as your move from A to B. Second hand can be free to grab, defend, attack, hold other equipment or wield a second weapon. Easier and less clumsy to wield with little practice. Better suited to close quarters. It’s harder to enter inside the effective range of a shorter stick. CONS Longer weapons give you a greater standoff distance. This is a good thing in a spacious environment. The power of a two-handed swing can be … you guessed it, about twice as strong as a one-handed swing.…

1. Mosquito Head Net: For use as a dip net 2. Kevlar Thread: Combined with gaff hooks for turtles 3. Rat Traps: Two to four for small game 4. Gil Net: Helps in catching larger fish 5. Automatic Fisherman: Great triggers for fishing or for small game 6. Rabbit Snares: Commercial grade (eight weigh approximately 1 pound) 7. Sling Shot with Spare Bands: For use as-is, or to rig up a Hawaiian sling 8. Treble Hooks: For predators or weight with split shot for snagging 9. Flashlight: Use with firearm for jacking or for frogging 10. Frog Gigs: for spearing frogs, fish, lizards, etc. Luxury Items if Space Allows: 1. Extra fire-starter 2. Salt, pepper, oil, balsamic vinegar, and various spices to offset food boredom 3. Edible plant reference cards…

Exfil SAR Tactical Helmet by Team Wendy Anytime there’s a falling hazard (as there always is in rappelling and rope rescue) protect yourself from traumatic brain injuries or death by wearing a helmet. The Exfil SAR Tactical Helmet from Team Wendy provides lightweight, long-term comfort by using an updated four-point retention system that instantly adjusts to the shape of your entire head instead of just cinching down front-to-back like a cheap hardhat. We liked the heavy-duty front shroud that’s purpose-built to accommodate night-vision goggles or your GoPro, as well as the Magpul picatinny side rails to mount lights and other accessories. We also appreciated the array of useful add-ons that allowed us to customize the helmet for our needs. These included a positive-locking clear visor as well as quick-release Peltor…

Weather is a major concern in any survival scenario, and it can dramatically amplify the difficulty of staying alive. Cold weather is especially challenging, even for veteran survivalists. In Issue 21, we asked “Survivorman” Les Stroud about his opinion on the most difficult place to survive. He responded simply, “The worst place to survive is wherever it’s cold. That’s it. With cold, you can never stop.” So, ask yourself: Am I adequately prepared for cold-weather survival? The creature comforts of urban society can lull us into a false sense of security, perhaps more during winter than any other season. It’s easy to sit in a heated car, sipping a peppermint hot chocolate, and scoffing at the idea of hypothermia. But consider how you’d cope with the elements if a car…