Table of contents for February/March #35 2020 in RECOIL OFFGRID

AGE: 51 HOMETOWN: Silicon Valley, CA REQUIRED READING LIST: Fearless by Eric Blehm Ghost Rider: Travelling the Healing Road by Neil Peart River by Colin Fletcher Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Marine Sniper by Charles Hendersen Time to Hunt by Stephen Hunter FAVORITE QUOTES: 1) The woods are my church; 2) Change is inevitable, but growth is optional. FAVORITE HUNTING: Big game FAVORITE FISHING: River or high altitude in Montana FAVORITE FIREARM: Axial Precision Convergence and Himalayan rifles; Glock handguns FAVORITE KNIFE: My upcoming signature blade, the Thin Green Line Trailblazer folder co-developed, manufactured, and marketed by Mike Vellekamp’s VNIVES ACCOLADES: › California Governor’s Medal of Valor › San Jose State’s Criminal Justice Hall of Fame induction, 2018 › Regional Officer of the Year, 1999 › Nores’ MET and…

Lead: Likely due to older plumbing; there’s no acceptable level. Arsenic: Naturally occurring in some types of rock; linked to cancer, stomach pain, paralysis, blindness. Copper: Blue-green staining; nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps; children and infants most susceptible. Iron and manganese: Often occur together; reddish-brown staining; metallic taste; not usually a health concern. Sodium: Salty taste; corrosion of plumbing. Nitrate: Could indicate contamination by sewage, livestock manure, fertilizers; serious health threat to infants. Hydrogen sulfide: Rotten egg smell; naturally present near coal or oil fields. Fluoride: Naturally occurring, as well as added to public water supplies; long-term exposure linked to bone cancer. Total dissolved solids: General indicator of water quality; sources may be either natural or man-made. Hardness: High levels of calcium and magnesium; not a health risk; shortens lifespan of…

Just like sh*t, violence happens. It tends to come at the worst times, in locations you thought were safe and from people you might not expect to be the provocateurs. It could be at home, work, or your local supermarket — you just never know. When it comes to defending yourself and those you love, it’s all on you. Although our tax dollars pay for law enforcement to keep the peace, it’d be foolhardy to expect law enforcement to be there instantly when violence erupts and you need them the most. When it comes to self-protection, a smart person learns from their own experiences, and a truly wise one learns from the experiences of others. With this in mind, we dug deep into our list of experts to assemble a…

After deciding what I wanted to see in a child’s survival backpack, I went ahead and assembled one myself. First, I collected items I already had in the house. Then, I shopped for a child’s backpack at our local Goodwill store. I soon found one that was the right size. Better yet, it looked new and still had store tags. I also purchased a few items at the .99 Only Store. It took me about a day to search for items around the house, and another couple of days to order and shop for the rest of the items. I included six mini water bottles to save on weight, but I included a sport bottle along with a LifeStraw, which removes bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella and parasites…

1 MAKE & MODEL 5.11 Tactical Icon Pant COLORS Black, Dark Navy, Flint, Kangaroo, Khaki, Ranger Green MSRP $75 URL 511tactical.com NOTES While wearing these slacks isn’t the same as humping a three-day pack, the Icon Pant does offer a lot more carrying capacity than your average pair of skinny jeans. It has a whopping 12 pockets, including front utility pockets and two cargo pockets with internal dividers. Plus, with knee articulation, gusset construction, and Flex-Tac mechanical stretch ripstop, this 5.11 pant provides an excellent blend of mobility and durability that few competitors can match, if at all. The 6.8-ounce fabric is made of 80-percent polyester and 20-percent cotton with a Teflon finish, keeping spills and stains at bay. 2 MAKE & MODEL Outdoor Vitals Dominion 1P Ultralight Backpacking Tent…

Dowsing or “water witching” is the process by which an individual walks across a parcel of land with a forked stick or bent wires in search of water. The claim is that, once the person walks over top of water, some form of subtle energy causes the stick to bend downward or the wires to cross. The scientifically minded will argue that the practice is based on the outdated belief in underground rivers. The fact is that, in an area that receives sufficient rainfall, water will be encountered practically anywhere you dig, so the spot signaled by the water witch is no better or worse than a spot 100 feet away. On the other hand, believers share stories of the almost supernatural success that their own dowsers had in finding…

» Reuse or recycle items you already have around the house. You can use last school year’s backpack as an emergency kit. As long as it’s clean and undamaged, you can repurpose it as a survival backpack. » Collect freebies, such as the toothbrush and travel toothpaste your dentist gives at your dental checkup, samples from your doctor’s office, complimentary hotel soaps, shampoo etc. » If your child receives a surplus of toys and stocking-stuffers at Christmas, reserve a couple of toys they may have overlooked and stash them in the survival backpack. » Buy some of the items in bulk such as food bars, water pouches, etc. and split the cost and quantities with other family members. You can all get more prepared at the same time! » As…

Medical training hasn’t always been the most popular topic in the survivalist community, with many preppers choosing to prioritize skills that sound more exciting or impressive — the sort of thing you’d see in a James Bond movie rather than a textbook. However, in my humble opinion, medical training is just as important as being trained in the use of a firearm. With a little bit of knowledge and practice, the average person absolutely can render aid in the critical first few minutes of a trauma scenario, and those actions might make the difference between life and death. We often hear that it takes around seven minutes for an ambulance to arrive on scene. In that time frame, someone could bleed out and die without intervention. A four-hour class on…

The Premise: Author Lt. Col. David Grossman’s thesis is centered on the hypothesis that human beings have a powerful, innate resistance to the taking of another human life. He describes the training techniques developed by the military to overcome that aversion. When I first read it, I thought it was profound and scholarly. I began to recommend it during CCW classes I taught and presentations I gave about active shooters to government agencies in recent years. It’s required reading for agents while in training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and on the suggested reading list for the United States Marine Corps. The 411: I first read Lt. Col. David Grossman’s book, On Killing, almost 20 years ago. It was the first book of its kind about the psychology…

Non-permissive environments (NPEs) are a common roadblock for those of us who carry weapons for self-defense. This category includes any environment which attempts to restrict or prohibit you from carrying traditional weapons — for example, guns, knives, or even pepper spray. Of course, the actual enforcement of these restrictions varies wildly. Some may simply post a worthless “gun free zone” sign, others will threaten legal action against anyone seen with a weapon, and a few actively search every individual with pat downs and/or metal detectors. The final category is the most difficult to deal with and leads us to the subject of this article. Keep in mind that carrying a weapon in any NPE is risky at best and a federal felony at worst. Either way, willful disregard of posted…

» Include a family photo. » Add a letter to your child assuring them you’ll do everything you can to get to them as soon as possible. I also added a few little jokes of my own to cheer them up. » For older children, consider adding $20 in cash. » If your child uses an inhaler or has other medical conditions, consider including a supply of what they’ll need in the kit. However, if the kit is being used at school, you may need to clear it with the school authorities. » Include an “In Case of Emergency” (ICE) card and tuck the card into the backpack in case your child is separated from you. Fill in your name, address, and phone number so emergency personnel can contact you.…

Everyone longs for financial stability in their life; however, despite your best efforts, circumstances outside your control might cause the value of your assets to hit rock bottom in a matter of days, if not hours. What if such a catastrophe affected hundreds of thousands, millions, or tens of millions of people all at once? Could there be a foreseeable future where money has no value, and all that financial strategizing and planning you’d spent years on was in vain? Elections, economic sanctions, inflation, recessions, the stock market, and just plain old fear are just some of the elements that can contribute to the fluctuating value of money. Sometimes a perfect storm of those factors causes economic turmoil for months or years, as we saw in the Great Depression of…