Learn how to tie a square knot and add this to your survival skills! Often called the reef knot, the square knot is one of the most commonly used knots. Thus, following this tutorial can be a lifesaver!

RELATED: Tie It All Together With These 9 Survival Knots

In this article:

1. The Square Knot
2. Uses for Square Knots
3. When Not to Use a Square Knot
4. Step-by-Step Tutorial

How to Tie a Square Knot | Your Ultimate Guide

The Square Knot

The square knot is probably one of the best-known knots or at least one of them. It is also sometimes referred to as the reef knot used primarily to join two ropes, cords, or lines of similar thickness.

Square knots are easy to tie and the perfect choice for many things, but there are also times when you should not use them.

We encourage you to learn as much about basic knots as you can, so you can use the right types of knots for the right situations.

Uses for Square Knots

• First aid, to tie bandages
• A common knot used in surgery
• To tie boot or shoelaces
• To tie belts and sashes
• Tying the reefing points of sail when the wind blows up
• To tie plastic bags and trash bags

RELATED: 40 Essential Knots Every Survivalist Needs To Know

When Not to Use a Square Knot

Square knots are not your best choice when you have two different thicknesses you wish to join. They slip when you tie them with a nylon rope and will also slip if it is not under tension.

Critical Tip:

Square knots can be dangerous if misused and should never be used in critical situations where lives might be at risk. This is simply due to the potential instability of the knot.

Unfortunately, many accidents took place as a result of trying to join two ropes with a square knot.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Pay close attention to these steps, as a square knot is often tied wrong. You will end up with a “granny knot,” which may slip under a heavy load. See how this type of knot looks like or tied by using two colors of cord.

Step 1: Remember: “Right over left, left over right.”
Step 2: Take one line in your right hand, and one in your left and lay the right over the left.
Step 3: Pass the right end over the left end and back under the left.
Step 4: Pass the left end over the right end and back under the right.
Step 5: Check the knot (the two loops should slide on each other).
Step 6: Tighten by pulling both strands on each side of the knot.
Step 7: Backup the square knot by making an overhand knot using the working end of each side of your knot.
Step 8: Backing up a knot is important with a knot like the square knot, otherwise, it can slip.

Watch this video by Helpful DIY for a step-by-step guide on tying a square knot:



Now you know one more type of knot to add to the knots and hitches tricks you can pull off your sleeves for camping and survival. Remember, while this is a simple and reliable knot, it has its limits, so use it the right way for your own safety.

Have you ever used a square knot in a particular situation before? Share your experience with us in the comments section below!

Up Next: 

• How To Tie A Fishing Knot
• Best Knots For Camping And Survival
• How to Survive an Avalanche | Emergency Preparedness

Calling all preppers, craftsmen, bushmasters, outdoorsmen and all-around skilled people, Survival Life needs YOU! Click here if you want to write for us.

Don’t forget to stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in September 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

This article was originally published by John W. Whitehead at The Rutherford Institute.

“Children are being targeted and sold for sex in America every day.”—John Ryan, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Even in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no stopping this year’s Super Bowl LV showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the winner of the Vince Lombardi Trophy is up for grabs, we already know the biggest losers: the hundreds of young girls and boys—some as young as 9 years old—who will be bought and sold for sex, as many as 20 times per day, during the course of the big game.

“The Super Bowl is kind of deemed as the weekend to have sex with minors,” said Cammy Bowker, founder of Global Education Philanthropist.

It’s common to refer to this evil practice, which has become the fastest growing business in organized crime and the second most-lucrative commodity traded illegally after drugs and guns as child sex trafficking, but what we’re really talking about is rape.

Adults purchase children for sex at least 2.5 million times a year in the United States.

It is estimated that the number of children who are at risk of being bought and sold for sex would fill 1300 school buses.

Yet as shocking as those numbers may be, this COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in even greater numbers of children being preyed upon by child sex traffickers.

According to a recent study on human trafficking during the pandemic by Thomson-Reuters and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, school closures due to the pandemic, which has forced children out-of-school and subjected them to more online exposure, have made them especially vulnerable to sexual predators.

The internet, with its webcams and chat rooms—a necessity for virtual classrooms—has become the primary means of pimps targeting young children. “One in five kids online are sexually propositioned through gaming platforms and other social media. And those, non-contact oriented forums of sexual exploitation are increasing,” said researcher Brian Ulicny, who co-wrote the Thomson-Reuters study.

It’s not just young girls who are vulnerable to these predators, either.

According to a USA Today investigative report, “boys make up about 36% of children caught up in the U.S. sex industry (about 60% are female and less than 5% are transgender males and females).”

Consider this: every two minutes, a child is bought and sold for sex.

In Georgia alone, it is estimated that 7,200 men (half of them in their 30s) seek to purchase sex with adolescent girls each month, averaging roughly 300 a day.

On average, a child might be raped by 6,000 men during a five-year period.

It is estimated that at least 100,000 to 500,000 children—girls and boys—are bought and sold for sex in the U.S. every year, with as many as 300,000 children in danger of being trafficked each year. Some of these children are forcefully abducted, others are runaways, and still, others are sold into the system by relatives and acquaintances

Child rape has become Big Business in America.

This is not a problem found only in big cities.

It’s happening everywhere, right under our noses, in suburbs, cities, and towns across the nation.

As Ernie Allen of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children points out, “The only way not to find this in any American city is simply not to look for it.”

No doubt about it: this is a highly profitable, highly organized, and highly sophisticated sex trafficking business that operates in towns large and small, raking in upwards of $9.5 billion a year in the U.S. alone by abducting and selling young children for sex.

Every year, the ages of the girls and boys being bought and sold get younger and younger.

The average age of those being trafficked is 13. Yet as the head of a group that combats trafficking pointed out, “Let’s think about what average means. That means there are children younger than 13. That means 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds.”

“They’re minors as young as 13 who are being trafficked,” noted a 25-year-old victim of trafficking. “They’re little girls.”

This is America’s dirty little secret.

But what or who is driving this evil appetite for young flesh? Who buys a child for sex?

Otherwise ordinary men from all walks of life. “They could be your co-worker, doctor, pastor or spouse,” writes journalist Tim Swarens, who spent more than a year investigating the sex trade in America.

Catholic and Protestant churches have been particularly singled out in recent years for harboring these sexual predators. Twenty years after the clergy sex abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church, hundreds of sexual predators—priests, deacons, monks, and laypeople—continue to be given work assignments in proximity to children. In many cases, the abuse continues unabated.

Although much less publicized, the sex crimes within the Protestant Church have been no less egregious. For instance, an expose into the Southern Baptist Church leaders by the Houston Chronicle documents over 700 child sex victims “who were molested, sent explicit photos or texts, exposed to pornography, photographed nude, or repeatedly raped by youth pastors. Some victims as young as 3 were molested or raped inside pastors’ studies and Sunday school classrooms.”

And then you have national sporting events such as the Super Bowl, where sex traffickers have been caught selling minors, some as young as 9 years old. Yet even if the Super Bowl is not exactly a “windfall” for sex traffickers as some claim, it remains a lucrative source of income for the child sex trafficking industry and a draw for those who are willing to pay to rape young children.

According to criminal investigator Marc Chadderdon, these “buyers”—the so-called “ordinary” men who drive the demand for sex with children—represent a cross-section of American society: every age, every race, every socio-economic background, cops, teachers, corrections workers, pastors, etc.

And then there are the extra-ordinary men, such as Jeffrey Epstein, the hedge fund billionaire / convicted serial pedophile who was arrested on charges of molesting, raping, and sex trafficking dozens of young girls, only to die under highly unusual circumstances.

It is believed that Epstein operated his own personal sex trafficking ring not only for his personal pleasure but also for the pleasure of his friends and business associates. According to The Washington Post, “several of the young women…say they were offered to the rich and famous as sex partners at Epstein’s parties.” At various times, Epstein ferried his friends about on his private plane, nicknamed the “Lolita Express.”

Men like Epstein and his cronies, who belong to a powerful, wealthy, elite segment of society that operates according to their own rules, skate free of accountability by taking advantage of a criminal justice system that panders to the powerful, the wealthy, and the elite.

Still, where did this appetite for young girls come from?

Look around you.

Young girls have been sexualized for years now in music videos, on billboards, in television ads, and in clothing stores. Marketers have created a demand for young flesh and a ready supply of over-sexualized children.

“In a market that sells high heels for babies and thongs for tweens, it doesn’t take a genius to see that sex, if not porn, has invaded our lives,” writes Jessica Bennett for Newsweek. “Whether we welcome it or not, television brings it into our living rooms and the Web brings it into our bedrooms. According to a 2007 study from the University of Alberta, as many as 90 percent of boys and 70 percent of girls aged 13 to 14 have accessed sexually explicit content at least once.”

This is what Bennett refers to as the “pornification of a generation.”

Indeed as I documented in an earlier column, the culture is grooming these young people to be preyed upon by sexual predators.

Social media makes it all too easy. As one news center reported, “Finding girls is easy for pimps. They look on … social networks. They and their assistants cruise malls, high schools, and middle schools. They pick them up at bus stops. On the trolley. Girl-to-girl recruitment sometimes happens.” Foster homes and youth shelters have also become prime targets for traffickers.

Rarely do these girls enter into prostitution voluntarily. Many start out as runaways or throwaways, only to be snatched up by pimps or larger sex rings. Others persuaded to meet up with a stranger after interacting online through one of the many social networking sites, find themselves quickly initiated into their new lives as sex slaves.

Debbie, a straight-A student who belonged to a close-knit Air Force family living in Phoenix, Ariz., is an example of this trading of flesh. Debbie was 15 when she was snatched from her driveway by an acquaintance-friend. Forced into a car, Debbie was bound and taken to an unknown location, held at gunpoint, and raped by multiple men. She was then crammed into a small dog kennel and forced to eat dog biscuits. Debbie’s captors advertised her services on Craigslist. Those who responded were often married with children, and the money that Debbie “earned” for sex was given to her kidnappers. The gang raping continued. After searching the apartment where Debbie was held captive, police finally found Debbie stuffed in a drawer under a bed. Her harrowing ordeal lasted for 40 days.

While Debbie was fortunate enough to be rescued, others are not so lucky.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, nearly 800,000 children go missing every year (roughly 2,185 children a day).

With a growing demand for sexual slavery and an endless supply of girls and women who can be targeted for abduction, this is not a problem that’s going away anytime soon.

For those trafficked, it’s a nightmare from beginning to end.

Those being sold for sex have an average life expectancy of seven years, and those years are a living nightmare of endless rape, forced drugging, humiliation, degradation, threats, disease, pregnancies, abortions, miscarriages, torture, pain, and always the constant fear of being killed or, worse, having those you love hurt or killed.

Immigration and customs enforcement agents at the Cyber Crimes Center in Fairfax, Va., report that when it comes to sex, the appetites of many Americans have now changed. What was once considered abnormal is now the norm. These agents are tracking a clear spike in the demand for harder-core pornography on the Internet. As one agent noted, “We’ve become desensitized by the soft stuff; now we need a harder and harder hit.”

This trend is reflected by the treatment many of the girls receive at the hands of the drug traffickers and the men who purchase them. A common thread woven through most survivors’ experiences is being forced to go without sleep or food until they have met their sex quota of at least 40 men.

As David McSwane recounts in a chilling piece for the Herald-Tribune: “In Oakland Park, an industrial Fort Lauderdale suburb, federal agents in 2011 encountered a brothel operated by a married couple. Inside ‘The Boom Boom Room,’ as it was known, customers paid a fee and were given a condom and a timer and left alone with one of the brothel’s eight teenagers, children as young as 13. A 16-year-old foster child testified that he acted as security, while a 17-year-old girl told a federal judge she was forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a night.”

One particular sex trafficking ring catered specifically to migrant workers employed seasonally on farms throughout the southeastern states, especially the Carolinas and Georgia, although it’s a flourishing business in every state in the country. Traffickers transport the women from farm to farm, where migrant workers would line up outside shacks, as many as 30 at a time, to have sex with them before they were transported to yet another farm where the process would begin all over again.

This growing evil is, for all intents and purposes, out in the open.

That so many children continue to be victimized, brutalized, and treated like human cargo is due to three things: one, a consumer demand that is increasingly lucrative for everyone involved—except the victims; two, a level of corruption so invasive on both a local and international scale that there is little hope of working through established channels for change; and three, an eerie silence from individuals who fail to speak out against such atrocities.

Unfortunately, while the government’s war on sex trafficking—much like the government’s war on terrorism, drugs, and crime, which I describe in greater detail in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People—has become a perfect excuse for inflicting more police state tactics (police checkpoints, searches, surveillance, and heightened security) on a vulnerable public, it has done little to protect our children from sex predators.

Like so many of the evils in our midst, sex trafficking (and the sexualization of young people) is a cultural disease that is rooted in the American police state’s heart of darkness. It speaks to a sordid, far-reaching corruption that stretches from the highest seats of power (governmental and corporate) down to the most hidden corners and relies on our silence and our complicity to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing.

The post Pure Evil: The Boys and Girls Being Sold for Sex During COVID-19 and the Super Bowl first appeared on SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You.

Impress your friends and fellow preppers with this awesome and functional hidden gun storage. Safety and home defense aside, this DIY trick is quick and fun!

There are all kinds of practical reasons to want to hide your guns in your home. With the help of this tutorial from DIY Projects, you’ll have this badass hidden gun storage project completed in no time.

RELATED: 9 Unusual Hidden Gun Safes To Keep Your Firearms Secure

Hidden Gun Storage | Hide a Gun With a Picture Frame

How To Conceal A Bad Ass Weapon – James Bond Style

Think this is silly? Think again.

For those who own firearms, safe storage is a must. You would not want your 3-year-old to have their little hands on a book of matches, would you? You would not want a burglar to have the ability to steal your car keys.

Guns are the same way. Proper storage techniques can help to ensure the safety of your loved ones. Here is a nifty way to store your rifle or a larger gun without anyone thinking twice about it.

How to Make a Hidden Gun Storage

What You’ll Need:

• a decent-sized picture frame
• 2 wall mounts
• 2 brackets
• screwdriver
• hammer

Step 1: Mount Brackets Into the Picture Frame

Mount two brackets into the picture frame using a 1-3/8” wide drill bit for a perfect circle to inlay the cabinet style bracket. Only needs to be 3/4” deep.

This allows the picture to open upward without hitting the wall and yet being flush when closed

Note:  We recommend drilling a hole 1/4” or just slightly more from the edge. Not just for strength purposes, but when closed the 1/4” board used as backing will fit perfectly inside so the picture is flush against the wall.

Step 2: Mount the Frame & Add L Hooks

Mount to wall using wall mounts. Hammer two L hooks (use your judgment) into the wall a decent length apart to support the weight of the rifle.

Step 3: Add Motion Detectors

Add motion detectors to the inside of the picture frame to set an alarm in case your hiding spot is disturbed! You can find these at some stores like Walmart.

Find the full instructions here.

Watch this video by Mattadata2 on how to hide your weapon using DIY in-wall storage behind a sliding mirror:

Keeping your guns out of the wrong hands is critically important, and having the ability to stash your guns in unconventional spaces could give you the tactical advantage you need in the event of a break-in.

Do you know another clever way of hiding your guns? Let us know in the comments section below!

Up Next: 

• Conceal Handguns in the Home with How to Hide Your Guns
• 6 Survival Guns For Your Arsenal
• New Year Tips | Survival Tips To Help You Ease Into 2021

Calling all preppers, craftsmen, bushmasters, outdoorsmen and all-around skilled people, Survival Life needs YOU! Click here if you want to write for us.

Don’t forget to stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in April 2014, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at ZeroHedge. 

The superpower clash between China and the U.S. continued on Friday as a U.S. Navy ship sailed near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the heavily disrupted South China Sea, only to get a stern rebuke (and what some would call, an appropriate response) from Beijing.

The USS John S. McCain, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, entered the waters near Paracel islands Friday without China’s permission on a “freedom of navigation operation,” the first known operation in the heavily disputed area under the new Biden administration. 

Shortly after, CGTN reported that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “expelled” the destroyer after it “trespassed” into China’s territorial waters. Tian Junli, a spokesperson for the PLA Southern Theater Command, said the move “seriously infringed China’s sovereignty and security.” He said PLA troops in the region are on “high alert at all times to protect the peace and stability of the region.”

The heavily disputed waterway is one of the flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, including a trade war, technology war, U.S. sanctions, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

U.S. sailings of warships near the militarized islands in the South China Sea have angered Beijing in the past.

The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS John S. McCain “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law”.

Meanwhile, according to the latest naval deployment map from Stratfor, other US naval ships located just off China’s coast include the carrier CVN 71 Roosevelt, and the LHA 6 America large Amphibious group.

Last month, USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea for what the Navy called routine freedom of navigation operation. There’s more here than meets the eye as a great power competition continues to brew between both countries.

Over the past year, the U.S. has increased aerial patrols, and U.S. Navy warship sails through the disrupted region and near and through the Taiwan Strait, an exercise aimed at angering Beijing. Such “close encounters” and US flyovers and sail throughs in the South China Sea and near Taiwan become more frequent during the tail-end of the Trump presidency.

As Al Jazeera notes, “Last year Chinese military jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan’s defense zone, with some analysts warning tensions between the two sides were at their highest since the mid-1990s.”

Earlier in the week Monday, two US reconnaissance planes flew near Taiwan’s airspace at a moment Taipei has begun to publicly acknowledge for the first time the presence of both American and Chinese PLA jets sometimes in the same aerial defense zones, which constitutes an alarming and highly dangerous situation.

The post US Warship “Expelled” From South China Sea By PLA Forces first appeared on SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You.

If you want to minimize your shooting signature or make the best use of night vision equipment, you must know…

This article %3 Ways to Reduce AR-15 Muzzle Flash% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

Today we’re going to check out the best hand warmers on the market and why you need them.

Because a hand warmer will make any cool-weather outdoor adventure more pleasant. And could even be a lifesaver in a sub-zero emergency situation!

There are so many reasons to get a hand warmer – for example:

• Perhaps you’re a survival gear enthusiast, and you’re building a bug out bag or get home bag – just in case.
• Or maybe you’re an outdoorsman who spends lots of time in the wilderness – waiting in a tree stand for game to show up.
• Or perhaps you just work in an ice-box-of-an-office, and your colleagues refuse to turn the heat up.
• Maybe you’re a musician who needs to keep your fingers warm and nimble before playing guitar or piano.
• Or maybe you have a medical condition that causes you perpetually deal with cold fingers…

The bottom line is this:

Keeping your fingers and hands warm is one of the most important things you can do.

Sometimes it’s so you can perform at your best; other times, it’s to save a digit from severe frostbite! And trust us, frostbite is NOT something you ever want to experience.

Your fingers are extremely vulnerable to frostbite because they have no major muscles to produce heat. And you use your hands and fingers to do, well…..just about everything!

So to keep your fingers safe and warm, you should invest in a quality hand warmer.

We are covering several topics today, including:

• What Exactly Is A Hand Warmer?
• 4 Reasons to Own a Hand Warmer
• Types of Hand Warmers
• Are Hand Warmers Safe?
• 9 Best Hand Warmers on the Market Today

**Note: If you just want our top recommendations, feel free to SKIP AHEAD HERE.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A HAND WARMER?

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Hand warmers are portable packets or devices that produce heat and can be held in your hands.

They have been around for over 100 years, with the first patent filed in 1891. There are disposable types that come as a head warmer pouch.

These disposable types usually combined chemicals to react with oxygen to provide temporary heat production. They are adequate for the short term but don’t last very long.

Electric and fuel-based hand warmers provide long-lasting, steady heat. And not just once, you can refill them or recharge them as many times or as often as you’d like.

The goal is to keep your hand and fingers warm, but they don’t just end at that. Wherever you can fit these devices on your body can help bring up your body temp.

For example, you can place a hand warmer under your armpits to keep your core temperature up. Or put it on your toes to prevent frostbite.

That’s why a portable hand warmer makes our must-own survival gear list.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

4 Reasons To Own A Hand Warmer

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1 – Hunting Season

When it’s hunting season, you want to have the best gear.

During the “off’ season, you research locations, maintain and clean your rifle or crossbow. You read magazines on the type of game you’re going after. You spent good money on camo, ammo, and stocked your cooler with food to last for the duration of the hunt.

But hunting is usually a waiting game, and you need to be comfortable in the bush. It’s often a cold-weather sport, and fingers are the first to feel it.

When you have to react, it must be quick. When an animal crosses your path, you need warm fingers to pull the trigger accurately before you miss your opportunity.

So keeping your fingers warm and nimble can make the difference between a successful shot or a cold miss.

2 – Frostbite

Spending time in the wilderness is an incredible thing. You can spend an afternoon or days exploring nature. And while it’s often sunny and hot during the day, it can quickly turn to sub-zero temps overnight.

Fingers and toes are the most susceptible body parts to frostbite. That’s why you must be ready in case you get caught in sub-zero temperatures.

Having an electric hand warmer can keep your digits toasty.

3 – Muscle and Joint Pain

Minor injuries can happen to the best of us. It’s easy to overdo it when camping or hiking.

Trips and falls may only slow you down, but the pain can show up later when you are relaxing. You can use your portable hand warmer to soothe those aching muscles and joints.

Just place it on the spot that hurts to bring warmth and healing to your aches and pains.

4 – Accidents

There may come a time when you are stuck outside because of an accident. Perhaps your truck slides off the road, or you get injured while in the bush. In either scenario, it could be hours for help to arrive.

Make sure you always carry a battery-powered hand warmer with you every time you go for a hike. It’s also a great idea to have one in the glove box of your vehicle for emergencies.

Add a hand warmer to each of your car’s winter emergency kits. That way, if ever you get yourself in a dire situation, you have quick access to warmth (without having to rely on a fire).

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

TYPES OF HAND WARMERS AND HOW THEY WORK

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There are several types of hand warmers you can choose from, and really, why choose just one? You can have a different type of hand warmer for different situations.

Here are the 5 main types:

1 – Electric / Battery Hand Warmers

Battery-powered hand chargers run on, well, batteries.

They convert energy into heat and are a relatively simple design. These are usually rechargeable by plugging the battery warmer into an electrical outlet or using a USB on some models.

Electric hand warmers produce consistent heat, with some models having different temperature modes.

They are cost-effective but don’t always have super long battery life. This upside is that there is no fuel to buy and nothing to throw away.

These hand warms can also act as a spare battery for charging your phone in a pinch.

I ALWAYS prefer survival gear that can perform more than one task. These dual-use items help keep your pack weight down and help justify your purchase.

That’s why out of all the different types of hand warmers, the electric battery is by far our favorite!

2 – Fuel Based Hand Warmers

A fuel-based hand warmer uses lighter fuel to produce heat. While it’s technically
considered “flame-free,” there is combustion occurring.

Models like the Zippo hand warmer have a reservoir to hold the lighter fluid.

Once filled, a catalytic burner unit connects on top. This setup will draw the fuel into it and create combustion without a flame.

They come with protective cases to house the entire unit safely while in use.

Remember that you have to refill it for each use, and it requires a lighting source like a match. You can’t turn it off; it will produce heat until all the fuel is used up.

Note of Caution: Fuel hand warmers produce carbon monoxide. But as long as you are in a well-ventilated area, it will not be a health issue.

3 – Chemical Hand Warmers

This type of warmer is probably the one you first used. It’s a simple to use, affordable hand warmer solution.

There are two types.

Air Activation

These are long-lasting chemical hand warmers. They activate as soon as you expose them to oxygen by opening the package.

Heat is produced by oxidizing iron into rust. Once these air-activated warmers stop heating, you throw them away.

Crystallize Solution

This type of warmer produces heat via the crystallization of a supersaturated sodium acetate solution or calcium nitrate in water.

They only last between 20 minutes to 2 hours but can be recharged by reheating in boiling water.

4 – Football Hand Warmer

When playing football, extreme weather is a fact of life. That’s why quarterbacks and receivers often wear a football hand warmer. It can be the difference between a complete or incomplete pass.

But there’s NO penalty for using a football hand warmer outside the stadium. Just strap it around your waist wherever your outdoor adventures take you.

Now you have a portable fleece-lined pouch to keep your hands toasty warm. I like to think of it as a super warm hoodie pouch you can add to any attire.

5 – Charcoal Pocket BBQ

They call these pocket BBQs because you are literally burning charcoal for heat.

It consists of a rod of charcoal and a metal case to distribute the heat.

Once you strike the end of the charcoal, it starts to burn. You then put the smoldering stick in the metal unit, and then it is safe to place in your pocket for warmth.

It’s a dirty, wasteful way to produce heat, but it does work.

Note On Strategic Gear Combinations

There are no rules against using a combination of these hand warmer options.

For example, you could pair a battery hand warmer with a football hand warmer. That way, every time you put your hands back into a fleece-lined pouch, it would be extra warm with an electric hand warmer stashed inside.

Another gear combination we recommend for survival is having a Tact Bivvy and an Electric Pocket Warmer.

The Tact Bivvy is a simple, lightweight sleeping bag made out of mylar. Mylar is a non-breathable material that will trap heat – not allowing it to escape.

So in an emergency, if you have a TACT Bivvy, you hop inside, then turn your hand warmer on, and keep your entire body warm even in a cold-weather emergency.

Add these two devices to a glove box for the ultimate blizzard survival setup.

Or perhaps you keep some chemical hand warmers in your pack as a backup or for emergencies but add a battery hand warmer to your everyday carry gear for convenience and comfort.

The point is this:

There is no reason why anyone needs to suffer freezing cold hands. These devices provide smart solutions to keep your fingers, toes, or body warm in ANY environment.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

ARE HAND WARMERS SAFE TO USE?

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All hand warmer manufacturers undergo rigorous safety testing before being allowed to sell. So safety comes down to usage.

If you follow the safety guidelines and you’ll have no problems.

So make sure you never take them apart unless you know what you are doing.

We all know we should never tamper with chemical devices. And all combustible hand warmers produce carbon monoxide.

So only use these in open spaces with plenty of fresh air.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

9 BEST HAND WARMERS ON THE MARKET TODAY

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BEST RECHARGEABLE HAND WARMERS

1 – Survival Frog QuickHeat Rechargeable Electric Hand Warmer

The Survival Frog Quick Heat is a portable pocket heater AND a 5200mAh USB power bank in one!

This is a powerful survival tool and one of the best electric hand warmers on the market.

It has a sleek design and easily slips into your pocket, gloves, or shoes for a quick heat up. The charging is versatile as you can plug it into an outlet or charge via USB.

It even acts as a charger for your phone!

It’s a great 2-in-1 device for a person on the go and warms up fast with 104-140 Fahrenheit of heat.

It comes with a wrist strap and fits in the palm of your hand.

Pros

• Quick 3-4 hour recharge via USB
• It’s easy to use with adjustable temps
• Doubles as a phone recharger

Cons

• Batteries only last 2-6 hours

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2 – OCOOPA Hand Warmer/Power Bank

OCOOPA has come out with another excellent hand warmer. This new model boasts increased battery life with up to 15 hours of continuous heat!

It includes a nice travel case and USB cable, making it easy to take with you on all your adventures.

It’s the perfect cold-weather companion during a walk, hike, outdoor sporting event, or hunting and fishing.

This rechargable hand warmer is bulkier than its competitors, and a few users have made a note of this concern.

Pros

• Silicone on the corners for anti-drop protection
• 3 level heat control
• Charge your phone or tablet with ease

Cons

• It takes 6-8 hours to recharge
• Heat consistency can vary a bit

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FUEL BASED HAND WARMERS

3 – Zippo Hand Warmer

Zippo is one of the best when it comes to reusable fuel-based hand warmers.

It has a flameless, butane powered warmer that lasts over 12 hours. It’s made of metal to so it will last, and it’s thin enough to slide into your tactical gloves.

Refilling it is easy, and it will last you on long hikes and hunting trips. Some users have found it hard to ignite.

Pros

• Smoldering heat without an open flame
• Sleek design that fits anywhere
• Low odor for hunting
• Great uses including football, skiing, and snowboarding

Cons

• Needs to be refilled
• Once it is engaged, you can’t turn it off. It has to burn up all the fuel

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4 – Peacock Stainless Steel Hand Warmer

The Peacock handwarmer makes a great outdoor pocket heater for keeping your hands warm in winter. It has a powerful igniter and burner that’s easy to light.

The hand warmer is virtually odorless (great for hunters) and stays warm for up to 24 hours.

One customer claims, “It is 30-34 degrees hotter than the new Zippos”.

Pros

• Great portable size: 4.5″x3″x0.8″
• Diverse applications: can be used for skiing, camping, and hunting where cold protection is required
• Heat output is 120-160 Fahrenheit and is usable in extreme temperatures
• One fill will last all day, and fuel consumption is low

Cons

• A bit more expensive than the competition

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CHEMICAL HAND WARMERS

If you are not in the market for a reusable product, your best bet is to get a chemical hand warmer.

Here are a few hand warmer packs that will give you quick warmth without the hassles of recharging or refueling.

5 – HotHands Hand Warmer

Hothands are an affordable warming product that’s available online.

They are perfect for the occasional trekker that doesn’t go venturing too often. You can slip them into your gloves or boots or anywhere else you have a chill.

Pros

• 5-10 hours of heat/run time
• 112 degrees Fahrenheit average temp
• Lightweight and easy to use

Cons

• Only one-time use

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6 – HotSnapz Hand Warmers

This product is unique because you CAN reuse it without the use of fuel.

There is an internal activation that you click to start the heating process. While it doesn’t hold heat for very long, you shouldn’t throw it away.

All you have to do to recharge the HotSnapz is put it in boiling water for 15 minutes, and it’s ready to go again.

Pros

• Multiple sizes with up to 2 hours of heat time
• 130 degrees Fahrenheit maximum
• Quickly heats up and quickly recharges

Cons

• Not an all-day warming device

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7 – Grabber Hand Warmers

Most of the chemical hand warmers are similar, but Grabber wins the heat race.

They are designed for a shorter burst of high heat and will keep you toasty for 2-3 hours before scaling back.

Pros

• 7-hour heat/run time with a shorter, hotter window
• 135 degrees Fahrenheit averaged, 180 degrees Fahrenheit maximum
• The hottest hand warmer

Cons

• Intense heat only lasts a few hours

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FOOTBALL HAND WARMERS

8 – Suddora Football Hand Warmer

This Suddora hand warmer is a soft fleece-lined pouch that will keep your hands toasty warm whether it’s during those winter practices, cold game days, or any outdoor adventure.

It’s ideal for wearing on the field with angled entry cuffs so you can put them in your hands more naturally.

There is a breakaway, adjustable strap, and belt that stays in place when you need it.

Reviews are outstanding for this product, but it does not come in a youth size. Users say it outperforms Nike and Under Armour.

It also works great for outdoor adventures when you need to use your hands frequently. You can slip them in and out quickly.

Pros

• Lightweight polyester/nylon blend for comfort
• Waterproof for those wet, snowy days
• Extra zipped pocket area for additional heat packs. You can store small on-field equipment like mouth guards.

Cons

• Only comes in non-youth sizes, and some users have said the hand openings are a bit small

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9 – Nike Pro Hyperwarm Football Hand Warmer

Nike is known for its quality athletic products. And this football hand warmer is no different.

They use hyper-warm technology to insulate your hands and keep them warm.

The design includes a weather-resistant shell and internal pockets for storage. An adjustable quick-release belt holds the warmer in place, so you access the warmer fast and with ease.

It also includes an embroidered Nike Swoosh logo.

Pros

• Comes in youth and adult sizes:15.5 in x 5.9 in; 39.5 cm x 5.9 cm
• Non-restrictive knit cuffs for a snug fit
• Additional internal heat pack storage
• Polyester/nylon blend

Cons

• Inside material is a little rough on the hands

FINAL THOUGHTS

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That’s our comprehensive list of best hand warmers on the market today. Now you can make a wise choice of hand warmer for your needs.

From hunting to a desk hand warmer, you need a product that will keep your fingers nimble. Or keep them from getting frostbite after a blast of cold, winter chill.

These options will take the guesswork out of what to buy for any situation!

“Just In Case” Jack

P.s. Do you know where the closest nuclear bunker is from your home?

There are a lot of natural nuclear shelters in the US that are absolutely free. And one of them is near your home.

Click here to see the Closest Natural Nuclear Bunker to Your Home?

Click on the image above to find out where you need to take shelter.

The post 9 Best Hand Warmers For Cold Weather Emergencies appeared first on Skilled Survival.

This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The End of the American Dream. 

Have you ever heard of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation?  What about Cede and Company?  If those names are foreign to you, then you don’t really understand how the core of our financial system really works.

A lot of people are blaming Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and the heads of other major trading platforms for the stock trading restrictions that we witnessed last week, but it was actually the DTCC that suddenly jacked up deposit requirements ten-fold.  Robinhood and other trading platforms were put in a vise-like grip, and they had no choice but to act.  Someone needs to investigate how these decisions were made at the DTCC, and if laws were broken those that were responsible for the decisions need to go to prison.

We are being told that retail traders needed to be brought under control “for their own good”, but it was the reckless short selling of the big hedge funds that actually set the stage of last week’s chaos.

Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about restricting their exceedingly foolish trading strategies?

Thanks to relentless buying by “the Reddit Army”, several major hedge funds got absolutely slaughtered last week, and that group included Melvin Capital…

Melvin Capital, a premier Wall Street hedge fund entangled in the frenzy over GameStop (GME), lost 53% in January, a source familiar with the matter told CNN Business.

Melvin, a major short-seller of GameStop, bet that the company’s shares would drop. But, on January 11, GameStop announced new board members who could help it with digital sales. That set off a fury on Reddit, namely subreddit WallStreetBets, which catapulted GameStop’s stock more than 1,600%.

Of course, the small fish are not supposed to beat up the big fish like that, and the billionaires at the big hedge funds undoubtedly reached out to their powerful friends for help.

There had been speculation that the big hedge funds leaned on Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev and the heads of other large trading platforms directly, but the truth is more complicated.

It turns out that the pressure on Robinhood and other major trading platforms came from the clearinghouse level.  The following comes from a piece in USA Today that was authored by Vlad Tenev himself…

In a matter of days, our clearinghouse-mandated deposit requirements related to stocks increased ten-fold. These deposits are the collateral we post to ensure our access to clearinghouse services on behalf of our customers. They are what led us to put temporary buying restrictions in place on a small number of securities that the clearinghouses had raised their deposit requirements on. As we noted in a blog on Friday, it was not because we wanted to stop people from buying these or any stocks — we built Robinhood to provide access to investing for all. And it certainly wasn’t because we were trying to help hedge funds.

Tenev didn’t mention it by name, but the company that clears almost all of Robinhood’s trades is the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.  If you are not familiar with the DTCC, here is some basic info from Wikipedia…

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is an American post-trade financial services company providing clearing and settlement services to the financial markets. It performs the exchange of securities on behalf of buyers and sellers and functions as a central securities depository by providing central custody of securities.

DTCC was established in 1999 as a holding company to combine The Depository Trust Company (DTC) and National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). User-owned and directed, it automates, centralizes, standardizes, and streamlines processes in the capital markets.[3] Through its subsidiaries, DTCC provides clearance, settlement, and information services for equities, corporate and municipal bonds, unit investment trusts, government and mortgage-backed securities, money market instruments, and over-the-counter derivatives. It also manages transactions between mutual funds and insurance carriers and their respective investors.

In 2011, DTCC settled the vast majority of securities transactions in the United States and close to $1.7 quadrillion[4][5][6] in value worldwide, making it by far the highest financial value processor in the world.[6] DTCC operates facilities in the New York metropolitan area, and at multiple locations in and outside the United States.

Theoretically, the DTCC is supposed to be a neutral participant in the markets.

The post These Are The Shadowy New York Financial Institutions That Forced Robinhood To Restrict Trading In Certain Stocks first appeared on SHTF Plan – When It Hits The Fan, Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You.

You’re in a bug out situation. Home is no longer safe. You’re waiting for danger to pass. You’re hungry, starving…

This article %Can You Eat Crow? Yes! 3 Ways to Procure Crow Meat% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

Before we get started, I want to say that I’m a huge fan of permanent and raised garden beds. They don’t need any exaggerations to be an incredible gardening method, but sometimes that’s exactly what we run into. People start touting the benefits of raised garden beds and end up airing overeager and possibly even […]

For decades, the big fish on Wall Street have been able to do virtually anything that they want, but now the small fish are fighting back and it has been a beautiful thing to watch.  Finally it is payback time, and the losses have been absolutely staggering.  In fact, Reuters is reporting that short sellers have lost more than 70 BILLION dollars so far this year.  But nobody should be crying for the short sellers.  As Charles Payne pointed out during an epic rant on Fox Business, the short sellers have ruthlessly crushed countless businesses over the years, and they did so without showing any mercy whatsoever.

So now the big hedge funds want mercy themselves?

It’s not likely to happen.

After sending GameStop, AMC and other beleaguered stocks into the stratosphere, now investors on Reddit are talking about going after a really huge whale.

The silver market is perfectly primed for an epic short squeeze, and a coordinated assault by retail investors could make it happen.

The following is an excerpt from the post on the “WallStreetBets” Reddit subgroup that everyone is talking about…

The silver futures market has oscillated between having roughly 100-1 and 500-1 ratio of paper traded silver to physical silver, but lets call it 250-1 for now. This means that for every 250 ounces in open interest in the futures market, only 1 actually gets delivered. Most traders would rather settle with cash rather than take delivery of thousands of ounces of silver and have to figure out to store and transport it in the future.

The people naked shorting silver via the futures markets are a couple of large banks and making them pay dearly for their over leveraged naked shorts would be incredible. It’s not Melvin capital on the other side of this trade, its JP Morgan. Time to get some payback for the bailouts and manipulation they’ve done for decades (look up silver manipulation fines that JPM has paid over the years).

The way the squeeze could occur is by forcing a much higher percentage of the futures contracts to actually deliver physical silver. There is very little silver in the COMEX vaults or available to actually be use to deliver, and if they have to start buying en masse on the open market they will drive the price massively higher. There is no way to magically create more physical silver in the world that is ready to be delivered. With a stock you can eventually just issue more shares if the price rises too much, but this simply isn’t the case here. The futures market is kind of the wild west of the financial world. Real commodities are being traded, and if you are short, you literally have to deliver thousands of ounces of silver per contract if the holder on the other side demands it. If you remember oil going negative back in May, that was possible because futures are allowed to trade to their true value. They aren’t halted and that’s what will make this so fun when the true squeeze happens.

That post has already been upvoted more than 9,400 times, and it appears that a consensus is building that this is going to be the next big thing after the raid on GameStop short sellers is done.

On Thursday, the price of gold was up 4.5 percent in anticipation that something might happen, and much of that price movement was apparently caused by short sellers that feverishly rushed to close their positions…

“After watching GameStop (NYSE:GME) and other shorts getting blasted, rumours that silver could be targeted has traders preemptively covering shorts just in case,” said Tai Wong, a trader at investment bank BMO in New York.

As Eric King has pointed out, if Reddit investors really do decide to go all-in on silver, they could do some serious damage…

“Chris, I just calculated the last 4 trading days in GameStop (GME) in dollar terms and it totals $82.3 billion. I think annual silver production is roughly 1 billion ounces and at current prices that would total about $25 billion. That means yesterday’s trading volume in GameStop of $29.9 billion would have purchased more than the entire annual silver mine production! And the last 4 trading days in GameStop ($82.3 billion in dollar terms) would have purchased more than a staggering 3-times the entire annual global silver mine production! This type of buying would obviously create one hell of a violent short squeeze in the silver market.”

Of course the other side doesn’t exactly play fair.

On Thursday, Robinhood and other trading platforms suddenly restricted trading in some of the key stocks that retail investors have been targeting…

Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings, BlackBerry Ltd., Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., Express Inc., GameStop Corp., Koss Corp., Naked Brand Group and Nokia Corp. have been restricted to “position closing only,” Robinhood said in a blog post.

The decision means traders cannot initiate new positions in shares of those companies and can only sell existing holdings. The company also raised margin requirements for certain securities.

There are allegations that Robinhood and other trading platforms were persuaded to shut down trading in those stocks by the big fish on Wall Street, but Robinhood and the other trading platforms are denying this.

And Robinhood is also denying that it forced some users to suddenly dump their shares in GameStop and other key stocks…

No, Robinhood tells The Verge, it didn’t sell off full shares of GameStop, AMC, and other buzzy stocks without permission from its traders.

That contradicts the stories of twelve people who spoke with The Verge, saying that the app unexpectedly sold off their holdings in some of these companies. Quite a number of Robinhood users expressed their surprise on social media today that the app was selling off their stakes, and we tracked down a dozen of them. These traders didn’t believe they had prompted the sales, and they said they weren’t aware of anything on their account that would have automatically triggered them.

Hopefully authorities will investigate and get to the bottom of what actually happened.

At this point, Robinhood has already been slapped with two lawsuits because of what took place on Thursday…

Two Robinhood users filed separate lawsuits against the brokerage app Thursday after it and other apps restricted trading of certain securities.

The first lawsuit filed in the Southern District Court of New York alleges that Robinhood “purposefully, willingly, and knowingly” restricted certain securities transactions, including GameStop. The other filed in the Northern District Court of Illinois alleges that the app manipulated its platform.

And it is being reported that the House and the Senate will both be holding hearings on the matter…

The U.S. House Financial Services and Senate Banking committees said on Thursday they will hold hearings on the stock market after users of investment apps faced trading limits following the “Reddit rally” that put a charge into GameStop and other volatile stocks that were touted in online forums.

“We must deal with the hedge funds whose unethical conduct directly led to the recent market volatility and we must examine the market in general and how it has been manipulated by hedge funds and their financial partners to benefit themselves while others pay the price,” said Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat who heads the House panel.

After everything that just went down, I don’t know how Robinhood is going to survive.

There are also rumors of a “liquidity crisis” at Robinhood, but the company insists that those rumors are simply not true.

Meanwhile, the firm has “tapped at least several hundred million dollars” in emergency credit in recent days…

Robinhood Markets, the trading app that’s popular with investors behind this month’s wildest stock swings, has drawn down some of its bank credit lines to ensure it has enough cash to clear trades, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The firm, according to one of the people, has tapped at least several hundred million dollars, a significant amount of money for a firm that was valued at about $12 billion a few months ago. Robinhood’s lenders include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Representatives for Robinhood and those banks declined to comment.

I have a feeling that this story is not going to end well for Robinhood.

But for the retail investors that are changing the course of history, this is truly an amazing time.

Finally, the small fish are standing up for themselves and are fighting back against the big fish, and the big fish have good reason to be quite scared.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Parler, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The post Now Reddit Investors Are Talking About Targeting Silver, And That Could Change EVERYTHING first appeared on The Economic Collapse.