Then along comes the most-boss BOV or Bug Out Vehicle ever. This is the Rokon (pronounced ‘rock-on’) Survivor Edition for preppers. Actually the Rokon motorbike (more like motor machine) has been around for a long time. I originally saw one at a SHOT Show many years ago. Like many such products Rokon has evolved, and this new model is certainly proof of that.

The Rokon is basically a super-heavy-duty two-wheeled machine. I hate to call it a motorcycle because its design is so rad, so mega machine. The foundation of a Rokon includes a 208cc Kohler engine, all-wheel drive, 15 inch ground clearance, 218 total weight, 3 speed transmission, electric and pull start, and disc brakes. Rokons are available in olive green, black, green, red, yellow, and orange. The Survivor Edition is only offered in black, a good move.

Features on the Survivor Edition include LED headlight, trail-maintenance kit, Dave Canterbury survival kit, Maxxis 2Ply Big Horn tires, power point, saddlebags, brush busters, and painted wheels. Optional accessories include a cell phone holder, tow bar kit, utility carrier rack, gun boot or gun rack, siphon pump, and a single track trailer. You can even get a retro front seat and an extended rear cargo rack.

The survival kit contains metal water and cooking containers, survival knife with magnesium fire starter, solar blanket, LED headlamp, compass, rope, and waterproof matches. All of these supplies fit inside one of the saddlebags. This kit was outfitted by Dave Canterbury, the well-known survivalist.

Now the Rokon is built for the roughest, toughest terrain. It may not seem practical to motor this unit down a highway, but it can be done. Trailered to a Bug Out location it would make a perfect unit for traversing forest, field, streams, and rocky cover. It will handle the really tough junk way better than a conventional ATV or UTV.

Being two-wheeled, it can maneuver much better in timber, up narrow trails, or blazing new paths through thick cover. It makes a different kind of BOV, but a great option for a loner, or as mentioned to have around a Bug Out Camp for multiple transportation uses.

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RELATED: 9 Survival Foods That Will Outlast The Apocalypse

In this article:

Tasty Mashed Potatoes The Pros The Cons The Bottom Line Mashed Potatoes | Survival Food Pros and Cons Tasty Mashed Potatoes

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As many of you may remember from a recent article I wrote titled 21 Home Remedies For Toothache Pain Relief, I just had my wisdom tooth extracted a couple of weeks ago and had to be on a soft food diet for a few days while I healed.

Well, I am back to eating regular foods but not without a new appreciation for a delicious snack that kept my stomach full — instant mashed potatoes.

Being a southern boy, I grew up on my Nana’s best mashed potatoes recipe, so suffice it to say I was a little hesitant to try the instant variety. Now I have had them before as my mother was not the best cook, but the tasteless, chunky gruel that my mother used to serve me should have never been called instant mashed potatoes.

My wife loaded me up with these nifty single-serve portion sizes or Idahoan mashed potatoes. The first bowl had me hooked and each variety I tried was just as good.

The best garlic mashed potatoes with just a touch of extra butter are by far my favorite. Now, what does this have to do with survival?

The Pros

After doing a little research I have found that these pouches and cups of instant mashed potatoes have a fairly long shelf life (roughly 18 months) and I am fairly positive that they would be okay for much longer than that.

It’s extremely lightweight and only requires water to eat even though you are supposed to heat it (and it tastes better heated). I have set a bowl of it out and made it without heat. Obviously, there is something much better about a steaming pile of potato than there is about a room temperature mound of it but it is still flavorful and filling

Idahoan has a good variety of flavors. At roughly $1.00 per package, they are a good investment to get a filling meal or add substance to an otherwise light meal.

RELATED: 43 Survival Food Items That Actually Taste Good

The Cons

While the shelf life is fairly long for a bagged food, the actual container is rather flimsy. The microwavable cups have a very vulnerable paper top that will tear easily.

The cost of the cups with a single serving is the same as a 4 serving pouch.

The Bottom Line

At around $1.00 per bag, these are a steal. They provide a quick tasty meal with minimal water. Even a prepper on the tightest budget should be able to make room for these.

Now I have specifically pointed out the Idahoan brand instant mashed potatoes, but I know there are several other brands available. Does anyone else stock up on these or have any alternatives?

I am going to give you a link to these so you can check them out, but if you want them I would much rather you go to your local grocer to pick them up for a lot less. Or if anyone knows an online retailer that sells them cheaper please leave a comment and let me know.

You can also serve these delicious mashed potatoes at home. Check out this video from Rocketboom:

The key points about these instant mashed potatoes are its long shelf life and it only needs water to prepare. When it comes to food in a survival situation, ease of preparation is extremely important considering the potentially limited resources you’ll have.

Either way, these simple mashed potatoes are great for home serving or for survival purposes.

Would you consider instant mashed potatoes for your survival food prepping? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

UP NEXT:

8 Survival Foods and How To Store Them A Simple Trick to Make Survival Food Last 20 Years Quick, Simple, And Shockingly Delicious Survival Food

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on March 4, 2013, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Read more: survivallife.com

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Having reliable guns to choose from is important when it comes to protecting your family.

Let’s imagine for a moment that the world of tax-funded public safety and well-stocked grocery stores are a thing of the past. Then you, perhaps with a handful of family and friends, must fend for yourself in a tough and hostile environment. Among the considerations for survival are, of course, firearms. Which would you choose?

The most critical consideration for firearms in this scenario would be reliability. Does it go “bang” with every trigger press? Does it cycle the widest possible spectrum of ammo available in that caliber? Is it simple to maintain? What ammunition is likely to be found in the area? It’s a given that one of each major civilian classification of firearms will be needed—a handgun, a rifle, and a shotgun. Our task here is to pick an ideal group of five.

THE TOP THREE RELIABLE GUNS

Handgun

The Glock 17/19 has a long track record of reliability and the other criteria here. While Glock offers a wide variety of calibers and models, the 9mm is a commonly available cartridge worldwide, and less pricey. Like the AR-15, parts are currently ubiquitous, and many are interchangeable between models/calibers.

As a true admirer of the 1911, it’s hard to think of turning my back on that old standby. Indeed, it’s more accurate. But it falls behind, quickly, where ease-of-maintenance and magazine capacity are concerned. Newer models are, in my experience, less reliable than Colt originals

Concealability, which may or may not be a consideration in this scenario, isn’t easy with the G17 but the Glock 19 can bridge this gap effectively.

Carbine

A carbine, with its shorter barrel, offers ease of maneuverability as well as the capability of reaching out to larger game, within limited range, to provide for food. Larger capacity magazines and quick reloading capability may be necessary to defend against attackers of the two-legged variety.

My choice for a long-term carbine partner is the AR-15. The platform is proven as reliable, and most owners have accumulated a supply of spare parts. Ammunition and magazines as of this writing are readily available, but that can change on a moment’s notice, of course!

The .223/.556 cartridge is admittedly not the most ideal for down-range energy. Thanks to the other virtues named here, though, it garners top billing on the list. I have personally taken deer-sized game with the .223/.556.

Shotgun

This was the easiest choice for a reliable gun. A shotgun in general has nearly endless applications based on the variety of loads available. This is  especially true if one has reloading equipment. The Remington 870 pump action, chambered in 12-gauge, has endured as one of the most reliable guns in history. It’s inexpensive, made for utility, and rugged. Semi-auto shotguns abound on the market today, but none have the track record of reliability and simplicity as does the 870. The gauge selection is due to the wide range of loads available in 12-gauge.

The Mossberg 500 was a close runner-up, but the 870 edged it out thanks to personal experience both in the field and in law enforcement. It’s capable of earning its keep by obtaining large and small game and is an effective defense weapon.

Traditional hunting models are probably the most common 870s in civilian homes. The police model, with its shorter 18-inch barrel and larger magazine capacity, offers more practicality. Either one will serve the owner well, with greater reliability than most semi-auto shotguns. I have taken everything from birds to varmints to big game with a 12-gauge 870. Not to mention the shotgun is an effective deterrent against two legged pests.

Pocket-Sized Solar Generator Keeps Your Family Alive In Any Crisis

TWO MORE OPTIONS

Now imagine for a moment that we have the luxury of two other guns at our disposal. To me, the ideal ones are—

A Bolt-Action Rifle

As with the AR-15, the brand and model are less important as there are many choices of this reliable gun, with legendary track records. It’s comforting to know that, with the assistance of an optic, the little arsenal includes something that can be effective and at long distances for most game and any precision shooting needs. The ideal caliber could be the .270, .308 or 30-06, all of which are more or less commonly available. All can effectively take any game in North America and, of course, provide greater long-range precision capabilities.

Rate of fire and weight are potential drawbacks with this firearm. In comparison to others here, this platform requires greater knowledge and time investment on the part of the operator to accomplish the long-range feats it’s capable of.

A .22 Rimfire

There’ll be plenty of nay-sayers for this cartridge as a final choice, but the .22 has been a reliable ballistic tool of choice for hunters, assassins, farmers and housewives for over a century. It’s eliminated countless barnyard varmints and more good and bad guys than I care to count. If we as consumers discount the memory of the days when .22 was three cents per round, the cost and availability factors aren’t as dire as it once was just a mere year ago.

Notice there’s no make and model named in the subheading—that’s a reflection of how difficult it is to choose among the many candidates. In the end, utility is king. Some of my favorites are the Ruger 10-22 Takedown, Ruger 22 Bearcat and S&W Model 17 Revolvers or the KelTec PMR and CMR 30 in 22 Magnum (if you have a good supply of 22 mag ammo). Choices in this category are endless and should boil down to what you have experience and confidence in. Another consideration: 500 rounds of .22 is portable in comparison to the same amount in other calibers.

Many will likely argue that a .22 rifle is preferable to a .22 handgun. And I’d not argue back much, especially when discussing a firearm for a beginner to use effectively. In a world where the return on investment of both resources and calories may be critical, perhaps a .22 should be at the top of this list of reliable guns.

Bottom line: I want a “survival” gun that is reliable, simple to operate (including maintenance issues), in a caliber that ammunition can easily been obtained and that I have confidence and ability with. The picks listed here are one person’s opinion … but the choices are endless.

What would you put on your list? Share your thoughts in the section below:

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I received this over the Memorial Day weekend and found it a short, inspirational story of determination. One worth sharing. I am sure such stories happen often everywhere, they renew our beliefs in each other.

I have posted it below unedited, as I don’t see any way to improve upon it.

14-year Old Boy Climbs a Mountain Alongside Adventure App Creator

April 24, 2019 – At 6:15 am on Easter Sunday, 14-year old Getúlio Felipe, who has cerebral palsy, began climbing the highest mountain in the Dolomites, Italy to prove that anything is possible and that the outdoors are accessible to everyone. After nine straight hours of battling deep snowpack, cold weather and physical exhaustion, Getúlio reached the top of the Punta Penia peak, a glacier reaching 3,343-meters (10,968 feet).

Accompanying Getúlio on this journey were Pedro McCardell, creator of the Lyfx app, an app for that conects travelers to local guides, Alessio Nardellotto, an experienced climber from the Dolomites, Alberto Benchimol and Stefano Fabris, who worked as a separate support team for safety and image capture.

The desire to climb a mountain came a few years ago when Pedro McCardell, mountaineer and creator of the Lyfx application, a kind of “Uber of Adventure,” which allows local guides in various parts of the world to connect with travelers in search of adventure and unique, personalized experiences, challenged him to climb a mountain.

Getúlio, who was only nine years old at the time and did not really know what kind of challenge awaited him, accepted it, and then the preparations began. Getúlio divided his time between studies, daily and physical activities, preparing his body and mind for the great adventure that awaited him.

The young man has been overcoming challenges since he was born. After a cardiorespiratory arrest at birth (which caused cerebral palsy), doctors believed that Getulio could never walk. Contrary to all the diagnoses, Getúlio began to take his first steps at age 7, and from that moment on he didn’t stop anymore. He learned to play soccer, choosing the position of goalkeeper and integrating the school team, and even met his great idol: the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

His most recent achievement, the climb of Marmolada, the highest mountain of the Dolomites in Italy, was only possible thanks to the union of Pedro McCardell, Alessio Nardellotto, experienced mountaineer of the region and leader of the expedition, the Unesco Education, Science and Culture) and the “Razões Para Viver” website (Reasons to Live, on a loose translation).

After 9 hours of climbing, and with several stops to check the health conditions of Getúlio, as well as some attempts to make him give up (all in vain), the team arrived at the top of the mountain, where Getulio sat looking at the view and said “what a good life”. No doubt this was a unique experience, not only for Getúlio, but also for Pedro McCardell, Alessio and all the others involved.

The whole adventure was documented, and the images will be used as part of a film about Getulio’s story, produced by Lyfx.

About Lyfx

Lyfx is an adventure platform that connects adventurers with local outdoor experts. The company is the brainchild of Pedro McCardell, an adventurer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, who saw the need to make the outdoors more accessible to everyone. Follow on Instagram @lyfx or visit lyfx.co.

Thanks, Rangel Jesuíno

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Using Google Earth to figure out where the power lines ran and intersecting streets, a co-worker dropped me off two neighborhoods away from where we were staying.

The first thing that became evident was the width of the power line right of way; rough estimate would be 400 feet or so wide.  This is more than enough room for entire neighborhoods to farm.  Since the power lines ran for hundreds of miles, length is not a problem.

Typically, crews with tractors and brush hogs will travel the power lines at least once a year to clear underbrush.  Rural areas on the other hand may get cut every few years.  These cleared areas could provide at excellent starting point for farming when a collapse happens.  The only thing missing is people working rows of corn with rakes and hoes.

The power line right of way also provides an excellent area to plant with edibles, such as wild plums and grapes.

The next thing that was evident was solar panels here and there.  One house almost had its entire roof covered with solar panels.  This could provide an excellent barter item by recharging batteries, phones, CB radios… etc.  However, the solar panels could also make the house a prime target for looters.

One thing that surprised me was a clear running stream next to a densely populated area.  This had started out as a natural flowing creek that had been expanded and dug deeper with machinery.  How did I know the stream had been dug deeper?  There were machine marks in the sandstone bottom.

What does all this mean?

People living near open areas such as power line right of ways, golf courses, play grounds… etc, could possibly use those areas for community gardens.

Drainage ditches, whether man made or natural, could possibly provide irrigation for crops or even drinking water if purified.

Wild edibles could be planted along creeks, streams, drainage ditches, pipeline and powerline right of ways.

People with solar panels may be willing to barter for stuff such as eggs and fresh foods.  However, one will need access to resources in order to barter.

Overall, I am rather impressed with how many resources people who live in urban areas have at their disposal.

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RELATED: How To Build DIY Survival Shelters To Survive Through The Night

How to Build Survival Shelters with Materials Around You Wilderness Survival Shelters

My first piece of advice on how to make a shelter from natural materials is to look around for something man-made.

In my last article, we talked about the use of a vehicle or vessel to keep us safe. But there are times when Mother Nature provides a hollow cave or natural covering.

This time around, I’m going to share some of the experiences I’ve had when Lady Luck is smiling down on someone else. There are times when we wish to build primitive shelters from scratch primarily with natural materials, but we aren’t always successful in foraging for these.

Unless you’re trained in thatching roofs, chances are your survival shelter is going to let water in when it rains. A plastic bag buried in your purse or pocket will go a long way towards providing a precious bit of waterproofing.

Building A Teepee

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This lovely leaf teepee that we built in the Smoky Mountains looks to be the epitome of primitive shelter building yet hidden beneath its lush foliage is a trash bag covering the apex. Thankfully it didn’t rain but it was very comforting to know that if it did we would remain dry, even if it meant sitting upright and back to back.

As the weather turned out to be dry I sometimes wish we had lain down on the trash bag instead as were eaten alive by chiggers on this expedition. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

In my experience, bindings made from roots or vines are rarely as robust as commercially manufactured strings, ropes, and cords. You may think that you don’t have anything like that with you, but take a look at your clothes.

Your clothing is your first line of defense in any survival situation and not just in the most literal sense — what are you wearing that you could adapt and use?

A little trick that Myke taught me is to replace my boot laces with 550 paracords and wrap a few extra lengths round for good measure. It’s a pain in the backside if you ever have to travel through airport security but a lifesaver out in the bush.

Even if you don’t have 550 cord, your regular shoelaces will work wonders in tying the struts of your shelter together. As will fabric strips ripped from the bottom of a shirt or skirt.

A single string of 550 cord cinched together with the top of this teepee in the Smokies. Always be sure to retrieve your cord, natural or otherwise, when you move on.

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Another useful tip, though glaringly obvious, is making sure your shelter is big enough for you to fit into.

A single person can crunch into a remarkably small place, albeit with some discomfort, but if you’re making a temporary home for more than one person or your whole family it’s a good idea to test it out size wise. As a mother, I’m always thinking things like, “Would my little boy cope with this?

Would this type of shelter work if he was with us?”

This is Myke and I testing our shelter for size. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Building A Teepee Photo by Kotaksurat Using A Poncho For Shelter

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One of my absolute favorite items of clothing because its multi-faceted nature is the military poncho, yet I had never even heard of one before I met my husband. These days I carry one in my car, my camping kit, my survival bag and we have several other littered around the house that our boy plays in.

In addition to keeping you dry, a poncho has many potential uses in a survival situation; a rucksack, a raft, a tarp, a medical stretcher, and a smokehouse, to name but a few. And they make quick and awesome survival shelters.

You can string one up in whatever manner you fancy or if you don’t have enough cord to construct a ‘tent’ just lay one over any primitive shelter that you have made to act as extra waterproofing.

Here in Alaska, we strung one between two trees and then I filled the open sides with large leaves to help keep the heat in. When using a poncho in wet climes be sure to tie off the hood so you don’t get leaks.

Conversely, when it’s scorching prop the hood open so it acts as a vent.

There, of course, might be times when you do have next to nothing on you or with you that you can use and you have to create a shelter from what you have around you. My least favorite is the debris shelter, but sometimes there is no choice.

For those who don’t know, a debris shelter is created by basically scraping up old branches and leaves and piling them into a rudimentary shield against the elements.

We used one once when we were caught in a sudden tropical storm in Dominica. Itchy, uncomfortable and wet.

Using old branches and logs has obvious risks, other things are also likely to be using them as a home – sometimes stinging insects and arachnids but I have also seen lethal poison dart frogs in old logs in the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. I also once sat on a fer de lance in a fallen tree in the Peruvian Amazon.

This snake kills more people in South America than any other. Not what you want as a bedfellow.

RELATED: Conquering the Cornerstones: Shelter – the 1st Pillar of Survival

Building A Lean-to

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Another basic shelter to make when you’re too exhausted to do anything else or perhaps when the light is fading is the ‘lean-to’. I was making this one on a Lost Survivors shoot for Travel Channel as the sun was going down in the Appalachians in Kentucky.

The main spine was an old tree trunk that had fallen and caught on another tree (not fallen to the ground) then I placed cut branches and leaves to form the back wall. It was another night on the forest floor, which is never ideal but the shelter is blocking a harsh wind that was kicking up.

On a separate trip to Kentucky, we wove a kind of cocoon out of river cane. We stuck either end of the canes into the ground to create a series of arches and then wove thinner more supple pieces of cane between the struts to make the walls.

You can use this technique with any kind of reed or wood that is pliable enough, willow for example.

Building A Lean-to Photo by Kotaksurat

In the close-up picture of me standing in front of it, you can see pretty flowers embedded in the walls. This wasn’t an attempt to create bucolic loveliness out in the wilds.

It’s an eye-saving mechanism, the cut cane was razor sharp and the flowers mark the dagger-like ends.

Ruth Englund Building A Lean-to Photo by Kotaksurat

It is without a doubt better to sleep up off the floor if you can. Even a layer of cut branches on the ground will insulate you from the cold.

Another very important reason to be up is so you don’t encounter creatures that could otherwise hurt or kill you. This is particularly true in tropical jungles and swamps.

My favorite shelter of all time was one at a beach in Aitutaki in the South Pacific. It was a platform protruding at one end from the top of some pandanus tree prop roots and supported at the other by tripods we made by lashing three sticks together.

The roof was a separate structure, a bit like a carport, crafted from palm leaves.

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Building A Platform Shelter

Pandanus trees are great for shelter making, they look a little like palm trees but have these mangrove style prop roots. It’s the roots that are special, they are both sturdy and bendy.

We made the cross slats of the platform from these roots. Once they were covered in palm fronds, it was like sleeping in a bed.

They bounce a little when you lay down. Wonderful!

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The mosquitoes in Aitutaki were bad, the noise was like the whirring of a cheap hairdryer. All night long.

However, the view in the morning made life a little easier to bear.

The first time I visited the Amazon rainforest we constructed a more elaborate version of the Aitutaki platform shelter. Unlike in our South Sea haven Amazonian land animals like to bite you, sting you and eat you.

Quick Tip: Bringing Fire Into Your Shelter

Getting off the ground is an essential, not a luxury.

Fire is also vital for protection in the deep jungle. Though our platform was too high to feed a fire without having to climb down, repeatedly, to the forest floor.

A problem exacerbated that we had our boots off at night to dry out our feet and prevent jungle rot.

Mike came up with the ingenious solution of having the fire in the shelter with us!

Quick Tip: Bringing Fire Into Your Shelter Photo by Kotaksurat

We built another mini wood platform on our sleeping platform. Afterward, we daubed a layer of thick clay on top of it to prevent the fire from burning through.

We had very few insect problems because it also acted as a smudge fire. A fair bit of the smoke was trapped in the shelter with us because of the roof.

We didn’t wake to the same amazing view as in Aitutaki. Thanks to our choice of shelter we made it through the night without becoming dinner for a jaguar.

Fire in the shelter Photo by Kotaksurat

Watch this video by J&J acres on how to build a teepee:

There is no blueprint for shelter building. Terrain and circumstance will dictate the final structure.

If I look back over the years and remember every single one that I’ve slept in, each one was different, each had its own set of quirks, foibles, discomforts, and itches. You rarely sleep well in a wilderness shelter but it’s always better to have one than not.

Do you trust in these methods of building a shelter? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

UP NEXT:

3 Survival Shelters You Can Quickly Craft From Tree Branches Survival Shelters: Things You Need To Know Family Preparedness: What Are Your Survival Principles?

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in February 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Read more: survivallife.com

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LUNCH BAG MINI FIRE KITS

Most preppers are probably into recycling as well as many other socially redeeming programs. In our city, we get recycled paper products and plastics picked up once a week that is supposed to contribute of offsetting our monthly water and sewer costs. I’ve never seen evidence of that, but even so, recycling is a good thing.

Though you don’t see classic brown paper lunch sacks much anymore, a few come through the house once in a while. I hate throwing them away or even adding them to the recycle bin. I know they must have many other potential uses. Accordingly I have found one use to suggest to all preppers, campers, hikers and other outdoors people wanting help starting a quick fire.

These brown paper bags can easily be filled with other smaller pieces of waste paper that are easy to set fire to initiate a camp fire, cook fire, warming fire, or just a comfort fire for use out in the wilderness, bug out camp or wherever. Even if nearby tinder is damp or wet, these mini fire kits will help get things going.

What to use to stuff these paper sacks? You know you get tons of junk mail every week at home and work. These worthless sales flyers and promotional documents make excellent fire fodder. That is nearly any paper but the slick photo type paper which often does not burn well. Tear any junk mail in half or strips and drop them into a brown paper bag. The bags only need to be about half to three-quarters full to make them useful for starting a fire.

I pull all the subscription renewal cards out of the magazines as I read them. I stack these up until I head to the garage the next time. I usually have 3-4 bags to fill up at any given time. After dinner if the napkins are only partially soiled, I collect those, too. Same with many paper towels used to wipe up spills or other uses. These burn quickly and clean.

Once the mini fire kit bags are nearly filled, just roll the top down tight to secure it. If you have the time or inclination, you could staple the top closed as well to keep the contents contained, especially if you decide to store several in a vehicle EDC storage box. If you collect paper matchbooks, include one of them, so the fire kit is complete and ready to use, anywhere, any time.

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In the prepper world, we hear “two is one, one is none”. We don’t want to get carried away with it when we’re packing a rucksack, but it provides positive redundancy for our preparations. If something happens to the primary – from a plan to a tangible item – we have a backup right there, already on hand.

There’s a difference between an alternative and a backup, though. It’s subtle, but significant enough to hugely affect how well we navigate upsets.

We see backups in all areas of preparedness and the self-reliant lifestyles many try to cultivate.

If our pressure canner uses rubber rings, we try to keep an extra on hand.

We stock seeds in case we can’t buy more or buy food in a supermarket, and if we’re frugal we stock multiple years’ seeds separately in case there’s a problem with the last-purchased or last-harvested seed supply.

We map out multiple routes for our vehicles, in case one is blocked.

We keep a light and a speed loader, stripper clip, or spare mag with our EDC or creak-in-the-night firearms.

If we’re into tactical load outs, we carry a primary rifle or carbine, with reloads, and have a sidearm on our waist, leg, or chest where it’s handy if our primary runs dry or goes down at a really bad time. I might even have backups for both primary and sidearm back home.

Right There with Backups, is Having alternates

Alternates are somewhat different from “just” a backup. A backup is the same thing, or nearly the same thing, which functions the same way. An alternate is different, largely or entirely.

Following the examples above…

In addition to my pressure canner – and grid-down ways to bring it to and keep it at pressure – I might also make plans to preserve foods by dehydrating, cold smoking, or salt packing.

I might not only have backup seeds, I might have alternates – faster-growing hybrids of the same type, as well as foreign domesticated crops and-or wild edibles.

I might maintain lists of bus and subway/train schedules, stations, and stops, and cash/tokens for them, a bike, and an ATV to get around suburban and rural obstacles. I might also have packs or small carts for my animals and myself so we can flee on foot.

Instead of planning to repel all borders with direct confrontation if our retreat is noticed, we might have made plans to make the house look already-hit, create passive discomforts, make it difficult to reach, and have actual booby traps as our last line.

Instead of a rifle/carbine, some situations might call for me or a partner to carry a shotgun – which are themselves loaded with alternate options.

I might also keep one specifically loaded with rubber shot, rock salt, bean bags, net, or some other less-than-lethal option for chasing pests out of my garden or breaking up a dog fight.

Instead of or with a gun, I might have a souped-up flashlight that functions like a mini baseball bat.  Other alternatives to an EDC pistol might be a taser bug, retractable asp, or a coin roll in a hanky.

Alternatives as Well as Backups Apply Across all of Preparedness

If we flip the switch and there’s no power, we might have solar-charged and standard battery lamps to go with candles and oil lamps for light. We might augment solar and standard batteries with hand-cranked radios or lanterns, which can also function as chargers for other battery devices, or have a generator – and, upping the game of alternatives, a gennie that runs on multiple fuels.

We might have squeeze-activated ice packs we can blow a battery-operated fan across to combat heat stress, and plan for canopy beds and grown-up blanket forts to help reduce the amount of heat we need to stay warm.

We might have dark bags and solar ovens, propane stoves and grills, and various candle stoves for cooking.

We might have Pepto for whatever our water and food storage does to our guts, Imodium and Dulcolax as a backup, as well as some alternative maintenance and treatments for minor cases like prunes, tea/coffee, and dates, and mild farina/rice cereals, applesauce, and protein drink mix.

In our bags, vehicles, and homes we store not only water that’s ready to consume, but also chemical treatments and filters, and vessels we can fill if our primary springs a leak.

Super Sources

Hunting is one area ripe with alternatives for our plans and supplies. There’s already wide evidence and experience for us to weigh according to our own priorities, with gear and techniques full of alternatives just waiting to redeploy by preppers.

There’s that trusty standard shotgun, and all its options, but many hunters have a deer or pig rifle – sometimes instead, but regularly in addition to that shotgun.

Some have both a short, heavy-hitting, stable-flight brush gun and something designed to reach out across ridges, prairies, desert, or pasture. Others choose middle-road calibers that offer cartridge variety to cover multiple bases.

Some have a bow or crossbow for archery seasons. Others hunt very effectively with rim fires and airguns.

Some of those give us alternatives to big booms with a silent, effective killer and all the benefits they can have for a homesteader, hunter, and anyone else trying to avoid attention. Some give us alternatives to a shoulder-thumping Recoil Beast or expensive-ammo eater, giving us options for training and limited shooters.

Some use a handgun as primary for hunts, scoped or iron sights, both small game and large. Some carry a finishing gun along with their primary hunting tool.

Others carry close-range handguns or super-shorty shotguns for bears or self-defense – to include other outdoors-men like fishermen, bikers, hikers, and campers.

Those Outdoors Hobbyists, too, Give us Backups and Alternatives we can Apply

Some gear serves as-is, not only for wilderness bug-outs and survival, but any power-outage and grid-down or off-grid situation. Some gear is seen re-purposed by other interest groups as often as it is in its original field, or is used as an alternative until a field catches up to the interest.

BMX elbow and knee pads, rappelling helmets, and motorcycle knuckle-guard gloves improved tactical load outs, with official military gear catching up, not leading the way. It’s not singular (sadly). Personally acquired “other” gear and tactics are pretty commonly deployed long before it becomes regular issue.

We also see a lot of crossover in foods. Military to camping/backpacking to endurance athletes, one innovates and the others apply it. Then they’re catching up and expanding, or innovating anew, and it goes back the other way.

Preppers with crossover interests apply them, and they gain increased attention within that fold, further increasing the backups and alternatives we can apply. (Fad foods, too.)

It goes far beyond gunners and rations, though.

Bivy sleepers of both the sleeping bag and mini pup-tent types can offer us an alternative to more common tents and tarps shelters, or create additional layers of insulation and moisture protection when combined with them – or create even more layers of insulation and warmth indoors.

Netted hammocks and bug net around our hats help keep mosquitoes and biting flies at bay – in the garden and for front-porch sleeping in hot weather as well as out on the water or trails. Those mesh shields crossover with hunters’ turkey and duck mesh for the face and head.

Hunter’s camo options give us an alternative to military patterns, sweltering heat or frigid cold, across a wide variety of terrains.

Increased interest from outdoors types means pack rafts and inflatable kayaks (it’s a canoe) are much more compact, reliable, and affordable now.

They give us vehicle and home options for all sorts of things, be it a fishing platform, icy-pond and deep-mud rescue platform, dryer (-er, not dry) crossing of waterways, and options if we’re caught in high water from a hurricane, main break, dam spillway, or some other flood.

That gives us one more way to keep loved ones safe and get them out of harm’s way across a wide array of emergencies.

Rain gear, protective gear for bikes and ATV’ers, lightweight and compact tools of all sorts, off-roading vehicle upgrades, compact fishing kits, big-wheeled bikes and lightweight tow carts, eating habits, backwoods wheelchairs, speedy-refuel cans, comms devices and chargers – many apply to preppers, whether they’re urban or rural, whether they’re inclined toward either shelter-in-place or bugout survival.

Good-Better-Best

We regularly want a backup – specifically a backup, one that does the same job exactly or nearly the same way. Conditions ebb and flow, though, especially at crunch times. Alternatives that provide entirely different options add to our resilience and self-reliance in times of need.

Having both is the best of all worlds, making for more well-rounded preps all around. Happily, we have whole realms of possibilities that makes it pretty easy to accomplish both backups and alternatives.

Outdoor pursuits may have a lion’s share to offer, but we can find alternatives and backups pretty much anywhere. Sports of all types, permaculture, the re-purpose/up-cycle/re-use-it crowds, bio-mimicry in urban planning, and emergency response techs, shelters, and CnC cells are particular goldmines for techniques and tools.

History and the rest of the world are also excellent sources to apply to all arms of preparedness, both in terms of things that could derail our primary and backup plans, and coping mechanisms for when “normal” has left the building.

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The post Backups and Alternatives – A Preppers Mantra appeared first on American Survival Gear.

Learning survival hacks is essential for anyone who lives in the city or love camping. It doesn’t matter what the situation is there are always at least one or two survival hack and skills you need to now. You should know how to solve all the problems using what you have. It’s the key to a successful survival scenario. After watching this video, you will know what to do if you’ve lost the key but need to easily open the lock with the help of a pair of wrenches. Find out how to tie a good knot as it can save lives in a survival situation. Learn different ways to tie a knot because one of these knots could save your life one day. Moreover, you will learn how to make a water filter out of a simple plastic bottle. Take a plastic bottle, cut the half and cover the top with a piece of cloth. After that place, the top of the bottle on the high glass and put the following layers into the bottle: charcoal, sand, stones, sandstones.
Also, in our video, you will learn how to light a fire using AA battery and foil, what to do with insect bites, how to remove splinter using a band-aid, make a BBQ grill out of a can. Pay your attention to medical lifehacks that are helpful not only in the countryside but also in the big city. You can make a cold pack from a kitchen sponge. Soak it in water and put in a plastic bag. After that place into freezer. If your eyes are tired after a long working day, take two cotton pads and soak into cold milk. After that apply on your eyes and leave for a few minutes. Cold milk soothes tired eyes.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:09 Clever camping hacks
00:31 How to apply bandages
03:12 Use lip balm for cuticle
03:26 Cold milk for tired eyes
06:46 DIY water filter

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The post 25 EMERGENCY HACKS FOR ALL OCCASION appeared first on American Survival Gear.