Know Prepare Survive

Campfires have kept people alive for thousands of years. They provide warmth and comfort, cook your food, and can keep predators at bay. We’ve already covered how to start a fire, but that’s just the first step. If you want more than just a small flame, you have to build …

If you’re like me, you have a smartphone. I have half a dozen navigation apps on my phone, so I rarely get lost! But phones have several major weaknesses: battery life and signal reception. Both of those work against you when you’re tromping through the woods. So, just when you …

  Archery is one of the oldest skills known to man. The ability to take a sharp stick and poke it into a target way over there allowed early humans to be far more successful in hunting than before. Today, we have a variety of hunting tools. You can hunt …

In a perfect world, no human would enact violence upon another person. But we do not live in a perfect world and violence is common. I’ve witnessed violent attacks with my own eyes. No matter how many precautions you take to avoid getting into a bad situation, trouble may still …

Your mouth is awash in bacteria. Normally this is not a bad thing. But sometimes, the wrong bacteria can get in the wrong spot. Then you take a bit of food and instead of that delicious food you caught yourself, you feel pain. Ouch! You have an infected tooth! What …

If you’re like me, you like exploring the wilderness. I can spend days in the field, enjoying nature. But nature is not a sterile lab. There are sharp things everywhere, and they harbor bacteria. Some of that bacteria is harmful, pathogenic. I’ve accidentally cut myself in the woods and I’m …

  Ka-Bar was the knife used by the United States Marine Corps in WWII. That excellent fighting knife was just the first to be made by Ka-Bar Knives. The TDI Law Enforcement knife is one of their more modern offerings. Designed in collaboration with John Benner from the Tactical Defense …

It’s day three into your camping trip. The sun is setting and it will be dark soon. You pull out your knife, again, and start to whittle another feather stick so you can easily start the fire. However, the knife isn’t cooperating. You have to use more force to cut …

We live in a dangerous world in which you may be called to defend yourself against a violent attacker. A gun remains the gold standard self-defense weapon but you may not always have a gun available. Not everyone should own a gun, carrying a gun may not be legal where …

  SOG stands for “Studies and Observations Group.” This does not sound fearsome until you learn that they were an elite group of operatives during the Vietnam War, who designed their own fighting knife. It was designed by Benjamin Baker, Deputy Chief of the US Counterinsurgency Support Office, and was …

Do you know how to tie your shoes? No? Well, gee. You see, the square knot is the basis for the standard way most people tie their shoelaces. Oh, you were joking? Whew, you had me worried for a moment there! That basis thing is still important. The square knot …

We’re getting pretty knotty in this part of the internet. Today we’re looking at another knot. Like the versatile bowline knot, it’s an ancient one but still has modern uses. The knot of the day is not the have not, nor is it the can not. Do or do not, …

As news of violence in our nation and around the world reaches our ears, many of us are filled with a desire for protection. For us, our families, and our communities. Guns are the first self-defense method many of us think of at first. But they’re not always the best …

You’re in the woods, day three of a seven day trip. Things are going well, the sights are beautiful, and you even hunted your own deer for dinner last night. But on the way back to camp you tripped and a rock caught your shin. It was just a small …

Coyote hunting can be an exhilarating experience. You, a predator, are matching wits with a coyote, also a predator. They’re smarter than deer. More challenging. More satisfying. But sometimes the experience of hunting is not what’s important. You need the coyote dead, and how does not matter. So here are …