Survival

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” We often think of axes as a brutal tool, powering through the wood to smash the tree apart. Knives are the tool of finesse, delicately …

There are three items in my survival kit which I use more than any other: The first is a good knife. You can almost always use a good knife. The second is a good flashlight, to bring light to the darkness. The third is a bandana. More than one. I …

Nearly everyone who lives in the American Midwest has a tornado story. Here’s one of mine: The closest I ever came to a tornado was one which skipped over my head. My family and I were hunkered under the basement stairs when the tornado came. Thanks to a large, steep …

Communication over long distances can be difficult, even with modern technology. Smartphones lose signal and radio batteries die, right when disaster strikes. Then what do you do to contact rescuers? Fall back on older technology, and use a flashlight, signal mirror, or another source of light to send a message …

You’ve heard it before. Someone says that they will wake up at oh-seven-hundred, or will be finished with their task at twenty-three-hundred. It’s a way of saying the time, of course. But it’s a different method than the 12 hour clock most people use. Like many military skills, such as …