Hosts Aaron and Jonathan discuss the basic gun battery for survival and the benefits of professional training.

A practical conversation about the four guns every survival minded person should own and how to choose them. The first of several planned episodes for 2012 on the topic of guns for survival, episode 54 starts things off with the basics of a complete firearms toolbox.

Topics

• Firearms Training
• The Accuracy Fallacy
• How a gun should fit.
• Practice, Practice, Practice
• Selecting a Battery of Guns
• Handguns
• Shotguns
• Rifles
• .22s

Resources

• Project Appleseed
• Episode 3: Basic Firearms Discussion
• Episode 7: Interview With Dan Blackford
• Episode 13: Rimfire Guns
• Episode 31: Tony Kidd on Gunsmithing
• An Economical Battery of Guns – By Massad Ayoob

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan are joined by Ron Davis for a discussion on the basic items needed for a three week bug in period.

In most scenarios daily life will return to normal after 72 hours to one week. But larger disasters, whether person or local, can extend into several weeks. This episode covers the basics for the supplies you would need to survive for three weeks without leaving you home…

Topics:

• Survival checklists
• Storing food for survival.
• Water for survival.
• Tools and other items.
• Storing hygien items.
• Storing medical supplies.
• Pet needs in survival situations.

NOTE: 2 Manual can openers should be added to the list of items described in the episode.

Resources:

• Ron Davis – EMS Newbie Podcast
• Blackout Kit
• Personal Information Packet
• Water BOB
• Food Storage Basics
• Stove Tech BioMass Stove
• 4 in 1 Emergency Tool
• Generators
• Joos Orange

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan set your city on fire in a white hot rage with total disregard to point out vulnerabilities. But then roast marshmallows and plan an escape.

Riots in America have long been on the top ten list of concerns for urban survivalists. They’re big and scary, they’re a threat, but what really causes them? More importantly, how do we prepare to survive riots? The answers might surprise you…

Topics:

• What causes riots.
• How societal context influences the potential of riots.
• Why are riots more prone to happen in urban environments.
• The effects of riots on city infrastructure.
• Where they are most likely to occur and how to avoid them.
• Buggin In vs Bugging Out

Resources:

• Garden Pool
• Book – The Survivors Club

Host Aaron and Jonathan are joined by Jason and Jeep to discuss lessons learned from the past year and what to expect going forward…

Hard to believe it’s been a year already. And yet, it feels like longer at the same time.

We’ve learned so much in the last year and hope that you have to. Episode 51 is a look back at what we have been up to and what we plan to be up to in the year to come.

WARNING: This episode is marked as EXPLICIT/ADULT

Topics:

• A listener’s journey over the last year.
• Prepping as a family.
• Prepping with teenagers.
• The urban farm update. What Jason and Aaron have accomplished.
• Lessons learned the hard way about raising livestock.
• Lessons learned about the difficulties of self-reliance.
• Thank you to the listeners.

Resources:

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan ring in the new year with a discussion of preparing for 2012.

The time to act is now. The begging of the year is a perfect time to go over the basics of preparing, reviewing our preps, and touching on more advanced considerations of survival. For long time listeners Episode 50 is a recap of episodes from the last year as food for thought. For folks new to survival it’s a great primer.

Tropics:

Resources:

• Alaska DHSEM 7 Day Survival Kit
• Ron Hood - Copy Canning
• Food Storage Basics
• Reliance 7 Gallon Water Container
• The Water BOB
• Super Tanker water storage
• How To Build A Blackout Kit
• Episode 16: Survival Bags
• Interview with Dan Blackford
• CERT
• Project Appleseed

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan look back at 2011, look forward to 2012, and expectations for the new year.

2012 brings predictions of Doomsday. As we go forward the media hype is likely to surge as people become consumed with what may come. But, like so many “predictions” of the post, 2012 is likely to pass without incident. People already interested in preparedness run the risk of getting whisked up in the hype. People new to preparedness risk of falling back to “sleep” after December 21, 2012 comes and goes. So how do we avoid all this?

Topics:

• What 2011 has meant to us.
• What 2012 brings.
• Concerns for existing preppers.
• Concerns for new preppers.

Resources:

• TEOTWAWKI Reality Check
• Knee Jerk Reactions
• Survival CHI

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan interview John Heatherly–author of The Survival Template.

Heatherly is a 17-year student of survival through formal survival training. His survival education started with Tom Brown Jr’s Trackerschool after which he went on to graduate from several military Survival Courses. Using his personal experiences gained from his survival training, Heatherly has gone on to share his knowledge through The Survival Template and his new book The Medicine Symbol.

Author John Heatherly holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Carson-Newman College and a Masters of IT Management from Webster University.

We are very fortunate to have him with us for this episode of In The Rabbit Hole’s Urban Survival Podcast.

Episode Topics:

• Where The Survival Template came from.
• Object-oriented mentality
• Mental Models
• The role of optimism in survival.
• The importance of Crucible experiences.
• The importance of practicing survival skills and not just reading about them.
• John’s new book The Medicine Symbol.
• John’s current and future projects.

Connect with John Heatherly:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog
• The Medicine Symbol Discussion and Giveaway 

Episode Resources:

• The Survival Template – Review
• Tom Brown, Jr. Books
• Tom Brown Jr’s Trackerschool
• Good to Great
• Stockdale Paradox
• Mental Models

Takedown rifles by themselves are cool. But what if we took a takedown rifle and combined it with a fishing rod? Finally, someone has combined two of my favorite things.

“Your chocolate is in my peanut butter. Your peanut butter is in my chocolate.”

Developed and manufactured by Utah-based Mountain View Machine & Welding, Inc., the Pack-rifle ($425) represents the best of both worlds in a light-weight and packable solution.

Specifications of the Pack-Rifle:

• Single shot .22 Caliber bolt-action
• Weight of 15.5ox
• Over all length of 33″
• Take-down length of 17″

From Pack-Rifle:

The receiver, and most other parts, of the Pack-Rifle are machined from high strength aluminum, while most wear parts and fasteners are constructed of stainless steel. The barrel is a precision button rifled, Cro-Moly liner with a carbon fiber composite outer. Carbon fiber is also used for the butt stock tube of the rifle. This construction makes the Pack-Rifle not only the lightest rifle out there, but very weather resistant also. In addition to being light, the Pack-Rifle also takes down to a very small size. The same mechanism that allows the loading and extraction of spent shells also enables the rifle to take down into two pieces, in less that 2 seconds and without tools. It reassembles just as fast.

Back in September we introduced the Emberlit Stove. Since then I have been playing with it, testing it, and even carrying it around in my EDC. The conclusion, simply put, this is a great little stove.

As you may remember, there is a great story attached to this product. It’s a story of ingenuity and triumph. In these trying times it’s easy for some to throw up their hands and say, “Woe is me!” But, from a select few we see them rise to the occasion. The inventor, Mikhail, mixed two things he loves to find financial freedom for his family: the outdoors and tinkering.

From Friday Gear Report 9/30/11:

There is even a heart warming story attached to the stove. The Emberlit Stove may look like it was designed by one of the big camping companies, but it’s actually a small business owner who hopes, “To just make enough money so my wife does not have to work at Walmart anymore.” After speaking with the inventor/owner/operator Mikhail, I get the sense that this is someone who really has his heart in his company and his product.

When the Titanium version arrived it was in a heavy resealable plastic bag with simple instructions. While the packaging leaves something to be desired ascetically, the savings to the consumer are appreciated.

For a roughly 36% premium in price, you get a nearly 50% decrease in weight. The Titanium version of the stove weighs in at 5.45oz. versus the 11.25 oz. of the stainless steel. The Titanium Emberlit was light enough that I barely noticed its addition to my EDC bag over the last few months. For context, the iPhone 4s is 4.9oz. and the Blackberry Bold is 4.8oz. So, it’s about like throwing another smart phone in your bag.

Yes, weight does matter. Every ounce you add to carrying weight burns more precious calories whether in a backpacking or a survival scenario. By itself the weight difference may not seem like much, but as you start adding things up it becomes an issue. However, if the $20 difference is going to make an impact in your life go with the steel as 11.45oz is still not that much weight.

The construction is very well done and leads to a very sturdy product. But, the tolerances on the stove are tight. The fit doesn’t make it exceptionally hard to put together, but takes a little effort to get the stove together and broken down.

Aside from the fit, the only other issue I found was that hot embers do tend to fall out the dime size holes along the bottom of the sides. As long as you’re paying attention and the area has been thoroughly cleared of combustible material, this does not create a major issue. However, it is something to stay aware of.

The real question is, how long does it take to boil water? Two cups of water (16oz) took just over 5 minutes to get a rolling boil, with constant feeding, in 57 degree weather at sea level. Not amazing, but pretty darn good.

My final verdict is that the Emberlit Stove gets 4 out of 5 stars with the fit being the main detractor.

Also, seems the innovation bug is still biting Mikhail. Since the gear report he has made a few additions to the products he offers. There is now a pouch for the stoves and an adapter for placing smaller pots on the Emberlit Stove.

Promotional video from Emberlit Stoves:

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan recap lessons gained from their knife sharpening class with Master Knife Smith Bob Kramer and have a general discussion about knives, their importance, than uses.

After your mind, a knife is the single most important tool you will ever carry. Edged tools have done more to advance society than anything else in history. Thus, why we are such big proponents of learning to use and care for knives properly in addition to regularly caring.

Topics:

• Why knives are so important.
• The specificity of types of knives and their uses.
• The myth of the perfect all-purpose knife.
• What makes up a survival knife.
• What makes for a hunting knife.
• What makes for a fighting knife.

Resources:

• Bob Kramer
• Phil Rose Interview
• (RAT 3) ESEE 3 Knife
• Mora Knives
• Puukko Knives

I’ve bought some foolish things; I fully admit to it. Usually their beauty was matched by exceptional function. But sometimes, you just want something because it is pretty even thought a much less costly version exists that will perform just the same (we are still talking about gear here right?)

Not to long ago I stumbled upon Barker River’s Firesteels. It didn’t matter that I had more $15 firesteels stashed in more kits and jacket pockets than I could remember, I really wanted one–just because it was pretty.

They come in a plethora of handle options from exotic woods, Micarta, or G10. Some, for the truly fancy, even come with liners…

So, if you really want to impress/confound your friends with the fact that you paid $50 for a firesteel, or if you are looking for a very unique gift for that survivalist who has everything, here are the supper hot babes of firesteels…

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan discuss setting objectives and why it’s so important to make plans. Objectives are the gas that makes the goals go. Without metrics, we don’t know when have gotten to where we meant to go.

Part III of the Survival CHI Reloaded series. Simply saying my plan is to “survive” is to simple. Within Survival CHI the main objects are: Live well and build a more resilient life. With plans, we can make that happen.

Topics:

• What are objectives and how do they differ from goals.
• Why are objectives important.
• Why planning so important.
• Metrics and their role in measuring success of plans.
• “Squishy” metrics, being flexible with plans when you don’t meet your metrics.
• Finding pleasure in planning and in success.
• Learning from failed plans.
• Update on Jonathan and Aaron’s Survival CHI plans.

Resources:

• Episode 44: Making Decisions
• Episode 43: Survival CHI – Reloaded
• Survival CHI Plans on the Forum
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
• The Hunger Games

Most gas cans on the market today a cheap, leaking, plastic doldrums. Often, the gas station variety end up spilling just as much gas on your shoes as they get into your tank as the crappy nozzle slips back just enough to break the seal. Worse yet, you have to fool with taking the gas soaked nozzle off, turning it around, and sticking it back inside the can after your done.

Surplus NATO Jerry cans offer a well designed mil spec alternative, but their condition can be plagued with years of use and abuse that isn’t always easy to discern at first. As an alternative, for the last few years I have been using the Justrite gas cans.

Recently, Deutshe Optik partnered with a NATO contractor to reintroduce a 5, 10, and 20-liter Jerry can. I was pretty excited to see a manufacturer bring newly made Jerry Cans to market as even getting used one can be a little tricky these days.

So far they have been received very well and people are saying the seal great and are as rugged as they look. Best of all, Deutche is currently running a sale if you buy four of the 20 L models – free shipping!

When it comes to storing ammo, used ammo cans really are the best. They stack well, take loose or boxed ammo, and provide protection against sun, rain, and humidity.

There are a couple inherent problems with used ammo cans though. First, the paint is usually chipped or worn off. Second, they may not seal that well anymore because dry rot. Third, some are warped from either abuse while in service or abuse while in transit.

Avoiding most of these issues can first be solved at the store. Make sure the can opens and closes easily and that the rubber seal is still in place and has not suffered dry rot. Next, look for the cans with the least damage to their pant as possible. It’s virtually impossible to find one that has its paint perfectly intact, but fixing blemishes is easy.

The paint on an ammo can isn’t just about camouflage – or for that matter being pretty. The paint is primarily a protective coating that keeps the ammo can in useful working order for many years to come. Without the paint, the can would be susceptible to corrosion that would ultimately lead to holes. If an ammo can gets holes, there wasn’t much of a point in inspecting the seal in the first place.

Once you have picked the best candidates out of the pile and thoroughly inspected them, bringing them back up to full condition is relatively easy. Rust-Oleum makes a great line of camouflage spray paints that will restore the protective coating of paint with just a few minutes worth of work. The line comes in: Dark Earth, Khaki, Deep Forest Green, and Foliage Green.

There is no special trick, but do follow the directions on the paint cans and use in a well-ventilated area.

1. Layout news paper or cardboard.
2. Using medium grit sandpaper, clean any rust spots.
3. Wipe the ammo can down with a damp cloth to remove any dirt or derby. Then let dry.
4. Hold the spray paint can the recommended distance from the ammo can as listed on the paint can.
5. Apply a light coating. Do not try to cover up the spot – or whole ammo can – in one pass.
6. Repeat until the damaged area – or whole ammo can – as been covered.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini may seem out of place on a site about survival, but that’s only if you do not take into account that people are often your best tool for survival or hindrance in survival. The topic of social dynamics is one far over looked by many survival writers that simultaneously spend volumes of text concerning themselves with people. Using the principles of persuasion ethically and effectively could mean the difference between help from someone or not. It could also mean the difference between being harmed by someone or not.

Much like deescalation techniques, the skill set of persuasion can be a powerful one in your survival tool box.

From the back of the book:

You’ll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader-and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.

Influence first seemed like it was going to be a dry read. However, I was quickly surprised at just how untrue that assumption was. It’s filled with interesting stories told well in a narrative style that illustrate the six principles of persuasion.

Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.

Aside form being a pleasure to read, I found Influence to be fascinating. The historical examples brought the aspects of persuasion into clear focus and simultaneously made the book entertaining.

This is a book I highly recommend to anyone interested in being more effective at work, in your personal life, or bettering your survival odds.

I read Influence several years ago, and although I have not had a chance to read it yet-Cialdini’s new book Influence: Science and Practice is probably an exceptional follow-up work.

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan discuss the most extreme of survival situations – surviving the holidays. This episode takes a light hearted approach to what is a very trying time for many people.

Surviving the holidays can be tough. Whether it’s dealing with gift giving or family, the holidays try our patients and good will towards our fellow man. This episode shares with you tips, techniques, and thoughts on getting through the season without incident or mace; unless your shopping at Walmart.

 Topics:

• Surviving the mall and shopping.
• Budgetting
• What gift giving is really all about.
• Surviving Family.
• Surviving break ups during the holiday season.

Resources:

• Surviving a Break Up
• Amazon Prime
• Building A Survival Network
• Survival CHI
• Making Good Decisions
• News story on Walmart mace incident.

It’s Black Friday – that time of the year when people start asking themselves what gifts to get friends and family. Instead of focusing on one piece of survival gear for this Friday Gear report, here is a list of twelve small items that would make great gifts for any survivalist this year.

Gadgets

G.I. Trioxane Heating Fuel Bars

Trioxane Heating Fuel & Fire Starters – Originally Used To Heat Meal Rations In The Field. Each Box Contains 3 Individually Wrapped Bars. US Surplus.

IPOK (Individual Patrol Officer’s Kit)

The Individual Patrol Officer Kit (IPOKTM) from North American Rescue is provides Law Enforcement personnel with a compact and durable hemorrhage control kit to treat bleeding from penetrating and other traumatic injuries. These kits are packaged for small cube space and are designed to fit into a BDU pocket, vest pouch or individual bag. This allows personnel to keep a compact, effective bleeding control kit on their person where it is needed most. The contents are vacuum sealed in a rugged, durable package that is easy to open. Packaged: H 4 in. x W 6.5 in. x D 2.75 in. Weight: 7.7 oz

Adventure Medical Kits Bivvy Sack Thermo-Lite Bivy

(Formerly the Thermo-Lite 2.0 Bivvy) Our # 1 selling survival item for the past five years! This year round bivvy sack is ideal as a light weight replacement for your sleeping bag when temperatures are above 50F/9C and an excellent emergency survival shelter for winter time activities. Weight: 6.9 oz Size: 36″ x 84″ Reflects up to 80% of radiated body heat Thermo-Lite non-woven fabric is waterproof and windproof. Ultralight, warm weather sleep system to 50F. Ultralight stuff sack allows you to store the bivvy before or after use.

4 – 1 Emergency Tool

4 in 1 Emergency ToolTM Designed and Tested by Professional Firefighters. A light-weight, heavy duty, easy-to-use tool which Shuts off Gas, Shuts off Water, Pries Open Doors, and Digs through Debris. This tool will help you prepare for any emergency. Patented and Made in USA

Swedish Firesteel – Scout Model

Originally developed for the Swedish Department of Defense, Swedish FireSteel is a flash of genius. Its 3,000°C spark makes fire building easy in any weather, at any altitude. Used by a number of armies around the world, Swedish FireSteel’s dependability has already made it a favorite of survival experts, hunters, fishermen and campers. It has also found its way into cabins and backyards as a fool-proof way to light stoves and gas-barbecues.

Books

When All Hell Breaks Loose

Survival expert Cody Lundin’s new book, When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes is what every family needs to prepare and educate themselves about survival psychology and the skills necessary to negotiate a disaster whether you are at home, in the office, or in your car.

This is not your father’s scout manual or a sterile FEMA handout. It entertains as it informs, describing how to maximize a survival mind-set necessary for self-reliance. According to the book, living through an emergency scenario is 90 percent psychology, and 10 percent methodology and gear. Relevant quotes and tips are placed throughout the pages to help readers remember important survival strategies while under stress and anxiety. Lundin also addresses basic first aid and hygiene skills and makes recommendations for survival kit items for the home, office, and car.

Watch naturalist Cody Lundin in “Dual Survival” on The Discovery Channel as he uses many of the same skills and techniques taught in his books. When All Hell Breaks Loose provides solutions on how to survive a catastrophe. Lundin addresses topics such as:

• Potable drinking water
• Storing super-nutritious foods
• Heating or cooling without conventional power
• How to create alternative lighting options
• Building a makeshift toilet & composting the results
• Catching rodents for food

98.6 Degrees

Cody Lundin, director of the Aboriginal Living Skills School in Prescott, Arizona, shares his own brand of wilderness wisdom in this highly anticipated new book on commonsense, modern survival skills for the backcountry, the backyard, or the highway. This is the ultimate book on how to stay alive-based on the principal of keeping the body’s core temperature at a lively 98.6 degrees.

In his entertaining and informative style, Cody stresses that a human can live without food for weeks and without water for about three days or so. But if the body’s core temperature dips much below or above the 98.6 degree mark, a person can literally die within hours. It is a concept that many don’t take seriously or even consider, but knowing what to do to maintain a safe core temperature when lost in a blizzard or in the desert could save your life. Lundin delivers the message with wit, rebellious humor, and plenty of backcountry expertise.

Life After Terrorism

What do you need to know to protect your family in today’s world? To begin, you need to know the history of terrorists – who they are and what methods they use. You need to have some knowledge of chemistry, microbiology, genetics, physiology and anatomy. You must learn about hazardous materials, radiological defense and nuclear weapons effects. You need to know about food and water storage and escape routes from where you live and work. It helps to know what emergency management and disaster response look like from the inside. What you really need is the help of Dr. Bruce Clayton, author of the nuclear-survival classic, Life After Doomsday. In Life After Terrorism Dr. Clayton takes a look at today’s terrorist threats, assesses their dangers realistically and explains in practical terms what you can do to reduce your risks. Hopefully, your family will never be the victims of a terrorist attack, but after September 11, do you want to bet on it? When your loved ones’ lives are at stake, you can’t afford to be naive or make mistakes. Prepare now for life after terrorism.

Collapse

In his million-copy bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?

The Modern Survival Manual

My book is a Modern Survival Manual based on first hand experience of the 2001 Economic Collapse in Argentina. In it you will find a variety of subjects that I consider essential if a person wants to be prepared for tougher times: -How to prepare your family, yourself, your home and your vehicle -How to prepare your finances so that you don’t suffer what millions in my country went through -How to prepare your supplies for food shortages and power failures -How to correctly fight with a chair, gun, knife, pen or choke with your bare hands if required -Most important, how to reach a good awareness level so that you can avoid having to do all that These are just a few examples of what you will find in this book. It’s about Attitude, and being a more capable person and get the politically correct wimp out of your system completely.

Survival Guns

When he wrote Survival Guns in 1979, Mel Tappan demonstrated that having the right weapons for securing food and providing personal defense is the key to sustaining life on an independent basis, whether or not a catastrophe occurs. This is even more true today.

Survival Guns became the standard in its own time and went through several printings. When it finally went out of print, it graduated from a classic to a sought-after collector’s item, because the principles and advice in this well-reasoned volume are sound and perennially valuable. Some new guns and some new calibers have become available since this book was first published, but its principles, advice, and value remain unchanged. Having more choices only increases the value of advice on how to choose what is best for you.

As used copies of this book became harder and harder to find, Paladin received numerous requests to bring Tappan’s classic back into print. We are pleased to make the most well-known survival firearms book ever published available once more to a new generation of concerned citizens facing the same threats Tappan chronicled during his lifetime. Survival Guns remains the definitive book for anyone interested in the practical use of firearms and related weapons for defense, food gathering, and predator and pest control under conditions of long-term, self-sufficient living.

Pocket Ref 4th Edition

Pocket Ref 4th edition. The concise all-purpose pocket-sized reference book featuring abundant information on many subjects, hundreds of tables, maps, formulas, constants and conversions. If you need to know it, it is in this book!

After a one-year hiatus from studying bushcraft I decided it was time to dive back in. While digging through a few articles on the subject I came across the name Mors Kochanski. It was not a foreign name to me, but I had never read any of his works or watched any of his videos. After reading a brief article on his Try Stick (article coming soon), I remembered his book Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival ($16.95 US) was sitting patiently on a list of books to read.

Mors Kochanski is one of the bushcraft greats; especially when it comes to surviving in the Boreal forest of Canada. By some, he is even considered the forefather of modern bushcraft, as we know it today. Through the years Mors published roughly 16 pamphlets on the individual topics of bushcraft and wilderness skills until he finally published Bushcraft: Outdoor Skills and Wilderness Survival.

Bushcraft is written in a very Canadian tone; it’s polite yet direct in such a way you expect it to call you dense any minute. Overall the material is presented in an easy to understand and easy to digest way. The concepts and instructions are not complicated. Early on, Mors notes that while there may be ten techniques to accomplish a task, he only included the techniques he actually uses on a regular basis and finds practical.

This is not a use a snakeskin as a urine canteen kind of book. The techniques discussed are not exotic in anyway. They are old fashion wilderness survival skills. It was quite refreshing to read a book that did not go out of it’s way to dazzle the reader with a Macgyveresk scheme on how to survive when X happens (I do not exclude my own writings from that statement).

Two things that really stood out about the book is the inclusion of plentiful information about a bush knife and axe. Few wilderness books dedicate more than a page – at best – to the topic of a knife. This has always struck me as exceptionally strange given how important a tool the knife is in the bush. Axes are a topic also rarely covered in detail in wilderness survival books. Kochanski, on the other hand, goes on at great length.

Kochanski’s early life as a draftsman is evident in the multitude of technical drawing style illustrations. These drawings are stuffed with information. One of the few problems I found with the book was that a number of the drawings were too stuffed with information. In several cases I found the drawings to be a little confusing given the number of different techniques trying to be conveyed in a single image. Kochanski also failed to state a view reference in any of his drawings, which lead to a couple puzzled looks on my face as I tried to figure out some of the cross sections. Having spent a good number of years with either a T-square in hand or fingers banging away at AutoCAD, I found this to be an annoying over-site. There were none that I could not eventually figure out, but still irritating.

Another shortfall of the book is the lack of water procurement or purification techniques. There is some, but it’s extremely anemic. It was actually quit shocking to see it given such little print. The only other real short fall I found in the book was a reference to hares being rodents. It’s inconsequential, but hares and rabbits are Lagomorphs. Once years ago thought to be closely related, now considered not to be closely related.

The book is densely packed with information, tips, and techniques. At just over 300 pages, not a bit of text or white space is wasted with anything anecdotal or useless. It should be noted before reading Bushcraft that the book is written from the perspective of someone whose decades of experience all comes from the Canadian Boreal forest. That taken into account, Bushcraft is an excellent book anyone interested in the topic should read.

For some strange reason, the price of Bushcraft is currently sitting at $81.94 on Amazon. However, the listed cover price is $16.95; which is what it was a month ago when I purchased it. Other sites that carry the book still list it at the cover price. So, I assume it is just a pricing mistake.

Hosts Aaron and Jonathan discuss making decisions. Part II of the multi part series on Survival CHI and what makes it work.

Decision making is an important skill and proper planing of your survival and happiness is impossible without it. But, what really goes into decision-making? It’s all about looking at the big picture and understanding all the moving parts of your life and plans for survival.

Join us as we discuss the many facets to making good decisions that impact all aspects of your Survival CHI.

Topics:

• Making decisions without worrying about immediate gratification.
• Making good decisions vs bad decisions.
• How decisions are intermingled and influence one another.
• Making decisions within Community.
• Making decisions for your physical, mental, and financial health.
• Making decisions for improving your intelligence.

Resources:

• Survival CHI Plans
• Survival CHI – Reloaded
• Money Management Tool mentioned in the show.

Have you long since felt your Glock to be inadequate? Perhaps you’ve considered adding a 1000 round “clip”. Or, maybe a laser guided typhoon. I know, how about a scope that sees into the future and the past? What you need is a Ninja Glock!