Columns

As a delivery driver, I am always in and out buildings and driving off into the sunset (or sunrise). I have to have a functional set of tools. And I’m not allowed to carry on-the-job. But when I’m off the clock, I have more options for EDC.

As many of my regular readers know by now, this column is about actually surviving a complete collapse of our infrastructure. Headlines titled “Bug Out Bags” and “Which Gun is Best for SHTF” get a lot of clicks, but compared to food, water, shelter, and keeping warm in the winter, they are virtually immaterial. Those who survive are going to be those who sat tight and waited for everyone else to kill each other. If you live in the northern climes, it is coming to be that time of year again where you’ll have to consider keeping warm in the winter, without city gas, or an oil or propane delivery. I have covered a simple and cheap woodstove, a military heater that burns home heating oil and gasoline without a pump, and even a cookstove that would also heat your home. If you live where firewood is plentiful and you don’t have worry about people shooting you for taking wood off their land, a woodstove can be a long term solution, but if not, you probably should think about the sun.

Ever wonder exactly what happens when you move from a full-sized 1911 to government or commander sized pistol? Will bullets expand? Will you lose significant velocity? Will there be more recoil from the shorter barrels? We know because we’ve tested it. Read more…

How important are survival communications? From a prepping budget perspective, I’ve asked that question a lot. And unfortunately, as with many subjects I’ve covered, there is a ton of misinformation out there about the subject. When you buy a “survival radio,” like the ones with the little solar panel and hand crank, you are buying a multi-band receiver, and you’ll pay more depending on how many bands you want. A basic radio, some even under $20, will be AM/FM, and most of them also have the NOAA weather channel, which is 162.4 mhz. Pay a little more and you may get some of the Ham radio bands, but you will seldom hear any traffic on those bands, because the included whip antenna is not made for those frequencies. Police, fire, airplane, and a hots of other frequencies that would be nice to monitor in a survival situation are not in those radios. Getting all of those frequencies, until now, has been very expensive. This article is about a newer type of radio called “Software Defined Radio,” or SDR-RTL, and it changes everything.

When I first came across this little gun I immediately thought of a Colt Vest Pocket without the grip safety. That is how the back half of the pistol looks. After closer inspection I noticed it had a fixed barrel. That is not something the old Colts have. But a Walther PPK does. I have come to the conclusion that this little Galesi could be the product from a marriage between a PPK and a Vest Pocket. Those are some pretty good genes from both sides of the family.

When I first started this column, I discussed the importance of putting away your own bulk food, and not just buying a cat litter bucket with a “30 day supply” in it. Without food, water and shelter you will have to leave the house after things collapse, and that’s bad. You don’t have to spend big bucks on mail order food. Survival food is just food that won’t spoil without refrigeration. Beyond that, survival food is what you make of it. And you can make it a lot cheaper than you might think.

Sometimes the realities of everyday carry are hard to accept. There are some places where guns are not allowed. So what do you do? Leave the gun at home, or lock it in the car? And then what do you have left? Bruce Flemings, a stay at home dad and gun writer, explains his EDC.

Proof that the AR-15 can be almost anything you want is easy to see in the wide selection of available stocks. Fixed? Adjustable? Minimalist? The choice is up to you. We’re here with some tips that will help you narrow down the list, and we’ll lay out everything you need to know when you build an AR-15.

Tired of all of the kerfuffle about the diminutive GLOCK 43? Had your fill of all of the hype about single-stack stopping power? Want a polymer pistol capable of stopping a Grizzly? Check out the GLOCK 40. This beast is big, capacity is not an issue, and it shoots the 10mm, which–when loaded right–is impressive. So how does the G40 handle?