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Barnes has offered pretty amazing projectiles to other ammunition manufacturers and reloaders for some time. More recently, they’ve launched their own line of loaded self-defense handgun ammunition. Available in .380 ACP, 9mm +P, .40 S&W, .45 ACP +P and .357 Magnum, we’re going to be trying out most of them over the next couple of [...]

You know the funniest thing? When someone posts a comment on one of these articles that starts with “You can just..”. One hundred percent of the time it is someone who read a tip on a survival board or something and they are here to parrot an idea that may or may not be true. But what I have found in working on this column, every single time, is that while knowledge may be power, experience is survival. My experience with distilling water was not easy using fuel and means that would be available in a post collapse world. Oh my goodness it is slow going, about 1/2 gallon an hour using the distiller yous see here. “You can just…” distill dirty water was a comment that I got very early on in this series, and it just isn’t as easy as you would think it would be. Check out the pictures below, using a 3 gallon still from the Ebay seller linked above, and my Rocket Stove. I did get good, clean, drinkable water from yellow sulphur water, but it was not fun.

Back in 1997, I drove around Atlanta for an hour with a gun to my head. Let’s just call it a learning experience–my own teachable moment. I learned a lot about myself, and what I was capable of doing. Thanks to the Godfather of Soul, I walked away. And I haven’t been unarmed since.

Doubletap’s 9mm 77 grain ammo is designed specifically for short barrel, pocket 9mm handguns. We test it here to see if it expands and penetrates. Is this the perfect load for the new spate of pocket 9s?

No matter how much food you store, it will never be enough. At some point you will have to either grow your own food, or provide a valuable product or service that you can swap for food, or for the “coin of the realm” (whatever money turns out to still work after the collapse), that you can swap for food. But in most parts of the world, food doesn’t grow year round regardless. Grains will store with little outside intervention. Beans will certainly store in most environments, and potatoes, winter squashes, and some fruits will last the winter if you provide for them a root cellar of some sort that will keep them fresh. Other than that, if you want to eat vegetables and fruits year round, you will have to learn how to can your food. It isn’t hard, but you have to do it now, because as you’ll see, canning is fraught with pitfalls if you don’t do it right.

What gun you are carrying right now? Odds are it isn’t small-frame, snub-nose revolver. A few years back it would have been. But now sub-compacts are the norm. How do they stack up in intense training classes? A recent 40 hour class with Massad Ayoob should be proof enough….

Grab your shotgun and come with me. I just shot my first round of Sporting Clays and I’m hooked. The sport is fast, challenging, and more fun than is normally legal.

While the Sig ammo is a relative newcomer to the market, the people are not. I spent some time talking with Dan Powers, who runs the ammo show, and it’s clear that the folks behind Sig Sauer’s new ammunition division have been there and done that. Because every caliber, load and brand combination is different, we’re going to be testing a number of different Sig Sauer loads over the coming weeks. We’ll start the handgun family with Sig’s Elite Performance V-Crown 9mm load.

The Savage M-11 Trophy Hunter XP is a ready-to-go hunting solution that helps simplify the learning curve. It comes preconfigured with a bore-sighted Nikon 3-9x optic with a ballistic drop compensation reticle. Take it out of the box, add ammo, and shoot. It couldn’t be easier.