Columns

Bob Marvel builds exceptional custom 1911’s. For decades he has built pistols for world champion competitors. His guns are accurate and they don’t malfunction. And now you can learn from the master. I recently had the opportunity to build a 1911 from scratch, with the help of Bob Marvel, and here’s the result–step-by-step.

About the scariest thing I can think of is to lose contact with my children in a world over the brink of collapse. Most young people don’t even have a land based phone line these days, so if the cell networks go down, that’s it. But there is a way, if you do it now, to establish a communications protocol with loved ones who are hundreds, or even thousands of miles away. As I’ve discussed a few times before in this column, the Amateur radio bands, otherwise known as the Ham bands, under 30 megahertz, are capable of reaching around the entire globe at certain times of the day. Full access Ham radios, covering several bands, or even all the Ham bands, sell for $300 to $10,000, but I found some small radios that cover only one frequency for as little as under $10. You have to still buy an antenna, but the overall cost could be as little as $50. As a bare bones mode of communication on a very tight budget I don’t think you can beat these little radios.

Shaw talks about how he holds his rifle and addresses the debate about whether thumb over bore is a sustainable grip for a protracted combat scenario.

Serious about Cowboy Action Shooting? Check out AGI’s armorer’s course. Get serious about your single actions and fine tune those short strokes.

Lead free ammunition isn’t really news. But bullets made of polymer? Polycase has been leading the charge, and now they’ve paired up with Ruger to bring the radical design to a much wider audience. So how about it? Would you carry polymer based bullets in you self defense gun? Ruger thinks so, and I do too.

Pop quiz hotshot, which guns on the market require the least amount of skill to operate with some proficiency? Here is a list of the top five guns for bad shooters.

Answer:A $25,000 inflatable concrete building. Just add water.
Question: What is a Concrete Canvas Shelter?

Believe it or not, this is not a joke, and when I encountered this product it reminded me that I have been meaning to discuss the qualifications for a proper nuclear fallout shelter for some time. But I have to admit, of all the survival preparations I’ve written about for this column, this is one of very few I have not actually worked out for myself. That is why I found this product so interesting.

Over and under shotguns have been around for quite some time and have changed relatively little over the decades. Cosmetically, the Benelli 828U looks like a slightly more space age take on the classic double, but the under the hood features are what stand out as the unique elements of this shotgun.

Thermoelectric generators are not a new technology. “TEG” power was discovered in 1821, but I have to admit, it is new to me. I recently discovered three consumer products that create electricity from direct heat, and all three of them have survival applications. One of them is the best bugout or camp stove I have ever encountered, and I would take it one step further and say that it is the best bugout cooking solution I have ever encountered, period. A second is made for generating electricity while you cook your dinner, and I had marginal success with it. The third is made for a high level of direct heat electricity production, and you can drive it from your rocket stove, a camp stove, and they have models from 10 watts up to 100 watts that use waste heat from your wood stove.