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The most difficult thing to set aside for yourself in this day and age is time. But unfortunately, when it comes to surviving the end of life as we know it, time is the one thing you will have to set aside if you plan to get serious. Disasters are easily survivable. Put away enough food and water, and you can ride out most storms, even lengthy ones. But if the food supply never comes back online, what do you do then? Gold and silver won’t be worth anything because, short of the tin pot dictator or monarch who eventually takes over, nobody will have any use for such trivialities. Eating will be everyone’s #1 long-term concern, and if you plan to survive, you have to learn right now how to grow your own food. Right now you have the luxury of making mistakes and still being able to eat. So figure it out! Where can I go, whom can I partner with, what resources can I put together that will give me a long term chance of survival? Since it is spring, and in many parts of America the planting season is around the corner, I figured that this is a good time to talk about seeds. Buying a “survival seed vault” isn’t going to cut it for you if you have never grown food before. You have to get out and get gardening this spring. Don’t be shy. An old farmer once told me that farming is nothing but problem-solving, so get out there and figure out your problems now, and how to solve them.

If you shoot handguns regularly and you are not already a reloader, you have almost certainly considered becoming one. If you are an experienced shooter, then this is probably something you consider on a regular basis and just haven’t decided if it is right for you. And if you are a relatively new shooter, you probably have a lot of questions about it. In both cases, it can seem overwhelming. Let’s try to address some of the common questions, think about who should and shouldn’t do it, and take away some of the mystery. To keep things simple, I am going to focus only on handgun calibers—and use primarily 9mm and .45 ACP as examples, because that’s what I’m loading these days.

Food is the one thing you don’t have to tell anyone to prep for when it comes to long term survival. Everyone knows you have to eat. But the misconceptions come when you compare the differences between “homesteading” and “prepping.” A traditional healthy American home keeps a good-sized pantry of food historically, though this practice has fallen away in recent times of plenty. A homestead-style pantry contains either home or store-canned food, along with some basic grains and rice and flour. Homesteading isn’t prepping for the breakdown of society. Neither is planning for one month of Mylar packet survival meals, or even one year of meals. As I said in the first installment of this series, you really have to decide to be one of the crazies, then do the best you can.

“What is the best gun for hunting hogs?” I asked this question to everyone I knew for more than a month before my hunt. I Googled it at least 20 times. Everyone seems to have a different opinion. Some prefer the compact design and rapid-fire potential of the AR-15. Others leaned toward the power and range of the .30-06 and .308s. Those who’ve hunted with a good 6.8 spc were passionate about the caliber’s performance. No one mentioned 7.62×39, much less the venerable AK platform’s design. As one who prefers the Kalashnikov over the Stoner, I knew what I was going to take. And now, after the hunt, I’d put my Arsenal AK up against the biggest tooth hogs south Florida has to offer.

The Arsenal AK line in 7.62×39, with the right soft point ammo, can be an effective rifle for hunting. The Arsenal AK line in 7.62×39, with the right soft point ammo, can be an effective rifle for hunting.
When I was presented with the opportunity to hunt hogs with Dwayne “Hog Man” Powell and Kissimmee River Hunt and Fish, a guide service out of Okeechobee, Florida, I decided I’d set up some real-world reviews, too. We were going to hunt, and I knew Dwayne was going to put us on hogs. Dwayne is the Jim Cramer of hunting guides. If you can catch it or hunt it in Florida, Dwayne Powell will show you how. For those of us looking to test guns, Hog Man gives a veritable guarantee.

I had a variety of guns at my disposal. I could have taken any number of AR-15s into the bush. I had a .30-06, a couple of 6.8s. There were five of us hunting, so we each went out with something slightly different.

Water is the most crucial and diverse aspect of preparing for the breakdown of our society. Where do you get your water now? Is it from the city? Is it from an artesian well? A shallow well? Do you have lakes or streams near your house? Are those your sense of water security? Is your swimming pool an ever-available water backup? All of these pieces mesh into a fairly large body of possibilities, and points of failure. Those points of failure are what we most need to talk about. Once you understand the issues, and the types of methods to resolve them, water gets much simpler. The bad news is that if you live in a tightly packed area, or an apartment, you may have to make a decision now that eventually abandoning your home is mandatory (but not right away). Depending on where you live, your water issues may be complete scarcity, pollution, feast or famine seasonal rain and droughts, deep freezes and even deadly bacteria and viruses in the water. There are ways you can prepare for all of these potential problems, for both the short and long term.

As a Rangemaster at Gunsite Academy, I see clients learning numerous new techniques and tactics through the dozens of courses we teach year round. But for every person who comes to Gunsite, there are thousands who may not be able to afford the trip, or who think that they are good enough with their personal defense firearms to not require any formal training. Many people are involved in self-defense shootings every year, and it would appear that most of them have very little effective training. Some survive the event, some don’t. Of those who do survive, do we credit skill or random chance? More important, what do YOU want to depend on if the fight comes to you? The choice is yours, good fortune or superior skills. The majority of gunfights happen in seconds, generally without much warning and at very close range. It does not take an extraordinary amount of marksmanship to hit a person in the chest at three feet. Most people don’t realize that most gunfights share some very common aspects, and training for these aspects will give you the skills to win.

It is easy to get lost in our world of technology and abundance. Every time I turn on the water tap in my home, water comes out. Every time I go to the grocery store, the shelves are full of food. The store clerk accepts either a plastic card from me in exchange for my food, or provide some combination of paper (actually cloth) currency. The lights in my home turn on when I flip the switch, and I can turn on the TV or use my computer to find out what is going on in the world anytime I want. And though I carry a gun every day (living in Miami I would be a fool not to), I don’t expect to ever have to use it to protect my family and belongings. I also have fuel to cook my food and if I get hurt I can go to the hospital and get fixed up right quick. All of this I fully expect to go on indefinitely, and probably to get even easier as time moves endlessly forward. I have been conditioned to believe that I will never have to live life without these “entitlements” (for lack of a better word), and if I question this assumption, I’m a paranoid nut.

In this short-action version of the AR, Armalite shortened the receiver and has changed the forestock to get a shorter bolt action. The rifle has a 24-inch barrel and uses AR 10B magazines.

Leupold has long been associated with quality scopes at reasonable price points. In the words of their founder, Fred Leupold, “the customer is entitled to a square deal.” That remains a guiding principal as Leupold continues to develop and improve their line of scopes. They had an improved Delta Point 2 reflex sight for handguns and shotguns at their show booth, but their biggest news this year was the brand new VX-6 7-42x56mm rifle scope. It is so new, in fact, that the design hasn’t been completely finalized. Here’s what we know: it’s the highest variable power scope they’ve ever made, it has their Extended Twilight lens system for increased light transmission, the MSRP will be in the $2,200 range, and they expect to start shipping scopes in 4-6 weeks.