When disaster strikes having your bug out bag ready at a moments notice will ensure your safety and security in the hard days ahead – right?
The answer to this is not as simple as we think. Bug Out Bags are just one type of Go Bag and may not be ideal in all situations. It’s not just about having a good bag with reliable gear. It is about having the right bag and gear for the situation you are about to face!
A great wilderness bag may have little application in an urban setting. A fully stocked bug out bag may slow our movement when seconds matter. Choosing the appropriate bag and gear for the unique emergency you are facing is essential to improving your survival odds.
We know it can be difficult to plan for the unknown – that is why RECOIL OFFGRID has partnered with ARC to give you the tools and knowledge you need to get your kit dialed in.
Combining ARC’s expertise with the latest technological innovations has led to the creation of a powerful tool that will help you build the ideal Bug Out Bag, WUSH Bag, INCH Bag, or Get Home Bag for the emergency situations you are likely to face in the area you are living in or operating in.
This tool goes beyond providing a generic packing list – it takes emergency type, expected duration, climate, threat level, speed of egress, and much more into account while putting together your ideal kit packing list.
Your Custom Go Bag List is Just the Beginning
Having an ideal Go Bag for your unique needs is valuable, but having the knowledge and skill to use the tools in your Go Bag in a real emergency will give you the edge you need to not just survive but thrive!
RECOIL OFFGRID has curated topic specific content to provide you with recommendations on gear, teach you vital survival skills, provide advice to enhance your mindset, and offer guidance to keep in you in peak physical condition.
Expert Advice to Trust Your Life With
Every aspect of this program has been created by industry experts with the intention of removing gimmicks and fluff to provide sound recommendations based on real world experience.
American Reconstruction Concepts was founded by Michael Caughran a U.S. Air Force SERE Instructor that has survived in the world’s harshest environments and hostile locations. Today American Reconstruction Concepts trains civilians, law enforcement organizations, and military professionals the art and science survival, evasion, resistance, and evasion.
The RECOIL OFFGRID team has a diverse range of skills deriving from military experience, wilderness and urban survival expertise, firearms instruction, and more. OFFGRID’s rigorous standards for gear testing and article content ensure the readers are getting the best in equipment recommendations and up-to-date survival knowledge in each article.
Grab Your Bag, It’s Go Time!
Are you ready to take the first step to becoming more prepared to handle the uncertainty of a chaotic world? Click the links below to learn more about different types of Go Bags utilize ARC’s free tool to build your ideal Go Bag. Remember, one bag can’t handle every situation. Use ARC’s Go Bag building tool to help you put together Go Bag kits for different situations!
Familiarize yourself with different bag types, learn more on how to properly utilize your go bag resources and see our recommendations for bags and the gear that goes into them!
Jacks Genega has an MTV Video Music Award, a Cannes Lion, and multiple Clios for her visual effects design and video editing talents. She’s worked red carpet campaigns for American Express, Coca-Cola, and IBM. She spent a decade in New York City, years in Boston, and three years living along Amsterdam’s cobblestone canals. But when I spoke with her recently, she was calling from her van somewhere in the American wilderness, where she now lives full-time as the founder of Wildcard Wilderness, teaching survival skills to others seeking transformation in nature. Her journey from award-winning film editor to nomadic survival instructor is remarkable enough. The reason behind it is even more so.
Jacks Genega sharing the language of trees and the wisdom of the Eastern Woodlands.
The Story Behind the Story
When people ask how she transitioned from city life to full-time van dwelling and bushcraft instruction, Jacks has two versions of her origin story. The first is simple: burnout. After years of 90-hour workweeks in film editing, she was ready for something different. When she discovered the world of bushcraft, everything clicked. But the deeper story goes back much further. In 2004, when she was just 19 years old, Jacks was kidnapped at gunpoint by two strangers in Boston. She was taken to a park where she was beaten, sexually assaulted, robbed, and abandoned. It was a high-profile case — the attackers had victimized multiple women across the city — and the road to recovery stretched out for years.
“I kind of grew up with this stubborn mentality that if I pretended like it didn’t happen, I’d be OK,” Jacks tells me. “I think most of us know that’s not the right way to deal with heavy circumstances and trauma. You kind of have to go through them to move forward. I never say ‘move on’ — I just say ‘move forward.'”
For years, she reached for things that would make her feel like “something other than a trash bag.” Some were what she calls “false medicines” — substance abuse, workaholism. Her job gave her validation, a way to be seen in a world that, as she puts it, “isn’t built to deal with people who have extreme traumas.” But she was also reaching for positive things: therapy, spirituality, connection.
Crossing Yorkshire Moors in relentless wind and rain. The weather does not stop her.
The Call of the Wild
In her late 20s, Jacks befriended people who lived along the Appalachian Trail. Staying with them, she felt a pull toward the woods — a sense of aliveness and curiosity that fed something deep within her. “I felt that I had suffered for so long trying to fit in a world that I think essentially tried to get rid of me,” she explains. “But when I was in the wilderness, I felt that I belonged. I didn’t have to work to be somebody. I just was.”
But there was a problem. Having survived such violence, she was afraid of everything — getting lost, injury, wildlife. “I always feared the worst in life because the worst actually happened,” she says. So, she studied. She started small — backyard fires, tent camping in friends’ yards. The more she learned, the more freely she could explore.
Towering above the landscape, a reminder of how raw and alive Iceland truly is.
Fire and Ice
In 2017, Jacks moved her editing company to Amsterdam. That same period, one of her attackers went to trial. Coverage of the case made the The New York Times. He was found guilty, but she felt the sentencing wasn’t fair. “In my head, I’ve already been sentenced to life because I never got the chance to have a normal one,” she says. “So, they should too. But they didn’t.”
Struggling to settle into her new life in the Netherlands, a friend suggested she turn to nature — her place of healing. She decided she was ready for her first solo expedition. She chose Iceland.
On day one, she fell into a crevasse. She managed to shimmy out, her rucksack having caught on rocks below. Later that same day, she felt the ground shake beneath her feet — an earthquake. As she watched, the entire face of a distant mountain collapsed in an avalanche. She has before-and-after photos of the landscape: The second one is simply missing a mountain. Most people would turn back. Jacks kept going.
Standing before Skógafoss after completing her Iceland expedition.
On the third day, approaching the trail’s end, she sat in a grassy knoll surrounded by mushrooms and blue butterflies. A white arctic fox pranced nearby. And something shifted. “I realized that if you’re constantly searching for meaning in why something happened, there’s no point,” she says. “Just live. Have the best possible life you can possibly have. Justice wasn’t a number. Justice was in my body and in the life I could create.”
It was, she believes, one of the first times she’d truly experienced solitude. For years, she’d avoided being alone because she didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts, her memories. “It was nature that started to really wash away those insecurities,” she says. “In solitude in nature, I found the best medicine I could have ever asked for — that I didn’t even know existed.”
Building the Skill Set
After Iceland, Jacks was hungry for more. She took a weekend survival course with Woodland Ways in Scotland, then enrolled in their yearlong Northern Forest program — traveling monthly from Amsterdam to study firecraft, navigation, plant identification, shelter building, and winter survival. She hiked the West Highland Way and the Coast to Coast Trail. In 2023, she spent 21 days hiking across the Swedish Lapland in the Arctic Circle.
When the pandemic hit and her mother passed away, Jacks returned to the United States. She continued training with instructors like Dave Canterbury and eventually worked for his school before launching Wildcard Wilderness — a name that winks at both her own story and the unpredictability of the wild. “With skills, wisdom, and guts, you can be the wild card and overcome against all odds,” she explains.
Chasing thin air and big horizons in the Alps, where every step earns the view.
Creating Space for Women
Many of Jacks’ courses are designed specifically for women, addressing obstacles she understands intimately — from practical concerns like hygiene in the wilderness to deeper fears about safety. She references the viral “bear versus man” debate, in which women were asked whether they’d rather encounter a wild bear or an unknown man in the woods. “Statistically, the chance of being attacked by a man in the wild is actually higher,” she notes. “It’s a shame, but it’s true.”
She knows this fear from experience. While wild camping in Scotland, she was approached in the middle of the night by a stranger who announced: “I can see you, but you can’t see me.” She spent the rest of the night awake, one hand on a knife, the other on her personal locator beacon. Later, she learned the man was locally known as “the Loch Lomond Loony,” someone who terrorized hikers in the area. “What I’m really doing is providing a space that feels safe for women to fail,” she says of her courses. “I wanted to be the instructor I wish I had — someone who could hold somebody’s hand and say, ‘You can do this.'”
What’s Next
Today, Jacks partners with organizations like Georgia Bushcraft and The Survival University in Colorado. She’s launching a new program called STEP — the Survival Training Expedition Program — a multiday backcountry expedition where participants learn navigation, fire-making, and wilderness skills while hiking and establishing new camps each night.
When I ask her to distill her philosophy into one piece of wisdom, she pauses. “Survival really comes down to mindset,” she finally says. “It’s figuring out what’s going to give you the fuel to keep going forward when you feel ready to give up. It’s the will to live.”
She thinks for another moment. “Everyone is always going to be a lot more capable than what they think. Believe in that. Believe in yourself. Don’t give up.”
It’s advice she’s earned the hard way — from red carpets to crevasses, from the worst humanity can do to the healing that wild places can offer. And now she’s dedicated her life to helping others find that same transformation.
Follow Jacks on social media: @wildcard.wilderness Learn more about her courses and products: WildcardWilderness.com
In the previous article, we walked through the neurobiology of a lethal-force encounter — the breaking glass at 2 a.m., the amygdala hijack, the adrenaline surge, the tunnel vision, the shaking hands afterward. We explored what happens in the seconds and minutes during a life-threatening event. Now we turn to the stress response in the hours, days, and months after.
A sudden, violent, or deeply frightening event — a home invasion, a critical incident on duty, a car crash, or an unexpected death — activates an emergency operating system in the brain. That system is designed for survival, not comfort. It does not care about sleep, mood, or your ability to focus at work the next morning. It cares about keeping you alive. And sometimes, even after the threat is gone, that system does not stand down.
Brain regions like the amygdala, hippocampus and hypo-thalamus evolved first to keep us safe from threats. When a threat presents itself, these regions take over and can override rational thought processes.
Stress Response: The Alarm System Revisited
When the body perceives danger, the amygdala — a small almond-shaped structure deep in the brain — acts as an alarm bell. It signals “Threat!” before the conscious mind has time to deliberate. Two major pathways activate almost instantly. The first is the sympathetic nervous system, commonly referred to as the fight-or-flight response. Adrenaline and norepinephrine flood the bloodstream. Heart rate accelerates. Blood pressure rises. Pupils dilate. Glucose is mobilized for rapid muscular output. Fine motor control deteriorates while gross motor strength increases. Speech may falter. Thought narrows.
The second pathway is the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which releases cortisol. Unlike adrenaline, cortisol lingers. It maintains vigilance and helps encode the memory of the event. From a survival standpoint, this makes sense — your brain wants to remember the details of what nearly killed you. During the incident, these systems are adaptive. Afterward, they are supposed to power down. For most individuals, they do.
Acute Stress: The Normal Aftermath
In the days following a traumatic event, the nervous system’s stress response is to often remain on high alert. This is known as an acute stress reaction, and it is not pathology — it is physiology.
You may notice:
A racing heart or shallow breathing
Tense muscles or tremors
Heightened startle response
Difficulty sleeping
Irritability or emotional volatility
Recurrent mental replay of the event
Vivid dreams or nightmares
Avoidance of reminders (places, smells, sounds)
Sleep is often disrupted.
The body feels “jacked up.” Even in quiet environments, the nervous system scans for threat. This does not mean you are weak. It means your survival circuitry is double-checking that the danger has truly passed. The nervous system will remain in this guarded posture until it believes the environment is safe again.
Irrational outbursts or high irritability can be a direct result of being stuck in “threat mode” longer than necessary.
When the Memory Doesn’t File Properly
The difficulty arises when the brain’s stress response results in not successfully process the event.
Processing is not the same as remembering. Processing means taking fragmented sensory impressions — the sound of breaking glass, the smell of cordite, the image of a silhouette — and integrating them into a coherent narrative within the larger framework of your life.
If the event is outside your prior experience — a “one-off” scenario — the brain may not know where to store it. The hippocampus, responsible for organizing memory in time and context, can become overwhelmed. The amygdala remains active, tagging the memory as an ongoing threat rather than past occurrence. The result is intrusive recall. The memory does not feel historical; it feels present. You may attempt to suppress it. But suppression requires energy. Over time, that constant effort contributes to fatigue, irritability, and emotional numbness.
Prefrontal Fatigue and the Stuck Alarm
Under normal circumstances, the prefrontal cortex — the center of reasoning, impulse control, and emotional regulation — modulates the amygdala. It applies context. It says, “That was then. This is now.” But chronic stress impairs prefrontal function. Sleep deprivation, shift work, operational tempo, repeated exposure to high-stress environments — all weaken the brain’s regulatory capacity. When the prefrontal cortex becomes fatigued, the amygdala regains dominance. The resulting stress response is harmless stimuli — a slammed door, a sudden noise — are interpreted as threat.
The body’s stress response to this persistent activation by establishing a new baseline:
Muscles remain partially contracted
Resting heart rate elevates
Cortisol levels hover above normal
Relaxation becomes unfamiliar
The individual may forget what calm feels like. When this pattern persists beyond approximately 30 days and interferes with daily functioning, clinicians begin to evaluate for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Therapy and practiced self-regulation techniques can bring your mind back to a calm baseline.
PTSD: A Brain Stuck in Survival Mode
PTSD is characterized by four symptom clusters:
Re-experiencing: Flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, vivid nightmares. The event feels as though it is happening again.
Avoidance: Avoiding locations, conversations, or emotions associated with the trauma. Emotional numbing often accompanies this.
Negative Mood and Cognition: Detachment, hopelessness, distorted self-blame, loss of interest in previously meaningful activities.
At its core, PTSD represents a threat detection system that has failed to recalibrate. The alarm remains on.
Neuroplasticity: The Path Back to Baseline
The brain, however, is adaptable. Neuroplasticity — the ability to reorganize neural pathways — remains present throughout life. Processing trauma transforms chaotic “raw footage” into structured narrative memory.
When a traumatic memory is processed effectively:
The prefrontal cortex strengthens its inhibitory control over the amygdala.
The hippocampus reestablishes context — when and where the event occurred.
Cortisol levels normalize.
Physiological arousal decreases.
The memory does not disappear. It changes form. It becomes part of your history, not your present.
Therapeutic Interventions
Several evidence-based therapies facilitate this integration:
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT): Identifies distorted thoughts and restructures them into balanced perspectives.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Uses bilateral stimulation while recalling traumatic memory to assist adaptive storage.
Narrative Exposure Therapy: Constructs a chronological life story, embedding the traumatic event within broader context.
Each method creates structured exposure in a controlled environment. The objective is not re-traumatization; it is reorganization.
Exercise benefits both your body and mind, and can help reduce stress hormones and improve sleep.
Self-Regulation Strategies Before Professional Care
Before formal therapy, there are practical steps that support nervous system recalibration:
Controlled Breathing: Slow diaphragmatic breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and shifts the autonomic balance toward parasympathetic dominance.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Systematically tensing and releasing muscle groups interrupts chronic contraction patterns.
Light Aerobic Exercise: Walking, jogging, or yoga reduces cortisol and improves sleep architecture.
Verbal Processing: Sharing the experience with a trusted individual forces translation of sensory fragments into language — a critical step in memory integration.
Routine: Predictable sleep and meal schedules signal safety to the brain and reinforce circadian regulation.
If intrusive symptoms persist, intensify, or impair occupational or relational function, professional evaluation is warranted. Seeking care is not weakness. It is maintenance of operational readiness.
Conclusion
A sudden traumatic event initiates a powerful biological stress response cascade designed for survival. For most individuals, the system powers down once safety is reestablished. For others, the alarm remains active, creating a sustained state of hypervigilance. Understanding the neurobiology is not academic trivia — it is tactical knowledge. If the threat response persists, it does not mean you are broken. It means your nervous system has not yet completed its recalibration.
With deliberate processing, structured intervention, movement, regulation, and when necessary, targeted therapy, the brain can reorganize. The amygdala can quiet. The prefrontal cortex can regain authority. The hippocampus can restore context.
The alarm is meant to be temporary – And with the right tools, it can be turned off.
In the eastern foothills of the Galiuro Mountains in Arizona, on a ranch that has been in the same family since the 1870s, a group of strangers gathered in late February to learn the skills their great-great-grandparents took for granted. Over five days, they would learn the stapes of desert survival – building shelters from sticks and leaves, creating fire using nothing but a wooden stick spun between their palms, navigating without GPS, and processing wild game from field to table. On the fourth day, each participant would walk alone into the wilderness to spend the night with only what they had learned and a minimal amount of gear.
Instructor Jacks Genega demonstrates how simple a shelter can be by creating one with 550 cord and poncho.
This was no ordinary camping trip. This was a full-immersion desert survival skills week, led by instructors who have spent decades honing the ancient arts of primitive living: Dave Holladay, Phillip Liebel, Jacks Genega, and Jonathan Burton. And while the stakes were carefully managed (an EMT was on site, a county search-and-rescue coordinator was among the staff, and a retired surgeon was just a radio call away), the lessons were deadly serious. In the wilderness, the line between comfort and catastrophe can be as thin as a single degree of body temperature.
Ego is the Enemy
On the first day, one instructor laid out the threats participants would face: water, weather, injury, and dehydration. But the greatest danger, she warned, was none of these. It was ego.
To illustrate, she shared a harrowing personal story. Years ago, she had attempted a solo hike across the Arctic Circle of Sweden on the Kungsleden trail. Her goal was to complete the journey in fewer than 21 days. As severe weather moved in, bringing driving rain, rising waters, and hail that cut her cheeks, her ego whispered encouragement: “You can do this. Keep going.” She did. And she nearly died.
Dave Holladay explained how survival success can be measured by one’s ability to take a nap and have a cup of tea.
“I became so cold I couldn’t hold my hiking poles,” she recalled. “I couldn’t put stakes in the ground for my tent. I was shaking uncontrollably.” She eventually recognized the danger, stripped off her soaking clothes, climbed into her sleeping bag, and used a small camp stove to slowly raise her core temperature. The next morning, she discovered she had been just 50 feet from the trail.
The lesson was clear: Fear is not weakness. Fear is the protective mechanism that tells you that you have something to lose. Ego, unchecked, will get you killed.
Deep in the draws closest to the mountains, water seeps from the ground and can be cool and refreshing.
The Ash and Callus Curriculum
The week’s desert survival training covered the essential pillars of wilderness survival: fire, shelter, water, and food. But unlike a weekend workshop where participants might light a single fire and call it a day, this program demanded mastery through repetition and understanding.
Shelter instruction began with the “Five W’s Framework,” a systematic approach to selecting a site where you won’t die in your sleep. Wood: Is there enough dead plant material nearby to build a shelter and fuel a fire without exhausting yourself gathering it?
Water: Is a water source close enough to reach without expending dangerous amounts of energy, but far enough that you won’t be flooded out or overrun by animals?
Widowmakers: Are there dead trees or branches overhead that could fall and kill you? (Cottonwoods, aspens, and poplars are notorious for dropping limbs without warning.) Wildlife and “wigglies”: Fire ants in Texas can make a shelter unusable in hours, and hog trails can bring destructive animals directly through your camp.
Wind and weather: Is the shelter oriented to block prevailing winds? Is it positioned above drainage areas where rainwater will flow?
Participants learned to think in layers, what the instructors called “in, on, under.” Your clothing keeps you warm (in). Insulation beneath you, a thick layer of leaves and debris ideally compressed to two feet, prevents the 57-degree ground from stealing your body heat through conduction (on). And overhead protection shields you from rain and sun (under).
Friction Fire
Perhaps no skill captivated participants more than the hand drill, a method of creating fire using nothing but a straight wooden spindle and a flat hearth board. The technique is elegant in theory: Spin the spindle between your palms while pressing downward, generating friction that produces heat, which creates an ember in a small notch carved in the board. In practice, it is brutally difficult.
Phillip Liebel demonstrates the deceptive simplicity of hand drill friction fires. It takes a finesse and technique to form a fire-starting ember.
Instructors broke down the physics and physiology involved. The center of gravity differs between men (typically in the chest) and women (typically in the hips), affecting how each can generate downward pressure. Hand positioning matters: Pronounced knuckle pads can act as “speed bumps” and cause bruising. When a hot spot develops on your palm, stop and slap your hands together firmly to bring blood to the surface. This trick can prevent blisters.
Genega leads a group effort getting friction fire started.
The instructors emphasized that fire-making was historically a communal activity, not a solo performance. The Hadza people of Africa, one instructor noted, will casually stand and chat while taking turns on a very tall spindle, each person contributing effort without anyone exhausting themselves. The takeaway: If more than one person is present, no single individual needs to expend all their energy.
Hooting Through the Canyons
In an era of smartphones and satellite communicators, the training included an almost charmingly analog communication system: hoots. A single hoot means “I want to know where you are,” or if you’re responding to someone else’s hoot, “I heard you.” A double hoot means “gather together” or “class is starting.” A triple hoot, used sparingly, means “life-threatening emergency.”
The system has practical advantages. Shouting full sentences across canyons wastes enormous cognitive and physical energy. The brain, instructors noted, consumes a disproportionate share of the body’s water and calories, so conserving mental effort matters in survival situations. Hoots can be varied in pitch to carry farther and to distinguish human calls from bird sounds. And with practice, individuals’ hoots become recognizable, forming a kind of acoustic fingerprint.
Jonathan Burton demonstrates his bow drill technique.
One instructor shared a memory from 1974, when he was 18 and participating in a survival training near Blanding, Utah. A sideways blizzard had reduced visibility to a couple hundred feet. Confident in his sense of direction, he started walking toward where he believed the van was parked. A faint double honk from the opposite direction corrected his course. The van had been just 100 yards away, but he had been walking the wrong way.
Processing Game
The training included a hands-on workshop in field dressing and processing game, skills that connect participants directly to the source of their food. Using a large animal as a teaching specimen, instructors walked participants through techniques for opening the body cavity without puncturing the gut (which contaminates the meat), identifying and harvesting organ meats like liver and heart, removing the prized tenderloins, and separating the quarters for transport or storage.
Respectfully processing game is an important exercise that connects us to our food and makes us grateful for what it provides.
Organ meats, instructors emphasized, are among the most nutrient-dense parts of any animal. The liver should be inspected for signs of illness; a healthy liver appears uniform in color, while gray or mottled areas suggest disease. The gallbladder, which sits within the liver and contains bitter bile, must be removed carefully. Any meat it touches becomes effectively inedible.
For those interested in preserving hides for later tanning, the key is minimizing knife work. Wherever possible, use your fist to separate the membrane between skin and muscle rather than cutting. This prevents micro-holes that weaken the final product. If you cannot tan immediately, salt the hide heavily, fold it flesh-side in, roll it, and stand it upright to drain. Properly salted hides can remain viable for years.
One Night Solo with What You’ve Learned
By the fourth day, participants had absorbed days of instruction in fire, shelter, water, hygiene, and situational awareness. Now came the test: a solo overnight in the Sonoran wilderness.
The instructors designed the experience with safety nets in place. Staff would maintain fires at known locations. Participants would know each other’s general camp spots. Anyone who felt unprepared could bring a “kit they don’t intend to use” and hang it in a tree as a fallback. Couples could go as duos, sharing body heat and resources.
This solo overnight kit includes: a bandana, a sharpened rock, a chunk of salt, and a water bottle (plus some fence wire found on the landscape). It is enough to sustain well beyond 24 hours with a minimal amount of desert knowledge.
In a final check-in before departure, participants shared their concerns and goals. Some wanted to build a comfortable bed from natural materials. Others hoped to practice fire-making with a bow drill, a friction method that uses a bow to spin the spindle and offers mechanical advantage over the hand drill. Several wanted to learn about local wild edibles, since the plants of Arizona were unfamiliar to those from other regions.
Having a plan in place for potential mishaps will give you peace of mind and make the experience more enjoyable.
The instructors offered reassurance: the conditions were not life-threatening. The goal was not to suffer, but to apply skills in a real setting and discover what worked. Staggered send-offs allowed the group to cheer each departing participant, a small ritual that acknowledged the significance of stepping into the unknown.
Finding Your Tribe
For many participants, the most unexpected gift of the week was not a skill but a connection. Liebel, who traced his heritage to the Trail of Tears, spoke movingly about years of practicing primitive skills in isolation: making bows from Osage orange wood, knapping stone tools, building shelters. And the loneliness of having no one to share it with.
“When you go out and do this stuff, and you’re having an amazing time, and then you go home and nobody knows what you’re talking about,” he said. Finding this community, people who understood and celebrated these pursuits, had been transformative. “Being here with you guys, running around on this playground, everybody happy and passionate about it … it gets me so juiced up I have to pretend to contain it.”
Evening hours at camp featured artists, singers, and storytellers. The culture was one of mutual support: Experienced practitioners held back to let beginners practice decision-making, while also standing ready to offer guidance. Leadership, as one instructor put it, was “event-contingent.” The person with the most relevant knowledge leads in that moment, then steps aside when the situation changes.
Final Thoughts
The wilderness desert survival training that unfolded on that Arizona ranch in February 2026 was, in many ways, a corrective to modern life. Participants arrived with smartphones that could summon help from anywhere on earth and then spent a week learning to survive without them. They came from a world of instant gratification and discovered that making fire from two sticks can take 20 minutes of sustained effort, or it can take all day if your technique is wrong.
But the deeper lesson was not about deprivation. It was about competence: the quiet confidence that comes from knowing you could survive a night in the cold, navigate by creek beds and landmarks, and feed yourself from the land if necessary. As one instructor observed, the goal was never to make participants suffer. It was to help them discover what they were capable of.
And perhaps most importantly, it was a reminder that survival was never meant to be a solo endeavor. From the communal fire-making of the Hadza to the hoot calls echoing across desert canyons, humans have always depended on each other. In an age of isolation and digital distraction, that may be the most valuable lesson of all.
CANCON East is coming to South Carolina May 8th and 9th and OFFGRID BASECAMP is back and bigger than ever! CANCON attendees have the opportunity to get their hands on some of the latest and greatest in modern suppressor innovations and BASECAMP provides attendees the opportunity to enhance their emergency and survival skills – and to level up their essential survival gear!
OFFGRID BASECAMP Presented By Brushbeater
OFFGRID BASECAMP 2026 is presented by Brushbeater -it is a dedicated section of CANCON that features top tier experts in survival and tactical fields and vendors showing off survival gear to compliment your skills!
The OFFGRID BASECAMP trainers that share their knowledge through dedicated classes and demonstrations throughout CANCON and our vendors will be their to help answer questions and get you the right gear for your unique needs!
This intense, no-nonsense course delivers a rapid introduction to first aid for gunshot wounds. You’ll master life-saving techniques like bleeding control, proper tourniquet use, and chest wound management. Gain the critical skills needed to take decisive action, keep yourself or others alive, and stabilize the situation until professional help arrives.
INSTRUCTOR: Kristopher Hasenauer
Kris is a board-certified physician assistant and graduated from the Army’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program in 2014. He is a former Special Forces A-Team Member Medical Specialist (18D) and held multiple operational and medical advisory positions within the U.S. Special Operations Command since 2005.
Prime Combat Training will be teaching the essential close quarters comabt techniques around doorways and corners. These valuable skills may be a standard in military training, but the lessons learned are valuable to anyone who may find themselves in a dangerous situation.
INSTRUCTOR: Imri Morgenstern
Imri Morgenstern grew up playing American football and wrestling, but it was during his service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that he learned how to fight when the stakes are highest. During his military service, Master Sgt. (Res) Imri Morgenstern was an operator with an elite Special Operations unit, specializing in counter-terrorism warfare, demolition, breaching and hostage rescue. He executed countless missions with his, as well as other Special Operations units.
Surviving off grid is not just about knowing how to obtain food, you also need know how to process and safely handle your catch! Mountain Readiness will teach you how to efficiently and safely process game birds to maximize your protein yield and survival capability.
INSTRUCTOR: Robert “T” Toombs
T is a lifelong self-sufficient living and survival enthusiast and the founder of Mountain Readiness – a nationwide movement dedicated to restoring practical self-reliance through hands-on education. From the mountains of North Carolina to the wilds of Montana and beyond, our events bring together expert instructors, families, and communities to learn essential skills in preparedness, homesteading, and survival. Explore our upcoming events below and join the growing community of doers who are learning, teaching, and living readiness.
One handed firearm manipulation is an essential skill for any serious self defense enthusiast and for some it is the only option. Adam Watson will be teaching the basic of one hand shooting techniques to give participants a solid baseline for future training. After the range closes there will be a working dog demonstration showing off the prowess of a well trained working animal.
INSTRUCTOR: Adam Watson
Vendor and Trainer Booths
Check out the links below for more information on the equipment vendors and educational booths that will be set up in the OFFGRID BASECAMP section of CANCON East!
On a brisk February morning in Mesa, Arizona, Americans from across the country gathered for what might be described as the Super Bowl of self-defense education. The AOR Association Conference, hosted by The Attorneys On Retainer Association — packed an ambitious agenda into one and a half days: several sessions covering everything from the psychological mechanics of de-escalating a bar fight, to the constitutional litigation that could reshape gun laws for generations.
AOR Association Director Lauren Snyder kicks off the event by welcoming the attending members, sponsors, and participants.
The conference reflected a community grappling with serious questions. In a nation where an estimated 1.67 million defensive gun uses occur annually (according to a 2021 study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice), understanding both the legal and practical dimensions of self-defense has never felt more urgent. Yet what emerged from the day’s proceedings wasn’t the stereotypical gun rally narrative. Instead, speakers consistently emphasized restraint, legal responsibility, and the sobering reality that pulling a trigger — even in legitimate self-defense — can fundamentally alter a person’s life.
Fictitious video scenarios were presented and discussed to highlight the complexity of scenarios initially considered simplistic.
The Legal Landscape
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, opened the legal discussions by tracing the half-century journey to establish firearm ownership as an individual constitutional right. For non-lawyers in the audience, this required some translation. The Second Amendment — those 27 words about a “well-regulated Militia” and the “right to keep and bear Arms” — has been debated in courtrooms since the nation’s founding.
Gottlieb explained that when his organization began its work in 1974, the legal landscape was barren. Courts had historically interpreted the amendment as protecting only collective militia rights, not individual ownership. His foundation’s strategy was methodical: First, commission law school professors to write scholarly articles supporting individual rights interpretation. Then, bring strategic lawsuits to build favorable case law, brick by brick.
The payoff came in 2008 with District of Columbia v. Heller, when the Supreme Court finally ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess firearms independent of militia service. Two years later, McDonald v. Chicago extended that protection against state and local governments. Most recently, the 2022 Bruen decision established that gun regulations must be consistent with historical tradition — a ruling that has spawned dozens of new legal challenges nationwide.
A panel of trial experts talk about myths and misconceptions of how certain forms of evidence affect trial outcomes.
When Self-Defense Meets the Courtroom
A panel discussion featuring attorney Marc J. Victor and several expert witnesses offered a sobering reality check. Television courtroom dramas, the panelists agreed, have created dangerous misconceptions about how evidence actually works. “Video does not speak for itself,” emphasized Dr. John Black, a forensic video and use-of-force expert. He explained that smartphone footage — which jurors often treat as objective truth — is actually subject to numerous distortions. Camera angles, frame rates, lens warping, and the two-dimensional nature of video can make actions appear faster or slower, closer or farther, than they actually were. A punch that looks unprovoked on camera may have been a response to a threat occurring just outside the frame.
The panel stressed that successful self-defense cases require immediate, comprehensive investigation. Ring doorbell cameras — those home security devices now common on American porches — automatically delete footage after a certain period. Witnesses’ memories fade and become contaminated by media coverage. The defense team who waits for police to share evidence, panelists warned, has already lost critical opportunities.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Ed Monk of Last Resort Training and Consulting walks attendees through the dark statistics of active shooter cases, and how one might best defeat such a threat.
Active Shooter Response
Perhaps the most intense session came from Ed Monk, a veteran with military and law enforcement experience who has spent nearly two decades studying mass shootings. His presentation challenged attendees to confront scenarios most would rather not imagine.
The statistics Monk presented were stark. In an active shooter scenario, a new victim may be wounded or killed every 3 to 5 seconds during the first minute of attack. Police response, even in the best circumstances, typically takes 4 to 12 minutes. The grim arithmetic suggests that armed civilians who are present when shooting begins may be the only ones positioned to intervene in time.
But Monk’s guidance was far more nuanced than simply “shoot back.” He emphasized that responders must be able to guarantee every bullet hits its intended target — a standard he called “100 percent hit.” In crowded public spaces, he noted, interior walls offer no protection, and every missed shot or bullet that passes through an attacker could strike an innocent person. The legal and moral responsibility for each round, he stressed, rests entirely on the person who fires it.
John Riley, founder and CEO of Gentle Response, now uses his extensive law enforcement experience to help people diffuse a situation before it turns lethal.
The Power of Not Fighting
In stark contrast to the active shooter training, John Riley — a former police officer turned crisis intervention specialist — delivered what might have been the day’s most universally applicable session: How to defuse conflicts before they turn violent. Reily introduced what he calls the “ACE” framework: Appearance, Communication, and Engagement. Research suggests that only 7 percent of human communication comes from actual words; the rest is tone of voice and body language. An angry person’s brain, Riley explained, is essentially in threat-detection mode, hyperaware of any signal — a dismissive eye roll, a condescending tone, an aggressive stance — that might indicate danger.
His practical advice was refreshingly simple. Let angry people vent without interruption. Never say “calm down” (universally inflammatory). Maintain a “reactionary gap” — staying just beyond arm’s reach to buy thinking time. And perhaps most importantly: Be willing to walk away. “Ninety-nine percent of those viral videos showing escalated conflicts,” Riley observed, “could have been avoided if one person had simply left.”
Pro 2A vendors augmented the conference by offering knowledge and gear to those seeking to level up their self-defense know-how.
Building the Infrastructure of Defense
The conference also served as a business meeting for the AOR organization itself. Leadership announced several developments aimed at expanding member services, including the addition of civil defense capabilities and a new “Hero Pro Bono Clause.” This clause addresses a gap in traditional self-defense insurance coverage. Consider a scenario: A school maintenance worker with a concealed carry permit encounters armed intruders on campus and successfully defends students. The act of self-defense itself might be legally justified — but carrying a firearm in a school zone violates regulations in most states. Under traditional coverage, the worker would face regulatory charges without legal support. The new clause commits the organization to providing pro bono legal defense in such cases.
The organization also announced plans to develop a mobile app and expand its training conferences to multiple locations nationwide, reflecting growth in a membership increasingly concerned about self-defense rights and responsibilities.
Being able to ask a defense attorney questions directly is one of many perks members can take advantage of during the conference.
Final Thoughts
What emerged from the 2026 The AOR Association Conference was not a gathering of people eager for confrontation, but rather a community wrestling with uncomfortable questions. How do you prepare for violence you hope never occurs? What are the legal consequences of split-second decisions made under mortal threat? How do you balance the right to self-defense against the responsibility to avoid unnecessary conflict?
The speakers, despite their varied backgrounds, converged on similar themes: Knowledge is essential, but judgment matters more. The right to defend oneself carries weighty responsibilities. And in most situations, the best outcome is one where no weapon is ever drawn.
As attendees filed out into the February afternoon, many carried notebooks filled with legal precedents, training protocols, and de-escalation techniques. But the day’s most lasting lesson might have been simpler: The goal of self-defense education isn’t to prepare people to fight. It’s to help them understand when fighting is truly necessary — and when walking away is the braver choice.
Tritium has been used in watches since the 1960’s, but the first watch to use Tritium gas tubes was Traser’s P6500 military watch originally released in 1989. Since then, Tritium tubes have become the cold standard for long lasting illumination in the tactical watch market. The advantages of using Tritium are obvious, long-lasting illumination that does not require any battery or light-based charging that is easy to see in dark environments. Since the release of P6500, Traser and numerous other watch companies have adopted the use of Tritium in both tactical, outdoor and luxury watches.
The Original P65 Returns
Traser has brought back the P6500 back to production under with the newly released P65 Tactical Mission. The P65 is now available to the public in both a black polycarbonate case or titanium case. Both versions are available with rubber or NATO textile strap, and the Titanium version has an optional titanium bracelet.
P65 Build Features
The Traser P65 features precision Swiss quartz movement ensuring reliability and accuracy while running on a standard watch battery. The watch face on both versions is made from anti-reflective sapphire providing scratch resistance and excellent visibility.
Both models have excellent water resistance – The polycarbonate model is rated 10 ATM ( up to 330 feet) water depth) and the Titanium model is rated at 20 ATM (up 660 Feet water depth). Simply said, both versions will withstand rain and snow, both models will be safe to swim or snorkel with – but the Titanium version will be required for light scuba diving.
The watch hands feature tritium tube illumination and there is tritium illumination above each number on the watch face. All the Tritium tubes are standard green except for the tube that sits above the 12 which is orange. The watch face also has a simple date window located at 3.
The rotating bezel is easy to use and is textured to ensure it can be used with or without gloves. The side of the case has a single dial used to set the time.
Real World Use
I tested the carbon reinforced polymer version of the P65 in both normal daily activities and while out in the field. The opinions expressed are based on my personal experiences with this model.
In a market dominated by large watches with complicated buttons, dials, and sometimes bright screens and smartphone connections the P65’s 43mm size and light weight make it an absolute joy to wear in day-to-day activities or while navigating harsh wilderness terrain.
The P65 was easy to read in bright sunlight – and the tritium tubes make it easy to read the time at night without producing bright light that can disturb others around you, mess with your natural night vision, or give away your position.
The P65 held up well in light and heavy rain for prolonged periods with no signs of water damage and the case and face handled a day of rock scrambling and my day-to-day woods activities well with no signs of damage. Accumulated dust and dirt washed away under running water at home or in a stream while out in the field.
As someone who typically doesn’t like rubber straps, I found the rubber P65 rubber strap comfortable as the design allows a bit more breathability when compared to other rubber straps. The NATO style strap is also well made – not feeling incredibly stiff or rough.
Overall Impressions of the Traser P65
If I had to sum up my impressions in a single statement, I would say the Traser P65 is a refreshingly simple watch for those who want a rugged time piece. It isn’t fancy, it doesn’t have a bunch of dials, and it doesn’t offer a million functions like a smart watch – it tells time and it does it well!
The P65 is not designed for the boardroom, it is built for those who live, work, or play in harsh conditions and unforgiving climates. It’s built for people who need a simple timepiece that is visible day or night. The P65 is a reliable tool that doesn’t get in the way and does exactly what you need it to do.
Five years ago Reiff Knives hit the outdoor knife scene with their F4 model – a full sized American Made premium fixed blade that was designed for rigorous outdoor use in both survival and bushcraft tasks. The original F4 was and its larger cousin the F6 were a success that helped establish Reiff Knives as respected name among discerning outdoor enthusiasts and professionals.
Since the initial launch of the F4 and F6 Reiff has released numerous outdoor style knives, and few EDC sized knives, and most recently their first foray into tactical knives with the thoughtfully designed and incredibly well built Vicon.
Always Improving
While the original F4 has seen some variants over the years including a scandi grind and Magnacut steel variants, the knife remained largely unchanged from its original form factor. As someone who was fortunate enough to receive one of the pre-release production prototypes and has relied on it ever since then I can honestly say the original F4 is an exceptional knife.
Why did Reiff make changes to the F4?
If you spend any time talking to Stu Shank one of the founders of Reiff Knives you will quickly learn that “good enough” is not a phrase that exists in his vocabulary. Stu is one of the most discerning and detail-oriented knife enthusiasts I have ever encountered – and that mentality definitely came with him when he launched Reiff Knives.
Every model Reiff releases has gone through extensive prototyping until everything about the model is up to Reiff’s high standards and even after Stu spends a great deal of time speaking with industry professionals who use their knives to help make changes in future iterations that could make an already amazing tool even better!
What’s New in the Reiff F4 Gen2
The most obvious change in the F4 Gen2 is the higher saber grind, but what you won’t see with the naked eye is also tweaks in the edge geometry. The thinner edge and higher saber grind can significantly improve slicing tasks. The choice to use CPM-3V helps ensure the thinner edge and reduces the chance of chipping and as a bonus CPM-3V is far easier to sharpen in the field compared to Magnacut.
Reiff also made some minor changes to the blade profile and handle profile that improve overall comfort and usability. The handle scales are changeable and feature and new texture pattern that significant enhances positive grip during hard use tasks.
The sheath has been updated to a custom modular ambidextrous sheath very similar to the to what is found on Reiff’s Vicon Tactical Knife. The custom clip is excellent for belt carry, but any number of mounting options can be used with the sheath.
Customization Options
The Reiff Knives F4 Gen2 is launching in three available finishes – classic stone wash, black DLC, and flat dark earth PVD. For handle materials you have the option of black or OD green G10 and black or green canvas micarta.
Reiff F4 Gen 2 Specs
Overall Length: 9″
Blade Length: 4″
Cutting Edge: 3.8″
Blade Width: 1.11″
Blade Thickness: 5/32″ or .156″
Blade Material: CPM 3V
Hardness: 59-61 HRC, Cryo Treated
Blade Style: Drop Point
Edge Type: Plain
Blade Grind: Flat Saber Grind
Finish: Stonewash
Handle Length: 5″
Handle Width: 1.1″
Handle Thickness: .95″
Weight: 6.9 oz
Country of Origin: USA
When Will the Reiff F4 Gen2 be available?
The Reiff F4 Gen2 will be released on May 1st 2026 and can be purchased directly from Reiff’s official website www.reiffknives.com
When the Constitution becomes a casualty and martial law sweeps the nation, survival means more than staying alive. The Hanging Creek Chronicles: Shadows of Martial Law by Russ Sawyer plunges readers into a fractured America, where political upheaval has transformed ordinary communities into battlegrounds.
The story centers on Cole, a 20-year Air Force veteran who has built a quiet life on a rural South Carolina farm. When the President is impeached and the Speaker of the House seizes power, declaring martial law, Cole’s world transforms overnight. The interstate becomes a no-man’s-land of military checkpoints and lurking threats. A sniper’s bullet that nearly claims his life drives home the brutal reality: The old rules no longer apply.
This debut novel draws heavily from author Russ Sawyer’s own experience as a retired Air Force Security Forces veteran and firearms instructor. The authenticity permeates every tactical decision and every moment of hard-won survival wisdom.
The Breakdown
At its heart, this is a story about family and community under siege. Cole must protect his wife, Nora, his son, Colby, and a tight-knit network of neighbors bound together by grit and defiance. The rural South Carolina setting becomes both sanctuary and trap, offering cover while limiting escape routes.
The novel excels in its portrayal of uncertain allegiances. Shadowy figures like Dobbins and Joe-Dee materialize from the pines, their motives tied to deeper conspiracies. Trust becomes currency more valuable than ammunition, and Sawyer masterfully ratchets up tension as readers question every new character’s true intention.
What sets this book apart is its emotional grounding. Cole’s fight transcends mere survival — it becomes a stand for freedom against treachery. The psychological weight of each decision resonates: When do you help a stranger? How do you maintain humanity when protective systems have collapsed?
The Verdict
The Hanging Creek Chronicles delivers a compelling entry into the political collapse subgenre. Its blend of military authenticity, rural resilience, and family centered drama will resonate with fans of preparedness fiction and dystopian thrillers alike. As the first book in a planned series, it establishes a rich world and compelling characters while delivering a satisfying arc. For those who appreciate survival fiction that asks hard questions about loyalty and sacrifice, this one belongs on your shelf. When martial law falls, what would you fight for?
About The Book
Book: The Hanging Creek Chronicles: Shadows of Martial Law Author: Russ Sawyer Publisher: Independently Published MSRP: $15 Paperback Pages: 371 Rating: Thrive | Survive| Die
I had a dinner reservation at 6:45 p.m. I showed up 15 minutes early, because that’s what you do when you’re meeting someone at a nice restaurant on the row between the Palazzo and the Venetian. I was standing outside Milos, minding my own business, when I heard the shouting.
Two guys, shoving each other. One of them threw a wild hook. My first thought was that they were just being idiots — maybe playing around, maybe a little drunk. Someone on the sidelines yelled that they were brothers, which only reinforced the impression. Knuckleheads. No big deal.
I decided to break it up before somebody did something stupid and ended up spending the night in a holding cell. I’ve spent thousands of hours on the mat — judo, taekwondo, jiujitsu, kickboxing, a little wrestling thrown in for good measure. I started around age 19 and training seriously until about 25. The gym I came up in had several pro fighters. When you spar with people like that, separating two untrained guys on the sidewalk doesn’t feel like a tall order. I figured I’d get between them, use some control if I had to, and everyone would walk away annoyed but intact.
Then, everything changed.
The victim of the stabbing is being treated on sight to control the flow of blood loss.
Silver Flash
As soon as I got my hands on them, both guys tangled on the ground, I saw it: a silver blade. Not a threat. Not a brandish. A stab. I watched it go into the other man’s forearm. I was close enough to feel the movement.
People ask me what changed mentally in that instant. The honest answer is not much. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t panic. I just knew I needed the knife. I remember a single thought passing through my head — I hope I don’t get cut — and then I was already on the wrist.
I used a C-grip, a jiujitsu hold that’s extremely strong and very hard to break and got two hands on his one. Two-on-one. All things being equal, I win that exchange. But the key is that none of this was a conscious decision. That’s the whole point of training: You want technique to become instinct, because in a moment like that, you don’t have time to think. You need to have already prepared for what needs to be done. It’s kind of a remarkable thing, honestly — all those hours on the mat, finally applied in a real situation.
I smashed his wrist and hand against the concrete and kept repeating it: Drop the knife. Drop the knife.
The Bystander Who Changed Everything
About 10 seconds in, the attacker tried to close the folding blade — I still don’t know why. I adjusted the angle, bearing down harder on his wrist. Eventually, he let go. That’s when a man, older, maybe late 50s, stepped in and put his foot on the knife. Simple as that. Foot on the blade. It sounds small, but it changed the entire calculus. With the weapon pinned under someone else’s shoe, I didn’t have to worry about it being picked up again by either party.
I’m very grateful for that guy. If he hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve had to transition to a full pin on the attacker — rolling him onto his back, controlling his arm — which would have left me exposed to the victim, whose mindset I couldn’t read either. That bystander quietly removed the most dangerous variable from the equation.
Once the knife was neutralized, the attacker’s whole demeanor shifted. He wasn’t fighting anymore. He was trying to flee. I let him go. I didn’t know what his other hand was doing, didn’t know if he had a second weapon, and I didn’t see the benefit of trying to hold him when the guy beside me was bleeding badly. The priority had changed.
Caleb didn’t realize how much he was exposed to the victim’s blood until after he had a chance to calm down.
A Garden Hose Pointed Upward
The victim stood up, and his arm started spurting blood. Not dripping. Spurting. It was a pumping spray — like a garden hose on low, arcing upward, splashing on the concrete. He kept insisting he was fine. He was not fine.
I told him to take his shirt off and press it against the wound. I’ll be transparent about something that sounds ridiculous in hindsight: I didn’t want to take off my own shirt because I still had that dinner reservation in the back of my mind. That was genuinely what I was thinking. The brain is a strange machine under stress.
He pressed his shirt to the wound, and a few seconds later, a group of guys showed up who clearly had more medical training than I did. They elevated his arm and started real first aid. I found out the next day, through a Facebook post, that they were from a company called NOVOX Research. I stepped back and let them work. Then, I looked down. My hands and wrists were covered in blood. My left pant leg was soaked. I hadn’t even noticed.
I went and washed my hands about three or four minutes later. Looking back, I wish I’d washed them 10 times longer.
The Part Nobody Warns You About
Fast-forward to the next day. For cops and paramedics, getting someone else’s blood on you is probably routine. For me, once the adrenaline wore off, a new kind of anxiety crept in — the slow, grinding kind. Bloodborne diseases. HIV. Hepatitis. The words started cycling through my head on repeat.
I reached out to law enforcement, asking if they could tell me anything about the victim’s bloodwork. The answer was immediate and final: HIPAA. They can’t release medical information. Period. So even though I stopped a stabbing, there’s no mechanism for me to find out if the man whose blood soaked through my clothes was carrying anything transmissible.
I wasn’t too worried the night of the incident. I didn’t have any open cuts. I don’t think blood got into my mouth, eyes, or ears. But I was wrestling on the ground with a man holding a knife and inches from an arterial bleed. I wasn’t exactly tracking every droplet.
One officer told me that without open wounds or mucous membrane exposure, the chances of transmission were extremely low. I get that. I understand the math. But I was about to fly home to my wife, and I couldn’t bring myself to kiss her — because even if the chance was small, it was still a chance.
Thirty Days to Three Months
As soon as I got home, I went to the hospital to get my blood drawn. That’s when I learned the cruelest detail: even if I had been exposed, nothing would show up in bloodwork for 30 days to 3 months. The only immediate option was PEP, post-exposure prophylaxis. I’m skeptical of hospital drugs under the best of circumstances, so I declined. Now I have a medical bill and no answers.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to test the dried blood on my clothes. I still don’t know the victim’s name. I’m trying to find out so I can reach out to him directly. Not for thanks, not for closure, but for a simple yes-or-no answer that the system apparently can’t provide.
What I Want You to Know Before You Jump In
I’m writing all of this so that anyone reading it understands the full picture. Not just the heroic 30 seconds, but the frustrating weeks that follow. When I ran toward that fight, I had no idea a knife was involved. I wasn’t scared of getting stabbed. I wasn’t scared of getting cut. Anyone who’s even looked at knife-fighting training knows how easy it is to get sliced. I found out afterward that the inside of my left dress-shirt sleeve had a small cut in it. I never felt it happen.
What I wasn’t prepared for, what no amount of mat time prepares you for, is the aftermath. The blood on your hands that won’t wash off in any meaningful sense. The phone calls that go nowhere. The HIPAA wall. The look on your wife’s face when the story shifts from exciting to uncertain.
My wife doesn’t want me to do something like this again. I understand that. She is the most important person in my life and making her worry about something that affects her too is not something I take lightly. But I also know there are worse things than danger. Becoming a man who watches bad things happen and does nothing may be worse than any risk I took that night.
I keep thinking about that video that went viral last September, the one where a man stabbed a young woman on a train while bystanders stood by. We don’t want to become a society of spectators. Every truly awful thing that has scaled in human history has done so because of the bystander mindset. Edmund Burke said it best: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” I’m not calling myself a good man. I’m far from it. But I know that doing nothing, all the time, when bad things are happening, is absolutely bad.
If It Were You Tomorrow
Even though the situation was an extreme pain in the ass — and caused real stress for my wife and I — I’d go back and make the same choices. There’s a quote often attributed to Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
I believe that. When we see bad things happening, we have a responsibility to step in and do what we can. I’m not saying you should risk your life recklessly or wade into something you have no training for. But if you have the skills, the ability, or even just the opportunity to help, doing nothing is a choice too. And it’s one that lets evil win. Sometimes doing the right thing means taking a risk. It means stepping off the easy path. Because if enough people choose comfort and safety over action, the consequences eventually catch up with all of us.
History is full of examples: Mao’s China, Stalin’s Russia, and Hitler’s Germany. There were many good people living in those countries. At certain moments, if enough of them had stood together, they might have stopped the evil before it grew beyond anyone’s control.
But in the moment, it’s always safer to stay quiet, stay in line, and don’t stick your neck out. The problem is that silence feeds the thing it’s trying to avoid. Evil doesn’t stay the same size. It grows. And, eventually, it comes back with a fury far worse than the risk it would have taken to stand up early.
We never want those kinds of atrocities to happen here at home. But they can — if good people choose to do nothing.
Forty-four veterans die every day by suicide or drug overdose.
Not in combat. Not downrange. At home, after the war is supposedly over. That number comes from researchers at Duke University Medical School and the National Association of American Veterans, and it is almost certainly low. When you account for homeless veterans who die off the radar and overdose deaths that never get coded as veteran suicides, the actual toll is worse. The “22 veterans a day” statistic that gets cited everywhere? Outdated. The real number has been climbing.
Four men decided they were done sitting with that fact. They built a team, found a boat, named it Overwatch, and they are going to row it across the Pacific Ocean.
What Is Team Foar the Brave?
Team Foar the Brave is a four-man crew competing in the World’s Toughest Row 2026, a 2,800-mile unsupported ocean race from Monterey, California to Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii. The race starts June 6. No motors. No sails. No outside help. Two men row at a time in two-hour shifts while the others rest in a pair of small cabin compartments barely big enough to lie flat. They do that around the clock for somewhere between 45 and 65 days, depending on conditions.
They are doing it to raise money and awareness for veteran suicide prevention. One hundred percent of proceeds above operational costs goes to vetted, results-driven charities that are doing real work on veteran mental health.
Who Is on the Team?
Every man on this boat served. This is not a celebrity stunt.
LTC Joe Leach
LTC Joe Leach put in 26 years with the 75th Ranger Regiment and Special Forces. He rowed the Atlantic in 2023 in the same competition series. He knows what it costs and he signed up again.
LTC Ian Pienik
LTC Ian Pienik is a Green Beret. Twenty-four years in the 20th Special Forces Group, with deployments to Iraq, Africa, the Sinai, and Jordan. He is currently stationed at US Special Operations Command and retires in May 2026. Four weeks after he hands in his equipment, he pushes off from Monterey.
John Pallasch
John Pallasch brings 25 years of public and government service. He runs outreach and fundraising for the team. He understands systems that help people and he understands what it means to stand beside the people who served.
Steve Robinson
Steve Robinson spent 25 years as a Federal Aviation Administration controller. He handles boat mechanics and systems. The work nobody sees that keeps everyone alive.
What Is the World’s Toughest Row?
The World’s Toughest Row is an ocean rowing race series run by Atlantic Campaigns. The 2026 Pacific edition is 2,800 miles of open water between Monterey and Kauai. Competitors row race-class ocean boats with no outside assistance, no resupply, and no rescue unless conditions become life-threatening.
For context: a previous team in this competition series had their boat, the Woobie, hit by a 30-foot swell in the Atlantic. It sank. The crew spent 22 hours on a punctured life raft before a cargo ship pulled them out of the water. The boat washed ashore in France weeks later.
These men know the water they are getting into.
Why Veteran Suicide? Why Now?
Ian Pienik has buried soldiers. He is not rowing the Pacific because it sounds meaningful. He is rowing because he has watched men he served with lose the fight after they came home, and he is not willing to accept that as inevitable.
The numbers behind this mission:
2.1 million US veterans live with one or more mental health challenges as of 2023
15.3 percent of veterans experience PTSD, depression, or substance abuse
44 per day die by suicide or overdose, a rate 52.3 percent higher than non-veterans
The team’s core message is not complicated: get people through the moment. Not a policy framework, or an awareness campaign that asks nothing of anyone. It’s the intervention, the phone call, the person who shows up before the crisis becomes permanent.
If you can get someone through the acute moment, the odds of survival climb sharply. That is what the money funds. That is the mission.
What Charities Does Foar the Brave Support?
All proceeds above race operational costs go directly to organizations the team has vetted:
The team is also finalizing a partnership with a Cleveland, Ohio-based organization that works specifically with homeless veterans. A population that accounts for a significant portion of the undercounted suicide toll.
The Race Timeline
The 2026 World’s Toughest Row Pacific puts the crew at sea during some of the most significant dates on the American calendar.
June 6 — Race start, Monterey, CA
June 14 — Flag Day
June 21 — Father’s Day. Four men who are fathers, mid-ocean.
July 2 — Halfway point
July 4 — Independence Day, 250th anniversary of the United States
July 12 — Final stretch
July 17-22 — Estimated arrival window, Hanalei Bay, Kauai
Track the boat live during the race using the YB Races app. Real-time position, stroke by stroke.
How to Support Team Foar the Brave
The team needs partners. That word is deliberate. This is not a tip jar. There are structured sponsorship tiers with real deliverables, because every business that backs this mission should get something back beyond a good feeling.
Major Sponsorship Tiers
Level
Amount
Key Benefits
Elite Title
$100,000
Full-length boat logo, lifetime website placement, elite social media coverage, Fourth of July event video, signed race-used oar
Gold
$50,000
Half-length boat logo, Father’s Day video, signed oar, social media package
Silver
$25,000
Quarter-length boat logo, team video, social media features, signed oar
Commodore
$10,000
Prominent boat logo, speaking opportunity at fundraising events, team photo
Captain
$5,000
Prominent boat logo, social media features, merchandise package
Navigator
$3,000
Boat logo, event acknowledgment, live race social shoutouts
Bosun
$1,500
Logo placement, social media post, live race shoutouts, merch
Ambassador
$500-$1,000
Live race shoutouts, merchandise package
In-Kind Equipment Needs
The team has specific gear requirements with dollar values assigned. If you make or distribute any of the following, this is your opening:
Rowing seats: $15,000
Racing gear: $12,000
Food for the crossing: $10,000
Oars: $8,000
Comms and GPS: $5,000
Solar power: $3,000
For food specifically, the team needs 65 days of provisions at 6,000 calories per man per day. If you are a nutrition or outdoor food brand and want your product featured in editorial coverage of this event, this is the conversation to start.
The Boat: Why “Overwatch”?
In military doctrine, overwatch means someone is holding the flank. They are positioned, alert, and ready to intervene when the threat comes from a direction no one else is watching.
The veterans dying every day are not failing. They are fighting without backup. Nobody is on overwatch. The team named the boat to make that point explicit. The mission is not observation. It is intervention.
