Curated Offers: These Rugged Pens Need To Be Part Of Your EDC Kit

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For most people, a pen is just a writing tool that we think about only when we need it. In other words, a pen is just a pen. But sometimes a pen is a badass writing tool that can also be used for personal safety, like in the instance of these Collective Carry EDC Pens. You're likely already carrying a pen around with you most places you go, so why not have a cool, useful one?

Forged from 6061-T6 aerospace aluminum, and available in all-black, gold, and gunmetal, these tactical pens are an extremely sturdy companion. The short, round head, along with its beveled edge, make it easy to grip when writing. And if you flip it over, there's an additional pointed edge which provides an effective means to break glass in an emergency situation. Each purchase even comes with an extra ink refill, so you don't have to worry about buying a new one every six months. And weighing in at just 42g, they're the perfect EDC pen. They're the kind of pen that brings new meaning to the phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

If you're looking for a pen that is worth holding onto, these Collective Carry EDC Pens are a good choice. What's more, you can pick one up for just $32.99, a savings of 43%.

New: Zombie Tools “Lil’ F.U.K.” Field Utility Knife

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Love them or hate them, Montana-based knifemaker Zombie Tools is anything but boring. This 10-employee small business produces some outlandish edged weapons, each with a grimy post-apocalyptic appearance befitting the company's name. But the blades made by ZT aren't just for show — they're well-built and incredibly tough, as we found when we reviewed the Vakra in our kukri buyer's guide in Issue 14.

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Most of Zombie Tools' blades are of the large hack-and-slash variety, but the company has offered a few smaller blades over the years. In fact, it has become a holiday tradition for ZT to release a new limited-edition blade just before Christmas. Last year's offering was the Bushlicker, a small bushcraft-oriented knife with an upswept skinner-style blade. This year, Zombie Tools has released the Field Utility Knife, or Lil' F.U.K. for short.

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The company calls the new Lil' F.U.K. its first every-day carry blade, as a result of its versatile clip-point shape and 4-inch blade length. Unlike ZT's larger carbon-steel blades, this knife is constructed from the same “tough as f**k” German 80CRV2 steel used on last year's Bushlicker. The blotchy finish is the byproduct of ZT's signature acid etching process.

Zombie Tools FUK field utility knife EDC fixed blade bushcraft 4

The spine of this knife has been ground to a sharp 90-degree edge, allowing it to be used for striking a ferro rod. That's a feature we're always pleased to see on an outdoor-oriented fixed blade.

A combination of textured black G10 and red Kydex liners were pinned in place to form the handle, and a large forefinger groove provides a controllable grip. Each F.U.K. ships with a black leather drop-leg sheath embossed with the ZT crest.

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MSRP for this knife is $250, and true to the limited-edition designation, the company says “less than 100” of these knives will ever be made. If you want one, you'll need to order before supplies run out. For more info on the new Field Utility Knife, go to ZombieTools.net.

Mt. Agung Volcanic Eruption in Bali

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If you were to ask an average tourist to rank the threats to their safety while on vacation, volcanic eruption probably wouldn't even be on the list. However, if you travel to locations where active volcanoes exist, there's always the risk of an eruption — and the results can be catastrophic.

This graphic shows the eruption zone of the Bali supervolcano. Source: telegraph.co.uk

This graphic shows the eruption zone of the Bali supervolcano. Source: telegraph.co.uk

This week, the island of Bali was disrupted by clouds of ash and smoke billowing from Mount Agung, and experts have warned that “the potential for a larger eruption is imminent”. As a result, the national alert was raised to its highest level, and all flights at the international airport were grounded. This reportedly left nearly 60,000 tourists stranded on the island, and evacuation orders have been issued for approximately 100,000 people across 22 villages.

Constant tremors can reportedly be felt on the island, and explosions can be heard echoing miles from the summit. Mount Agung previously erupted in 1963, killing about 1,600 people.

For more updates on the situation in Bali as it unfolds, check out the BBC Asia news feed or monitor #Agung on Twitter. A live interactive diagram of all volcanoes in Indonesia can also be found on the Magma Indonesia web site.

Some might assume the risk of eruption is isolated to tropical islands, but that's not the case. Earlier this year, the Campi Flegrei supervolcano in Italy reached what experts called a “critical state”. An eruption of this volcano would almost certainly affect Naples, Italy, one of the top ten most densely-populated cities in Europe. Here in North America, there is continued concern over the status of the Yellowstone supervolcano.

The infographic below from Kristen Long serves as a primer on the history of major volcanic eruptions, and the relevant elements of a large volcano. Click here to download a full-size version of this graphic.

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The Backyard Homestead – Review

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The Premise: Since its publication in 2009, Madigan's The Backyard Homestead has been a staple in the library of anyone with a desire to live life unhindered by GMOs, pesticides, chemicals, and unnatural fertilizers lacing their store-bought food. Long before she collected the materials for this book, Madigan had been the managing editor of Horticulture magazine and has lived, worked, and learned on an organic farm in Massachusetts.

Overall, The Backyard Homestead is an excellent resource for homesteaders and preppers interested in sustainability, from the beginner to the advanced reader. Because it tries to cram lots of info into one resource, it hardly has room to delve into scholarly depths. If you're a beginner, you won't feel overwhelmed about getting started.

The 411: The Backyard Homestead is nicely divided into seven sections, from vegetables, fruits and nuts, herbs, and grains to poultry, meat and dairy, and wild food. The information is presented in a straightforward and well-organized manner, showing readers just how easy it is to grow their own food and raise their only limited livestock.

Illustrations are used liberally throughout the pages, but a touch of color would've been nice if only to tell the difference between a few of the species whose leaf patters are similar (lemon balm and parsley, for example). The beginning, however, includes some handy illustrations showing you how much food you can produce on 1/10th of an acre, on 1/4 acre, and 1/2 acre. Each map is detailed with where everything should be placed and planted.

Throughout the book you'll learn how to store your harvest, how to thresh wheat, information on wheat grinders, how to butcher a chicken, what to do with the feathers, how to make maple syrup, how to brew beer, and even how to milk a goat.

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The Verdict: As a whole, if you're beginning to transform your backyard or a portion of a larger estate into a garden, this book is for you. Each section isn't overly detailed, but there's enough information to point you in the right direction. In the section, “The Home Vegetable Garden,” for example, illustrations and graphs abound, such as visuals on various garden layouts, each designed for a different-sized yard.

There's info on planting dates for each part of the U.S. as well as how much to plant, what grows best where, how to extend the season, how to help your seeds germinate, and directions for making your own trellises for plants like tomatoes. This book has it all, but this is where it has trouble keeping up with itself.

Madigan tried to write a book that's an everything-for-everybody and underdelivered. A book of that caliber would easily be 3,600 pages. The topics that are covered (and there are many) are dealt with superficially, with very little meat left over once the basics are explained. Also, the subjects chosen were given uneven consideration. For example, container gardening only spans one-and-a-half pages, whereas choosing the right breeds of chickens takes up five pages. And there's only three or four egg-laying breeds to choose from.

That said, there are some stellar sections worthy of high praise. “Vegetables A to Z” discusses many types of popular vegetables in great detail, from planting to care to harvest (and more). The same can be said about the section on milking goats.

At the end of each chapter, it would've been helpful to include a section for troubleshooting, especially in the animal husbandry sections. Instead of a few dozen detailed illustrations of various livestock, it would've been nice to see a section of basic animal first-aid, medical treatments for injuries or disease, or at least a list of general shots and vaccines livestock need.

Madigan assumes that 1) a beginner is capable of doing anything in her book—such as making vinegar, canning fruit, or slaughtering a heifer (which is covered in only about 200 words); and 2) that a beginner has all the necessary equipment to perform the outlined tasks.

Although a great starter, instead of being outlined like a car-repair manual that walks you through every procedure, think of it more as a book to make you aware of basic ideas and issues you'll be faced with when beginning a self-sufficient homestead. Then, from there, you can decide if you want to read more by seeking out other resources (there are a host of them at the back).

BookThe Backyard Homestead
AuthorCarleen Madigan
PublisherStorey Publishing, North Adams, Mass.
URLStorey.com
MSRP$19
Pages368 pages
Rating:Thrive

Video: How to Trap, De-Gland, & Cook a Raccoon

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Hunting in a survival situation is rarely easy, and may leave you empty-handed (and empty-stomached) more often than it produces a hearty meal. So, when food sources are limited, you'll need to take the path of least resistance to find more of it. That means you probably won't be taking down deer and elk on a regular basis — you'll have to rely on less desirable but more plentiful game.

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The raccoon is one common pest animal that can be found frequently in both urban and rural areas. These so-called “trash pandas” are clever scavengers, and can often be found rummaging through garbage bins and gardens late at night. Fortunately, if caught and cleaned correctly, raccoons can be a good source of meat when larger game is unavailable.

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The Wooded Beardsman used a modern trap to catch raccoons that have been raiding his garden.

We've previously featured videos from YouTube survivalist The Wooded Beardsman, such as his episodes on harvesting black walnuts and facing the grim realities of eating roadkill. In his latest video, he covers how to catch and cook a raccoon that was roaming the woods near his property.

The raccoon's scent glands would make the meat unpalatable, so they must be removed.

The raccoon's scent glands would make the meat unpalatable, so they must be removed.

After catching and skinning the animal, there are some special steps involved to remove the scent glands found on the legs of the animal. This process is called de-glanding, and is necessary to prevent the meat from taking on an unpleasant smell and flavor.

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The Beardsman then preps the meat by soaking it overnight in a brine of water, vinegar, and spices. Once the meat is brined, it goes into a stew with carrots, bell peppers, onions, and potatoes. The result is a dark meat that the hosts say is surprisingly tasty. Check out the video below for the full process:

Video: Les Stroud’s Winter Vehicle Survival Kit

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The holiday season has begun, and with it comes dangerous road conditions. Even if you're not dreaming of a white Christmas, snow and ice on the asphalt may end up impacting your travel plans. Even if weather is mild, severe traffic from someone else's car accident — or the long line of frantic shoppers headed to your local mall — might slow your journey to a grinding halt. Drunk, distracted, and sleep-deprived drivers are also out in force this time of year, increasing your risk of being run off the road.

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In any case, you need to and consider what you'd do if you became stranded. One component of your winter preparedness should be building (or re-stocking) a vehicle survival kit for each of your cars or trucks. This kit will contain everything you'll need to ride out a long, frigid night on a desolate roadside, as well as items to signal for rescue or navigate to safety.

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Stroud notes that most vehicles have plenty of cargo room to spare, more than enough to fit a survival kit.

Les Stroud, of the famous Survivorman TV series and SMTVnetwork.com, keeps a kit in his vehicles year-round but stocks up on additional items for winter. In the video below from a few years ago, Stroud discusses why you'd need a vehicle survival kit and lists the complete contents of his kit. Even if you already have a basic kit in your car, it's worth considering additional gear you might need — or you can build a kit as a gift for a friend or family member who may be less prepared.

If worst comes to worst, you can also scavenge useful resources from your own vehicle. Check out our article Survival Chop Shop to learn which car parts can come in handy during a survival situation. For more survival advice from Les Stroud, read our exclusive interview from Issue 21.

New: Jake Hoback Knives A8 Slimline & Talim

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American bladesmith Jake Hoback has announced the addition of two new knives to his production line. There's a new folding blade for EDC and practical daily use, as well as a tough combat-oriented fixed blade for self-defense applications. Along with the PROOF of Life axe and the F23 knife cleaning kit, Hoback has substantially expanded his range in 2017 — and we hear there'll be even more new blades announced by the end of the year.

A8 Slimline Folding Knife

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The A8 Slimline is clearly a high-end knife, but it's not intended to just sit on a shelf and look pretty. Hoback made it to do real work.

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This folder features a 3.25-inch CPM-20CV blade and a machined Grade 38 titanium frame. A flipper on the blade swings it open on pivot thrust bearings, and the frame lock with Hoback Roller Detent (HRD) feature locks it open for an overall length of 7.79 inches. Internal lightening pockets keep weight down while maintaining strength.

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The Hoback A8 Slimline is available in Stonewash, Black DLC, and Fallout Black DLC finishes. MSRP starts at $595.

Talim Combatives Fixed Blade System

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Jake Hoback's newest fixed blade is called the Talim, and it's sold as a complete fighting knife system that includes a live blade, dull aluminum training blade, and two sheaths. This enables users to safely train with a realistic version of the knife — something that's essential for a combat knife. The trainer is also 1/2-inch shorter than the live blade, so using the live blade to carry out the strikes you practiced in training will guarantee deep cuts.

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The Talim live blade is ground to a zero edge (i.e. full-flat), then back-beveled for the final edge. Hoback says this allows the knife to “cut through typical clothing/gear in real-world combat situations, while retaining the ability to efficiently cut and pierce flesh in an offensive/defensive situation.” The curved and contoured handle is designed for strong indexing and secure grip in quick-draw scenarios, and features 3D textured scales of either carbon fiber or G10.

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The Talim Combatives Fixed Blade System is available in either titanium or stainless steel, and priced at $550 or $500 (respectively).

For more info on the Jake Hoback A8 Slimline and Talim Combatives System, go to JakeHobackKnives.com.

Op-Ed: Explaining the Prepper Philosophy

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Today is Thanksgiving, and that usually means several hours of small talk with family and friends. Depending on how open you are about your lifestyle and interests, it's possible the subject of prepping may come up, so it's worth considering how (or if) you'll discuss the topic.

Prepping typically isn't an easy subject to breach with the unfamiliar or the uninformed — whether they're friends, family, coworkers, or new acquaintances. As a result of negative portrayals in the news, movies, and “reality” TV shows, telling people you're a prepper often causes them to look at you as though you just sprouted two heads. In many circles, the mere word prepper evokes images of a paranoid, panicky conspiracy theorist who thinks the CIA is controlling our thoughts with satellites and lives in a bunker in case the Martians invade.

Despite the stereotypes, real-world prepping is not the sort of thing you see in most movies.

Despite the stereotypes, real-world prepping is a far cry from Hollywood's zombie apocalypse portrayals.

Since you're reading this, you should already be well aware that these stereotypes are laughably inaccurate, but other people outside the community may not be. That's why it's important to know how to approach the subject if it comes up during casual conversations. There are a few schools of thought on how to do so — you can read mine in my column “Spreading the Message” in Issue 17 of our magazine.

OFFGRID magazine issue 17 web column prepper philosophy

My column in Issue 17 of our magazine addresses the topic of talking about your preps with strangers.

Brandon Barton of Last Man Projects recently wrote about his experience talking about his prepper philosophy with some coworkers. He makes some good points, so we've shared an excerpt below, as well as a link to the full post at the end of this article.

A little over a week ago, I was sitting around with 9 other coworkers in a private dining room of Willie G's in Houston. We'd been stuck in a conference room all that day and capped off a productive meeting with a nice meal on the company dime. The conversations floated around between different people on different subjects, and some of us got to talking cars.

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I brought up Lucille [Editor's Note: Lucille is Brandon's custom Ford Bronco bug-out truck, which was featured in two articles here on OFFGRIDweb: Part 1 and Part 2] and eventually showed an engineer across the table the articles in OFFGRID. Long story short, he saw what OFFGRID is all about, and asked me if I was “a doomsday prepper”. I laughed it off with a “no, no; nothing quite that extreme”. Then a VP sitting next to me said, “are you prepared for the zombie apocalypse?” at about the time all the conversations hit one of those random lulls. Now, everyone at the table's looking at me. Damn, now I've got to launch into my “prep talk”.

As I see it, there are two schools of thought on talking about prepping.

One is of course to not talk about it. It's basic opsec; people can't covet and steal what they don't know about. It's relatively fool proof provided you can pull it off. (I live in a small cul-de-sac. When you off-load large water storage tanks that go to the backyard, lots of shelving, or have Lucille sitting there, people notice.)

The other is to talk about it within reason and educate folks on the benefits of being prepared. That's the camp I'm in (obviously). I talk about it in the abstract. I don't get into the details about what and how much.

As I see it, the more people I “switch on” to a preparedness mindset, the stronger we are as a society. More people that can hold their own in a crisis means less people that need government aid (which means the aid stretches farther); it means less people inclined to take from others what they do not have, and more people available and able to deal with those types of folks. Because of choosing to talk in general terms about preparedness or just “walking the walk”, most people in my neighborhood have become more prepared to one extent or another. Ultimately that means greater security for my family and my preparation. I couldn't really hide it, so I got more people involved to secure my situation.

In the case of the dinner, I don't live or work around anyone that attended so other than carrying around a little reputation for being “different”, what's the harm?

When I talk to a non-prepper about beginning to prepare, I usually get one of three initial responses. I'm either assumed to be a doomsday prepper, prepping for the zombie apocalypse (kinda the same thing but said enough it warrants its own category), or a hoarder. Over the years I've developed and refined ways to overcome these stereotypes and help people see that prepping isn't a fringe activity, but responsible citizenship.

Click here to read the rest of Brandon's post.

Curated Offers: This Portable Power Station Is A Necessity For Any Outdoorsman

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While we don't technically need electricity to survive, it's hard to imagine living without it. There seems to be few things worse than being without a charge. And in an emergency situation, electricity can save your life. Whether you're camping in the woods or find yourself in an unexpected power outage, you'll want to make sure you have an alternative power source to keep you safe. Enter the ZeroLemon PowerCube 50000mAh Portable Power Station, a lightweight solution to your power needs.

If you're taking a trip with the family, or a weekend getaway with the boys, the PowerCube is a must-have. Weighing only 3.5 pounds, you can easily carry it with you to the campsite. With 8 outputs, you'll have no trouble charging your phone or any other electronic device. Plus, the PowerCube has multiple DC inputs, meaning you can plug in a solar panel charging device to keep you powered throughout any length of stay. Likewise, if you experience an unanticipated loss of power, the PowerCube can keep you charged throughout. And in case of an emergency, this power station comes equipped with an SOS light. Whatever the situation, the PowerCube will keep you and your devices wired.

The ZeroLemon PowerCube 50000mAh Portable Power Station is a smart and potentially life-saving buy, and you can pick one up for the shockingly low price of just $159.99. That's a savings of 60%!

Poll: What Are Your Favorite Pocket-Sized Survival Snacks?

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If you're preparing for an emergency situation, whether it's a natural disaster or any other catastrophic event, you probably already have stockpiles of canned food and dry staples in your pantry or basement. This covers the long-term situations. You might also have some MREs or freeze-dried food packets in your 72-hour bag or vehicle for medium-length survival situations. But what about the short-term events?

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Items in the pantry may be long-lasting, but they're usually not compact enough for pocket carry.

There are plenty of instances where you might need a quick meal, but don't have time or resources to heat, mix, slice, or rehydrate anything. For example, you might be having a particularly busy day and need to eat while driving or walking. Or maybe you're packing light for a quick day hike, and don't plan to bring prep-intensive foods. In any case, it's advantageous to have survival snacks in your pocket or get-home bag to tide you over until the next meal.

Freeze-dried foods are filling, but require boiling water and prep time.

Freeze-dried foods are filling and tasty, but require boiling water and prep time.

For the purposes of this article, we have a few considerations for these survival snacks:

  • No prep — can be opened and eaten quickly, ideally without using utensils or making a mess
  • Compact — should fit into a pocket or small pouch
  • Reasonably shelf-stable — it may not need to last for years like the items in your home pantry, but it shouldn't spoil after a few days on the trail
  • Calorie-dense — the food should have a decent ratio of calories and nutrients compared to its size and weight
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Millenium bars can provide 400 calories, enough to replace a full meal.

If not for the above points, you might as well whip out an MRE or boil some water for a freeze-dried meal. Fortunately, there are lots of choices to consider in this category. Check out our poll below for a list of potential survival snack options, and select the foods you currently carry or prefer. Some items, like aged hard cheeses, can offer a surprisingly-long shelf-life and break up the monotony of carb-heavy trail foods. Others, such as energy gels, gained popularity from ultralight backpackers and runners.