The subject of “the ultimate survival gun” is often hotly debated. Some argue that a simple and reliable bolt-action .22 rifle is ideal, while others prefer the added range and stopping power of an AR-15. Others still may say a concealed handgun would be best, or that a shotgun is what you’d really want to stop criminals in their tracks. Depending on your situation and other gear, we could see some validity to each of these choices.
Interestingly, the U.S. Air Force established a design for an all-in-one survival gun back in the 1950s. This firearm was called the M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon, and it incorporated elements from both ends of the spectrum above. The M6 is actually chambered in two calibers: .22 Hornet and .410 bore shotgun.
An original USAF M6 Aircrew Survival gun. Note the squeeze-bar trigger. Source: Wikipedia/Curiosandrelics
The weapon was designed in an over-under fashion, with the rifle barrel above the shotgun barrel. This setup enabled airmen to shoot small game animals at long range with the .22, and take out closer targets (such as birds or snakes) with the scatter-shot .410. The tough stamped steel M6 even folds in half for easy storage, measuring only 15 inches long when folded. It also has a unique squeeze-bar trigger, which can be used easily while wearing gloves or even mittens.
As a standardized military weapon, the M6 was produced by several manufacturers—most notably Ithaca and Springfield Armory. The Springfield Armory version is known as the M6 Scout, and was later produced in a commercial version which accepted .22 LR instead of .22 Hornet rounds. The civilian M6 Scout also provides a rail for mounting optics (the military version only has iron sights).
A .22 rifle, like our modified Ruger 10-22 Takedown seen here, makes for an excellent survival weapon.
This .22 and .410 combination sounds like it would make for an excellent survival weapon, as it bridges the gap between rifle and shotgun. We’re fans of relying on a .22 rifle for survival situations—check out our 10-22 takedown survival makeover project.
If you could design an all-in-one survival weapon with any features you wanted, what would your ultimate survival gun be like?
Everyone hates a tattle-tale. Many of us have shared sensitive information with a friend in confidence, only to feel betrayed when that two-faced friend tells someone else behind your back. In personal relationships, this can be frustrating, but when it comes to state secrets, the consequences of information leaks can be absolutely devastating. Rather than dealing with embarrassment, you’ll be dealing with lost lives.
As a result of the potential for these dangerous information leaks, espionage agencies have developed a technique known as the canary trap. This technique is designed to expose traitors and double-agents by selectively sharing several distinct versions of documents or other info with various members of a group. Depending on the version of your bait that gets leaked, you’ll know who the traitor was.
Literal canaries were once used by coal miners as an early warning system for dangerous gas leaks.
Here’s a simplified example of how it works. Let’s say you have 3 friends: Tom, Dick, and Harry. You’re planning a party, and don’t want any uninvited guests, but you know Tom, Dick, or Harry will leak the details. So, you decide to tell each of your friends a false version of the evening’s plan:
Tom thinks the party will be at 6pm.
Dick thinks the party will be at 7pm.
Harry thinks the party will be at 8pm.
The party is actually planned for 5pm. So, if everyone shows up at their respective times without additional guests, you’ll know all three friends were honest and didn’t leak the details to their friends. If a big crowd of guests show up at 6, you’ll know Tom was the leak, and so on.
In a survival situation, you may have a hard time knowing who to trust.
The canary trap technique has been used extensively to find spies, in both civilian and military applications. Saddam Hussein famously used a canary trap to avoid assassination in 2003, by telling each of his staff members about a different house he’d supposedly be hiding in. When only one of those houses was bombed, he knew who had leaked his plans.
So, if you’re in a survival situation, and you don’t know who you can trust, remember the canary trap. It can help you distinguish friends from enemies—and, once you’ve found a leak, you can intentionally mislead that individual to throw off your enemies.
You might think that an item as stealthy and subtle as camouflage wouldn’t have a promotional team, since the whole point of these patterns is to fly under the radar. However, the widespread commercial success of MultiCam’s family of camouflage patterns has prompted this company to pursue some interesting non-military applications of its technology.
At the forefront of these efforts is Team Multicam, a growing crew of brand ambassadors for MultiCam camouflage. The team’s athletes are involved in a wide range of fields, including competitive shooting, skydiving, motorcycle, auto, and off-road truck racing, and even bass fishing.
Many members of the team have extensive military service records, so it makes sense that they share a desire to give something back to our nation’s service members. As a result of this desire, Team MultiCam has launched a Military Charity Initiative, where each of the 10 members of the team will choose a military charity and raise funds for it. These charities include the following:
Each of these organizations is working hard to help veterans and their families, so it’s good to see these Team MultiCam athletes raising money to assist them. See below for a list of GoFundMe donation pages for each of the 10 members.
Firearms are an extremely valuable resource for survival situations. They’re excellent self-defense tools, and they make it easy to hunt game and put food on your table. However, for certain hunting situations, a large-caliber rifle may not be ideal. They can be heavy, loud, and require constant maintenance and expensive ammunition.
If you’re hunting rabbits, squirrels, or other small game, blasting them to bits with a .308 isn’t wise or practical. You’ll need something much smaller, yet still powerful and accurate enough to kill these varmints. Enter the air rifle—a weapon that’s light, affordable, simple to maintain, and virtually silent.
GAMO, one of the leading producers of air rifles, has released a new model that caught our attention. It’s called the Whisper Fusion Mach 1, and it takes the traditional air rifle concept to the next level. Instead of using a standard spring system for power, the Mach 1 uses an Inert Gas Cylinder. This 33mm pneumatic cylinder and piston can propel a .177 caliber pellet at 1420 feet per second, or a .22 caliber pellet at 1020 feet per second.
In addition to the improved cylinder, the Whisper Fusion Mach 1 features an adjustable Custom Action Trigger (CAT), and an integrated sound dampener on the barrel. Compared to a standard air rifle, GAMO says the Whisper Fusion Mach 1 reduces noise by 89.5%. There’s also a Shock Wave Absorber recoil pad on the stock and a Recoil Reducing Rail, which respectively alleviate the impacts to your shoulder and the included 3-9x 40 AO scope.
The Whisper Fusion Mach 1 is available in either a .177 caliber or .22 caliber, each at an MSRP of $250. For more information on this air rifle, visit GAMOUSA.com.
Infographics are a great resource for any survivalist or prepper, since they visually convey information in a concise and appealing format. Rather than reading through page after page of plain text, you can skim through a single graphic and learn tons of useful facts, without all the filler.
Consider drying out your fruit in a food dehydrator for a calorie-dense snack.
The following graphic from Happy to Survive shares 12 different fruits that you can grow at home, all year round. Not only that, but it also shows the proper planting and growing conditions, fruit storage time, and even tips for gardening in small spaces. You won’t need a huge orchard for many of these fruit varieties, and with the right upkeep, they can provide a sustainable food source for years to come.
Obviously, you’ll still want to supplement your diet with meat, vegetables, grains, and dairy (if possible). However, biting into a fresh, juicy fruit can be a real morale booster when times are tough. So, think ahead and start planting now—you’ll reap the rewards later.
We often sing the praises of high-end $250+ knives, and there’s no doubt that they’re nice to own. However, for every-day carry purposes, is a knife that expensive really a requirement? We’d say it’s not—in fact, there are lots of great EDC folding knives that can be had for well under $100. To put it in simpler terms, there’s no need to drive a Lamborghini to work every day, when a trusty pickup truck will get the job done reliably (and you won’t always be paranoid about scratching it).
One newly-released example of an affordable daily-carry folding knife is the Diamondback from First Tactical. This 3.43-inch folding blade is priced at only $65, and it’s available in either a tanto point or a modified spear point design.
Despite its inexpensive price, the guys at First Tactical didn’t cut corners with the Diamondback’s construction. The blade is made of AUS-8, a high-quality Japanese stainless steel that’s corrosion-resistant and easy to sharpen. It’s one of our favorite EDC knife steels, and a great choice for this price range. The handle is formed from textured G-10, a material we like for its durability and light weight.
Another handy feature on the First Tactical Diamondback is its Thumb Bridge, a platform bolted to the blade’s spine above the thumb hole. This feature provides added leverage for cutting, and a convenient grab point to open the blade quickly. A sturdy liner lock holds the blade open, and a turned mount clip design makes sure it stays secure in your pocket when it’s stowed.
Here’s a list of some of this blade’s key features:
Thumb Bridge Technology
AUS-8 blade with satin black finish
Thick liner lock mechanism
Manual opening
Turned mount pocket clip (prevents screws from backing out)
G10 handle scales
Ambidextrous right- or left-hand clip mounting options
Includes extra screws and wrench
For more information on the new First Tactical Diamondback folding knife, visit FirstTactical.com.
Like it or not, the Internet has dramatically changed the way we live our lives. These days, almost all of us use the web to pay bills, conduct important business transactions, and communicate with friends and family. Our photos are backed up on remote servers in the cloud, our social media likes and dislikes are recorded for marketing purposes, and our credit card transactions are conducted through web sites we can only assume are secure.
Some embrace this technology wholeheartedly, while others see it as a necessary evil—we all know it’s a fact of life.
The days of physical storage media are coming to an end, and information is becoming available anywhere via the cloud.
However, this personal and sensitive information is increasingly at risk, due to both criminal attacks and potential government surveillance. You don’t need a tinfoil hat these days to realize the need for practical information security. You may think that you’re not important enough to be at risk, but security solely through obscurity is no security at all, especially when it comes to using the Internet.
VPN: Virtual Private Network
This brings us to the topic of the VPN, short for Virtual Private Network. Using a VPN is one of the leading ways to retain your privacy online. It won’t protect against every security vulnerability—it can’t stop users from sharing their data with fraudsters or posting valuable info on social media, for example—but it’s certainly a great place to start.
Fortunately, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to understand VPNs, and we’re going to prove that point by explaining the service here in layman’s terms. If you’re able to use a computer, browse the web, send emails, and read this article, you’ll be able to set up a VPN quite easily.
Disclaimer: While using a VPN to protect your privacy is legal in most places (including the USA), you should check your local laws before setting up a VPN. Also, this information is provided for educational purposes only, and we are not responsible if you choose to do anything illegal with this knowledge. Be responsible, and recognize that a VPN cannot always provide foolproof protection in every circumstance.
How a VPN Works – An Analogy
So, what the heck is a Virtual Private Network? Good question. A VPN is a service that creates a secure Internet connection by encrypting your data and routing it through a secure private network. That sounds complicated, but think of it like this:
Let’s say you live in a house in New York, and your friend lives in another house in California. To get to his house, you’ll need to drive on public streets and highways. You can take any number of different paths, but you’re still out in public, and someone could theoretically follow you or ambush you during your journey.
This is essentially how the Internet works—it’s a network of information superhighways, but it’s also accessible to anyone. You can take various measures to protect yourself (i.e. locking the doors on your car or leaving in the middle of the night) but you’re vulnerable because you’re out in public. The odds of anything bad happening are fairly low, but you’re still at risk, especially if you’re carrying valuables.
Now, let’s say you build a secret underground tunnel all the way from your house to your friend’s house. Not only that, but you install locked blast doors on each end of the tunnel, and exchange keys only with each other. Now, if you enter the underground tunnel to get to your friend’s house, and lock the door behind you, no one will be able to follow or intercept you on your journey.
VPNs are often referred to as “tunnels” since they provide hidden pathways for data across networks.
This is how a VPN works. It protects you by routing you down a hidden private tunnel (obscurity), and also by locking that path so no one else can use it (encryption). Appropriately, VPNs are sometimes referred to as “tunnel servers”, because of this secretive nature.
Much like this 25-ton NORAD blast door, breaking through modern 2048-bit encryption is virtually impossible.
If you think of your house in this analogy as a computer, and your car as sensitive data (such as an email or bank transaction), you’ll understand how using a VPN can protect you. Your computer exchanges trusted “handshake” encryption keys with another computer or VPN server, allowing you to securely and anonymously navigate the entire Internet via your encrypted VPN “tunnel”.
In case you were wondering, it’s estimated that cracking a VPN’s 2048-bit RSA encryption key using an ordinary desktop computer would take 4.6 quadrillion years of continuous processing time. Even with 100 supercomputers, it would be virtually impossible for any third party or surveillance program to guess a VPN’s encryption key through trial and error.
Now that you’ve heard our analogy, here’s a concise diagram from PCWorld.com that shows how a VPN (the blue line) bypasses the mainstream Internet (the red line).
Benefits of a VPN
There are several benefits of using a VPN. Here’s a quick breakdown of what a VPN can do for you:
Privacy – Your actions and browsing habits are hidden from anyone who might be spying, such as network administrators and your Internet service provider.
Security – All data, including your credit card numbers and passwords, are encrypted at all times. This makes it virtually impossible for criminals to decrypt and intercept your info.
Bypass Restrictions – You can hide your IP address, mask your location, and make it appear as though you’re browsing from somewhere halfway across the world. This has often been used by those who live under oppressive regimes to bypass government censorship (aka geoblocking) of the Internet.
Protection No Matter Where You Are – A VPN protects you, regardless of if you’re using a wired connection at home, free wireless at a coffee shop, or even tethering your computer to your smartphone. As long as all your connections pass through the VPN, it doesn’t matter where or how you browse the net.
How to Choose a VPN
Now that you know what a VPN does, and why it matters, you may want to take the leap and set up a VPN on your computer. First, you’ll need to choose a VPN service provider.
Some VPN services are free, but we’d only recommend these if you’re mostly concerned with bypassing country-based restrictions (benefit #3 above). For example, a free VPN can help you access regionally-restricted YouTube videos, streaming music services, and other geoblocked content. However, free VPNs are generally slower due to overcrowding, packed with ads, and much less secure than paid services. We’d advise you to avoid these, but here’s a list of MostlyTech’s Best Free VPN Services for 2016 if you’d like to do more research.
Aside from the inferior free options, you’ll need to pay a small monthly fee to sign up for a VPN service. This fee usually ranges from $5 to $10 per month—a small price to pay for a massive amount of added privacy and security. We’re not going to tell you which service to pick, but here are some guides that can help you choose:
To use a VPN, sign up for the service to acquire a login username and password.
Once you’ve chosen a VPN service, it’s often as simple as downloading that service provider’s application and installing it on your computer. For example, here’s a guide from Private Internet Access that shows how to set up a VPN on a computer running Windows:
Seriously, it’s that simple. Private Internet Access also offers an installer for Apple computers running Mac OS X, an iOS app for iPhones and iPads, and an Android app for other smartphones and tablets. There are dozens of providers that offer these same features, including TunnelBear, TorGuard, and WiTopia. Just choose the service that fits your needs and budget.
Digital security is of the utmost importance today, especially if you’re a prepper or survivalist. You can lock down your house and take every precaution to physically safeguard your family, but if you leave your computer unprotected, you might as well be bolting the front door while leaving a window wide open.
Fortunately, as we’ve shown, you can set up a secure VPN to encrypt all your online transactions and activities for under $10 a month. Seems like an easy choice to us.
The idea of living “off the grid”—that is, living entirely off the land without any connections to public utilities—is often a source of controversy. Zoning and land use laws often forbid individuals from using their own property as they see fit. On one hand, it’s said that these laws are necessary to ensure uniform property upkeep, and to keep neighborhoods clean and safe. On the other hand, some argue that these regulations infringe upon the rights of land owners to do as they wish, especially if their actions harm no one.
Tyler Truitt and his girlfriend Soraya Hamar outside their residence. Source: WAAYtv.com
Over the course of the last year, a man named Tyler Truitt has been fighting the city of Huntsville, Alabama regarding this very topic. Tyler, a United States Marine Corps combat veteran, purchased a plot of land in a rural portion of Huntsville in 2014. Shortly afterward, he placed a trailer on the land. However, rather than connecting to local utilities, Tyler set up solar panels for electricity, and began collecting and filtering rainwater for household use. He and his girlfriend even compost their own waste.
However, in March 2015, Tyler’s neighbor filed a complaint with the city, causing the Huntsville Zoning Division to investigate. It was found that Tyler’s property was not zoned for trailers, which are only allowed within trailer parks in Huntsville. Tyler contests that his trailer is not visible from any other property or public roadway, but the home was condemned, and an eviction notice was issued nonetheless.
On top of the controversy over the trailer, the city of Huntsville claims Tyler’s solar, water, and composting system violate building and/or health ordinances. In a letter to a local news outlet, the Mayor of Huntsville wrote, “There is nothing illegal about living “off the grid,” provided interested citizens go through proper channels. We encourage green environmental living, and our departments stand ready and willing to guide citizens through the appropriate permitting process.”
Truitt said he tried to get the appropriate permits, but was denied the chance to even fill out applications, since his home is classified as a trailer. “We had intended to petition for a variant. Why should a citizen be forced to apply for a variant in order to comply with an ordinance that was unconstitutional to begin with?,” Truitt told WAAY 31, a local ABC news outlet.
As of this week, Tyler has already lost an appeal to keep his home, and an appellate court upheld the ruling that he has 14 days to remove his trailer from the land. However, he insists he will stand his ground, and will not be prevented from living off the grid on the land he owns.
“How much is this fight worth to them? I know what it means to me. It’s my home, it’s everything and I’m not moving the house,” said Truitt.
We’ve mentioned in the past that AlfieAesthetics is one of our favorite survival YouTube channels. Alfie is a charismatic Brit who provides entertaining commentary, excellent camera work, and a plethora of great survival tips in video form. If you’re not following the channel already, we’d encourage you to do so.
Last weekend, Alfie published another video that caught our attention. Titled “10 Ways to Make Fire – Natural Tinders”, this video shows a collection of materials you can look for in nature to assist with starting a fire. Check it out:
Here’s a quick breakdown of the natural tinder materials, for those who can’t watch the video:
Some of these are rather obvious, but others (such as the fungi and Fireweed) are more obscure. Regardless, they’re all good items to keep in mind as you venture into the outdoors. Even during warm summer weather, you never know when a sudden shift in weather conditions or unexpected overnight stay could drop your core temperature. Practice finding these materials now, and you’ll be better prepared for the future.
So, what’s your favorite tinder material? Let us know in the comments, and explain why you chose it.
Even if you’ve never smoked in your life, it’s hard to deny the traditional appeal of a cigar. With a stogie gently smoldering in one hand and a glass of fine whisky in the other, you’ll feel as if you’re in the company of influential men like Ernest Hemingway, Al Capone, and Winston Churchill.
Sir Winston Churchill waving to the crowds, seen as usual with his signature cigar.
Cigars also pair well with various activities, ranging from poker games to milestone celebrations, and they can be a huge morale-booster in tough times. Whether everything’s going smoothly or the excrement has hit the proverbial fan, there comes a time to smoke ’em if you got ’em.
However, if you’re not well-versed in the ways of cigars, you may end up looking foolish to those who are. In the words of RECOIL contributor Mike Searson, “Cigar culture is a bit like gun culture… There are protocols, special tools, and a subculture attached to it.”
The anatomy of a cigar. Source: RECOIL
If you’re interested in learning more about cigar etiquette and anatomy, check out RECOIL’s excellent online guide, titled “Thank You for Smoking”. It even includes a buyer’s guide with several suggested cigars you can try out. With these tips, you’ll be able to blend seamlessly into the cigar culture, and never make a fool of yourself among other smokers.
