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Still Relevant? Wireless RFID Identity Theft

By
Offgrid Staff
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Technology is a wonderful thing. It makes our lives easier and more convenient. A wealth of information is just a Google search away. Smartphone apps are totally personalized exactly how you like them. Merchants and service providers can give you what you want, based on your purchase history and your past behavior. And you can buy almost anything with the click of a button or the swipe of a piece of plastic. But all that convenience comes at a price — your privacy.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) refers to systems that transmit certain identifying data wirelessly, using radio waves. That data might be the serial number of a piece of equipment. Or it might be your personal or financial information. It’s stored on a so-called RFID tag, which is attached to or embedded in the object in question. In turn, a reader can retrieve the data from the tag using radio waves, so long as it is in close proximity to the tag. They don’t need to touch, nor do they need line of sight. Different types of tags and readers are effective at varying distances.

We’ll take a look at how RFID works, how it’s used, what risks it poses, and countermeasures that you can take. And we’ll take a look at various products you can utilize to help protect your privacy.

Technology Is Great

RFID is an immensely useful technology. There are many industrial and commercial applications for RFID, allowing companies to easily track and manage inventory, items, animals, and people. For example, manufacturers use RFID tags to track products through an assembly line. Distributors use them to effectively track inventory. Ranchers keep tabs on their cattle and sheep. Hospitals monitor inventory and workflow. Libraries replace bar codes with these tags. Even that access card you use to get into your office building or garage uses RFID.

There are many consumer applications as well. The device affixed to your windshield to let you zip through toll roads and bridges? The chip you had implanted in your Doberman, Fluffy? Your fancy new credit card that allows you to pay for those curly fries with the wave of a hand? That’s all RFID technology. Many smartphones are incorporating RFID (referred to as near field communication or NFC for phones) to allow for wireless payment and data transmission. But did you know that your passport may have an RFID tag in it, containing your photograph as well as passport and personal data? Your driver’s license might have an RFID chip too. With such personal and financial information encoded in those tags, this raises some very real security, privacy, and fraud concerns.

How Exactly Does It Work?

Tags generally are comprised of at least two parts — an integrated circuit, which is its brain, and an antenna for signal transmissions. There are three main types of RFID tags:

Active: Has an internal power source and may periodically transmit a signal. These are more expensive, but can operate at long ranges, function in difficult conditions, and even record additional data from sensors, such as temperature and humidity. Active tags are commonly seen in industrial and military applications.

Semi-Passive: Has a small battery that is activated when a reader is nearby and powers only the chip, not the antenna. While not as powerful as active tags, these are more sensitive than passive tags and can also perform active tasks such as logging sensor data.

Passive: Does not have any power source, relying on the signal from a reader to provide power. Passive tags are cheap to produce and very compact. They have more limited range, which can be considered a positive attribute from a security standpoint.

We are largely concerned with passive tags, such as those found on credit cards, passports, and driver’s licenses.

If you see a symbol like the one shown below on your passport, it means yours is a biometric passport that is fitted with an RFID chip containing personally identifiable information that can be taken from you without your ever knowing.
If you see a symbol like the one shown below on your passport, it means yours is a biometric passport that is fitted with an RFID chip containing personally identifiable information that can be taken from you without your ever knowing.

Readers come in various shapes and sizes, and varying levels of strength. There are the typical point-of-sale terminals that you may have seen at your local fast food chain, intended to be used in close proximity and designed to be affordable and reliable for local businesses. But there are also high-powered readers that have greater range. Hacked and connected to a laptop or other custom circuitry, such a setup could potentially read your RFID tag from several feet away and you’d never know it.

RFID systems are designed to work on various frequency bands, depending on the application and industry standards. Financial institutions, passports, and NFC mobile devices generally adhere to ISO/IEC 14443 standards, stipulating high-frequency systems at 13.56 MHz. There are systems that utilize low frequency as well as ultra high-frequency bands, but those are rare to find in the consumer applications that we are concerned with.

Risks

Carrying and using cards or IDs with RFID tags presents a few potential risks:

Skimming: Someone uses a reader to surreptitiously retrieve data from your RFID tag without your knowledge. For example, a criminal might hack a high-powered reader, place it in a briefcase, and run it off battery power. Then by passing by various folks, such as women carrying purses, the reader might pick up data from RFID-enabled credit cards. Later, the criminal loads the data into a computer and uses a blank magstripe card to make a cloned counterfeit credit card.

Eavesdropping: Someone intercepts data that is being legitimately transmitted from your RFID tag to a reader with your consent. This sort of eavesdropping may be possible at greater distances than skimming with specialized equipment, but location and timing is more constrained — since the criminal needs to be near an authorized reader being used for an actual legitimate transaction.

Tracking: Even legitimate use of RFID can leave a trail of data that you might not have thought about. For example, if you regularly use a wireless toll pass like an E-ZPass in your vehicle, have you considered all the information on your travels that it provides? Just two data points with position and time could be used to calculate your average speed, for example. New York state has rolled out a system in several areas that tracks the movement of cars with E-ZPass tags to estimate traffic patterns and travel times — they insist individual data is not stored or used for law enforcement purposes. Does that comfort you? And just imagine the implications for RFID tags that you carry on your person. Again, those are typically passive tags with limited range, but it’s still frightening to consider.

Countermeasures

If you’re reading this magazine, it means that you’re already thinking ahead. You have the desire and commitment to take care of yourself and your loved ones. You know that making carefully considered and educated decisions is the way to go — and sometimes that means making the choice to compromise on some conveniences.

For instance, you could avoid potential RFID risks with credit cards by simply obtaining or requesting cards that do not have RFID tags in the first place. How important is it, really, to be able to wave your card at the register to pay for your Slurpee? Keep in mind, though, that you are always subject to good old-fashioned crime. Everything in life is a tradeoff, and one benefit of credit cards with RFID tags is that you needn’t actually hand over your card to a cashier — when you do, an unscrupulous individual might steal your info. Fortunately, more and more stores utilize customer-facing terminals that you can swipe yourself.

But you may not have any choice in the matter. If you have a U.S. passport issued after August 2007, it contains an RFID tag with some personal data. Your state (in particular border states) might issue driver’s licenses with an RFID chip. So you might not be able to opt-out. But there are a variety of products to help protect your privacy — most provide passive protection by shielding against transmissions while one actively jams them.

You can even make some of your own. While a little less user-friendly than the products in this article, an Altoids tin or several layers of aluminum foil can actually provide protection. Yes, that’s right — insert your own tin foil joke here.altoids-tin

As mentioned earlier, the RFID chips that we’re worried about use high-frequency bands, making them sensitive to metal and thus able to be shielded by the linings in the various products featured here. Low-frequency bands are more difficult to shield, but fortunately credit cards and the like don’t use them. As an experiment, we tested our access badges at the office, which utilize low-frequency tags — all of the products reduced the effective range of the reader, but only a couple actually blocked it (the Access Denied wallet and the Alumawallet). Breaking out the aluminum foil, we had to completely wrap the badge in at least three layers of foil to prevent it from being read.

Finally, you could simply inflict some damage on the RFID chip in question to disable it. You could make surgical cuts with an X-Acto knife or use a hammer to perhaps be more discreet. And it’s free (though irreversible). You may have read about using a microwave oven to destroy RFID chips — be wary with this approach as it may scorch or burn the item. However, before you break out your hammer, please do keep in mind that tampering with government documents is illegal. How often do you really need to break out your passport anyway? Surely you have some aluminum foil in the kitchen right now…

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An Emergency Radio Buyer’s Guide

By
Offgrid Staff
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Oftentimes, emergencies strike with little or no warning. What seems like a regular, uneventful day can instantly turn into a living hell in mere seconds. Mother Nature is full of surprises: earthquakes, avalanches, mudslides and tornados can manifest without warning, leaving massive destruction in their wake. And because certain unsavory elements of humankind can’t allow Mother Nature to hoard all the credit for wanton destruction, manmade havoc is always a possibility too.

If you find yourself caught in a situation where you got sucker punched in the gut by a surprise emergency event, there’s a good chance you’ll be scrambling to find out as much information about it as you can to better understand your predicament and how you can enhance your survivability. Because you had enough foresight to have an emergency radio packed for just this sort of occurrence, you have a means to monitor local news broadcasts as well as the nationally broadcast Emergency Alert System to figure out just what happened, what to do, and where to find the safest places.

Emergency radios differ from traditional radios in that most of them feature multiple functions, can run off different power sources, and are built more robustly. We like emergency radios that feature an alternative to dry cell battery power. Many of these radios can be alternatively powered by hand crank or solar panels — very handy if batteries are or become scarce. Some radios also allow for other devices such as smartphones and small electronics to be charged through their built-in USB ports. Other features to look at are overall size (which affects its portability), speaker quality, and volume capability, as well as extra functions such as a built-in flashlight.

The most important element in an emergency radio is, of course, the radio itself. You want one that has good reception of both AM and FM bands, whether indoors or outdoors, as well as one capable of receiving weather and emergency broadcasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over a service called NOAA Weather Radio. The broadcast station frequencies of this weather-and-emergency-specific radio service are known as weather band (WB). It is broadcast over seven FM frequencies in the 162.4 MHz through 162.55 MHz range, which regular radios typically cannot pick up. In order to hear NOAA’s 24-hours-a-day reports on weather-related warnings, forecasts, hazard information, and alerts of non-weather emergencies (such as threats to national security, environmental and civil safety), you will need a WB-capable radio that is specifically set up to pick up NOAA Weather Radio.

There are many emergency radios on the market; we selected ones of differing sizes, with multiple power sources, and replete with multiple features. Let’s take a look at a few that warrant a closer look.

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How to Make Char Cloth Fire Starters

By
Patrick McCarthy
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Make char cloth

Fire is an essential element to survival, especially if you’re outside during the winter months. A crackling fire allows you to stay warm, heat food, boil drinking water, ward off predators, and keep your spirits up. However, starting a fire is usually easier said than done, and can be extremely difficult if you’re already panicked and hypothermic.

Make char cloth 02

That’s why we always advise you to include several fire-starters in your survival kit—if one fails, you have others to fall back on. There are straightforward items like stormproof matches, lighters, and ferro rod strikers, and there are also more creative options like the gum wrapper method and super matches. There’s yet another option that we haven’t discussed here, and it’s definitely worth considering: char cloth.

As you can see in the video above, char cloth is exactly what it sounds like, heavily charred and blackened cotton fibers. This can be literal 100% cotton cloth, or it can be household cotton balls. Just seal the fabric in a metal container with a small vent hole, and heat thoroughly with an open flame or other intense heat source.

The resulting material will ignite quickly and burn slowly, providing an easy way to start a larger fire.

Make char cloth

So, what kind of fire starters do you rely on? Let us know in the comments.

Flint Knapping Primitive Tools

By
Patrick McCarthy
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In the past, we’ve mentioned the importance of improvised weapons. Even if you’re always armed, you could easily get robbed and end up in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on your back. Knowledge weighs nothing, so it’s wise to learn other ways to create handmade weapons and tools for when SHTF. Even if you never have to use this knowledge, it doesn’t hurt to learn.

Flint knapping primitive tools 2
Some basic tools used for flint knapping.

One of the best ways to create knives and tools in the wild is through a technique called flint knapping. If you’ve ever seen an ancient arrow head or spear, you’ve probably seen the results of flint knapping. The technique uses a brittle stone and a hard striker to chip away razor-sharp and thin fragments. These fragments can then be chipped more to form tools.

Note: Always wear eye protection when flint knapping, unless you want tiny razor-sharp bits of stone in your eyes. Gloves are also a good idea to prevent nicks and cuts.

This video from Paleoman52 on YouTube shows the steps involved. One thing the video doesn’t mention is the type of stone to use, such as flint, chert, and obsidian (all of which can be bought online for practicing). If you’re looking for stones in the outdoors, try tapping them and listening to the pitch—higher pitch is usually better for knapping.

For more information on flint knapping, check out this guide from WildernessCollege.com.

Night Stick Survival Angle Light

By
Patrick McCarthy
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Angle light front and back

Ever see a firefighter holding a flashlight? You probably won’t, since they need both hands free to work and clear debris. What about a headlamp? You might see them occasionally, but the constraints of heat resistance and fitting over a large helmet make them less common.

Angle light firefighter

More often than not, you’ll see firefighters wearing a third type of device: an angle light. These devices are typically mounted on a chest pocket or shoulder strap, and provide hands-free forward-facing illumination. Better yet, they’re designed to be highly durable for use in extreme conditions.

XPR-5572R_features
The XPR-5572R angle light offers many settings for short- and long-range illumination.

Night Stick has just launched a new line of three Dual-Light Angle Lights: the XPP-5570R (AA batteries), XPR-5572R (rechargeable Li-Ion battery), and XPR-5572RM (rechargeable with magnetic base). Note the term “dual-light”—it indicates that these provide both a wide LED flood light and a focused LED spot light. You can turn on one or the other, or use both at the same time for maximum short- and long-distance illumination.

The XPR-5572R rechargeable light includes multiple charging and battery options.
The XPR-5572R rechargeable light includes multiple charging and battery options.

For survival purposes, dual illumination features are nice to have, but what’s more important is durability and reliability. Each of the three Night Stick angle light models is drop-rated at 2 meters, IP-X7 rated waterproof, and meets firefighting performance standard NFPA-1971-8.6. It’s even certified as Intrinsically Safe, meaning it won’t become an ignition source around gas fumes or other flammable atmospheric conditions.

XPR-5572RM_FrontBack

The spot light provides anywhere from 60 to 200 lumens (depending on power level) and a 267 meter beam distance, while the floodlight provides a maximum of 200 lumens down to a minimum of 20 lumens in low-power “Survival Mode”. These Night Stick angle lights can run continuously for 6 hours in high brightness mode, or up to 30 hours in Survival Mode.

MSRP is $59.95 for the XPP-5570R with AA batteries, $99.95 for the XPR-5572R with rechargeable Li-Ion battery, and $125.95 XPR-5572RM with the magnetic base.

If you’re looking for an alternative to handheld flashlights and headlamps, these Night Stick lights are about as tough as it gets, and are worth considering. For more information, visit baycoproducts.com.

ZT 0630 Knife Review

By
Patrick McCarthy
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ZT 0630 knife review

Craftsmanship—it’s a concept some might argue has been lost in this age of outsourcing and manufacturing budget cuts. Critics have said that the days of making precision tools by hand are long gone, supplanted by lightning-fast CNC machines and 3D printers which achieve levels of accuracy no human could reach. Besides, it’s much easier to maintain a high profit margin by sending products to be churned out by low-cost factories overseas, and the results are usually good enough.

Despite this apparent outlook of gloom and doom, we’re happy to report that American craftsmanship is still alive and well. You just have to know where to look.

ZT 0630 knife review 13

These days, it often incorporates the aforementioned high-tech manufacturing techniques, but the end result is clearly something that’s thoughtfully designed, carefully assembled, and meticulously checked for quality. It may not be hand-forged by a bearded artisan in a shed, but it’s undeniably well-made.

This brings us to today’s subject: the ZT 0630 knife review. Is this high-end blade carrying on the tradition of American craftsmanship? Read on to find out.

Zero Tolerance

ZT 0630 knife review logo

Launched in 2006, Zero Tolerance (or ZT) is a brand of hard-use knives designed for professional-grade applications. ZT says they have “Zero Tolerance for anything less than the best” and that their knives are “proudly overbuilt”. At first, this sounds a bit like marketing hype, so we wanted to get our hands on one of their latest blades and see if it lives up to these claims.

That said, right off the bat ZT puts their money where their mouth is. All of their knives are manufactured here in the USA, in Tualatin, Oregon. To reflect this fact, each blade is clearly printed with “USA” and a serial number.

ZT 0630 knife review 08

Zero Tolerance also offers a limited lifetime warranty and free sharpening service (you just pay for shipping). If you somehow manage to break a ZT folding knife’s blade, they’ll even replace it with a new one for $30.

The ZT 0630

ZT 0630 knife review

The Zero Tolerance 0630 is the latest in a line of knives manufactured by ZT and designed by the legendary Ernest Emerson. If you’re as much of a knife nerd as we are, you’ll probably recognize that name. Emerson has been making and designing folding knives since 1979, and became famous for his patented wave shaped feature, which allows users to draw and open the knife simultaneously in a split second (more on that later).

The 0630 differs from previous ZT/Emerson collaborations in two ways. First, it has an upswept tactical blade shape, instead of the tanto shape of the 0620 series. This shape is perfect for smooth slicing cuts. Secondly, the 0630 is made of Crucible S35VN steel, which is chip-resistant and easily sharpened to a razor edge.

Before we get into our impressions, here are the 0630’s specs:

  • Blade: 3.6″ S35VN steel, upswept shape, stonewashed and satin finish
  • Frame: Stonewashed titanium back, black textured G10 front
  • Thumb disk for manual opening
  • Wave shaped feature for quick-draw opening
  • Frame lock with hardened steel lockbar inserts
  • Reversible pocket clip, satin black coated with ZT logo
  • 4.9″ closed length, 8.5″ open length, 6.3oz weight
  • MSRP: $250

Initial Impressions

ZT 0630 knife review 07

Picking up the 0630 for the first time, the word that came to mind was “substantial”. It’s physically large for a folding knife, at nearly 5 inches long when closed. It also has some considerable heft, despite extensive use of lightweight titanium in the frame.

When it comes to knives, we’d say “substantial” is a good place to start, as it’s easy to control and doesn’t feel fragile. However, we could see how the 0630’s large size and relatively heavy weight might be a bit much for some users.

ZT 0630 knife review 15
Finely textured G10 material on the handle’s face gives the user grip to control the blade.

On the front of the handle, you’ll find a black G10 scale with a super-fine mesh texture. Pairs of diagonal ridges have also been cut into the G10, and they add a little more visual appeal, but don’t seem to have any real impact on grip. Lefties will also note three holes for re-mounting the pocket clip on this side.

ZT 0630 knife review 02

On the flipside, a slab of stonewashed titanium gives an industrial look, and pairs nicely with the blade’s stonewashed and satin finish. A frame lock is cut into this titanium chunk, and features a hardened steel lockbar insert attached with a single silver Torx screw.

This insert prevents lock bar sticking, and ensures the knife locks open solidly without any wiggle or play. It also prevents the lock bar from being bent outwards too far, which would potentially damage the frame.

ZT 0630 clip small

The 0630’s folding blade has a ball detent to keep it from opening accidentally, and a textured thumb disk for manual opening. Along the top edge of the blade, you’ll spot the hook-shaped wave feature, as well as some ridges for additional grip. The flat face of the blade is stonewashed, while other surfaces are a shinier satin finish.

Opening and Use

ZT 0630 knife review 06

There are two methods to opening the knife: manually (using the thumb disk) and quick-draw (using the wave feature).

Manually opening the knife is …difficult. The frame lock detent keeps the blade firmly closed, which is great for safety, but makes manually flipping the knife open one-handed tricky.

In fact, we found it nearly impossible to open the knife using only a thumb, as the blade won’t budge until you hold the knife awkwardly and push with all your might. This may be due to the knife not being fully broken in, but we’d estimate we opened the knife around 100 times so far, and it remains tighter than we’d prefer. Your mileage may vary if you’re a thumb-wrestling champion.

ZT 0630 knife review 05

You could give in and open the knife with both hands, or be patient and learn the technique to opening it one-handed. We found that it’s doable if you grip the disk between your thumb and index finger, and push upwards, being careful not to put pressure on the lock bar with your other fingers. It still takes some concentration, but it’s the only way we found to consistently open the 0630 one-handed.

Update: After a few weeks of using the knife frequently, we’re happy to report the action seems to have loosened substantially. It’s still firmer than many blades we’ve used, and still requires some practice to open the blade one-handed, but it has gotten better.

For quicker opening, there’s the patented wave feature. For those not familiar, the hook on the top of the blade is designed to catch on the seam of your pocket as you draw the knife. With some practice, this means the 0630 can open as fast—or potentially faster than—any assisted opener or automatic/switchblade.

Click the image below to view an animation of how it works.

ZT-0630-knife-review-wave-animation

One fluid motion, and the knife is ready to go. No buttons to push or levers to fumble with.

The downside to this is that it’s far from subtle. Most average people will look at you like you’re Freddy Krueger as you sweep your arm back and the knife opens with a resounding “snap”. However, if you’re ever forced to rely on the knife for self defense, it’s hard to beat the wave feature.

ZT 0630 knife review 04

When it comes to cutting, the upswept blade shape glides effortlessly through most materials. We’ll also mention that ZT put a brilliant edge on this knife from the factory. It’s as razor-sharp as any folding knife we’ve ever had, and we expect the S35VN steel to keep it that way.

Conclusions

So, does the ZT 0360 live up to the manufacturer’s claim of being “proudly overbuilt”? Also, does it exhibit true American craftsmanship? We’d say yes on both counts. It’s very expensive at $250, but at least you’re getting what you pay for.

ZT 0630 knife review 03

This knife is made in the USA from high-quality materials, and ZT’s precision manufacturing experience is clearly evident in its fit and finish. Our single source of frustration was the sticky detent that makes one-handed opening tough, but if you can get past that, it’s an excellent choice for a daily-carry blade you can depend on.

Pros:

  • Superb build quality, with smooth pivot and locking mechanism
  • High-quality materials and attractive stonewashed finish
  • Razor-sharp upswept blade slices effortlessly
  • Wave feature makes quick-drawing easy
  • Made in USA

Cons:

  • Sticky detent makes it difficult to open one-handed
  • $250 price is very steep (but we’d say it’s worth it)
  • Black G10 scale is a little visually plain (we’re hoping ZT releases a Carbon Fiber version)

We hope you’ve enjoyed this in-depth ZT 0630 knife review. For more information on this and other ZT knives, go to zt.kaiusaltd.com.

NATO Alphabet – Do You Know Your ABCs?

By
Patrick McCarthy
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Most of us have played, or at least heard of, the telephone game. Each person whispers a phrase to the next person in line, and by the end of the process, the message is completely garbled. This communication breakdown is funny at the time, but when it happens in real life, it’s less amusing… and more frustrating.

In order to be clearly heard when speaking, we need a system that’s phonetically distinct—that way no one’s left wondering if you said “here”, “ear”, or “beer”. When spelling words over the phone or radio, many people often say “A as in apple” or “B as in boy”. However, these aren’t standardized, and may lead to more confusion if someone says “K as in knight” or “N as in night”.

The standard NATO alphabet, established in 1956.
The standard NATO alphabet, established in 1956.

Fortunately, an international consortium of military forces have established a system of phonetic code words for this purpose: the NATO alphabet. This alphabet is is used to spell parts of a message containing letters to avoid confusion, especially for important military objectives such as targets and waypoints. It’s also useful to us as civilians, since it makes communicating clearly much easier.

British telecommunications provider VoIP Broker created the following infographic with pictograms that should help you memorize the alphabet.

NATO alphabet infographic

So, do you know your Alfas, Bravos, and Charlies yet, or are you still scratching your head and saying “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”?

Give it some time, and come back to study and test yourself later. You never know when it could come in handy, especially over cell phone conversations with weak signal. Plus, it sounds a lot more professional than saying “X as in… uhhhh… xylophone?”

Sugar-Based Polymer for Water Purification

By
Patrick McCarthy
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0

As survivalists, many of us tend to favor traditional tools over high-tech cutting-edge gadgetry. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Well, not necessarily. Many of the technologies we use today are centuries old, and have considerable room for improvement. Sometimes, embracing new technology can dramatically improve our way of life.

Water purification pollution runoff
Water purification is a serious problem, especially when it comes to removing industrial pollutants.

One example of this is carbon water filtration. Civilizations have been using this technique to remove contaminants from water for hundreds, or even thousands of years. There’s even some evidence that it may have been used in ancient Egypt. It works well at removing chlorine, sediment, volatile organic compounds, and even bad taste from water. For a beginner’s guide to carbon water filtration, check out this helpful article from All About Water Filters.

Water purification warning sign

However, scientists may have recently discovered something that has the potential to be even better than carbon filtration. It’s known as β-cyclodextrin (β-CD or Beta-CD), and it’s a “porous, cross-linked complex” constructed of loops of sugar molecules.

This polymer removes BPA (a potentially harmful component of plastics) just like carbon filters can, but it does so in as little as 10 seconds. That’s up to 200 times faster than common activated carbon filters on the market today. Not only that, but the new β-cyclodextrin purifier was found to effectively remove “model aromatic compounds, pesticides, plastic components, and pharmaceuticals” from water, significantly outperforming many carbon filters.

This new polymer is more effective at removing volatile organic compounds, such as those from industrial runoff.
This new polymer is more effective at removing organic compounds, such as those from pesticides and industrial runoff.

Best of all, it’s reusable (although it requires rinsing the filter in alcohol), and initial reports indicate it might even cost less than conventional carbon filters. Obviously, more testing still needs to be done, but this new purifier is looking promising so far.

For more information on the new β-cyclodextrin purifier, check out this article on Ars Technica.

Survival Scenarios: Ocean or Desert?

By
Patrick McCarthy
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Where would you rather survive: lost at sea or stranded in the Sahara desert? That’s our hypothetical question of the day, and we want to hear your decision in the poll below.

This or that ocean
Water, water everywhere… but not a drop to drink.

Before you answer, we’ll provide some more information on the circumstances. In either location, you’ll need to survive for 7 days, and you’ll be alone. The weather will be clear all week, with no rain on the forecast. There’s little to no hope of rescue in either case, and you’ll have the same gear in both situations, listed below:

  • A fixed-blade knife
  • 3 emergency ration bars
  • A metal canteen containing 2 liters of clean water
  • The clothes on your back (long pants, a T-shirt, a hooded windbreaker, athletic shoes, and an analog wristwatch)
This or that desert sand
Windswept sand and scorching heat. That’s about all you’ll find in the barren Sahara desert.

In the ocean scenario, you’ll be stuck smack dab in the middle of the Pacific, in an inflatable rubber survival raft (with sun shade on top). In the desert scenario, you obviously won’t have a raft, but you will have a 1-person tent with some sturdy anchors for the shifting sands. Otherwise, you’ll have nothing but what’s listed above.

Make your choice below, and feel free to justify your decision in the comments section.

Survival Scenarios will be a recurring feature on OFFGRIDweb.com, and will ask you to make a difficult choice between two or more hypothetical situations.

We don’t just want you to read our posts silently—we want to hear what you have to say. That’s why we’re working hard to provide more interactive content like quizzes, polls, and giveaways. Got any suggestions? Post them in the comments below, or head over to our Facebook page.

Splitting Logs Without an Axe

By
Patrick McCarthy
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Splitting logs without axe

When you’re surviving in the outdoors, constructing a fire is a high priority. It allows you to stay warm, boil water, cook food, repel predators, and provides a tremendous morale boost.

For short-term campsites, using a few kindling sticks and small tree branches may be enough to sustain a fire, but they burn out far too quickly to keep the fire going continuously. Sooner or later, you’re going to need to break down some larger logs into quarters for your campfire, or for use in our preferred technique, the Swedish torch.

Splitting logs campfire 02

However, if you don’t have a proper axe, splitting logs can be tricky. For small logs, you can use a fixed blade knife and a piece of hard wood to baton the wood down to size. For logs that are wider than the length of your knife, though, this won’t get the job done—you’ll need to use the wedge technique.

This trick works similarly to batoning, but instead of hammering your knife through the length of the log, you’ll be constructing hardwood wedges. Note that we said hardwood, as softer wood will buckle or crack if you start pounding it into a log. Here’s a video that demonstrates log splitting with wedges:

You’ll still want a knife of some sort to get the split started. The video host recommends a fixed-blade knife, but we’re sure it could be done with a sturdy folding knife too. All you need is a crack on one end of the log that’s big enough to insert the wedge, and you’ll be good to go.

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