Nine people were killed in violence across Chicago over a 24-hour period from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning. The large number of slayings would be unusual on a warm summer weekend and is startling for a late-winter weekday.

Most of the victims were killed in shootings. They include a 15-year-old girl and a man, both killed while sitting in a car in Roseland, and a 53-year-old man shot to death in a fight on a CTA bus on the West Side.

The worst-case scenario in a survival situation is bugging out on foot with what you can carry on your back. Preparing a bug-out bag is a common process for preppers just in case we have to make a run for it in a dire situation. While plan A would be to shelter in place and plan B would be to have a vehicle set-up, plan C is the pack stuffed with survival necessities.

The planning of a BOB should be a well thought out process with information and ideas gathered from many sources. One source that should be seriously considered in backpacking. Camping is still camping, one turns up at a wonderful place in the wilderness, sets up camp, and enjoys the scenery and solitude. Backpackers, on the other hand, carry all their gear on their backs and move over land from a starting point to a finish to see more over the course of their trip.

There is a lot that can be learned from backpackers that will come in handy when planning a BOB. The backpacking industry and the people who sling a pack on their backs are nothing if not innovative. Over the years companies have developed gear using modern materials that are both lightweight and strong, much more so than the gear our fathers and grandfathers had. There are also interesting skill sets that backpackers use that are relevant for us. Let’s take a quick look at some.

Leave No Trace

There is an ethic among many backpackers to “Leave No Trace” on the land that they travel. To many, this may sound a little new age, but it has real-world survival implications. If a person has to leave one place and move to another for safety, there is a chance that they are under threat and being tracked. Getting into the habit of following the “Leave No Trace” ethic leaves fewer clues to where they are going.

Light and Ultra-light Weight

Distance backpackers, especially thru-hikers, want to carry as little weight as possible. The industry has responded with gear that is lighter and stronger than ever before using materials such as Titanium, Dyneema, and carbon fiber. This kind of gear has been a boon for backpackers and can be for preppers as well. The drawback is the expense that comes with it, but if you want the best, you have to pay for it.

Clothing

Some of these innovations have been about making clothing both warm and light. New shell materials, new insulation fills, and acrylic fleece have replaced heavier clothing from the past. Wool, especially Merino wool, is woven in such a way that it is not scratchy and uncomfortable against the skin. These modern innovations will give users a lot of choices.

Food and Water

This is an area of great innovation. Freeze-dried foods have been with us for years, but today you can make your own. It’s expensive, but home freeze-dryers are available to one and all. My friends at Swartz Foods built a business around these devices and they are producing some of the best I have had. There is also retort packaging, such as is used in MREs, and it is being used commercially for quality foods that do not require water to prepare them and are lighter than canned foods.

Boiling and various tablets were once the way to purify water, then came filters. Over the years filters have gotten more effective and less expensive. Hollow fiber membranes are less expensive to manufacture so there is a series of filters based on them that give everyone access to a way to have clean water.

A new innovation in clean water is portable ozone generators. These are electronic, USB charged devices that generate ozone from oxygen and this ozone kills most biologicals. I have been testing a pen model from Roving Blue that has been excellent. I have used to purify water and I have not had a single issue.

Tips and Tricks

There are too many to really talk about here but check out the plethora of books that will teach many tricks that will make a bug-out safer and more comfortable. One such trick is sprouting in your backpack. A package of Alfalfa or Mung bean seeds, a dedicated wide-mouth bottle and some coffee filters gives you a micro-green garden that you carry with you. A quick search on Amazon will provide you with a long list of books on the subject.

Conclusion

These are just some of the ways that learning from backpackers can improve our survivability. Applying these ideas and using the innovative equipment that has come out of the industry can help you be prepared. It can also be a fun hobby that will improve and increase your skill set.

The post What Can We Learn from Backpackers About Preparing for a Bug-Out. first appeared on Ready Magazine.

This review comes to us from James C. Jones, the founder of Live Free USA, based on his more than 50 years of experience in preparedness and survival.

Long before there were any devices specifically made for survivalists, Live Free members recognized the need for some kind of digging tool in the survival pack. A shovel would be needed to dig fire pits, drainage trenches around our tents, and dispose of waste. We might even need to dig shelters from weapons fire, nuclear blasts, and fallout.

Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s surplus “Army Shovels” were plentiful, but too heavy for carrying any distance. They were excellent digging tools but intended to be carried and used by healthy young soldiers short distances to the front lines. After World War Two every child in my neighborhood had one, and we trenched and tunneled every vacant lot we could find.

We early survivalists started adopting garden trowels to put into our packs as a BTN (better than nothing) digging tools. The Vietnam era military folding shovels that came out in the 1980’s was lighter and more compact than the old army shovels and could be carried further but were not designed for civilian survival applications.

Recently, a wide variety of so-called “survival shovels” have come onto the market. These shovels range from basic folding shovels for about $15.00 to the complex GRAMFIRE for over $200.00. Survival shovels* are defined by being relatively compact while having multiple functions such as ax blades, saw blades, hooks, and wrenches. Like anything that is designed to do more than one thing, they are never as good as just a shovel, just a knife, just a saw, etc. but handy as being multi-functional. The 15-in-1 Multi-Function, Folding Shovel from Stealth Angel sells for a very reasonable $34.95.

The shovel blade is very heavy-duty and includes a saw blade, sharp ax-knife blade, hook, and two hexagonal wrench cut-outs. A small knife, fork, and saw blade are integral to one of the handle segments and a Philips and blade screwdriver are. Built into another segment. There is also a glass breaker point and a compass in the handle. A magnesium fire starter comes attached to the carrying strap and case.

The whole thing fits into a 9” x 6” x 2” cloth carrying case that weighs about two pounds. When all four segments are fully assembled you have a strong 30-inch-long shovel tool. The heavyweight handle and sharpened spade also make for a formidable weapon and effective rescue tool. There is a bit of room left in the handle for a few extra items. I do not advocate this for a primary survival pack item since you should already have a multi-tool, knife, fire starter and other tools with you, and there are lighter, smaller shovels available. It is ideal for carrying in a vehicle, keeping at your jobsite, or in a cache where you might need all of these functions.

* I covered a variety of survival shovels in chapter five of The Ultimate Book of Survival Gear. Published by Skyhorse Publishing.

The post Guest Review: Super Shovel first appeared on Ready Magazine.

There are a number of books on preparedness. The worst of them are a book sized list of stuff that you need to get to be ready. The best of them cover not only gear, but skills and mindset as well. “Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios” fits in the latter category.

In this book, Mike Glover teaches readers how to be ready for whatever comes their way. Drawing on his most dire experiences in combat and in the real world, this book shows you how almost no disaster is more powerful than someone who is truly prepared.

Mike Glover is the owner and founder of Fieldcraft Survival, a preparedness and training company in Utah. He is a retired Green Beret and CIA contractor and a proponent of preparedness for citizens. He offers training in a growing range of topics that are of value to students. He is also a prolific presence on YouTube, producing videos and podcasts with useful information.

I knew this book would be an important read when I found out it was on the way, but as with any writer who owns a business selling related products, I worry that it would be a sales driver for his products. I was wrong. He refrains from specific suggestions. The few times he does mention a product of his own it is more in the way of demonstrating a thought process than a sales pitch.

The real beauty of this book is it’s emphasis on critical thinking. Each chapter begins with a run down of his thought process concerning the issue at hand. While he never explicitly says it, seems clear to me he holds creative thinking in high regard as well. If you can think critically, you can solve most problems, if you can add a creative element to the process, you can innovate.

The first four chapters of the book are about thinking and planning. He has done his research too. The book starts with the biological and mental processes that people go through in a crisis. He goes on to share examples of how people reacted in crisis and what the results of their decisions were. By this point of the book he has shared some foundational events in his life, and he uses this self-knowledge to describe the events.

The following three chapters apply these ideas to planning, situational awareness and, possibly most importantly, decision points. One of the hardest parts of planning is knowing when to put your plans into motion. When you’re facing a hurricane, it’s an easy decision, but what about greater threats? I feel that the bigger the decision in a crisis and the more “out there” the issue, the harder it is to make the move. These three chapters are helping me to build a better plan.

The last three chapters are more inline with what one would expect from a preparedness book. He discusses a layered system of preparedness in the areas of Everyday Carry, Mobility, and preparing the Homestead, or as I like to call it, bugging in. While he does talk about a few brands that he likes, he approaches this section by applying the critical thinking skills from the first half of the book.

I believe this is an important book for preparedness. Mike Glover leans on real world experience and real research to teach the reader how to get ready. He is more interested in getting readers to think critically about equipment decisions than he is in selling products. If you need to know about his suggestions about gear, tune in to his social media presence. If you want to under the thought process and planning behind it all, read his book. You won’t be sorry.

The post “Prepared: A Manual for Surviving Worst-Case Scenarios” by Mike Glover first appeared on Ready Magazine.

Every month I come across a bunch of resources and new products that might be of interest to preppers. Starting this month, I am going to gather up a list and publish it here. Do not take anything listed here to be an item I endorse unless I specifically say so.

If you have a product or a service that you think should be on one of these lists, drop me a line at editor@readymagazine.com and I will take a look at it.

The Warrior Poet Society Network

Let’s start with a service that I do endorse. The Warrior Poet Society is the brainchild of John Lovell, a retired army ranger and firearms instructor. One of the services that he provides is the Warrior Poet Society Network (WPSN), a streaming service with high quality instruction for those of us interested in firearms.

The service is like Make Ready from Panteao Productions in that it provides quality instructions from qualified instructors, but where I think it excels is in the other subjects it covers. Make Ready has a series of survival and preparations that are worthwhile, including a series of videos by Dave Canterbury that are great. WPSN does it a bit better.

They have been introducing many preparedness related series from the instructors from the Survival Summit, including EJ Snyder from Naked and Afraid. They have series on bugging in, bugging out, land navigation and several other important subjects in addition to shooting, martial arts, and videos from several popular YouTube channels that provide review and 2^nd Amendment advocacy.

Membership in WPSN is $9.99 a month and can be found at https://www.watchwpsn.com/.

TopoView

Maps are an important preparedness tool. Of all the diverse types, topographical maps must be at the top of most must have preparedness tool lists. TopoView, an online service of the United States Geological Survey, is the best source on the net for topographical maps.

TopoView is a searchable database of all maps, going back to the 1880’s in some cases, for all the US. They are available in four formats. The most useful of these is the GEOPDF. These downloads are all free. They are all in the appropriate document size, to scale and in full color.

You should keep in mind that you will have to print the maps yourself and that can get expensive. Most OfficeMax/Office Depot will have the large format printers required and use decent quality paper. You should also investigate waterproofing for your maps.

James Townsend & Son YouTube Channel

We are blessed today with incredible technology. We can communicate around the world in seconds, carry hundreds of books on a tablet the size of a notebook and we can carry more computing power in our pockets then the ones on the first missions to the moon. But what if it all went away?

We have several tools today to keep our tech running. The light of the sun, the movement of the wind, and even the heat of a fire can be harnessed to charge phones, tablets, and other devices. It is a remarkable thing, but there is real value in learning how things were done in earlier years. This is what James Townsend & Son does just this.

The owners of this channel also have a business that specializes in clothing, equipment, and supplies for 17^th & 18^th century reenactors, and they use the YouTube channel to promote their business. They do this by teaching viewers cooking and building methods from this period. I have learned a lot from the videos and have incorporated some of these skills into my preparedness planning. The videos are also just a plain enjoyable watch. They can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson

I hope that this first installment of Survival Resources is helpful to my readers. Look for the next list soon.

The post Survival Resources for October 2022 first appeared on Ready Magazine.