Resistance Is Futile

As a future Partisan, you have to think like your oppressor in order to defeat them. They don't have enough money to apply surveillance to every asset or area, so they concentrate on the areas that protect the oppressor, not the private citizen. After an 880 mile road trip, I noticed a lot of cameras at certain intersections, bridges, and high traffic areas. These do a couple things, they help traffic centers plan for expansion and can act as a forensic accounting device in the event of an attack or crime.

Why is this important? Your family. If you have decided to go off and make an example of some Marxist stooge, you can lead a footpath all the way to your family. They may not agree or choose your path, but they will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. The Austin Bombing suspect was backtracked and triangulated in a couple days, for example.

Every single electronic emanation and digital image you leave behind is a footprint you leave to track you. It's just a matter of time and resources if you leave too many for them to find and prosecute. They have unlimited amounts of computing power and man power if the crime is heinous enough.

Your job is two fold. Stay out of the net all together, or leave so little trace that it is ineffectual or misleading. Insulate your private information in such a manner that it would be impossible for you to be traced. For example, instead of driving your car or truck, drive a rental. If the rental happens to be in the most common color and model on the road, so much the better. The plates are also a tell tale sign, so if you could change them, so be it. More on that later.

Traffic cams can pickup facial features. Avoid the cams or change/hide your face. Both is even better. A beard and hat/glasses is the easiest way. Keep yourself under the radar by not speeding or driving aggressively. You might also choose to deploy some camouflage, such as a "baby on board" sticker or a child car seat. Cartoon window stickers or those sunscreens that apply to car windows to help hide the contents of your vehicle. Anything that helps you look more innocuous or less threatening is going to help you stay unnoticed. Change them around often or at certain intervals on your trip to help break up your trip image. Once in your AO, less is more. Keep identifying marks to a minimum, Especially when changing plates.

Stay off the interstates. It's well known that many toll roads, intersections and points of interest have plate loggers that will store plate info indefinitely. Same goes for police cars. Many police cars now have plate loggers built in to their squad cars. Avoid them if you can for several reasons. They are actively scanning for stolen cars, expired plates and unlicensed drivers. If your plates can't stand the attention, you are busted.

Plates are a huge part of this whole plan. You can't hide them. The best thing to do is have good plates. Plates that match the car and aren't reported as stolen or lost. Preferably from the rental car company you are using. Sounds impossible, right? Not even close. Most rental companies use the same color and model cars throughout their fleets. If you go to a large metro area, they might have 8 or 10 branches with a couple of the same car. Swap out a few plates from the local bowling alley or car lot, and you have a couple clean plates that match the car you have. Always use gloves and try to keep the plates you keep well hidden. Don't take all your plates from the same location or state. Use the 3 Card Monte trick when getting plates. Don't let the plates you keep get reported stolen. If you find a model/color combo plate from your rental company (GOLD), don't just take it and get it reported. Trade it out with another vehicle of different color/model and let that plate get reported, because it's not the one you're after. IF you do get pulled over or stopped, it looks like clerical error or prank, not a felony. It's best if the rental company has no idea any plate is missing, so leave with all the plates in place, regardless if they are right or not. Use different screwdrivers as well. The same one will leave similar tool marks, and a trail.

Most big name stores have some type of surveillance. Walmart takes your picture every time you enter and exit, from head level. Many others do the same or worse. Some even record your interaction with the help. Stay away from these locations. Go to the mom and pop stores with crappy video cameras and no time to notice you during peak times. Keep your clothes and appearance changing as you move.

Method of payment- cash. That means you can't rent a hotel room or pay by card at the gas station. So be it. Millions of people live that way their entire lives and get by just fine. You can sleep comfortably at local campgrounds in a small tent or hammock and do just fine. No ID needed for state parks and most private campgrounds. They have hot showers and a camp store with no video most of the time. People (even vegan snowflake hippies) hike the Appalachian Trail 2200 miles eating out of gas stations and campgrounds for 4 months. It's not that hard.

Have a cover story. Stick with it. Use your Grey Man principles. Don't get noticed. Don't leave a trail. Be deceptive on your approach. Don't panic. Don't be afraid to walk away.

Resistance is only futile when it's not well thought out and acted upon emotionally, not logically.

Monday Morning Rambling

With the inevitable summer rush, I've been a bit remiss with my focusing skills. I've all but forgotten my carbine drills for some odd reason. My efforts with long range and pistol are still on point, but the poor carbine needs some work.

My last 2 classes have been a bust so I've kinda put it on the back burner. No reason to get all sharp unless I need to right? Wrong. I need to stay sharp all the time. It would only take me 60 rounds of drills to get the muscle memory back, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Losing any muscle memory from the tool box is a major loss.

It's hunting season where I live so I'm working on getting out during the week while the wifester is in the Lone Star State on business. Makes for a more easily dealt with planning stage. Work has gotten really slow the past month. I have some work scheduled but people are cancelling due to financial stability issues.

Ryan over at http://www.totalsurvivalist.com/ had a very good point that I always like to reiterate any time I see it. Plan for the most foreseeable danger, then work out from there. His entire life has been shuffled by a recent breakup and being as familiar as I am with bad breakups, I understand why he's focusing on the more important things in life until he can get his mind right. That's really important to remember as modern survivalists. There's no reason to stock 30 years of food if you're going to die of hypertension after 5 years working too hard to pay for it. It's the age old tortoise and hare story. Sustainable growth, sustainable life, and sustainable attention to detail is far more important than a flash in the pan.

Germany is telling it's citizens to stock at least 10 days worth of food in case of unrest. I believe that's a complete understatement of the severity of the issues currently facing the country. Our own is also in jeopardy with the current socio-political landscape. We are a single police action shooting away from full scale country wide riots.

Stay sharp, my friends.

Back From The Back Country.

The boys and myself went for a very difficult hike this week. The elevation changes were brutal, some requiring you to scramble up hill sides too steep to skirt or walk a diagonal approach. I didn't get too many pictures of the hard areas, I was too busy sucking wind and keeping 50# of gear from making me fall over. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous without the leaves obscuring the view.

 

 My 78 pound 11yo son packed 38 lbs of gear 4.12 miles with 1400f of elevation changes both up and down the same 836 to 433 feet above sea level. The 14yo is in track for distance running, he flat trounced the youngest and I with his 43 pound back.

 

 

 Once we made it to the camp site, we sat back and relaxed prior to setting up camp. There was a beach not too far away, but the easy access to boaters had it trashed beyond belief.

There was debris, beer bottles, a broken tent, cooler styrofoam, dirty diapers, etc. there for the enjoyment of all. I was pretty upset at how people treat public lands. If I had my way, the perpetrators would be on a chain gang cleaning up the entire park for a month.

We set up a nice little camp a hundred yards away from the beach and had a nice rocke overhang to fish off. We made a log seat and the youngest decided to not bring a tent and instead make a super shelter of his own design.

We decided to end the trip 12 hours early due to a large storm moving in and high winds that were deconstructing the shelter. We no more made it to the access road than the heavens unleashed a torrent of heavy rain and endless lightning and thunder. The trip back to the truck was arduous to say the least. The near vertical climb in some places at the beginning of the hike really takes it out of you. The topographical map looks solid red with contour lines in some places we traveled.

I did catch a nice little flathead catfish the first night, but the water was way up and muddy from the spring rains, so I expected very little luck catching fish. The boys didn't even get a bite.

A new skill I tried out was the long fire to keep the youngest son's shelter warm. 

A traditional long fire is built a little differently, but due to the fact that I had 3 different types of wood, I could choose how the fire burnt by using different wood to speed or slow the burn. I'd stagger hard wood, then white pine for fast heat, then a wet beech to slow it again. My first time was a success. I got up at 1:30am and 4:30am to add wood and keep him warm, but that was just my light sleeping getting the better of me. The carp jumping and geese fighting in the night kept me awake most of the night. I had to sneak in a noon siesta to stay viable while the boys processed firewood and completed their assigned duties.

Another great trip in the books, and I plan to get those reviews done this time. One is long over due and I put it up immediately this morning. I'm going to let this one auto post in a few days and work on some more reviews.

Gear Review: Portable Backpacking/Emergency Survival Stoves

This one has been in the works for a long time. I've been striving to find the easiest way to heat meals and water for years. The idea is very simple, by the subjectivity of the requirements makes the issue a hard one to crack. Modern Survivalists and recreational backpackers alike have some of the same needs, but the sustainability issue is many order of magnitudes greater for the preparedness minded. We also have to consider the usage for more than one person. In order to properly evaluate stoves for these uses, we must first consider the criteria to be used.

1. Heating ability- This is how quickly it heats and/or how much heat the stove is able to produce.

2. Flexibility- Does the stove offer options to make it more useful?

3. Economy -Is the stove efficient and inexpensive?

4. Fuel availability- Does the fuel store well and/or easily acquired?

5. User friendly- Is it too heavy, too dirty, too hard to use, easily stored, etc?

Using this index, we should be able to get a better picture of what types of stoves are best and adequate for each need. I have every main type of stove available. I'm sure there are different models that do better or worse than the models I'm using, but for this purpose, it will work just fine. I'm not going to be ultra scientific, but I will be working the units as well as possible. Different fuels require different methods and measurements as well.

My first real camp stove was the Primus Omnifuel. This is a monster of a stove. You can use just about any combustible out there to run it. You may need to change nozzles (provided) and take some time to warm it up, but once it gets going, it puts out a ton of flame and even more noise. This is by far the heaviest and most powerful stove I own. If you purchase extra adapters, you can use old Coleman style propane cylinders or even an LP tank like on a gas grill. This is the most flexible stove as well with it's fuel usage and with accessories, you can even hang it from a ridge line or tree. When I say combustible fuels, I mean anything that *might* burn if coaxed properly. I've even had success with vegetable oil, but it required significant heating in order to get it to atomize in the heating block. The listed fuels are gasoline and white gasoline, diesel fuel, isobutane, butane, and kerosene. Kerosene and home heating oil are very similar, so you can use either. For a grid down scenario, this one would be my choice for the best stove you could hope to own. Heating ability 4/5, it by far puts out the most heat, but it needs constant tinkering to keep the flame regulated. The flame can be uneven as well. Flexibility 5/5, This thing is as flexible as a stove can possibly be. Economy 3/5, The unit retails at 150 bucks, and if you add in all the accessories, you are up over 200. Also, fuel costs money. Initial investment is the biggest holdback on this item. Fuel Availability 4/5, As long as you have a liquid that burns or a propane/isobutane cylinder with fuel, you are good to go. User Friendly 3/5, It's a very good, useful unit, but the flexibility comes with the price of cleaning and maintaining the unit. It can be messy and it stinks if you are burning heavy fuels. It's loud as all get out. You can barely speak to someone next to you if you are cooking with a liquid fuel. Another issue is that the manufacturer recommends not using commercial auto fuel due to issues with additives being toxic.
Total score 19. Total Time to heat 2 cups of tap water to a rolling boil- 3:16 minutes using White Gas.

The MSR Pocket Rocket is a very sturdy stainless backpacking stove. This unit puts out the best flame of any backpacking stove I've used. It beats the jetboil and classic stoves I've used in the past. It is extremely rugged and has good regulation ability for multiple cooking uses. It's very nice for keeping water of coffee warm without having to turn it off and back on all the time. The flame can be set very low and still burn true. It's not the lightest unit I own, and it requires a manual start, but other than that it's a good unit. Heating ability 4/5, it heats well and is big enough to fry large pans and not worry about the outside edges not getting done. Decently even flame. Flexibility 2/5, These are only made to work with Isobutane backpacking fuel cells. You can convert it to LP, but it's not as hot is you do. Economy 3/5, it's not expensive and the fuel cells are 6 bucks or so a pop. Not a huge investment unless you plan to use it long term and need 100's of fuel cells. Fuel availability 2/5, these fuel cells are by far the hardest to find at a non specialized retail outlet. User Friendly 5/5, This is the easiest, most reliable way to cook.
Total score 16. Time to heat 2 cups of tap water to a rolling boil- 3:05 on full blast with a waning cylinder. Might go faster with a full cylinder.

Trangia Spirit Stove's have been around a long time. These are used in Europe by some military forces. They are a durable alcohol stove that allows you to keep unused fuel inside the unit. Most alcohol stoves must be left to burn the excess off and then stored. It's an easier but heavier alcohol than some of the bigger names, but this one is a bit more reliable and user friendly. It heats slower than the pressurized stoves in the comparison, but it's reliable unless you are in a significant wind. The best fuel is denatured alcohol. It's not as stinky as Methyl alcohol (yellow HEET) and burns just as well. There are other alcohols you can use but you must be careful, many are toxic if you happen to spill them into your food. Grain alcohol is a non toxic alternative. Heating ability 2/5, depending on the fuel used, it can do a great job heating your food or water. It's not the best flame dispersion, but more than adequate for most duties if you're not in a time pinch. It is non adjustable. Flexibility 3/5, It requires a stable flat (ish) surface to work correctly. A few fuels are available. Economy 4/5, These things are super cheap, as is the fuel. They use very little fuel at a time. Fuel availability 3/5, In a grid down situation you can find some type of fuel left behind when all the gas and diesel or LP is all gone. You can even make your own Grain alcohol if you want to be really wasteful. User Friendly 2/5, This type of stove has a narrow use that works well for backpackers, but is relegated to emergency use for survivalists. It's slow to start and messy until you get good with it. It really needs a pot holder and wind guard to be viable under most conditions.
Total score 15. Time to boil 2 cups of tap water to a rolling boil- 13:41 minutes using denatured alcohol. Heet brand Methyl Alcohol heats slightly faster but stinks horribly.

Esbit Hexamine solid fuel stoves have been used in one form or another for decades in the US military. The fuel is solid blocks of stable burning cubes that look like salt. They are easy to light and can be blown out so you can partially burn the cube if desired. The knockoff brands usually use oval or round shapes. Genuine Esbit is square and has score marks on the larger blocks if you choose to cut them up for a smaller or shorter burn. These stoves are made in many configurations by many manufacturers, but the folding Esbit seems to be the favored by most people. This type of stove is great for long term storage and needs very little coaxing to get it lit. The biggest draw back is, they stink to high heaven. They also leave an oily caked on residue on your pots or pans. The cubes are as reliable as a rock. It takes a serious rain to put them out! My favorite use is to throw one in the kindling to start a fire. It's a sure thing! Heating ability 3/5, They put out an extremely reliable amount of heat. They are not adjustable once lit, but you can make them smaller for less heat or add cubes for more heat. Flexibility 2/5, They only work with Hexamine tablets by a few manufacturers. Not many stores carry them unless they have a significant camping department. Once you're out of tablets, it's a smelly coaster to rest your drink on. Economy 5/5, These things are cheap. You can even make one out of a tin can if you want. The fuel cubes are cheap as well. I can heat 24 meals for 4 bucks worth of tablets and have a few left over for coffee. Fuel availability 2/5, You can get them at Wally world, but they often run out and I have to get them from Amazon. A few different manufacturers make them, like 4 total, so it's a crap shoot when you find them at a retail store. User Friendly 2/5, The biggest issue I have is the smell and the stinky residue. Once I'm done cooking, I'm not all that hungry.  They light easily and work well, but have significant draw back for regular use.
Total score 14. Time to boil 2 cups of tap water to a rolling boil- 8:46 minutes using Esbit tabs. Coghlan tabs take longer and will use 2 tabs for the same duration.

Wood gasifier stoves have been around for centuries. They can be readily made out of a few tin cans and a pocket knife. They work on the principle that injecting heated air into the smoke of a flame will cause a hotter and more useful flame with less waste. Smoke is wasted fuel from the combustion process. You can test this by holding a lighter in the smoke near a fire to see it in action. There are a few different models as well. My favorite model being the TOAKS titanium wood gas stove. There are cheaper commercial options all the way down to 24 bucks, but that TOAKS is light weight and small when broken down. The combustion process is the same with all these top load units. They have an inner burn tray with holes at the bottom to allow an updraft into the base of the stove and an outside liner that traps hot air between the inner and outer walls of the stove. Air is super heated inside the walls and is pushed into the burn chamber at the top to allow extra oxygen into the burn chamber for a cleaner and hotter burn. This makes for a low smoke fire once you get it going. It's obvious when it's operating properly, the air flowing into the chamber from inside the walls looks similar to a gas grill flame minus the blue tint. The main drawback to this type of stove is the constant stoking and feeding you must keep up with in order for the unit to operate at a constant temperature. The cheaper 24 dollar stainless option from Amazon is quite hard to feed. If you use a larger pan, you must remove the pan to feed it. You can use just about anything that will burn in this stove. dry weeds, grass, nuts, bark, cardboard, esbit cubes, paper, etc. Once lit, it will burn hot for a while. If you get a good coal bed going, you can use it as a warmer to keep your food warm for literally hours. It was still warm when I picked it up after 3 hours of smouldering. I used it to warm up some applewood chips for the smoker. I like to boil them if I can't soak them overnight. It kept them warm enough I had to use a scoop to put them in the smoker even after 2 hours post boil. Heating ability 4/5, You can adjust the flame easily by blowing or stoking the flame and well as relying on wood choice for heat quality. Flexibility 4/5, You can use it for many different uses and have similar results. Economy 5/5, The cheapo units sell at 24 dollars with the high end Titanium units going for 100. The big draw here is you can reliably fire it with dead fallen branches for no cost. You can baton firewood and really get it going hot for an extended period. Fuel availability 5/5, you can use anything that burns, for free. Even dried animal poop will fire right up. User friendly 2/5, this is the big drawback for this unit. It takes time to get running, requires the greatest amount of time to get lit, and needs constant attention. You must use care where you set it to keep embers from starting fires as they fall through the bottom and it's not very stealthy due to the smoke it gives off unit it's hot.

Total Score 21. Time to boil 2 cups of tap water to a rolling boil- 6:28 minutes. I used dry sycamore and lit the wood with some small strips of cardboard. It took approximately 5 minutes to get the wood burning before setting the pot on the stove.

In conclusion, you must choose wisely based on your needs and the stove's strengths. There are a few I didn't go over, but they are fringe items that require too much space in a pack or require direct sunlight like with a solar oven. These systems are fairly useless when you consider the drawbacks. Small rocket stoves work almost identically to the top load wood gas stoves. I see no reason to cover them considering the duplicity.

The plan I have chosen is to keep my Omnifuel with my long term food storage, complete with several gallons of White gas. It's a very good option for off the grid use once the grill tanks I've stored give out. It's small size and flexibility are well suited to mobile camping or a shelter in place ordeal. The wood gas stove will go into the emergency evacuation bag. It's well suited to long term sustainability without a resupply. The Isobutane or Alcohol stoves sit in my recreational packs, they are perfectly suited for such use. The Esbit stoves are spread out in Cache's, assault packs and travel packs. Their light weight and long term storage ability are perfect for such use.

How Many Magazines is Enough?

I have a confession to make. I'm a magazine hoarder of near clinical proportions. Especially with regard to my battle rifles. They take the most abuse in training and use so I feel compelled to have an overabundance. Even during the big scare I made a tactical upgrade by trading 10 Pmags for 30 C products new in wrapper GI mags. This is in addition to the foot locker of used mags I bought at a sale a few years ago. No such thing as too many.

 The thought process I go through is simple and well thought out. I look at my total number of rifles and multiply by 11 for a base line. 11 magazines is what I consider a combat load of 4 to 6 with a few in reserve for your pack or vehicle. I then add in 10 mags per family member to train with. That way we don't burn up our carry/fighting mags while training. Proper training is really hard on mags. My current loadout mags in my level 4+ armor and go pack are 40 round Pmags.

I do prefer mil contract mags, and the larger rental operations have proven that they are longer lasting and take heat cycles better than plastic mags. The brownells GI mags are supposedly the best price for the functionality. I personally prefer C products contract mags. They handle debris slightly better than most and the outside stays buff for a longer time. Most mags get super slick after many reloads and handling, which can lead to dropped mags. They have the green followers which work great, but they aren't the new fangled tan follower that is proven superior and the military is phasing in the tan follower. Beware the black follower. It's not anti tilt and is the least reliable in adverse conditions. Green is still good to go. Magpul followers are great but costly. You can hedge your bets and decrease your loss rate by having some rebuild kits on had as well.

Pistol mags are a bit more robust due to their smaller size and construction. I have a minimum of 3 mags for carry and 5 for training. That way you aren't loading and unloading your carry mags all the time. I have 20 or so extras per model rolling around just in case. I've streamlined my pistols recently and have dropped the 10mm, 40SW and only stock Glock 9mm mags, HK usp 45 mags and a few pocket gun mags. The LCP being my choice for deep cover carry.

I ruin 2-3 rifle mags a year. I ruin 1 pistol mag every couple years. That's for our entire household. Those 30 mags I bought are a 10 year supply if I keep training as I have with the family. I do my best to replace them as time and resources warrant, but I do keep 50 contract GI mags in reserve just in case. My hoarder status is showing.

You also need to remember that I keep lots of AR15 mags in my Caches and I always keep a thousand plus loaded in my bastard child mags and keep them locked away in my safe. No such thing as too many! My lightweight plates stay loaded all the time as well. 3 25 round 308 mags and 3 glock 17 rounders with plus 2's. That's a lot of firepower in a hurry.

Specialty Mags- I do have several rifles that are AR10 or long range in nature. My 300 Win Mag competition gun has 3 magazines for it. They are little 3 round units, and I bought them mainly due to the fact that you can use them as a single shot follower in competition more readily than the stock Remington bottom metal. Not something you need to stock deep.  Same goes for the rest of my long range stuff. I do have a Beta C Mag, but I've honestly never used it. I see no need. You'd have a useless slag of metal for a barrel after 100 rounds of sustained fire. I consider it an investment.

My AR10's on the other hand, each have 21 mags for them. I don't shoot them enough or train with them enough to warrant the extra mags. The 20" gun uses 20 rounders and the 16" uses 25 round Pmags. Luckily Pmags fit the LWRCI platform. They are easy to find and plentiful again. The AR10's have a definitive use and plan of action for my defense plan. They don't need all that many mags due to this. They aren't something I'm going to go patrolling with, just too heavy. It's best for killing buicks and turning cover into concealment. 

Trades To Learn for The Modern Survivalist.

Many folks out there have some food, a sustainable garden plot, a water source and no clue. They refuse to consider the position they will be in if they are forced to use their resources in an environment where there is no rule of law or modern convenience. Sometimes the best laid plans can be thwarted by a seemingly innocuous incident or situation. The skills discussed will help hedge your bets and make you a more rounded and valuable person.

Medical training is my #1 skill set to have training in. Without 911 or modern surgery procedures, even a modest education in the medical field can save you a lot of heartache later. Dentistry is included in this skill. There are many resources that you can purchase to help you along and get you up to speed if we face a severe breakdown in society. You may ask yourself why you would need this skill, because ambulances didn't run to the riots in Fergadishu.

Agriculture/forestry- Learn how to spot problems and how to care for our natural bounty.

Animal husbandry- Because healthy animals are tasty.

Blacksmithing- Without modern machining techniques, parts will have to be hand made and this is the least expensive and easiest way to make parts.

Electrical/electronics/comms/solar- Information is key. Weather can be predicted by outlying broadcasters. Threats and conditions can be broadcast. Solar power is useless without the knowledge on it's use and delivery systems.

Plumbing/sanitation- Disease and poor sanitation killed more people than bullets did during the last civil war.

Mechanical skills/ light machine work/gunsmithing- Fixing your own stuff becomes more important when you can't call someone to fix it for you.

Carpentry/roofing- Keeping your home dry and being able to modify it to fit your needs will be important during a crisis.

Textiles/sewing. Clothes won't come from India or Bangladesh anymore. You'll need to make/repair what you have.

This list isn't comprehensive, but it's a start. Learned skills and education are 2 things that can never be stolen from you.

Wifey's 3 Day pack.

I'm in the process of building a 3 day pack for the wife to take in her vehicle. There are so many threads out there on how to build one for a man or kids, we don't hear much about the contents of a woman's BOB. Women are hardy and able to deal with much more than we think, but they also can wilt pretty quickly without some semblance of civilized products or regular items.

Let's look at it from the perspective of a problem solver. How far (Realistically) will she have to travel? How far can she walk in a day? Will she have companions? Can she travel safely? Is she trained or mentally ready for a sudden tedious walk? What will make it easier for her?

Then we get into the essentials for her trip, including the math for how long her trip will be. It's all math at that point. Let's use my wife as an example. She's a remote employee for a 3 letter mega corporation and travels to local clients only rarely. Usually she's too far away to rescue, or she's here at home. Recently she's been in Dearborn, MI consulting for another mega corporation that sports 4 letters. If she's that far away, I can't help her because she's out of reach. Not only that, the pack won't be coming on the plane with her so it's moot. If she's at a local client's place, she can make it home within 3 days at most. About 35 to 40 miles max. She can do 15 miles a day without issue as long as she's not running for her life or injured.

What will she need to make it 3 days on her feet in this weather? The lighter the pack, the faster the trip, plain and simple.
Pack- decent 3 day pack or daypack.
Shelter- Something to keep the rain off you while you rest or sleep.
Water- A way to get clean drinking water.
Food- Anything light, low salt and high calorie.
Light- Lightweight light source
Protection- Something to fend off Dogs or two legged animals.
Comms- Some way to contact home as far away as possible
Route- Find your way home without getting lost
Clothing- Weather appropriate gear
Personal items- Stuff you want and might need to have around.

Pack- It's usually best to figure this out last, because you want a pack big enough to fit everything you need. I have a few extra 3 day assault packs and some duffel bags, but for Christmas a few years ago I got her a really nice Kelty Backpack, a Redtail 30. It's really close to the size she needs, but it's a bright color. I'll decide once I'm ready to get the pack together. I have a feeling a black NC Star 3 day pack is in her future.

Shelter- The simpler the better. A tarp, casualty blanket or best of all, a Poncho would be perfect. It allows for protection without occluding your surroundings too much.

Water- I'm going to put a nalgene bottle and 2-20 oz water bottles in the pack in case my boys are with her. She will also get a bottle of purification tabs.

Food- Clif bars, some hard candy, some jerky sticks and trail mix.

Light- A small headlamp, extra batteries and maybe an extra flashlight. Preference given to a headlamp with a red beam for discreet travel at night.

Protection- This is where it gets screwy. She likes guns but isn't interested in carrying a gun so doesn't want to go get her carry license. That means in order to stay legal she needs a long gun. The obvious choice would be a KelTec Sub 2000 in 9mm. Breaks down to pack size, will take 33 round glock mags, and is easy to manipulate. 100 rounds JHP in 3 mags, 19 in an extended mag to keep in it. A decent sling will help too.

Comms- Cell Phone as primary and then a 2 way GMRS radios with extra batteries in case I can go look for her. All call signs and codes in a small notebook in the pack. Radio is set to proper channel and privacy code before hand. We have tested them and they are good to 4 miles if at least one person is elevated. If the phone lines are a mess, texts should still work as long as the towers are still operating. Another option is a backup disposable cell phone in case of a domestic threat.

Route- Pre planned routes from each side of the larger, meaner city close by, as well as from each direction of travel from home. A map and compass will be in the pack, with a rain cover or ziplock bag. Routes Marked in highlighter close to home but not all the way. Maybe to the edge of where she knows the streets well.

Clothing- Army Surplus silk thermals, a few pairs of warm non cotton socks, a warm hat, rain suit if no poncho, a loose fitting warmup or track suit. My wife is well endowed, no reason to entice the animals. She always wears a warm jacket and I'll throw and gloves and a scarf inside the hat. Another hugely important item is shoes. Find a pair that she doesn't wear because they look too shabby and put those in the pack. She won't miss them and they will be well broken in. Think Grey Man Camo. Have her dress as average as possible and remove all jewelry.

Personal Items- TP, Wet Wipes, Tampons (There's a 1 in 5 chance she will need them), Nail clippers, a small knife, Zip ties, Gorilla tape wrapped around a shopping card, Paracord in case she needs to repair clothing or breaks a shoestring, a small microfiber towel. Anything that's small and light that will help her. Maybe a lighter and some Votive candles in case she needs a fire for an emergency, like if she fell in some water and was too cold to continue on without drying off. First aid kit with plenty of Ibuprofen. Some cash in medium and small bills would help as well. Keep them in different places in case the pack gets grabbed.

Things to make sure she leaves out of the pack:

Earbuds- They will ruin her ability to observe her surroundings.
High salt food- It can cause a person to dehydrate and get cramps
Alcohol- No reason to make a person sleep deeper than need be or have dulled senses.
Loud toys for the kids- obvious attention getters.
Brightly colored clothes- Think grey.
Purse- Have her throw everything in the pack, dirtbags know purses mean money.

 Should she ever need to use it, the earlier she heads out, the safer she will be. If she's in denial and shelters in place, it's going to get more difficult. We live near a major city and many of the companies she visits aren't in the best part of town. Her most often visited client is in the middle of a large industrial/urban complex of factories, scrap yards and has a major interstate and a large river between her and the house. The Interstate only has 3 places to pass under it that she could reliably use without adding a day to her trip. There are 2 river crossings under the interstate, but they aren't passable.

Without a plan, the proper mindset, and the tools to succeed, any venture you attempt can be more difficult than it needs to be. I love my wife dearly and would want her to make it home if there's an emergency. I know many of us always think of ourselves and how we would make it home, but what about the rest of the family? It's only fair to make sure they can have the same or even a better chance than you do.

Gear Review: Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter Hammock

The scout troop I'm an adult leader for made a trip to a mosquito infested swamp that was once a strip coal mine. On that trip, the mosquitoes were so bad that many were kept awake at night due to the constant buzzing in your ears. I have a small life hack that helps, but it was still miserable. 80+ degrees, raining and buggy as it gets makes for a long night. If I was covered in my patrol bag, I was hot and sweaty. If I chose to uncover, my deet wouldn't last very long and I'd be awakened by constant biting. It was really a no win situation.

At the time I was using a Grand Trunk lightweight hammock and it worked great for normal conditions. A simple tarp was used to cover my sleeping area. This picture is from another stay a month or so before the fated swamp stay. Same equipment though. The only thing that kept me sane was a small head net and a baseball cap to keep it off my face while I slept.

 After that weekend of little sleep and many bites, I decided to look into a way to keep the little buggers off me and out of my ears while I slept. I searched the web for an option and even looked at the army surplus stores. After much research, the Grand Trunk Skeeter Beeter Pro was on the radar. I waited until Amazon had a sale and snagged one at a decent discount. I'm sure they will have them on discount in the off season this year.

The Skeeter Beeter hammock has a 400lb capacity and is big enough to fit two people if you're in a pinch. The material is a similar consistency to the standard lightweight units, but this one is constructed of at least two different color fabrics. The netting is super small matrix mesh netting with elastic banding sewn into the netting. One side has a very well made and easy to use zipper for entry/exit. It goes 80% of the way down the side of the hammock to make entry a breeze. You can even use a toe to open the zipper by pushing it down the side with your foot! The sides are high walled and keep the light and wind from intruding into the hammock.

 The unit comes with a couple pieces of rope and some elastic cord to hold the netting up above the hammock and off the user. The rope is fairly small, and if you have a decent size tree, it will be difficult, if not impossible to get it  around the tree. Being a high walled design, it's not the best for the more flat style, offset sleeping some can be used for. You definitely sleep in it, not on it. If you stretch it tight, side sleeping is fairly comfortable.

Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a summertime hammock that effectively keeps the bugs off and is durable for extended use. I've used the item many times now and will continue to do so as long as the bugs are out. Once the bugs go away, I'll go back to the lightweight unit I use regularly. It's lighter and better for side sleeping. It has the same bug issue that most hammocks do, they can bite through the bottom and get you that way. You will need to get something under you to protect yourself.

The Pros: Big, with a high weight limit. Comes ready to set up, no extra stuff needed. It works well and sleeps comfortably. I've never had to worry about bugs keeping me awake while using it.

The Cons: Not great for side sleeping. Slightly heavier and bigger than a standard model. Could use longer ropes than the ones it comes with. Slower setup than a standard model.

This Item was purchased with my own money and is intended for my personal use. I was not paid to review the item, nor have I been offered any deals for a favorable review.