Outdoor Survival Info

Archive for July, 2008

Survival Kits. Bug out bags. Disaster prep kits. They are all the same basic thing: Gear you may need in an emergency. A large disaster will likely require all of the gear in your kit, but other times you just may need one or two things. Being prepared is the smart thing to do.

A survival kit is basically a bag (usually a backpack) that is filled with emergency items. Some of these items would be food, water, first aid supplies, a knife, a poncho, and similar. The actual contents of any emergency kit should meet your particular needs, but there are some staple items common among all emergency gear kits — which would be what I named a moment ago.

At the very least, each person should have a bag packed and ready to go that contains food, water, and something for warmth. Fortunately, there are some pre-made solutions out there — emergency gear packs with the gear already packed in them. All you do is add some customizations to meet your particular needs, and you’re good to go. There’s no need to spend a bundle of money and a lot of time buying all the gear individually, unless you just want to.

Emergencies happen all the time, but not everywhere at the same time. Even something as simple as a tornado warning is cause enough to grab your gear bag. The world doesn’t have to be at war for you to be ready to take care of yourself if you ever need to.

You can see some ready-made survival kits at BDR Gear.

Tips For Buying a Rifle Scope
By Brady Ritsema

When you are considering buying a rifle scope, you’ll soon come up against more choices than you know what to do with! If you last bought a scope several years ago, or you have never owned one at all, the variety of scopes can leave you a little bit concerned about which one is the best choice for you. When you are thinking about getting a scope, you’ll find that your choice can be much simpler if you only keep a few things in mind. Remember that the best scope is not necessarily the most expensive one; it will be the one that suits you the best.

The first thing to think about is what conditions you will be hunting in. Some people only hunt in fair to good conditions, while others take a real pride in going out regardless of the weather. Take some time to read the fine print, and figure out what conditions your rifle scope can deal with. For instance, you’ll find that Bushnell rifle scopes are known for their water-repellent lens coating, making them a natural choice in rain, sleet or even snow.

Also, you’ll find that you will want a rifle scope where the size of the forward lens, also known as the objective lens is one that is comfortable for you. The larger this lens is, the brighter the view will be. If you often hunt in low-light conditions, like daybreak or dusk, you’ll find that the more clearly it will show you your target. Make sure that you test out these lenses if at all possible. Keep in mind that there is a drawback in that the larger the forward lens is, the further forward it will need to be mounted on the gun and the less natural your sighting process will be. Make sure that you are comfortable with the amount of adjustment that you need to do.

You’ll also find that some lenses are known for their all-purpose durability. For instance, the Nikon rifle scopes are known for their endurance no matter what the condition, and many have praised it’s crystal clear edge-to-edge view. You’ll find that these lenses have also be coated with several layers of anti-reflective compounds, thus improving your vision will preventing you from spooking your prey with a tell-tale glint.

As always, whenever you are thinking about purchasing something that carries an impressive price tag, remember that you will want to get a warranty with it. No matter how reliable the company, and Bushnell rifescopes and Nikon riflescopes are known for their reliability, it is still possible that there is a problem with the product. If you have a warranty, you can make sure that you recoup your money and get a replacement if there is some sort of factory defect. Similarly, make sure that the rifle scope has a great deal of adjustment available to you; some hunters will refuse to buy rifle scopes that don’t have at least 60 inches of adjustment available.

Take some time to figure out what you really need from your rifle scope, and then look around and make sure that you get it it!

Find Bushnell Riflescopes and Nikon Riflescopes along with a large selection of Binoculars at http://scopesbinoculars.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brady_Ritsema
Tips For Buying a Rifle Scope

Remember when I said I was growing tomatoes as a part of my own education regarding sustainable living? Well, they’re not as hard to grow as some people make them out to be, and they are quite tasty, too.

So far, I’ve had three tomatoes come off of my little container plants. And they were much better tasting than any I’ve bought at a store in recent years. In addition to the food, I learned about care of a tomato plant and how to rid it of leaf fungus. Trials and tribulations indeed.

I’ve been keeping the two plants in good health and they are producing many more tomatoes. A few of them will be ready for harvest in a few days. This gardening thing is kind of fun. From a survival perspective, I now have another sustainable living skill in my toolbox.

You should try it out. You might like it.

Survival Shelters – What Works Best?
By Steven Gillman

All the various types of survival shelters serve one basic purpose, and it isn’t to have an attractive home for your night in the woods. Of course there might be some psychological value to certain styles. There may occasionally be a need for protection from animals as well. But the primary purpose of a survival shelter is to keep your body temperature up.

It is hypothermia – loss of body heat – that causes most deaths in survival situations. A good shelter prevents this in the following ways:

1. It keeps out the wind.

2. It keeps out the rain or snow.

3. It creates space that can be heated by your body, or with a fire and other means.

People with no skills will sometimes survive in circumstances where others with survival knowledge have died. Why is this? It can be their knowledge or intuition of the principles involved in survival. Knowing how to build a lean-to shelter using natural materials is great, but a lost hiker with no skills might be more likely to survive by burying himself for the night in a pile of dry leaves and grass. Perhaps he simply recognizes that it’s easier for his body to heat the space under those leaves than a larger space in a lean-to shelter.

Sometimes a little understanding of the principles involved and a willingness to think is more important than specific skills. Of course, even better would be thinking, understanding and having the specific knowledge and skills to build various survival shelters.

Survival Shelters

Look at what is available, and consider how you can use it. A rock to get behind might block the wind. A large downed tree might work too. A snow cave is also good for keeping out the wind. Even if you have a tent, a wall of snow blocks can help keep the wind out. Setting up camp in the right place makes all the difference in how much wind you are exposed to.

When rain or snow are likely, a shelter that can keep you dry becomes crucial. Again, look around. How can anything and everything be used? A broken canoe might be worthless for getting you down the river, but it still could be used as a shelter, or as part of a roof. Plastic garbage bags and any other plastic in your backpack might be used for roofing. A cave or overhanging ledge can be a great way to get out of the rain and snow.

Consider the materials around you in terms of how waterproof they are, and how you can use them. Pieces of birch bark can be pulled from rotten logs, for example, and layered over a lean-to like shingles to keep the rain out. Other tree barks may work for this. Cardboard, pieces of a wrecked plane, and large leaves can be used as roofing materials as well.

You can get wet from below as well. For example, a snow cave or shelter made of snow blocks will keep the snow from falling on you, but you can get soaked from the snow underneath you. When the ground is wet, make a floor of plastic or evergreen branches or grass. If materials are limited, try sleep sitting up to decrease the amount of your body that is exposed to the wet and cold ground.

How much space you create with your survival shelter is crucial if it is cold. Make it too big and the temperature inside will be almost the same as outside. You need a small enough space that your body heat or candle or small fire will be able to heat it. A pile of dry grass with a plastic sheet spread over it (crawl inside), for example, is more likely to keep you warm than a large lean-to with a fire in front.

Mix and match the various styles of shelters. Get creative. The snow might not be suitable for an igloo, for example, but a lean-to of evergreen boughs could be covered with crusty pieces of snow for extra insulation. A pile of dry grass or small brush shelter inside a cave would give you rain protection while reducing the space that has to be heated. The ultimate in survival shelters? Whatever works for your situation.

Copyright Steve Gillman. See the page “Survival Shelters” for more on specific shelters, including illustrations: http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com/survival-shelters.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Gillman
Survival Shelters – What Works Best?