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TA-312 Field Phone on Ebay Swedish Field Phone $39.99 .5 Kilometer Military Phone Wire Communications are something that nearly everyone takes for granted. But after the grid goes down, it will be the first thing that you miss. I have covered the different frequency ranges for long distance radio communications several times, and I’ll get [...]

This week I finally dragged out my gasoline stoves. And the reason I waited so long is because I just assumed that they worked (they did), and I assumed that most survival minded folks have seen a dual fuel Coleman stove (not so much). If you watch the video, I brought in a couple other Chinese stoves that may be a better buy than the Coleman stoves, and they are certainly more portable. But first I want to back up a bit and address the point that I made in the video about cooking in general, and cooking specifically with gasoline.

The title of this article sounds more like a scientific paper than a survival topic, and that is by design. I would prefer that the dufus brigade not read it. Canning food demands attention to detail, and though this method of canning is a fringe, do not try this at home kind of idea, it is still canning. You need to pay attention to the details. I would not suggest canning with just paraffin wax except in a genuine “use or or lose it” food survival situation, but it does work.

From the very start in this column I have been an advocate of “bug-in” as opposed to bug out. Stock up on flour, grains, rice, beans, and canned food, and figure out a means to cook them. In the past I have considered short term cooking solutions, like heater bags and alcohol stoves, and long term solutions, using wood and diesel fuel. This is the king of wood burning Rocket Stoves.

The most shameful way to make money is by taking advantage of someone who doesn’t know any better. In the prepper and survival world, that equals almost everyone in the market. Because no matter much you would normally research a purchase before making it, almost all of us rush out and buy “survival food” before just about anything else. I did that myself, and even sent some to friends and relatives. But after a little research, I figured out that survival food is a scam.

I think there is a huge difference between long term “bug-in” survival preparations, and short term “bug-out” survival preparations. Depending on your situation, bug-out might be your only option. As I explained in my bugout pack article, most of what you carry should be food. And though cooking may seem like a luxury for a survival situation, you’ll find that most inexpensive and calorie dense foods need to be cooked. You don’t want to carry a lot of water, when you can pick up water and cook dry food on the road. That means you should also carry a stove, and that stove needs to be light, efficient with fuel, and it should be able to cook your food in a reasonable amount of time. In my travels for this column I have covered a number of great cooking options, but this week I’d like to share my newest discovery that all of those qualities considered, I think might be the best for urban bug-out.

Sometimes for this column, I have to admit that I put things off that give me trouble. Such is the case for the Alladin Lamp. No, it’s not about the genie silly. If you have never looked into off grid living, probably you have never encountered what is considered the most elegant of kerosene lamps, but they are pretty nifty. You would think the Alladin is a pressure lamp, running on propane, but it is not. That white light comes from regular old kerosene, and it will likewise run just about any lamp oil, and even diesel fuel, with no appreciable loss, or that much of a smell in my experience.

Some of you long time readers here may remember that I found a killer deal on a copy of a 100 round Beta C-Mag at the height of the Sandy Hook gun boom in 2013. It was at the Sportsman’s Guide. Other sporting goods retailers were price gouging and SG was selling that mag for what was at the time less than suggested retail price. I thought it was pretty cool. These days that mag is even $50 cheaper, but that isn’t the point of this article. I’m on the SG mailing list now, and just sitting around today I opened their current flyer and found a few prepping products that I have actually reviewed, at really low prices, and a couple I haven’t, but that I know are also really great deals. I’m going to be light on this column for a few weeks because my kids are out of school for Passover, so I figured I would just share this information, and give you my coupon code. ;)

Resources: Portable Woodstove $58.95 Shipped on Ebay SilverFire Hunter Rocket Stove $219 Butterfly Oven – $79 St. Paul Mercantile Perfection Oven – Lehmans $219 Have you noticed that survival is almost always a Catch 22? And by that I don’t mean rimfire lol. What I mean is you have to make a choice in just [...]