All Outdoor

Contrary to most people’s beliefs, July 4th was not recognized as a holiday to fawn over hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers cooked at the altar of the grill. We have our independence because of firearms. The pacifists of our country would say that diplomacy helped create our independence, however knowing history a bit better, our independence was won while spitting vulgarities were exchanged and blood was spilt on the battlefield, streets, and homes of our young nation.

The Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 2.0 is an “tuckable” inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster designed for comfortable all-day concealed carry.

An add-on gear box to the rear rack of an ATV can be highly useful. Whether you use an ATV or UTV for hunting, recreational four-wheeler riding, trail trips, or just working on a farm or ranch, having a supplemental gear box can be a really great idea.

In part 1 of this firearms options series, I went through my personal favorite list of handguns for self defense and survival. The fact that I didn’t include a Glock, or <insert favorite gun here> in the list got some people’s nose out of joint, but that’s ok — those are my own picks, and I stand by them. I’m always open to suggestions, and it’s great to hear from readers with their own ideas.

The last time I bought a palette of Mountain House long-term storage food, I just thought “I’ll shop around for the cheapest place to get a year’s supply shipped”. That was a one-off thing that I did to jump-start that particular area of my prepping — an area that I had always been deficient in. But in the future I’d rather buy a bit at a time, scoring deals here and there, and building my stash up as I go.

So I throw this question out there to all the preppers and survivalists in the audience: how do you go about buying survival food? What’s your preferred method of shopping for it? Do you shop by number of servings, by calories, by dollars per calorie? What sized batches do you buy in? Do you care about things like gluten free or vegan, or are you just looking at bang per buck? How big a factor is the brand?

Ultimately, what I’d like to learn is how serious preppers shop for survival food. Please drop and tips or insights into the comments, below.

Preppers do not always have to buy everything already packaged in a retail consumer kit. Sometimes it can not only be cheaper to buy just the items you really need but it can be half the fun to assemble a bug out gun cleaning kit of your own.

Donald Denmark had been a lifelong deer hunter with over 30 years of whitetail gunning experience. He’d seen it all, or at least he thought he had.

Over the years, the utility of 7.62×39 cartridge has been reconfirmed as decisively as the limitations of the AKM open sights and work-around solutions for mounting optics. While aftermarket options help substantially, most AKs still come with relatively light barrels and thin stamped receivers that flex on firing. Further, AK manual of arms differs considerably Firing Line Mfg. has designed CTMR rifle to address those shortcomings: it’s built on a machined receiver and uses ambidextrous AR-style rotary safety/selector lever, along with AR charging handle and MAgpul telescoping stock. Full length railed forend is set up for magnified or red dot optics.

I’m a bit late on this, but last week Ruger announced yet another edition of the world’s most popular rimfire rifle, the venerable and excellent 10/22. Our sister site TFB has the goods on the new Collector’s Series 10/22, but here’s the highlight from the press release:

There are some things preppers can never have enough of it seems. These are a myriad of snap or karabiner-type gear hooks, things that snap on belt loops or back packs, and lash down straps of all kinds. These items are extremely useful for all kinds or prepping activities, packing up and out, and just for gearing things up at the house just in case.

This man is a genius! I really need to try this one out.

Add this to the list of stuff I’m not planning to try… but probably would have, in my youth.

You can watch this young fellow start with a couple of rocks and then go to work cutting and working with local natural materials, building a small hut using only those tools and hard work. It’s an interesting video.

The builder said he worked on it for 9 months “from start to finish,” but that it only took 30 days of actual work. When you see him replacing the leaf thatch  material partway through the video, that’s because the leaves began to rot after about 4 months.

At the end of the video, the building has made quite a transformation – but I guess I’m spoiled, because I still would prefer a better shelter for any overnight stay.

But it does show that, with hard work and simple methods, a person can create some good stuff pretty much from scratch.

Following the recent U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling which asserts that states have no right to ban marriage between homosexuals, some have been quick to extol the virtues of this heavy-handed measure. If no state can ban one activity because it is supposedly a right, then they must also be barred from restricting rights that are really protected under the Constitution. Right?

Its a funny thing when you think about the .380 ACP round. Although modern ammo technology has exponentially increased the lethality of the .380 ACP round from anemic to acceptable defensive levels, there still are more than a few chest thumpers bagging on the Browning 9mm Short (aka .380 ACP).

Now that’s a good question. Using a CCW firearm can run the gamut from heated, emergency short range shooting affairs to the possibility of longer range shots within realms of reason. These are certainly some parameters worth considering if we are going to carry a concealed weapon. Truth is we never really can know under what precise circumstances we might be called upon to draw our CCWs.

This past weekend I worked the grand opening of the Boondocks Firearms Training Academy’s Pro Shop in Raymond, Mississippi. I came away with one primary lesson learned. Older women want to learn to shoot. They want to have the empowerment of self-protection. Some of them are just downright scared and want to be able to defend themselves. They want to buy a handgun and learn how to handle it safely and shoot it well.

After screwing around with my little Ruger 22/45 Lite, I really started to appreciate the surprising accuracy of the “LITE” 4” tensioned barrel, but really yearned for the feel of the super awesome Volquartsen trigger kit in my upgraded Slab Sided MKIII competition pistol.

I’ve recently picked up a Bond Arms Snake Slayer, and while I love this little gun, it’s as slow as Christmas. The hammer and trigger take a huge amount of force to operate — Bond claims the trigger pull is 6-7 pounds, but mine has got to be heavier than that.

Our sister site TheFirearmBlog has launched a brand new Ammo Feed, and since its unveiling this past Friday it has already undergone some major revisions.

If you regularly shop for ammo, you should definitely go check it out immediately. And while you’re there, be sure to stop by and fill out the survey. The team behind it is responding to feedback and modifying the feed based on user requests, so if there’s something you think should be added or should work differently, let them know.

AR charging handles are a pretty innocuous thing. But they are like shooter’s opinions or other body parts, every AR has one. They are though an essential part of the AR mechanism. Try running an AR without one.