All Outdoor

SHTF Blog has a really good piece up on building a squirrel gun for SHTF scenarios. I don’t want to detract from it, because it’s solid and you should read the whole thing, but I do want to offer a note of caution. (I’m certain that the author is aware of everything I’m about to say… again, I’m not detracting.) I’m a longtime squirrel hunter, and like everyone else, I see them everywhere here in the city and have thought on more than one occasion that if the SHTF I could bag a few for the family.

The Tavor has gotten a lot of love since its introduction stateside, and rightly so. I personally am a big fan after having fired one at SHOT, and it’s definitely next on my list. Thanks the presently soft gun market, the Tavor can currently be had for a little over $1600 if you know where to look. That’s a long drop from north of $2,000 when it debuted, but I don’t think the price on the Tavor (or ARs, for that matter) will stay this low indefinitely — the next panic will send things back through the roof.

We’re a little late on this one, but last week there was a report from Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute and the Global Challenges Foundation detailing twelve possible ways that the world could end, and assigning probabilities to each.

Would you find it acceptable for your kids, wife or friend to be hit collaterally while defending your life? I would bet most people would answer “no”. With that in mind, what follows is a discussion around limiting overpenetration, and not around ammo which can shoot through the most complex imaginable barriers which fit the FBI Standard.

According to the US Army Laboratory Command. (Small Arms Technology Assessment: Individual Infantryman’s Weapon, Volume I, March 1990 – to be specific), 98% of all targets across all terrain are engaged at less than 600 meters, 90% less than 400 meters, and in urban terrain 90% less than 50 meters. With this in mind, we need the ability to be able to reach out to targets beyond the 15-25 yard lines but it is unlikely we will ever shoot out beyond 600 meters in a defensive or even hunting situation.

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There’s a good post up on Reddit by a woman who just got back from being snowed in at a remote cabin with few supplied for almost a week.

No fish is more sought-after in Ontario than the walleye. This great-eating and fun-to-catch species is found throughout the province, in rivers and lakes, waters large and small.

Spike’s AR pistol addresses the main drawback of .223 pistols: the inefficient internal ballistics. 7.62×35 (300 Blackout) runs well out of 8″ tubes and doesn’t lose as much velocity as .223, throwing a great deal more metal using the same magazine and breech face. The trade-off is the reduced flatness of trajectory and almost doubling of the ammunition weight. ST15 weighs only 5 pounds empty, but a full 30-round magazine adds over pound and a half. Considering the relatively short-range nature of pistols, the increase in bullet weight could be well worth the reduction of longer-range performance.

Recent interest in pistols based on rifle actions has been spurred, no doubt, by the availability of wrist braces and their incidental utility as stabilizers. No one sane would use such a device for self-defense, as it would be slow to attach and rather difficult to set down after the incident. “Police, put down the gun!” (Tries to drop the attached pistols…gets shot.)

By now you’re tired of hunting. Most of us are in the garage looking for a project before we have to get the lawnmower going, and I have just the ticket: it’s time plan your next fishing trip, and to start gearing up for the spring fishing season. Dig out those tackle boxes and fishing gear and get to work, because if you’re planning to travel and fish, you don’t want your gear to fail you while you’re far from home.

T-shaped knives have been with us for millenia. This particular design became very popular as a primary carry weapon in the US during 19th century, later being supplanted by small pistols. Recently, with a variety of affordable and good quality models by Cold Steel, their popularity has risen again.

Despite the fact that the BATFE has NOT banned M855, panic buyers have begun depleting the stock from many vendors. Arguably one of the most plentiful flavors of AR ammo (aside from Eastern Bloc imports), M855 is really not all that great performing of a round. Especially compared to a most of the others that are available. But, as with any perceived threat, people have been buying it up to either hold on to, or to turn around and try and profit from (and even some vendors have been reported as re-listing their stock at a higher rate).

Are you going on a hunting or fishing trip soon? We’ve listed eight items below that we believe are a must have for traveling. Tell us in the comments what you would add to the list.

The news out of the American Southwest continues to worsen. This drought is going to change everything, not tomorrow, and not next year, but at some point in the next few years. Before the decade ends we’ll probably see climate refuges and the beginning of mass migrations.

This was the first year in many that Mrs Pandemic attended a SHOT Show with me. Frankly, I had been concerned that she would go off on someone again about the “need” for booth babes. But the last couple years, I was happy to come back and report to her that there were significantly fewer “booth babes” than ever and the weight and health of attendees was greatly improved. With all the cut beefcake (her words not mine) military folks running around, the general populace of the show was also extremely polite. So this year she relented with a marginal interest in seeing what was new with the expectation that she would be “less annoyed”.

Life can dish out its share of annoying little injuries. I hate paper cuts, mashed fingers in doors, a slipped screwdriver into the hand, anything heavy dropped on my toes, and thumbs busted trying to push rounds into a pistol magazine. Well, those days are over at least for the busted thumbs.

The original M&P15-22 magazines have much to recommend them. They are easy to load, inexpensive and reliable — so long as dirt doesn’t enter the open sides in excessive amount. Plinker Tactical 2011 attempt to improve on them with sealed 35-rounders, holding 10 more than the originals, was only a qualified success. These magazines were a good deal longer and required an easily lost loader stick to fill to capacity.

Proper outdoor footwear is literally the foundation of your outdoor adventure. It’s so important that I’m dedicating several articles to help you get it right the first time.

As an avid gun buyer, you have to ask yourself what makes me buy? Media plays a huge role in what products become top of mind, and commercials are just one outlet. Through a quick search online I found two types of commercials, product information and narratives.