All Outdoor

One of the most critical items you need to get you and your family out during a “Bug Out” situation is the ability to gather into one place all the stuff out you supposedly want to bug out with. A large duffle is one of the most flexible bags on the planet for this purpose, as it can haul firearms, food, clothing, shelter and all manner of items.

It was very cold during our deep winter deer hunt in Northern Missouri, near the hamlet of Greentop only a few short miles from the Iowa border. It had been spitting snow, sleet, and other nasty atmospherics, including a few gusts of sideways wind. Most anybody with any sense would have been holed up near a fireplace somewhere.

.17 Winchester Super Magnum was introduced last year and looked ready to take over the high-velocity corner of rimfire varmint ammunition. Pat Cascio posted an early review here on AllOutdoor and I recommend it for the the background information. To sum up the reasoning behind 17WSM: centerfire performance at rimfire prices.

The bowie pictured above was the first knife by Sweden’s Michael Andersson that I ever came across, and it blew me away. Anderson mostly works in Damascus steel, and the above knife has a beautiful temper line (hamon) that’s more evident in some pictures of it than it is in others. This knife sold for $875 on the Arizona Custom Knives shop, a steal if you ask me. Especially given that you can find his stuff listed for about 5 times as much elsewhere, although the much more expensive pieces are considerably more intricate.

Some crazy Finn has gone and reinvented one of mankind’s oldest tools: the axe. Check out that picture — it doesn’t even look like an axe, but it splits wood like nobody’s business.

The Vipukirves Leveraxe is designed to flip around to the side right after impact, and break off pieces of the log. So unlike with a regular axe, you’re encouraged to strike near the sides of the log. It’s also way safer, especially when you include a tire to catch flying pieces of wood.

Here’s a slow-motion video of the thing in action:

You can buy them off the Vipukirves website for 193 euros, which right now is over $260.00. Yeah, I kinda want one.

My kids are obsessed with Frozen right now, and they, along with everyone else in their age range, have memorized the movie’s signature song: “Let it Go.”

Mornings are tough, so it’s crucial to start them off right! OpticsPlanet.com is now offering OPMOD Battle Mugs which combine three Mil-Spec 1913 scope rails and a block ofimage CNC-machined 6061 T6 billet aluminum with the capacity to hold a sizable 24 ounces of your favorite beverage.

Check out the video the made below!

This NYT piece about environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth is making the rounds, and it’s worth checking out. Basically, it’s about a guy who used to be an activist, but now thinks that we’re pretty much screwed and that many environmental advocacy groups are selling their members a false bill of goods, i.e. they’re claiming that we can head off catastrophe, but we can’t.

I first encountered Michael C. Ruppert in the documentary Collapse, which I had mixed feelings about (maybe I’ll try to post a review at some point). Prior to watching the documentary, I’d heard about the CIA’s involvement in the drug trade in the 70′s and 80′s, but I never really knew that Rupert was the courageous soul who blew the whistle on it.

At any rate, Rupert died earlier this week of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his handwritten suicide note has been published here.

I wasn’t really a fan or a follower of his work, but I know that many of our readers likely were. He did a lot to raise awareness of a number of issues that are vitally important to all of us, whether we acknowledge their importance or not. May he rest in peace.

This video was shot with a GoPro HERO3 Black Edition in a clear stream. Watch how how the bass always tries to stay behind the lure to surprise attack it.

Training of new shooters can be a difficult task. They have to master several skills — safe gun handling overall, effective operation of the specific firearm, stance, sight alignment and trigger control —  in a quick succession, and then apply all of them at once. Worse, many have only a little time available or a short attention span. We can make the learning process less stressful and more effective with careful application of appropriate technological aids.

I’m a bluejeans guy, and I don’t wear anything tactical. At all. Ever. That said, I’m loving the TAD Force 10 cargo pants. They’re super comfortable, have a ton of features, and they’re not so obviously “tactical” that I feel like a mall ninja in them. Indeed, the cargo pockets on the sides of the pants are extremely low-profile, to the point that if they’re empty you don’t even notice that they’re cargo pants at first.

Anyone who has been around the knife world long enough knows that there are different camps and sub-camps that people tend to fall into. There are the EDCers, who can be further divided between carriers of traditional folding knives vs tactical folders. There’s the fixed-blade crowd, which includes everything from bushcrafters to Seal Team Six wannabes. There are the traditional “pocket knife” users, who prefer Case knives with thumb nicks and jigged bone handles. I could go on, but you get the idea.

Some friends of mine and fellow Austinites have come up with one of these great “why didn’t I think of that” products: the IceTee. Basically, it’s a workout shirt with cooling packets strategically embedded at certain points, and it keeps you from overheating if you’re out in the sun.

Exposing The Realities recently wrote about a seed vault deep inside a mountain on the freezing remote Norwegian island Archipelago of Svalbard.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a fail-safe, state-of-the-art seed storage facility, built to stand the test of time and all possible natural or man-made disasters. The purpose of the vault is to store frozen duplicates (back ups) of all seed samples from the world’s crop collections, making the vault the ultimate insurance policy for the world’s food supply.

Often called the “Doomsday” Seed Vault, the Svalbard Seed Vault is the world’s insurance policy against botanical disasters, so that food production can be restarted anywhere on the planet following a regional or global catastrophe.

The entrance is the only visible part of the facility.

The entrance is a long, narrow concrete block made with an artistic

Mrs. Pandemic called to let me know that I had a package from MMC Armory waiting for me at our FFL dealer.  I walked over to the ammo safe, grabbed 5 pre-loaded Magpul magazines, and jumped in the trusty Tahoe.  After a few minutes of paperwork, I held in my hands one of MMC Armory’s Recon 16.1 rifles.  Let’s face it, “we the Pandemic collective writers” have a plentiful selection of AR’s to choose from, but I’ve always wanted a dedicated “Recce” (rhymes with Becky) rifle.  This is a rifle that is not a Sniper rifle, but is more accurate that my stubby “tactical” ones.  The Recon 16.1 is a beast, and I say that with great affection.

MMC Armory — some of you may know them better as Mennie Machine Company — is not a new kid on the AR block.  They have been making OEM parts for quite some time, and their rifles exhibit the same quality and care as their components. MMC Armory has been a contractor providing government Mil-Spec components since 1970.  The company has approximately 300 employees in a 225,000 square foot facility housing over 1

Sometimes you have the realization that you can do more than just write a check to support a good cause. At last year’s “Mercury One: God, Guns and Giving” charity event, I had the pleasure to meet and briefly talk with Marcus Luttrell about his Lone Survivor Foundation, as well as Glenn Beck and Joe Kerry about the other efforts Mercury One is supporting. All made a lasting impression and left me wanting to do more for their causes.

I reached out to some of the finest custom AR-15 and sporting manufactures to create two one-of-a-kind Lone Survivor rifles to donate free of charge to raise money for this great charity that supports our troops as they return home.

The first rifle (Serial # SURVIVOR02 – Silver) will be auctioned off at the May 15th Oklahoma City event

These major parts of these two Lone Survivor Rifles are custom in nearly every aspect, and the few that are stock were hand selected by company owners. No one will ever be able to duplicate of either of these truly one-of-a-kind AR-15s. Let’s look at what makes serial number SURVIVOR01 (Gold) and SURVIVOR02 (Silver) so very special.

• Custom Milled, Serialized, and Challenge Coin Match Area 53 Upper/Lower Billet AR-15 receiver Set
• Premium C

This week’s KnifeTests.com video is less about destruction and more about using this particular knife in the wild. The Browning Competition Knife is the star this week, and it garners a favorable review from Noss after he tries out various tasks with it, including whittling, chopping, batoning and cutting free rope hanging. It’s a nice change of scenery for Noss, who is impressed with the knife’s ability to cut through wood with ease. He notes that the 10″ knife blade isn’t very flexible, and remains stable throughout the brief tests.

“It takes deep bits in the wood and gets through them quickly with minimal effort and energy,” he says. Later, he remarks ”I wish it had more forward weight on it,” and it’s one of the few criticisms he gives the knife. The Browning Competition Knife retails for $183 and is available through Browning’s website.

There’s just two videos to watch this week, so check ‘em out below by clicking on the Playlist tab for parts 1 and 2. Visit our Knife Tests page for past destruction tests, and check every Tuesday for a new video.

Editor’s Note: Please welcome guest contributor Chris Cheng from our sister site, The Firearm Blog, where Chris is a Staff Writer who is a competitive 3-gunner getting more into hunting this year. 

The few hog and duck hunts I’ve been on in the past year have not been high volume shooting. As a new hunter, I’ve learned that a big part of hunting is the hunt (searching, waiting, stalking, etc) and only a few seconds out of the many hours spent in the field are spent shooting. Hunting has been a great way for me to be patient and exercise restraint.

As a 3-gunner, I am used to running and gunning with lots of action. My 3-day dove hunt in Mexico was much more action-packed than my previous hunts where I fired 1,700 rounds in six shooting sessions. My trusty Benelli Vinci and M2 were by my side, and I documented some of the things I learned on my blog. All of my trap and skeet practice definitely translated over to dove hunting, where getting the right lead is absolutely crucial to getting good hits. Here’s a fun video I put together with my “greatest hits”

A little over a year ago, I picked up a Barnes Precision Machine BPM-15 Patrolman’s Carbine. I was not only impressed, I was blown away by the build and part quality, accuracy, and innovations Barnes delivered in a rather innocuous looking standard priced AR-15 for around $1300. That rifle did not last more than six months.

As the story goes, Mrs. Pandemic was shopping for her first AR-15 (in my safe) and asked what was the best and most dependable AR-15 “we” owned. Naturally, I picked up the BPM-15 and explained why… and then she grabbed it out of my hands and said “thanks,” then winked at me and walked away. Never argue with a pretty woman with a gun. She loves the rifle. As a guy who reviewed a massive quantity of AR-15s, you can bet that I put the best AR-15 available in her hand to defend herself even, if that means I had to buy another.

This time around, I picked up the Barnes NP3 AR.

Generally as a reviewer of a continuous stream of AR-15 rifles, I have to strain a bit to understand the benefits X brand delivers vs Y brand… because in most cases 99% of AR-15 manufacturers all use the same parts from the same OEM manufacturers. In fact Barnes is one of those OEM manufacturers in the list. In general, the vast majority of the