Category Archives: Survival Skills

More Detroiters Taking Responsibility for Their Own Safety

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Justifiable homicide, what normal people call self-defense but what one writer at The Daily calls vigilantism, is up in Detroit 79% from 2011. It’s a common complaint around these parts that Detroit police and some of the suburbs have a shameful 911 response time. One woman didn’t get a response until the next day!

Rick Ector of Rick’s Firearm Academy of Detroit discusses these issues with Cam Edwards of NRA News in the video below. He says that the typical students coming to him for instruction now are first-time gun owners. Many of them were once reluctant to have anything to do with guns.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx9wtfG81Gc]

In an overwhelmingly blue area of the state and nation, Rick’s pro-gun business is booming. There has been the usual anti-gun rhetoric aimed at Detroiters for the longest time. But if the statistics are anything to go by, then more Detroit citizens know they can’t rely on anyone else but themselves for help. And with the help of people like Rick Ector, they seem to be developing a not so blue state attitude towards responsible gun ownership.

Making 18th Century “Spunks”

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Spunks were sulphur matches popular in days gone by. They allowed a person living under “primitive” conditions to more easily create, transport and utilize fire. The process is fairly simple and needs nothing more than some slivers of wood and some sulphur, which you can buy in bulk on Amazon.

The video feature Le Loup of A Woodsrunner’s Diary. If you aren’t reading his blog you’re cheating yourself.

Digging for the Truth Pilot with Cody Lundin

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This ten minute clip is more than just a piece of obscure unaired television history featuring a Dual Survival star Cody Lundin. It is a great introduction to survival in harsh winter conditions, specifically those found during the coming mini-ice age I keep warning you about but you probably aren’t taking seriously.

This is not detailed instruction, but a general guide you can reference if you ever found yourself stuck outdoors in the winter. This video should give you a very basic intellectual foundation for survival in the winter. But like all other skills you don’t know how to do it until you’ve actually done it, so get out there and practice, practice, practice.

Candle Making Instructional Video by JAS Townsend

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This video is technically an infomercial for historical re-enacting sutler JAS Townsend and Son, Inc but the gear being shown is widely available. I do urge readers to check out Jas Townsend though for some high quality old time products.

Candle molds can be had fairly cheap ( I do recommend the JAS Townsend molds, they are expensive comparatively but very durable) and you can get good deals on standard candle wax and beeswax on Amazon. I also found a great deal on wicks there.

I’ve always been amused by the amount of survivalists who believe the lights will go out forever – so they look for solar generators to power their lights. Candles, a root cellar and an old fashioned ice box seem to be the real solution to threats to our grid. Making candles in such a situation will be a necessity and a lucrative business. With rising energy prices the grid won’t need to collapse for people to begin buying candles again. The video below has some great information on how to make the process easy, safe and painless so enjoy:

The Lost Art of the “Cut Shell”

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My Facebook “friend” Mark Taylor posted this video and it’s very useful. It involves a simple technique that turns a birdshot shell into a giant Glaser Safety Slug. This is a great money saver as anyone who shops for shotgun ammo will tell you. I just recently purchased a 25 round box of 2-1/2in 20 ga birdshot for $5.99 at my local academy sports. A five round box of 20 ga slugs at the same store cost about $4.50. If you use slugs for self – defense (something 20 ga users often do) this is a cheap, effective way to get self-defense rounds that won’t over penetrate. I assume that you can do this with all gauges, including the .410 though in that case buckshot would be much more effective than a slug of any type. Enjoy: