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So I migrated my BOB to a new edition of the same pack (maxpedition) and found out some of my food had spoiled and opened.
My powerbars were smooshed, cracked, and oozing, not one was in 'good' condition. My pack is ~3 years old and I use it when I go camping, 4wheeling and ATV'n... it rides strapped to the back of one of them. I don't use things in it regularly but I do access it occasionally. I also had some beef jerky in there that was sealed and super greasy, and I was able to break it in half it had dried out so much.
On a + side my sardines were in perfect condition  Also my mainstay was still holding up but the food in side had def. loosened up and was no longer tight in the vacuum seal.
Another thing to take note of was my trioxane tablets had almost made it through their mil. wrapper!! This could be extremely dangerous and bad if it was near your food supply as it is not healthy at all.
So, it seems anything with an aluminum/metal type wrapper has cracked, ripped at the seams or got a hole poked into it.
What are you keeping in your BOB to eat that can handle real every-weekend type carry?
If I had room I would use a nalgene bottle to hold the items that can be crushed but my pack is full!
-Todd
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whats a top of the line weather radio?
Thanks for your time and knowledge
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Call me more than a little slow on the uptake, but watching the videos of the aftermath of the cyclone in Burma, and the refusal of their government to let aid in, has me thinking about my long-term preparedness. (as though Katrina, Rita, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods in this country did not make the same impression)
I'm working on long term food/water, shelter, 72-hour and bugout kits, but I'm thinking I'm seriously underprepared when it comes to a long-term medical kit. A small first aid kit may be fine for the car or for camping, but in a real disaster, where help may not come for a long while, if at all, a SERIOUS kit needs to be considered.
I remember some that have been shown here that I will try to look up. That's fine for you EMTs (there seem to be so many of you here!) and other medical personnel, but for those of us "lay" people, are there any recommedations for what items to accumulate - while we are signing up for more advanced First Aid classes?
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Now I really love my Tilley hat(s) but this little video is either another playful way of showing off the uniqueness of this hat or it is serious information about how to `Distract, Deflect and Disarm` your attacker or maybe it is both. Actually the defensive movements he uses can be demonstrated with or without the use of the hat.
http://www.archive.org/details/Tilley_Hat_Self_Defense
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I figured I could share this here. I would have posted it earlier, but could not load pictures from work.
The last few days I have been conducting some dismounted ops training and wanted to add a bit more skills practice to the mix. My big plan was to spend 72 hours in the field using only an improvised knife of my making and use it for all related tasks.
OH man……. 
I gave myself 1 hour to make a knife out of any available materials that I normally may find after a bad situation has taken place and I wanted to make it in a realistic scenario (as much as possible) I chose a standard ammo can to make the knife, with some green army string to aid in making the grip.
Using only a pair of side cutters from the LAV and a rock I pulled from the dirt I banged out a crude shape for a blade and then folded the metal over on itself to make a crude handle. Over this I wrapped the string and then proceeded to rub the blade along the gritty paint of the gun shroud of the 25mm to make and edge. I could have used better tools, but I wanted to make it as much of a challenge as possible. I used the knife over the next 3 days to do everything I normally would do with my knife in the field including cutting cordage, strapping and I chopped some wood and dropped some large branches for good measure. To top it off I used it to cut a length of wood and sharpen the stick into a crude spear. After the knife was ready I placed my trusty Gerber LMF II, my Leatherman surge and even my issued Bayonet in the LAV and took ONLY my improvised knife out on the training patrols just to see if I could make do. These are my lessons learned
Good points
-took a while to get a good edge, but was surprised at how sharp it was if not abused.
-could have been made out of a variety of other materials if need be.
-simple in design
-Cut wood well enough when used with a club to pound the back of the knife
Bad points
-very hard on the hands to make and to use. I didn’t use gloves because I didn’t want to cheat, but I cut up my hands a bit on the rough edges.
-I should have made the blade longer, but the rock and the side cutters were a big pain in the ass trying to cut the can with. It would have been better if the blade was at least 3 inches longer.
-the blade was sharp but not smooth, so it snagged a lot when cutting rope.
- it was a bit too flexible, and I had to bend it back in shape a few times.
-it needed re-sharpening frequently as the metal is not designed for such use. I wanted to improvise a sharpener as well, but could find nothing suitable. I cheated once and used my lansky pocket stone. Other times I used a metal picket to give it a reasonably adequate edge.
- I should have made a sheath of some sort.
-It lacked a Sharp enough edge to whittle wood properly, but after a couple of hours and a lot of cursing I made a decent wooden spear with it (all things considered) I could have lashed the knife itself to the wood if I really had to I guess.
All things considered it went very well. I got plenty of hard looks from my troops as they pulled out their knives to cut the ropes for Swiss seats and I pulled out this monstrosity to cut with, and more than one joke was directed my way as I sat in the rain making a spear with a piece of an ammo can.(considering I had a pistol and a rifle) but the point was to see how well a job could be done with less and I think I achieved that.
Once back I happily strapped my LMF back on, and placed my surge back in its pouch, but I walked away with a huge boost in confidence knowing that even without the proper gear the mission can still be accomplished.
Gear is great, and I think a person who spends any time outdoors should invest in the best quality afforded, but every once in a while we need to practice WITHOUT all the fancy stuff.
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Hello All,
I’ve really enjoyed the recent firearms threads. As with all things preparedness, there’s a lot to think about. Instead of considering different rifles, I’d like you opinion on different calibers for “survival” use, hunting and defense. What handgun caliber and what long gun caliber (or calibers, including shotguns), and why?
I’ll start.
This is only from research. I have yet to buy a firearm and am currently shooting a breach action .17 that was a gift.
It’s seems the .22LR is the overall hands down choice. It’s cheap, widely available and ideal for small game hunting.
I’m not sure about a larger, longer range, bigger game caliber. 25-06, 30-06, 30-30, .223 308. This is what I’m most confused about. I’m going out this weekend to try as many calibers as I can. Hopefully I’ll find a preference.
The same for handguns. 9mm seems standard, but I don't know enough yet.
12 gage seems to be the way to go for the shotgun. Though 20 gage and 410 have their places.
Thoughts?
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I am thinking about getting this book The Coming Economic Collapse.... Amazon reviews look pretty favorable.
Has anyone here read it, or other books similar to it? If yes, what did you think of it?
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