Camping & Survival

Survival Meal Planning

Most survival or prepping blogs and websites—FEMA and CDC included—recommend storing a three day supply of non-perishable food items for emergencies. But what is a three-day supply exactly? Does that mean you need to store three meals a day for each person in your household or does that mean you need to buy three cans of food per person per day? Neither is necessarily correct. Stockpiling a three-day supply of food is a little more complicated than that. To help you get started, Mountain House provides a four-day meal planner. Based on a 3,000 calorie a day diet for one person, Mountain House’s meal planner suggests using a 40:30:30 ratio—a close variation of the recommended percentage mixture of our total needs of carbs, fats and proteins. The meal planner has simple instructions how to plan your meals.

Safety and Training

Self Defense Handgun Training

A recent study commissioned by the National Shooting Sports Foundation found the majority of first time gun buyers practice shooting at least once a month and report the number one reason for their purchase was for home and self-defense. If you are a new gun owner, are you training correctly for self and home defense? The importance in being able to quickly access your gun, aim and shoot into the vital area of a perpetrator is more important than being able to hit the center of the bullseye with every shot.

This pictures shows a large tornado in the distance.

Camping & Survival

Can You Outrun a Tornado?

On the night of Wednesday, May 15, 2013, an EF-4 tornado ripped through the North Texas town of Granbury, killing six people and injuring many more. That same night, I was driving home from running errands 72 miles away in Dallas. As I was entering downtown Dallas, my riding partner exclaimed, “Look at that weird car! What is that?” I glanced over to see a car pulling off the highway that appeared to be the Tornado Intercept Vehicle from Discovery Channel’s television show Storm Chasers. Being fully aware these professional guys know more about tornados and severe weather than I do, should I have pulled over as well or kept driving? What are you supposed to do when on the road and a tornado is approaching? Can you outrun a tornado?

This picture shows a black plastic burial case.

Camping & Survival

Ammo Can 72-Hour Bug Out Kit

Can you pack a 72-hour bug out survival kit in such a small area? You sure can. Working with a small space means you eliminate heavy and unnecessary items. When you gotta get outta Dodge quickly food, water and shelter are your main priorities. These three essentials, plus a few extras all fit in a .50 caliber ammo can. Why an ammo can? Ammo cans take up little space, can be stored virtually anywhere and are stackable. I have seen ammo cans used as center consoles in vehicles and as alternative to saddlebags on motorcycles. An ammo can, be it metal or plastic can withstand temperature extremes and have water-resistant O-ring and gasket seals. So storing them in basements, attics, crawl spaces, and even buried underground means the gear inside stays dry. Metal military surplus ammo cans are durable, while new plastic ammo cans are untraceable to metal detectors—in case you want to cache your gear.

Camping & Survival

Camp Like Champ!

Even though I’m a very independent woman, I’m not afraid to admit there are things that I just don’t do when single. Camping was one of them until my best friend in college and I decided we needed to float the Guadalupe River. This trip required an overnight stay in a campground. In a tent. Without electricity. She grew up participating in Camp Fire and had all the skills needed for us to not only have a fun, but also a successful and safe camping trip. Since then, I have not let anything stop me from spending a few nights out on the lake camping with the girls. With a few basic skills and equipment, you can too!

Camping & Survival

Prepping Skills 101: Bartering and Trading

Throughout history, people have returned to the barter system when money has become scarce or lost its value. During the Great Depression and a long recession during the 1980s, Americans returned to a system in which people traded goods and services without the exchange of currency. Many Americans are losing faith in the American dollar and believe economic collapse is inevitable. Only time will tell if that will happen, but David A. Stockman, former Republican Congressman and President Ronald Reagan’s budget director has said, “The future is bleak.” If our paper money becomes meaningless do you know how and what to barter?

Gun Display Stands. Pistols for sale in the store.

Consumer Information

How to Shop for a Gun

There is one thing us women know how to do with certainty—and that is how to shop! However, if you are anything like me, shopping for an item you don’t know much about like cars or electronics (in my case) can be daunting and exhausting. I’m skeptical of salespeople and mechanics pulling the wool over my eyes, selling me something I don’t need or over priced. If you are new to the gun world, you might not know exactly where to start when shopping for a gun. To make things a little easier, let us look at shopping for guns like we would shop for clothes or shoes—by occasion, size, price, and looks. To narrow down your choices, first figure out the primary reason you want to purchase a gun. Decide how much you can spend on the gun of your choice. Having a budget will narrow down your choices further.

A woman sits piggyback on a men's back, both are holding guns.

Firearms

When the One You Love Doesn’t Love Guns

I haven’t dated anyone who hated guns and I don’t recommend that you do either. However, sometimes stuff happens. Maybe you got into guns later in life or you happened to fall head over heals for a guy or a gal where your shooting or hunting hobby just never came up (I’m not exactly sure how that happens, though). Regardless, you think it is about time you introduce guns to your loved one or guide your significant other learn to love guns as much as you do. Number one: do not expect to convert a gun hater to a gun lover. To avoid heartache and frustration, make it your goal to only take the fear of guns out of them and educate them about your sport.

Camping & Survival

Easy to Make and Take Fire Starters

All of the material needed to make these do-it-yourself fire starters can usually be found for FREE. We all like free and easy do-it-yourself projects and this one really comes in handy. Lightweight and easy to carry, long-burning fire starters are perfect for backpacking, camping or home use.

How-To

Are Mineral Supplements Worth the Money and Effort for Whitetails?

After a through and exhaustive search, I am here to declare once and for all that hunting whitetails is hard. While that may be surprising to some—the ones lucky enough to walk out their first time with a bow or gun and a shiny new hunter education card and wallop a monster—to many it is knowledge earned after exhaustive hours in the field.

And would you really want it to be easy? If everyone went out and shot a Booner their first day, how much fun would it be? (Although after 20-plus years, I think I should have earned at least one gimme.) After all, it is the allure of harvesting something rare and unique, a trophy like no other, that keeps our blood boiling and separates the hunters from those who merely hike with weapons in the whitetail woods.