Sunday, December 31, 2017





Listen to the podcast here.
Read the show notes here.

Blue Collar Prepping Transcript: 
Erin's Secret Prep







Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

All of us at Blue Collar Prepping wish you and your loved ones a merry, safe, and prepared Christmas.

The staff has the rest of the year off. Happy holidays and see you in 2018!

Sunday, December 24, 2017


Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good podcast!

Listen to the podcast here.
Read the show notes here.


Blue Collar Prepping Transcript: 

The Prepper Nativity












Merry Christmas, everyone!

Friday, December 22, 2017

Merry Christmas (and stuff)

Tips for getting good instruction from a good instructor:

1) Does the instructor have real world experience? If not, is he teaching a paradigm that is based in reality (and not theory) from someone who does have real world experience? Is their training applicable to you and your situation? Does the course description seem like it's magic? If it claims to transform you into Arnold Schwarzenegger after a couple of long days?

2) Does the intructor have a good reputation? Do they have references?

3) When interviewing your instructor, do they answer questions completely and in a way you comprehend? Or do they just blurt out a bunch of B.S. and say things like"When I was in the teams" or "Because I said so" or "That's just the way the world works"?

4) How much does it cost? Good classes are generally priced in the middle of the road. While it is true you get what you pay for, sometimes you end up paying for what you don't need, and a good instructor with a good program recognizes this and charges accordingly. However, a lot of classes are taught by experienced folks with massive egos that charge massive prices.

The opposite is true as well. If the course is significantly cheaper than others and isn't terrible, that means it's bare bones. You will pay again for what you don't get later, sometimes in blood or freedom.

Editor's Note:  It's a foraging knife!  

This full tang, wooden handled knife is designed specifically for foraging applications that include but are not limited to digging, prying, chopping, and cutting vines or rope.  It’s made from stainless steel and, unlike your survival knife, is designed to dig up roots and tubers in the muck and grime.  It has countless uses at camp as a trowel for digging fire pits, latrines, hot coal beds, earthen ovens, etc.  7″ blade, 12″ overall.

I think of it as a "survival trowel". If you do any kind of camping or gardening, I'm certain you'll find a use for it. 

Thursday, December 21, 2017

'Tis the Season for Giving ...Blood

As I write this, Christmas is just around the corner and everyone is buying gifts to give to family and friends. Despite the stress, we generally feel better after giving a gift, and the more appreciated the gift is the better we feel.

How about giving a gift to a stranger, someone you'll likely never see or meet? Giving of yourself when there is little to no chance of the favor being reciprocated is true charity, and charity is one of the virtues honored by most religious beliefs.

There is even a way to be charitable while increasing your odds of surviving a major disaster: donating blood. Think of the medical blood donor system as a form of insurance, where people put a little into the system to make sure they can be taken care of if the need ever arises. The more people who donate, the more likely it is that the system will be there if you need it.

Blood donors provide the resource needed by accident victims, cancer patients, and those going through major surgery. I think those all fall somewhere between “crisis” and “disaster” depending on the severity, so anything you can do to better your chances of survival counts as prepping in my book.

Transfusing blood, which means taking blood from one person and injecting it into another, has been around for a few centuries but it wasn't until 1901 that a doctor worked out the first three blood types (A, B, and O) based on experiments on blood from his staff and patients. This made transfusions safer, since not all types are compatible and the results were sometimes fatal. World War 1 brought the increased use of refrigeration and anti-coagulating chemicals to extend the shelf-life of donated blood. Organized blood drives started in the 1920's and 1930's, and WW2 saw the use of blood and blood products as life-saving tools in military hospitals. Today we're shipping freeze-dried plasma (FDP) to our troops to give them a shelf-stable emergency supply that will store for “a long time” and
can be reconstituted in the field with bundled sterile water. Our military is currently getting their stocks from a company in France while waiting for the FDA to approve a supplier in the USA.

Blood Components
Normal blood is about 50% plasma, 45% red blood cells (RBC), and 5% platelets and white blood cells (WBC). Donated blood may be kept “whole” or it may be separated into the different parts for different uses.
  • Blood Plasma contains coagulation agents and is useful in restoring lost blood volume while helping stop bleeding. Plasma is normally frozen and stored for up to a year; a small portion of the plasma known as “cryo” will separate out during freezing, and since this portion contains potent coagulation agents it is often split off and stored by itself.
  • Red Blood Cells contain the hemoglobin that transports oxygen from our lungs to individual cells. RBCs are where you may find a specific protein that further classifies the blood into RH positive or negative. Most people have this protein and their blood type will have a “+” after the letter; if it is missing, their blood type will have a “-” after the letter. RBCs are stored in a refrigerator for up to 42 days.
  • Platelets are clotting agents that seal wounds in blood vessels. Platelets are not type-specific and can come from several different donors if need be. Platelets are stored at room temperature in a machine that keeps them mixed, but not clotting together, for up to 5 days.
  • White Blood Cells are infection fighters, but can also cause inflammation or allergic reactions after a transfusion if they attack the new host's blood, so they are often removed from donated blood.

The main way to donate blood in the USA is through the RedCross. I've heard stories about how crappy they are in their disaster response, but they lead the field in keeping our hospitals supplied with blood; like any other group, they do some things well and other things not so well. The link above will take you to the site that deals with blood donations, not their general begging site.

Donating blood is not hard to do. The paperwork and questions will take longer than the actual blood draw, because nobody wants to let infected blood get into the system. Most healthy people can donate blood, as long as they:
  • Are at least 17 years old,
  • Weigh at least 110 pounds,
  • Haven't donated blood in the last 56 days,
  • Are in good health and feeling good,
  • Haven't gotten a tattoo in an unregulated shop the last year.
There are a whole list of things that will disqualify you, which the screener will go over before they take your blood. After they have your blood they will do tests for a few specific things, and if they find anything out of the ordinary they will contact you. It normally takes about 30 minutes for the questions and 10 minutes for the blood draw.

Due to when and where I was stationed while in the Army, the Red Cross will not take my blood. I used to donate as often as I could, especially while I was in the military (we were our own blood supply), but because I lived and ate in a country that had an outbreak of mad cow disease and that particular disease has a habit of staying dormant in a body for decades, they won't let me give blood. It's frustrating, but I understand their reasoning: as much as I would hate to get a disease from a blood transfusion, I would hate it even more to be the one that caused someone else to get one.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Prudent Prepping: Building an EDC First Aid Kit


I first carried a pocket first aid kit in my "salesman bag" when I had an actual route, and now it is part of the gear I take with me even though I cover only five stores. Lately I have wanted to upgrade what I carry, and also put together a very small belt bag to take other places besides work.

Some people seem to like the Batman Utility Belt look; I carry too much work-related stuff Monday-to-Friday to load up my belt in my personal hours. There are plenty of places to find pre-loaded first aid pouches, but the ones I have seen are bigger than I want to put on my belt, like the one in my GHB that was reviewed here. I really like that one, but as I said it's too big to fit on my belt.

So, I want to try rolling my own... again, since I never finished doing it with the items I first mentioned last year.

What To Carry
I really, really want this to be as small as possible, so I'm using an iPhone 6 case like BCP member Jonathan Sullivan first tried. I do not have the training* to use all the items carried by Jonathan, so I am only listing what I'm planning to pack around.
*One thing everyone says needs to be in my kit is a tourniquet. I do not want to add one until I know how to use it correctly.
The contents are changing weekly, until I am satisfied with everything. There will need to be a larger pouch when I add more items.

The Contents
  • Generic triple antibiotic cream, for minor cuts.
  • 6 band aids, 1" size, generic.
  • 6 fingertip band aids, generic.
  • 2 non-stick gauze pads, generic
  • Two Quick Clot sponge, 25g size. This is about 50% of the normal Celox Quick Clot size.
  • Small roll of duct tape, to replace any other tape.
  • Primacare CPR face Shield.
  • Two pair blue surgical gloves, from the 100 count box used for car maintenance.
Everything but the Quick Clot is contained in zip lock bags, since the phone case is not waterproof. Gauze is in a separate bag, band aids and antibiotic are together, gloves and duct tape are also separated. The smaller items are in small, 'snack size' zip lock baggies, and the 2"x 3" gauze pads are in regular sandwich bags. 

As a member of REI, a portion of my purchases are returned as a dividend every year and the time to use that money was coming to a close. Since the Celox pads were too big to fit into the phone case, I found these smaller pads at REI and bought them.

From the REI page:
  • Zeolite clotting beads are contained in a sterile, non-adherent mesh bag for easy application and removal
  • QuickClot is safe to use and features a low-heat formula that won't burn skin
  • Package contains a 3.5 x 3.5 in. (25g) bag of QuikClot for coverage of medium wounds 

Duct Tape
Duct tape can ooze some of its adhesive when hot, so that's why it is in a bag. The duct tape is 3M brand that I wound around a pencil and then cut off, leaving about 3/4" on each side. There is about 15' of tape on the pencil, more than enough to do anything I expect to do in an emergency. I've been asked "Why duct tape in a first aid kit?" and my answer is "This is also an emergency kit, and if it can't be repaired with duct tape, it really is broken." 

Besides, if I'm applying bandages, it really is an emergency and Real Medical People (tm) will know how to get the tape off later.

Primacare RS-6845 CPR Mask
  • CPR mask with one-way valve to minimize the possibility of cross-contamination
  • Air-cushioned edge conforms to the contours of the face and the elastic strap provides a secure fit
  • 15mm outside diameter connector for attaching to standard ventilation equipment
  • Includes a red, hard plastic carrying case 
A mask is pretty standard gear to pack now, and a small, hard case is a handy way to have this ready to use.

The Takeaway
  • Everyone needs to take some first aid gear with them.
  • I need to follow the advice of people who have done the hard work.
  • Late is better than never, but sooner would have been best. 
The Recap
The gloves were purchased from O' Reilly's Auto Parts, and all other items from CVS. 

It's not too late to order Christmas gifts and have them before Dec. 25th! Help support the BCP blog site!




Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Don't Ever Do This

I used to do a bit of blacksmithing when I was younger, and my favorite thing to make was blades. Big and small, all shapes. These all had to be sharpened at the end, so I tried a bunch of different ways to do that.

If you've not seen it, there's a show starring a guy named Bear Grylls in which they drop him somewhere and film while he demonstrates various survival techniques. One of the episodes featured this scene, which caused me to use some monumentally bad language and wonder what the hell was wrong with him.

A nice smooth rock all by itself, preferably with a little water poured on, will do a fine job of touching up your knife's edge. The basic idea behind sharpening a blade is simply "Use something hard enough and coarse enough that it will actually wear some metal off the sides of the blade, thus creating a new, sharp edge." That's it. Whether it's a ceramic stick or stone, a fine Arkansas stone, a diamond sharpener, all of it does that. The smoother the abrasive surface, the finer the grit it has and the slower it will remove metal, and the smoother and finer the edge can be made.

Do you know what happens if you break up another rock and add that grit onto a surface? You get a crapped-up edge from all those nasty, course bits of rock, because they'll stick and catch and roll and prevent the blade from making good contact with the surface. So if you're out somewhere and your blade needs touching up, use a nice, smooth rock often found in or near rivers or creeks (he was right on that part).

And if you put sand or broken rock into the process, the ghost of some ancient blademaker is going to haunt your dumb ass.

Monday, December 18, 2017

Guest Post: Laptops and Cellphone Post-Disaster

by George Groot

In the event of a major but temporary disruption to normal life, keeping things as “normal” as possible for my children is something that I try to do. Several years ago during a tornado warning we spent a few hours in the basement and a laptop with some videos was enough to keep the kids happy.

But what do you do when a few hours turns into a few days to a few weeks? Assuming that you have some form of alternative energy such as a generator or solar panels, and a battery bank to store electricity, you might be just fine recharging laptops, tablets, or cell phones from that alternative power source. However, if you don’t have a general purpose alternative electricity source, there are a number of portable solar charging options just for portable devices.

Solar Recharging

As a rule of thumb, more surface area for solar panels is better. Anything that is a battery bank with just a single solar panel will be pretty useless as an energy source; battery banks need at least three or four fold-out solar panels in order to get into the “worthwhile” category. For example, this solar battery bank advertises 10,000 milliamps of energy after 20 hours of charging, which is actually useful for a smartphone that uses about 1,800 milliamps of power for a full charge. With 10 hours of daylight, at 100% efficiency and working as advertised, that’s 5,000 milliamps. Even if you drop the efficiency to 50%, that’s still 2,500 milliamps, which is enough to charge up that smartphone or most tablets. 

An even larger option is made by the popular Anker brand, and it comes with an 18 volt outlet, which is enough to charge most laptops (although many are set to receive an input of 19 to 19.5 volts). Not all laptops are great options for solar charging, though; a very high efficiency “ultrabook” style laptop will be a very good option, while a “desktop replacement workstation” will be much harder to keep charged. For example, the 4th generation Core i7 processor has a 47 watt power draw at full power, where a 4th Generation Core i5 is only 15 watts. The Core i5 has half the processing cores as the i7 of the same generation, but less than a third of the power consumption at max load (although the i7 can handle a much larger max load, we are talking playing kids games or movies to keep them out from underfoot). 

This shouldn’t discourage you from getting an i7 based system, though, as many ultrabooks use the i7 processor knowing that it has a variable power requirement based on load, so in practice they can often work on battery power for much longer than “business class” laptops using the same generation i5 processors because the entire package is meant to be more efficient. What you should look for is total battery capacity and advertised usable time under battery power; an ultrabook should be good for over 10 hours on battery power with a new battery. As batteries age, that number will go down.

From Recreation to Communication 

I believe that smart phones are one of the handiest pieces of communications gear that a prepper can have after a natural disaster. While voice telephone calls eat up a lot of bandwidth, SMS messages are tiny and can allow people to communicate in and out of the affected area with reasonable latency. Also, communications apps such as Zello have been used to coordinate local groups of disparate people, such as South American opposition political parties or volunteer search and rescue groups helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

Mesh Networks
Even if there is a complete failure of the cellular network, smartphones can be used for local communications via “mesh network” solutions like Serval, and Sonnet is an interesting project that I hope becomes a reality.

If you can find good versions of the Linksys WRT-54G router at thrift stores for a few bucks, you can build mesh net infrastructure. It won’t be as sexy a solution as Sonnet looks like, but as long as you can keep them powered they will keep people connected. Every time I see a version 2 WRT-54G at a Goodwill, I pick it up. They are generally priced in the 5 to 10 dollar range, and even the later version 5 and up models can be useful when loaded with DD-WRT or Open WRT firmware.

Be aware that using WiFi as a primary communications channel will often suck a smartphone battery dry much quicker than the cellular radio connection. This is because the power management for a cell radio is much more “passive” than the WiFi radio, which was designed for computer networking and which keeps the device registered with the Wireless Access Point (WAP) constantly rather than on an “as needed” basis.

I hope this has been an interesting and informative look into how to plan for a power budget in the event of a disaster, although you don't need to wait for an emergency to put them into practice; the concepts are exactly the same as if you were going to do some remote camping and wanted to bring your power source with you.

Sunday, December 17, 2017


'Cause baby, now we've got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look what you've done
’Cause baby, now we've got bad blood, hey!
 -- Taylor Swift, "Bad Blood"
  • Miguel is on assignment.
  • Tiffany is on assignment.

Listen to the podcast here.
Read the show notes here.


Blue Collar Prepping Transcript: 
Dealing with Holiday Stress and Depression











Friday, December 15, 2017

Bugging In and Baking Bread

You've bugged in... but what skills do you have to make your home feel like home? I have some suggestions but would be interested in what you have to say.

Here's that recipe I was talking about.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Prepping Uses for Trash & Plastic Shopping Bags

I've found so many uses for plastic bags over the years that they have become one of the things that I try to stockpile. I've seen the machinery required to make plastic bags, and that is a technology that takes a lot of infrastructure to sustain. Luckily, most plastic bags are still made from petroleum and they won't degrade or break down for decades, so supplies will last through short-term disasters.

Be sure to avoid the brands with insecticides and fragrances if you're going to use them for food, water, or close to your body, some of the chemicals they use are strong enough to make a person ill.

Here are a few of the uses I've found:

Trash Bags

Emergency Rain Gear
  • Cut or tear a hole in the bottom of a trash bag and pull the bag over your head to make a quick rain poncho. I've outfitted a whole pack of Scouts this way for less than $5.
  • Slogging through mud or rain? Put your feet inside a couple of bags and then put on your shoes/boots. Tie or tape the bags around your ankles and a few places up your leg and your feet will stay drier. Be aware, though, that since the bags are waterproof, they will also hold in the sweat from your feet, so you will eventually develop wet socks and possibly even a rash. Dry your feet and change your socks regularly!
  • Draping a trash bag over your pack will keep the contents dry. Lining the pack with a trash bag before you load it works better, but you have to watch for sharp edges as you pack it.

Vapor Barrier
  • If you are dealing with snow or heavy fog, putting a plastic bag between layers of clothes will keep the moisture from seeping through to your skin.
  • It was common to use plastic bread bags as a liner inside winter boots when I was a kid (a long time ago), and trash bags will work just as well or better.

Solar Still
  • Lokidude covered solar stills here. Having a plastic bag makes it easier to build one.
  • You can also wrap plastic around plants or tree branches and gather the water that evaporates off them during the day. 

Covering Holes
  • If you need to seal up a room to keep out dust, fallout, smoke, or fumes, a supply of trash bags and duct tape will make the job easier. I use industrial trash bags to seal up grain bins before fumigating them and they work great.
  • Broken windows are a common occurrence after strong winds (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.) and tape and trash bags will cover any size of window.
  • If you use a window air conditioner, wrapping the outside of the unit in a plastic bag during the cold season is a good way to prevent drafts and conserve heat.

  • Slicing open a large trash bag will give you a sheet of plastic large enough to be used as a ground cloth under a sleeping bag. It won't last very long unless you use the heaviest bags available, but it will keep the dew from soaking your bag.
  • Placing a bag or two over the top of your sleeping bag will trap heat, but also moisture, so be sure to air out your bag every day. A quick way to stay warmer is to place the foot of your sleeping bag inside a large trash bag before you crawl in. It'll keep your feet warmer while having the top half of the bag exposed will let some of the humidity out.
  • If you're putting together a lean-to or debris hut, placing plastic bags on the roof will make it shed rain better. Bags added to the walls will cut the amount of wind that gets through.
  • Wrapping a plastic bag around you will trap some of your body heat and will keep the wind from carrying it away. It's not quite as good as a Space Blanket, but it'll do in a pinch.
  • Stuffing a couple of large bags full of leaves will make an insulating bed to keep you off of the ground and make sleep more comfortable. A bag stuffed full of clothes or leaves will also make a passable pillow, although you will probably want to cover it with a shirt as a pillowcase.
First Aid
  • Large plastic bags are handy for holding contaminated items, whether they be blood, body fluids, chemical contamination, or fallout.
  • Tie two opposing corners together and you have a make-shift sling for a broken arm.
  • Sucking chest wounds are one of the things covered in more advanced first-aid classes, and you need an air-tight material to seal them.

Plastic Shopping Bags
If you don't have trash bags handy, the ubiquitous grocery store bags are free and often pile up in kitchens. They are known as “T-shirt bags” because they resemble a sleeveless T-shirt (AKA wife beater) when they are flat. While not as large, they do have several uses for preppers.

  • Cutting a plastic bag into strips and twisting or weaving them together into twine is simple and makes a surprisingly strong cord. You can never have enough cordage.

First Aid
  • Like trash bags, grocery bags can be used to seal chest wounds and are also small enough to be twisted into something like rope that can be used as an emergency tourniquet.
  • Being smaller than trash bags, grocery bags are just right to use as air-sickness bags.
  • Filled with ice and tied shut, I've used plastic bags to take down the swelling from minor strains and sprains.

  • Using a plastic bag as a bucket liner is a simple way to create a portable toilet.
  • If you don't have gloves handy, putting a plastic bag over your hands will let you handle nasty things and keep your hands clean. Everybody that has had to pick up behind their dog knows this trick, but you can also use it for isolating yourself from blood-borne pathogens while rendering aid.

  • Keep wet clothes separate from dry ones in your pack by putting them in a plastic bag before stowing them. This is also a good idea for dirty or wet footwear inside a pack, although I prefer to use my boot laces to tie the spares to the outside of my pack so they can dry.
  • I've often put a bar of soap inside a plastic bag before sticking it back in my pack, just to keep it from getting into my food and all over my clothes.
  • Cutting strips of plastic off of a bag makes cheap, easily visible trail markers that can be tied to trees or fences. These strips are also handy for making quick field-expedient repairs (see cordage above).

Carrying Things
  • They are designed to carry stuff, so why not use them that way? If you're out foraging for food, a dozen plastic bags will fit in a pocket until needed.
  • If you're trading or bartering, having bags on hand makes carrying stuff home a lot easier.
  • If you are handing out supplies to people after a disaster, having the supplies prepackaged in plastic bags makes the process a lot smoother.
  • As long as there are no holes, you can carry a couple of quarts of water in a common bag. Double it up if you're worried about the weight tearing the seams.

Plastic bags are easy to find outside of California and have a long shelf-life and many uses, so why wouldn't you have a supply on hand? For those of you who live in areas that have banned the use of plastic bags, they are availableon Amazon if you want to thumb your nose at the busy-bodies who think they're in charge. $30 for a thousand is pretty cheap and should last a long time.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Prudent Prepping: Sanitizing and Moisturizing


I work around the public, deal with the public, and touch things in the course of my day that potentially hundreds of people have touched. I also handle boxed goods that may have been stored on a shelf for months and could be covered in dust, dirt or worse, depending on the location of the store. I wear gloves for most of the day and when I'm not, my hands get dirty quickly. Even when wearing my cut-resistant work gloves (reviewed here), my hands are sweaty, which attracts dust through the weave.

What this means is that I wash my hands four or five times a day, and when I can't wash, I use hand sanitizer (also four or five times a day). Unfortunately, my favorite supplier of sanitizer discontinued the unscented product that I liked.

What to do?

I have started to make my own blend with commercially available sanitizer and the Jojoba oil I have in my bag that I mentioned in this post. It took a bit of fiddling to get the ratio correct, but it now works as well as the store brand in my opinion.

Lately I've been putting more oil into the little travel bottle to keep my hands from cracking and splitting this winter. I haven't tried it out, but my local Gear Nut seems to think the added oil will make this into an even better fire starter than sanitizer by itself, because it will not evaporate as quickly.
The cold weather also drys my face out, especially my lips. My all time favorite Lip Balm is Carmex, in the little jar, sized just like the founder of the company used in the 1930's.

The company is still under the control of the founders family, making products to the original formula! I first bought some on a business trip to Nashville many years ago when I started to get a cold sore. The local drug store recommended this and I've had a jar in my personal gear ever since.

From the Carmex website:
Five Tips for Healthy Lips
  • Water, water, water. Almost every aspect of health can be improved through proper hydration, and your lips are no different. So make sure to drink up, all day long. 
  • Licking your lips draws out moisture and only makes the problem worse. Rely on Carmex® Classic lip balm to get the job done instead! 
  • Especially during winter and windy days, don’t leave the house without a scarf to give your lips an extra layer of protection. Not that you needed another reason to show off your new wrap. 
  • Lipsticks that are shiny or contain high gloss with little-to-no color can be potentially harmful to lips because they can attract UV rays. Try a triple-layer approach for added protection: apply a lip balm with SPF — such as Carmex Daily Care® — followed by a colored lipstick, then finish it off with some shine. Look lovely AND healthy. 
  • Dryness is the enemy. Use a humidifier. Keep your skin and lips fresh no matter the season with this simple solution.
I like the original jar because it is much more difficult to smash or crush than the squeeze tubes or lipstick type tubes, but they can be hard to find. Last week I lost the jar kept in my jacket pocket, so I needed to buy more. It took 3 stops to find the jar in stock! Everyone had plenty of the tubes, but the jars were sold out. To fix this problem, my next Amazon visit will have a three pack of Carmex added to the order.

The Takeaway
  • Working doesn't need to wear out or damage your skin.
  • Damaged lips mean uncomfortable eating and can give the wrong impression in a business setting.

The Recap
  • Hand sanitizer can be made for pennies per bottle. See this link for more information.
  • three pack of Carmex Lip Balm: $5.65 from Amazon with free shipping,  but unfortunately no Prime 2-day shipping. 




Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Guest Post: Getting Unstuck

by Xander Opal

It's a situation that will eventually happen if you drive on snowy roads or go cross-country: your vehicle will get stuck. Or perhaps you'll get a call from a friend or family member who is stuck, or encounter someone whose vehicle is stuck.

I have had quite a bit of experience getting stuck, from tractors in a field to a car on a snowdrift. Hopefully, you can learn a bit from me about what to do, and what not to do. This article is about getting unstuck, rather than recognizing Where Not To Go.

Know when to stop trying to get out by yourself.
Sometimes you can get out by rocking back and forth, shifting from drive to reverse to back in quick order, but that can just dig your vehicle in deeper, especially in mud. It's a lot easier to pop a vehicle's wheels out of relatively shallow divots than it is to drag a vehicle that's axle- or frame-deep in muck. It gets even more complicated and difficult if you have a trailer or piece of equipment in tow.

Generally, if you feel the vehicle settling deeper when attempting to change directions, or there is no progress more than a few inches in either direction, stop.

In all cases, it is very important to know where it is safe to hook a chain or strap onto your vehicle, as well as the towing vehicle, to prevent damage or injury. (For example, there's the time I discovered it was a bad idea to wrap a chain around the radiator mount on a truck.)

Additionally, when a stuck vehicle is being pulled out, ensure that onlookers are standing back more than the length of the strap or chain used. That strap or chain is being loaded with the energy it takes to move several tons of metal; if it breaks under load, you do not want that energy being applied to the human body.

Stuck in Snow
Useful gear:
  • A shovel (one that can be disassembled for easy storage is good)
  • Some kind of grit (sandbag, oil-absorbing material, kitty litter)
  • Carpet scrap/tarp/welcome-mat sized 'rug'
  • Safety orange reflective vest

When hung up on a snowbank in the middle of the road:
  1. First make sure there is no other traffic; you do not want to be outside of your vehicle in a freeway pile-up. You also want to be visible to any other drivers, which is where the safety orange reflective vest comes in useful.
  2. Determine which is the clearest method of travel. If the road ahead is as bad as the spot you're hung up on, it is best to turn around and find another route or a safe place to wait for the road to be cleared. 
  3. Use your shovel to clear out the snow from the direction you want to go, and also pull the snow out from under your vehicle if you cannot see clearly to the other side. Take special care to ensure that the wheels are not stuck in a packed snow/ice 'dish' under each.
  4. Pour a bit of the grit material before and behind the wheels, both under the vehicle and a car length in the way you're going to go (pickup truck drivers often put bags of sand in back to put more weight over the drive wheels). This will give the tires something to grip and move you with better than the icy snow-pack it had just created. You can also put the carpet/rug pieces right against the powered wheels of your vehicles in the direction of travel (front wheels of most cars, rear wheels of two-wheel-drive trucks).
  5. If you are not stuck too badly, putting the vehicle in low gear and gently putting your foot on the gas should get it moving back to a safe spot, at which point you can pick up any carpets used and proceed on.

Stuck in a Ditch
Useful gear:
  • Tow strap or chain
  • Distress signals like flares and/or reflectors
  • Safety orange reflective vest

Unless you have a winch and a handy stout tree in a direction nobody's going to hit the cable with their vehicle, you're going to need help if your vehicle can't move itself. This is a bit more complicated, especially as traffic is more of a concern since your rescuer will be in the way of at least one lane. Signs to warn other drivers, such as flares and reflectors and bright visible vests, are a necessity.
  1. Again, make sure the tow strap or chain is attached correctly to the proper locations.
  2. Do not jerk or yank suddenly to try to break the stuck vehicle free. This is a good way to break the strap or chain, and possibly do damage to one or both vehicles. 
  3. Carefully draw the strap or chain tight, then gradually apply more power. If the rescue vehicle is having problems with traction, it is a good idea to sprinkle grit over the working area. 
  4. Slow is best in all things. The rescue vehicle will have to angle down the road; it often helps to pull the stuck vehicle out in the direction the end toward the road is aimed. 
  5. The rescue vehicle needs to be ready to stop when the driver sees the formerly stuck vehicle getting closer, meaning it has traction. The formerly stuck vehicle's driver needs to be ready to stop when they see they're at that point as well.

Stuck in Mud
This is where knowing when to stop is very useful, and if you don't, you've literally dug yourself a hole.

Useful tools:
  • 2-4 boards, 2x4 or 2x6
  • Shovel
  • Long chain or tow strap
  • Boards
If you aren't stuck too badly and you're by yourself, you can wedge 2x4 or 2x6 boards behind the wheels of your vehicle (tree branches may also work in a pinch) and use them to back out of your situation.
  1. If your vehicle is loaded down with a lot of weight, remove that weight before attempting to get it out. It is a bit of a pain to deal with, but not as much as getting stuck worse from failed attempts. 
  2. Use the shovel to remove high points of dirt/mud from behind the wheels, and from under the vehicle if it is resting that deep. 
  3. Ease the vehicle with slow acceleration to get it onto the planks or branches (tarp or carpet scraps can be handy here for this). If you can get up on there, accelerate quickly and Do. Not. Stop. until you get well onto safe, dry ground. 
  4. As always, make sure any bystanders are a safe distance away.

More often, a rescue vehicle is needed. This is why long chain or tow strap is specified; I've linked a good 40' or more of logging chain together to get a tractor out of a bad spot. At worst, two or even three rescue vehicles (and thus tow straps or chains) might be required if the vehicle is well and truly stuck.
  1. Remove as much weight and stack the material out of the way.
  2. Hook the chain or strap to the correct places on both vehicles; a shovel might be needed to get to the right spot on the stuck vehicle. 
  3. Keep the rescue vehicle on good, safe ground, and bystanders well away. 
  4. Pulling the stuck vehicle at an angle, even a sharp one, can be useful to get it out of the ruts getting stuck makes. 
  5. Very gently take the slack out of the tow chain or tow strap, then gradually apply power to keep traction and not break the chain or strap. 
  6. As noted above, the driver of the rescue vehicle must be ready to stop when the formerly stuck vehicle is onto safe ground. The driver of the formerly stuck vehicle needs to be ready to stop when they see the rescue vehicle has stopped. 

A Few Notes on How to Pull Someone Out
  • Agree on signals for "Ready," "Go," "Faster," "Slower," "STOP!!".
  • The rescue driver watches the stuck vehicle driver, and does not begin until the stuck vehicle driver signals readiness.
  • Both parties watch for the possibility of a bystander in a bad spot, a broken chain/strap, or a chain/strap that comes undone.
  • Try to stay calm and methodical. It is easy to be angry or frustrated, rush through the process, and make the situation worse by getting stuck more deeply, breaking the only means of getting un-stuck, or worst, causing injury.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Product Review: the OKC Marine Combat Knife

I am a big fan of a knife for every day carry and use.  Opening packages, trimming things, even prepping food; all of these things happen on a regular basis, and all of them are easier to perform with a knife.

While I do prefer a pocket folder, there are some tasks that a fixed blade is better for, especially when camping. Sometimes you want a knife large enough to do the job without getting in the way.

To that end, I purchased an Ontario Knife Company Marine Combat Knife.*

Full disclosure: I have never used this knife to stab anyone, open a can of chewing tobacco, or do anything with it that would make a first sergeant turn purple with rage. Because of this, I feel that I have only tested it as a “Combat/Utility knife”, not as a “Marine Combat knife”.

Made by Ontario Knife Company, the Marine Combat knife is patterned after the Ka-Bar. There are a few differences, such as the coloration of the handle, but by and large it is a Ka-Bar clone.

My knife came with a leather sheath that fits quite nicely on my belt. The sheath seems to be well built, and has acquired only minor visual scarring. I use a shoe care oil on mine every six months to a year, and it seems to be holding up well.

The Good
I have opened a lot of cans (Number 10, all the way down to miniature cans of tomato paste) with my knife. I just jam the tip in and move it to cut. It seems to work well and the blade has yet to develop nicks or chunks out of it.

I have used my knife in the kitchen when everything else was packed (or when everything else was in the dishwasher or dirty in the sink and I was too lazy to clean something), and I can attest that it works well as a meat cutting implement.

I have prepared several roasts with it, as well as at least one round of steaks for grilling, and have gotten an even, clean cut out of it each time.

Mine occasionally goes through the dishwasher. It develops very small rust spots, but they come off with a little light rubbing from my thumb.

In use as a general camp knife it holds up well, and only requires sharpening after extended hard use (2-3 days or longer).

I keep enough of an edge on it that I have used it to dig out splinters, cut open letters, and (in one memorable case) to clean up a vinyl stencil when I could not find a razor knife.

On occasion I have used it to cut kindling off of a larger piece of wood. Hammering on the back of the knife, or on the pommel, has yet to produce more than minor visual scarring and has yet to chip or bend the knife in any way.

I have used it to pry apart car suspension parts, and the blade is not bent. I do not recommend this, since I am sure that it is bad for the knife.

A light oiling and storing outside the sheath (to avoid trapping moisture) seems to be all the care it needs most of the time.

The Bad
This is not a piece of modern technology. The Ka-Bar was adopted in the early 1940’s, and even if the technology used to assemble it has improved, the essential design is still limited by the technology of the era when it was developed.

The Ontario knife company has done pretty much nothing to change that. Which, to be fair, may be exactly what some of you will want: a very straightforward and no-frills knife with a blade thicker than that of a modern knife made with modern materials.

The Ugly
I have noticed that the knife was imperfectly sharpened when I first received it. It took me about three hours of hand sharpening with a Lansky sharpening system to get the blade perfect, but that included a bunch of use before I sharpened it, and a lot of finicky work to get it just the way I wanted it. I probably could have done it in a third the time if I was not watching television while I did it.

Other than that, it has had no serious problems.

The Verdict
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

It doesn't have as nice a fit and finish as some other Ka-Bar clones and variants (including the Ka-Bar itself) but it is much cheaper; as little as half the price at the time of this writing.  Ka-Bar brand knives will also often come with decoration, such as embossed sheaths.

If you want the ~80 years of history, it's hard to go wrong with the name brand. If you want bang for your buck, and don’t mind a quality off brand, this is an excellent buy.

*Note: this is not the OKC3S Marine Bayonet, which is currently produced for the USMC under contract by Ontario Knife Company. They bear a strong resemblance, but are not the same knife.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

GunBlog VarietyCast Radio #173 - Too Many Acronyms

GOA and NAGR tried to make HR38 DOA with FUD.

Listen to the podcast here.
Read the show notes here.


Blue Collar Prepping Transcript: 
Stocking Stuffers for Preppers











Friday, December 8, 2017


One chicken is clearly top of the pecking order and bullying another one to the point of not eating or leaving the hen house.

She looked better today. The other hens are also being attacked, but not to the same degree.

If it continues, the bully gets a bullet.

The Fine Print


Creative Commons License
