Master Wong is a little difficult to understand sometimes and loves to swear. But, his lessons in self-defense are priceless. Here is a little tidbit of all the good stuff he has produced.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Camping tips
Now that we are officially well into the camping season here in the northwest. I thought we should share some of our favorite camping tips.
One thing all of us will face when camping is laundry, even if you don’t have to wash your clothes you will inevitably need to hang something up to dry. We usually will just drape it over one of the many rope strung around camp or the back of a chair,this is not very efficient. Next time try using the little plastic clip from a bread bag, they work great as clothespins and are easy the pack.
Tired of all your cooler stuff getting soaked after a couple of days in the melting ice. Try filling old drink bottle 80% with water and freezing them before you go out next time. You won’t have the usual cooler swamp and you also end up with a bunch of fresh drinking water when they melt.
Ever trip over the guy lines of your tent when climbing out for your nightly relief, I have, they are hard to see when you are mostly asleep. Try this, take short little mostly useless pieces of tin foil and make little flags on your guy lines. The moon reflects nicely off these, not to mention your flashlight.
Always put a rock with a nice big flat top, level in the fire ring, it is so nice to have a place to keep your food and drinks warm by the fire.
Last but not least, we deal with the most dreaded camping nuisance of all, mosquitoes! You just can’t seem to avoid them, so here is a couple of useful tips. Firstly, bring some sage sprigs with you, when the mosquitoes are thick, through some on the fire, they hate it. Secondly, after you get bit, and you most certainly will, use a little dab of toothpaste, not gel, directly on the bite, it knocks down the itch and helps it heal faster.
Well that’s it for now
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Will A Bite From This Snake Kill You?
Venomous Snakes in North 
America
When the weather gets nice, it’s time for the hikers, campers, and outdoor enthusiasts to come out of hiding… which happens to correlate with an uptick in snake activity (including venomous ones).
First things first, I’ll say that I’m not one of those people who believes all snakes should be killed on sight. If a snake is non-venomous, I’ll let it slither on it’s way every time. If it’s venomous, and too close to my house or yard, that’s when a decision has to be made.
In order to make that decision, I first need to identify the species of snake and determine whether or not it’s a venomous snake.
Despite the fact that we only have 4 major species of poisonous snakes to deal with in North America, it can be surprisingly difficult to calmly ID these snakes in the heat of the moment. In fact, that’s why I’m writing this article, to make it easier for the non-snake experts among us to avoid a nasty and potentially fatal bite.
The 4 Big Ones
These are the 4 groups of poisonous snakes that you may run across in the US:
- Rattlesnakes
- Cottonmouths
- Copperheads
- Coral Snakes
When I say that there are 4 major species of venomous snakes, that’s a bit of an oversimplification, BUT that actually makes the identification process easier.
You see, it doesn’t matter much if you’ve spotted a Texas Coral Snake or an Arizona Coral Snake, both are deadly poisonous. So stay away.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Condition yellow
It saddens me that the world is a place that requires this. but it is, so act accordingly, or you might just be the next victim.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Welcome to NW Survival.
We are a community dedicated to providing education and training needed for survival in the Pacific Northwest. We share our insights, opinions, and offer gear reviews as opportunities present themselves. We also offer firearms safety training for individuals and groups.
Back from the batcave
Good morning,
Sadly it has been awhile since you have heard from me, but that doesn’t mean I have 
been stagnant, I bring word from the batcave.
I have been busy in the field, we have completed a couple of gun safety classes. I really enjoy these classes because I feel very strongly about how important they are. If you feel that you need to own and/or carry a firearm, I believe it is your responsibility to become highly proficient with its use and safe handling. I believe you should have to show competence, not just a written exam. Just like an automobile, show me you can parallel park.
My steadfast partner in crime has been insistent that we start offering pre built Bug out Bags. So we have been doing a lot of research so we can be sure to offer what we feel are the best solutions for the different type of bags we all should have. In the not too distant future you should see a selection of prebuilt solutions being offered. We believe everyone should be prepared for the unforeseen, and look forward to offering the best bags you can get. Stay tuned.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Food in the Backcountry – Trapping with snares
We live in a society that has trained us to eat meat on a daily basis. Fortunately we are moving away from this paradigm, as we have learned it is both unnecessary and problematic to the long-term health of our planet. That being said, when we are in a survival situation it may become necessary to our survival to harvest some fauna from the earth. Chances are you will not be packing around your hunting gear, if you even have any, when the need arises. So this will focus on methods that use your natural surroundings and a few basic tools.
There are many types of traps at your disposal. Snares, deadfalls and pits to name a few. If you are reading this I am assuming you have a certain level of readiness, like a pocket knife and some paracord.
Lets talk about snares, the two we will talk about today are spring snares and drag snares. Of these the spring snares are the most complicated of the two.
This is an illustration of what I call a drag snare. it is designed so that all that is needed is a well placed loop of cordage and the animals instinct to flee for successful operation. If you look closely you will see the loop is fashioned with a slip knot that will become tight when strained. This ensures that your prey does not escape. Placement is the key ingredient to success. Try to find an animal trail and place the loop so that your prey will pass through it while traveling normally. Make the loop the size of your intended prey. 3-4 inches for rabbits 2-3 inches for squirrels. You don’t want to catch a bear.
spring snare is quite effective but way more complicated in the setup and reduces your chances of releasing an unwanted captive, as it is more aggressive. But it tends to be more successful because it uses the critters body weight to maintain tension on the snare once it is tripped.
The single most important message I want to pass on is;
Traps are indiscriminate and must not be forgotten!
If we decide we need to set traps for our survival, we must be responsible in their placement and management. Taking life to maintain yours should never be taken lightly, be a good steward.
As alway,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Food in the Backcountry – Fish
Are you hungry? Are you out in the backcountry without your normal food stores? Never fear, the NW is stocked full of all sorts of options to keep you fed and strong.
Probably the most abundant source of protein rich food is fish. In my opinion, we are blessed with having some of the best native fish in the country but then, I’m biased.
There are several methods you can use to secure your share and more of fish in the streams and lakes of the NW. If you are traveling away from your home, you should have supplies with you that can aid you in dealing with unexpected events. I call it a vehicle preparedness kit (VPK), which we will be talking about later.
Fishing gear is one of the tools I recommend having in your VPK. My kit has fishing yo-yo’s, a good supply of fishing line , assorted lures, weights, and hooks. However, you can catch fish with nothing more than paracord and a knife to start. Enough chit-chat? Let’s get specific.
- Catching fish with a few twigs – If you know where to put them, you can catch fish with just a few twigs by setting up a trap near the bank in the slack
water. You want to make the entrance wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, like so – \ /, this will keep the fish in the corral. Be sure your twigs go far enough up the bank and are tall enough to keep the fish in the trap. Now, just get yourself a grasshopper or a worm – both of which you could eat yourself. But doesn’t a nice trout sound better?
- You can also use rocks and the natural lay of the river or lake to trap the fish (see diagram on left). This is a great way to feed a large group seeing as it gives you the best chance of catching a considerable number of fish with minimal effort. It is relatively non-invasive and easy to remove once you have what you need. Remember to respect the natural flow of the world around you or it just might stop providing for you.
- Using fishing Yo-Yo’s – I love these things because you set them and forget them. In case you didn’t know, fish like the water beneath the trees on the shore. This is to our advantage because Yo-Yo’s are basically automatic reels. You
hang the reel from a branch hanging over the water, bait your hook, pull out enough line to put the hook where you want it, and set the trigger. When a fish hits the hook it trips the trigger and the Yo-Yo reels them in – all the way out of the water. So, once it is set you can go set another one, start boiling water, or work on whatever other chore needs doing. Check the Yo-Yo occasionally until you have caught something.
- Of course, you can always just get yourself a long stick and use it like a pole, as long as you have your fishing kit.
These are just some of the ways you can catch fish in the wild, but I consider them the most practical.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Survival Hacks – Fire good
You should know by now one of my favorite topics is fire. I believe it is the most important tool outside of what you carry. Being able to start a fire can be the difference between life and death or just simply make your life a lot more comfortable and tasty.
So let’s get started with my favorite fire hacks:
- Empty toilet paper rolls stuffed with dryer lint: This is my favorite because of both its simplicity and thrift, it is completely free and way too easy to make, to not have one on hand. Simply collect the dryer lint from your dryer, if you use communal dryers you could collect everyone’s, then simple stuff it loosely into an empty toilet paper tube. You can also cut a paper towel tube in half and make two. These make excellent tinder.
- Cotton balls smothered in petroleum jelly: Ok, this one isn’t free and uses new materials, but it really works well. Just like it sounds, take a few cotton balls and saturate them with petroleum jelly – I usually stuff them in an old pill bottle, but a film canister would work, too. Oh wait, we don’t have those anymore but you get the idea. This is also excellent tinder.
- Tea lights: These are so cheap and light that you should carry a few and they have so many uses that I consider them indispensable. For example: they replace tinder with a self-sustaining mini fire.
Of course all of the above hacks assume you have a lighter or matches, they are not ways to make fire without the former, they are simply aids. Which gives me the idea – we should talk about how to start a fire without a match or lighter. Keep your eyes open for that in an upcoming post.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
Survival Hacks – Know them, Love them, Use them
This week we are going to focus on survival hacks tips. Mostly simple things, but some more sophisticated. But all of them worthy of your attention and application. Some of the hacks will be valuable in your everyday life as well.
We don’t always need to shell out our hard-earned dollars for solutions to common needs. Some, actually quite a few of them can be met by repurposing normal everyday items that would otherwise be considered trash.
So keep your eyes peeled for this weeks post filled with useful hacks.
As always,
Stay Vigilant and Be Prepared
You must be logged in to post a comment.