Features of these very simple DIY homemade fire starters:

Why do we need fire starters anyway?

When your out backpacking or camping or when wild camping, a fire is essential for many survival tasks.
Being able to light that fire both quickly and efficiently is essential especially if your fuel (wood) is damp or wet.
A fire starter will give you the edge over the elements and make things a lot easier and simpler, allowing you to focus on the jobs in hand.
Spending unnecessary time and effort to get a simple fire going is poor prepping management, but having firestarters, whether homemade or shop bought will ease that pressure right from the off.

In this article: I cover how you make your own 'custom' fire starters using very basic materials. These materials you already have in your home and within no time you will produce dozens of functional fire starters to store and use when out in the wild camping. 

How To Make Simple DIY Fire Starters - Materials & Equipment

To see the full, start to finish process, take a look at the video below:

"a preppers guide with a difference"

"Post Apocalyptic Humour At Its Best"

The Citizen Survivor's Handbook' is primarily a work of fiction. However, the book is quite influenced by the propaganda that was published in Britain during the 1940s.
During this time and more specifically after the British evacuation of Dunkirk, there was a very real, plausible and imminent threat of Nazi invasion as part of their Operation Sea Lion.

The British citizens would always be on the alert for the ominous drone of the air-raid sirens as they went about their daily chores and work.
The fact that not only could your home be destroyed in a Blitzkrieg, a terrifying mass attack of aerial bombardment, at any moment, but it was in equally plausible that the Wehrmacht could goose-step through the roads of your very own town.

You have enemies? Good.
That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Winston Churchill

That terrible situation is incredibly hard to try and understand and relate to. But for those of us born in the 50s and 60s we can remember the streets of London littered with bomb sites and wreckage. 

'The Citizen Survivor's Handbook' is a tongue-in-cheek survival guide.

I would describe the book as:
"Post Apocalyptic Humour At Its Best".

 It's all wrapped up in the paranoia, suspicion, courage and resolve of those who experienced the Second World War, a tribute to an age few of us alive today know first-hand.

It reminds us that though time is a healer, those thoughts and messages we now have the liberty to find amusing, were once a very real and serious message for a country who believed their world could turn upside down at any moment.

Over 260 pages with illustrations and a real survival messages written in a funny and amusing manner that rolls along with the main character, a certain Mr Jack Jones.
Jack is a likeable, crafty cockney type,  making his own way out of a sticky situation, only to find that he has to draw on his own survival skills with every unsavoury character he meets.
A definite good read for any prepper or anyone interested in survival.

foreword by cody lundin

Published by BLKDOG Publishing, you can buy it here: Citiz​en Survivor's Handbook

full test, demo and video review of the Bahco Laplander

In this review I will be testing the Bahco Folding Saw Laplander - a well designed lightweight folding saw.
It is made in Sweden and, of course, uses a good quality steel with a super sharp edge and from many of the other write-ups I have seen, is considered to be right up there at the top of the class for folding saws.

The cut and design of the teeth literally double the cutting stroke each pass, as the teeth will cut using both the pushing and pulling stroke, combined with a very aggressive tooth design it made cutting timber a very easy job, requiring very little effort.

In the closed position the Bahco measures 9 inches and when full open is 16 inches, with the actual cutting blade measuring 8 inches - which I found to be a very nice, comfortable size. [7 tpi]

I quite like the feel of the handle - it's like a rubbery plastic called 'Stanoprene' over a solid plastic frame which give a nice feel and lots of traction- even with wet hands I found it quite hard to slip off.

Conclusions:

As you will see in my video review, the Bahco makes cutting timber into nice, usable pieces a very easy job - in fact, I think this saw is a lot faster than most other methods and gives you a cleaner cut.

From the very first beginning man looked at nature to provide everything he needed for survival.
They considered plants to have a somewhat magical power, possessing healing powers and the ability to cure anything from aches and pains, to severe illness.
These medicinal plants became the mainstay of their survival.
But what are the best natural herbs and plants for medicine to ward off illness?

In a disaster or SHTF situation, mainstream, over the counter medication will not be available. Except, of course, if your a politician, member of the royal family or their cronies. 
For the rest of us it will be go fend for yourselves.....

People will have to turn to more traditional, old fashioned methods and look to nature again.
Therefore people will to alternative ways to alleviate health issues: stocking up with books on herbal medication is a must.

As a prepper you will have acquired the odd survival knife or two, also a multi tool and probably a Swiss Army Knife as well - am I right.?!
When you bought them, there were nice and sharp and ready for action. and you make shaving sharp and fine tuned them by giving them the once over by touching up the blade with a fine whetstone and a stope and now they are perfect and razor sharp.

But when you use your knives they will slowly become blunt and that nice fine edge will require a bit of TLC - so back to the workbench and out with the grinding stone and whetstone once again.

The problem comes when your knife becomes blunt and doesn't perform as you want it to and you're out in the wild.

It's actually not that difficult to re-sharpen your knife and get that nice sharp blade back again, wherever you are, and in this article 'how to sharpen knives the easy way', I'm going to show a quick, 'non faffing' way to go just that

Now to be honest I'm not one who goes for gear that is endorsed by TV celebrities.
We all know that their sole reason for the endorsement is to make them money. But thats life!
If someone offered me tens of thousands just to say 'use this it's good' then I probably would!

But good, bad or down right phoney celebrity, it's the product that matters.
It'll soon prove itself to be useless or not...

All that said, this is one of my favourite 'emergency' knife sharpening tools that I carry with me all the time.
It is extremely compact. robust and light, making it the perfect tool for my bug out bag.

Here's my video review of the Gerber Field Sharpener:

As you can see from my short video, this is an excellent tool to carry with you and I highly recommend you buy one for you bug out bag as part of your survival kit. 

I hope you have found this review article on 'How to Sharpen Knives the Easy Way' helpfull.

Firstly, when it comes to self defence you are allowed, by law, to use reasonable force proportional to the threat, or perceived threat,  against you.
Simply put, if you think your going to be attacked or are actually being attacked you have a perfect right to defend yourself.

Furthermore, if you have excised proper situation awareness, and you anticipate an attack, then there's one thing you can use to gain advantage,
That is the use of a UK legal version of 'pepper spray' -  this spray deterrent comes within that law.

Of course, there are several other forms of self defence sprays available – namely, Maze or Pepper Spray being the main two alternatives.
However, both contain dangerous noxious gas and this is considered illegal in the UK.
It also comes under the UK firearms law and is in the same category as a firearm, so we can't use it...

The only real LEGAL PEPPER SPRAY ALTERNATIVE  FOR THE UK  that we have as an good, effective equivalent to the 'real' Pepper Spray found abroad and used by our police is the Farb Gel Criminal Identifier. 

This Spray Container a very discreet size, measuring only 85mm x 34mm and is capable of packing a punch that is capable of stopping a mugger or attacker in his tracks.

When it is sprayed at the face it will completely disorientate the attacker.

I feel it is definitely a 'must have' item and without doubt, one of the best parts is the red coloured gel remains on the attacker, therefore making them instantly recognizable to the police and as a potential threat.

I like this Legal Pepper Spray for the UK very much and have made quite sure I have several for my family to carry - especially as they are both cheap and effective, and completely legal to carry.

Generally as an Alternative UK Legal Pepper Spray for self defence this product ticks all the boxes and is something to consider for all the family, especially as it is effective and easy to use.

But, the best of all, it works AND it's very cheap...

Also see:

UK Legal Pepper Spray Alternatives for Women

Personal Attack Alarms for Women

Alternative Non Lethal Self Defence Method against an attacker

There are many drinking water myths and wives tales about finding and drinking water in a survival or disaster situation.

By following these old tales you could easily land up in a worse condition than when you started…They could even lead to severe illness and even death.

Below is the most commonly found myths about how, when and where you can drink water.

When you consider that snow is very ice cold, it then makes sense that it will require lots of energy calories to warm it for proper digestion when in your stomach. By eating ice cold snow, you are cooling your core body temperature – this can lead to hypothermia.

As snow lays on the ground it will collect a lot of different types of bacteria and other organisms – this bacteria and organisms can easily make you ill.

Always melt snow or ice before ingesting and definitely stay away from snow that is discoloured, e.g. yellow snow.If you melt snow first it can then be boiled and purified.

In a word... NO, never drink seawater.

Sea water will increase your bodies dehydration level and will kill you very quickly indeed.

In fact, drinking sea water will cause death even faster than having nothing to drink in the first place. 

In excessive heat, you can use salt water to help cool your body down, but never drink it.

This is rarely true…. on the odd occasion a fresh glacier stream may be clean but not always.

Remember, you don’t know where that stream has been before you met it!You have no idea what it passed over or what it came in contact with along it’s merry path to you either.
There could be animal waste, even dead birds or large animals laying in the upstream.

Essentially, if you have to make a choice between still or running water, the running water has less chance of being contaminated – but always try to filter the water, even if it’s just through a cloth or bandanna, anything will help to try and purify it a bit more.

Well, technically it’s a yes, BUT very, very small amounts.

Remember, urine contains all your bodies toxins – of which, most are extremely toxic and considered dangerous to your body in the first place.

Even small amounts should only be considered in the most extreme circumstances.

Urine will not rehydrate you – you are only using the bodies waste to try and rehydrate, by doing this will slow your bodies natural functions and this process actually uses more body fluid to process..!

Ha ha… yeah right. Of course you shouldn’t drink from a pond or puddle.

The same rules apply here as with all of the above.You have no idea what’s been in that water before you – it could even be a sewerage run off!

Always try to treat and purify the water before ever drinking it.

Always stop and think first before drinking from an unknown water source – and definitely treat and purify the water first.

• In it’s most basic form you can make a crude filter using natural sources.
• Rapid boiling the water for a minute will also kill most harmful bacteria and parasites.
• Without doubt a potable water filter bottle is your best option.
• For larger storage of filtered safe drinking water, a jerry can filter system is the right choice.

Bug out or bug can be a problem to able bodied preppers, but How Do You Care For Elderly Relatives when the SHTF. What if they are ill or have dementia? Or maybe they are very weak and physically unable?

It's all well and good bugging out when your fit and healthy, but try it when your physically worn out, ill or suffering from mental issues.
It would be a very different story then.

It is incredibly difficult to put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine what they are going through, especially with mental issues like dementia.
Do you even know the various mental conditions that commonly exist with the older generation, conditions like what is Dementia or Alzheimers?
Two nasty little age related conditions that will add stress to an already tense situation.

Nothing will set you up for failure like failing to plan. So having a good all round plan of action for your elderly relatives is an essential part of surviving a bug in or bugging out scenario.
Make provisions for who will do what, and if your elderly relatives has experience and can contribute to the overall plan, then definitely include them.

It is far better for them to contribute and feel that they are part of the 'team' as you will focus their mind on doing something for the group.

The tasks may be very straightforward and quite simple, but they will be adding something to everyone's overall survival, plus giving them a sense of worth within the group.

Another very important point to remember is the fact that many of our elderly generation have been through very hard times before.

Veterans of the world war and the London blitz survived the very hard times that a bug out would be like.
They have experience, skills and knowledge having already gone through a SHTF situation for years on end.
Try to use this knowledge for the benefit of your whole bugging out plan.

You simply must learn bushcraft skills to ensure long term survival.
Learn how to hunt, to fish and to safely cook your food. Learn about wild edibles and foraging.

Go out and do some hiking, and see how long you can stay out. Test yourself and see what you can actually do...!