Camping & Survival
Living outdoors on purpose. Fire, water, shelter and navigation without gear doing the work for you, plus the camping and preparedness skills behind them.
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This may be the ultimate backcountry smart watch, and my wallet must rise to the challenge. Garmin knows exactly how to get me on board. Originally famous for GPS navigation, the company has stepped up its game with the Instinct 3 – Tactical Edition, its newest lineup of tactical smartwatches. It’s basically a failsafe…
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Prescribed burns are among our most important conservation tools. In the last couple of months, our West Coast was reminded of a critical fact of life: Fire is good when it’s under control. Over the years, places like California have become more and more resistant to habitat management via controlled burns. Yes, it’s true that…
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Hunting camps, outdoor relaxation (and perhaps a little power-outage insurance) … It’s actually fairly rare that our friends over at the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) review a product, so when they do, we sit up and take notice. It also helps if the product in question would have saved us a lot of…
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“Makani” is Hawaiian for “Breeze,” and this flipper knife really is a breath of fresh air … Mele Kalikimaka from WeKnife! If you’re a knife nerd, you already know about WeKnife Co., which partners with bladesmiths and artists to create some of the most beautiful, rugged, functional knives we’ve seen. The Makani is no exception,…
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Addicted to “Missing 411”? This story holds the keys to many of those mysteries. People go missing in the backwoods all the time. David Paulides’ riveting book and documentary series have described some of the most bizarre and difficult to explain. Thing is, there’s always an explanation, even if that explanation doesn’t follow common sense…
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Yes, “Spring Bear Mayhem” is well underway this year … “Over, under, around, or through–if a bear wants it, the bear will have it.” We’ve talked a lot in this space about being bear aware, but a lot of people still have a bit of a blind spot about bears. Fact is, whether you’re male…
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Over, under, around, or through … if a bear wants it, the bear will have it. It’s springtime, when everyone makes jokes about coming out of hibernation. You know who isn’t joking? The bears. That funny commercial starring Dean Winters isn’t an exaggeration; if anything, they’re underplaying just how much damage a hungry bear can…
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Collecting guns, ammo, and a bunch of high-speed gear is the sexy part of being prepared for a crisis. But at the end of the day all that equipment won’t do you a damn thing if you don’t have the nourishment to keep yourself on your feet. When was the last time you looked in…
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Giving Thanks for Spatchcock Just because the power is out does not mean we can’t give thanks. It turns out one of my favorite ways for cooking poultry, with my Big Green Egg smoker. Is still feasible if the power grid goes down. But even if the power did not go out, who really wants…
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When the ordure meets the rotational device … when things go pear-shaped … when the shuffling undead rise to feed upon the living … When that happens (or when you just feel like taking a nice long hike in the wilderness), you need a good, rugged bug-out bag that holds everything you need, is comfortable…
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If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s the fragility of the supply chain. If you had told me in January 2020 that staples like toilet paper and fresh meat were about to become difficult and expensive to get, I’d still be laughing. Except for the part where staples like toilet paper and fresh meat really did…
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Okay, so we know poaching deer is poaching. And poaching salmon is poaching. But ginseng? Isn’t that the wild herb that’s supposed to put lead in your pencil? Oh, wait. I guess now we know why they have to regulate the harvest of wild ginseng… The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife…