I have some very exciting news! Rich Brown and I have decided to re-release the old Across The Peak Podcast archive. Across The Peak was a podcast we hosted and produced in 2018/19, but were forced to abruptly discontinue. However, we still have most of the episodes and are going to keep them alive here.
Wild Edibles of The Southern Appalachians – UPDATED
As most regular readers have probably sensed, I’ve been on something of a survival “journey” over the past couple of years. Though I had a lot of head-knowledge about survival I didn’t practice much of it. Over the last couple of years I’ve invested a lot of time into bettering my survival skills. Gathering food in a survival situation has been pretty low on my list. Recently I’ve begun to correct that by learning some wild edibles of the southern Appalachians.
Time Management for Instructors
I would like to pose question to my instructor friends out there: why do you teach? I hope the answer is something along the lines of, “to provide my students with valuable information.” Poor time management can completely interrupt the learning process. I’ve written about respecting students’ time before. Today I’m going to delve deeper into the idea of time management for instructors, using a bad example.
CRKT Stiff KISS – The Coolest Knife You Can’t Buy
In early 2000 I was a fresh, young, non-rate Devil Dog. Stationed in the isolated, pre-war, high-desert town of Twentynine Palms, CA, That place and time was a bad-decision factory, and I made my share of them†. I also made one really good one, though: I purchased a CRKT Stiff KISS. I wish I could make this decision again and again because this is undoubtedly one of the coolest inexpensive knives ever.
Search and Rescue (SAR) Pack Dump
I enjoy doing gear layout photo spreads. That may be obvious from my recent paramedic jump bag article, my various EDC articles, etc. Today I’m going to answer a reader query about what is carried on a typical SAR operation. This is my search and rescue (SAR) pack dump.
Pictorial Post: Mushrooms
Recently on one of my twice-weekly hikes I noticed that the mushrooms were out in force. There must have been perfect conditions for a flush recently because I observed over 20 types of mushrooms (I think; I know next-to-nothing about mushrooms) in a single afternoon. I took a lot of pictures. This is may be a flash in the pan…or the beginning of a new obsession. Time will tell.
Poisonous Plants of the Southern Appalachians
Recently I published and article called Wild Edibles of the Southern Appalachians. While putting that article together I did a lot of research. I wanted to put out the best and safest information possible. In doing so I learned just how many poisonous plants there are out there. Here are just a few of the most dangerous poisonous plants of the Southern Appalachians.
Long Range Pistol Shooting Tips
Last week I posted a video on Patreon of me shooting what I called “the Eli Drill.” This is a 40-yard pistol drill quickly developed after the Greenwood mall shooting. Since posting that video I’ve gotten several questions about long range pistol shooting. I’m no expert but I’m glad to offer a few tips that have helped me.
XShears – The Best Trauma Scissors
I wasn’t really looking for better trauma shears when I stumbled upon XShears trauma scissors. I was mostly OK with the cheap, disposable trauma scissors I get for free at work. A friend gave me a pair or XShears as a gift and I realized XShears are the best trauma scissors. This article is mostly for my EMT/Paramedic crowd, but if you need a pair of bomb-proof scissors, read on!
The Ultimate Wilderness Survival Handgun?
Like everyone else, I love the idea of “one gun to rule them all.” Actually, maybe I like the idea little more than everyone else. Those of you familiar with the blog know that two of my big interests are handguns and survival. So why not an article about the ultimate wilderness survival handgun?