This week I spent several hours answering reader emails. I’m not complaining – I am extremely flattered that some of you care about my opinion enough to actually ask, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I make every effort to respond to everyone who writes in. I realized halfway through writing my fifth or sixth 1,000+ word reply this week that if one person has the question, multiple people could probably benefit from the answer. Which leads me to the point of this post…
High-Security Mechanical Locks
Outside of a very few specialized fields high-security locks are almost totally unknown. Even in the field of locksmithing where high-security locks are known, they are often misunderstood. Today I am going to offer you a primer on the fascinating world of high-security mechanical locks, the security benefits they offer, and what they can’t do for you.
Know a Knot! The Retrace Figure 8
In this installment of Know-a-Knot we are going to build on a knot we already know: the Figure Eight Loop. The Figure Eight has many variations, and this isn’t the last version of the Figure Eight that I will show you. This week is kind of special because we are actually going to learn two knots: the Figure of Eight, and the Retrace Figure Eight.
Homestead One-Year Progress Report
Last week I gave you guys some insight into what I looked for when I purchased my home and land. Today I’m going to give you a progress report on what I’ve done in the roughly one year since moving there.
Know a Knot! The Bowline
So far in the Know a Knot! series we have covered one anchoring knot, one joining knot, and one middle-of-the-line knot. Today we are going to cover one of the most important knots you can know: the bowline.
Homestead Planning 1: Site Selection
I recently received a reader email interested in my homesteading project. He asked quite a few questions, and I am going to address several of them here. Expect to see some more articles on homestead planning considerations, as well as some progress reports from me in the near future.
Beyond #TQ: The Unresponsive Patient, Part 1
If you’ve followed the self-defense community for ten minutes, you’ve been told you need to carry a tourniquet. And that’s cool – tourniquets absolutely save lives. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit reductive to say, “if you have a tourniquet you’re medically prepared.” A tourniquet is to a human what a battery charger is to a car: the perfect tool for one specific task, but not helpful for most problems you could have. Thanks to the infinite variation of the human body and insults to it, your medical knowledge should go well beyond the tourniquet.
Your Dry Practice Plan: 1 – 30 April
If you’re looking for some tips on practicing your shotgun skills, check this out.
The Problem with “Armageddon” and “TEOTWAWKI”
Recently I was talking to a friend. I was explaining – or rather, complaining about – my brother-in-law’s sub-par state of preparedness. The response I got was, “he should be good for anything short of Armageddon.” I’d like to like to parse that sentence just a bit because I think there is a lot to learn from it.
Know a Knot! The Double Fisherman’s Bend
Welcome back to Know a Knot! The last joining knot we covered was the double sheet bend. Today we’re going to cover another joining knot: the double fisherman’s bend.