Swift | Silent | Deadly


Self Reliance


Beyond Beginner Prepping: Building Material

The vast, overwhelming majority of preparedness articles focus on the basics: food, water, shelter, defense, first aid, etc. These articles are sorely needed (and I may duplicate them myself one day) but articles going beyond the basics are few and far between. This week I’m taking a break from gun stuff and talking about a “beyond basic” preparedness category that is often overlooked: building material.

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Six Live-Culture Fermentation Projects

If you are stuck at home during the current COVID-19 crisis you have an awesome opportunity to try some new things and learn some stuff. Today I’m going talk about some of my favorite culinary endeavors: fermenting things. Here are six live-culture fermentation projects that don’t require a lot of money or active time, but yield awesome rewards and improve your self-sufficiency and sustainability.

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Know a Knot! Figure-8 Loop

Welcome to the first article in my “Know a Knot” series! There’s little that tells me more about a man that his ability to tie a knot, or not. Knowing how to tie a knot or two means you’ve taken the time to learn how to tie a knot, when it is useful, and when it isn’t. If you’re stuck at home, learn to tie a few knots over the next few weeks. This knowledge will serve you well (to steal Jack Spirko’s line) if times get tough, or even if they don’t. Today we’ll start with a very important knot: the Figure-8 loop.

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Adjusting Your Safety Margins

I could have also titled this article, “Two Places I Don’t Want to Be Right Now.” We haven’t been out much lately. We were about a week ahead of the curve on “social distancing;” we stopped eating from restaurants, going to the gym, and going to BJJ. My girlfriend works from home and my work is travel-based, so naturally that’s shut down right now. As a result we’ve been pretty isolated.

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Eating Through the Quarantine: Favorite Recipes

My girlfriend and I haven’t dined out in over a month, or ordered takeout in three weeks. This isn’t totally because of COVID-19. It’s mostly because we usually cook at home for financial, health, and lifestyle reasons, and dine out only occasionally anyway. We are very atypical. With restaurants closed across the country, many Americans are probably having a hard time. Today I’m going to offer a few of my favorite “quarantine” recipes. Hopefully they spark your imagination.

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