Survival Skills

The Figure of Eight on a bight is a very strong mid loop, where the two ends come out of the knot parallel, so it is best used when the direction of the load from the knot towards the ends is similar for both ends, and the knot is loaded …

This is a method for tying a bowline, good if you want to make the loop itself up really fast, but have some time to prepare in advance: if you were setting some kind of snare or trap for example. If you leave a long working end after the slipknot, …

The Essentials Legal to Carry Openly or Concealed Any knife except a switchblade with a blade of 3” or long, or a knife with knuckleduster handle Vermont Knife Law Overview Vermont is a reasonably permissive state for knife owners, one that is more concerned with punishing those who carry knives …

This is probably the most useful hitch in the book, and one of the simplest too. It is used to secure the end of a rope to a strong point. Its strength is in the round turn (the two wraps around what it is tied to) and the two half …

Crisco should be stockpiled in anyone’s pantry alongside buckets of wheat and dehydrated protein. Sure, you can cook, bake, and fry with Crisco, but the plethora of other uses this old-fashioned kitchen standard boasts is what makes it a prepping and homesteading all-star. In 1911, crystallized cottonseed oil, or as …

Sandbags should part of your survival stockpile, even if you live nowhere near a flood zone. These durable items have a multitude of uses, perhaps not as many as duct tape, but it would at least be a decent contest. You can use sandbags not just to hold back water, …

It is right to prepare for rough times by developing the skills needed to survive the onset, laying in the goods and equipment necessary to sustain yourself in the aftermath and having a plan to endure the time of lack and austerity until things get to back to normal. There …

The Kalmyk loop is a great all-purpose quick-release loop knot. It will hold securely until the working end is pulled (when it will open up) and can be used more conveniently where one might otherwise use a bowline or other fixed loop. The Kalmyk Loop is technically a slipped Eskimo …

The Versatackle is a self-locking mechanical advantage system with line. It can be used wherever a very tight line, or system with variable tension might be useful: tying out tarps, setting up hammocks, building rope bridges, lashing down equipment etc. That it is self-locking is enough to recommend it, but …

The Clove Hitch is a simple hitch for securing a line to a post or pole or other round object, somewhat larger than the diameter of the line. In most situations the round turn and two half hitches will do just as well, and the clove hitch is known to …