Survival Skills

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 …

Named for a nomadic ethnic group living in the Russian steppes, this knot is similar to the bowline, but is ‘quick release’, meaning a bight (instead of the working end) is put through the final step, and the working end can be pulled to immediately open the knot. This knot …

“The Bowline is the king of knots, or if you like it, bends A Bowline on a bollard is the best of journey’s ends” –A. P. Herbert, Brithsi novelist The Bowline (pronounced ‘BO-lin’) is probably the most useful you could ever learn, hence the quoted poem. The Bowline is best …

The Timber Hitch is for hauling large logs (or anything that shape), often many times the diameter of the line used. It will not jam, will not slip and will always come apart easily once unloaded. The Timber Hitch is effectively a much improved, much stronger version of the same …

The Reef knot (also called the Square Knot or Double Knot) is easy to remember and probably the widest taught and widest used knot as a bend. It is also not a bend, and should never be used as such. Clifford Ashley (author of the Ashley Book of Knots) wrote: …

When SHTF, you will be dealing with multiple threats to your life and the lives of your loved ones. On top of the chaos, you may find yourself in a situation where traditional products and medicines are inaccessible, simply unavailable, or cost-prohibitive even if you could get to them safely. …