The Chubby Survivalist

Nebraska Recognizes Other States’ Concealed Carry!

September 3, 2009

It’s finally happened, and I’m thrilled! My home state of Nebraska now recognizes most other states’ concealed carry permits. This includes the states on either side of Kansas City, where I live. I’m thrilled personally, because aside from the Missouri side of KC, Nebraska is the only other state I ever really visit. Both my immediate family and my wife’s entire family are up there. I’ll be hunting there in November, and with a little luck I should have my permit by then.

On a grander scale, looking at how this law affects more than just me: concealed carry permits from at least 34 states are now recognized by Nebraska. They enacted basically the same law that Kansas did this year. If another state has concealed carry requirements that are equal to or greater than our own, we recognize them as valid. It took a while for the Nebraska Attorney General’s office to compile the list, but they finished it recently.

This is definitely a step forward, but I feel for states like Vermont that put no restrictions on a person’s right to concealed carry. You don’t even need a special permit there. Perhaps they should offer the option of a state sponsored permit expressly for the purpose of taking advantage of new reciprocity laws. I’d spend money and take a class in order to open up more states I could carry in. Heck, I’d toyed with the idea of an Arizona permit just for that reason.

Of course ultimately, I think it’s a person’s right to carry, and that means no state should be able to put any restrictions on that. Between the certification (class and ammo, $120), filing fees ($150), and permit issuance ($20) It cost me almost $300 total. I’ve spent all but the last $20, since I’m currently in the 45-90 day wait for the permit approval from the state. This is cost prohibitive for many Americans, which isn’t right.

It’s only when criminals know there is a very real chance of victims being armed that it will begin to have the greatest impact on crime. Who would rob a bank if you knew 2-3 of the customers on average were carrying guns? That’s why Vermont’s law makes the most sense.

The one upside, for now, is that permits add legitimacy. We can obviously see how states like Nebraska, Kansas, and others value requirements when deciding what other states to honor. Also more businesses are taking down those no-gun signs from their doors, after responsible concealed carry holders explain the difference. The general public is already prohibited from carrying in most states. The sign only serves to restrict the people who have been properly trained, certified, and background checked. No bank robber’s plans were ever foiled by a door sticker.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Learning to Live with Hunger

September 1, 2009

Yesterday I took some time to really contemplate hunger. As I’m trying to lose weight, I’ve realized that maybe the discomfort of slight hunger is akin to the slight discomfort from say, not having your house at the perfect temperature at all times. People lived without air conditioning for all of history, save the last 50 years or so. Now, we’re uncomfortable when the temperature is even a couple degrees from perfect.

I think maybe the same goes for hunger. We live with such abundance here in America. Even in those first shaky years of my marriage and family, when money was scarce and rent was almost always late, I was never hungry. The idea of always eating until we’re full seems just as “given” as the idea of always controlling the temperature to within a couple degrees.

I’m starting to think this is wrong. Defining the end of every meal as being the point of total satisfaction (and often more) is a recipe for disaster. I see now how I got overweight. I expected to feel “full” after every meal, and even the slightest hunger was a discomfort I was unwilling to live with. I think if I can learn to live with even the smallest amount of hunger, I can eat much less.

My wife gives the kids as much as they want to eat. That sounds good on the surface, but I’m starting to think it’s wrong, and will leave them as overweight as she and I have become. Refills of sweet breakfast cereal until kids no longer desire more seems dangerous. Perhaps just a single serving is in order. And if the kids are really still hungry, something more nutritious(and less tasty) like toast is probably a better way to go. If you’re really hungry, you’ll eat toast. But it doesn’t take more than a sweet tooth to down another bowl of sugary cereal, even the varieties that are “healthier”.

This summer I did a great job of conditioning myself to live with the mild discomfort of temperature. I didn’t use my mustang’s a/c at all, even when hopping on the interstate for 20 minutes or so meant keeping the windows rolled up. Eventually, it didn’t even seem like discomfort at all, and I’m genuinely shocked at times when my wife needs air conditioning. I did the same thing with physical effort, upping my daily tolerance. Perhaps I can do the same thing with hunger. Maybe if I’m always comfortable with a mild amount of hunger, and I accept this mentally, weight will become a non-issue. And it’s not a bad survival skill!

Tags: diet, Fitness, hunger, weight loss
Posted in Fitness, Survivalism, Training | Leave a Comment »

Losing 25 Pounds in 75 Days

August 31, 2009

The Sandhills of Central Nebraska

After a healthy break from blogging (most of the month of August) I’m back in the game. I recently received an incredible incentive to both get in better shape, and hone my wilderness survival skills. My dad invited me to go deer hunting with him again up in the sandhills of Nebraska!

Last year was my first time, and I remember the pain and suffering all too well. I was overweight and out of shape (which are NOT the same thing), trying to hike dozens of miles, several hours a day. I couldn’t keep up with my dad, a veteran of numerous marathons over the decades. I seriously cut into his hunting that first day, and we were both glad to go our separate ways the next morning. If you haven’t hiked sandhills before, it gives you a whole new appreciation for the guy you see in movies, lost in the desert and traversing enormous sand dunes. It’s easily 2-3 times as difficult as hiking pleasant terrain.

As of Saturday, I weighed 300 pounds, with roughly 75 days before the hunting trip. I’d started to drop some weight with my survival activities, but without a proper incentive my “comfy chair” in front of the TV was just too inviting. Now I’m on a mission: to lose 25 pounds, and to log over half a million steps, before the start of the hunting trip. That’s a pound every 3 days, and just under 7,000 steps per day on average.

Doing this, I hope to spend our 2 pre-season scouting days out in the sandhills, tracking and photographing deer for several hours a day. I hope to be able to hike 8-10 miles a day during our three planned hunting days, never letting my fitness be a factor in bagging the best deer I can.

As I mentioned above, fitness and fatness can co-exist. No matter how well I do the next 10 weeks, I’ll definitely be overweight for this trip. But I don’t have to be unfit. I can build up a great level of endurance in that time. And if I keep up the activity after the trip, I’ll eventually lose the rest of the fat as well.

It’s been two days since the start of my challenge, and I’m down two pounds. Weight loss is easy early on, so I plan to keep pushing and get ahead of the game. This will buy me wiggle room during the last few weeks, when pounds will shed less easily.

Tags: deer, hunting, nebraska, sandhills, survival
Posted in Fitness, Survivalism, Training | Leave a Comment »

Government Health Insurance Hurts Self Sufficiency

August 3, 2009

Why is it that every time the private sector fails, it the fearful are so willing to let the federal government take over? Socialism is like the parent of a child who got a speeding ticket, deciding the best course of action is to take away the car and do all the driving from now on. Currently on the list is health care.

I consider the government to be the servant of the people, and like any potential employee, I’d like to see some references. Let’s see…the government has handled retirement (Social Security), and education. Social Security is near insolvent, largely because somebody decided the first generation should receive benefits without actually contributing much, if anything. Not to mention, the SSA has employees and offices all over the country, costing money that could otherwise be invested in individual retirement accounts. How about education? I’ve never heard of a private school that underperformed its local public counterparts, because it has to be accountable. If it didn’t work, people wouldn’t pay for it. Yet, private school or not, we’re all forced to pay for public schools.

My point is this: the government should be regulating important things, not running them. Setup ground rules for any investment plan marked as “retirement”. Set minimum educational requirements for anything calling itself a school. Then get the hell out of the way. I’d like to share a couple of personal examples of why government-run health care is a bad, bad idea.

It’s not as great as it sounds.

Growing up military, I know exactly what socialized health care looks like. It means a bad tooth gets pulled instead of a crown. The words “adequate and practical” come to mind. It won’t be the more generous health insurance most are used to, even if most of us complain about our current coverage.

Let’s face it, most of the things we call necessities are actually luxuries. You can live just fine missing a few teeth. You don’t need the latest artificial limb from space age composites. I dare say the top 20% of luxury medical care probably accounts for 80% of healthcare costs today.

It’s not as cheap as it sounds.

I also have a big problem with the government that makes, interprets, and enforces law competing with private business. Once upon a time, I briefly worked as a manager for a county records department. Theory: one unified department could store and digitize county documents (warehouses full) cheaper than each department doing it for themselves. Counties still had the option of hiring private firms, just as people would have the option to choose private OR government health insurance.

We couldn’t compete with private firms because we were paying county employees $30K a year (10 years ago) to literally sit there and push paper through a scanner all day. So the department head would bid a fraction of what it cost us. It didn’t matter to him – we were a government agency, so tax revenue made up the difference. The problem with any “business” that has ready access to tax dollars is that it can charge whatever it wants, and taxpayers pick up the rest. Eventually competitors die, and you no longer have other options.

It’s not as competent as it sounds.

People like to point to high CEO salaries and severances as evidence of corporate corruption. What those people don’t understand is that if you’re a large corporation, you want the cream of the crop running your company, and there’s high demand for that person who can pilot a company to success. The severance is necessary, too. CEO’s put their heads on the chopping block with every decision, and are fired on a dime if stockholders lose confidence. Would you take a job with such high risk without some promise of security?

Government positions have set pay grades, so it’s a whole different ballpark. Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing people in government, and they’re the reason the broken system gives even the appearance of working. But those people are the exception, and even they have their limits. Why would you work as an agency director with all the stress of a CEO for a couple hundred thousand, when you could be a CEO and make millions? The government simply can’t afford to hire the best candidate for the job.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the government can solve healthcare by taking it over. It’s never been successful before. The evidence is there. I agree our healthcare system is broken, but let’s look to fix the system instead of running home to our collective socialist mother.

The answer.

Chances are, you don’t have insurance. You have a payment plan for medical services. Do you get doctor visits and prescriptions for free, or near free? That’s a payment plan. You simply have a contract with your coworkers to split the bill evenly, and you’re paying an enormous markup for a company to manage it for you. Think about it: insurance companies take your premiums, pay the agreed amount on your claims, and have billions left over for overhead and profit.

What you need is a true insurance plan. You have a high deductible, and a low premium. You cover most of your medical expenses yourself, averaging far less than what you would have paid an insurance company to pay them on your behalf. In the event of an unforeseen catastrophe, you pay up to your plan max, and the insurance company covers the rest. These plans do exist, but the one piece of the puzzle that still makes it tough is the fact that most people have the more socialized version.

Let me explain the industry term Usual, Customary, and Reasonable to you. When I processed dental claims for a living, a plan would have percentages it pays out for different services, based on UCR – the typical amount a dentist in that area charges for a service. Better plans would pay out 90-100% of UCR for a given procedure. Cheaper plans paid less.

How did we determine UCR? It’s the average of what dentists in the area are charging for procedures. As dental insurance became more popular, prices for services went up. Since prices went up across the board, UCR went up, which means insurance paid dentists more. Here’s the flaw: every time dentists raise their rates, insurance companies raise what they’ll pay, and pass the cost along to the patients. The patient never wins in this scenario.

Gradually, individual insurance plans are becoming more affordable. More people are working mobilly, or on a contract basis, and as this happens traditional employer health coverage will be replaced by plans that meet your specific needs. Your coverage will no longer be determined by who you work for. Why should it?

Posted in Financial, Political | Leave a Comment »

Better Braided Survival Belt With 550 Paracord

July 31, 2009

If you’ve read my previous post on making your own braided belt out of paracord, then you’ll be very happy to know it gets even better I’ve since made a couple more belts, with increasing complexity, coolness, and amounts of rope. My latest has worked pretty well, and stores close to 100 feet of cord. In a pinch, it would be easy to separate two 25-foot pieces of rope and still have a working belt.

My finished paracord survival belt - very strong and comfortable! I used two different colors of cord, a lighter accent color, and a darker main color.

Start with two 50-foot pieces of paracord. If you get two different colors, it’ll create an interesting pattern. I’ve used two shades of green. Locally, Cabela’s seems to be a good place. You can get 100 feet for $7 or 1,000 feet for $40. With as much as I’ve been using, I plan to pick up a 1,000 foot spool soon. That’s actually a better price than I’ve even been able to find online. Without further ado, here’s how to create a sturdy paracord belt that should hold all the rope you need for an emergency.

Start with a 1-inch slide buckle. I found this at Cabela's for $1.50.

Loop the paracord through one side of the buckle. It's not shown here, but you want the outer strands to be the longest, and the inner strands to only be about 6 feet long.

Loop the paracord through one side of the buckle. You should have both strands of the same rope on one side, and both strands of the other rope on the other side. Don't worry, it'll create a symmetrical pattern once we start.

Pull the outer paracord almost all the way, so that only about 6 feet remains on the inner strands.

We're going to start tying a knot called a portuguese sinnet. It's the one knot we'll use over and over to "braid" the rope. Pick which color paracord you want to be the accent (outer) color. Loop that behind the inner strands, and in front of the other outer strand.

Second half of a portuguese sinnet with paracord

Take the other outer strand, and pull it through the loop we created.

Tighten the knot, and push it upward.

Now repeat the knot about a thousand times! You'll always loop the accent strand, and pull the main strand through it. You only touch the outer strands, and the inner strands stay straight. That's why they don't have to be very long.

Measure your waste, and subtract a few inches. Keep braiding the belt until you reach that length.

Measure your waist, and subtract a few inches. Keep braiding the belt until you reach that length.

Now flip the belt upside down, and tie another portuguese sinnet over top of your last knot. We're going to add another layer, braiding over the top of our original layer.

Continue braiding over top of the original layer. This creates the width and thickness of the belt, and more than doubles the amount of paracord used.

Oops! I didn't use enough rope. That's because I didn't take pictures the first time, and this is a cheater belt, just a few inches long. You should have plenty of paracord, not to worry. When you get to the end, you can simply cut the extra cord, and melt the tips together with a lighter.

You should have 2-3 feet of paracord left. Previously, we stopped the braid a few inches short. That's because this is your room to shrink!

Now braid back down the extra length. If you lose weight you can unbraid these last few inches, remove some of the extra, and rebraid. If you gain weight, you can let it out, as well. Now cut the extra paracord, and melt the tips together with a lighter. Do this on the inner side of the belt that won't be seen.

Congratulations! This was a fun project, and a much better belt than my original. There was also an in-between version where I only braided along the line once, not doubling over. This looked more like a kid’s belt, and only uses about half the paracord. This project took about three hours, but I just worked on it over a couple nights while I watched TV.

There are two tough parts. The first is that you’ll be pulling a lot of cord through the loops each time, several arm lengths. I folded the cord twice so it was only a quarter of the original length, and tied it off to shorten this. Second, the knots will appear a little uneven until you’re practiced enough to tighten the knots the same each time. The good news is, your first few hundred knots won’t be seen under the double braid.

Enjoy!

Tags: parachute cord, paracord, surivival
Posted in Supplies, Survivalism | 2 Comments »

Camping for Survival Preparation

July 29, 2009

As I’ve made survival preparations that include water storage, survival supplies, and surival skills, I’ve realized that the perfect way to turn them into practical experience is camping! It’s so obvious now that I’ve figured it out. I started out small last thursday, setting up the tent with a large inflatable mattress in the backyard. It was the best night’s sleep I’d had in a while. I think part of the reason is that, after setting everything up, you’re nice and tired – ready for bed! I only had my oldest son with me. We read one of his funnier books, laughed over cookies and milk, and called it a night around 10:30.

The next night, I tried the same thing with all three of my boys. Partway through setup, I decided to skip the air mattress. I wanted to see if I could really “rough it” under survival situations, and the comfy mattress seemed out of place. Plus, it’s large and took up just too much space in my 4-man tent. That night ended up being miserable! I didn’t sleep very well on the ground, and the younger two boys wanted to stay up way to late playing and fighting. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I took down the tent, ate a quick breakfast, and took an hour-long nap on my real bed. Fail.

That afternoon, I reached out to my friends on SurvivalistBoards.com, asking for tips and experiences sleeping on the ground. Within hours I had great advice from several experienced campers. The most helpful for my particular situation were comments from Hick Industries, IceFire, GunGourd, and ex-hunter. They got at the core of my problem – confusing recreational camping with survival preparation. They should be approached differently, and bedding is a good example. IceFire even made the amazing point that in survival situations, you probably want to sleep lighter, and therefore slightly less comfortably.

So, I’m over my concern that nicer bedding isn’t “rugged” enough. If I can thrive with small amenities like a sleeping pad and matches for fire starting, I’m still way ahead of most people. And as ex-hunter pointed out I can always practice the harder stuff whenever I want, to build up a tolerance.

Saturday night, practice time was over. We drove out to an actual primitive campsite. Basically an outhouse, water pump, and fire pits were the only amenities, which was perfect. Because it was so low-demand and low-maintenance, it was even free! I took all three boys again. AND the mattress. It wasn’t big enough for all of us, so I bought some foam sleeping pads from Wal-Mart, and doubled them up under the kids that slept on the ground. They were fine with it, since it hadn’t really bothered them to sleep on the ground the night before, anyway. It did create a space issue, the kids on the ground were too close together in a 4-man tent with a queen-sized air mattress. I’m going to buy a larger tent soon.

I brought one of my 7-gallon water containers, which was perfect. I prepared well, since the previous couple nights in the back yard taught me what I’d need. There was only one gaping flaw in my plans: my cell phone was undercharged, and I ended up having to shut it off for most of the trip and only text-messaging with my wife to coordinate our pick-up time the next morning. This was a big liability, and kept us from extending the trip well into the next day. I’d wanted to do a longer hike, maybe even stay for lunch. I’ll be sure to charge any electrical supplies in advance next time, and bring extra batteries for the items that use them.

Thus ended my 3-night tent streak, and I upped my number of consecutive outdoor hours from 4 to 14. Very shortly, I plan to do a multi-day camping trip instead of just overnight visits, and then I’ll be comfortable staying outdoors indefinitely (within reason).

Tags: camping, survival, wilderness
Posted in Fitness, Supplies, Survivalism, Training | Leave a Comment »

Financial Survival: Severance Pay and Employee Notice

July 28, 2009

A recent NY Times article about Gannett cutting severence pay was alarming. A major newspaper company I’ve never heard of had a generous severance package (1 week per year of employment) during previous layoffs, and now they’re changing to a state-funded unemployment. In most cases, people faired just as well or better, but researchers were quick to find the handful of people that were getting “screwed”. These included people in real trouble, who didn’t qualify for state unemployment because of part-time side gigs they have. It also included people who found another job quickly, but were miffed that they only got 1 week of unemployment pay instead of the 10 weeks of severance pay they would have gotten under the old policy.

Here’s what I think is fair. Companies should be able to make whatever severance packages they want, but it should work both ways. If a company offers 2 week severance to all employees, then they have every right to require two weeks notice when an employee quits. When I say require, I mean any shortfall should be taken out of the final paycheck. Companies are usually in a better position to make good, so I’d say if a company wants to offer *additional* severance, go ahead. But they should be able to require up to an equal commitment from their employees.

If this seems unfair, remember that this is legally the case right now. Companies are not legally required to give you a dime when you’re let go, and you’re not legally required to give any notice when you quit. It comes down to accountability. We need to be able to financially support ourselves during times of unemployment. We shouldn’t expect to go our whole lives gainfully employed with no breaks.

I’m almost just as guilty as most – I don’t have enough saved up yet to be unemployed for 6 months, which I feel is a realistic number in this economy. I’m not quite as guilty though, because I can at least see my own responsibility and I’m working to fix it. I probably have a more enlightened take on this, because I’m a freelancer. I’m used to occasional work gaps, and I’ve had to weather tough times. I have much more personal responsibility for my income than most people, and that’s how I like it.

The real lesson of this article, even though they choose not to say it explicitly, is that we each need to be responsible for providing for ourselves. That’s capitalism – we reap the rewards every day, and we need to take the responsibility as well. Companies don’t owe us anything for working for them, other than the compensation we’ve been getting all along. If you work for a company each pay cycle, and they pay you according to your agreed arrangement, then your obligation to each other is fulfilled. Anything above that is gravy, and you should be prepared to go without it.

Tags: employee notice, financial preparation, severance, survival
Posted in Financial, Survivalism | Leave a Comment »

Water Rotation for Emergency/Disaster Use

July 27, 2009

This is the drinking water we use day-to-day, to rotate our supply.

I’ve started filling and storing 7 gallon water containers, the blue Reliance containers I talked about in my Water Storage and Purification post. So far I have 9 containers, totaling over 60 gallons of filtered tap water. Now it’s time to start rotating them!

I found a great spot on a shelf above our washer/dryer, which are just off the kitchen. I put the water container on that shelf. Keep in mind, this container weighs almost 60 pounds, so I kept it all the way to the side, next to where the shelf is supported. This will keep the shelf from bowing or breaking under the weight. Now, instead of getting drinking water directly from the tap, we can use the water stored in this container. When it empties, I’ll refill and take back to the basement. I’ll then bring up the next oldest water container, and the process will continue.

With our containers tagged with the fill date, we never have to guess about freshness...barring a basement skunk attack

Speaking of, it’s time to tag the water containers in the basement. None of them are more than a month old, so I tagged them as “07/01/2009″ to be safe. Whenever I get a new container for upstairs, I’ll check if any have hit the 6 month mark and refill those as well.

The result is that I never need to remember to empty/refill the water containers every few months. It will happen automatically, ensuring fresh and clean water when we need it.

Tags: disaster preparation, survival, water rotation, water storage
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Altoids Survival Tin

July 24, 2009

The survival tin made out of an Altoids can is fairly popular, and I’m nothing if not a popularity-seeking sheep that loves to follow the masses. With that, I present my own Altoids survival tin!

My Altoids survival tin, wrapped in 6 feet of electrical tape for waterproofing and survival use.

Most homemade survival tins use repurposed tins from something else. Altoids tins are the most popular, but I’m also experimenting with “gift card tins” which have become popular. I picked one up for $2 at Cabela’s, and I’m going to try it later. Right off, though, I know I’d have to get a different whistle since only Altoids tins are tall enough to hold the one I have.

Here’s a list of my survival tin’s raw contents, some of which have been modified to fit:

2-3 cotton balls
orange whistle
mini pocket knife
matchbook
pencil
button compass
fishing line
2 fish hooks
2 fishing line sinkers
nylon thread
sewing needle, magnetized
sewing thread
snare wire
candle
2 razor blades
2 safety pins, different sizes
5 small pieces of paper
3 band-aids
1 alcohol swab
the Altoids tin itself
6 feet of electrical tape

All the contents of my survival tin, minus the fish hooks.

I only had to buy three things to put this kit together: A can of altoids, cotton balls, and a larger survival kit from Wal-Mart that I paired down to the essentials. You can buy survival tins for not much more than I paid for the individual pieces. If you do this, I recommend buying two – one that remains sealed for emergencies, and one that you open and play with. The advantage of my kit is that I decided what was important, I’ve played with all the pieces, and I can unpack/repack them at will because I designed how they fit together.

Everything is designed for multiple uses where possible, and often many items come together for one purpose. I’ll outline the purposes below:

Making fire. I ripped the front cover off my match book, for the added room. It’s not very thick, but the extra folds over the matches took up room. The candle was carved down to fit in the last available space of the tin, which is why it’s shaped so funny. It’s mainly for lighting a fire – if I can light the candle, it can stay lit under kindling until a bigger fire emerges. The cotton doubles as rattle-proofing for the kit, and as excellent tinder. I wanted to include flint/magnesium, but I didn’t have room. I should ultimately replace the matches with waterproof strike-anywhere matches that are dipped in wax to keep them from lighting in storage.

Securing food. The snare wire can be used for trapping smaller land animals for food. The fishing gear (line, hooks, and sinkers) are used for fishing, but in a pinch they can be used for other tasks. In fact, I used the extra space in the blue spool of fishing line to wrap as much nylon cord as possible, so that no space is wasted. I can use the small pencil in my kit as an “axle” to allow the fishing line to spin freely as needed, and to help in reeling.

Medical care. The cotton can be used to stop bleeding, the alcohol swab to sterilize, and the band-aids to prevent infection. The needle and thread can be used to suture a wound first, if needed.

Navigation. The kit includes a button compass, and also a backup. I magnetized the sewing needle so I can set it on a leaf in calm water and it will point north, should I lose the compass. Backup compass requiring no extra space was a no brainer once somebody suggested it. The pencil and paper can be used to map your route, or take notes on landmarks or surroundings.

Getting found. The whistle was a costly item – it takes up a lot of space, which is a waste since it’s hollow. I had to cut off the plastic loop used for a lanyard, and file it down to fit better in the kit. But I’ve heard that when you need to attract attention, your voice doesn’t carry as well, and wears out easily. A whistle cuts through ambient noise, and lasts as long as your breathing. The tin itself can be used as a reflective surface to attract attention on a sunny day.

Crafting/repairing clothing and shelter. The remaining pieces are largely for the work you’ll need to do while you’re waiting for rescue. The pocket knife required a lot of engineering to fit, but I felt it was worth it. The nylon thread, safety pins, and razors can be used to repair clothing, tie together shelter, or even craft weapons for hunting.

As I mentioned above, the kit is closed and wrapped in electrical tape. The first layer is mainly for waterproofing the kit. I added 5 additional layers so that I’ll have that much extra tape as part of the kit. Every wrap around the tin is about 1 foot of tape.

My kit doesn’t have everything I want. I just bought a compact cable saw I’ll have to add by replacing/repositioning something else. I wish there were more fire tools, and a light source. I’m limited by room and budget, which is fine. My kit also doesn’t have much for rope, just a few feet of nylon thread. However, I’ve started wearing a belt I made out of paracord, and I plan to replace the laces in my shoes as well. I also replaced my watch band with braided paracord which actually looks pretty good.

I’ve decided to carry my kit at all times for one month, to see how it feels. I think the Cabela’s tin might be better for me, since it’s flatter and holds more. It’s not as compact though, so I’ll have to experiment and see what feels right. Below, I’ve included pictures showing how my kit fits together. You can spend hours deciding how to make everything you need fit, and it’s not a bad idea to do so.

To start, I line the bottom of my tin with a stretched out cotton ball to quiet any rattling. The whistle is so big, I have to form the cotton around it. The knife goes in as well.

Continuing to add the bulkiest and oddest-shaped items first, I place the matches, fishing line spool (with nylon thread added), pencil (which I had to cut down by an inch) and compass.

Next, I push the sewing thread reel into the middle of the snare wire to save space. I add some cotton inside the reel, to keep from wasting any space.

I shaved a tealight down to the height and shape I needed to fit the tin. I wanted as much wax as possible.

I added cotton everywhere it would fit into the nooks and crannies of the other contents. The more, the better. It eliminates rattling, and is valuable tinder.

This is a little backward, but I added the razor blades and safety pins after the cotton. I should have done it the other way around, but in my head I knew where I wanted them so I left space.

This is the tin, packed with all the odd shaped objects, filling the deeper half of the tin to capacity.

I added the paper, band-aids and alcohol swap to the lid of the tin. I add them last because they add very little width, and fit perfectly.

I added the paper, band-aids and alcohol swab to the lid of the tin. I add them last because they add very little width, and fit perfectly.

I add one last layer of cotton to take up the extra space.

Tags: altoids, Supplies, survival, survival tin
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Variety in a Spiceless Life

July 23, 2009

My best friend and I have wondered something for a few years now. How could our fathers work all their lives at government jobs neither of them really liked? We’ve examined a lot of theories. As gen-y-ers in our early 30′s, studies have shown we’re one of the most pampered generations ever. That’s resulted in us being really productive and creative workers, but also very high maintenance. We constantly need to be interested and challenged by our work, or we’re unhappy. There are other theories too, but none of them have ever helped solve the problem of why I’m an amazing guy to have on your team when the work is interesting, but I struggle a *lot* to stay focused on bland work.

I’ve come up with a new theory.

I’ve known for a long time how sanitized our lives are. My earliest memory is not liking hand-sliced cheese on my sandwiches. I preferred Kraft american slices – all the same shape, size, and consistency. Same with the meat – precut to the same thickness, and a prefect fit for the square, machine-cut bread slices.

But lately, as I delve into survival mode, my understanding has grown. Processed food is always the same, and familiarity is somehow cherished over quality. Think of a McDonald’s hamburger – not great but always the same, always familiar. Air conditioning means most of us are only comfortable in a very small window of temperature and humidity. Cars mean that something 10 blocks away and something 10 miles away provide an almost identical driving experience. We don’t value short distances, fair weather days, or a really good burger anymore because we don’t experience as wide a range of quality.

This brings me to work, and the fundamental question: why do I care so much if my job provides variety and challenge? Because I don’t get it anywhere else in my life. I remember growing up, my mom had a list of “A” meals and “B” meals, and we planned dinners with only 2 or3 “A” meals a week for budget reasons. Now I only eat meals I really like, and there are fewer of them. Good meals are now standard, and common.

We used to get variety and challenge out of our actual lives, not where we spend 40 hours a week to pay the bills. The spice of life came from a sunny day with a cool breeze, or when the place you needed to visit was within walking distance, or it was taco night. Bottom line, we’re asking too much of our jobs. It’s time to let work be work, and challenge ourselves on our own time. Enjoying what you do is still important, but be thankful for the boring. It makes the interesting stuff all the sweeter.

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