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by Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D.

A surgeon recently wrote to ask whether a modern pacemaker would survive an EMP. It would have been easy to provide a gut reaction and say, “No way!” After all, an EMP might generate fields on the order of 50 kV/m. But is that answer correct?

The surgeon went so far as to ask the pacemaker manufacturer (Medtronic) if they thought the device would survive. The company didn’t have an answer, but they did provide a set of known conditions that the pacemaker would survive (see Table 1). That information proved crucial to dialing in on what I hope is an educated answer.

Table 1: Medtronic provided max power levels vs distance

Field Strength (watts)	Distance Required (feet)
< 3	0.5
3-15	1
15-30	2
30-50	3
50-125	6
250-500	10
500-1,000	20
1,000-2,000	30

From literature (IEC E1 HEMP Signal), we can assume that a 50 kV/m E1 pulse would generate a total energy of about 0.1 Joules per square meter. Converting that to watts requires assuming both a pulse width and an area. For this back of the napkin calculation, let’s assume a pulse width of 5 nanoseconds and that the pacemaker, including wires, measures 0.1 square meters. Neither are exactly right, but they’re close enough for this first-order estimate.

Converting the energy to watts is done by:

The Medtronic table obviously doesn’t go this high, but we can assume that power rolls off based on the inverse square law (i.e., 1/d²). In other words, for every doubling of distance, the power drops by 4. Therefore, if we assume that the pacemaker will survive 2,000 watts at a distance of 30 feet (per the Medtronic table), we can extrapolate safe ranges for higher power levels, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Extrapolated max power levels versus distance

Power (watts)	Distance (feet)
2000	30
8000	60
32,000	120
128,000	240
512,000	480
2.05×106	960
8.19 x106	1,920
32.8 x106	3,840

This would suggest that Medtronic’s pacemaker could survive (without resetting) an EMP detonation that occurred at a distance greater than 960 feet. For simplicity, let’s round up and say that it would survive if the detonation occurred at >1/4 mile.

Given that a nuclear EMP will be most effective if it is detonated at least 25 miles in the atmosphere (above the Source Region) and will likely be at altitudes 10 times that height for greater coverage, it suggests that Medtronic’s pacemaker would easily remain operational.

The disclaimer, of course, is that all these calculations are back of the napkin. There are numerous sources of possible error, including the frequency content that Medtronic assumed when creating their table, the non-ideal roll off of power versus distance, the energy density of the E1 pulse, etc.

With all that said, the safe distances calculated are so much smaller than the actual detonation height (i.e., 1/4 mile vs 250 miles), I think it’s certainly reasonable to argue that such non-idealities won’t change the final conclusion.

In short, these calculations suggest that modern pacemakers, assuming that they perform similar to Medtronic’s, would have a very high likelihood of surviving a high-altitude nuclear EMP.

If you’re interested in learning more about EMPs and solar storms, kindly check out my book, “Disaster Preparedness for EMP Attacks and Solar Storms.” Exhaustive family preparedness information can also be found in my “Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family.” Finally, if you’re looking for an exciting post-apocalyptic saga, check out “The Survivalist (Frontier Justice)”.

Here are some of my favorite prepping gear

Thank you for investing your time in this article, and I sincerely hope it has provided valuable insights to strengthen your survival preparedness. As a survivalist, I make use of a variety of tools and gear, many of which have proven to be indispensable in my journey. Here, I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite survival gear, which I believe you will find beneficial as well.

These are affiliate links, meaning if you decide to use any of them, I’ll earn a commission at no additional cost to you. However, I assure you that these recommendations come from personal experience – these are the exact tools I trust, use, and confidently recommend to everyone, including my own family.

1. Long-Term Food Storage: ‘My Patriot Supply‘ is my top choice for emergency food supplies. Their selection caters to long-term storage needs, ensuring you’re always prepared.
2. Water Filter: Clean, safe drinking water is a priority in any situation. This water filter has served me well, and I trust it will for you too.
3. Versatile Cooking Solution: The Zoom Versa Cook Stove is a reliable, versatile cooking solution perfect for outdoor and survival scenarios.

I’ve compiled an extensive, frequently updated list of my top survival gear recommendations for your convenience. Equip yourself with the best and latest gear here.

Remember, true survival isn’t merely about making it through – it’s about effectively navigating and thriving in challenging circumstances. Equip yourself well, stay informed, and always be prepared.

by Krystal Brown

Making your own soap is an enjoyable and useful activity. Homemade soaps are also better for the skin because they contain glycerin. Glycerin is a natural product of the soap making process. But, with many commercial soaps, the glycerin is removed and used to make lotions and other cosmetics.

With self-made soaps, the glycerin is not removed and you will benefit from its soothing and moisturizing effects.

When you are just starting out making soap, it is not good to use a complicated recipe with expensive ingredients. You do not want to get overwhelmed. You also do not want to waste money on fancy imported oils and 50 different types of milk and additives when you are not yet confident with your craft.

When starting out, it is better to keep things simple and low cost. I am going to teach you how to make an uncomplicated soap using just four ingredients.

Those ingredients include Crisco, orange essential oil (which is optional), lye and olive oil. You don’t have to use any essential oils if you want a fragrance free soap. Usually making soap from scratch involves a “cure” time of 4-6 weeks. During this time, the soap becomes milder and harder.

However, I am going to also teach you a simple oven processing technique that can make your soap safe to use within a couple of days.

Items Needed

1. Goggles: This is to protect your eyes from the “fumes” generated by the lye water. I have used my old swimming goggles and they worked just fine. You can also get goggles from the Dollar Tree.
2. White Vinegar: This is used to neutralize the lye if any of lye water splashes on you.
3. Rubber Gloves: These protect your hands and can also be obtained from most dollar stores.
4. Stick Blender: I purchased mine for less than $10 from a local discount store.
5. Silicone Cake Molds: I got some from Dollar Tree. I used 5 small silicone cake molds for my soaps. You can also use a regular pan lined with lightly oiled wax paper so that the soap will not stick to the pan.
6. Candy Thermometer: The first time I ever made soap, I didn’t have one of these and it made things harder. Get a candy thermometer. I purchased one for a couple of dollars on eBay.
7. Lye: I use “Instant Power Crystal Lye Drain Opener” from Walmart. It costs $5.16 and I still have plenty of lye left over to make more batches of soap. Your lye must be 100% pure lye…not  Drano or anything like that. You can also purchase lye from eBay, Amazon or various online soap making shops. I have heard of people buying the 100%  pure lye from Lowe’s as well. You will need ¾ cup of lye for this recipe.
8. Crisco: You will need 3 pounds of this. I got 3 containers of Crisco from Dollar General. Each container was a pound. You can use generic Crisco as well but it must be 100% vegetable shortening.
9. Olive Oil: You will need 1 tablespoon of this. I purchased mine from Dollar General. It must be 100% pure olive oil, not the “olive oil” blend sold at Dollar Tree which is mainly just soybean oil. The olive oil hardens the soap.
10. Orange Essential Oil: I used about ½ of an ounce. It smells heavenly. You can get essential oils on eBay, Amazon and at drugstores such as Rite Aid.
11. Kitchen Scale: This is optional for this recipe (in my opinion). It will make things more precise, but I did not use a scale because I did not have one at the time. I just measured things out carefully using measuring cups and I had no problems.

The 12 Easy Steps

1. Measure out your lye. If you have a scale, measure out 220 grams of lye. If not, very very carefully measure out ¾ cup of lye and pour the crystals into a non-metal container.
2. Measure out 330 grams (or 1 and ½ cup) of distilled or filtered water. Very carefully pour the lye crystals into the water. There will be fumes. Stir with a spoon (again no metals are allowed…use plastic or wooden spoons). It is good to place the lye water under the stove exhaust fan if you can. If not, open the windows for adequate ventilation.
3. Melt your Crisco and add your olive oil.
4. After the oils are melted together, turn off the stove and remove the pot from the stove. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oils. The oils should be about 120 degrees.
5. Check the temperature of your lye water. It will be about 175 degrees.
6. You must get the lye water and the oils to a similar temperature. So, place your lye water container in a sink full of ice water until it has cooled down to 97-100 degrees. While you are waiting for this to happen, your oils will be cooling down naturally.
7. When both the oils and the lye water are between 97-100 degrees, mix them together. Pour the lye water into the oils. Use your stick blender to blend the mixture until it looks like pudding. When the mixture reaches this stage, it is said to be at trace.
8. When your mixture reaches trace, add your essential oils to the mixture. Blend well and quickly pour your mixture into your cake pans. Certain essential oils will sometimes cause the mixture to “seize” so work quickly once you add your fragrance oil.
9. Place your soap in the oven at 170 degrees (or on the lowest setting your oven has available. If your oven has a “warming” feature, you can use that). Let the soap stay in the oven for about 2 hours. However, check on the soap every 20 minutes or so to make sure that it does not “bubble over”. The heat from the oven is forcing the saponification process. If you didn’t use the oven method, it would take 4-6 weeks after you pour your soaps before you could be able to use them.
10. Let your soap rest for a few hours and then cut it into soap bars.
11. Let the soap rest for another day so the excess water will evaporate and the soap will become milder and harder.
12. Enjoy your homemade soap!

This bar cleans very well and has a medium amount of lather. Many people (myself included) love lots of lather. But, the amount of lather a soap produces does not measure its cleaning ability. My Orange Crisco Soap is not extremely moisturizing like a Dove beauty bar, but it does not strip the skin either.

Your entire family can use it or you can even sell the soap at flea markets or online. The ingredients are cheap and readily available which make it perfect for a novice soap maker. I showered with my soap 2 days after making it. I have a whole box of soap from this one batch. It’s easy, economical and fun. Please try it!

Also Read:

• DIY Rendering Fat & Making Soap
• Judy’s Homemade Laundry Soap
• Soap Thieves, A Surprising Lesson About Prepping
• Making and selling soap
• Making Laundry Soap
• Making Soap From Scratch: How to Make Handmade Soap – A Beginners Guide and Beyond

Palmetto State Armory firearms are a “MADE entirely IN America” firearms manufacturer that has created a stand out product within an industry full of products. There have been dozens even hundreds of AR15 manufacturers within the United States, among these, there are few that hold up to the full expectations of what an AR15 can be.

Modern AR15s can be extremely reliable, accurate, and versatile firearms. Palmetto State Armory is one of the few manufacturers that has consistently turned out a product I am proud to own and use.

It should be noted that I have at NO point received compensation or product from Palmetto State Armory for writing this article, in fact, I have purchased out-of-pocket the large percentage of reviews I do.

Please remember this when commenting, I am disabled, 40 years old and write reviews because you all deserve to have honest reviews in your corner. Even when a product is received gratis (as is not the case with this article) I provide completely honest reviews. Lying only hurts the liar in the end!

Personally, I discovered Palmetto State Armory AR15s a few years ago when I purchased one from a friend. After using this one for quite a bit I quickly discovered that it was an amazing piece of hardware. I then decided to purchase from Palmetto State Armory myself, and did so, purchasing the following items over the course of two years.

1. PSA 16″ 5.56 NATO 1/7 Mid Melonite 11″ Keymod Freedom Upper – w/BCG & CH
2. PSA AR-15 Complete Blem Lower – Classic Edition
3. PSA Freedom Complete 6 Position Mil-Spec Diameter Buffer Tube Assembly
4. PSA 5.56 Premium HPT/MPI Full Auto BCG, No Logo & PSA Charging Handle with Tactical Release Latch
5. PSA 5.56 HPT/MPI Bolt Carrier Group
6. PSA 5.56 Premium HPT/MPI Full Auto Bolt Carrier Group
7. PSA 10.5″ 5.56 NATO 1:7 M4 profile carbine length gas tube

Interestingly I have not yet had a negative experience and this is, to be honest rare. After all, everything man-made can and does eventually fail especially firearms. I own several Glock 19s, and have had maybe 4 failures to fire and or feed or eject, in almost all cases it was ammunition related, in two cases it was gun related, I had failed to perform the necessary replacement of springs/ parts that wear out first. Like changing the oil in your car, maintenance is essential in firearms.

For instance on my Glock’s I change barrels every 30,000 rounds, firing pins every 50-60,000 and pins and springs every 5-10,000 rounds, on the gun and in magazines. This ensures continued relatively flawless reliability. Additionally, I do not use sub-par ammunition.

Especially when practicing, I use Aguila, Speer Lawman or MEN German milsurp for practice purposes. And Speer gold dot for self-defense. With my rifles, the same is approximately true, with variations in some rifles depending on the amount of use.

This means that in a given year I could change barrels as many as 4 times if I run a gun hard enough, obviously for 22lr firearms this is not such a large issue, and I have easily gone well over 50,000 rounds before needing to change out springs etc., barrels, if maintained well, will outlast me.

In my high-pressure carbines and rifles such as the AK and AR variants specifically from Palmetto State Armory, I have found I need to do less maintenance while still seeing exceptional performance overall. The only other brand firearm that even came close in longevity and quality was my Delton Sport model which had a little over 65,000 rounds through the barrel before I replaced gas rings, barrel (it had begun keyholing) and buffer assembly.

It is still running like a mule today, accurate, wonderfully reliable and an amazing firearm. Now, to date I have only been able to put around 28,000 rounds through my oldest Palmetto State Firearm, (prior to melonite/ barrel is chromium steel mix) however, it is still running hard, it is not my defensive tool, as to be honest I am running it specifically to see what fails first. The only issue I have seen is the gas stake on bolt loosening (I tightened and used loc-tite) but no failures overall.

I called Adam Ruonala the Chief Marketing Officer for Palmetto State Armory to ask some serious questions about their processes. (On a side note, he is like all of the individuals working with Palmetto State Armory approachable, and honest!)

1. Do you make your barrels in-house?

Yes, we make our barrels in-house. Exception for the hammer forged barrels, all other barrels stainless, and nitride barrels –

2. Are all major components (eg., stripped lowers/ barrels and bolts) machined in-house?

Bolt carrier groups currently are outsourced, however, we are in the process of bringing it in-house to keep all – they are made in the United States!

3. Does the same apply to AR10s and your Ak47 line?

Yes, absolutely the same applies to all firearms made and or stamped Palmetto State Armory!

The reality is that AR and AK platforms are adult lego’s they are not difficult to put together, in fact, there are dozens of videos showing people building AK47s using shovels and AR’s using a plethora of parts from a dozen different manufacturers.

What is a not well-kept industry secret is that your name branded AR carbines like Spikes Tactical, BCM, and even COLT have many if not all of their parts outsourced and simply stamp their name on it and then raise the price 200-500% and make crazy claims of infinite reliability?

The reality is quite different, comparatively, I have run my Delton and Palmetto State Armory guns against all of the above and in almost every case have continued to run long after they began having failures, feeding, firing, and more.

A popular YouTube channel that destruction tests both AR and AK rifles called The AK Operators Union recently proved that Palmetto State Armory is, in fact, the ONLY all American made AK rifle to date, to pass their stringent 5000 round destruction testing.

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They also destruction tested the AR15 Freedom model, currently going for under $450 through Palmetto State Armory – and guess what, it passed again!

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And the AR’s I have tested, well, lets just say that as it stands today I have yet to be disappointed. In fact on August the 6^th I will be doing the 1000 yard milk jug challenge with a Palmetto State Armory AR, specifically the PSA 16″ 5.56 NATO 1/7 Mid Melonite 11″ Keymod Freedom Upper – w/BCG & CH the only specialized adjustments I have made are adding a Bushnell 4.5-18x40mm BDC AR scope, P.O.F. trigger (made in Arizona) single stage 4.5lbs and a CVLife 9”-13” Bipod, everything else is exactly as it came from the factory – To make this an even better event, I am using 69 grain IMI MatchKing ammunition, each round being used will be weighed and measured to ensure continuity in load but they will be as loaded by the factory.

The 6^th of August is my 40^thbirthday and I plan on making a bit of a splash by completing this challenge from the Long Range Shooters of Utah Association with what amounts to a stock AR15 with a 16” barrel – something I think will be a first. And yes it may take a week, as my editing skills are atrocious, but after letting the officials review the video, and editing it, I will post for all to see!

Here is the thing folks, regardless what name brand you are currently in love with, from Ruger through Colt, the odds are the barrels are made by Palmetto State Armory or one of the other 2 or 3 actual builders of barrels in the country and re-branded. In some cases the parts are outsourced too Taiwan or Korea, while Palmetto State Armory keeps its parts entirely in house, or are in the process of bringing everything under one roof! AND THEY DO IT FOR LESS than anyone else on the market today!

What are the pros to owning a PSA (Palmetto State Armory) AR or AK over any other brand name –

1. Pricing, they offer regular daily deals that are far lower than most manufacturers and do so while ensuring a product that functions well easily 97% of the time (all man-made-products can and do fail at times)
2. They offer an in-house 1911, AK47, AR10 and AR15 – and do so with components made IN HOUSE!
3. They have absolutely great customer service, I have never had a single member of their staff be rude, and in fact when I am down South again plan on stopping in and meeting them, I am that impressed with their services.
4. Quality, overall their quality as has been proved by myself and many independent individuals is second to NONE, in fact, I would suggest to any new owner or older owner looking for a backup piece, go to their website, sign up for daily alerts and take advantage of their daily deals!

Cons –

1. For the first time, I have none, absolutely NO cons to owning a Palmetto State Armory part of the entire firearm!

So do you have anything to add, what are your experiences, and by all means feel free to share FIRST hand experiences with me. Comment below and if you enjoyed this article and want to see others, share and thanks again!

Free the mind and the body will follow…

by Joe Nobody

One extremely important accessory for a shoulder-fired weapon is frequently overlooked by preppers. It is unpretentious, cheap, readily available, and easy to install. It’s the sling.

Suffering from a lack of sex appeal, lost in a plethora of available furniture, and definitely not the cover-girl of gun porn, the lowly sling often suffers from a lack of appreciation – until your body has paid the price.

Through the years, I have conducted numerous training sessions and can now easily identify the guys and gals who have experience in the field… the folks who have carried a long gun for an extended period of time. Their slings are functional and comfortable – like an old pair of well-worn blue jeans or a seasoned pair of boots.

They fit, function, and perform critical tasks without fanfare or ritz. Those who have ignored this critical component suffer – sometimes badly. More on that down-article.

No doubt some of you are wondering, “Why is Joe ranting on and on about something as simple as the humble sling? It’s just a length of material that you use to attach a weapon to your body – right?”

Not really. Not in a practical application:

In the gun-candy store, it’s easy to get distracted by lights, lasers, and fancy optical doodads. At the range, other shooters rarely stroll over and say, “Wow, what a nice sling.” In the gun safe, they tangle and annoy. But if you ever have to keep a shoulder-fired weapon on your person for extended periods of time, there is nothing you’ll appreciate more than a good sling.

Many of the folks I work with haven’t spent a lot of time with a weapon in the field. That’s not a criticism or a sin; it’s simply a fact that few occupations or lifestyles demand the need or naturally deliver those experiences. Most of us do not walk into corporate America carrying a long gun.

Even the gents who have served for years in the infantry may not consider that their military experience will likely differ from that of a post-event prepper. Protecting the homestead while accomplishing daily activities, chores and movements is different than the routine of a soldier who is a component of a fighting unit.

I often challenge my friends to perform one simple task without leaning their rifle against a tree – set up camp. Pitch the tent, build a fire, and empty the packs while wearing your blaster. The experience can be a real eye-opener.

Take that exercise one step further; envision a typical post-event day from dawn to dusk with security as part of your plan. This mind-movie will help you realize the need for comfortably accommodating your weapon. Unless you find yourself surviving in a densely populated urban area, you’ll most likely spend a lot more time carrying your rifle than shooting it. This is a critical point. You probably won’t be fighting, sweeping, clearing, or defending all the time. (If your environment requires such diligence, it might be time to consider another location.)

You will, most likely, be spending countless hours gardening, gathering, harvesting, and performing manual labor. If there is no rule of law, you’ll probably want a firearm close by, or on your person. You may spend considerably more time traveling by foot than you do now. There’s a reasonable chance you’ll be outside and exposed for significant portions of the day.

All of this translates into the lowly sling playing an important role. The wise prepper will evaluate this humble piece of kit now, rather than later when it’s too late. Prove that you can carry that blaster comfortably, securely and in a manner that is “mission configurable.”

Types of Rifle Slings

For years, there were two basic types of slings: Single-point and 2-point. (For a short time, there was a 3-point sling, but it faded from the market quickly.)

A few years back, the single-point sling was all the rage. It debuted as a cool accessory, and droves of shooters wanted to convert their battle rifles to accept this option. For most, this was a huge mistake.

Single-point slings are for SWAT teams, hostage rescue units, and other outfits that are expecting short duration encounters of intense violence. Single-point slings are great for moving a weapon to the weak-side shoulder, close-quarters combat, and other tactics that require a lot of movement of a weapon.

They, however, suck as a way to secure a long gun for extended periods while on the move.

Infantry soldiers, hunters, search and rescue responders, and probably preppers need slings that secure the weapon tightly against the torso. This configuration allows running, jumping, climbing, walking, and picking berries without the rifle banging into knees, thighs, or more personal regions between a male’s legs. A hot barrel can make this capability even more critical.

Consider that you may need to slide the rifle around to your back if you have to use your hands to carry something heavy or to climb. You’ll want to be able to tighten and tuck that fancy AK either in front or across your shoulders and do so in a way that doesn’t rub off significant swaths of flesh.

Recently, a new design has eliminated the need to make a choice. Several vendors now offer what I call “hybrid” slings that easily convert from single-point (when you’re expecting to fight) to a more comfortable two-point arrangement. This nifty invention gives us preppers the best of both worlds.

When shopping for a sling, consider these factors:

• Be aware of the strap width and thickness. When you have a pack, body armor, load-rig, jacket or other paraphernalia on your shoulders, strap-pollution can be an issue. Wide and thin slings are typically the best option.
• At least one connection point should swivel. This avoids tangles, twists, and hang-ups.
• Metal rings, clips, and buckles will hold more weight than their plastic counterparts.
• Look for quick adjustment straps. These are extremely handy.
• Quick Detach (QD) connectors are also great innovations. Over the years, I’ve been in numerous situations where I wanted to get the weapon off my body in a hurry. QD mounts work well.
• The company Magpul probably offers the most configuration/options: http://store.magpul.com/category/slings

But wait. Carrying the weapon is only part of the equation:

Have you ever read those great articles on a gazillion uses for paracord? Well, a good rifle sling has its own list of secondary applications. Not as many as 550-cord, but more than many people realize.

A sling can be used to provide a brace for several different shooting positions. Used correctly, it can steady a shooter’s aim.

Or how about an angle indicator for non-level shots? If you live in a mountainous or hilly country, you know that making a shot 40 degrees down into a valley requires some adjustment. Often, it’s difficult to judge the correct angle. This handy little accessory can help you with the estimate by creating a plumb line.

Properly selected, a sling can form a tourniquet, elevate an injured arm, tow something, fashion a stretcher or drag bag… the list could go on and on.

Essentially, a sling is a fancy 4-foot section of very strong rope. What could you do with that in an emergency situation?

Consider a scenario where you have three people in your group and need to climb a tree in order to scout. Three of these cords attached end-to-end would yield a 12-foot section of climbing rope.

In my fictional series, Holding Their Own, the protagonist uses his rifle sling and backpack straps to make a safety harness for a dangerous climb.

What I have come to respect most about preppers is a mindset of adaptability and creativity. I’m sure if you put 50 like-minded individuals in a room, they would devise dozens more innovative uses for this little length of material.

All the best! Visit Joe’s website, www.joenobodybooks.com, for more articles, reviews, books, and other resources for those who believe in the self-reliant lifestyle.

Recommended Reading

• AR-15 Rifle Builder’s Manual: An Illustrated, Step-by-Step Guide to Assembling the AR-15 Rifle
• AR-15 Skills & Drills: Learn to Run Your AR Like a Pro
• How To Shoot Your M16/AR-15 In Training And Combat

By Robert Littell, 1933

Glancing out of the window, I can see the subject–and eventual victim–of this inquiry, dangerously perched in the crotch of an old chestnut tree, about fifteen feet above the ground. Should I rush out and tell him to get down? Or should I let him be, hoping that he won’t climb any higher, or, if he does climb any higher, hoping that he will not fall?

It is probably all right, so I shall not bother him. Tree climbing is one of the things he has learned all by himself. There aren’t many things he will have the fun of learning all by himself. Most of the things he is going to learn will be hammered into him–Latin and history and grammar and mathematics up to the binomial theorem.

I’m not worried about this progress up the ladder from high school or boarding school to college and from college to law school or medical school. It seems incredible that the young biped now perched in the chestnut tree will someday, without stupendous effort on my part or on his, eventually graduate from college or even become a Ph.D.–but he will almost certainly. The strictly educational side of his life, once he gets his hands firmly on the lowest rung of that ancient ladder, will take care of itself.

What concerns me is something entirely different, a good deal more like tree climbing. I have never heard of a school or college that gave a course in tree climbing. And human life is full of useful accomplishments and rewarding experiences, like tree climbing–like making a speech, for example, or being able to take care of oneself on a camping trip: abilities that seem to me at least as valuable as a knowledge of conjugations and the dates of battles–perhaps (if one is to become a self-sufficient well-rounded human being) much more valuable. What are those abilities, skills, or accomplishments, those extra-curricular proficiencies that every man should have in order to be rounded and self-sufficient, and when can he acquire them, and how?

Let me return–without looking at him, for he is probably by now thirty feet above the ground–to the seven-year-old imp in the chestnut tree. Impartially adding up to myself his skills other than tree climbing, I find that he cannot count money or give change, that he is unable to tie his own shoelaces, that he would most certainly starve if left alone in a well-stocked kitchen, but, on the other hand, that he can perform a rather startling back somersault off a diving board, that he speaks and understands elementary German, and can sit down at the piano and play, with only a few mistakes, a Mozart minuet.

Clearly, to this handful of skills and accomplishments, he must add others, many others, before he is even on the road to becoming a self-sufficient and well-rounded young man. Leaving all formal subjects out of consideration, he should learn how to:

• Swim
• Handle firearms
• Speak in public
• Cook
• Typewrite
• Ride a horse
• Drive a car
• Dance
• Drink

And speak at least one foreign language well

The list does not end there. There are several dozen mental and physical skills that I should like him to acquire. He will acquire some of them in the mere course of growing up; he will acquire some of them more painfully, as the result of adult pressure; there are others that he will avoid, and he will eventually be punished for their omissions with not a little discomfort and social misery.

Ordinary education, even high-priced education, will not guarantee him the essential skills, and some of them are better learned after “education” is over. It is up to me to set about making a list of those skills, it is up to me to see to it that he gets them, because they are skills of hand, eye, ear, or brain which will enlarge, deepen, and ripen him as a human being.

But how, you may ask, can a young man be enlarged by learning how to handle firearms? In what conceivable way will he be ripened by knowing how to cook or drink?

Patience… In asking what these things are that every civilized, intelligent, educated young man should know, remember that I am thinking of skills, not contents, of outside interests and non-scholastic activities rather than of the stream of Latin, Greek, physics, social sciences, Jacobean poetry, and elementary bee-keeping which, from kindergarten to senior year, will moisten, but not clog, the sieve that is his mind.

And so let me hasten to turn away from the mountain range of modern education which threatens to cast its shadow over this discussion; let me mention once, and then not mention again, the project method, John Dewey, intelligence quotients, and the Dalton plan.

The average high school or boarding school is not modern and will give your son and mine little beside formal education and even more formal sport: one will get him into college and the other may leave him with a peculiarly atrocious form of high-athletic patriotism. If we parents do not supplement what is given by the usual schools, our sons will come out of them mere Christian stockbrokers with an abnormal craving for bodily exercise.

If we want our sons to be able to drive a car, speak French fluently, play the piano, set a broken leg, and make horses do their bidding we shall have to look outside of the schools and colleges. And I submit that he who cannot do these things is not completely educated.

The list of skills, as distinct from book learning, does not include mere parlor tricks, such as playing the ukulele, fortune-telling, a startling acquaintance with the insides of the Encyclopedia Britannica or other accomplishments whereby the fear-psychology advertisements promise to make their victims the life of the party or a successful salesman in ten lessons. And the list does not include the special aptitudes necessary to a man in this profession or the accomplishments which aim at the development of his character.

The skills I have in mind may fortify character, but chiefly as a by-product. They will make life richer and, therefore, happier (though happiness itself is usually a by-product). They are tools which will help a man to mine his own vein of gold and some of the gold in the world about him. Some of them will save him discomfort, some of them will bring satisfaction and pleasure, some of them will help him avoid danger, and give him the joy of mastery over animal fears. Some are elementary and taken for granted; others are rarer accomplishments not always striven for.

II

It seems obvious that our young man should know how to swim. More specifically, he should know how to swim at least a mile, dive creditably, and not feel panicky under water. No parents will disagree on this point, since anyone who does not know how to swim stands in some danger of being drowned.

Swimming is valuable not only to preserve life but because the fear of water is instinctive, and the most civilized man is the one who has conquered all that makes him afraid and that can be conquered. Not only should our young man be able to dive courageously and neatly, but he should be able also to revive those less skillful than himself by rolling them on a barrel and pumping their helpless arms; though I do not insist that every young man should be a lifeguard–if he learns all the other accomplishments expected of him he will have little time left for that.

He should be able to drive an automobile well. By well, I mean far better than most people do now. Of all our conveniences the automobile is the most docile, and the most dangerous. It seems to encourage a perilous discourtesy. People who always answer letters, smile when spoken to, and rise when ladies enter the room think nothing of hogging the road or passing on a curve. Our young man should drive safely or not at all. He must know how to change a tire and offer some sort of diagnosis when the engine sputters and dies.

My list does not include a knowledge of how to pilot a plane. Good pilots are born, not made. A man should stay on the ground unless peculiarly fitted for the air. He may be as air-minded as you please, but unless he is air-bodied and air-reflexed, this modern skill should be left severely alone.

He ought to know how to clean, load, and shoot a revolver or a rifle. Someday he may have to, in self-defense. And shooting at a target is also good fun, and an excellent discipline for hand and eye. I should like my son to be able to hit a silver dollar at fifty yards.

And I should insist that he be able to manage a gun so as to injure no one but the target. He must not be the kind of duffer who makes bystanders nervous. I do not advance shooting as valuable for reasons of citizenship or military training. I prefer that what he shoots at be inanimate. He may develop a passion for shooting duck, grouse, and deer–without my blessing; for it seems to me that the longing to assassinate wild animals is a barbarous and childish method of asserting the superiority of the human race, and considerably less civilized than dueling.

As for self-defense, a man should certainly be able to take care of himself in a scrap. He need not learn jujitsu–old-fashioned boxing will be enough. He will get some of this in school. He should get enough of it so that he can give, and take, a good smack on the jaw, whether in friendship or anger. No matter how short the list of his accomplishments, this should be one of them. The Soviet Russians, who have seldom hesitated to use firearms against those whom doctrine forces them to consider enemies, hold boxing to be brutal, and forbid it to their young men. Let us register our disagreement and pass on.

He should learn how to take care of himself in other ways. He ought to know the rudiments of camping, how to build a fire, how to chop wood, how to take a cinder out of his eye, how to deal with a severed artery, how to doctor himself for ordinary ailments. He should also be able to take care of other people in emergencies, to apply first aid, set a broken bone, revive a drunk or a victim of gas, deal with a fainting fit, administer the right emetic or antidote for a case of poisoning.

And he should be able to feed himself, to cook, not only because someday he may need to, but because cooking is one of the fine arts and a source of infinite pleasure. He should be able to scramble eggs, brew coffee, broil a steak, dress a salad, carve a chicken, and produce, on occasion, one first-class dish, such as onion soup. The more he can do, in these days of the delicatessen store and the kitchenette, the better. It is not effeminate, it is not beyond him, and the best chefs are all men.

Our hands, originally the keys used by man’s brain to unlock the whole wide world, are in this age of patent appliances in some danger of withering through disease. A man may go through life without using his hands for anything more difficult than gripping a golf club, signing letters, fumbling coins, lighting a cigarette, opening a bottle, and holding a telephone receiver. When the furnace goes out, or the radio goes dumb, or a door won’t close, or a pipe leaks, he has to send for an expensive expert.

Therefore, our young man should learn to be handy in repairing the trifling faults of his home. Of course, he may live all his life in apartment houses and be spared such attention to trifling faults; but if he must live in apartment houses I had rather have him do so from choice than from incompetence. He should know how to use paint brushes, a saw, a hammer, and other common tools. It is much more fun then he might think; it adds to his self-respect; it satisfies the throttled manual ape, and it supplies one of his few contacts with the remote world of physical labor.

One of the best tools he can use is practically unknown among those who have not spent some time in a newspaper office: the typewriter. Our young man should also have a beautiful and distinguished handwriting. He will not learn this in any school–schools are as likely as not to ruin whatever handwriting he might have had. But handwriting should be reserved for special occasions. The bulk of his writing, particularly if he is a professional man who has much of it to do, should be done on a typewriter.

I do not mean poking at the machine with two fingers, but full-fledged touch-system, capable of turning out three thousand words an hour. This talent will be enormously useful. Spread widely enough, it might even revive the lost art of letter writing and undo some of the harm, the laziness, the mental as well as verbal sloppiness induced by the appalling habit of dictating to a stenographer.

III

He should play one outdoor game well and have a workable smattering of several more. To my eye, an American who cannot throw and catch a ball seems pathetic and grotesque. Perhaps I am prejudiced. And baseball, except for boys and a small band of professionals is a lost cause.

The usual American game is golf. So let him learn, for the sake of human contact and outdoor recreation, to go around the course in at most a hundred and ten. If it were a question of my own son, I should try to steer him toward tennis, a livelier game and prettier to watch, and one with more possibilities of mental release than golf, which often undoes in discouragement, obsession, and emotional strain the good it does as an exercise.

A game should not be an end in itself–as is often true of golf–but a relaxation and a complete contrast to the sedentary. There is something a little sedentary about golf.

The bicycle has gone, yet every boy should know how to ride one. Don’t ask me why. He should also be able to skate, sail a boat, and handle a canoe passably. Fishing is a specialty, like chess: those who have it in them will eventually find themselves doing it; those show do not feel the call need not bother.

It is a singular commentary on college athletics to realize how few sports a man can get along with quite happily after graduation; how quickly the vast array of football, soccer, pole vaulting, basketball, water polo, lacrosse, hurdling, handball, rowing, wrestling, fencing, shrinks in afterlife to golf or tennis, or, surprisingly often, to occasional sweat in the steam cabinet.

Walking is a noble but neglected sport. Americans “hike” once in a long while but seldom walk. And hiking easily becomes hitch-hiking. The automobile, organized athletics, and the fact that American cities and American suburbs are dismal places to walk in have caused American feet to abandon the roads.

For every climber in an American national park–some of which are quite as beautiful as any Alps–there are ten “hikers,” fifty who “pack” on horses, and ten thousand who survey the wonders of nature from the windows of a sedan. Walking in this country is a lost cause, yet walking is one of the habits I should wish my son to acquire.

No other exercise, if indulged in several days at a time in pleasant, moderately wild country, has greater power to remake a man, to iron out his creases, to produce deep health and spiritual calm. The first steps in this elementary course had best be taken in Europe, where the natives do not look upon people with heavy shoes and knapsacks as slightly cracked.

Everyone should know a great deal about animals. It is natural for boys to collect stray dogs, and all children seem instinctively to be much more interested in every other branch of the animal kingdom than their own. It is equally natural for the the city and suburban boy to grow up with no more contact with animals than Mickey Mouse and an occasional trip to the zoo.

Kindness to animals and an understanding of them has become in modern life a skill that must be nourished and artificially trained. I do not expect my son  to become a Raymond Ditmars or a William Beebe. But I shall think him lacking unless he has much to do with animals and gets on well with them.

Civilization has hustled us all horribly fast and horribly far away from our primitive state, from the time, biologically not very long ago, when man’s life depended a great deal on animals. A certain return to nature is healthy and desirable.

The best animal for the purpose of the return to nature is the horse. I insist then that a boy should have many horses in his life, and should learn how to stay in a saddle with pleasure to himself and a minimum of annoyance to his mount. Riding is one of the required studies in my curriculum, valuable both as one of the possible victories over physical timidity and as a source of pleasure.

With riding should go some knowledge of how to take care of a horse. But I should not like my son to become horsey. Horsey people are victims of an obsession even worse than golf. They lead, mentally, four-footed lives, and the spiritual aroma of the Noblest of Beasts clings to them as the smell of straw and manure clings to the stables. It is a clean, time-honored smell, but a bit too pervasive. I have three fears for the future of my son: that he will join the Army, enter the Church, or become horsey.

IV

Trivial, but important because one can be so uncomfortable if one does not know them, are the parlor amenities. A boy should learn how to dance. Good dancers, like aviators, are born, but anyone can learn to do modern real-estate dancing– that form of rhythmically bumping into other people in a small space with a technic dictated by the high land value of the places where dancing is usually found.

The kind of dancing that is really fun is extinct in America. Social dancing is no great art, but essential if one wishes between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two to become acquainted with more than a few specimens of the opposite sex.

As to card games, I play bridge so badly myself that I am prejudiced against it. If one plays bridge well enough to enjoy it, one probably plays too much of it to the exclusion of better things. As a refuge from a boring conversation, it is without equal. Backgammon, though useful for the same purpose, is a monotonous blind alley.

Pool and billiards are specialties. From these indoor pastimes, our student can pick one optional elementary course, which will be given at the pleasure of the instructor.

Even more trivial, but infuriating if one is clumsy at it: tipping. It would be very pleasant to go through life with a knowledge of how to tip naturally, justly, without fear and without reproach.

American social habits being what they are, there is one indoor skill which seems to me not only far more important than bridge or dancing but actually compulsory–drinking. A young man who could convince me that his lips would never touch liquor might be let off by my required course in drinking.

But he would be an exceedingly rare bird, and alcohol is so much more evident a liquid in the United States than water that it is probably quite as necessary for a young man to learn how to drink as it is for him to learn how to swim. If the youth of the country had been taught how to drink, just as they were taught not to eat between meals or swallow before they had chewed, we should never have had Prohibition.

It is a more difficult art than most, for every man should know, long before the time when (according to our customs) he indulges in his first collegiate binge, whether liquor goes to his head, his legs, or his morals, whether he is the type that sings, fights, weeps, climbs lamp-posts, or pinches the girls.

Furthermore, he should learn his capacity and stick within its limits; he should know something about the different kinds of drink, and which drinks produce chaos within him when mixed. By all means, let him leave drink alone if wants to. But since, nine times out of ten, he will drink, let him do so sensibly.

I have omitted from this list all the mention of women, not so much because it is a subject of appalling breadth, leading to endless discussion of chastity, frustration, fulfillment, birth-control, curiosity, mate hunger, and other less printable but even more important topics, but because, in regard to the other sex, the fairly well-educated seem to be at as great a disadvantage as the rest of mankind.

What every high school, boarding school, and college graduate should know is no different from what every man should learn in this darkest and most unteachable province of human conduct. I shall not be the one to tell students of this course what acquired skills can prevent mistakes and heartache. Where sex is concerned, nature clearly intended us to make many mistakes in her hope that some of them would be productive.

I shall certainly be in a minority in suggesting that our sons should know the rudiments of gambling. Gambling might be placed on the same plane as drink–the less use one has for it the better. And the sooner America gives up gambling, not only at card tables, roulette wheels, and slot machines but in stocks and bonds of equally mysterious and unpredictable corporations, the better also.

But gambling in one form or another seems to be a national habit of mind. Almost every American gambles at some time in his life. And there are things valuable in other departments of life which gambling can teach: to be a good sport, to be a good winner as well as a good loser, especially when games are played for money; not to brood over the irrevocable, not to give way to retroactive daydreams and say, “if only I had put a big stack on double zero, if only I had sold out in August 1929.”

October of that year was the rout of the amateur gambler, and the crash revealed this country to be singularly full of poor losers. Important as it is to be a good loser in public, it is even more important to learn not to try to turn the hands of the clock backward in the privacy of one’s own soul.

V

Higher than almost any other accomplishment on the list do I place music. There is no reason why any boy who is not absolutely tone-deaf should not learn how to play one musical instrument well enough for it to be a self-resource and a tolerable pleasure to others. If it were not for the certainty that our educators would make it as deadly during school and as shunned in afterlife as that badly embalmed language, I should advocate the substitution of music for Latin as a required subject.

Music is, or ought to be, an essential part of every civilized human being’s life. Economic necessity, the radio, and the phonograph have put the playing of music beyond most Americans. Our children should bring this back. My choice would be the piano–the violin is far more painful in incompetent hands, and most other instruments are not meant to be heard singly.

The saxophone and the ukulele should be placed on a par with the taking of drugs. There is much to be said for being able to sing parts decently, and any amateur who know the words of even the commonest songs is a phenomenon. I realize that even this is asking a great deal. Perhaps I expect too much. My students will receive a passing grade if they can sit and listen to good music intelligently, and moderately often without pressure.

A civilized man should know how to read. The ability to read, or rather the habit of reading, is a very rare even among intelligent people and has to be taught and kept up if it is not to become rust. The educators tumble over one another with new methods of teaching children how to make sense out of print, but not a single pedagogue, so far as I know, has successfully tackled the problem of how to keep people reading books once they have learned that it can be done.

Incidentally, if someone were to write a little book called How to Read the Newspapers he would earn the undying gratitude of those who search hurriedly for the sports, the market, the obituaries, glance at the headlines, and then throw all of the newspapers on the floor.

If the young man over whose head hangs this list of accomplishments could not find time, because of the necessity of healing for the News or keeping dates with co-eds, for more than a few of these skills, let a fluent reading and speaking knowledge of at least one foreign language be among them, French or German, preferably both.

A parent must expect no help from schools in the teaching of foreign languages–or rather (such is the impression of the student who goes to the average school) in the teaching of irregular verbs. Governesses and tutors, little trips abroad in adolescent summers, can start a false spring which withers and dies as soon as the child goes to a regular school. Everyone learns one’s language as he learns to walk–the learnings of one more ought not to be so hopeless.

But hopeless it is for Americans. Parents should form a foreign-language study association and devise ways to supplement, and combat, the schools. German children learn an amazingly good brand of English without ever crossing their borders. Why can’t we? For one thing, we don’t really want to. Yet we should. An American who knows only English is blind in one eye.

Corollary to this are the skills and experiences that come from travel, and the tolerances and curiosities about other sorts of people that only travel can produce. To travel well, efficiently, without fuss or complaint, without asking why porters are so stupid or blaming the Italians for speaking their own language is no small accomplishment.

But what I have in mind is a wider mental habit, an ability to think like a citizen of the world, to meet foreigners upon their own terms, to circulate freely and receptively in London without giving in to that curious chameleon temptation to be at the same time a little ashamed of one’s own country and to imitate the British.

The British have it over us in two particulars: their educated men talk well in public and handle their own language, in speech and in writing, as if it were a familiar object. Our young man should be able to express himself clearly before a crowd of strangers, without shyness, muddle, or a pathetic resort to “so much as been said and well said” or “I did not expect to be called on.”

Children somehow get over the terror of saying “how do you do” to strangers, but the American adult who can get to his feet, propose a toast, introduce a stranger, voice a civic protest, heckle a windbag politician, and give utterance to an unembarrassed thought is a museum piece.

And a man should command the elementary tool of written language, and be able to put simple things on paper in clear words; for in its essentials writing is not a mysterious art, but a human function, as possible to learn as walking or eating.

On the borderline between the skills like these and book-learning are all such things as a sound smattering of the theater, painting, opera, a good workable understanding of the structure of a business, investments, and banks (which in real life are not quite as they seem in the textbooks of economics).

To these skills and knowledge, I would emphatically add certain experiences. The educated young American male is in peril of too much shelter, too little danger and privations, and would be the richer if he had at some time in his life been without money and gone hungry for several days, been lost or shipwrecked, been robbed, been in jail, and spent a few months working as a common laborer.

This last I place high on the list. Let every educated man, as a necessary part of his education, be thrown into the muddy stream of American industry and see what it is like to swim alone on daily wages.

The list of extra-curricular accomplishments must come to an end, or our young friend will not pass his board examinations. One more desideratum: he should before reaching twenty-two have done something because he wanted to, whether other people wanted him to do it or not–sailed a boat on a perilous course, or shipped as a common seaman, or taken a job on a newspaper, or motored across the continent, or gone off to Europe on his own, or learned boiler-making.

Anything, so long as it was his own idea. And how does one make healthy young middle-class Americans want to do something if all they want to do is enjoy themselves? Ah, if I knew that…

And into the young man’s bag of tricks I should certainly insert the accomplishment of not acquiring property unless he needs it. The other skills I have proposed for him will not cost much money, so that he will be able, and also tempted, to record the increase in his standard of living by adding to his furniture, by buying a better car or an oil furnace, by going in for collections of medieval armor or ancient coins, and similar surrenders to the magpie streak in all of us.

Property quickly crowds out and preys upon less tangible pleasures, and is so often preferred to the fun one can have with one’s body or one’s mind because the joy of its acquisition is so immediate and keen. Property of a decorative or useless nature is, indeed, often more fun in anticipation and at the moment of its acquisition than it ever is again.

Insensitiveness to his personal property, unless of course, it is extraordinarily beautiful, is a desirable skill for any man to have. And, like swimming, bridge, or German, it must be learned and worked at.

VI

What a ferocious program, you may say. And how in the world is it, or even a quarter of it, to be put into effect, granted a normal male specimen of the race? Only a fraction of it will be acquired in school, we all admit. Parents are busy, and except in rare cases parents are the worst possible teachers of their own children, who know them far too well.

Summer camps can do some of it. American schools grant long holidays to their pupils from June to October, and the pupils, if left to themselves, use the holidays to wipe out as much education as possible with a useless, unsystematic, healthy good time.

For this idle summer, the camps substitute a schedule of outdoor skills, and the boy who goes to summer camp usually comes back knowing how to swim, fish, paddle a canoe, toss a flapjack, and not cry too much when hurt. The skills taught by the summer camp end with outdoor sports. Yet parents are dimly aware of how little school teachers really teach, and cling to supplementary education like that of the summer camps when they can get it. Why not enlarge the camps and to their outdoor curriculum add German, taught as thoroughly as they teach canoeing?

Why not, in fact, apply the basic principle of Americanism and have two systems of education competing against each other? On one side, the formal schools, pouring contents into rebellious minds; on the other, summer camps where the children are taught definite humane skills, some of them much better taught than the schools can ever expect to do? Who knows–in course of time the competition might be too severe and the schools might go into receivership.

Ah, I thought so – there is one skill I have forgotten. When, as the result of some trips to Europe, of much prodding on my part, and of summers spent at the kind of summer camp that does not yet exist, I am eventually confronted with a son who can make an onion soup like Savarin, ride a horse like an Indian, play a difficult sonata, speak French and German like a native, and repair a leak in the roof–will not there be something missing? Yes–an accomplishment vitally necessary to an American.

Unusual though this young man should be, he should not seem so. For his own comfort, for mine. Is not a parent’s basic ambition for this child that he be very different from other people, yet manage to seem almost exactly like them?

The more it changes, the more it is the same thing. Alphonse Karr 1849

Arguments against civilian ownership of firearms have been debated as far back as the innovation of firearms. I am certain at some point a Roman Cesar or Egyptian Pharaoh also launched campaigns against the evils of the civilian owned swords or spears as well. There is a reason “civilized” nations tend to want no non-government employee ownership of firearms. It is a balance of power, and this is exactly why the astute individuals who refused to sign the Constitution unless it ensured continuing ownership of firearms for all citizens did so.

Interestingly it was the delegate from Vermont who was the initial refuser of the Constitution without the Second Amendments inclusion. It is interesting because Vermont has long been a staunch ally of individual liberty, and only recently has begun to cave into Yankee demands of regulation of natural rights of self-defense. I use the term Yankee to describe those individuals who desire absolute dedication to the state and its employees regardless of the cost. I am a civilian who lives in Arizona and yes, I do not much like what has been occurring most recently in this regards.

However, before we get too far off course, I want to delve into what makes a “military grade” firearm and what makes it civilian. Military grade is a term recently coined to make up for the losses that have occurred by those intent on regulating our natural right to self-defense with their use of the term “assault rifle”. Assault rifle was coined in the 80s by a Californian legislature (Reagan’s legislature) who desired to demonize the idea of semi-automatic, magazine fed firearms. The use of military-grade as a term is actually even more ridiculous and can be easily countered with simple facts.

Military grade applies to firearms that come in military standard calibers, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or STANAG (STANdardization AGreement) calibers are as follows.

• Handgun is 9×19 or 9 mm luger otherwise known as 9 mm parabellum
• Small rifle is 5.56×45 (civilian standard .223 remington)
• Large rifle is 7.62×51 (civilian standard .308 winchester)
• There are other military grade calibers, however, they are not NATO/STANAG calibers but rather calibers used by Eastern Bloc and non-NATO signatories –

Now here is where things become a bit more interesting, military-grade the real definition of this term would mean that a firearm that is used by the military with military standard calibers is military grade. So if you use the United States Army for a point of reference, M16a2 and the M4 carbines are military grade small caliber rifles, SigP320 is a military grade handgun and the Remington 700/M14/Mk14/AR-10 are military grade large caliber rifles. It should be noted that with the exception of the handgun and the Remington 700 bolt action rifle the firearms themselves all have single shot per trigger squeeze and burst or fully automatic capability.

These firearms by definition are the only military-grade firearms in the United States. However, this also means that anything that may look similar may fall under that definition on a legal basis. This is where things get difficult, realistically what preforms the same is different than what looks the same. If looks were all it took to convict an individual than you would have a biased/discriminatory system of justice, right? So why are we okay with using how something looks to judge it in any approach? It is essential to remember a simple reality, not everyone is the same, not everyone has the same or similar circumstances. I am someone who is physically unable to flee from a threat and as I have shown in The article, Why you need to be trained and armed: or how to prevent a fire before it starts; the threat of real violence is greater than even a vehicle accident. This means that if you purchase vehicle insurance, wear seat belts and have working airbags and have no life insurance or plan for self-defense there is a gap in your preparations for life.

Civilian firearms that look like military firearms have been demonized for decades and longer. However, they are very different in function. The civilian AR15 carbine/rifle looks like the M16a2 or in some case the M4 carbine/rifles, though its function is quite a bit different. The AR15 is only capable of shooting one round per trigger squeeze/press. The AR15 is almost always built to exacting measurements, but in performance is not expected to meet or exceed rigorous military expectations. While some manufactures prefer to ensure their firearms are tested to the same specifications, they still cannot perform the same functions as a military grade firearm. Between 3 round burst (3 rounds fired with a single trigger press) and fully automatic (all rounds fired with a single trigger press) the civilian version cannot accomplish these tasks and without massive amounts of background checks and expensive licenses, the average civilian cannot own a rifle that does these things. The civilian AR15 is built without certain key changes to allow it to do these things.

The receiver of an AR15 civilian rifle does not have the appropriate cutouts for installation of the mechanical differences that allow for burst or fully automatic fire. The reality is the civilian AR15 is not designed to go to war or fight long drawn out battles. In fact, in many cases where criminals were shooting at people to cause harm using civilian AR15s they had malfunctions occur because of this reality. Military grade are designed specifically to function under adverse conditions and during drawn-out engagements. The essential thing to remember is that these are tools, and honesty are far more civilized than using a sword or bow and arrow to dispatch attackers. On a personal note I would rather be shot than stabbed. There are other minor changes that occur with some military firearms, though the large percentage of differences are based in volume and rate of fire.

Quite simply the differences between military grade and civilian are extreme. And the average civilian will never use a military grade firearm or own one. They are expensive to own and use and illegal without large fees and background checks that take several months to complete. The next time you read an article from any major news source that talks about assault rifles and military grade, remember this simple reality of journalism, what is reported is the rare event not the regular event. Normal and standard does not sell papers or airtime for advertisers. Rather it is what can be seen as extraordinary and amazing that is what you will see most often in media reports. It is important to always know facts and have access as much raw unfiltered data as possible. I suggest using FBI statistics and weigh data used against other sources to come up with a median that you can base decisions in.

Understanding that the use of AR15s in criminal activity is actually quite low when compared to overall ownership of these same firearms will make things much easier for you. In looking at concealed carry applications if others wish to use the term in reference to evil machines, than simply purchase and use handguns that are not used by your military. For the United States this means, the SIG M17 or M18 (civilian version is the SIG P320) and the phased out Beretta M9A1 or the Glock 19M (which is not available for civilians). Military grade firearms are almost always different designations and include a variety of changes from civilian. On handguns you will find that military grade handguns have a lanyard ring at the grip for securing the firearm to self in case it falls out of the holster. Additional requirements for military-grade handguns are as follows.

• Integrated rail
• External safety
• Adjustable for ergonomics by means of grip inserts
• grip panels
• front or back straps
• different triggers available
• higher benched accuracy requirements

The question posed was, what is the difference in firearm types? The answer is, military arms are designed for military use, civilian arms are designed for civilian use! Since 1934 it has been illegal without special permits and background checks to own or use fully automatic firearms eg., military grade firearms. There have been dozens of small and major gun control acts passed since the founding of this country and the ratification of the Constitution. The reality is simple, guns scare people who do not have them or have experience with them. In today’s world, we want to blame anything – other than our own decisions – for events that occur. This results in several generations that believe everyone else is the problem, and they are victims.

As always thank you for reading and if I missed anything as I am certain to do, do not hesitate to comment and make suggestions. I learn from you as much as you may learn from me.

Free the mind and the body will follow – and please check out TN Concealed Carry right now!

Well, folks, it’s pouring the rain here as I write this but I’m not complaining because, well, I like the rain. It’s relaxing and most of the time it has a positive effect on my allergies. So it’s a win for me… well until I have to mow my grass which grows faster after it rains and the grass messes with my allergies… I just can’t win…

Anyways, I’ve read a few comments (on another site) that suggest that I’m getting rich running a website, and even though I wish that it were true the reality is far from it.

Below is a pic of my earnings from Amazon… most days are in the $2 to $5 range…

And here is one for my book earning for the month (for all 4 books)…

Also, keep in mind that this is from two sites! I could make more money working part time at a fast food restaurant but I continue to do it because I want to share information that I hope will help someone.

Anyways, over to you what did you do to prep this week?

Showering while hunting, fishing, camping and just being outside after a good hike is something that is essential and refreshing. Personally, my family has used, abused and gone through 3 or 4 solar/camping showers in the past decade.

When the creator of Handy Shower contacted me I decided to accept his offer to review the product in exchange for the product. This is one of the ones I am certainly glad I accepted and did not turn down.

Due to former jobs and current hobbies and by virtue of maintaining a network of individuals I have been able to stay ahead of many of the innovative approaches that have come into the camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, prepping and general out-doors world!

While this invention has a distinctly European feel, especially when you realize it has a bidet head attachment, this is what really makes it a worthwhile investment. I will say again, in any situation cleanliness is absolutely an essential need to remaining disease-free and comfortable.

In the out of doors one can easily work up a good sweat and honestly, I find that if you are consuming enough water and not gorging on typical sodium rich, carbo based fare you will rarely actually smell and a simple rinse with clean water a couple times a day is enough to keep you healthy.

However, I can also say that from experience any time you transition into a changed diet or set of external circumstances our internal setup will often rebel and the result can be mudslides or concrete if you know what I mean!

If you do not have adequate toilet paper or facilities this can easily lead to potential infections not too mention looking and smelling like the hind end of a Russian hog after a Texas mud bath! I devised some fun approaches over the years and get really tired of needing to always be prepped for this. To this end I adjusted my diet permanently and my exercise level as well. That being said, keeping clean is still an essential part of daily hygiene!

Handy Shower is pump based and is not gravity or battery powered. You can use your hand or the included foot-pump to keep water flowing. The way it is built you do not need anything more than a simple canteen to supply the water, though I did like and recommend the awesome bag that is included in their Premium version.

The different heads for showering or washing with are fun to test and take seconds to attach and detach. As with everything, make sure you are washing your body over 50 yards from your drinking water and any open sources of groundwater or food as well as living space! I cannot stress enough the importance of having a very select place for washing up!

Hand Shower which is currently active on IndieGoGo found here, offers an all in one package at a reasonable price. And after testing our unit over the course of the last week with a teenager, 9-year-old and adults attached, I can honestly say it is a winning option for campers, day hikers, climbers and virtually anyone that is active and out of doors. Let’s go over the features offered!

• You control the water exactly, no long turn on and shut off approaches, using a simple pull line or included folding foot pedal (which seems rickety but really does work well) you remain in control of the water flow, how fast, how much or how little is your choice!
• It works for washing your hands, hair or privates if and when needed and is easily switched between roles, with little fuss and no overt mess! (for we Americans bidets are a bit odd, but they really do work quite well!) never use it for that and still benefit!
• Empty it weighs right at 400 grams or 14 ounces, which is really quite light and packages into a small easily managed package!
• Set up really is very simple, first I did it without using instructions. I than checked the instructions and with one exception had everything put together properly. Easy to setup definitely easy!
• Durability, mine withstood the onslaught of a teen boy, pre-teen girl and other adults for several days without incident. In fact, it was so easy and fun to use that everyone kept coming to the camp to check it out as my children got around the area and met other youngsters. This led to additional uses for testing and showing them as well.
• It comes in a few different forms, I suggest the premium kit, however, the magic happens with the shower head and attachments themselves. So any of the kits will work for you.

Unfortunately, this shower is only available on IndieGoGo. I can recommend it with two thumbs up and 5 stars all the way. As long as you treat it well it should treat you well for many years to come.

The pump and attachments are well built the only real weakness I see would be in the foot pedal, it is definitely built to run with a lighter touch and not push the pedal through the floor. A harder pump does not cause it to work better, rather be smooth and consistent like you are spray painting a car and it will run well and for a long time to come!

Make sure to check out the websites linked to the name Handy Shower in the article and let them know I sent you over! Get on their mailing list and definitely get one of these amazing products today! It was designed and is being made in Poland at the moment but they have plans to produce in many other places as demand increases.

I have a few items I love from Poland, and they do tend to engineer in a robust manner. Additionally, it is a family run business venture and the included talent is downright amazing!

Free the mind and the body will follow!

You Might Also Like:

• You Don’t Need To Be Wealthy to Homestead
• Urban Survival Basics: How to Survive in the City When Disaster Strikes
• Moving Toward Self-Reliance for the Working Poor

This open discussion forum is just that an open discussion where you can post your preps and homestead progress for the week, or ask questions about any topic that you need help with.

All that I ask is that you keep the discussion somewhat related to the topic of prepping and or homesteading.

Worth Checking Out:

• My Newest Blog Project – TN Concealed Carry
• My Brothers New YouTube Channel Tennessee Redneck.
• And a new fiction book that one of my readers just released Alien Outpost.
• And last but not least check out Concealed Carry Resources and Knife Laws in Tennessee.

Alright… now over to you all…

by Jerry M

Using your money wisely can pay many dividends for you over time. Learning to spend your money wisely is a habit most people must learn through discipline, it is usually not inbred into a person’s lifestyle (please read: The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness). All, or at least most, of today’s advertising is focused on emotional appeal for your money, not logic and common sense. If we can think logically instead of emotionally we will be far better off in almost every situation we find ourselves in, especially financial ones.

We got serious about a self-reliant lifestyle several years ago and this article is designed to give the reader some food for thought, some direction, and glimpses of things that worked for us.

One of the first things we had to adapt to was determining a “want” from a “need”, it took a while to develop that mindset, It was not easy and it took discipline, lots of discipline.

The ability to purchase things you need is governed by your own personal cash flow. Remember that cash flows both ways, in and out just like the tide. Our goal was to plug the money leaks in our cash flow pot. We are retired, so we are on a fixed income. Increasing inflation over time has eroded the buying power of everyone’s dollars. This really hits home when you are on a fixed income.

Let’s look at food purchase of a few items that just about everyone uses. We buy larger quantities of food where and when we can. We buy 5-gallon food grade buckets and gamma lids for daily use and buckets and solid lids for long-term storage. Don’t forget at least one lid wrench for the solid lids. A bucket and gamma lid cost us $ 11.00 and a bucket with a solid lid about $6.50.

If you stack buckets, put a 15”x15” piece of plywood between the buckets to avoid cracking the bottom lid because of weight. We don’t stack them more than 3 buckets high.

We recently bought table salt in a 50# bag for $12.50 which is $.25 a pound and it fills 2 buckets. Buying salt in the convenient 1# containers at $.85 each is far more convenient but cost considerably more money. Another example is white flour in a 50# bag for $11.97 or $.24 per pound. Buying flour in a 5# bag for $3.19makes it $.64 per pound.
We buy a 50# bag of sugar for$27.61 or $.55 a pound or a 32 oz. bag for $2.29 which is $1.14 per pound.

Learn to look at your cost per pound or per ounce when buying food and also know the storage life of the food. We shop at WINCO and Cash & Carry in our area for large quantity items in bulk.
We also cruise through the thrift stores and find lots of “bargains” on a variety of things. We are seniors and a veteran so we receive a 20% discount at our Good Will thrift store.

Most of us carry insurance of some type. Our experience has shown that we get the best coverage and the best price by dealing with an independent insurance agent. The independent agent will have several companies to choose from, they are not locked into one company. We stay away from “company” agents such as State Farm, Safeco, Farmers, etc. and have always done better.

We will never purchase a new car again. The purchase of a new vehicle is probably the worst investment that you can make. As soon as you drive off the lot you have lost at least 10% of the value of what you just paid for the vehicle. We will purchase a vehicle about 2 years old and preferably one from a rental car agency. They will have had a regular service schedule and not a lot of miles on them. We have had good experiences doing this over the years.

We think having a cash stash in a safe place is of paramount importance. Unexpected emergencies will happen from time to time. A safe deposit box is not a safe place, the banks are closed weekends and holidays and every evening too, giving you limited access to your cash. Even though there is lots of talk of eliminating cash in favor of a totally digital system, we think and hope that is a far-off future thing. Our goal is to have enough cash to pay 1 year’s taxes, utilities, and make small purchases for a while.

Beyond that, if things get that bad, who knows? We keep a cash stash in a small fireproof box that is easily hidden as well as transportable. You can find these at Walmart and other retailers. We also keep another fireproof box with our important papers in it.

Some folks are in favor of having precious metals stashed away. We feel that is fine if you have everything else that you need in place. Keep in mind however that in the 1930’s gold was confiscated by the federal government. The use of gold and silver may also be made illegal under a martial law situation.

You can save money by eliminating cable TV, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, dining out, unnecessary car trips, cigarettes, and perhaps other areas as well. Grow as much of your own food as possible and learn to preserve it. Getting out of debt and staying out is one of the first steps toward financial freedom.

Financial freedom is a big stepping stone to self-reliance. Reevaluate your finances from time to time to help you keep on a sound financial pathway.

Remember, these are things we have done that over the years have worked well for us. Your situation may differ a little, but the same principles apply: common sense over nonsense, needs vs. wants and logic over emotion.

Enjoy the journey.

Related: 

• You Don’t Need To Be Wealthy to Homestead
• Start Saving Today and Live Your Homesteading Dream Tomorrow
• How To Sleep Better At Night Naturally – Tips For Getting A Good Night’s Sleep