All fired up

FIRE.

One of the most important assets in a survival situation, primitive living, or even a bar-b-que.  Can you consistently start a fire?  With a lighter and fluid?  With a match?  Flint and steel?  Bow drill?  With any number of methods?

Even when the fire is just recreational, try to use a method which you don’t normally use.  By practicing when it is not critical you can increase your productivity when it is critical.  As stated elsewhere, if you haven’t done it, you don’t know how to do it.  The more methods you know will increase your likelihood of achieving fire.

So for the record, here is a short list of methods to apply your skill:

• lighter: disposable and Zippo type
• matches: wooden, paper, “split match”
• sparking: firesteel, flint and steel, pyrites
• optical: magnifying glass, spectacles, bottle bottom, water bag
• reflector: manufactured and improvised
• electrical: flashlights, vehicles, grid hack
• friction: hand drill, bow drill, pump drill, fire saw
• compression: fire piston, vehicles

Give them a try, research them if you don’t recognize them, but above all DO them.

The more you know, the less gear you need.

SEMPER PARATUS

Home made detergent

You can also make your own laundry soap…
* 4 cups hot tap water
* 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
* 1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
* 1/2 cup Borax

Add 4 cups hot water to a small saucepan. Grate the Fels Naptha soap and add it to the saucepan. Heat over low heat until the soap is melted and combined with the hot water. Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 way with hot water. Add the melted soap, Borax, and Washing Soda. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir, and dispense thickened soap into cleaned laundry soap dispensers (use empty containers from commercial brand laundry detergent): fill each bottle 1/2 way, then top the container off with water. Shake before use.

This liquid laundry soap recipe yields 10 gallons. For HE machines, use 1/4 cup per load. For top-loading machines, use 1/2 cup per load.

Why do you ask?

Do you prep?  Are you a survivalist?  What are you preparing for?

Heard these questions, or ones like them?  How do you respond?

It could be a lead in to a conversation with like minded individuals, someone who just woke up, or one of the “sheeple” poking fun.  If your response is “Why do you ask?”, you can prepare to lay down some righteousness.  Be ready with a clearheaded and concise statement, though free form, rambling, rollercoaster style monologue can be truly invigorating.  Often, people just don’t know what to say and can’t stand the silence.  Be prepared to fill it with TRUTH.

When I respond with “Why do you ask?”, I will be geared up, because…

This is what we do, and why we do it.

SEMPER PARATUS

A check up from the neck up

Often people rest on their laurels when they become familiar with a predictable routine. Wether it’s work, a relationship with your spouse or how acquainted you are with survival gear/weapons (and their application. )

A false sense of security is a dangerous predicament more than a few intelligent and motivated people are faced with.

Here is a few questions you need to sincerely ask yourself, and answer truthfully….even if it hurts.

– Can I use every item in my gear without second guessing my ability?

– Can I use my firearms diligently, are my skills so sharply honed that its instinct.

– How confident am I that my family is able to hang in there with me if social order is unstable or non existent?

– Do I have a network of people to rely on just as capable and dependable as me?

– How likely is it I have true access to essential gear if Im away from home and sh!t breaks loose and goes to hell? Then what? Do I carry enough on my person to hold my own?

– Does my family know what to do if Im not here to provide a safe environment for them? Or where to meet if my home isn’t safe and Im not there?

– Have I prepared and trained the most valuable asset of all, my mind. how tuff is it, how’s my attitude during despairing times?

– knowledge? It’s power right?! Wrong. After all, knowledge isn’t power, the application and teaching of knowledge is true power. What good is it if you never utilize it?

– Am I healthy enough without modern medicine to survive long? If not, any natural remedies out there to help me? Am I fit enough to rough it, if not am I motivated enough to get in better shape?

– what if you’re in shape, how crazy is it to be on the move and be wandering aimlessly…lost?! Can I navigate without a compass? Forget battery powered gadgets and any GPS or other electronics. Will an EMP/Solar storm knock out my electronics ( generator and post 1970’s vehicles) then what?

– Can I make a fire when Im hypothermic from being exposed to the elements and 20 minutes is a matter of life or death.

These are just a few of many questions we ought to ask ourselves. Preparedness begins in our attitude and true “working” knowledge of skills. Remember our ability to improvise in any situation is paramount!
We must always be proactive, not reactive.

For every complex problem their is a simple solution,

Trevor

When life gives you an ultimatum will you survive

Where moth and rust do corrupt

So you have a B.O.B. and some new skills, feel better now?  Gun safe full of Mil-spec firearms and ammo for each?  Four wheel drive with rack of tools and spares?  Water, shelf stable food, and medical supplies stocked up?  Good job, add to it as you can and add to your skills.

Some of you may have guessed from the heading as to what is my point.  When was the last time you checked your gear, stores, preps, etc?  When was the last time you practiced your skills?  Still in the package?  Just what you remember from the YouTube video guy?

OK, friends, time to get the gear out in the dirt and use it.  Time to put the skills to the test, as in develop the muscle memory.  Do what we call “dirt time”.  Go for the day, spend the night, spend the weekend, or just go in the backyard.  Point is, if you don’t check your gear and exercise the skills, you can’t be certain they are ready.  If you have never used a piece of gear, the time to try it is BEFORE you need it.  If you’ve never done the cool trick the guy in the video did, YOU DON’T KNOW HOW!  Go try it, practice, practice, practice.  Amaze your friends the next trip to the lake with how you don’t need gasoline to start the fire.

When we say “what we do and why we do it”, it’s because we DO IT and have reasons WHY.  How about you?

MINDSET

The difference between adventure and tribulation is attitude.  Your state of mind is the most valuable commodity in survival situations, make sure to keep it sharp and positive.

Stay alert, stay alive!

Now that’s a knife!

Many people have ideas of what determines a “good” knife.  Size, blade shape, bevel of the grind, full tang, etc.  While all these are important for various reasons, the most important aspect of a knife is to have one.

The knife in your pocket on a day-to-day basis is likely the knife you will have when it matters most.  No knife?  That’s gonna suck.  Wrong knife?  That may just require an adjustment in outlook.  Let’s look at different tools with the different applications in which they could excel.

BUSHCRAFT

Fixed blade of 3 to 6 inches, straight-edged for at least half the blade length, with decent belly for skinning, optimum grind of Scandi bevel, full tang, and good grip for wet hands.  Sharp squared spine for use with fire steel, blade thickness of 3/16 to 1/4 inch, and high quality carbon or stainless well-tempered.

Must be able to perform fine carving (fuzz sticks), skinning of small animals on up to deer, batoning of larger wood or notching (trap triggers), hold good edge and sharpen easily (as in not D2 tool steel).

JUNGLE

Mid-length machetes, kukris, parangs, bolos, and the like are well represented world over.  The heavy cover of jungles requires a larger blade to enable efficient work.  Again, full tangs and edge holding/sharpening is paramount.

URBAN

A good multitool cannot be overlooked for the urban survival situation.  The need for various screwdrivers, pliers, saws and blades, as well as the everpresent bottle/can opener can be very real in the concrete jungle.  While a multitool is always a good addition regardless of the environment, it is unbeatable in the city.

COMBAT/TACTICAL

Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight (21 feet is rare exception).  Having stated that, knives don’t jam, misfire, misfeed, run out of ammo, or have punishing recoil.  When facing a rough spot, the best knife is to HAVE A KNIFE.  Fixed blade or folder, straight edge or serrated, single or double-edged, big or small, shiny or flat, ad nauseam, the type must be compatible with the fighting style.

NOW THAT WE ARE GOOD AND CONFUSED…

What kind of knife should you have?  Depends on where you are, what needs are to be met, and the possible requirement to avoid unwanted scrutiny (LEO’s).  In the end, there is no ONE perfect knife.  Having a few to choose from (or back-ups) and different types for different needs seems to be the best idea.  Quality should be sought after, but don’t confuse high cost with quality.  Above all, don’t go for the wow factor “it was in the movie” or “it’s just like the one (insert survival celebrity here) uses”.  It may be the one Granddad gave you when you were twelve.

What we do and why we do it, better with a blade.

What scares you?

What is it you are prepping for?  The alphabet soup of SHTF, WROL, TEOTWAWKI, SNAFU, FUBAR, or WTF?  Is it the looming fiscal cliff, or global inflation?  Is a an epidemic/pandemic?  Natural disaster like Sandy and Katrina or the Haitian earthquake?  Or is it just that sometimes life throws an unexpected curveball that changes your comfort zone?

Whatever it is, simple skills can be learned, and stores and gear set aside for if and when.  No matter the reason, anything you do to be better prepared will serve you better than doing nothing.  Take a few minutes and ask yourself what you can’t live without, and be honest.  Satellite tv, air conditioning, and the latest iWhatever are things that make you happy and comfortable, but you could do without and probably have on occasion.  Determine how much time and money you want to devote to being ready for ????

And if you said you’re not scared, nothing is going to happen, the government will take good care of us, well, go back to sleep because you are on the wrong site.  To everyone else, welcome to Ultimatum Survival and the team of believers who want to help teach and equip for the preservation of our way of life.

This is what we do and why we do it.  U.S.

What’s in your pocket?

What we do, and why we do it.  That is the idea and mindset of U.S.

Therefore, let’s take a minute to consider: what’s in your pocket?

Many people are interested in survival kits and bug out bags, but they don’t make the effort to have these kits with them all the time.  I don’t blame them, a full up kit or bag would be bothersome in the day to day life of most people.  A woman’s purse can carry a phenomenal amount of stuff and usually does.  But unless you are into “man purse” or bookbags as your typical daily attire, it comes down to what you have in your pockets.  As a disclaimer, I know some of these items are on the TSA no fly list, but that’s not the concern here.

Survival gear can be accounted for by C’s: Cut, Combustion, Cordage, Container, and Cover.

Obviously, Cut refers to a knife, whether a lockblade, mulitool, or what have you, a cutting tool will assist you in obtaining other necessities.  Combustion can be as simple as a disposable lighter or a Zippo, but a ferro rod on your keychain isn’t hard to add.  Cordage can come from shoestrings, clothing fibers, coil of fishing line in your wallet, or the new fashion 550 cord bracelets.  A container is a little more difficult to carry in your pocket but an unlubricated condom in your wallet or a few feet of folded foil could be a game changer.  Cover can be as easy as having a jacket, a handkerchief to cover your face, a decent hat, or a shelter you build with your knife and cordage.

A few other things to consider: chapstick for firestarting assistance, couple of fishhooks in the billfold, small LED flashlight on the keychain, and a few feet of duct tape wound flat.

Dump the contents of your pockets and give it a hard look at what is useful and what you could easily add to your daily carry.

When Life gives you an ultimatum, will you survive?