After picking up a book on bow making, I learned what a laborious, time-consuming and technically skillful process it is and realized I wasn't quite ready (nor did I have the time) to tackle such a project. Also, you could invest hours upon hours of work into making a bow only to create one that will fold in half upon draw, or be utterly ineffective. So, I moved on to learning how to make bundle bows and other more “primitive” or “expedient” varieties of bows and haven't really give it much thought since then.

But I recently came across this video that shows how to make a 60 lb. longbow using PVC piping and a fiberglass rod, for an investment of about ten bucks and what looks like a an afternoon of work. While it may not be as artful or durable as a well crafted wooden bow, it looks plenty powerful and expedient. I dig funky projects like this as well (e.g. building practical stuff out of “unconventional” materials) so I thought I'd share this video with you folks.

One note though... I don't recommend using a band saw the way he did to fashion the arrow rest. I don't think it's worth easily losing a finger when you can easily use a utility knife or a hack saw to make that part!

Who among us hasn't experienced the joys of eating roadkill?  

What's that?  You haven't?  Well, to be completely honest, I've never deliberately eaten roadkill (I ate some roadkill bear once, but wasn't informed of the cause of its demise until after the fact).

But when you think about it, what's the big deal?  As long as it's fresh kill and hasn't been completely squashed, and it's thoroughly cooked, what difference does the cause of death make?  If the same animal were dispatched with a shotgun, rifle, or was caught in a trap, we wouldn't have any qualms about eating it.  But in our modern, western culture, we get queemish about a lot of things when it comes to food.  However, there are pockets of our society that not only view roadkill as a viable source of meat, but prefer it to the store-bought variety that's full of hormones and anti-biotics.

The idea of eating meat sourced from the roadside - whether deer, pheasant, fox or even otter might sound revolting to you but for some, it's a gastronomic opportunity and a way of avoiding factory farmed meat.For survival, roadkill can be a life-saver. And it doesn't require the energy of catching food on your own.

‘I barely have to drive 20 miles to fill my freezer. Ignoring all this great meat just seems wasteful to me,’ McGowan continues. Bushcraft and foraging expert Fergus Drennan agrees. ‘The question I ask myself when I find roadkill is, “here is some meat: do I need it, and is it good and safe to eat?”’ 

Here's an article I came across from the UK (of all places) that covers the advantages of road kill as a sustainable food source.

CLICK HERE  to read the entire article

Sarti found himself forcibly railroaded into "hospital observation" and psychiatric evaluation by the county Sheriff, after his doctor apparently got concerned that he was contemplating suicide (despite Sarti's repeated assertions to the contrary, based on his religious beliefs).  That's unlawful detainment in my book.  

Soon after being released from the hospital, Mr. Sarti received a letter from the state of Tennessee declaring him a "mental defective" and was informed that he had lost his "privilege" to carry and own firearms.

"To a person of my political beliefs this might as well be a life in prison sentence. I can now no longer work with the schools or target practice with my guns (one of the few sports I could still do). Therefore Prepping for me has come to a end, as everyone knows there is no since [sic] putting up food and other things without a means to defend them. I CAN NOT AFFORD an attorney and the only person who can expunge the record wont (the Governor of Tennessee)."

This should come as a big warning to preppers everywhere.  If the PTB wants to take your guns away and make an example of you, they'll contrive any way to do so and act like they're doing it for your own good...  Just another one of the dangers of a "nanny state" government.  

I've seen several of David Sarti's videos over the past year or so.  Is he a a "colorful" or "off-beat" charater?  Sure he is.  But I don't think he's a danger to anybody. 

In the video posted below, David Sarti explains the events that led up to his forced hospital incarceration and the subsequent loss of his Second Amendment Rights.  I've also included his segment on the show "Doomsday Preppers".

In this video, Southernprepper1 shows us part of the food storage of a suburban prepper group near the region where he lives. As he mentions in the video, they are avid couponers working collaboratively to amass an awesome volume of food storage!

I spent the day with some friends trying to help improve there ability to survive whatever calamity is thrown at them. They are doing great in most areas, there food supply is out of this world. They are extreme couponers and they have spent very little money to prepare. They have motivitated me to start extreme couponing.

The Brits have been getting hip to the whole prepper and survivalist movement that's been going on here in America and the popularity of the subject has been surging lately. I'm frequently contacted by television production companies pitching one prepper/survivalist show or another (usually with the same questionable premise), and I've been noticing more of them calling me from across the Atlantic. 

I happened to come across this post on the Permaculture Magazine website announcing the production of a movie by a UK-based production company starring Andrew Price from A-Z Bushcraft. I'm a big fan of A-Z and regularly feature some of their You Tube videos here on Survivalist.com, so I'm looking forward to seeing the finished film. 

Andrew Price, the presenter of A-Z of Bushcraft, will play himself in a fictional documentary as a man seeking a new way of life after the economic collapse of society. Undercurrents are seeking people who are preparing for a collapse of society and asking them if they would like to help write a scene for the movie. 

Andrew will travel across the UK and USA meeting communities creating positive ways of living. These will be people and communities who are generating their own energy, growing their own food and building their own homes. 

The film aims to be an inspiring resource for people wanting to build a better future. It will explore permaculture, low impact and off-grid living, bushcraft and wild food. 

They're looking for UK and US based survivalists and preppers to both participate in the project and help fund it. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm good friends with many upstanding police officers who actually "serve and protect" their communities and honor the oaths they took, but every day you hear more and more about abusive, out of control and (in this case) MURDEROUS cops like this THUG-WITH-A-BADGE; James Peters, who gunned down John Loxas II as he stood in the doorway of his home, holding his grandson (pictured below).

Scottsdale Police Officer James Peters, a former SWAT operative previously involved in six fatal officer-involved shootings, killed John Loxas II Tuesday night (February 14) while the 50-year-old grandfather was holding a baby.

Although police “could see that the suspect had the baby in his arms” just before Peters fired the fatal shot, Loxas was unarmed, according to a Scripps wire service account. “After several calls for Loxas to exit the home, he opened the door with the baby in his left hand, and stood just inside the doorway…. Officers then saw Loxas reach down to his right, lowering the baby and exposing his head and upper body. Peters then responded to the movement with a single shot to Loxas’ head.”

Two years ago, Loxas was arrested following a report that he had been seen “yelling and walking around with a handgun.” Although officers described Loxas as “drunk” and “threatening his neighbors with a pistol,” he was not charged with aggravated assault – as Arizona statutes would dictate – but for the trivial offense of “disorderly conduct.”

Tuesday’s episode was quite similar: The police were summoned by a report that he had kicked a neighbor’s garbage can into the street while he was on a walk with his nine-month-old grandson. When police arrived they found him outside his home. Ordered to “step away” from the house, Loxas retreated inside. Without any evidence that Loxas intended to harm the child, the officers created a “crisis entry team” – that is, they escalated the conflict by imposing a military protocol that led to the summary execution of a man who wasn’t suspected of a violent crime.

That decision might have been prompted by the fact that Loxas – in addition to having a turbulent relationship with his neighbors — was an outspoken political dissident who briefly considered running for President.

“A REVOLUTION IS COMING,” Loxas wrote in a March 2011 Facebook entry. “THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO CHANGE. The question is: Who do YOU want to be President of the United States AFTER the revolution is over?”

“I believe that the World Bank/International Monetary Fund/Federal Reserve/IRS, mainstream media, corporatism, Zionism and GREED are the true axes of evil whether or not … they know or believe that themselves,” he continued. “Right or wrong, true or untrue; this is MY belief, and I firmly stand by it.”

Given his characterization of government as an all-encompassing criminal menace – a description no rational, honest person would dispute – it’s not surprising that Loxas regarded “ANY agent of the government” to be “an enemy of the PEOPLE,” and insisted that in the event of large-scale civic unrest that people should focus their rage on government buildings or officials, rather than each other. Whatever one thinks of the wisdom of such exhortations, they are indistinguishable, in tenor and reasoning, from countless similar examples one can cull from the writings of America’s revolutionary period.

Killer cop: James Peters now on paid vacation.

Although Loxas was treated as if he were a heavily armed barricaded kidnapper, a search of his home turned up a total of two firearms – neither of which was within easy reach when he was killed by Officer Peters – and an object described as a “functional improvised explosive device” that was disposed of by a bomb squad and not inspected by any independent party.

The Scottsdale PD has claimed that the paramilitary tactics used in the confrontation were dictated by concerns for the infant’s safety. It’s not clear how shooting the grandfather while he was holding the infant was to the child’s benefit. Another possibility is that Loxas, by virtue of his impassioned political opinions, fit the profile of the dreaded “Sovereign Citizens” movement, which has been designated by the FBI as the most prominent domestic “terrorist” threat – and the most acute threat to “officer safety.”

In late January, an FBI-led paramilitary strike team conducted a full-force raid on the residence of a Lake Mary, Florida couple suspected of harboring “Sovereign Citizens”-derived political views. Brandishing automatic weapons and deploying camera-equipped robots, the SWAT team went through the house and garage, removing several boxes of documents. The couple has yet to be charged with a crime.

Last June, the Department of Homeland Security conducted drone surveillance of a remote farm outside Lakota, North Dakota at the request of Nelson County Sheriff Kelly Janke. The farm belonged to the family of Rodney Brossart, who was involved in a dispute with the Sheriff regarding the disposition of cattle that had wandered onto his land. Citing material emitted by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, Sheriff Janke described Brossart and his wife as suspected “Sovereign Citizens” – a designation that apparently elevated this insignificant quarrel over wandering livestock to the status of a threat against Homeland Security.

Read more here.

I guess that also means I should stow my own favorite hat out of sight (pictured right).

I would even take it one step further and develop some “costumes” for various situations. For example; some E&E (escape and evasion) experts recommend adopting a ragged appearance like a homeless person or refugee. This is what they call “The Untouchable”. The logic being that if you look dirty or unsavory, most people won't want to approach you or spend too much time even looking at you, allowing you to slip away unnoticed. 

Other times, they suggest dressing as a person of some authority, or at least a person who has a reason to be there. For example; A CERT team member once suggested that donning a hard hat and reflective vest may allow you to slip easily in and out of a disaster area without much notice. Of course if you're in a disaster and people need help, you should help. But if they're rounding folks up and carting them off to a FEMA camp, you're gonna want to get the hell outta Dodge.

One of the dumbest pieces of bad advice I've ever heard anyone give in the context of wilderness foraging is: “Watch what the animals eat... If they can eat it, so can you”. That is no way, I repeat NO WAY to determine whether a wild plant is edible or not.

Animals have different physiologies than humans and what may be harmless to a deer, bird or other woodland creatures may be a deadly poison to humans. 

“Deer eat strawberry bush twigs, and birds eat the fruits, but both parts are deadly to humans, causing vomiting, diarrhea, irregular hearbeats, convulsions, coma, and death.   Scientists don’t know what type of poison it is.  Strawberry bush is also poisonous to livestock.  It was advantageous for deer to evolve the ability to digest a plant that was likely poisonous to competing herbivores of the Pleistocene, such as bison and horses. 

Buffalo nut is toxic to humans, rabbits, and pigs, but not deer, cattle, horses, sheep, and mice.  Its poison is an amino acid similar to that found in cobra poison.  The protein stimulates growth hormone in deer and may facilitate antler growth.” 

While there are far more plants in the wild that are safe to eat than poisonous ones, the only failsafe way to be sure which wild plants are edible is to educate yourself on the native plant life in your area. There are many books available that will teach you how to identify wild plants that are safe to eat. You should also learn how to test plants if you're not sure. This takes a bit of time, though, and involves first tearing off a piece of the plant and testing it on your skin for a reaction. If there's no skin reaction after 8 hours, rub some of the plant on your lip. If there's no tingling, numbness or reaction after 8 hours, put a small piece in your mouth. If still nothing happens after 8 hours, try swallowing a small bit of it. If that doesn't make you sick or give you the runs, try eating a little more, etc. 

However, this is no substitute for KNOWING. For example; if you can't visually identify poison ivy, oak or sumac, you don't want to go rubbing it on your skin to find out if you should eat it or not.

Also, in a survival situation, dehydration is a major risk and you should avoid ingesting anything that will make you vomit or give you diarrhea. But if you're not sure, or you find yourself in an area where you're unfamiliar with the local vegetation, it's good to know how to test a plant before eating it. 

While I'm on the subject of the foolishness of taking cues from the animals to determine what's safe to ingest; the same goes for water... Just because you see an animal drinking from a natural water source, that doesn't mean it's safe to drink untreated. That's like saying it's safe to drink water from the toilet because your dog can. 

No matter how clean or clear the water LOOKS, there are microscopic buggers in there that you can't see, which don't bother the critters none, but will put you in a world of hurt. In the wild, water should ALWAYS be filtered AND sanitized before drinking.

For further reading, here's an interesting article I came across from a blog called: Georgia Before People.

Can you smell the police state coming? Just when I think the attack on our rights and privacy couldn't get any worse, another entirely unbelievable threat shows up on the horizon. The House and Senate have recently voted for the passage of a bill (H.R. 658) that will allow the use of surveillance drones to spy on American citizens. But hold on... it gets worse. In addition to surveillance cameras, these drones will reportedly be equipped with shotgun tasers, so they can shoot and disable you right where you stand before you even know what's coming!

Since unmanned drones have already been proven so effective in the summary executions of American citizens who were suspected of having connections to crimes of terror (one of whom was a teenager), and since all American citizens are now considered “guilty until proven innocent” under NDAA, what's to stop them from arming drones with rockets or machine guns? 

Rep. Ron Paul: 

"If the American people accept this blindly and casually, that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. I think it's sad," Paul told reporters after a speech in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

"Al-Awlaki was born here, he's an American citizen, he was never tried or charged for any crimes," Paul said. "To start assassinating American citizens without charges - we should think very seriously about this." 

It might be easy to dismiss the concern of flying drones tasing or gunning down Americans in the streets as paranoid, knee-jerk alarmism, but it's hard to tell what is these days. If someone had warned me about the Patriot Act or NDAA back in 2000, I would have thought those things could never happen in America either. And even if these drones are to be unarmed (which, I frankly doubt), just the fact that another layer is being added to the Big-Brother surveillance grid should be enough to cause great concern. 

American Civil Liberties Union: 

“Unfortunately, nothing in the bill would address the very serious privacy issues raised by drone aircraft. This bill would push the nation willy-nilly toward an era of aerial surveillance without any steps to protect the traditional privacy that Americans have always enjoyed and expected.”

And let us not forget general safety considerations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has strict restrictions against domestic deployment of unmanned drones in U.S. air space for a good reason - the safety risk that comes with filling the sky with flying robots!

In case you don't know, they tend to crash a lot more frequently than commercial aircraft.

Here's the details about what the bill would do: 

• Require the FAA to simplify and speed up the process by which it issues permission to government agencies to operate drones. It must do this within 90 days. The FAA has already been working on a set of proposed regulations to loosen the rules around drones, reportedly set for release in the spring of 2012.
• Require the FAA to allow “a government public safety agency” to operate any drone weighing 4.4 pounds or less as long as certain conditions are met (within line of sight, during the day, below 400 feet in altitude, and only in safe categories of airspace).
• Require the FAA to establish a pilot project within six months to create six test zones for integrating drones “into the national airspace system.”
• Require the FAA to create a comprehensive plan “to safely accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system.” “Civil” drones means those operated by the private sector; currently it is all but impossible for any non-government entity, except for hobbyists, to get permission to fly drones (for-profit use of drones is banned). Industry groups and their congressional supporters see this as a potential area for growth. Congress specifies that the plan must provide for the integration of drones into the national airspace system “as soon as practicable, but not later than September 30, 2015.” The FAA has nine months to create the plan. The FAA is also required to create a “5-year roadmap for the introduction” of civil drones into the national airspace.
• Require the FAA to publish a final rule within 18 months after the comprehensive plan is submitted, “that will allow” civil operation of small (under 55 pounds) drones in the national airspace, and a proposed rule for carrying out the comprehensive plan.

Here's a list of the Senators who voted for this bill. See if your state's legislators think the government should be allowed to spy on you from the sky. 

From www.Senate.gov 

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Mark Begich (D-AK)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Roy Blunt (R-MO)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Scott Brown (R-MA)
Richard Burr (R-NC)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Dan Coats (R-IN)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Chris Coons (D-DE)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Kay Hagan (D-NC)
Dean Heller (R-NV)
John Hoeven (R-ND)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Dan Inouye (D-HI)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Tim Johnson (D-SD)
Ron Johnson (R-WI)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Joe Lieberman (ID-CT)
Dick Lugar (R-IN)
Joe Manchin (D-WV)
John McCain (R-AZ)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Rob Portman (R-OH)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
John Reed (D-RI)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Marco Rubio (R-FL)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
John Thune (R-SD)
Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Mark Udall (D-CO)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
Jim Webb (D-VA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

To read more, go to: http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/report-protecting-privacy-aerial-surveillance-recommendations-government-use 

http://pprnnews.prepperpodcast.com/bill-clears-path-for-30000-surveillance-drones-over-us-in-next-ten-years/#axzz1mTO4QrKI

With this post, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. First off, some of you may be familiar with my friend; Scott B. Williams' work through his book: “Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It's Too Late”, which is an awesome resource, of not only great information about bugging out and bug out preparedness, but it also contains valuable information about the various geographical regions of the United States, so you'll know what kind of terrain, weather, wildlife and flora to expect in different parts of the country. In my opinion, this is a “must-have” book for every prepper and survivalist that has earned a permanent place in my own personal survival library.

Recently, Scott has released his follow-up: “Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters”. Scott touched a bit on bug out vehicles in his first book, but due to space constraints, there was only so much that could be covered in a book that was already so rich in bug out information to begin with. Ever since then, everyone (including myself) has been clamoring for more on the subject, and now it's finally here! This book is a comprehensive guide to just about every vehicle you could possibly bug out with, (including motorcycles, boats and kayaks) with valuable information on which types of vehicles are appropriate for each given situation and how to prep your ride into first class escape vehicle. 

Both “Bug Out” and “Bug Out Vehicles” are available at Amazon.com and I highly recommend adding both books to your library of survival and preparedness resources! 

And the second bird? 

On Scott's blog: Bug Out Survival, he posted about a You Tube channel that I have not come across yet called: The Daily Prep, which features daily videos by “Dan the Urbivalist”. His channel features over 100 episodes (or “prepisodes” as Dan calls them), with quick tips on a wide range of survival and preparedness topics. Judging by the view counts of his videos, it looks like not a lot of folks have gotten hip to his channel yet. He's got a lot of good, easily digestible information on there, such as: How to Find Survivalists in Your Area, How Krav Maga Can Save Your Bacon and How to Get ANYTHING for $5.00, as well many reviews of books and products (his review of “Bug Out Vehicles” is posted below, as well as a video of Dan's own vehicle bug out kit). I recommend checking out his channel if you haven't seen it already.