Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i American Outdoor Guide

Gas prices are at an all-time high. We’re in the midst of an energy crisis. You know that, I’m sure. What you probably don’t know is that I’m in the midst of a personal energy crisis, and I just hope it isn’t contagious. I’m going to be open about it here, so that perhaps you can suggest some remedies. I’ve long held the theory that personal energy comes in a range of types and not all of it can be used in the same ways. For instance, if my wife asks me to chop and saw some downed tree branches in the yard, I might find it very difficult to summon the necessary energy reserves to complete the task. It might take me days or weeks to find the correct…

I’ve wasted lots of money in recent years believing I needed the latest, most specialized gear. They say you should always keep moving forward in life. In this instance, however, I needed to look back into my personal history and learn from it. Growing up, I always had to “make do,” as my mom would say, with the few things I had. Even as a young adult I had to budget every dime because my priorities were my wife and children whom I needed to support. This critical trip down memory lane led to an eye-opening realization: with just a few exceptions, I really wasn’t at much of a disadvantage when I had fewer possessions and such a small budget for things such as outdoor gear, personal defense equipment, and…

We’d been searching for several minutes without success. According to the app, we had to be right on top of it, but it was just nowhere to be found. Suddenly, one of our sons shouted, “Here it is!” as he pulled an old ammo can from behind a fallen tree. Inside was a small notebook, a few pens, and a smorgasbord of trinkets, from tiny figurines to Mardi Gras beads. We’d found the geocache! Geocaching has been around for about 20 years now. The term was coined back in 2000 and is a combination of “geo,” referring to earth, and “cache,” a hidden stash of some sort. The concept is similar to a scavenger hunt or even a game of hide and seek, albeit on a global scale. HOW IT…

Founded in Redmond, Washington in 1971, UCO Gear has been in the game a long time. Utility, Comfort, and Originality are summed up with the acronym UCO. With products such as the Original Candle Lantern, which offers functionality and simplicity, or the Stormproof Matches that help you survive the elements, they have become one of the leading brands in lighting and firestarting for the outdoors, home, and emergency preparedness needs. Bringing more than 50 years of innovation and manufacturing expertise to the outdoor industry, each product is designed with useful features that make time outside safer and more comfortable. NEW UCO GEAR For several years, I’ve only had a tea candle lantern and Stormproof Matches from UCO Gear. Yes, I have seen several other products in videos and up close…

1 DARK ENERGY POSEIDON PRO The Poseidon Pro from Dark Energy is a power bank that provides up to 30+ hours of battery life for your smartphone. It’s especially useful to those who spend lots of time outdoors as this unit can be completely submerged for 45+ minutes. A steel-like polymer thwarts falls from 75 ft onto rock, a blast from a shotgun, an explosion from one pound of Tannerite. Certified IP68, the highest water and dustproof rating available. MSRP: $119.99 www.DarkEnergy.com 2 WHITEWATER PACKABLE RAIN JACKET Whitewater makes fishing apparel that inspires confidence, built to brave the waves of Mother Nature so anglers can fish longer, better, more often, and ultimately earn more success. The new Whitewater Packable Rain Jacket and Pant are foundational apparel pieces that employ the…

Rather than mimic the copy-and-pasted adage that a survival knife is the knife you have on you when you need it, I’d rather give my opinion. A survival knife is a multipurpose tool. There won’t be many spoons, try sticks, or gnomes carved during a survival scenario, let alone carved with the characteristics of a survival knife. TALE OF THE TAPE I’d recommend four inches to seven inches in blade length with a tang that runs the entire knife length, visibly seen between the scales (full tang). If you look at the United States Air Force Pilot Survival Knife, it has a five-inch-long blade. There is a long history of the United States Marine Corps using a Ka-Bar seven-inch bladed knife. I am a fan of thin knives, especially when…

Guns, knives, flashlights, devices for making fire, a cook pot and spork, paracord, and ways to treat and carry water – those things are always on my list when I gather gear to head out on an adventure. But there’s something else that I include on my list that I don’t see on many other lists. That something else is a waterproof poncho. Perhaps that’s because I have a dark cloud hanging over my head, or maybe it’s just because I spend most of my time in the Northeast. I get rained on a lot. I’ve always joked that if the forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of rain, then it means that I’m the one in five who’s going to get wet. A PONCHO’S MANY USES I consider…

I am almost always armed. Maybe that’s because I saw some terrible things and met some truly evil people during my time as a police officer. Maybe it’s because I’m stubborn and refuse to be an easy victim to man or beast. Going armed in remote areas, whether that’s in camp or on the trail, calls for some special considerations. In some cases, the firearm you usually carry every day regardless of environment will serve you just fine. After all, that’s the one – hopefully – that you’re the most familiar with and you handle it pretty well. But there are other things to consider when your journey takes you through remote areas. You are always your own first line of defense no matter where you are, but in isolated…

Despite what some of our politicians may try to tell you, the Second Amendment of the Constitution is not now and has never been about hunting. The Founding Fathers of our republic recognized that all governments have the potential to become oppressive and tyrannical towards their citizens. The past two years have brought a host of sweeping infringements on the rights of the average U.S. citizen. From lockdowns to the mandating of experimental medical procedures, we have seen overtly oppressive behavior from all levels of government in nearly every part of our lives. Looking beyond our borders to countries such as Australia and Canada that don’t enjoy the protection of our Constitution provides us with a stark reminder of how quickly a government can turn on its citizens. As I…

These days, it seems like you can’t turn on the TV or click through YouTube without seeing a documentary or spotlight on someone who has shrugged off the shackles of modern capitalism and the humdrum of corporate life to build a tiny house and live a more spartan and frugal lifestyle. These folks are usually young, idealistic, underemployed as Instagram influencers, and very enthusiastic about their minimalistic endeavor. It’s the new craze to combat exorbitant house prices, energy-reliant dwellings, and environmentally unfriendly building practices, while rejecting the spacious living epitomes of the affluent. Though the tiny-house movement is nothing new, it has gained a great deal of traction in the last 10 years or so, driving more people to live a simpler life with a less materialistic mindset. TINY HOUSE…

Venomous snakes can be found in warmer climates all over the world. Out of more than 3,000 species of snakes, about 600 of them are venomous, one third of which pose a medical emergency. For example, the king cobra can inject almost 1.5 teaspoons of venom into a human, but that’s more than what’s needed to kill up to 20 people, whereas the Australian coastal taipan delivers 10 times the venom needed to kill a person. The black mamba, death adder, and the diamondback rattlesnake are among the world’s deadliest snakes. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that around 2.7 million people are bitten by venomous snakes each year (and about 125,000 people worldwide die as a result). In the United States, by contrast, there are only about…