Honest, tested buyer's guides and loadouts for every budget.
By the Comms Team When you are truly beyond the reach of cell towers, deep wilderness, a remote homestead, or a disaster zone where the networks have collapsed, a satellite phone can be the difference between being connected and being completely cut off. Satellite phones communicate directly with orbiting satellites rather than ground-based cell towers, … Read more
By the Home Security Team Long before an intruder reaches your door, they encounter the edge of your property, and what they find there shapes whether they proceed or move on. Fences, gates, and physical barriers form the outermost layer of home security, the perimeter that deters, delays, and defines your space. Well-designed perimeter security … Read more
By the Comms Team Individual communication tools are useful, but in a serious emergency what keeps a family or a group coordinated is a system: a deliberate, layered set of methods designed so that when one fails, another takes over. Building a secure communication system for emergencies means assembling those layers, arranging them in a … Read more
By the Comms Team When cell towers are overwhelmed, the internet is down, and the power grid has failed, one communication method keeps working: amateur radio, known as ham radio. For over a century, when all other communication fails, ham radio operators have kept information flowing during disasters, relaying emergency traffic, coordinating relief, and connecting … Read more
By the Off-Grid Desk Among the renewable energy options for off-grid living, one stands quietly above the rest for the lucky few who can use it: micro-hydroelectric power. If you have a stream or river with year-round flow on your property, a micro-hydro system can produce steady power around the clock, in every season, rain … Read more
By the Off-Grid Desk Solar gets most of the attention in off-grid power, but for the right property, a small wind turbine can be a valuable addition or even a primary energy source. Wind has one great advantage over solar that makes the two natural partners: it often blows hardest at night and in winter, … Read more
By the Off-Grid Desk Solar power is the most accessible and popular path to energy independence, and for good reason: the sun is free, the technology has become affordable and reliable, and a solar system has no moving parts to wear out. For anyone looking to reduce dependence on the grid, weather outages, or move … Read more
By the Food Preservation Team Smoking is one of the most ancient ways humans preserved meat and fish, and it endures because it does two things at once: it helps preserve food and it makes it taste wonderful. The combination of smoke, and often salt and heat, has kept protein edible for far longer than … Read more
By the Personal Safety Team Not everyone wants to own a firearm, and not every situation calls for one. Many people seek personal protection options that are less lethal, more portable, legal in more places, and require less training and commitment than a gun, while still providing a means of defense beyond bare hands. A … Read more
By the Home Security Team Home security is not a single product you buy or a single action you take; it is a system of layers working together, each one making your home a harder, less appealing target. Security professionals think in terms of a chain of functions, deter, detect, delay, and respond, and a … Read more
By the Field Skills Team Time spent in the backcountry occasionally brings encounters that require knowing how to respond, whether with wildlife or, more rarely, with other people in remote places. The good news is that dangerous encounters in the wild are uncommon, and the overwhelming majority are avoided or safely resolved through knowledge and … Read more
By the Home Defense Team A firearm is a serious tool that some people choose as part of their home defense, and if you make that choice, it comes with profound responsibilities that far outweigh the decision of which model to buy. Owning a firearm for home defense is not simply a purchase; it is … Read more
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