Riverwalker's Pics - Group Therapy

There's nothing quite like a little "group therapy".

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Gear Giveaway - The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide

In his latest book, “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide”, Creek Stewart has put together a rather impressive and unique wilderness survival guide. This survival guide utilizes a theme based on a very popular series of books and a major motion picture. Hollywood special effects and make-up crews can create on camera sequences that almost make survival look easy. In real life, you will need a lot more to survive. This book showcases many of the survivals skills and tricks utilized by the characters in the movie and gives a thorough explanation of how to develop those same survival skills. It is having a proper working knowledge of survival skills that will ultimately keep you alive.

One of the things that is fairly unique to this book is the number of illustrations it contains. It is positively loaded with pictures from start to finish and this makes visualizing the skills being taught much easier. It also makes it an excellent guide for younger people who are quite likely to be more “visually” orientated. If you like illustrations, this survival guide has plenty from start to finish. 

Building a primitive survival shelter is one of the more impressive sections of the book. Techniques for building a debris hut are clearly illustrated so that even the novice survivalist can build an excellent shelter for their survival. These shelter instructions are very good.

Even if you haven’t read the trilogy or seen the movie, this is still an excellent survival guide with many useful tips and tricks for developing your primitive survival skills. The subject matter is laid out in an easy to understand and organized manner that closely follows the table of contents. It also has a very impressive index that can quickly guide you to the location of relevant survival information you may be seeking. This also allows you to review specific survival topics quickly, easily and in a very precise manner. Creek has also included a section that lists numerous survival kit resources that will allow you to find additional survival gear or information that you may need.

Creek also includes a number of “Survival Quick Tips” throughout the book that can help you further enhance your survival skills. These tips cover a wide variety of survival techniques that can be of value to anyone reading or using his book.

All things considered, this is an excellent survival guide that is well organized, with easily referenced topics and numerous illustrations to help the reader have a much better understanding of the survival skills being outlined and taught in the book. This can certainly help to put the odds in your favor.

Whether you are new to the game of survival or you're a seasoned "pro", this book will help the novice develop new skills and the more experienced survivalist to reinforce their current skills. 

Riverwalker gives “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide ” by Creek Stewart a thumbs up!

Special Reader’s Bonus - Free Survival Gear Giveaway

As a special bonus to my readers, Stealth Survival is also having a survival gear giveaway sponsored by Creek Stewart and Willow Haven Outdoor. Two lucky readers will win a multi-function survival tool, a bandanna,  a drawstring backpack and a free copy of “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide” signed by the author.

In addition, the winners will receive an added bonus. A signal mirror from Riverwalker and Stealth Survival will be included in the gear the winners receive. This is the same signal mirror featured in the recent series of posts on “Building a Survival Kit.”

How do you win? It’s simple and easy. Leave a comment on this post with a “Survival Quick Tip” of your own that you feel others may be able to use. That’s all you need to do in order to have a chance at winning the gear giveaway. Two winners will be chosen from the responses received and will be announced in a special post on June 1, 2013.

You may also want to check out Creek Stewart’s first book, ”Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit”. This is another excellent book that you may wish to include in your survival library.

Creek Stewart is the owner of Willow Haven Outdoor, a Survival and Disaster Preparedness Training Facility located in central Indiana.

Are you ready to put the odds in your favor?

Then let the “games” begin!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Disclaimer: This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed or endorsed by Suzanne Collins, her publishers, or Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation.

Riverwalker's Pics - Resting in the Shade

It seems that everyone is looking for a nice shady spot to rest on a hot day.

Got shade?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Rainwater Collection - Catching the Overflow

Even a small amount of rain will generally fill a rain barrel to the point of overflowing and do so in a very short period of time. The potential for collecting additional rain can be lost if you have limited capacity for rainwater storage.  If you have a minimum of additional space next to your rain barrel, simply connect an extra barrel by means of an overflow tube near the top of your current rain barrel. This will allow you to collect additional amounts of rainfall from the same rain gutter.

By adding additional rain barrels to your gutter drains in this manner, you can harvest extra rain water  with very little effort.

Got rain water storage?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Survival Knots - The Tautline Hitch

One of the most useful knots in an outdoor environment is the tautline hitch. These knots are extremely handy in securing tarps or tents being used for shelter in an outdoor environment. Like most hitches, it is easily tied and untied (once the load is removed) but allows you to keep your tarp or tent secure, especially in windy conditions. Learning to tie and use a tautline hitch will help to keep your tent or tarp from becoming just another kite in the sky.  

The tautline hitch makes it easy to adjust the tension on lines being used to secure your shelter. It slides easily for adjustment and will then hold firm once a load has been placed on it. 

The tautline hitch works just as easily when taking down your shelter. Once the load has been removed, it can be moved easily to give you slack in the line which allows it to be untied easily.

Here is a link to a tutorial on how to tie a tautline hitch:

http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tautline-hitch/

Got survival knots?

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Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Survival Knots: The Cow Hitch

Hitches are basically a means of attaching rope or cordage to an object. The simple cow hitch is better known as the lanyard hitch. It is generally used to secure cordage or a rope to a post, an item of gear or some other object. This knot is similar to the clove hitch but instead of tying the two half-hitches in the same direction, they are tied in opposite directions. It is a very simple and basic knot.

There is a variant of the cow hitch that is easily tied and can create a more secure knot. This variant is known as the bull hitch. It is simple and easy to learn to tie and will give you a more secure knot.

By simply twisting the top loop of your cow hitch and feeding the end of your lanyard back through the loop you create a bull hitch. When tightened properly, it gives you a very secure lanyard connection to your gear. It's important to remember that keeping your gear properly secured in any situation is critical.

My personal preference is to use a bull hitch for attachment of the leg tie-down on the scabbard of my Mora. This insures a good snug fit for the scabbard of my knife when tied off.

A great resource for learning how to tie a variety of knots properly can be found at http://www.netknots.com/. They offer different sets of knot cards at a very reasonable price. The knot cards can be easily carried and used for reference purposes to insure your knots are being tied properly.

Got survival knots?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Survival Knots: The Clove Hitch

A clove hitch is considered one of the four primary maritime knots and being able to tie one should be included in your survival skills.  The clove hitch is essentially two successive half-hitches around an object. It is simple to tie and can be used to secure the end of a rope to an object and is most effective when tied to a round (tree, post, etc.) or cylindrical-shaped object (pipe, barrel, etc.). 

It can also be easily tied in the middle of a rope in order to secure a line to a carabiner.

The clove hitch has another distinct advantage. With a little practice, it can be tied quite easily using only one hand. This is important should you suffer an injury that leaves you in the position of only having the use of one hand. When you can tie a clove hitch to the index finger of the hand you are using (right or left), you have mastered the ability to tie a clove hitch one-handed. 

A great resource for learning how to tie a variety of knots properly can be found at http://www.netknots.com/. They offer different sets of knot cards at a very reasonable price. The knot cards can be easily carried and used for reference purposes to insure your knots are being tied properly.

Got survival knots?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Prepping on a Budget - Affordable Items for Preppers - Emergency Lighting

Being caught in the dark when the power goes out can be a very unsettling feeling. This is when you need some form of emergency lighting. A flashlight can go a long way towards solving this problem but sometimes you need a little extra versatility in your preps. You may need the use of your hands and this can be complicated if you are trying to hold onto a flashlight. One item that can serve a number of purposes for use as emergency lighting is a portable solar-powered LED light.

There are a number of versions of these solar-powered lights available. If you want it to help with security, you can get one with a motion detector. They also come in various sizes depending upon your lighting needs and may have as few as 5 LED lights or up to sixty.  Most of the solar lights available with 5 or 10 LED lights are available in a very affordable price range ($20 to $25).

This particular solar-powered light is a SUNFORCE #81095 5 LED Solar Shed Light.

The light comes with magnets for attaching it to a metal surface as well as regular screw mounts for attaching it to a wall or ceiling. While designed primarily for tool sheds and other small buildings (chicken coop?). The magnets make it easy to attach to surfaces in a number of ways that increases the usability of the light.

When attached to the front of the refrigerator with the built-in magnets, it provides more than enough light to move around safely and perform simple chores. If attached to a metal surface on your vehicle it can provide sufficient light to change a tire or do minor repairs. The unit provides a fair amount of light that will allow you to maneuver about in a 10 foot X 10 foot room with a fair amount of safely. The light will only last for a few hours before needing a recharge but that time frame should be enough to get most of your important tasks done.

The solar panel is weather resistant but not water-proof. You could probably add a bead of silicone caulk around the front edge of the panel to make it more weather-resistant if you need to mount it in a more exposed area. The power cord is about eight foot long which is sufficient to mount the light and solar panel but would be better if it was just a little longer.  

The important thing about preps is that they should be portable, serve a variety of uses and not cost a fortune to operate and require only minimal amounts of maintenance.

Got emergency lighting?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker