Roughin’ It

...ain for a survival situation is to studiously avoid survival situations by making sure to always have extra food, extra water, extra clothes, a map and a compass. In short, we like the WTC way. And the nice thing about having the backpacking gear around is that should an earthquake or other disaster strike our urban compound we are prepared to camp out in the backyard and, if necessary, head out on the Xtracycle. The Wilderness Travel Course start...

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The Tiny House

...or growing your own food. And these small building literally sip utilities making them ideal for hooking up to solar power and very cheap to heat and cool. They are also expandable as your needs or family grows. And perhaps most importantly, they prevent expansion of all the things we don’t need, the giant plasma screens, the inflatable Christmas decor and all the other clutter causing detritus of our consumer culture. For more information on the...

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Grab and Go

...f the contents of our first aid kit in a subsequent post. 6. Fire Our fire making kit includes waterproof matches and kindling material made with dryer lint and candle wax 7. Repair kit and tools We wear a Leatherman multi-tool at all times on our belt. 8. Nutrition Our grab and go bags contain an array of Cliff bars and other items with a long shelf life. 9. Hydration We have both extra water and a ceramic water filter. 10. Emergency shelter We h...

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The Sound of One Hand Snapping

...rs, and driven hundreds of nails with it, hanging molding, fixing windows, making furniture, and countless other tasks. It’s possible, in fact, to drive nails with this thing without using a hammer and it’s especially useful in tight spaces where there is not enough room to swing a hammer. If SurviveLA ever sells out, it will be to whore ourselves out to the folks at Spring Tools who manufacture this elegant, simple and effective tool right here i...

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Book Review: My Side of the Mountain

...ok-learning alone. He needs a kindly old man to demonstrate the whole fire making process to him. So not only does the book show that failures are the merely part of the road to success, it also teaches us that sometimes we can figure things out by ourselves, if we persevere, but that sometimes we need good books, and sometimes we need good people to help us and show us the way. Erik and I speak of this often, in our books, on this blog and in our...

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