Survival Hooch!

The “Pocket Shot” really is the best thing to ever be invented by the hand of man and I’m amazed it took the human race this long to actually get to it. The basics are it’s a plastic bag of booze that fits in your pocket, sock, bra or wherever. Totally concealable and an awesome add to a BoB or and EDC bag. Hell or even just your pocket! Urban Survival can be a bit of a bummer sometimes thinking about all the possible badness that can befall us city dwellers from without and within. When you’re feeling down after a week of eating MRE’s, sleeping in a tube tent and crapping in a chemical toilet who doesn’t want to have a good snort? While technically not a “survival” product it’s still one of those pretty freakin cool inventions that really do make life just a little bit better.

I taste tested the vodka this morning which you can see in the accompanying video after the jump and it wasn’t too too bad. If you used it as a mixer and not straight up it would be totally passable at any cocktail party. The form factor is just amusingly awesome but I don’t think I’d really keep one in my back pocket. It seems like that could really be a recipe for disaster especially if you’re out and about and don’t want to smell like a homeless alcoholic all day. I’m going to keep my eye out for the other “flavors” and see if they stand up to the quality of the vodka. What would only make this thing better is if they licensed real brand name hooch. I’ve got a bottle of Lagavulin in my survival kit for “emergencies” but it would be great to be able to keep a smaller and lighter load in my BoB for cross country GTFOOD hikes. And yes, I wrote this review AFTER I did the taste test

Read more…

Book Review: Brave New War

A book on war and terrorism doesn’t seem to fit on a site about urban survival. With the exception of a few big notable events, terrorism isn’t a threat most people need to prepare for. However, Brave New War by John Robb examines a new direction in terrorism, away from blood and guts towards system disruption.

Terrorism is generally thought of in the blood and guts variety. When thinking of terrorism, people imagine 9/11, Oklahoma City, The Unabomber and Israel. From a terrorist’s standpoint, this type of blood and guts terrorism loses its effectiveness as it happens more often. In other words, blood and guts terrorism suffers from diminishing returns. Over the past five years, some terrorists groups have moved away from blood and guts terrorism towards systems disruption which becomes more effective as more attacks occur. Read more…

Review: Medium A.L.I.C.E. Backpack

When I first started reading up on Survivalist boards and forums almost everyone was recommending a Medium sized “A.L.I.C.E” backpack to carry your goods. I’d never heard of them so did a little more research and discovered there is a serious rift in the communities over these bags. It seems you either totally love it or completely loathe it. I decided to find out for myself what all the hullabaloo was over so I broke down and bought a black one with an external frame.

Previously I was using a cheap European style rucksack for my general BoB. It was durable, fit everything I wanted to carry (albeit with very little room for expansion) and most importantly was pretty comfortable to schlep. All in all I was happy with it but in the name of science I gave it up. The Alice w/frame when empty wasn’t too heavy at all and stored pretty flat. When I transferred all of my BoB gear to it there was a lot of extra room which was a plus because I had some new stuff to add thanks to the comments on my first post and the forum discussions. (Thanks guys!) The new bag weighs in at 25.5 lbs and is a bit unwieldy to handle. The bottom is apparently designed to have a bedroll which I don’t currently have so it won’t stand up on it’s own which is pretty annoying and I have to lean it up against a wall to store it conveniently.

The next step was to do actual field trials. I found a nice 2.5 mile circuit by my house that had hills, dirt and street walking and for the next 5 days I wore it and walked this circuit. The first thing I noticed is that it takes a lot of tweaking to get it to sit comfortably. Once I got it dialed in though it was incredibly comfortable. Since it’s got an external frame there are only 2 points of contact on my back which I was dubious about but after my first walk I was sold on it. The open back design kept me cool even when I was hauling my ass up a giant hill. Even with it’s weight it was incredibly comfortable even after day 5. It has a waist belt to keep it firmly attached to you but I found it to be more uncomfortable so I leave it unbuckled to no ill effect. After the full field test the only complaint I have is the lack of padding on the straps and they definitely started to bite into me after repeated use. It’s a good bag and carry’s a LOT of stuff but I can see how some people may not care for it since it is a pain to get dialed in to your particular physique. That said I’m going to be keeping it as my primary BoB as well as taking it for a walk every day as part of the physical side of my personal training. I’ve got a post up on the forums to discuss more baggy goodness.

Review: Fenix L0D

At each of the past two Christmases, I’ve received a Fenix L0D as an every-day-carry flashlight.  Unfortunately, the first one was stolen by a valet.  Thankfully, I now have my second one that hasn’t left my keyring (and my keyring isn’t given to valets anymore.)  The Fenix L0D is the most durable and dependable EDC flashlight I’ve come across. Read more…

Book Review: Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales

There are many survival books out there that talk about the techniques and how-tos of survival.  Being well equipped and knowing how to survive is what Urban Journal is all about.  However, even being well prepared doesn’t guarantee ones survival.  There is quite a bit of chance involved, but more importantly, there is the physiological aspect of survival.

The book Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales explores the question of who lives and dies in survival situations and why.  Through the exploration of accident reports and first hand accounts, the author builds a case for survival being about mental preparation and a hunger to live. Read more…

Book Review: Emergency by Neil Strauss

It only seems fitting that the book which had the largest influence on Sean and I to start this site should be our first up for review. Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is a non-fiction story about how author Neil Strauss went on an epic journey of transformation. Neil started out with ZERO skills and admittedly couldn’t even change a flat tire. Over the course of the book he goes through every kind of survival skill training that you can imagine and some you couldn’t to become a real-life Jason Bourne. The stories are illuminating and hilarious and keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the night. I personally read the entire book in 2 days!

Do not expect this to be a how-to manual for specific skills and techniques though. It’s a story about Neil and the past few years of his life but a nuts and bolts tale it is not. We’ll be reviewing some of those books in the near future though so stick around. What this book is really good at providing are the steps it takes to get seriously prepared for just about anything. What he did, who he went to and why will save you days and weeks of research, but don’t skimp on research of your own! Neil’s story is almost a point by point checklist to follow for people who are serious about preparedness. What really hooked me though was the telling of his thought processes which led him to make the decisions he made. The first part of the book touched on a lot of observations of the world and where he saw it heading. It just happened that there was a lot of overlap in mindsets of mine and others I know so it was a lot more enjoyable. It also helped that Sean and I both had started taking a lot of the training Neil mentions in the book long before so to me it really feels and reads as completely authentic. There are many things in the book that mere mortals would have a hard time affording but are still fun to know are possible.

I really don’t want to go into specifics of the stories in the book because I expect every one of you who haven’t already read it to get it immediately and I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you. Sean and I did go out and take one of the classes that is discussed in the book on Urban Escape and Evasion and it was a life changing course that we’ll be talking about quite often I’m sure. There are also clues hidden through-out the book that lead to a survival cache that Neil left on one of his adventures that at last time I heard hasn’t been found yet. Good luck with that one

Neil offers a preview of the book which you should definitely check out then just go buy the damn thing.

Review: Streamlight MicroStream LED Flashight

I’ve got a thing for flashlights and over the last 5 years or so have probably spent way too much money on them. Next to a good pocket knife they are easily the most useful thing I carry around with me and I’m constantly amazed by how far the technology has come since the old D-cell Maglight I used to own. I’ve included a few of my favorite lights in our store but my newest and current favorite daily carry illumination device is the Streamlight MicroStream. It’s cheap, small, and probably brighter than half the flashlights you have laying around your house. (assuming your house isn’t full of surefires of course)

I don’t recall who tipped me off to this little guy but I kept hearing people talk about them and when Amazon smartly recommended one to me for under $20 I really didn’t have much choice but to pick it up and see if hype held up. I think they are selling right now for $16 and change which is absolutely the best value high power LED light out there I think. I think a good single AAA size light is ideal for daily carrying and for years I (and many others on Candlepower Forums) have been singing the praises of the Arc AAA, but this is the first light I’ve come across that gives it some serious competition. The Streamlight is a little larger than the Arc though not by much, but it’s almost double the output of the premium version coming in at 20 lumens. It also feels a little lighter and has the convenient bonus of a tail cap pressure switch. I will say that the added size makes it feel clunky on a keychain but clipped to a side pocket you barely notice it’s there. Read more…