4 in 1 Survival Tool

Multi-use tools allow for the saving of space and weight, when you are packing everything in yourself. And if you like to keep a small survival kit in your car at all times, high quality multi-use tools can remain unobtrusively out of the way, while providing excellent service.

4 in 1

The device is a wood saw with a 15-inch (38.1-cm) steel blade. Zippo says that it makes easy work of sticks and logs up to four inches (10.1 cm) thick. It's positioned at campers that need to cut up firewood, and the saw's handle has a little secret that will help: it's a sheath for a hatchet underneath. Take off the sheath to reveal the five-inch (12.7-cm) blade; store the saw blade in the hatchet handle, and sawing lends way to chopping and splitting.

...On the flip side of the hatchet blade is a mallet designed to hammer tent stakes into the ground. When it comes time to pack up and pull the stakes out, a stake puller on the end of the hatchet handle provides some assistance. The puller is a closed loop, so it appears that it will only work with stakes that have some type of a grab point – Zippo shows it pictured pulling out a hooked plastic stake.

The 4-in-1 Woodsman will hit the market in time for the northern spring of 2013. It will retail for US$79.95. Replacement saw blades will run $12.95. _Gizmag

I can think of a few other handy tools to include in the medley, but Zippo's Woodsman appears to be one convenient compromise out of the many possible multi-tools for such use.

One Tool for Both Hunting and Fishing -- The Gun Rod

Dvice
Never leave home without it. A fishing rod that converts into a rifle, or a rifle that converts into a fishing rod. Either way, you should be able to supply the protein needs for yourself and perhaps a small band of fellow survivalists.

Survivalists around the country are rejoicing at the release of the carbon fiber and aluminum rifle fishing rod combined into one handy device. We know. Why didn't anyone think of this useful combination before?

This new lightweight .22 caliber single-shot bolt-action rifle comes has a grip that doubles as a fishing rod when you screw in its reel. Add the telescoping rod and you are in business.

Completely waterproof, the rifle breaks down into two pieces, which can easily be stowed...

...Mountain View Machine and Welding sells the rifle fishing rod for $425... _Dvice

Pack-Rifle website

Personal Beer Maker Makes Gallons of Beer in 1 Week

The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery from WilliamsWarn on Vimeo.

WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery
The series of images below illustrate the steps taken when brewing your personal beer with the WW Personal Brewery.

On Day 1, the home brewmaster must first make sure his equipment is sparkling clean. Then he adds the water, malt extract, yeast, and hops to the beer maker. The thermostat is set to 70 degrees F.

Day 2-5:

When yeast turns malt sugars into ethanol, one by-product is carbon dioxide. The gas is trapped in the tank, and as the pressure builds, CO2 is forced into the beer. A valve allows brewers to regulate the amount of carbonation _PopSci

Day 6:

Once the beer is chilled to 42ºF, brewers add a clarifying agent, which causes the yeast to drop into a collection jar at the base of the tank. Once the beer is clarified, brewers simply close the tank’s lower valve, detach the jar, and dump the yeast down the sink. _PopSci

Day 7:

The CO2 captured in the tank forces the beer through a tube to the tap. A supplementary CO2 canister maintains internal pressure as the beer level drops. _PopSci

The current line of brew kits are restricted to light ales, but ultimately the ocmpany plans to provide the ability to brew as much as 50 pints of ales, lagers, stouts, and more.

These high tech beermakers sell for roughly $5,000. Alternatively, beer lovers can acquire lower tech beermaking equipment using malt extract, for under $200, and buy the makings for 5 gallons of home brew for anywhere between $30 and $50, depending on the type of beer. Or, if you are resourceful you can scrape together brewing equipment for next to nothing, and the ingredients for whole grain brewing for less than the cost of malt extract. And in fact, you can grow your own hops and your own yeast strains.

Beer making is one of the many necessary competencies required for all members of the Society for Creative Apocalyptology, a subsidiary of the Al Fin Syndicate. Beer is a survival drink as well as a social lubricant, a useful item of trade, and a satisfying, nutritious food.

If you have more money than you can spend, consider experimenting with the WW Personal Brewery. You will have to obtain the machine in New Zealand and have it shipped out to your location yourself. If it makes beer with an acceptable quality, you may get some good use of it, and save some time. But more likely you will find that you either love home brewing or hate it. If you love it, you will probably move quickly to other equipment that makes it easier for you to customise your batches.

70 kg Seaplane Designed in Finland

PO
This one-seater carbon fibre plane lands and takes off on water, and weighs but 70 kg. It was designed by a Finnish aerospace engineer, has a topspeed of around 140 kph, and a wingspan of 5m. It will come in multiple models, with prices starting at US$ 39k. The company plans to start taking orders in 3 months.

The first version, one electric only, and two fuel based versions. The electric-only version has a 20kW engine. The two petrol-based engined run on 24 bhp and 35 bhp, respectively. The top speed on these planes is roughly 140 km/h, with a minimum speed of 70 km/h . The FlyNano has a wingspan of five meters. The plan can support a take off weight of 200 kg, as well as a take off speed of about 70km/h. In theory, the plane can travel about up to 70 kilometers in a single fueling, or charging, depending on the model that you have chosen to fly. _PO

The plane would be mainly for sport and recreation. For lake hopping, island hopping, or seastead hopping, the plane might be practical as a light mail carrier or courier craft. Future STOL (short takeoff or landing) versions of such planes might be convenient for getting out of a populated area quickly. Just be sure to have plenty of fuel caches pre-placed.

If You Can Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, You Can Survive Almost Anything

Riverboat Zombie Survival Compound
The imaginative survival scheme pictured above should provide a creative boost to your survival planning efforts. Here are a number of things to keep in mind when planning for your apocalypse of choice:

Basic Considerations for Planning Survival Compounds

100 Items that Disappear from the Shelves First In a Panic

Homemade Fuels: PDF Handbook for Downdraft Gasifiers

FEMA PDF Plans for Homemade Stratified Downdraft Gasifier

PDF Ideas for making your own propane from bio-feedstocks PDF

More on biopropane from MIT Technology Review

You can run a gasoline generator, tractor, or automobile with gasifier-produced syngas, from wood chips etc.

Use your imagination to discover ways to provide the items most in demand in a crisis. You may have the kernel for a profitable business to see you through the apocalypse of choice. Accept only gold, silver, or high grade ammunition as payment.

Surviving: A Compulsion to Prepare for the Worst

"People are waking up to the fact that they cannot always rely on outside sources for their personal safety and survival," Tom Martin, CEO of the American Preppers Network, tells Asylum.

"A 'sh** hit the fan' scenario happens to just about everyone sometime in their life," he says. "Preparing and having a 'prepper' mindset will lessen the impact of whatever disaster it may be that you might experience in your life."

...there is a posse of self-sufficient men and women out there who make it their goal to be prepared when disaster strikes. They call themselves "preppers."

From natural catastrophes to economic meltdowns to nuclear blowouts, the preppers' collective goal is quite simple: to carry on as usual, even when catastrophe strikes.

Over recent years, a huge community of preppers has developed. Perform a simple Google search and you'll turn up plenty of prepper-related stuff, including the Web television portalPrepper TV, survival blogs, podcasts (such as DoctorPrepper and PrepperPodcast), andforums that cover everything from a woman's perspective to recycling to how to handle dead bodies.

There's even a rash of YouTube videos offering tutorials on such topics as how to construct your own nuclear bomb shelter, what firearms you should own, and how to earthquake-proof your stored food.
_Asylum

h/t SurvivalBlog

The idea is to have the tools, supplies, and skills to make it to the other side of whatever crisis is likely to pop up.  If you last longer than everyone else in your part of town, and you are running out of supplies, it will be okay to scavenge a bit in your local neighborhood.  But be careful of other scavengers who may be of the "shoot first and ask questions later" variety.

Ironically, while it is largely leftists who frequent the dieoff.org sites and who pine for the killing off of 90% of the human population of the planet, it is more likely to be the more independent and apolitical persons who will be in the best position to see the far side of catastrophe.  Most leftists -- typically incompetent pseudo-intellectuals -- will not have what it takes to make it.