In 1982, Sylvester Stallone starred in a movie that defined much of his career and introduced a character that would always be associated with a popular and unique style of knife. First Blood is the story of a Vietnam veteran and Green Beret John J. ...
Search Results for: survival knives
Bushcraft Knives vs. Survival Knives
The terms “bushcraft knife” and “survival knife” probably go back to the 1980s. The first comes from a seminal book by the Canadian survival expert Mors Kochanski. Bushcraft was published in 1987 and is an instruction manual on how to live in the ...
The Fallacy of the ‘If You Had Only One Survival Tool’ Debate
I’ve been a professional survival instructor since 2007. Before that, I worked as a canoeing and kayaking outfitter from 1998 to 2006. I’ve seen the booming interest in survival television shows, the popularity of survival gear surge in retail ...
Winterizing Your Survival Kit
Growing up in New England, I learned to appreciate the frequency of the seasons changing. When the seasons changed, so did the way we had to live with the corresponding weather and environmental conditions. Spring teaches you to deal with rain, ...
$2.5K Knives and Cougar Sausages: Meet Master Bladesmith Josh Smith
Josh Smith held a long blade in his hand. Maybe 18 inches long, it was still black and ragged from the forge, but he had a point he wanted to make. He held it up, so that the group of close to 20 in his shop could get a good look. All were ...
10 Knives That Would Make Crocodile Dundee Proud
“That’s not a knife …” In 1986, Paul Hogan (no kin to Hulk Hogan) uttered quite possibly the most famous quote in the entire knife industry. Indeed, Crocodile Dundee was a man’s man (who was manlier than most men). From the Australian Outback, Mr. ...
10 Outdoor Survival Skills That Everyone Should Master
The finest outdoor equipment in the world is of no value if you don’t know how to use it properly. Knowledge of key outdoor survival skills and when to pull them out of the bag trumps the best gear every time. Here are 10 indispensable outdoor ...
From Battle to Field: 5 Popular Military Knives That Are Also Great Hunting Knives
Every human has the knife-appreciation gene in their blood. We’ve inherited the recessive trait from our earliest and most inventive hunter-gatherer brethren. While the trait is not expressed in everyone, for those who served in the military or spend ...
Understanding Blades: The Survival Knife
There is no such thing as a survival knife. Knives have been called that and have been marketed that way — as some kind of magical tool that will save your ass in some unlikely situation. But that idea is inherently flawed. Sure, some ...
Disaster Prep: The Importance of Everyday Readiness
Unless you’ve been half asleep, you probably have noticed that 2020 was remarkable. COVID-19, double — correction — quintuplet hurricanes, murder hornets, threats to public health, and civil unrest. We couldn’t get a break. The fabric of our ...
Desert Nomad: Overlanding Lessons From Afghanistan
Wilfred Thesiger, a British Military Officer, writer, and explorer, once said, “No man can live this life and emerge unchanged. He will carry the imprint of the desert, the nomad, and he will have a yearning to return for this cruel land can cast a ...
How To Survive on Wild Edible Plants and Not Get Dead
Terence McKenna, famous American philosopher, ethnobotanist (one who studies a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of local culture and people), and author once stated, "Nature loves courage. You make the ...
Bushcraft 101 with Kevin Estela
“Bushcraft” is a term used interchangeably with “survival,” but they are not true synonyms. Bushcraft is the art of doing more with less and using nature’s resources whenever called upon. Survival is the art of getting by at any cost and is generally ...
Hands-On Mountain Man History Lesson: DIY Tanning Beaver Tails
A few weeks ago, my landlord came knocking at my door on a Tuesday morning. When I answered, he said, “I’ve got a dead beaver out here. You want it?” What are you supposed to say to that? “Sure, I’ll take it!” The words fell out of my mouth ...
5 Ways to Ensure Medical Preparedness
As a woman, I always take my role as protector of my children and any children in my company very seriously. As a registered nurse by education, the tendencies to gravitate toward being a healer come naturally to me, but as medical ...
Safety and Security While on the Road
I’ve always enjoyed a good road trip. Ever since I received my driver’s license, I’ve enjoyed packing up my vehicle with provisions, looking at a map, and going from point A to point B. It has been said, “it is not the destination but the journey ...
Tom Brown Tracker: The Knife From ‘The Hunted’
Every so often, a movie will make a gun or a knife astonishingly and surprisingly famous. Dirty Harry did it for the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver, First Blood did it for sawback knives with hollow handles, Crocodile Dundee caused a ...
7 Backcountry Hacks That Will Help You Survive Deep Off the Grid
I’ve been fortunate in my career to be surrounded by an eclectic group of professionals, from Green Berets and Army Rangers to some of the best backcountry hunters alive today. All these friends and peers have taught me a thing or two about living ...
The Free Range American 2021 Holiday Gear Guide
We asked our motley crew of hunters, fishermen, backcountry athletes, survivalists, and ex-operators to give shout-outs to the best gear they used in 2021. They came back with this eclectic list of archery gear, backcountry gear, clothing, EDC kit ...
Cold Sharp Steel – A Guide To Putting A Razor Edge On Your Knife
The cliché exists because it is true. A dull knife is a dangerous knife. When our trusty blade doesn’t have the edge, it once did, we tend to force the cut a bit more. Or we simply reduce ourselves to sawing whatever it is we are trying to ...
Wilderness First Aid: The Backcountry Medkit Every Hunter Should Carry
Backcountry hunters obsess over dialing in their gear. There’s ultralight gore-tex this and treated down that. But there’s one piece of gear to which many hunters don’t pay enough attention: wilderness first aid and the medkit they carry. Jimmy ...
Borka Blades: Grinding Away at the American Dream
Let’s discuss the typical American day. It normally starts out by hitting your local Starbucks and buying that $5 cup of coffee. Drink it all down, and then it’s time to hit 24-Hour Fitness before heading into that cushy office job. At ...
Cold Steel Hudson Bay Camp Axe Updates Centuries-Old Design
The axe continues its unlikely comeback as a staple of modern life. From axe throwing to hipster backyards, the axe suddenly finds itself cool again. But hey, we know it never lost its appeal. ‘Cause sometimes, you just gotta swing a good axe to get ...
Quill Master Hand Crafts Gear The Native American Way
A lot of people think of beadwork as being the quintessential Native American decorative art, but long before Europeans brought glass beads to these shores, tribal artists were crafting beautifully decorated clothing and objects. The media they ...
What Happened to William Clark After the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
William Clark may be best remembered for his pivotal role as half of the team behind the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but the 30 years of his life that bookended his time with the Corps of Discovery were just as exciting. In addition to charting a ...
Good In The Woods: Surviving The Wild With Laura Zerra
With the state of humanity in chaotic disarray, I have often found myself wondering how well I would survive in the event of a total global apocalypse. Would I be able to hold my own if I was forced to seek shelter in a woodland sanctuary? How long ...
Sylvester Stallone Is a National Treasure, and You Can’t Change My Mind
Sylvester Stallone gets a lot of shit. People have been using him as a punchline for years, either because of the way he talks or looks or because of the roles and action movies he’s made famous. I grew up on Stallone and his ...
Process a Moose Solo: Here are the Tools You’ll Need
Trevor Thompson told the Free Range American podcast recently about the time he was able to process a moose by himself on a hunt in British Columbia. He ended up filling his tag with a great bull early in the week, so he had the time and ...
A Conversation with ‘Professional Caveman’ Donny Dust
This story originally ran on Oct. 15, 2020 on The Ultimate Predator. Even the most experienced, seasoned hunters get a chill when imagining themselves stripped of their gear, alone in the wilderness. It’s a pretty extraordinary thing, then, to ...
