Timing can be critical when conducting a military operation. During World War II, it wasn’t just the men in combat who depended on accurate timing; the rest of the millions of Allied service members and potentially the entire free world relied on ...
Top 10 Pistol Caliber Carbines: Finding the Best PCC
There’s no question that pistol caliber carbines are more popular than ever. Ruger, Colt, Sig Sauer, and CZ are some of the biggest names making them, and there are countless AR-pattern PCCs made by dozens of companies, big and small. Let’s take a ...
Illuminating Survival: Learn From Light Sources Used by Medieval Troops
Artificial light sources used by humans didn't change much at all from pre-history right up to and into the 19th century. Until the invention of the lightbuld, people relied, in one way or another, on the light of a flame burning some kind of fuel to ...
Rifles 101: How To Adjust and Zero Iron Sights
Although optics are all the rage now, many still like the simplicity and dependability of good old iron sights. They make a great backup as well. However, if the front and rear sights are not properly aligned your shot placement and overall ...
Sick Teen Rescued From Island Where Kodiak Bear Mauled Navy SEAL
The sun doesn’t set here until about an hour before midnight, so the US Coast Guard rescuers knew they could pull off the mission in daylight. “Now put the ready 60 on the line! Put the ready 60 on the line!” the pager blared shortly after 9 p.m. ...
How To Survive An Earthquake: Inside or Outside Every Second Counts
It is another day at work. You are sitting at your desk and without any warning, you are spilled out of your chair and end up sprawled out on the floor. The entire building is shaking and swaying violently. Items are falling off shelves ...
What Was the Best Sniper Rifle of World War II?
World War II sniper rifles were often updated World War I models made better with new telescopic sights and upgrades to make them more easily employed in combat. These relatively minor improvements to the weapons made snipers much more dangerous in ...
Alaska Plane Crash: Helicopter Rescues 2 From Island Ruled by Bears
It’s one thing to rush to rescue a downed plane. It’s another when the rescue subjects were downed in an Alaska plane crash onto an island ruled by big bears. “We know of Montague Island as a spot where they bring like some of the more troubled ...
This MACV-SOG Commando Carried a 55-Pound Trad Bow Into Battle
During the Vietnam War, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam-Studies and Observations Group, better known as MACV-SOG, conducted cross-border operations in denied areas in Laos and Cambodia to strike North Vietnamese Army targets ...
How Good Is The New Redington Trailblazer Travel Fishing Rod?
Since COVID hit and social distancing became the new norm for Americans coast-to-coast, the call to get outside has been an increasingly attractive alternative to suffering in separate personal bubbles. One outdoor activity that has seen ...
Pro Tips: Why Everyday Carry Is About More Than Your EDC Pistol
If you truly embrace the idea of everyday carry, you realize your kit will often change depending on where you’re going and what you’ll be doing when you get there. Sometimes, you’re limited to what you can hide beneath a suit. Other times, ...
Hawaiian Cast ‘N’ Blast, Part 2: Hunting Hogs and Spearing Giant Trevally
The second chapter of our cast 'n’ blast adventure (check out Part 1 here) follows Free Range American editor Mike Shea through Hawaii as he does a little bacon harvesting followed by some epic spearfishing in some truly heavenly blue ...
Is the New TRXSTLE Bike Packing System Any Good?
Bicycles, since their advent, have been an economical and efficient way to traverse moderate distances while hauling a decent amount of gear or supplies in various ways. And the truth is, bikes can go some places that no other vehicles can. Today, ...
Pro Tips: How To Hold a Pistol According to a Green Beret
Shooting a pistol is tough — objectively, it’s more difficult than shooting a long gun, simply because of how much, or how little, of the shooter’s body actually comes in contact with the firearm. With a long gun, there are four points of contact: ...
Hunting in Hawaii, Part 1: Bah Bah Black Sheep
The first episode of this once-in-a-lifetime cast 'n’ blast adventure sees Free Range American editor Mike Shea travel to Hawaii with his bow in search of goats, sheep, and pigs — all non-native invasive species that have overrun the Big ...
How to Survive a Snakebite: These Tips Have Teeth
Ophidiophobia or more commonly the fear of snakes is one of the most panic-inducing phobias there is. Even the mention of a snake to some can cause a visceral reaction. Whether you love them or hate them, they slither through our daily lives. To ...
From Factory To Fire: The Journey of Valley Forge Flags
Every step of this story is true. It was an early morning in Smoaks, South Carolina, and humidity hung in the air. A truck pulled into the Valley Forge Flag driveway, a facility whose sole purpose is flag production. Valley Forge has ...
How to Pack for Wet Weather and Stay as Dry as Possible
“Water is the universal solvent. Give it enough time and it will cut through anything.” Remember your high school science teacher telling you this? It’s true, water will cut through everything if you give it long enough. It also doesn't take long ...
Don’t Screw Up Father’s Day: Get Dad Cool Stuff He’ll Actually Use
Shopping for Father’s Day is hard. It’s tempting to just get dad a gimmicky barbecue tool that will be used once before getting hung in the garage for the next decade. Or maybe a new pair of Crocs. But, this year, you don’t have to be that lame. ...
How to Identify Wild Medicinal, Useful, and Edible Plants
In my opinion, one of the most impressive survival skills one can possess is knowledge of wild edible plants. I know I know, a picture of a leaf or bark on Instagram isn’t going to garner as many likes as a shiny new knife, a “one, reload, one” ...
Davy Crockett: The Man Who Showed Us The Way
I think almost every kid on the planet had a coonskin cap growing up. It may have been for a Halloween costume, a brief phase or, at least for me, a precursor to a life as an outdoorsman. The coonskin cap has become an iconic symbol of the ...
The Origins of Memorial Day, from Decoration Day to ‘Flags In’
In front of a grave marked with spring flowers and a small American flag, Gilbert Freer held his bugle at his side. He had just finished playing taps at Mount Hope Cemetery in Boston on May 30, 1868. Freer had stubbly facial hair, but his ...
Take The 72-Hour Power Outage Challenge, Home Edition
One of my favorite books is “One Second After” by William Forstchen. The short novel tells the tale of a small-town family dealing with the effects of the power grid going down, most likely from an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast over the ...
Army Chinooks, USAF PJs, Park Rangers Rescue Hikers on Mount Rainier
He was trapped in an ice crevasse knifed into the side of Mount Rainier, his arm and leg busted, his buddy nearly eight stories above him getting whipped by winds blasting the snowy ridge at 50 knots. But he had excellent cell phone service. And ...
The Molotov Cocktail: How They’re Made and Defending Against Them
Throwing a Molotov cocktail against a buttoned-up tank means that somebody might eventually repaint the tank. Throwing one against an unarmored civilian vehicle — if you don’t break a window — means the owner is going to be incredibly annoyed and the ...
The 5 Most Original and Futuristic Weapons Ever Created for Combat
China and Russia are designing new, futuristic weapons that can supposedly take down an entire aircraft carrier anywhere in the world or zoom past American radar and detection defenses. These innovations are just the latest in the long human history ...
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 ...
‘Revision of a Man’: Army Vet Tackles Modern Manliness With Poetry
Editor's Note: Here at FRA, we are a small but aggressive team. We're like a race car that we’re building while it zips around the track. Extending that analogy, Matt Smythe is the wheels: He is the primary point of contact between our edit team and ...
Where Does the $9K Trijicon REAP IR 60mm Rank Among Rifle Optics?
The world of rifle optics is deep and wide. There is a piece of glass for pretty much anything that goes boom. Some high-end and some bargain-basement options with everything else in between. It can be difficult sometimes though to pick just which ...
Sleep or Die: Survival Shows Don’t Stress the Importance of Getting Rest
In 2012, I asked a friend to help me assemble a demo reel to show executives in Hollywood after being signed by WME in the reality unscripted genre. I was instructed to show as much movement as possible to attract the interest of these production ...