EDC Vehicle

I see a lot of YouTube videos posted with people and their EDC as well as bug out bags. If you are unfamiliar with what EDC is view this link http://nelsoncycles.blogspot.com/2012/09/wilderness-survival-and-being-prepared.html but I feel like too many people are forgetting the obvious keep some useful things in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Most people are spending all of their time explaining what you should keep in your car bug out gear wise incase of… insert your favorite apocalypse scenario here, but what about real everyday emergencies? So here are my thoughts on what should be in every vehicle before you start considering stockpiles of food, ammo, and guns (not that I am against having extras of any of those). So with winter coming this is what I would keep.

If you drive a car you should have AAA or know how to change your own tire and have the appropriate tools need which should be included in the car but take it out and learn how to use it.

First aid kits are a must. It can be as simple as some gauze pads and duct tape or as advanced as your medical training deems needed.

Flares are nice for signaling for help, starting fires, and increasing visibility after a crash to prevent a second impact until rescue personal secure the scene.

High visibility vest medics, police, firefighters, all wear these because they save lives if you are changing that tire alongside a busy free way don’t let it hurt your pride to throw on a safety vest.

Bottled water is a must it is less useful in the winter due to freezing but it’s better to have some then not.

Ice scrapper with a snow brush should be kept in the car. You would think this would be dumb to mention but I couldn’t count how many times in the dead of winter I see someone using their sleeve to wipe off the 4 inches of snow that fell while they were at work.

Phone charger so you can charge your dead phone to call AAA when you are too lazy to change your flat.

Blankets are wonderful in the winter in case your vehicle is broken down or you come across an emergency. Space blankets are fine but cheap wool blankets are better.

I always keep a change of clothes in my car just because who knows what the day will bring.

Flash light; even though it’s in my EDC and on my handgun I still keep one in my glove box (not drop box Shelby) so it is there if I need it with spare batteries.

Food of some type is great anything that stores well and can tolerate the temperature changes of a vehicle. I am always hungry so I have a cliff bar in my pocket or in my belly at all times. So it’s nice to restock from my car when needed.

Snow chains; when you live in the mountains these are on the must have list and are worth their weight in gold.

Oil dry is great if you have an older vehicle to be courteous but it is also a great traction agent for when you can’t get up that steep driveway but rock salt is also an obvious choice.

Cash is always smart to keep but don’t leave too much laying about or you are asking for a broken window.

Gun safe is optional but if you want to keep a gun in your car it is a wise idea.

These are the few things I kept in my cars before I converted to two wheels only. If you have any suggestions or comments let me know. Am I forgetting anything?  I will be posting more soon about motorcycle winter ridding after we get a few good snows in.  Don't forget to use your turn signals, park in one parking space, and stay out of the passing lane unless you are passing because I am about one commute away from buying a monster truck and running over everyone!  I mean stay safe out there and have a great winter.

Ride your bike to save the world and improve your life

Everyone remembers their first bike, and learning to ride. This was a major turning point in many adolescent’s lives: Transportation, fun, and freedom. Then late teenage years came and the bicycle went into the back of the shed or garage and we hoped in the driver’s seat of our first car. The down turn of society is caused by choices like this, daily, people reach for the keys to their car instead of their bike helmet; gas pedals instead of pedals. Some of societies greatest problems economic crisis, obesity, shortages of fossil fuels, and extreme levels of pollution, could be solved with something as simple as riding a bike rather than turning over the ignition of a fuel sucking, exhaust blowing car. According to fueleconomy.gov only 14-16 % of the fuel used by a vehicle is used to propel the vehicle forward. A bike uses almost 98 % of its energy input for forward motion.

Increasing the amount we use bikes for transportation would decrease the expenses in every home, and with increased unemployment and inflation everyone could benefit from a little extra savings. Cars are one of the biggest expenses in the average family budget, I say this because your home is an investment after ten years in most cases a home will have increased in value where as a car will be worth almost nothing. Then you have the costly repairs, fuel expenses, parking, speeding tickets, and car washes. Now consider the low maintenance involved in a bicycle, free parking, and you enjoy fueling up (eating larger helpings of foods you already enjoy eating) just to name a few benefits. Even if you were unable to be car free the savings in just supplementing your trips with a bike can have a large impact on your budget. One World Two Wheels created this wonderful application to estimate your budget savings by choosing to go by bike, http://1world2wheels.org/go-by-bike-challenge/. According to the CDC 30 % of the United States population is obese. This makes the United States one of the most obese of the developed nations. The Cost directly associated with obesity was 75 billion dollars just in the year 2003! Heart disease’s top two risk factors are inactivity and obesity. When you add that to the 108 billon in cost associated with heart disease in on year that’s a staggering 183 billion per year and growing. I understand that obesity is not always as simple as someone choosing not to exercise and make good food choices but if everyone were to increase their trips by bike we could not only reduce our personal budgets but the National budget too.

Not only is obesity a national crisis but obesity and inactivity are listed by the CDC as the two leading risk factors in heart disease which kills one in four Americans. Exercise and improving diet can reduce these risks significantly, so by making some of your daily trips with a bike, you will improve your health and decrease your risk of heart disease. It is recommended to exercise one hour per day and this exercise could be your bike commute. Riding a bike is great for increasing activity and unlike running or other high impact exercises, cycling is easy on your joints and can be a productive part of your transportation plan. Even if your commute to work or school is too long to ride you can always park and ride or supplement your bike ride with other means of transit such as public transportation.

Fossil fuels are precious and very limited yet we exploit them for short trips to the store that are almost walking distance away yet most would never think to dust off their old bike and pedal down to that store. Pollution caused by burning these fossil fuels are damaging to our environment. For every mile driven by car one pound of co2 is released into the atmosphere. Even riding your bike for short trips can make a big difference because the majority of the pollution caused by car s occurs during the start-up and initial few minutes of driving. The United States could save 462 million gallons of gasoline a year by increasing cycling from 1% to 1.5% of all trips. By riding your bike you are fueling your trips with fruit and vegetables instead of gasoline or diesel.

Cycling is the simple solution to a lot of complex problems. Cycling will improve individual quality of life and community quality of life through reduction in pollution and national debt. Cycling improves health and reduces the risk of disease. It is each individuals responsibility to ride their bike for themselves, their neighbors, and the future.

Martial Arts

Martial arts should be an important part of everyone’s training.  I say this because of its focus on total body health, self defense, and athletic power.  So I have been toying around with the idea of practicing a martial art for a long time.  There are a lot of different options available especially to me living in a big city.  I decided with my firearms training that a logical choice in martial arts is the Israeli Krav Maga.  In Krav Maga there are no points, competitions, or choreography.  Krav is combat oriented and you are encouraged to gouge eyes kick below the belt or whatever else is needed to win.  I started my intro class and for the first time in a long while this ultra endurance athlete felt his lunch coming up to greet him after a rigorous training session.  I have to say I like knowing I am pushing myself as hard as I can.  The classes balance out right exhausting work outs with instruction on proper execution of combatitives.  I have also considered Muy Thai and Brazilian Jujitsu so I would like to take a few intro classes in each before the beginning of the New Year.  After I make my decision on which form to practice I will train 3 days a week and record my improvement over the course of the year through photographs and performance on the mat.  My greatest weakness is my lack of flexibility something my girlfriend (a true athlete) gets on me about on the regular, so I plan to create a self test for fitness to gauge improvement over this twelve month trial.  I figure improvements in fighting strength would be gauged will by measuring my ability to jump rope, stand and reach for flexibility, the splits (maybe), pull-ups, push-ups, and a plank.  If my fitness is improved in the ways I desire from martial arts I should improve across the board on this fitness test.  Anyone who has advice give me a shout.

Booze for Survival

The most useful survival tool… booze

I did some thinking the other day and I tried to come up with the most useful survival item for someone to keep around the house just in case there is an emergency. Duct tape and parachute cord sure are useful but I think it would be hard to beat 151 alcohol! Alcohol has been made since the ancient Egyptians which means it has been used in medicine and for drink a few thousand years before nylon or duct tape were even a thought. Most may laugh and say yeah get drunk that will solve your problems… I say no but it will make you forget them, but seriously here is why you should throw a few bottles back with your extra ammo, first aid, or hell there is nothing wrong with a mini bar. Here we go….

Antiseptic- alcohol has been used for years because of its antiseptic properties. In the field when you are covered in dirt a little alcohol can do wonders for cleaning dilute it with water because this stuff is expensive!

Analgesic- are you in pain drink a shot or two just don’t forget that alcohol does reduce clotting factors so if you are bleeding and it is not under control man up and feel the pain, besides no one ever died from pain.

Water Sterilization- when you don’t have a fire or a filter, pour a shot of alcohol into your liter of drinking water to make fire water. This water will actually hydrate you and if you waited 3hrs before drinking it will have far less bacteria, protozoa, but you are still screwed if it is a virus. Cowboys use to do this all of the time since water quality was always in question.

Fuel/Fire Starting- there is a reason I choose 151 it isn’t because of the taste that is for sure but one thing 151 has over the smooth refreshing taste of tequila is it’s high “octane” use it in a cut soda can as an alcohol burning stove or pour a little on some tinder when you can’t get a fire started… scratch that what a party foul learn how to build a fire and save the alcohol for a drink with a friend by the fire.

Anti-Fog- Alcohol vaporizes much slower than most fuels which means that you can clean and anti fog your ski goggles, windshield, or sunglasses. If you are really fortunate mix a small quantity of dish soap with the alcohol for longer anti-fog resistance.

Sterilization- When you have to perform that emergency tracheotomy in the field like you see in the movies grab some booze and clean your tools. Seriously though you never know when you have to debrided a wound, amputate an entrapped limb, ect. use your imagination.

Ethel Glycol Poisoning Treatment- This sounds like a stretch but the definitive medical care for someone who ingested anti-freeze is Alcohol of the drinking variety. I would never recommend self treatment or practicing any form of medicine without a license but sometimes when in remote environments you have to make the best out of a worst situation. Also alcohol can be delivered via the rectal route as well as the oral route but if someone cannot control their airway don’t put anything in their mouth (I know I am leaving myself open for all kinds of jokes here but it must be said).

Methyl Poisoning Treatment- Same routes as Ethel glycol treatment these types of poisonings have severe consequences but so can miss treatment or mis diagnosing so consult with medical control or poison control whenever possible at 1-800-222-1222.

Fever- If you have a fever a home remedy that some swear on is a shot of alcohol and lemon juice it helps break the fever and will put you to sleep. Don’t drink alcohol if you have been vomiting profusely because it will further dehydrate you.

Mouth Wash- If you are in the field for extended periods of time and cannot brush your teeth rinse your mouth with alcohol which will kill some of the harmful bacteria in your mouth. This is not a substitute for brushing your teeth contrary to Ke$ha’s song but when you have no other option do what you can.

Personal Hygiene- Women in the field have hygiene needs that are different from their men counterparts. Using a small quantity can prevent illnesses caused by poor hygiene (don’t forget too much cleaning down there will get you drunk no I am not kidding that area is very vascular). Guys you can clean up with this too and both sexes can clear up oily skin with a few dabs of the good stuff.

Clean Permanent Marker- I personally always try to use laminated maps when in the field. The nice thing about lamination is you can use permanent markers which are very waterproof and add a little alcohol; your map is clean again.

Poison Ivy Treatment- Poison Ivy and other topical poisonous plants cause irritation because of the oils they release onto the skin. What this means to the average Joe is until you remove the oils you will be uncomfortable and “spread” your poison ivy all over yourself and possibly your friends… clean up with a little 151.

Drink- Ever heard of saving it for a rainy day, boost moral with a few sips. Heck if your date isn’t as attractive as you hoped change your perspective with a few drinks.

Trade- with as useful as this stuff is who would trade it. If you decide you need something more than this wonderful nectar it is so useful I am sure someone would be willing to trade you anything you need for a bottle.

The information above is provided for entertainment and maybe to be helpful. It is your job as someone reading something off the internet to verify this information before you use it and just use common sense. I am not accepting any liability for your actions as this is for “entertainment”.  As always if you can think of some more useful ways to use alcohol post em, email them, or facebook me and I'll add them to the list if they are worthy.  Until next time.

The Time Thief

(Knock Knock) I hear someone at the front door.  The front door of course being the door strangers come to, because anyone who has visited me before knows the front door is a bloody pain to open.  I reluctantly get the keys, for the dead bolt with the hesitation you feel as you are being approached by a persistent Jehovah’s Witness at 8 am on a Saturday morning; maybe I think to myself, as my stomach growls, maybe it's Girl Scout cookies.  I finally fumble through my pockets and find the house key and I examine the intruder a man in his middle fifties.  I open the door and the man informs me that he is one of my neighbors, which by the way when a neighbor you haven’t met show up at your door unannounced and you have lived in that home for longer than 2 weeks it is because they need a jump start for their car or they are selling something.  Of course as I predicted it was the latter.  Every four years it is an election year and like every other means of communication I am being forcefully distracted from the task at hand by someone wanting a few moments to “inform me” about their candidate for office.  I am not saying that politics are not an important topic worthy of my time but I am being bombarded like every other citizen of this fine nation with political campaign adds at every moment from my door step to my web browser.  The man a thief of my time begins to inform me of how he would love to take some of my time and talk about his candidate.  The only thing I could think of at the time was to say, “I don’t have time to talk to my own mother so no I’m sorry I don’t have time for you.”  I think what makes me mad about the whole thing is that people always say that time is money, well if that is the case then why do people think it is ok to drive slow in the fast lane, bother me with campaign ads, walk diagonal across a road (wasting my time so they can have a more direct route), and businesses still put you on hold for half an hour while you wait to speak with customer services.  I am tired of all whom waste my time thieves they are stealing my time away that could be spent on much more useful tasks like work, education, rants, and spending time socializing with people I like.  I propose that much in the likes of Robin Hood I should steal from the rich and give to the poor, the poor of time.  80 percent of people do only 20 percent of the work so I think that the 20 percent doing 80 percent of the work should be entitled to more time.  I haven’t yet devised a scheme to steal the time from the time wealthy for redistribution to the time poor.  I have grown tired of the unfair distribution of free time, I hear people speak of lazy Sundays, holidays, and watching of shows like Jersey Shore which is a clear indication of having a surplus of time which should be redistributed to those lacking sleep, over worked, and in great need of just a few measly hours to finish the weeks tasks. 

The redistribution of time will start on a voluntary basis.  All those time wealthy individuals are encouraged to stop by my home where they will receive their assignments.  The super wealthy “one percenters” will be expected to give the most since they have the most to give.  That means the unemployed lifelong welfare abusers and prisoners (which I only classify together based on time wealth) should come by and clean my house and provide me with laundry service.  A sliding time tax schedule will go from there.  If you work less than 30hrs per week you should be expected to wash my motorcycle and clean my guns.  If you work 40hrs or greater per week your expected contribution is only to cook one meal for me per week.  The last major tax bracket if reserved for those working 50 or greater hours, full time employees that are full time students, and those with full time jobs and kids… these people have far too little time as it is and shall be receive their redistributions upon successful passing of purposed legislation.

Vote Nelson Ballard as a write in 2012 election and I will make it my duty to see that your time is not squandered.  My platform will be simple and clearly stated.  Gun rights will not be infringed because gun control only regulates law abiding citizens.  So if you are a law abiding citizen and wish to prevent yourself from purchasing a firearm because you feel it is unsafe in your hands feel free to do so.  The only way to balance the budget is to offer less in the way of government programs but charge more in taxes.  I know no one wants to pay more and get less but lets quit talking about balancing the budget if we are unwilling as people to make sacrifices.  Medical insurance will be reformed to a point where medical insurance will only cover emergency medicine.  If citizens were forced to pay out of pocket for all non-emergency medicine then they would be more concerned about shopping for a better price and becoming informed consumers which would cause the cost of medical care to decrease.  Higher education will be provided by the government to those who are in the top 10 percent of their class in high school while all others will be forced to work their way through college or take out private loans.  If free tuition was offered to the students with the highest chances for success then we would be more competitive in free market.  Our government offers financial aid to all citizens who wish to go to college without making any effort to confirm these individuals have intentions of getting a job, having the ability to finish their degree, or choosing a degree that will benefit the country.  I am not say that we should live in a fascist dictatorship where the government makes all of our choices but i do think that if you want to study an obscure major like film studies then you should be required to take out private loans for that not government back loans.  With close to one trillion in education debt we need to start thinking about who we as a country can afford to send to college.  Not everyone can be a chief, we need to have plenty of Indians too.   

Nelson Mandella, no relation

It's Halloween; Don't be Someone's Food

Zombie Avoidance

It is Halloween and what better time to talk about zombie apocalypse than now?  It is the topic of many movies and television shows today and it has become a very important part of popular culture.  The most important thing to remember is as simple a rule as there is don’t be food.  From the dawn of time the stronger and faster have made food of the weaker and slower.  I think the most exciting thing about the zombie apocalypse is the thought of a lawless society of monsters trying to kill you and your loved ones and stock piling all kinds of cool gear like rifles and night vision.  At the end of the day some of this zombie apocalypse craze can have some serious benefits in bringing awareness to disaster preparedness.  http://mobile.masslive.com/advmasslive/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=PbwVCZ5L&full=true# display this article really embraces the idea of taking an idea that is already so popular and using it as a tool for practical training.  This got me to thinking about disasters in general be it earth quakes, volcanos, zombies, or anything that changes the possible outcome of your survival.  So the following are some short notes on preparation for disaster.

Being prepared for a disaster is a difficult task because disasters are not planned and no matter what scenario you plan for and train for the world will throw you a curve ball just as soon as you think you have it all figured out.  The only way to really prepare for disaster is mental preparedness.  Mental preparedness is so important because you mind will always be the most important tool for any disaster.  The first thing that people need to do to protect themselves and their loved ones is to be aware of your situation and constantly assess the risk of a given situation.

You leave a bar late at night after having a few beers with your buddies.  You get to that point where you split off in different directions to return to your car after the evening.  Your car is a short walk maybe 6 blocks from the bar so you grab your ear phones and start listening to your favorite song as you walk briskly to your car.  It is late and the evening cold has set in so you have your hands tucked in tight in your sweatshirt.  You continue walking quickly to your car eager to get out of the cold and into your warm bed when BAM! Out of no-where you take a cheap shot to the head; laying on the cold ground in a slight daze you hear the man demand your wallet and phone…

This is a great stopping point for this little scenario because you don’t have any control over what happened up until now but from this point on your training and preparedness are going to dictate a lot of how this outcome plays out as well as just your dumb luck.  Wait, I mean let’s think did you really have no control on the outcome of this event up until now?  The person in this made up story made a series of bad decisions which led him down the path of being an easy target.  Don’t take this the wrong way I am not blaming the victims of crimes but people must realize it is their responsibility to keep themselves protected.

Situational awareness is the difference between life and death.  Like driving a car the person who can see the whole picture and can predict the outcome of an event before it happens gives them more time to react to it.

Same story the guy is leaving the bar late at night but chooses to drink within his limits so that he can maintain situational awareness gains decreases his likelihood of being surprised.  Also if he was to wear the appropriate clothing for the weather and choose not to deaden his sense of hearing with music he would be less distracted from the discomfort of cold as well as having an increased auditory acuity.  Other things come into play as well like traveling in groups, choosing safe places to park, predicting possible scenario that could take place and thinking through how you would handle them is another useful technique.  The reason awareness is the most important skill is because without awareness you may lose opportunities to use other tools at your disposal.  If you were not coming from a bar, let’s say you were just coming home late from work and similar attack took place.  If you were a top level martial arts fighter without awareness you would not have recognized the threat in an adequate amount of time to use your fighting skills.  What if you have a hand gun or some other form of weapon; how effectively can you use that weapon if you don’t recognize the threat until it is too late?  The fact is that awareness helps fuel avoidance and at a minimum leaves you more options for defending yourself.

 

If you want to use any weapon you need to be proficient with it.  This does not mean that if you are not a SWAT officer you can’t defend yourself with a gun, or If you don’t have formal boxing training you can’t fight off a predator, but what it does mean is you improve your odds of having a successful outcome every time you work on these skills. 

http://nelsoncycles.blogspot.com/2012/10/3-days-and-1700-rounds.html Some awesome pistol training.  I am currently adding Krav Maga into my tool box’o self defense.  I’ll share more on that after I survive the first month.  The fitness required for this style of fighting is a greater effort than I have ever exerted.  Untill next time be safe have a Happy Halloween and don't be someone elses food!

Foul Weather Tire Review

Dunlop 616 Review

I decided to purchase a tire dedicated for winter riding. I rode over 12,000 miles this year so it seems that the three or four months that it is cold, wet, and snowy would be a great chance to burn through some tires designed for that purpose. I needed a tire that would have a wide tread groove, be a softer than normal tire for coping with the cold Ohio roads this winter, and still have decent manners at a buck twenty five if I get the inclination to do so. There are only a few options for tires in this class and the two leaders which offered tires for my sport bike were the Dunlop 616’s and the Pirelli Scorpions. After reading some reviews and doing a bit of homework it appears that the Pirelli had the better road manners while the Dunlop was queen of the dirt, wet and grim. For those that know me well the Dunlop 616 is an obvious choice since I live life by the Eskimo adage of, “there is no bad weather, just bad clothing.” This adage may not always apply especially when speaking of icy roads and two wheels but I figure people get the picture. The tires were only available in a couple common sizes but lucky for me 120/70/17 and 180/55/17 we both in stock at Iron Pony and were installed in a few hours wait. Lucky for me the fair weather I rolled into Iron Pony with had passed and the heavy fall rain came to test these new rubbers. The tires I took off the bike were Michelin Pilot Road’s. They were a fine tire and gave me no trouble even in the rain but within a few moments on my new Dunlop’s I was sold. These tires shed water like it is their job, and it is. In 400 miles and many more rain storms I have been pleasantly surprised at the stopping ability, fast cornering, and 80mph lane changes during rain without unpredictability. I have even taken these on a little gravel and dirt roads just to see what they are able to do and I have yet to push them further than they wanted to go from 140mph fly bys, dirt fire roads, and panic braking at 80mph through standing water on the interstate. I cannot recommend the way that I ride to anyone out there but I will say if you do ride like me there is no way to keep safer than a nice sticky set of Dunlop 616’s. I should also enter a small disclaimer that you should obey all traffic laws when operating a motorcycle on public roads and that I do not perform any “sketchy” maneuvers with my lady friend passenger on the back for anyone one who may worry for her safety. I will have more follow up as the weather gets worse and the tires see more miles.

What is your favorite tire for foul weather? How late into the year do you stay on the bike? Any special equipment that helps you to cope with poor weather conditions?

Office Workouts Part 4

Cardio


Cardio is one of the easiest outside of the gym exercise sections but is the most difficult to do in the office. The limited space and professional nature of an office just isn’t conducive to cardio. Also if you are not covered in sweat you are not doing cardio right. A lot of people do not realize that the first 8 or 12 minutes of cardio exercise burns mostly glucose. What this means is that when you exercise hard for short intervals and you become winded you are not completely taxing your cardiovascular system and you haven’t even begun to burn fat stores. That is why when the average person does a short 20 minute cardio workout they do not see serious gains. If you want to make real gains and make the best use of your time, extend your cardiovascular exercise beyond 30minutes. The more of the body that is involved in an exercise the more fat it will burn also as you increase the intensity, while still staying at a level you can maintain for over 30 minutes you will burn even more fat.

Running is one of my favorite cardiovascular exercises. It is a high intensity and requires very little set up time as opposed to other forms of exercise. Another benefit of running is it can be done anywhere and in any weather with the right clothing. If you can’t run due to be in a de-conditioned state try doing a fartlek; Run for a minute, jog for a minute, and walk for a minute. This keeps your heart rate up and the intervals can be altered to work you into running slowly.

Jump rope was something I hated as a kid, but recently I have realized its many benefits. Jump ropes are cheap and very portable. Jump roping increases coordination and works the entire body. Jump roping doesn’t take up hardly any space, as long as you have a few arms lengths in any direction and a tall ceiling you will be fine.

Swimming receives an honorable mention even though it requires good weather or a facility it works the whole body and is a very practical skill to improve. Even though you can’t swim at the office take every opportunity outside of work to get in the pool, lake, or if you are so lucky the ocean.

Jumping Jacks similar to jump roping works the whole body and requires the least amount of space of any quality cardio work out. If you don’t think this is a solid cardio workout do jumping jacks for 30 minutes or until you are tired (I’m sure it will be the latter) and I am confident you will change your mind. This is a practical option for the office however you will most definitely be covered in sweat which may piss of your colleges (but I don’t care because I won’t have to smell you).

Cycling of any type is great and depending on how far you live from work you can make your commute a cardio workout and enjoy many other benefits beyond just physical health. Check out this link if you have any interest in bicycle commuting to see if you can take advantage of a government incentive http://www.bikeleague.org/resources/commuters/.

A quick word of advice cardio work outs include anything you do that gets your heart rate at or above 65% of your max heart rate. A quick calculation for this is 220 minus your age which should be close to your average. Take half of that plus 20%. Quick math for this looks as follows. 220 minus 30 years old equals 190 max heart rate. 190 divided by two is 95. Ten percent of 95 is 9.5 times two is 19 plus 95 is close to 120. Most can do the math in their head when broken down this way (for those smarter than I maybe you can do the exact calculation in your head). 120 beats per minute should be where your heart rate stays during the activity for at least 30 minutes. A little more easy math and it’s all just putting in work, 120 divided by 4 is 30 so 30 heart beats in 15 seconds and you are on track. If watches, math, and counting are not your style buy a heart rate monitor.

Office Workouts Part 3

Lower Limb


The last of the calisthenics portion of this segment is exercising the lower limb. Same as before all body weight exercises that can be done away from the gym. Choose four or five exercises from below and work it into your routine regularly.

3 sets 10 reps Pistol Squats, an exercise with now weight, simply place one leg locked straight out in front and squat down. This exercise requires balance and strength.

3 sets 10 reps One Leg Squats, similar to pistol squats but with leg behind you, it makes the exercise a bit easier.

3 sets 10 reps Lunges, Lunges are a great hamstring exercise simple and effective. You can add resistance by adding some weighted object to each hand.

3 sets 10 reps Gluts Raises, This is an exercise where you support you r body in a crab walk position allowing your gluts to sag to the ground, then thrust your hips as high as possible to work your glutei muscles. The exercise can be made more difficult by extending one leg straight out.

3 sets 10 reps Calf Raises, a simple exercise of lifting your body weight by pressing your feet to the ground and lifting your heals. Make it more difficult by using only one leg while the other is extended forward as in the pistol squat.

3 sets 60 sec Wall Sits, find a wall and sit with your legs forming a 90 degree angle and your back firmly against the wall. Hold this position for as long of a time as it must be to increase difficulty.

3 sets 50 reps Jumping Jacks, these sound silly but the exercise can give you a fair workout. This exercise can be cardio but really burns up the calf muscles.

3 sets 50 reps Mountain Climbers, This exercise is a total leg work out. Get into the push up position and then you alternate bringing one knee in at a time like running or climbing up a mountain.

3 sets 10 reps Burpees, This exercise starts in the standing position. You hop down to a crouched position with your hands on the ground, and then thrust your legs out into a push up position. Then thrust your legs back in and jump to your feet. The explosion of this exercise is what makes it a challenge.

3 sets 10 reps Box Jumps, this exercise need little equipment a sturdy table a bench or a box. Just jump on to the box and stand with knees locked then jump down and repeat. One leg versions or larger box heights increase the difficulty.

I know this section is a little light but I am short on ideas. Let me know if you have any great suggestions for callisthenic exercises working the legs. Keep in mind also that the legs are a very powerful muscle group and it can be difficult to challenge with body weight exercises, especially since these muscles lift your body weight all day.

Office Workouts Part 2

Upper Limb Exercises

Working the upper body in this work out is very similar to the workout for the core. Most of the exercises I will describe will be feasible in the office or at home and none of them require a gym. When working out to build muscle mass you must increase the intensity and decrease the repetitions no matter what you do; lifting weights or doing push-ups. Pick a diverse set of 4 or 5 exercises and perform about 3 sets of these. This will give enough volume to make gains in muscle strength and size. As with any callisthenic style exercise modify them to gain an amount of resistance that is too great for 15 repetitions but too little resistance to fail before reaching 8 repetitions. Don’t forget the easiest way to make an exercise more effective and more difficult is to do it slow! Two seconds or more on extension and contraction of the muscle can turn a conventional exercise into a difficult feat; don’t believe it do 10 proper form pushups but spend 10 seconds on each repetition, I am sure you will feel increased resistance.

3 sets 10 reps Pushups, A standard exercise that most know performed from the prone position. Ways to make this exercise easier are to go from balancing on the toes to moving to the knees. To make this exercise more challenging move your hand position forward or a rear position. You can also do one armed pushups to increase the difficulty.

3 sets 10 reps Dips, A great exercise that nearly isolates the triceps. Dips can be made easier by choosing a higher platform to do dips from putting your body position closer to vertical. This exercise mimics a seated position while your arms support your body weight from the posterior. Flex the elbows and feel the burn. You can increase the difficulty of this exercise by elevating the feet.

3 sets 10 reps Pull Ups, A great upper limb exercise that can work the back and or the biceps by changing hand positions. Open grip facing anterior while hanging from a bar or door frame works the back while a grip facing posterior will work out the biceps. If this isn’t difficult enough try one arm.

3 sets 10 reps Muscle Ups, A very difficult exercise that pushes the whole upper body. Similar to a pull up but at the top of the exercise you maneuver like you would to climb a fence by locking your arms while your torso is above the bar.

3 sets 10 reps Sun Goddesses, A four count circle exercise then repeated backwards circles of arms at the deltoid with arms abducted from the body 90 degrees. This exercise focuses on the deltoid and works all three heads of that muscle. If you need to make the exercise easier do a two count exercise instead 4 count 10 reps is a total of 80 circles opposed to two counts at only 40 circles. The exercise can be made more difficult by adding a weight such as two water bottles or two books… still not difficult hold them straight out laterally from your finger tips the added leverage of the weight will kill your arms.

3 sets 10 reps Biceps Curls, This is an exercise where you flex your forearm to your upper arm using the biceps. This exercise is usually performed in the gym by using leverage like in the previous exercise items in your office can perform a great tool.

3 sets 10 reps Planche Press Ups, An advanced exercise where you move from a push up position to yoga like position balancing your entire body on your arms while planked laterally you press your body up and down from the ground. I am very confident I will be happy once I am able to do one successfully.

3 sets 10 reps Handstand Pushups, An intense shoulder exercise where you press your entire body weight like an inverted military press.

3 sets 10 reps Kipping, Kipping or a Kipping pull up is an exercise where you swing your body weight at the bottom of a pull up to give you momentum for the next rep of pull up. This is a skillful and rhythmic exercise that requires skill but once mastered provided a great alternative to a traditional pull up. Watch a YouTube video to find the form.

This is about all I can come up with right now for a great work out to get you moving at home or anywhere away from the gym. If you have any good exercises using body weight comment and Ill update this with any worthy additions. After I complete this short series I will review it as a whole and add more tanning tid bits as they come to mind so check back often. The next segment will cover the lower limb and exercises that build muscle in the legs.

Fitness Away from the Gym: Office Workouts Part 1

How to fit a quality workout in while at the office

I tend to be pretty busy these days and fitness has always been a very important part of my life but working out and eating health are some of the first things to go as life puts the squeeze on your schedule. I put together a workout program that can challenge your body in the office or the station that will give real results and is modifiable for all fitness levels. Most people get caught up in a typical Monday, Wednesday, Friday lifting routine. There is nothing wrong with a traditional weight lifters plan but it can be difficult to fit within a busy schedule and sometimes breaking your routine can be just what you need for results. My schedule is completely on a rotation so I make my workout flow into that same rotation by just breaking my workouts down by muscle areas and working each workout on a rotating basis. Upper limb, Lower limb, Core, and Cardio cover the basics. Don’t forget to change up the order of the workouts from time and again because it helps to promote muscle growth. Challenge yourself and don’t overdo it. Some people due to work constraints won’t be able to push their physical limits without having an uncomfortable time at work but any exercise is better than none, even if it’s as little as 20 push-ups fit in between water breaks.


If you want to lean up keep the reps high if you want to build muscles try to modify the exercise in a way that makes it more difficult like one arm pushups instead of pushups, or incline pushups. Don’t forget you don’t have to get your entire workout done at work, so plan your workout week so that days that use equipment like pull up bars ect. Are at days when you have access to said equipment.

Core

3 sets 30 reps AB Shovels, an exercise I created where you lie supine as you would for leg lifts and extend your legs to the sky slow and controlled lower them to almost touching the ground. Then in one sweeping motion drag your heals above the ground to your gluteus and press your legs back to the air. Keep this exercise moving in a fluid motion.

3 sets 30 reps AB Circles, an exercise where you lay supine as in leg lifts and make a large circle with your extended legs sweeping close to the floor without touching. The top of the circle should be no more than 12 inches from the ground. Make sure you change the rotation direction every 5 reps, this will put extra strain on the abdominals. Also with a thick soft pad placed under the gluteus you can modify this exercise to focus more on the lower two sections of rectus abdominus.

3 sets 30 reps V Ups, an exercise where you lie supine on the floor with your arms extended above your head. Keeping your arms straight lift them at the same rate as your extended feet slow and controlled until they meet in the air.

3 sets of 30 reps Sit-Ups, an exercise where you lie supine with the soles of your feet planted on the ground and your legs bent at a 90 degree angle. Do not hook your legs under anything or have anyone hold your legs that is cheating and takes away from the exercise. Don’t put your hands behind your head, you will pull on your neck and risk injury. Keep your feet on the ground and focus on using your abdominal muscles to flex your spine and bring your chest to your knees. Many people give up form here for repetitions which is no bueno.

3 sets 30 reps Bicycles, an exercise where you lie supine elevate you legs off the ground bent at a 90 degree angle and move them in a bicycle motion in the air. If this exercise is too easy you should start “pedaling your legs extended”. if that is not enough of a challenge change your hand position. The exercise is easiest with your hands placed under your gluteus for support and the further your hands are from your abdominal muscles the harder the exercise is. The ultimate challenge in this exercise is pedaling your legs close to the ground with your arms extended on the floor above your head.

3 sets 60 sec Planks, a progressive exercise that starts out simple lying on the ground prone; make your back straight with your legs and support all of you of your body weight on your toes and forearms similar to the forward leaning rest or the push up position. The exercise can be increased in difficulty by increasing duration or taking away a supporting limb such as one arm or one leg, or both one arm and an opposite leg.

3 sets 30 reps Handstand Leg Lifts, an advanced exercise where you brace yourself in a hand stand position and with your legs extended into the air. Lower your legs into a version of an upside down L seat. This motion will destroy your abdominals and requires a lot of core strength just to maintain.

3 sets 30 reps Throw downs, if you have a partner let them help add resistance to your workout. Lie supine and grasp the ankles of your standing partner who is facing your feet. Your goal is to kick up your feet as fast as you can to your training friends chest and they will catch your feet and throw them to the ground alternating centered, right, and left. Do not let your feet slam to the ground when they throw them resist gravity.

This is by no means a complete list of exercises but an example of some sets that can improve anyone’s fitness in as little as 30minutes a day. Just pick out 4-5 sets of exercises and knock it out. Next time I will include some great upper limb workout ideas for outside of the gym so stay tuned. If you have a better core exercises to add comment every good idea helps!

Is training with Blowback Air Soft Guns a benifit?

Is training with Blowback Air Soft Guns a benifit?

Winter is approaching and it becomes more difficult to get to the range but I don’t want to stop training. I also would love to do some more “Fit Shot” style work outs from the comfort of my basement. The only way I can think of to make this happen is a blow back air soft gun. I have seen a few of these models that are near exact replicas of a Glock 17. I think this could provided a perfect training opportunity to train more often on trigger control, grip, draw, and even force on force training which you can’t readily find volunteers for with live fire. The question comes down to what are the benefits and disadvantages of training with a simulated firearm?

Advantages

The obvious advantages seem to be the decreased cost to fire and the ability to train anywhere at any time. The fact that they now make many models that will fit in my current holster and have the same grip seems great because I will be training very similar to the way I shoot. I have been told in the past that extending and aiming while training without firing is a mistake because you do not get the feedback of seeing where your shots are placed; air soft resolves this problem. Since these training firearms also have removable magazines reload practice would be easy to do in home. More practice helps to reinforce this practice into habit. The practice guns use iron sights and in principle function the same as their hand gun counterpart and will provide similar fed back when you make mistakes.

Disadvantages

With all of the advantages of the air soft training there are some obvious setbacks. When you train with blow back air soft guns you will not have similar recoil to a firearm so the simulation will not be completely accurate. The guns also do not provide the noise of a bullet exploding which definitely has an effect if you flinch due to the noise. If the training guns are not balanced similar to the hand gun you fire then the training won’t be accurate. The other worry is that will your training with the air soft gun make you a better air soft shooter without improving your pistol handling ability? How is the accuracy compared to a handgun? How is the reliability of these training guns?

It is clear that there are advantages and disadvantages to training with air soft guns. I am sure that I have missed a ton of these in my brief inquiry. I am curious to which industry professionals use air soft or recommend it for training use. Does anyone disagree with its use and mark it as counterproductive? What are your thoughts?

Summary of another weekend of shooting and fitness

I started my weekend with very ambitious goals.  Some of those plans were followed through with while others fell short so I could take advantage of some unexpected free time with Shelby.  Planning is very important to be successful but we also shouldn’t forget to live in the moment and take advantage of opportunities as the present themselves.

 

Friday I unexpectedly but not unpredictably woke up late for my range trip with my parents after a long night shift at the station.  I got the call, “where are you its 1230?”  I answered half asleep as always, “I’m getting up right now; I’ll be there soon.”  This call initiated an impromptu “bug out drill”.  I rushed around my house not having prepared my range bag I was throwing magazines, guns, ammo, and protection in my bag and quickly jumped in the shower.  After a 3min shower and throwing on the first cloths that passed through my hands as I thumbed through the closet I was out of the house in record time 15min packed and ready to go.  I fired up the crotch rocket and with a roar of the engine I was quickly going much faster than necessary.  I picked a slightly longer route that is much less traveled to speed to the range which is a 30mile 45min. drive but much less traveled by local law enforcement.  Jetting through the back roads and only cutting back on the throttle to avoid traffic, sharp turns, and flight I made it to the range in 35 min. not bad I though.  We ate some quick grub and started our training.  I opened my range bag and to my surprise… I didn’t forget anything I needed.  Wow this is a first, a rushed packing and I have all I need, maybe I am becoming more organized, mentally not physically of course.  We did a few basic rounds of fire for warm up.  Then it was time to pull out the blue 50 gallon barrels to do some cover drills.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm1zXW11UZw&feature=g-upl

Then we did a few I.C.E. “Take a laps” and it was time to work on some long range marksmanship.  With my basically stock Glock I figure 12-15 meters is about the limits for effectively hitting a 2” circle.  A few strong hand only shots latter and I realized maybe I can push the limits a little further but I’d better bring a fresh marker for drawing the circles, the worn out sharpie I had was very faint to see at that distance.  I can say without a doubt that the weekend I spent with the combat focus crew surely increased my skill at all levels of shooting.

I returned home for a date night with Shelby.  A little midnight bowling after steaks at the local chain steak house.

 

Saturday is where the productive plans came apart and I decided a little fun might be more important than training.  I skipped out on the International Defense Pistol Association competition and slept in then did a little apple picking, scary movies, and a little home cooking.  I also thew a few more miles on the bike with my lady making 12,000 miles this year.

 

Sunday I knocked out a hard workout of 2000 single under jump ropes and then I “borrowed” Kelly’s cross fit rack to knock out 50 pull ups which took way more sets to accomplish than they should have. 

Somewhere in here I also found time for a night run of 5miles in 40 minutes with a small pack containing 1 liter of water plenty of protein bars, a 380, knife, and flash light.  Not a bad speed considering all of the adverse conditions.  Next time I will double the mileage and try to push the pace a little faster; we will see what happens.  So all and all I found some balance and did what needed to be done and fit in some time for what is important too.  Now it’s time to return to the real world of school, work, and Krav Maga.  Yeah I will be taking a brief introduction to Krav Maga this week to strengthen my hand to hand combat skills.  I will report back with how bad they beat me up later.

Time

I came across this brief post while browsing google plus and I thought this was an excellent way to think of life.  https://plus.google.com/u/0/105922903554346477204/posts/Ydh3xmDHGK5 

A run in the woods?

I have given some thought to a variety of possible adventures for this summer and one of them is an ultra-running adventure that I will disclose at a later date after I discover its feasibility.  One self-test I will do to determine if the Ultra-running is possible is a 24hr test run with a very light backpack.  I really have no idea what kind of distance to expect and how much pain I will be in.  The most I have run consecutively is 26.2 miles which could easily be completed in 4hrs, but how many miles can I go beyond that?  Working as a paramedic I am use to going long periods of time without sleep but how will I do when you add the physical stress of an intense training exercise?  If I ran the first 26.2 in 5hrs and slept for 3hrs I would have 16hrs left.  I could walk the remaining 16hrs at 2 miles per hour and in theory complete 58miles.  So based on that rough calculation I would like to do at least 60miles but we shall see.

The test run should take place in an off road environment that I am also familiar with.  I figure if I know the trail well not only will I be faster but I will also have less of a chance of getting lost as I will be quite exhausted.  I figure possible locations to be Zaleski state forest which provides a 24 mile loop trail with water available on site and plenty of elevation change to challenge me.  Another option is Alum Creek state park which has a mountain bike trail of only 6miles.  The trail is much closer to home and a lot flatter.  The advantage of Alum creek is it would provide me a staging area and a point where I could request support from my small network of friends and family.  I figure a three day weekend will be needed so that I can have a full day of recovery.

I plan to bring a pack similar to what I would expect to need on the longer expedition.  I’ll pack an ultra-light pack, thin summer weight sleeping bag, Thermarest sleeping pad, and a sil-nylon tarp for shelter.  Extra equipment to be included, food, water, camera, head lamp, knife, and a thin rain shell. 

I hope this minimal overnight gear will be adequate.  I will do what I can to provide a brief video pre, during, and post update.  Wish me luck and any advice will be greatly appreciated.  Are there any adventure racers, ultra-marathoners, or endurance athletes out there?

Limited time equals limited adventures

I managed in the few hours between shifts today to get a little training in today.  When you can't make the time for an adventure the second best thing is to prepare and train for the next one.  It is really easy when you are living life on the edge (adventure or just juggling the family and the 9 to 5); pushing the limits and riding the fine line between success and complete destruction, that you can forget how important it is to put in some work for the future. I finally have gotten back on track in regards to my fitness and my training. I figure I need to have a solid three weeks of intense training and a super clean healthy diet to help set in that routine. It is very important to be strict on yourself during the initial phase of establishing any good habit. Once the habit is established it then becomes important to give yourself enough leeway to be happy and to keep on track since no one can be perfect.


Today’s exercises I started with a Foam roller and rolled my entire body many reps in order to help loosen the muscles up before the work out. I also take advantage of this exercise as a form of core strength. I moved on to 100 sit-ups, 100 flutter kicks, 2 60 second planks, 1000 single unders, and 100 ab shovels. This work out provides plenty of core strength and the timing of the single unders improves coordination as well as agility.

The ab Shovel is an exercise that I am under the impression I invented until someone tells me otherwise. It is a simple flowing movement that you perform laying supine with your pelvis elevated on a towel or a folded up yoga mat. Start with your pelvis elevated and in the supine position. Bring your knees into your chest then extend your legs to the locked position straight in the air and lower them slow and controlled to within 3 inches of the ground. Now bending your knees bring your feet in keeping your heals parallel to the ground as if you were scooping up dirt with your heals. Your knees should then return close to your chest. Continue this motion slow and controlled creating a flowing motion until your lower abdominal muscles are on fire.

After training my body it was time to work on some fine motor skills and review some of the I.C.E. techniques for single handed reloads with both weak and strong hands. I worked through the basic drills for a short time just to practice the skills and reinforce good form. This also only further made me desire new claw shaped sights to make these reloads more consistent.

It was time to refuel before returning to work and what better fuel than a low fat high protein meal. Coconut oil broiled flounder, cauliflower, and plenty of beans. Prepared the meal in under 20 minutes and it was less than 500 calories. Dessert was just a few strawberries which is a difficult thing for me since I love sweets, anything from donuts to cookies.

It can be tough to focus on things for the future like sleep, healthy food, and training but you can only neglect these things for so long before it takes a toll on you both mentally and physically.

Winter climbing story

I have gotten back into the groove of working out regularly. It is about time, I ran five and a half miles did a hundred pushups, sit-ups, dips, jumping jacks, and leg lifts. Not a super intense work out but it got the job done and during the whole workout I wore my Ruger LCP in a leather custom holster made by my dad. It worked amazing held the fire arm securely and was comfortable as well. I was reading an anthology of climbing survival stories and it made me think of some of my own funny survival stories. One of my favorites was a time when I was sitting at home and a friend called me up out of the blue. He said he was going to take a short trip to Colorado to climb some fourteeners. I asked him how much time he spent climbing and what all he knew and I said he was pretty experienced which in my youth was all the inquirey nessisary. I estimated my skills at medioce and his at expert so It avergaes out ok… I told myself. I was pretty young and my work schedule was flexible so what the hell I’m in. The trip was a week or two later just after Halloween (I remember this because I spent the 24hr drive from Columbus to Leadville stuffing my face with discounted Halloween candy). I spent hours and hours as always pouring over my gear and making sure I had made good choices for the high altitude and expecting a little snow this time of year. I packed my food and supplies into a small climbing pack and headed out to my friends house. The three of us He, I, and his dog a huge obedient loveable mutt were off in a rental car to Colorado. The drive was tedious and because I was younger I couldn’t drive the rental which made for a bit of a scary drive especially when you take into consideration the little Sebring was nearly pegged for the whole trip. We arrived in Leadville where we would stay with a friend of a friend and prepare for our trip. Somehow in the few hours we were in the state of Colorado both of us secured dates for the night (both of which also fell through). Woke up bright and early so we could park the car at the fish hatchery and start off into the wild. Stopping at the ranger station we asked a local ranger if he thought we would need snow shoes during this climb and he told us with the up most confidence that they would not be necessary almost as if it was a stupid question. I was overtaken by the landscape and was grinning ear to ear for the first few miles. We arrived at camp and I set up my oversized two person tent and for the first time during this adventure my smile faded and irritation set in. What the hell is that you are sleeping in I asked? My compadre replied it is a hammock tent, they are super light. I started to have a bad feeling in my gut after I informed him there would be no trees after the first day as we would be above the tree line and his reply was I never thought about that. I quickly forgot about it and enjoyed sitting by the fire and sharing stories. The weather was mild and we hung out in tea shirts. I woke the next morning and as I opened my eyes I noticed it was really dark. I told myself it must still be early I’ll pee and go back to sleep. When I went to open my tent door the entire tent was covered in feet of snow and it was sunny and bright out. I checked on my friend the now hanging Popsicle and he was freezing but managed. After a short breakfast in my tent we loaded up and headed for the first summit. It was bitter cold as we left the tree line we pushed up to around 13,000 feet to a flattened area and realized there was no way we could reach the summit in time my partner was growing week and light headed from dehydration. I pitched the tent and fetched some snow to melt into water. It nice to rest my feet for a bit after reaching altitudes I had never reached before. I used my white gas stove to prepare my dinner and I look over to see my friend had brought a canister stove which wouldn’t have been a problem but the canisters are filled at low altitudes so as you increase altitude the pressure decreases and the stove becomes worthless. With a reluctant and slow pace we made it to the top of my first fourteener I was excited but I could not describe how amazing it felt to be on top of the world. You could spin 360 degrees and take a post card worthy picture in any direction. Maybe it was the altitude or maybe it was just me being 19 or 20 but I thought the small roll up sled I brought would be a blast down the side of the mountain; and it was until I realized there are no brakes on a sled and I was quickly approaching a steep cliff with a few hundred foot drop. I jammed my hiking pole in-between some rock and bent it completely right angle but I slowed down enough to not make the front page of the local newspaper. We hiked down the back side of the mountain and as we agreed since I navigated to the mountain he could navigate back. We down climbed around 2,000 ft to an oasis in between the mountains where the sun hit us just right and the mountains shielded us from the harsh winds and snow. I sprawled out and took a short nap. I was awakened abruptly to find out that the dog had become lost and it was time to start searching for him. I was frustrated by the situation and after a few hours of searching I was convinced the dog had been eaten by a bear or fell down one of the steep sections of the mountain. All I could think about was how I hoped the dog was ok but that there was no way in hell I was caring a dead dog back to Leadville! We stumbled upon the pup uninjured and scared, I still am not quite sure why or how the dog got there but at least all was well and we could push on. We hiked a few more miles east, away from the fish hatchery and set camp. We were happy to rest and relieved to have the whole team back together. Exhausted we fell asleep fast. Waking up the next morning I look at my friend’s boots and I noticed his toes were going from pink to red and now a much darker color and feeling was beginning to be lost. The summer weight boots he had brought were full of melted snow and caused bad frost bite. Knowing that we would be trekking further through the cold this day I decided it was best if he did not warm his feet. Frost bite is caused when the blood and interstitial fluid in the skin actually crystallize due to freezing. Any movement in an attempt to rewarm will only cause further damage because the ice crystals will cut the skin. It is also important to note never warm a frost bitten skin area that will have a chance of re freezing as this will also cause further tissue damage. More snow had fallen in the violent storm that night so we marched through 3-4 ft of snow without snow shoes. We reached a section of wilderness and I asked to see the map. I attempted to locate our position but I was unable to pin point it. After hours of arguing and disagreeing on strategy for our return I found out that his entire plan was to follow the water back to civilization. I became heated; our entire navigation plan was based on some half ass advice to follow water back to civilization? Besides this advice came from the guy that said there was no chance we would need snow shoes! Civilization! I’m not trying to navigate to civilization I want to navigate back to the fish hatchery and we have been traveling in the wrong direction for hours. The rest of the trip followed in quite like a death march. I knew search crews would be alarmed if we did not arrive in town that afternoon as planed and I was unsure where we were but I knew we were nowhere near where we needed to be. We hiked through a section of pines and approached an opening in the wilderness a huge open plain. I was surprised and alarmed by this not knowing what to expect. It did not take me long to figure out I was alarmed for a reason. This was no meadow; it was the site of an avalanche from the night before and currently I was standing on snow covered fallen pines many feet off the ground. I lowered my center of gravity and lay on my belly to evenly distribute my weight. I looked up the steep slope and realized that neither the steep slope nor the fast moving creek bordering our position were options. We had to cross the fallen pines for about 100 yards to the forest ahead. You forget about anything that has made you frustrated or angry when you are faced with true danger. We both made it safely into the tree line and were e very relied to be on solid ground again. Upon re checking the map it was clear that we had traveled beyond the borders of our map and we were truly on our own. Reassessing the situation I thought The park ranger knows we are out here and that we should be back by now, I don’t have but a few granola bars left in my rations but I had survived three days before on less, and my climbing partners gear is soaked and hypothermia is setting in, in its earliest stages. I determined our situation to be screwed but not hopeless. We waded and wandered through the tall snow and came across a snow mobile trail and using the basic information we had and taking an educated guess at our location we decided to head South on the snow mobile trail. The trail gave us a since of civilization which brightened our spirits and gave us a sense of security even though in the back of our heads we knew the possibility of this trail going on for miles and leading nowhere was very much a reality. My friend asked, and I am not sure if this was a joke or not if I would get in a sleeping bag with him to warm him. All I could think about was if you are warm enough to mumble out those words you are too warm for that. I mean if it came down to life or death I wouldn’t hesitate to help someone but I’m not explaining that story to my other friends. We hiked along and with the hope of warm pizza and dry cloths our pace quickened; the snow turned to slush; and the sun was getting much lower in the horizon then I would have liked. I spotted a cabin and ran full speed with excitement toward it. Thoughts of hot chocolate and maybe a ride to town danced through my head. These fantasies were quickly stomped out when I noticed no tire tracks in the driveway and no vehicle in sight. These cabins were seasonal and this dirt road impassable. We must have traveled another 6 or 8 miles before we actually saw a road. We marched down the road yelling and trying to push each other to keep going. Just after we had shared the last of our food rations I saw a house, not a cabin, or a lodge, a real house with a truck parked by it. I walked to the front door and knocked loudly and a young woman approached the door very hesitantly. She asked us what we wanted and seemed both scared and irritated by our presence. I explained the cliff notes of our predicament to her and she seemed very unsympathetic. I apologized for bothering her and asked her how far we were from the fish hatchery and she gave us the devastating news that it was close to 20 miles away. I slowly walked back toward the end of the driveway when I heard the door open again, it was her. She decided she could give us a ride but since she didn’t trust us and she was a woman alone in the back country she wanted us to ride in the bed of the truck. I told her I didn’t care if she pulled us behind the truck on skis along as we made it back to Leadville. She warmed up to us a bit talking to us during the drive through the little glass window between the bed and the cab of the truck. We arrived at the rental car and the trip had come to an end. I was sure that by the end of the trip we would die or at least I would kill my friend but we were out of the wilderness and cranking the heater full tilt as we returned to civilization. The return ride home I decide three things that I would write a letter to that lady thanking her for her rescue which I did. Next kick the ass of that park ranger for telling us we wouldn’t need snow shoes, which I didn’t do. And finally I would be much more selective in choosing my partners for trips which thus far I have done ok with.


Does anyone have any good survival stories or maybe just a good adventure story from their travels? Share it as a comment!  Also pictures of the holster to come soon later today.

Free next weekend time for an adventure!

I haven’t done anything exciting this week. I have focused most of my energy into work and education this week. I put in a nice work out yesterday doing an interval cycle of 1minute sprint and one minute of rest walking with ten repetitions. This was followed by pushups, leg lifts, dips, sun goddesses, one leg squats all in the same fashion all out effort nonstop for one minute and rest walking for one minute. This gave me a well rounded and intense workout in thirty minutes. Most of us can spare thirty minutes to get a solid workout. I didn’t include this in the 30minutes but 10 minutes of long slow stretching rounds out this work out for a total body maintenance workout. I followed this up with a fruit and protein smoothie and I felt great all day.

It appears my girlfriend; the one I am always hanging out with and do everything with is working during my weekend off. You know what this means it’s time to get into trouble. I don’t mean girls and drinking kind of trouble I mean a hardcore adventure. I have spent a lot of time thinking about my next adventure. What ideas do you guys have? I want some type of challenge both endurance, physical, and mental. Post your ideas and if I like yours I’ll do it! The only parameters are that this adventure should be within the confines of Ohio and its general area and has to be epic but still fit within a conventional three day weekend…GO!

Fire building

How to Build an Awesome Fire

I have seen many people fumble with commercial fire starters and accelerants i.e. gasoline and still fail to start a fire so here are the basics to make you look like a pro and stay alive. Fire building is one of the most essential skills for any person who spends time in the outdoors. The rule of threes says that the average person can live only 3 minutes without oxygen before they die of hypoxia, three hours without shelter and warmth before hypothermia causes death, three days before someone can die of dehydration without water. Three hours is not very long, so let’s develop some skills to keep you alive.


Some words of wisdom before I talk about the skills you need to survive. Most people have over confidence in their ability to start a fire so known your limits. Always gather twice as much fuel and tender as you thought you needed, you can never have too much. Fire occurs when fuel is heated in the presence of oxygen, this is important to remember because all of fire building problems come from those three elements.

Safety is simple when it comes to fire. Don’t touch it if it’s hot, use common sense, and clear the ground where the fire will be made to, “… prevent forest fires” says Smokey the Bear. Lastly use caution when using accelerants, sometimes they will be necessary during emergencies but use sparingly. Remember when using accelerants that the vapors are what ignite not the fuel so the fuel may flash when touched with flame.

In with fire safety is burn treatment. If you are burnt forget all the home remedies, they don’t work and are usually dangerous. Identify the burn as first degree, second degree, or third degree and treat accordingly. First degree can be identified by redness just like sun burn and should be treated by rinsing with plenty of cool not cold, clean water. Second degree burns can be identified by more redness and blisters to the surface of the skin. Second degree burns as long as they are not covering large areas of skin or sensitive areas like the face or hands can be treated the same as first degree burns and then covered in wet clean dressings. Third degree burns are identified by burnt away skin and charring. Third degree is the most sever burn and will cause permanent damage. These burns should be covered in a sterile dressing that is dry. Always seek medical attention for serious burns.

BUILDING THE FIRE is in all caps for those not interested in the preface and safety. The first mistake most people make during fire building is collecting the wrong type of tender. Tender is very critical because the more flammable the tender the less heat is required for ignition. There are a ton of different things that can be used for tender when building a fire but the most effective is to find the smallest dead twigs on live trees. I mean the smallest; these twigs should be hair thin and should make a loud pop when broken. Prune these from the branches of the trees in the area until you have amassed a huge pile of them. The reason these twigs are so good as fire starters is because the tree shunts all the water from the dead twig for preservation making it super dry, also because they are off the damp ground even during the cold wet winters these twigs are bone dry. Lots of people want to continue to make fire building more complicated than this but after you have collected a bunch of tender just find stuff incrementally bigger and stack it in piles until you have a good pile of fuel that is as big in diameter as you want to burn.

For a reasonably sized fire clear an area five feet in diameter of leafs and brush. Grab one of your large logs for fuel and lay it in the middle of the fire pit. I don’t cut wood for fires because it is a waste of my time. The fire will cut your wood for you and you can just feed the ends of a long log back into the fire as it burns in half. Then take all of the little tender and place it against the big log in preparation of ignition.

There are dozens of ways to ignite a fire from a blow torch to a convex lens on a sunny day so use an effective means. The hotter the method of ignition the less dry the fuel and tender need to be. You can get a fairly green stick to burn through in a blazing fire but without dry moss or charred cotton you will have a hell of a time starting a fire with flint alone. Focus on constantly starting a fire with one match and only one then move on to other methods.

Once the tender is ignited you have to move fast (this is where having the fuel sorted by size and in piles helps a ton). The shape you give your fire will give it certain characteristics and the three methods I use cover most bases. The teepee is a pretty classic method and is one of my favorite because it uses fuel efficiently and keeps a small warm fire. I think a small fire that burns hot like this one is most desirable when you don’t have time to collect a ton of wood or if there isn’t much dry wood available. A log cabin arrangement of the fire wood works better for large groups and is better for creating a large bed of coals for many people to cook from. A lean to is the last method and this is where you place one large log on the ground as described above and lean all of your fire wood against it. Add fuel and blow on the fire at a rate that increases the flame. You don’t want to blow so hard that you blow your fire out like candles on your birthday but you want to give the extra oxygen to help your tender burn and keep in mind that fuel must be spaced out and have plenty of air flow between in to be effective. Once your tender is ignited and you have blown this little pile of inner bark, twigs, or moss into a large flame quickly add small quantities of sticks to the fire first using all of the smallest diameter ones then moving to the largest. If you get to this sentence and you don’t have a blazing fire you messed something up move on to the next paragraph for trouble shooting.

Troubleshooting your fire is frustrating because 90% of people who failed at starting a fire were probably confident they wouldn’t have a problem (myself included). Did you get your tender to ignite? If you can’t get your tender to ignite with a match you are not collecting tender re-read tend collecting and try again because this stuff really does work every time. If your tender ignited and then went out go back out and collect twice as much tender as before which is why you should get twice as much as you think you need. Fire is heating fuel in the presence of oxygen so one of those three elements is responsible for your failure to start a fire.

Heat; the ignition method you used was not hot enough to light the fuel so if you can’t provide more heat then you must find a less dense fuel, smaller in diameter and more air flow. Wet fuel will waste the heat from your ignition source because the ignition source will be evaporating the water prior to igniting the wood. So get smaller dryer wood

Oxygen/Fuel; there is a fine balance with oxygen when building a fire so blow on the fire starting out very gentle and increasing with the fire, too much will blow the fire out and too little and it will go out on its own. If you smoother a fire with a pile of tightly packed sticks or add a large log too fast you decrease the surface area of the wood which means there is less oxygen touching the fuel. If you space out small diameter branches with plenty of room for air flow you will correct this issue and you can always use a stick to knock branches out of the fire or move them to make better air flow.

Best of luck in your fire building. If you have any interesting tips or questions share them.

3 days and 1700 rounds

After completing Rob Pincus’s Combat Focus Shooting class on Saturday I was tired and overwhelmed with new information on how to change my shooting technique for counter ambush style shooting. This is the type of shooting you would use to defend yourself or loved ones. The class doesn’t waste any time covering advanced technique or skills that are not highly likely to be needed during a dynamic critical incident. This class truly is the meat and potatoes of defensive pistol shooting. The curriculum is centered on the concept of intuitiveness. All of the skills learned in this class flow well with natural movement as long as you don’t fight your body and you try to forget everything you know and just be a sponge there is a lot of experience out there. All skill levels of shooters were at the class I remember looking at the first round of targets and they ranged from one ragged hole in the center to targets looking like an angry farmer took buckshot to them, but by the end all the students were placing combat effective hits on the target that would surely kill, wound, or disrupt an attacker. The teaching style of the instructors was frank, no sugar coating of your mistakes and no pats on the back (at least not until the end) but every instructor was effective at teaching the basic skills need to defend yourself. The training provided by I.C.E. was incredible. The exercises and drills the students worked on all balanced speed and precision, two important factors in shooting effectively. I think all of the students would have agreed that shooting fast at the large target was very easy but when you had to transition from fast shooting to slower sighted shooting at a small target the transition can be difficult. After hundreds of rounds the class was over and I learned so much.


When I learned that I would be taking the Advanced Pistol Handling course as well I was thrilled. We started early again and spent the first hour or so refreshing the skills from the day before and I was shocked honestly with how easy every skill was from the day before, it was like second nature. I was unsure of my competency in a few of the more complex skills from the day before but it was a huge relief when I surprised myself performing the skills from the previous day with competent execution. Later that morning we started to build more skills focusing on extra skills for extenuating circumstances and the worst case scenario. These drills were challenging both mentally and physically. This class allows students the opportunity to shoot from unconventional positions that are very applicable in the real world but are difficult or unsafe to learn without the supervision of a skilled instructor like shooting behind your back or from a vehicle.

These classes were honestly the best use of my time for the past three days. I put in hard work, learned critical skills for defending myself and others making my concealed carry more effective, and having a great time with family and the instructors. The best quotes I remember or am willing to repeat, “Get the hits you need to get” I know this sounds funny but it was drilled into our heads and it reminds you that no matter how perfect you perform the drill if you miss then you missed and that’s all that matters. This one isn’t really a quote but I heard this a lot, “STOP LOOKING AT YOUR GUN, I PROMISE IT’S STILL THERE!” “RUN THE GUN, AND IF YOU ARE NOT RUNNING THE GUN THEN BE A MOVING TARGET.” The I.C.E. classes are great because the instructors would take the time to answer each and every question you have and explain to you how their method works and the science behind it. Even during times when no one had questions they waited long enough for us to realize we did have questions. So a huge thanks to Rob Pincus, I.C.E., and the Instructor Cadre for making this program what it was. There is so much going on in three days of training that it’s impossible to cover it all. Here is a link if you are interested in taking any classes from I.C.E. check them out they have a lot more going on than just hand gun classes. http://www.icetraining.us/

Shooting with the Combat Focus crew

It’s time for an interesting weekend.  I will take a break from work and studies to go to a Combat Focus Shooting class with Rob Pincus.  I am very excited to learn all that I can at this class and to improve my shooting skills for both sport and defense.  I have my saddle bags loaded up and we will be ridding east bright and early loaded with a ton of ammo and a few hand guns.  I know this will be tough but I plan to forget everything I know going into this class and absorb as much as I can from these experts in the shooting field.  Any time I get the opportunity to learn an interesting skill set I try to take full advantage of it.  The class I am attending focuses on personal defense and use of a fire arm against bad guys instead of the typical competition and recreational shooting I am accustom to.  We will be out all day and burn through over 500 rounds of 45ACP.  The best part is that my father will be taking the class with me and I’ll have a chance to try and out shoot the guy who taught me all I know about shooting.  Wish me luck and dad you’re going down!

8 Things better than duct tape…

8 Things better than duct tape… Ok well we all know that was a lie. Here are 8 products that are almost as useful at fixing things in the field as duct tape. I keep these handfuls of things with me on any adventure and they have saved me many times in the field with bike repairs, car repairs, tent repairs, and I think I have even fixed my tent a time or two.


Numero uno Bailing wire, every hillbilly out there worth their salt knows about 100 uses for bailing wire. It is useful in fixing heavy repairs and works in high heat unlike rope. I personally have fixed my motorcycle chain, car muffler bracket, bicycle chain, and tent. You couldn’t carry enough of this stuff.

Number 2 Aluminum brazing rods, I found these things at an auto swap meet and assumed they were a gimmick but sure enough you can fix minor metal repairs with this. I haven’t used them in the field yet but I was able to make solid connections in a soda can where I had cut holes that needed to be filled. Based on that experience I am sure you could repair a hole in an oil or transmission pan with ease although I am doubtful it would withstand any higher pressure applications, further testing will take place.

Number 3 Silicone tape, Anderson's General Store now carries this high temperature silicone tape that only sticks to its self. This tape is strong, waterproof, and even an electrical insulator. You can use your imagination to find a few uses for this tape. I have tested it on a minor hose repair with success. Radiator hose repair, electrical insulation, vacuum line repair, and I bet it would be a good temporary fix on a hydraulic line.

Number 4 Para cord, any former solider or seaman, should know how valuable this stuff is. Just make sure you don’t but the department store variety as it does not have the 7 inner strands. This cord is rated at 550lb and I have used it to tie down just about anything. When I was younger I may or may not have used this for a short rappel when I didn’t have any rope but I can’t recommend any vertical activities with anything other than climbing rope. If you don’t need something so strong just cut off the ends and use the inner strands, they are like a heavy nylon twine and are great for lashing things together in a survival situation or even in making snares.

Number 5 Fishing line needles and hooks. I throw these three together because fishing line can make an excellent thread for campsite repairs as well as sutures if you were so brave. The obvious use as a fishing line and it can be used to tie up anything that doesn’t require much strength.

Number 6 Tri-Flow. Tri-Flow is one of the best lubricants I know of. A lot of people don’t understand that WD-40 is not a lubricant it is a solvent. If you use WD-40 and then fail to lubricate the item you are just prolonging your problem. Another popular lubricant that fails to get the job done is 3 in 1 oil. This is a vegetable based lubricant and is typically not the answer when lubricating metal parts. Tri-flow is a thin free flowing lubricant that works incredibly well for chain lubrication, door hinges, and anything else that could use a thin coat of oil to prevent rust.

Number 7 quality multi-tool. What repair kit is complete without a tool? Multi-tools are being made by a number of quality manufactures and having as few or as many options as you wish. I like to keep things simple a screw driver or two, a blade, and pliers work for me. Every person has their own preference. The only general recommendations I can make are that the SOG products work really well and if it says made in china on it go ahead and throw it in the trash can now while you are at home, that way you don’t have to throw it away in the field and become really pissed off. You truly get what you pay for so buy quality here and it will outperform and out last.

Number 8 Flash lights, Murphy’s Law states anything that can go wrong will. So if you bring a flash light you probably won’t be working on your field repair in the dark. If you forget your flash light something will break when it is dark out and no one wants to use their cell phone for light while the try to repair a muffler with bailing wire. Flash lights vary in price from 2-200 dollars and they are worth what you pay for. If you want a budget item then stick with the Mag-lite. I prefer the newer high out put options from Streamlite and surefire though if you have that kind of money to spend.

Be creative in your field repairs and don’t forget that something as simple as an empty soda cans can become a part of your repair when your miles from home and don’t have very many options. Honorable mention should be made for zip ties, blue tarps, and super glue.