Paracord has an interesting history, and is an example of something that started out with one use but because of its versatility continued to thrive in others. Since parachute cord, aka paracord, was developed in the military in total there are six officially recognized sizes of paracord: 95 cord, 275 cord, 325 cord, 425 cord, …
There’s a lot of wisdom to be found from the old hands who have spent decades hitting the local fishing holes, wandering through the woods, and surviving off the land. If someone who walked into the Alaska woods with nothing but a backpack walked out 30 years later talking about his cabin 20 miles into …
The black widow spider has certainly gained a reputation for being both elegant and deadly. To the point they are one of the few feared spiders in North America, and have caught imagination as they are found on every continent except Antarctica. These beautiful but “deadly” spiders have been the inspiration for multiple works of …
Seeing expiration dates on things like a gallon of milk or package of hamburger makes sense but why would bear spray or other outdoor gear have an expiration date? Most important, for something like bear spray does it still work after that expiration date? Considering that this is used to defend against a potentially life-threatening …
We already looked at whether or not you can safely use expired bear spray, but that’s not the only safety question that focuses around bear spray and its use. Since this aerosol is used to chase off even the biggest of bears, could it actually kill a person? While very painful, bear spray cannot kill …
If you live in North America there aren’t too many spiders that worry you. The United States isn’t Australia, which means even the “most dangerous” spiders in North America won’t make a blip on the radar as the more exotic spiders in areas like the Land Down Under. The brown recluse spider has a reputation …
There’s a reason that rattlesnake bites are taken so seriously. While very few people in the United States die from a snake bite that is due far more to amazing advancements in medicine and the habit of quickly and fully treating snake bite victims as quickly as possible as opposed to snake bites not being …
The copperhead is one of the more interesting venomous snakes in the United States, and one that comes with a lot of questions. One of the major questions is just how dangerous are they? And unfortunately, that is a rather complicated question. Copperheads are quite dangerous as they are responsible for the far majority of …
There are many different beliefs when it comes to treating a venomous snake bite. The problem is when it comes to first aid I don’t want belief, I want accurate information and training on how to treat an injury or try to save a life. Unfortunately there are many harmful myths that exist around how …
One of the most important things you can do when hiking bear country is to be prepared and be aware. While the overwhelming majority of bears don’t want anything to do with people, there are bear attack incidents every year. Understanding how to handle yourself if you’re in this unlucky situation can be the difference …