skid (verb): 2 a : to fail to grip the roadway; especially : to slip sideways on the road
When I had the privilege of attending the Bridgestone Winter Driving School, I remember signing release forms in their office area while TV monitors were showing a video of some road rally in Europe with cars racing on dirt and gravel at high speeds. The video was interesting because these drivers all seemed to be handling their cars in a series of highly controlled, high-speed skids.
Skidding can happen at any speed, and on most any surface. It just happens that this school focuses on the winter aspects of skidding, and how to handle steering and brakes when you suddenly feel your car lose traction and succumb to the physics of velocity, minimal friction, and dangerous road conditions. I took the one-day course and highly recommend it. The techniques I learned in this class will stay with me for a lifetime.
Bridgestone Winter Driving School, PO Box 774167, 1850 Ski Time Square Drive, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477; phone: 970.879.6104 or 800.WHY.SKID; school brochure
Second Gear, our most popular program, is offered every day of the week. In this full-day class, you will learn braking, weight transfer, cornering, handling and visual techniques that will give you a new perspective on how to control your vehicle in the ice and snow. Through on-track experience, you will achieve a reflexive and instinctual level of winter driving skill. Thousands of drivers, young and old, have taken this class to improve their ability to control any vehicle in slippery conditions.
Each car in the class is outfitted with a two-way radio, providing communication with all instructors. This instant feedback is priceless, as well as the video they produce for each class. Check out some of my video clips from the class.
I'm not sending you to Steve Arnold's for guns, but for locksmithing tools. I haven't researched much to see if you can buy these from your local locksmithing business. I'm guessing not -- they want to stay in business, making big $$$ when you lose your keys or lock them inside the car at 3am. There are several websites offering locksmithing tools, but I've never dealt with these new guys. Steve Arnold's has been around for over 30 years. They were one of our best advertisers in ASG, and treated all of our survivalist readers really well. I purchased a set of picks from them myself, and found the tools handy to have around the house when keys went missing. I need to buy another set though. I had left my picks in a desk at grandma's. Months later, after grandma had passed away, angry relatives hauled off with the desk and other furniture without thinking to remove the desk's contents. So there went my picks!
Steve Arnold's Gun Room, PO Box 68, Dept. POD, Dexter, OR 97431; phone: 541.726.6360; email: info@gun-room.com.
Besides a professional line of locksmithing tools, they stock a good collection of locksmithing how-to books, along with a small variety of general info survival books. Presently, they don't carry videos about lockpicking, but you might try this one:
Locksmithing for the New Millennium, with David Storm. The video is available through a rental service called Smartflix, which specializes in renting how-to videos (stuff you don't find at your local Blockbuster store).
Because there is no one kit that suits every situation, AMK produces a wide variety of first-aid/medical kits that are tailor-made for specific sports and outdoor activities. For example, the Light & Fast series is an excellent choice for backpackers, hikers and families on the go. The Sportsman series is great for hunters and fishermen, while the Marine series is made especially for recreational and commercial mariners. There are kits for paddlers, business and international travelers, large mountain expeditions, and wilderness medical professionals.
Designed by medical and outdoor professionals, AMK kits are favored by outdoor pros worldwide.
Adventure Medical Kits, PO Box 43309, Oakland, CA 94624; phone: 800.324.3517.
Our playing fields are often located far from the modern amenities that we take for granted - electricity, telephones, running water, and ready access to professional medical help. Consequently, the need to be self-sufficient in the outdoors is essential, especially during an emergency when assistance from rescue teams may be hours or days away. Selecting the right outdoor safety gear -- products that have been tested to withstand the elements and that are intuitively designed so that they can be used easily by the layperson -- can make all the difference when it matters most.
Adventure Medical Kits is dedicated to bringing you the most innovative products which will keep you safe in the outdoors. At AMK, our love of the outdoors is matched only by our drive to create products that allow your customers to stay healthy on land, water, and air. We rely on the expertise of world authorities in wilderness medicine and survival techniques to develop and refine our products year after year.
An adventurous spirit loves to explore. We hope that Adventure® Medical Kits help you enjoy those experiences and keep you coming back for more.
Paladin and Loompanics. What would we do without these unique book publishers? But now Loompanics has called it quits, and fortunately for us, Paladin will continue printing many of the Loompanics favorites.
Paladin Press is the source for books and videos on personal
and financial freedom, survival and preparedness, firearms
and shooting, martial arts and self-defense, military and
police tactics, knives and knife fighting, and more.
Browse through their collection of startlingly original
titles
— more than 800!
Paladin Press, Gunbarrel Tech Center, 7077 Winchester Circle, Boulder, Colorado 80301; phone: 303.443.7250; to order with credit card: 800.392.2400.
When Paladin Press was founded in 1970, the book-publishing world probably thought it would not even survive, much less become the success story it has.
The company came into existence in September 1970 when Peder Lund joined Robert K. Brown as a partner in a book-publishing venture previously known as Panther Publications. They changed the name to avoid inadvertent identification with the then-active and highly publicized Black Panther movement. The word “paladin” comes from the knights who served in Charlemagne's court in eighth-century France. It was with some irony that Brown and Lund named the company after knights dispatched by the king to redress wrongs in the land.
As former military men and adventurers, Lund and Brown were convinced there was a market for books on specialized military and action/adventure topics. Both men also firmly believed that the First Amendment guaranteed Americans the right to read about whatever subjects they desired, and this became the cornerstone of Paladin’s publishing philosophy.
Aladdin Mantle Lamps first became popular around the turn of the 20th century, and soon established themselves as the best available. Constructed on highly scientific principles, the mantle produces 60 full candlepower (equivalent to a 50 watt bulb). When compared to electric or gas lighting, Aladdin has been proven in laboratories to be the closest to natural sunlight. There is no smoke, no odor, no noise, and no pumping -- no dangerous, troublesome pressure systems. So easy to use, all you need is a match. Light is adjustable from candle glow to bright enough for reading without eye strain. All models use the same proven oil burner (Aladdin recommends using only kerosene or Aladdin Lamp Oil for their lamps. Kerosene burns with a distinctive smell that some people don't like. Aladdin Lamp Oil is a distilled product and burns odor-free).
Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company, phone: 800.457.5267. Buy Aladdin Lamps at national retail hardware chains such as: Ace, Tru-Serv, and Do-It-Best, as well as several regional hardware stores.Click here for dealer locater.
Aladdin lamps have been manufactured for over 90 years. Originally named The Mantle Lamp Company of America (founded in 1908 in Chicago, Illinois), the company changed its name to Aladdin Industries in 1949 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. In 1999, a group of Aladdin Knights, collectors of Aladdin lamps, formed the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company and purchased the Lamp Division from Aladdin Industries LLC.
The goals of the "new" lamp company are to preserve the Aladdin lamp
for future generations, to provide the chimneys, wicks and mantles
needed for old and new lamps alike, to improve quality, re-establish
the Aladdin trademark in the lighting industry, establish a strong
network of Aladdin distributors and dealers, enhance Aladdin Customer
Service and introduce new top quality Aladdin products.
REI's thriving spirit was born in the 1930s when Pacific Northwest mountaineer Lloyd Anderson began his search for an ice axe. Lloyd wanted a reliable tool at a reasonable price but had no success in finding one locally. He eventually found a high-quality model in an Austrian alpine gear catalog for a mere $3.50, shipping included. Word about his find quickly spread among Seattle's climbing community, which led Lloyd and his wife, Mary, to convene with 21 fellow climbers to establish an outdoor gear co-op in 1938.
REI has been a trusted retailer of outdoor gear ever since and is now the nation's largest consumer co-op, continuing to return the majority of profits to our members through annual member refunds based on their purchases.
One of the largest product brands in the outdoor industry, REI Gear and Apparel is REI's own high-quality line of gear and clothing designed and sold by people with an expertise and a passion for outdoor recreation. Crafted specifically for the individual outdoor recreational needs of men, women and children, REI Gear and Apparel is available only through REI, along with other top brands for camping, climbing, cycling, hiking, outdoor fitness, paddling, snow sports, and travel. The product line, developed with REI members in mind, combines quality, performance, style and functionality.
REI, Sumner, WA 98352-0001; phone: 800.426.4840 Mon. through Sun., 4 a.m. through 11 p.m. PT.
I've been a member for over 20 years and can honestly say that REI is one of my favorite stores. If you are an outdoor nut like me, you probably already have a membership. The one-time fee of $15 is well worth it. Since it's a co-op, you receive a refund check each year that usually totals 10 percent of your total purchases. And you'll never feel guilty buying anything at REI since it all doubles as survival gear. Besides stocking the best in outdoor products, most REI stores feature a rental department so you can test gear before you buy. And if you want to educate yourself on choosing the best backpacking tent, sleeping bag, cook stove, or lantern to fit your needs, their website contains articles written by experts to help you decide.
Find your nearest store here. No store nearby? Sign up for Gearmail to receive their emails featuring the latest sales and online outlet deals.
It would take about $20-30K to run your entire house on solar power. At least that was the price tag for a cabin I visited near Ridgway, Colorado. The house was too far away from the grid to have them string a line for less than 20 grand, so the owner had a complete solar electric system installed which featured a backup propane generator in case the sun was scarce for too many days.
For about a tenth of the price, you can buy a smaller system for emergencies or camping trips -- a system to power radios, TVs, run computers or power tools, water pumps, lights and more. Joe Schwartz of Home Power Magazine recommends the Harvester as a true sinewave solar power system, "the nicest all-in-one PV charging station I've had my hands on."
The Harvester Solar Electric Generator, Solar One Solutions, 51 Marble Street, Framingham, MA 01702. Phone: 508.620.7652.
The Harvester allows for an expandable solar array (80 watts to 240 watts), and features a choice of inverters with Truesine 110V/60Hz or 220V/50 Hz. The unit includes an advanced 15 amp PWM charge controller with LCD display, and a deep-cycle sealed 100 amp-hour battery. Available both in mobile and rapidly deployable ground mount format.
I subscribe to the Patriot Post, and love to include the quotes they collect in my Live Journal. They've put together a great resources page that includes survival guides, lists, kits, and action plans for emergency situations.
Subscribe to the Patriot Post for free!
About The Patriot Post
America's most widely read Internet-based publication, The Patriot Post, is a highly acclaimed journal advocating individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values.
The Patriot Post is crafted by a national editorial team headed by Mark Alexander and serves as a hard-hitting rebuttal to contemporary political, social and mainstream media protagonists on the Left. It is written for those who seek a brief, informative and entertaining analysis of the week's most significant news, policy and opinion. This comprehensive synopsis of reliable information is drawn from reputable media, research and advocacy organizations and published in three parts each week: Monday's Patriot Brief, Wednesday's Patriot Chronicle and Friday's Patriot Digest.
Their name and motto, Will Keep you Warm on a Four-Dog Night, has to do with a method of tracking temperature in the Arctic Circle: when it gets
dreadfully cold you bring dogs from the sled team into the tent to
sleep with you. The measure of cold is how many dogs it takes to
provide enough body heat to get through the night. I've heard of four
dog and five dog nights, but three dog night is the most recognizable
phrase because of the rock group with the same name.
Four Dog Stove builds some of the best woodstoves for outfitter-style canvas tents on the market. Each stove features welded steel construction, and will hold a fire all night. I own the Two Dog version, and it keeps my 9 x 12 wall tent plenty warm all night.
One accessory that is a must is the stainless steel water jacket. It slips onto the side of your Four Dog Stove, and heats water for cooking, washing, and morning hot chocolate. Removable side shelf and extra stove pipe is also available. For those planning pack animal trips, an ultra-light titanium stove in three sizes is a great option.
Four Dog Stove Company, 25909 Variolite St. NW, St. Francis, MN 55070; phone: 763.444.9587.
You know what they say -- if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Even if you have made a plan, it's always good to go over it, make adjustments, update items, and simply remember what the heck it is. If you haven't made a plan, here are two websites to help you make one:
