SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

What’s The Best Survival Watch?

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Survival watches are not only extremely durable, but they also include features such as GPS, altimeters, and barometers, to help you negotiate outdoor and tactical situations. 

Some outdoor watches even include additional “above and beyond” features such as ambient solar charging, topographical maps, or stored locations for hunting, fishing, and foraging spots. But which watches strike the right balance between ‘feature rich’ and ‘feature bloat’? And how much do added features cost? 

The Short Answer

Want to cut to the chase? Here’s the best survival watch for your money on the market today:

Casio G Shock “Rangeman”

Why It’s #1:

  • Excellent water resistance
  • Pinpoint accurate atomic time
  • Solar charging
  • Big watch but doesn’t feel bulky
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Casio’s G-Shock line is the household name in durable, cool guy watches. And the Rangeman is no exception here. If anything it leads the pack. There’s not really another way to say it–People love this watch! With over 3,000 reviews on Amazon, this puppy still has a 4.7 out of 5 stars, even with a handful of haters. 

Over and over again, you’ll hear people talk about how it doesn’t feel bulky or uncomfortable, even though it’s a bigger watch. It comes with G-Shock’s own “Tough Solar”, which ambiently charges the watch, and comes with a full stack of features–digital compass, altimeter, barometer, all the normal timers, stopwatches, calendars, and much more. 

Two minor gripes with this watch are:

  1. the altimeter derives its readings using barometric pressure, so it’s not always 100% accurate, and 
  2. if you opt for the green model with “negative” display, the display can be difficult for some people to see. 
Best Survival Watches
A solid survival watch will perform in all conditions, including temperature extremes.

Other Great Survival and Outdoor Watches

Here’s what you need to know about each of the top-rated outdoor watches:

Casio Pathfinder

Why It’s Great:

  • Tough Solar
  • Triple Sensor
  • Titanium Band
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Similar to Casio’s G-Shock line, the Pathfinder comes equipped with Tough Solar and a triple sensor (altimeter/barometer, compass, and thermometer). It’s also racked up a mess of positive reviews on Amazon and other retail sites for its lightweight construction, it’s easy to use timer, it’s modest price point, and dead-on durability. 

Unlike the G-Shock however, this watch comes with a titanium band which lends a slightly more smoothed down, grown-up feel, to an otherwise aggressively tough watch. People love the accuracy, the looks, and much more. 

Casio Pro Trek

Why It’s Great:

  • 200 meter water resistance
  • Smaller watch face
  • More expensive than Pathfinder & Rangeman
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Another Casio, and more of the same goodness. Really the Pro Trek bears many of the same positive qualities and reviews as the Pathfinder and Rangeman. 

The water resistance is 100 meters deeper, at 200. The watch case and face are also a hair smaller (47 mm vs. 54 for the Rangeman). It comes in slightly more expensive than the other 2 Casios in the lineup–roughly $40 more than the Rangeman and $60 more than the Pathfinder. 

Otherwise however, you get the same great “Tough Solar” charging, the altimeter, barometer, compass and thermometer, and the same “compliment a day” good looks. 

Garmin Instinct

Why It’s Great:

  • 3 axis compass
  • Multiple satellite navigation
  • Heart rate and activity tracking
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If you’re looking for a slightly more robust feature set and solid navigational performance, the Garmin Instinct might be your guy. The Instinct has a sleeker, smoother appearance, featuring the popular ‘black on black on black’ coloration (case, band, and backlighting), and a variety of color combinations. 

As one of the original pioneers in the space, Garmin knows a little bit about GPS. The Instinct couples a 3 axis compass with multiple satellite navigation systems (GPS, Glonass, and Galileo), giving you even more reliability in off-the-grid locations and challenging environments. Want to mark the exact location of a good trail, fishing or hunting spot? No problem–you can easily store the coordinates.

It also offers an impressive array of heart rate and activity tracking, and boasts an insane battery life–14 hours in smartwatch mode, 16 hours in GPS mode, and up to 40 hours in battery saving mode. 

Armitron Sport 40/8284 (Best For A Budget)

Why It’s Great:

  • Less than $20
  • Easy to read
  • 12 & 24-hour time modes
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Here’s one you might not have expected. But listen, sometimes the basic watch you have is better than the fancy watch you don’t. Wait, isn’t that just a fancy way of saying “something is better than nothing?” Yep, damn straight. 

Before making too many concessions however, it IS a pretty solid something. It’s durable, it’s easy to read, easy to operate, and offers convenient switching between 12 and 24-hour (military) time modes. All this for less than $20 is pretty intriguing.

Hey, maybe this is the survival watch you buy a few of and keep sealed up in bug out bags in case you need another one in a tough situation (if you do this, keep the battery separate). 

Suunto Traverse Alpha

Why It’s Great:

  • Automatic shot placement (for hunters)
  • Breadcrumb trail way-finding
  • Topographic maps
  • Mixed reviews on apps and software
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The Traverse Alpha has loads of hunting, fishing, and outdoor features–not to mention brutish good looks. For hunters, the Traverse Alpha has automatic shot placement, which stores the coordinates of any location where you take a shot–in case you need to return to pack an animal out or want to check the location for action again later. 

It also comes with automatic bread crumb trails, to ensure that you can go as deep into the wilderness as you want and not get lost. Moon phases, barometric pressure, a built in flashlight, topographic maps, altitude paths, a battery life that nearly everybody raves about, and much more. 

With all of this to love, it should be noted that this watch does get some mixed reviews–primarily with the watch’s ability to correctly connect and interface with the apps that power all the features. Suunto has 2 apps, and there are several reviews in both the Android and Apple app stores reporting difficulty pairing and slow synchronizing times. 

Suunto Core

Why It’s Great:

  • Incredible battery life
  • Storm alerts
  • Roughly $150 cheaper than Traverse Alpha
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This watch has several of the same features as the Traverse, and like the Traverse, gets lots of head nods for its incredible battery life. It also has a budget sensitive price tag (roughly $150 cheaper than the Suunto Traverse Alpha), and a storm alert, that provides advanced warning when inclimate weather is approaching. 

It has a small contingent of people that say it’s difficult to see the display, and a small assortment of quality/service complaints–not related to any one thing in specific. There are also people that rave about their Core after years of use however, and for that reason and the great features it offers, it’s included on this list. 

What To Look For in Your Survival Watch

A good outdoor watch has features that can help you navigate a survival or emergency situation. They also offer reliability, and all around performance as part of your EDC (everyday carry). 

Many people depend on a quality timepiece as part of their EDC, and appreciate the ease of being able to quickly access navigational and weather related information, especially if a smart phone isn’t handy (or its battery is dead). 

Remember, most survival or outdoor watches will have a much longer battery life than a cell phone, so if you do find yourself in an emergency situation, a good survival watch gives you solid performance even after your cell phone battery is dead. 

Anybody that wants to give him or herself an added edge would benefit from a capable survival watch on their wrist.

Here are the most important things to look for and keep in mind when you are choosing your watch:

Water Resistance

Kind of a no-brainer, but if you’re buying a watch in the 21st century, and you are wanting it to function as any kind of outdoor or survival watch, then getting one that has a high level of water resistance is an absolute must. Now, it doesn’t need to be a diver’s watch, but it should be solid and should be rated for water resistance up to at least 100 meters, 200 better. 

A solid outdoor watch shouldn’t just provide great features–it should also be built like a brick outhouse!

Durable Construction

This is another non-negotiable. Using a watch in outdoor situations necessitates that it be rugged and tough. Why? Because it will get knocked and nicked and scuffed and have things drop on it. It needs to “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin” (literally!). Stainless steel watch cases are the best, but there are also several polymer/composite/resin materials that can also be extremely durable. 

GPS/Compass

We have become so used to the convenience of GPS, that it seems we almost couldn’t make it across the room without turning on navigation. Slight exaggeration obviously, but it’s fair to say that GPS is almost ubiquitous in our daily lives.

Higher end, smartwatch style survival watches will offer GPS or similar navigational capability, to help you get “un-lost” and make sure that you stay that way. More streamlined and affordable watch models will often still offer some kind of compass. Look for this as core feature. 

Thermometer

In a survival situation, the temperature has a lot to do with whether you live or die. Getting an outdoor watch with a thermometer ensures that you’ll always have the temperature at your fingertips, to help you quickly make important decisions. 

Altimeter

For any who might not immediately know what this is, it’s the tool that measures altitude. A solid survival watch will usually include an altimeter as part of a triple sensor (thermometer, barometer and altimeter).

Higher elevations mean less oxygen, cooler temps, possibly more wind, and a host of other factors that could come into play in outdoor situations. For watches that include an altimeter, a quick check of the wrist is all that you’ll need to understand what you’re up against.  

Barometer

As mentioned above, a barometer feature is usually accompanied in watches with an altimeter and thermometer. Without getting too sciency on you, a barometer measures the pressure in the air, which is directly related to rain and storm systems.

A drop in barometric pressures signifies an oncoming storm (the quicker the drop, the faster the storm will approach…. The more it drops, the more intense it will be, etc).

Believe it or not, barometric pressure can also affect hunting and fishing. According to Weather.com, a steady, high-pressure system provides the most consistent all-around fishing, while there may be a feeding frenzy prior to the barometric pressure dropping. 

Long Battery Life

A long battery life can make up for a multitude of other sins in a survival watch. And conversely, all the features in the world don’t matter if your watch dies.

Battery life is more of an issue with smartwatches, where the sheer amount of bells and whistles necessitate regular charging (like your cell phone). Old school style watches almost never require a battery change–with batteries lasting years in many cases, and the dying battery giving plenty of warning before it goes.

Consider this carefully as you weigh the balance between a watch that can do a lot of cool stuff, verses one that will last forever without needing to be charged. 

Maps, topography, compasses, and other navigational features add to the utility of any great survival or outdoor watch.

Maps and Topography

Only found in the most loaded outdoor watches, mapping and topography features are a luxury that can prove incredibly helpful in a survival situation. Trying to plan the most low-energy route back to safety? Need to identify the low areas to give you the best shot of finding water? Topography maps can help you locate these. 

Hunting/Fishing Specific Features

As mentioned above, the savvy outdoorsman can glean bits of hunting and fishing information from a barometer.

Additionally, watches such as the Suunto Traverse Alpha provide lunar phase information, which corresponds with tides, and can be helpful in planning fishing or hunting activity.

Still other GPS style outdoor watches like the Garmin Instinct allow you to record and store the coordinates of specific hunting, fishing, or foraging locations so you can access later. These features are definitely “above and beyond” when you’re looking for a watch.

Solar Powered

A solar-powered watch removes the dependence on a limited storage battery, and instead allows you to power your phone (and all of it’s features) with the sun. Not a bad way to go right? In theory this should be an upgrade over traditional batteries, but not everybody loves the solar charging feature.

Battery technology has been around a lot longer than solar technology (especially watch-integrated solar), and the fail-points and surprises with solar have all yet to be discovered. While most people absolutely love solar-charging, and its usefulness as an outdoor watch can’t be denied, you will occasionally hear reports of people that have had some kind of solar-charging issue.

FAQ

How much do survival watches cost?

We could sit here and say, “uh… prices vary…. disclaimer… blah blah blah.” The short answer is this–you can expect to spend roughly $200 to get a high quality, well-constructed survival watch. 

What is an ‘ABC’ watch?

With watches the acronym ‘ABC’ commonly refers to ‘altimeter, barometer, and compass’, features commonly bundled together. 

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, the watch you wear is a matter of personal preference, and depends upon your situation. With these recommendations however, you’re on the right path. 

If you’re going in completely blind and just want to be treated to a solid, high-performing watch with solid features for survival and outdoor situations, go with the G-Shock Rangeman, and you won’t be disappointed.

4 Tips to Prepare Your Homestead for Winter

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The Weather Channel is predicting colder than average temperatures through January for the Plains states and the area from southeast Texas to the Florida panhandle. Whether you live in a major metropolitan area or have a ranch covering several acres, winter preparedness is fairly similar for just about every home. You need to keep everybody safe and warm and take all the necessary precautions to prevent extreme weather from damaging your home.

These four tips cover the most important items.

1. Drain Sprinkler System

The first freeze of the year can mean large repair bills for homeowners who have neglected to address their irrigation systems and exposed pipes beforehand. This is particularly the case with PVC pipes, but polyethylene pipes can also be damaged, despite their elasticity.

Most sprinkler systems can be drained manually. The valve is typically located at the bottom of the mainline. Make sure to wear eye protection and release all pressure from the line before draining to prevent injury. The blow-out method, using compressed air to clear the pipes, is the only way to 100 percent guarantee no water is left inside. You can do this on your own, but due to the inherent dangers, it’s better to hire a professional.

All pipes in unheated areas of your home (garage, attic, etc.) should be insulated with pipe-wrapping material that can be found at any hardware store.

2. Close the Pool

There are different methods for winterizing in-ground and above-ground pools, but the end result is similar. Use granular chlorine to lower the overall chlorine level of the water and save your cover from being damaged. After a thorough cleaning, lower the water level to about one foot below the tile for mesh covers and about six inches for floating covers. Buy a winter closing kit that comes with everything you’ll need, including instructions. Cleaning methods for filters and lines will vary by pool, so follow the manufacturers instructions carefully.

3. Clean Gutters

Gutter cleaning is not glamorous, and it can be dangerous if the proper precautions are not exercised. The two most important factors for safe gutter cleaning are a dry roof and a ladder long enough to extend beyond the roof. To prevent slips and falls, do not climb on the roof if it has rained in the past 24 hours. Leaf blowers are effective for cleaning long gutter sections, but its best to watch a professional do it once before attempting this yourself.

4. Save Yourself Money With These Simple Upgrades

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that heating costs were higher for 90 percent of Americans homes last year than the winter of 2012-13. This was mostly due to higher costs for natural gas and propane.

A great way to cut energy bills is to invest in heated bedding. The Electric Blanket Institute (yes, this really exists) estimates a typical household can save up to $40 per month on heating costs by turning down the thermostat 10 degrees while sleeping. Make certain the electric blankets you choose are marked with Underwriters Laboratories safety approval (UL #964). A winterized home also has all gaps wider than a nickel between door and windows frames chalked to keep the warm air in and cold air out.

Every home has unique features, so winterization steps will vary. But completing all of the above are steps in the right direction.

Plan Ahead for Hot & Cold Environments

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When it comes to prepping for a major disaster, not all plans are created equally. While you will definitely need a solid supply of food, water and survival equipment; no matter where you end up, factors like the weather will also determine what you should have ready to bring along. In a perfect scenario, you and your family will bug out in a temperate climate that is free of harsh conditions like the searing sun or frigid temperatures. But as you know quite well, this perfect world does not exist, so you have to do what you can to prepare for the worst weather possible.

Surviving the Blazing Sun

Another tough bug out situation involves surviving in the desert, or in a home without power in a very hot location.

The heat can quickly dehydrate you and members of your family, and it can be dangerous to be mobile during the heat of the day. While adults are typically advised to drink 64 ounces of water a day in extreme heat you will need to consume a lot more than that.

Remember that although you can survive for weeks without any food, you will perish after just three to four days without any H2O. In order to avoid getting water stressed, stock up on as much water as possible as well as water purification tablets. In addition, check out the area around your home as well as a potential bug out location for a source of water. Common sources include even a dried up riverbed, dew on plants, rain water that you can catch in a barrel and even the insides of cacti.

As for finding extra sources of food, most cactus fruit is safe and rich in nutrients and liquid, and if you must go out on foot, try to walk as much as you can at night and rest during the day.

You should also be sure to dress for the elements, which in the heat involves covering up enough to avoid sunburn but not being so warm as to induce sunstroke. A great source to check out is the Camo Pattern Buyer’s Guide on the Cabela’s website. The guide lists which types of camouflage clothing is best for which types of weather and surrounding trees and brush; this way, you can choose light enough clothing that will still help to keep you hidden from marauders.

There are also a lot of folks that can teach you how to put together a redneck air conditioner, which works like a swamp cooler (with evaporative cooling), and uses a simple fan and a 5 gallon bucket.

Planning for the Harsh Cold

Surviving the apocalypse in the dead of winter is probably the worst case scenario. But if you live in a colder area of the country that is known for getting three feet of snow in the winter, you have to take extra precautions to prepare for the cold. Freezing temperatures can drain your energy and put an incredible amount of stress on your body. While a typical day will burn up about 2,000 calories, to survive in the cold will use up around 6,000 calories in just 24 hours.

In addition, traveling in the snow and cold can be extremely taxing, and roads that you might have planned to take may become impassable.

In order to survive bugging out in an outside location or even holing up in your home—which may no longer have a reliable source of power—you should make smart use of layering your clothing, and stocking up on as much calorie dense food as possible. This is not the time to think about stashing away cookies and soda, but rather protein rich choices like canned meats and chili, jerky, whole grain low sugar granola bars and wheat crackers. The Prepper Journal recommends using a JetBoil Flash. It’s a terrific tool to keep on hand, in addition to lots of spare fuel cans—this will allow you to heat up your meals which will help you to stay warm.

Also, decide how much wood you’ll need to make it through a harsh winter, and then add a significant amount to it. Chances are good that you will need a much larger amount of wood and other fuel sources to stay warm on those long cold nights than you realize.

Recipe for “Flu Soup”

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No, we don’t have any colds or flu, but I usually make up several quarts of my “Flu Soup” just to keep on hand. It’s worked so good for years to relieve any type of sinus/cold/flu or congestion etc. Be sure to add your honey and lemon.  This recipe usually makes 4 1/2 quarts, and I add more water to the cooked veggies, add more ginger & cinnamon and boil it down again for 2 or 3 more quarts. The 2nd batch isn’t as strong, but still useful.

You Will Need

  • 1 large head of cabbage, coarsely chopped
  • 5-6 large carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, whole
  • 8-10 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 small container of ginger root (I buy from Mennonite store) or you can slice a whole root.
  • 2 Tablespoons of course black pepper
  • 5-6 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
  • 3 or 4 small onions, coarsely chopped

Directions

  1. Add enough hot tap water to cover all the “stuff”.
  2. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 3 or 4 hours.
  3. Stain into another smaller stock pot
  4. Pour into your canning jars, quarts are my preference. I use “self-seal” lids, but you can process them with your canner according to carrots etc.

Flu Soup

You can also just jar it up & keep it in your fridge. I keep a jar or two in there.

Do we have the flu? Nope…but it’s there for colds, sniffles, sinus problems, whatever you want to use it for.

Survival Biscuits?

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This post was previously published here on SCP. Figured many of you have not seen it as it is buried deep within the archives. To see it in its original form click HERE.

Food is my major concern when looking at my preps. I feel like I could just never have enough. At this point I have a large variety of types of food including common grocery store items as well as dehydrated, Mountain House meals and freeze dried. The best survival food is always up for debate. 

I stopped by a local Sunbeam Bread Outlet store and saw a display of different bread mixes. What caught my eye was these were “Just add water“.

I picked up a few for $1.29 each and just tried the Country Biscuit Mix Sunday morning. Super simple to make. Like I said – “just add water” and then cook.

For the prepper this is a simple food prep that can be put back inexpensively requiring few supplies to prepare. The expiration date listed on the package was March of 2013. Like most things – the true date which the product could not be eaten is likely well beyond that date.

Anyways – the biscuits turned out great. My wife cut the dough a little thin but they tasted very good.

There are many simple and cheap preps out there that can make a world of difference when the time comes.

Rourke

Gearing Up For Just in Case Emergencies

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This past couple of weeks we geared up for a trial run “just in case”…and found some areas we needed to shore up.

After my first husband passed, a friend who quilts, took all of his dress shirts and made me a beautiful biscuit quilt and then two small throw quilts. When MrWE2 and I took our 11 day Thanksgiving trip to the Texas coast and back, we seldom used the furnace in the travel trailer, just wore our insulated underwear and climbed under a thermal blanket with the quilt on top and was warm as toast!

My sis also made us a beautiful “wedding” quilt with pillow shams…no stuffing, just stitched in various patterns. Thin but very heavy :-) You can also crochet/knit blankets and place them between a fleece blanket etc., and they are extremely warming.

Finished getting blankets and fleece throws washed up last night & folded. Wanted to have them ready if we need them to keep warmer than what we are. May need to turn down the temp if heating bills get too high with a colder winter being forecast :-)

Also noticed we could use more vinegar so I need to pick up more (I buy the small bottles because once it’s opened it may lose some of its strength.

Also noticed with all this gearing up, that we could use more liquid bleach. I have some of the bleach tablets stored but want more of the liquid. For the liquid I also buy the smaller jugs of the concentrated strength Clorox for storage. The liquid has a shorter shelf life and perhaps the smaller jugs of the concentrated strength will prevent me from losing a gallon if one should go bad. I buy the gallon jugs for daily use now.

Gearing up for “trial runs” is good…lets me test the soundness of not only the pantry but other areas also. Also want to pick up a few more rolls of the silver insulated bubble wrap and some of the 4×8 sheets of foam board. MrWE2 wants to be able to build a “warm room” inside our bedroom and the pantry room at the Roost if we needed to have a warm place. The 4×8 sheets would allow him to quickly put it together with tape etc., and still be easily taken down and not damaged too much.

You’ve probably read it here or somewhere, and I’m sure we’re not the only ones to make use of them, but at your local Dollar Tree stores you can buy the tall religious (?) candles that burn for many hours for $1. We stocked up on them big time. Not long ago our power went out and we were able to give a couple to our neighbors who had a small boy who was afraid because of all the darkness.

We also bought lots and lots of T-lights and votive candles (and still do) every time we catch them on sale. You can put one in the bottom of a canning jar and they give off a pretty good light, and not nearly as hazardous for dripping wax. On the votive type candles, when they burn down I just pull out the wick, set the jar aside to cool, and then place the next candle right on top. Why? Never know when I might need some wax to seal something :-)

We also stocked up on a lot of LED lights including the solar stick-in lights.

We have a small amount of meats from Honeyville that I used some to make up my meals in a bag. We don’t store MRE type foods from other manufacturers. Last year I canned up quit a bit of my own meats when I caught them on sale. They taste soooo much better!

As for the bacon, Yoder’s is WAY too expensive for us. I follow the method of just sticking my raw bacon into my canning jars and canning it according to altitude etc., and when I need it, open the jar, put it in a skillet and fry it myself :-) I can buy lots of bacon for what I’d pay for one small tin of Yoder’s :-)

The one thing I do always keep an eye open for is shelf stable milk when it’s on sale. I also store canned evaporated milk. May not tase like “store bought gallons” but if in a crisis, you’ll be mighty glad to have not only lots of Nido powdered milk, Sanalac powdered milk, but some shelf stable that’s already got the water added.

Anything I can store that I DO NOT have to add water to is a good deal for us. Water is a life saver as is our fuel sources, and I don’t want to have to use it up trying to cook (especially rice & beans) … not to mention the length of time I have to use my fuel source.

Even though we do have a lot of bulk rice, oats, corn, wheat stored, we also stock a lot of instant rice. Perhaps not nutritious by itself but quick to cook. Stick it in a canning jar add some dehydrated veggies, some boiling water, put the lid on and set it aside for a later meal. Same with oats, corn mush, ground wheat etc. I have a solar oven and it’s wonderful too, but you’d be surprised how quickly the sun can heat up a canning jar with food inside it :-)

Just wanted to share some of the things we found we wanted to shore up on, when gearing up :)

Originally posted by the WE2’s