Articles by Paul Helinski

Some survival issues are really hard, and some are very easy. If you are on well water and you are worried that you will not be able to drink once the grids goes down for good, you are correct. But there is a good chance that an inexpensive “Pitcher Pump” will solve your problem.

“Sustenance in the absence of perishable foods” is perhaps the most concise definition of survival food I have found. I just got that from the Wikipedia page on Hardtack, which is a hard cracker made of flour, water and salt, known for its long term storage and sustainment properties.

There are a few guns that I think everyone should own at least once. Of them, the British Enfield, or more proper, the “Lee-Enfield,” is one of the most distinctive. I thought that maybe this week dragging out my Enfields would be a great way to start a new regular series on military surplus firearms.

Several years ago I happened upon a rifle that blew me away. It was at Media Day at the Range, which is the day before our annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas, and I have to say, it takes a lot to blow me away. That rifle was the Noreen Arms BN36 Long Range Assassin, which you will recognize as an AR-15 pattern, in .30-06. I have always been a huge fan of that cartridge, and I always wondered if the rifle ran as well as my M1 Garands. This week I finally got a chance to put the Noreen to the test, ad I love it!

I would never suggest anyone bring a sword to a gunfight, but I think that a good quality sword should have it’s place in your preparations for the breakdown of our civil world.

The most shameful way to make money is by taking advantage of someone who doesn’t know any better. In the prepper and survival world, that equals almost everyone in the market. Because no matter much you would normally research a purchase before making it, almost all of us rush out and buy “survival food” before just about anything else. I did that myself, and even sent some to friends and relatives. But after a little research, I figured out that survival food is a scam.

Since we haven’t devolved into Prepper theory for a while, I thought today would be a good day. As I write this, the markets have just closed Friday, after Great Britain voted to leave the European Union. You are probably reading this on Monday, after our weekly GunsAmerica Digest goes out. Probably the markets are crashing, but I’m not a prophet. Our so financial and monetary system is so strung out, who knows if the end of the giant game of musical chairs game is today. But more importantly, our question here is, if you haven’t done the work of preparing for the collapse, is it *today* too late?

I think there is a huge difference between long term “bug-in” survival preparations, and short term “bug-out” survival preparations. Depending on your situation, bug-out might be your only option. As I explained in my bugout pack article, most of what you carry should be food. And though cooking may seem like a luxury for a survival situation, you’ll find that most inexpensive and calorie dense foods need to be cooked. You don’t want to carry a lot of water, when you can pick up water and cook dry food on the road. That means you should also carry a stove, and that stove needs to be light, efficient with fuel, and it should be able to cook your food in a reasonable amount of time. In my travels for this column I have covered a number of great cooking options, but this week I’d like to share my newest discovery that all of those qualities considered, I think might be the best for urban bug-out.

It is so frustrating sometimes to have a safe full of guns, but no time to go out and shoot. For that reason I’ve been exploring a series here on air gun training, and BB gun, Airsoft and Paintball versions of popular guns in general. This is a high-end replica of the Mosin-Nagant rifle from Gletcher. It weighs over 5 lbs, and looks, feels and even works similar to a real Mosin. The bolt cycles with the same weight and resistance, and you feel as if you are shooting the real thing. Of course it goes “poof” and not bang, but oh well, the neighbors would call the cops on you anyway. And who doesn’t miss the gargantuan Mosin kick right?