Recoil OffGrid Magazine

There’s a certain energy in a room full of people who’ve decided not to get caught off guard. I felt it the second I walked into The Hive, Sneakreaper Industries’ new San Jacinto headquarters, on opening day. On Saturday, August 22, Sneakreaper Industries opened the doors of its new San Jacinto headquarters, and I drove out to see what Ed Calderon and his crew had put together. This isn’t a store, an it isn’t a gym or a studio either.

Reiff Knives has been very busy this year, releasing updated versions of their existing line up of outdoor and survival fixed blades, relaunching the Vicon Tactical Field knife, and now adding the brand-new bird and trout style knife the Drake. The Drake is a departure from Reiff’s usual robust fixed blade style, but it is a welcome addition to their family of outdoor adventure knives.

This article is based on ORNL-5040 (Corrected), “The KFM, A Homemade Yet Accurate and Dependable Fallout Meter,” by Cresson H. Kearny, Paul R. Barnes, Conrad V. Chester, and Margaret W. Cortner, published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in January 1978. The full document, including scale-accurate patterns, is in the public domain and freely reproducible.

In This Article The Why For thirty-eight and three-quarter days, the ocean had mostly left them alone. Then, with the finish line close enough to see the lights on shore, the Pacific decided to test their commitment to the cause. The four men of Foar the Brave had already called their families. They were three miles out, cruising in at three knots, and a jubilant crowd on the beach had a steak dinner waiting on the table.

Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, a ring of palm-fringed coral in the central Pacific where the United States detonated some of its largest nuclear weapons, leaving a sunken ghost fleet beneath a turquoise lagoon. Bikini Atoll is the most storied nuclear landscape on Earth. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 23 nuclear tests here, including 1954’s Castle Bravo, the largest device the U.S. ever detonated, which vaporized islands and gouged a crater into the reef.

The comeback a lot of people were rooting for looks like it’s happening. Aero Precision, Ballistic Advantage, Stag Arms, and VG6 have new owners, according to a company statement confirmed by internal employees. White Wolf Capital, the private equity firm that held the brands through their hardest stretch, is out entirely. A private family investment group is in. The factory floor is getting spun back up.

MSRP: $220 URL: cascadedesigns.com OG RATING: 8.3 out of 10 NOTES The Mountain Safety Research (MSR) XGK EX Stove is the type of product I’ve been tracking down for years. There’s a difference between gear that’s convenient and gear that’s dependable; the MSR XGK EX (eXpedition Gasoline Kerosine EXpedition) lands firmly in the second category. This isn’t the stove you grab because it’s quiet, lightweight, or easy to finesse.

Nuclear threats feel different today than they did during the Cold War. Back then, people-built backyard shelters and ran drills in school hallways. Today, the risk looks different. It includes the chance of a terrorist dirty bomb, an accident at a power plant, or a regional nuclear exchange between hostile states. The odds of any single event are low. But low odds are not zero, and the people who do best in any disaster are the ones who already know what to do before it happens.

11 p.m. I’m drifting to sleep from the glow of the television. A storm is erupting outside. Suddenly, the lights go out. Being the prepper that I am, it’s more of an inconvenience than an emergency. I wait for a couple minutes, wondering if it’ll come back on. It has been known to flicker in the past, coming back on within a few moments.

MSRP: $400 URL: lionenergy.com OG Rating: 8 out of 10 NOTES There’s a point in most camps where convenience starts to matter — not luxury, just the ability to keep things running without turning it into a project. The Lion Energy Summit fits right into that space. It’s not trying to replace a generator or power an entire setup, but it does a very good job of covering the essentials without adding noise, fumes, or another system you must manage.