Outdoors

Gear and skills for time spent away from roads and buildings, whether it was planned or not. The longest page builds a survival kit in tiers, from what stays in a pocket to what waits in the car. Others deal with choosing a fixed-blade knife, weaving a paracord bracelet and the wider rescue belt made on the same principle, and twisting usable rope from a plastic trash bag.

For shelter and water there is a debris hut built from branches and leaf litter, a method for gathering dew at first light with a cloth, and a close look at the modular sleeping bag system issued to American troops. A craft page shapes Kydex sheet with heat into a knife sheath.

Two pages point to other sources: Hesperian’s handbooks Where There Is No Doctor and Where There Is No Dentist, and a 2011 ranking of survival blogs, kept as a record of that year. A list of skills worth practicing well before the day they are needed completes the section.