Heat Reflective Survival Tarp Shelter Set Up

In this fourth and final installment of my DIY Heat Reflective Survival Tarp Shelter, I set up the tarp as I would for use during an overnight. There are many ways that the tarp shelter's warmth can be increased, for example by decreasing the amount of space underneath the shelter or using a heat reflector as well building up the sides for additional heat retention/wind prevention.

Hopefully you enjoyed this series. Stay tuned for an upcoming overnight where I will use the tarp as my only shelter for the night.

Taut Line Hitch For Tarp Shelter Ridgeline

In this third installment of my heat reflective tarp shelter series, I show the simple knot used to secure the ridgeline between your two fixed points. The Taut-Line Hitch. Using the instructions from the second video of the series, I use my braided ridgeline eyelet to secure the ridgeline on the first fixed point. Then I take the other end around the second fixed point and use the Taut Line Hitch to secure the ridgeline. Its a perfect know that gives you total control of tautness as well as the angle of the ridgeline.

Braiding a Tarp Shelter Ridgeline with Paracord

Welcome back to my Heat Reflective Survival Tarp Shelter series. In part two of the series, I show you how to braid a ridgeline using 550 Paracord.

The ridgeline serves as the primary support for holding up your tarp shelter. By spanning the ridgeline between two trees or other fixed objects, you can orient you tarp shelter as needed. Using specific knots and the eyelet we've spliced in to the paracord ridgeline you can modify the tarp shelter quickly in the field to account for wind or precipitation.

Stay tuned for parts three and four!

DIY Heat Reflective Survival Tarp Shelter

In this first video of a four part series, I show a Do It Yourself project to create a tarp shelter that will reflect and retain more warmth back to you should you find yourself in a cold weather survival scenario.

Using simple, inexpensive items you can make a compact weight efficient tarp shelter that will help retain heat more effectively than your typical tarp shelter.

Stay tuned for the rest of this series which will cover:
-Braiding a Ridgeline from 550 Paracord
-Setting up your ridgeline with a Taut-Line Hitch
-Setting up your Tarp Shelter

Magpul Core MBUS Pro Offset Sights

Magpul Pro Offset Sights In The Field Review

In this video I review the new Magpul MBUS Pro Offset sights. These are high quality, durable sights designed for use as back up sights should your primary optic go down or you encounter a close range target, too close to quickly engage with your primary magnified optic.

The sights are made of durable melonited steel, with positive detent lockup when deployed. You can easily zero these sights with tool-less adjustments for both windage and elevation. The low profile design makes this compatible with most rifle configurations. The sight sits at the standard height over bore for the AR platform.

The rear sight features a folding aperture to increase peep size for close range targets, or decrease for more accurate aiming should your magnified optic go down.

The sight can easily be attached to the picatinny rail with a 7/64” hex wrench, but one is not provided with the sight.

Both sights pop down during transport and storage, and can easily be deployed one handed.

MSRP Rear-$105/Front-$85/Set $190, $160 street price (as of 1/15)
There are many aftermarket options for offset or “canted” sights, all across the price spectrum. The magpul sights are high quality and are in the neighborhood of other high end sights like the Griffin Armament fail safe sights. A few months ago I tested a lower end pair during a competition and I was pleased with concept, but the quality wasn’t up to my standards. I was in the market for a pair and when I saw the magpul release I knew I found what I was looking for.

After thorough testing in both range practice and "for fun/training" competitions, I am very impressed with the MBUS Pro Offset sights. They are reasonably priced, work as intended, and are exactly what I have come to expect from Magpul. I strongly recommend these to anyone looking for a pair of canted or offset iron sights.

DIY Bow Riser Paracord Grip

To compliment my recent review of the Spectre II Compact Take-Down bow by Xpectre Inc., in this video I whip a parcord handle on to the bow's riser both above and below the arrow rest. While I'm not left handed, this gives me two lengths of paracord already attached to the bow should I truly find myself in a survival situation. It makes shooting the bow more comfortable as well, which allows for better accuracy when it counts.

Spectre II Take Down Survival Bow Review

In this video, I review the Spectre II Compact Take Down Survival Bow made by Xpectre Inc.

This bow is the 35 pound draw weight model, which is sufficient for taking game sized up to white tail deer. Another benefit of the lower draw weight is the ability to practice longer before fatigue compared to other heavier draw weight bows. This is crucial for a beginner, experienced in bow hunting, and would also be beneficial were you in a true survival situation in that the lighter draw weight will be easier to manipulate and control were you truly in a fatigued, survival situation. For me, the lower draw weight of this bow compliments my heavier hunting bows well, because I can practice instinctive shooting at a much lower draw weight and practice that much longer before fatigue.

The bow is constructed of a fiberglass riser and composite limbs. The bow can be easily strung without a bow stringer or any tools, making it extremely field expedient to assemble. It does come with a Dacron string, but unfortunately the arrows provided did not nock on the string, nor would my customer built arrows. So I replaced the string with a 14 strand Flemish twist bowstring. The string as an actual length of 50" should you choose to replace it as I did. CAUTION - That is actual length, not AMO.

The bow was very accurate out of the box at distances within 20 yards. Having only shot it a few times, I can tell you with practice this is a legitimate tool that could be used for medium game, but this bow really shines in smaller game where you'll be able to get closer to the quarry.

This bow is extremely light weight, at only 1 pound 12 ounces when strung. The provided case, 4 arrows, and bow when taken down have an extremely small footprint allowing for easy transport and storage, and is light at 2 pounds 3 ounces.

All in all, for under $100 (replacement string included) this is a perfect bow to compliment your preparedness plans and I intend to include this in my Get Home Bag.

Saiga 12 MD Arms 20 Round Drum Magazine Fitting

In this video I show a quick DIY mod in order to properly fit the MD Arms 20 round drum magazine in to your Saiga 12 semi-automatic shotgun.

http://www.mdarms.com/index.php?main_...

The MD Arms 20 round 12 gauge drum magazine is designed for use with the Russian Saiga 12 semi-automatic shotgun. It is a reliable magazine which significantly increase firepower of the 12 gauge shotgun compared to standard single stack magazines. 20 rounds of 12 gauge in a semi-auto platform gives the Saiga 12 significant advantage over other semi-auto and pump shotguns in action/sport shooting.

Due to the tolerance in the construction of the Saiga 12, the magazine may not fit "out of the box" and may require slight modification. In about 50% of Saigas, the drum magazine should fit without modification. MD Arms wisely errs on the side of caution, making the magazine with slightly more material. Otherwise, the other 50% of users would have a loose fitting magazine which can impact reliable cycling and feeding of 12 gauge shells. This video provides detailed step by step instructions in HD 1080p to ensure you get the proper fit with your MD Arms 20 round drum magazine.