Extopian

You probably won’t find the Purslane at your local grocery store, but given its wide distribution, you MIGHT find it growing in lots and parks near your grocer. In fact, it’s found in nearly every temperate climate zone in the world north of the Equator. In North America, if can be found as far south as Mexico right up to the Arctic Circle, though some contend the plant is an invasive species in the New World. Regardless of its origins, this “lowly weed” is a hardy and versatile, if somewhat under-appreciated, source of nutrition. And yet, most people couldn’t distinguish the plant from a line up of common plants in their region. If you can learn to identify the Purslane, you’ll be well ahead of your contemporaries and able to enjoy a free, tasty treat with little competition.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Earthquakes are among those handful of natural disasters that are at once, expected while simultaneously being unpredictable. That is to say that while we know that parts of the world are prone to earthquakes and can identify general trends, we have no reliable way to predict them or even monitor their approach. This often makes them much more catastrophic than hurricanes, flood and tornados when they do strike a heavily populated area. History and pre-history is full of cities and civilizations brought low or wiped out by the “Unquiet Earth” in its various forms.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

It’s no secret that we’re fans of freshwater and saltwater fishing here at Extopian, both as a source of nourishment and as (one of many) motivators for responsible stewardship of our planet’s aquatic environments. One HUGE issue facing our waters is the accumulation of refuse from the fishing practice. Anyone who has fished at popular lakes and streams is no stranger to stray and broken lines in the brush and waters. From the lure and bobbers in our area, I’d estimate that some of them are easily a decade old and that’s just the ones ABOVE the water.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

No one would argue that having the right tool for the job is not one of the cornerstones of preparedness. And, while improvisation is another vital trait for the prepared individual, the use of tools is one of the hallmarks of humanity. With that in mind, we’re going to look at the Knife… one of man’s earliest tools and how it fits into modern survival and preparedness scenarios.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Some are recreational off-roaders, to whom, much of this will be core knowledge. Some of us drive off-road only occasionally to access some of the more remote portions of our regions; such as the Forest “Roads” of National Forests. More commonly, though people find themselves occasional off-roaders because of weather conditions or other unexpected situations. This article is for the last two categories. It can save you damage to your vehicle, hazard to life/limb and hopefully and being stranded.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

WAPA is the Western Australian Police Academy. They regularly train their members in outback survival as well as share preparedness and training information with the general public. These ration packs are produced and issued by the Command and Land Operations Unit and are available in two menus and both have been designed to ensure food and vitamin needs are sufficient to meet daily requirements when involved in practical activities in the outdoors. I’ve decided to share add the information to Extopian because these could very easily be produced from supplies found at most traditional grocery stores; a real economic boon for those who want to add a 24 ration pack to their bug-out bag, car emergency kit or home disaster readiness plan without resorting to costly pre-made solutions.

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Popularity: 2% [?]