New Non-Fiction Survival Book by Tony Nester (JT Sawyer)

JT's new non-fiction book is now available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and other digital platforms.

Can you really get water in the desert from a solar still? Should you ever attempt to suture a wound, Rambo style, in the backcountry? What is the best treatment for a rattlesnake bite? How do you distinguish cougar tracks from dog tracks? Should you drink from your swimming pool during an urban disaster? How do you survive a night in the snow without any gear? These are just a few of the many questions survival instructor Tony Nester (JT Sawyer) answers in his informative, and at times, humorous book. Culled from the past twenty-five years of teaching, writing, and responding to readers of his popular Practical Survival book series, Tony delves into the Q & A of survival as it relates to forest, desert, jungle, and urban settings along with the often misunderstood realm of living off the land. Survival Q & A is now available as an eBook on Amazon and other ereaders.

First Wave Book Series Now in a Boxed Set

It has been a busy two months with finishing up the last of my survival courses for the season, working on two new non-fiction books, and turning the First Wave Series into a book bundle. The latter is now available on Amazon and will be at the sale price of .99 for the month of December. The splendid cover is due to the talents of designer Melody Simmons who has done all of my covers.

Stay tuned for another volume in the Carlie Simmons Post-Apocalyptic Thriller which will be due out later this winter.

Take care
JT

Emergency Food Supplies

Types of Food to Stock Up On
I sometimes have people in my survival courses who confide that their emergency food storage consists of 6 months of MREs or a 30-day supply of Ramen Noodles.

There’s nothing wrong with having the above chow on hand in limited quantity. I carry a few MREs in my truck for a roadside emergency but I sure don’t want to live off such synthetic stuff for a couple of months. I also know that the color will drain out of my kids’ faces if they are ever confronted with an MRE again. Save this "food" for the Bug-out Bag and invest in items that you normally eat at home until you have at least a 7-30 day supply. You want to strive for around 2000 calories a day per person.

There are 3 areas to plan for:

Dried Goods- rice, oats, lentils, millet, beans, green peas, brown sugar, coffee, tea, pasta, flour, dried soup mixes, wheat and barley to name some of what we have in storage. Personally, I have lived on rice and lentils for dinner and oats for breakfast for up to 21 days straight on long-term wilderness treks and my body did extremely well. Rice and lentils provides a complete protein and plenty of carbs. Tabasco was a good friend with such an unchanging menu.

Canned Goods- Stock up on your favorites by purchasing 3 cans more of what you normally eat on each trip to the grocery store. In our household, we have the following on hand: corn, pinto and black beans, green beans, pumpkin (great for mixing into pancakes and muffins), pineapple, tuna, diced tomatos, ham, chicken, tuna, pears, and squash.

Dehydrated and Freeze-Dried Food- My advice is to go to an outdoor gear shop and purchase a few of the different brands of dehydrated meals first before investing in a few hundred bucks of SHTF supplies that may have a considerable gag factor. These meals are also intended for people who exert themselves (backpacking, canoeing, etc… ) and need to replace lost salts so some of the meals contain up to 56% sodium.

Mountain House and AlpineAire can both be found at outdoor gear shops. Walton Feed and Wise Foods also sell high-quality items such as dehydrated veges and even canned butter. Most these brands have a shelf-life of 5-20 years and require a cup or two of boiling water to rehydrate. Again, sample things and see what tastes good, especially if you're planning on living on these for a few months. 

Strive for a minimum supply of food for 7 days and then work up to more if your budget and storage abilities allow for it.

Grid-Down Tools for Travelers

 A Few Tools for Travelers and Off-Grid Situations
 
As I spend a lot of time on the road teaching, I've been trying out a number of portable power-devices for keeping the Smartphone, Kindle, and laptop charged. There are some excellent items out there now that should be considered if you log a lot of hours in airports, on the road, or simply want to have a lo-tech energy supply, for small devices, at home in the event of an emergency.

The Anker 2nd Gen Astro3 is probably my favorite and most-used. This costs around $50 and will hold approximately 500 charges over its lifetime. I plug mine into a wall outlet or laptop at home for initial charging and then it will charge my Iphone or Kindle several times before it needs recharging. Joos is another option, costs around $140, and is solar-powered. This is a sturdily constructed device for those in sunny regions and holds up better in the field. Lastly, you can pick up a Mophie Powerstation at your local Verizon store for around $75. This can be used in a similar fashion to the Anker charger.

No Place to Hide - Now Available

No Place to Hide

I am thrilled to announce that the third book in the First Wave series, No Place to Hide, is now available on Kindle.

This book picks up where the second title left off. As Travis Combs and his band of fighters head for the secret lab in Durango, they face the convergence of powerful forces bent on securing the vaccine in his possession. With a traitor in their midst, and with the emerging threat of faster moving zombies, he must lead his weary group through the mountains and take the battle to his enemy.

On a related note, you can also read an interview with me on survival skills and wilderness hazards by visiting writer Fiona Quinn's website.

Take care and enjoy the wilds!
JT