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Survivaltek Contributes Article In Newsweek Magazine Special Edition “Off Grid”

Ken — Sat, 07 Feb 2015 14:01:07 +0000

There is an increasing number of folks who have considered what life would be like outside the walls of civilized infrastructure due to catastrophe or simply because of their own personal desire to pursue it. To address this potential scenario, Newsweek Magazine has just published a special edition entitled “Off Grid” to help them become prepared for basic human survival using natural resources.

I was contacted back in December of 2014 by the Special Edition editor who had read my previous article on campfire construction and inquired about my interest in expanding that into an article for their next Special Edition. The purpose was to instruct folks how to take a flame generated from devices such as lighters, matches or ferrocerium and make a campfire in order to sustain it, enabling them to stay warm, cook, or signal as needed.

After some discussion I wrote the article with these goals in mind…

– the need for a campfire
– the principles of a campfire
– what materials to use and where to find them
– my “go-to” fire-lay
– other styles of campfires and their advantages
– ways to protect a campfire in different environments
– the need for safety precautions

The article is entitled “The Quest For Fire” and is found on page 12. This Special Edition has other helpful and interesting information that will make it a nice addition to the library of off-grid inquirers and enthusiasts. It will remain on the news-stands until April 7th.

Jumper Cable Campfire – In Action

Ken — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 11:56:08 +0000

My youngest son and his friends headed up to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to go camping. Once they arrived they set up the tent and then it was time to get the campfire going. ‘Who has the lighter? No one!?! Can’t find the matches? How about a car lighter?’ Zip! (and I don’t mean Zippo!). Who would have thought this could happen?!! Well… sometimes it does, and fortunately, my son knew the solution. He has helped me on many occasions to capture images for survivaltek articles and has been privy to many of my techniques. So with the assistance of his friends, he was able to employ the firecraft method demonstrated in “Jumper Cable Campfire” to save the day.

It was a rainy day so they had to use an umbrella to keep the tinder dry and they decided to run the engine to support their battery during the pencil heating process. The time from clamping the pencil to producing a flame took less than 1 1/2 minutes. They transported the initial flame over to the campfire ring where they proceeded to build their campfire for the day.

I am proud of their achievement and was delighted that they captured it by video using a cell phone for our enjoyment. Click on the photo to watch the video… it’s amazing!

Survivaltek Webcast Interview

Ken — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:57:39 +0000

Saturday evening at 8:00 P.M. was a Survivaltek 1st… a webcast interview on PRN (Preparedness Radio Network) on the show “Your Preparation Station” with Donna Miller (of Millers Grain House & Grain Storehouse). Preparation Station features topics related to emergency preparedness in relation to provisions and self sustainment. The uniqueness of Survivaltek is that it is related to short term survival techniques in the space between emergency and safety that is often ignored in preparedness planning.

I spent most of the day reviewing the Survivaltek website and used the menu page contents as my outline. I had previously sent Donna pertinent questions that would help to focus our interview and I wrote notes for my answers. The mechanics of the interview involve both the host and interviewee to call PRN where an engineer hooks them up for the broadcast. I had tried different hard-line phones to avoid battery issues and hopefully gain better audio fidelity. When I dialed in and connected with the station engineer, almost immediately there were technical difficulties on my end… I could hear them clearly but they could not hear me. After quickly testing the connections, I opted to use my cell phone which successfully connected and we were able to resume the interview. During the down-time Donna was able to read a short bio that I had sent ahead of time so it fit nicely into the program. I was grateful to have a backup plan in place. Thankfully, the cell phone had just enough battery life to complete the call.

The interview went well. Donna has a wonderful way of presenting questions to her quests and I found that the information flowed and I felt at ease during the program. If you missed the program you can click HERE to listen to it. At the close of the program we had just begun to discuss firecraft, so it looks like there may be another program on the horizon to expand on this, my favorite subject. Stay tuned for more…