Former EMT here: the rule of thumb with impaled objects is “stabilize for immediate transport” so you are on the right track, but you probably would want to leave enough of the arrow shaft not cut off to be able to immobilize it— so it doesn’t move and increase tissue damage. Then surround it with gauze pads and pressure bandages. Just bear in mind he’s got to be gotten on a gurney and into a truck, so think about how that’s going to be accomplished when you bandage the wound. Stop bleeding first, stabilize second, prepare for transport third. If you can’t stop the bleeding with the arrow impaled you will need to apply a tourniquet above the wound. 

Latest edition isn’t available as free pdf but here’s the 3rd edition http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43814/9789240682313_eng.pdf

Strong recommendation for adding Larry Dean Olsen’s Outdoor Survival Skills to the list. There’s a reason this book has stayed in print for five decades: it’s still one of the best primitive survival skill books written for North American conditions. 

Coleman fuel is gasoline, it’s just very low octane with no additives. Safer from an inhalation perspective. 

As a former EMT and SAR I totally agree. I keep my gear in plastic bins, one being  a cold weather bin that has the heavy bag, parka, Sorels and other winter gear. Keeping an inventory sheet taped to the bin is good practice: I put anything that expires in pencil. 

Take a look at Plano tackle box inserts. They have sturdy water resistant boxes of all sizes set up with multiple divider options. Way cheaper than Pelican… not waterproof, but unless you are swimming with your FAK they’ll do. That plus a Plano soft tackle bag sized to your needs and you should be good. 

Of the devices you’ve illustrated, I’d suggest the kerosene space heater be retired. Modern space heaters are significantly safer — just not worth the risk unless it’s all that’s left between you and freezing.  Crank washers — look for any signs of rust, or give up on having white clothes ever again.  We used to spend the summer on an island where power went out with every storm, sometimes for many days and every house had a crank washer or wash tub and board and a mangle and clothes line, Hurricane lamps and a kerosene or wood stove as backup.  US blow torches used gasoline, European used kerosene. The US ones are much more dangerous.  That spinning wheel is for wool, not cotton. Old spinning wheels are typically for wool unless they are for flax with a cage like thing on the distaff for the flax fibers. Flax wheels are usually smaller too.  Hand crank coffee grinders are cool, but you can get whatever grind you want with two slightly different size cast iron skillets. The hand crank ones with a side wheel are easier to use because they keep spinning with momentum. Half the tools in my shed were my grandfather’s and over 50 years old, does that count? 

That tragic situation exactly illustrates my point. If you can safely fire a warning shot, you have just proven to a DA you were never truly at risk. 

This article ranks the current top three: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-hiking-baby-carriers/ It’s been many years since I needed one but did many mountain hiking miles with a Gerry we bought used in a baby hand me down shop in CO. Had a folding aluminum frame that you could set the baby down in. Since your kids won’t be small forever, baby shops in hiking towns might be a good place to look if ebay fails. As I recall the bottom of the Gerry frame was empty and we rigged a bunch of mountain smith pouches to it to carry other gear. Most of the baby carriers at that time were good for hefting a baby but not great for gear: you may want to either add accessory pouches or go with a chest rig for extra gear regardless. Also depending on your terrain, I did a lot of miles in airports with one or two toddlers dragged around straddling a Boyt rolling duffle bag. They actually loved it. Way better than a backpack on flat ground when two kids are crashing at once.

Why no ALICE? OK, so it wins no points for comfort, and unless it’s next to a MOLLE and patch covered tacticool pack, it’s not looking entirely “civilian” but I’m still surprised the venerable large and medium ALICE packs didn’t make the cut. Unlike other possibly better milsurp packs, ALICE gear is always available, and usually at the sub $200 mark. Are there more comfortable packs out there? Sure, but you can also buy shoulder pads for $20 or less that make an ALICE more than tolerable. But, if I needed a bag that I knew could:  1. carry a 5 gallon water bag or as many cinderblocks as i can carry up hill many times without falling apart  2. be stripped to the frame to haul out a deer over several miles 3. carry as much weight as I can without failing over 1000s of miles  4. last 30+ years (I have one that I bought lightly used in 1985 that’s needed two small repairs in 1000s of miles, had one strap replaced —because of baggage handling —and handled expedition use on three continents) 5. Has a decent layout for a top loader with five decent pockets for immediate needs  6. Costs less than $200 its a class of one. Yeah, it’s not new, or sexy, but it works. 

One comment that doesn’t come across in the one liner or category, Deep Survival is a series of insights about what happens psychologically in dangerous and/or survival situations and is one of the best books I’ve read to help understand the psychology of surviving as well as what psychological factors contribute to failure to survive. 

I find the handle design really comfortable and ergonomic. Wood handle hasn’t ever failed me in decades of use, but it’s nice to know I could probably field repair if I had to. The wide blade is great for things like making sandwiches, and the stippled back edge allows a thumb rest for fine work. It’s also a heavy enough blade for making fire sticks, but not the weight of a BK2. All the Grohmann Canadian knife designs are good, but the one you’ve pictured has been my constant trail knife for over 30 years. Plus it doesn’t scream tactical even when carried (as I do) swinging from the outside of my pack. (Lanyard is attached on mine by an S swivel; it’s never fallen all the way out of the sheath but came close once after a fall) 

There’s a typo it’s the Becker BK2 not BK22.  Curious that the DH Russell Canadian belt knife didn’t get a mention. This is one of the best all around knife designs I’ve ever used. Does everything from delicate tasks like cleaning fish to heavier work like making feather sticks with ease. 

The jury will consider the law. It’s not just the lethality of the use of force. It’s also about the act of discharging a firearm. Many jurisdictions outlaw the discharge of firearms except for lawful self defense, hunting, target practice. No jurisdiction I’ve ever lived in says warning shots are legal.  A shotgun round can kill out to 100s of yards, a rifle or pistol bullet 1000s. That warning shot goes up, and comes down. At the same velocity it went up.  Warning shots are a legally perilous choice: if I fire a warning shot and that resolves the situation, I actually have proven I wasn’t under threat of immediate death, so I should never have shot in the first place. If you live by the fundamental safety maxim that you never point a firearm at something you don’t intend to destroy, good safety says no warning shots and no less lethal ammunition. If you take a look at the history of less lethal ammunition, it’s legally used in riot control where ranges can be known, and rounds are only fired within the less lethal range. Even then people die and are maimed.  I guess from my perspective it’s not tricky at all, it’s binary. If the threat warrants lethal force and you are morally and legally prepared to take a life or seriously wound another human to stop it, use a firearm. If not to either or both, find another means. As an armed civilian your rules of engagement are not the same as a riot cop, and you don’t enjoy the same legal protection. 

I’m not a lawyer, but it’s my understanding  in almost all jurisdictions you are only justified in using lethal force when  facing imminent unavoidable threat of death or grievous bodily harm to yourself or another innocent. If it isn’t imminent you aren’t justified, and thus the decision to use a less than lethal munition isn’t either. In many jurisdictions a warning shot is illegal. If you have the opportunity to warn, you aren’t at imminent risk.  At the kind of social distance the typical use of force situation occurs in (typically under 7 feet) a beanbag or other less lethal round is also lethal. If you have the opportunity to withdraw, you aren’t justified in using lethal force. And at the range you can’t otherwise withdraw, bean bags or rubber buckshot are lethal.  For this reason, I’ve always advised my students against less lethal munitions, and advocated they keep pepper spray or foam with their home defense weapon.  There is a justified use for less lethal ammunition but it’s not likely to be in self defense against humans. If you live where there are large wild animals you want to discourage from going after your trash or other nuisance behavior and you are either unable legally or unwilling to kill, rubber buckshot might be useful at appropriately non lethal ranges. But for a private citizen, less lethal munitions are not a legally justifiable option. In the same vein, speciality shotgun gimmick loads like flechette rounds are a legal landmine.

Some things I’d add based on my experience as an NRA certified pistol and personal protection instructor for over 30 years. All are for the critical decision about first gun, and all I’ve used to steer many of my students away from the pistol to a shotgun over the years. First is shotguns vs AR platform: while I would always rather have a carbine for ranges over 75 yards, at under 75 yards the US military has proved in multiple studies the 12 gauge shotgun is the most effective infantry weapon. From SPIW in the 60s to house clearing in the war on terror, multiple studies and real world experiences confirm the short to medium range effectiveness of a shotgun stopping the fight, unless the target is behind hard cover, typically not something a typical home contains. Buckshot ammunition is much less likely to overpenetrate: typically buckshot will stay in the envelope of a typical frame house, while 223 unless it shatters can go through at least four typical walls. In an urban environment that creates significant risk to the innocent. Slugs will over penetrate as well, but with a shotgun you have a choice. You can also select your load on the fly by topping up a tube magazine with slugs, birdshot or buck from a buttstock carrier, flexibility no carbine or 9mm supports.  But that’s not the reason I recommend the shotgun. The truly deciding factor is training and access to moving targets. For a lot of folks I teach, it’s clear they are not interested or dedicated enough to devote themselves to the discipline of learning to use a handgun safely and effectively.  I can teach someone to handle a shotgun effectively in a matter of hours and have them reliably hit stationary man sized targets first time every time. This is true of a smaller number of handgun students. If they aren’t looking to carry concealed, the learning curve of a handgun is steep, and requires continuing practice to stay sharp. Even the relatively well trained police officers (NYPD numbers cited) hit rate in gunfights is 18 percent, rising to a whopping 37 percent at ranges under 7 yards. There’s a good reason police officers who know they are going into a shooting situation grab a shotgun or carbine out of the rack.  But the most important reason is fundamental: bad guys don’t stand still. Unless someone has had military training or (in the Northeast extremely rare) access to an advanced range, shotguns are the only common weapon my students can practice using against moving targets. The old days of going to the dump and rolling a target inside a tire are long gone. A clay pigeon is 4.3 inches rather than the 5.5 of a 25 yard bullseye pistol target… and, on a sporting clays course it’s going 55 mph at distances between 15 and 50 yards. Even Jerry Miculek or his daughter Lena wouldn’t pick a pistol to shoot moving targets.  Finally, a semi 20 gauge or even a light 12 with low recoil ammunition can be reasonably be handled by even my smallest students. A lot of 9mm and most 45 handguns are not well suited to small hands and low arm strength. Anyone with reduced mobility or arthritis may struggle with slide springs, particularly under stress.  One gun? Yes, I support your 9mm or AR choice. But first gun for beginners looking to defend their home? Shotgun.

A word of warning: chamomile allergy, though rare, can cause anaphylaxis.  Lemon balm, in the mint family, makes a tea that is a strong sedative as well as having anti-anxiety and anti-viral qualities. From personal experience, it can be soporific. A medically reviewed guide to some of the common medicinal herbs can be found here: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?contenttypeid=1&contentid=1169

Adding to this, many of the most common long store foods (rice, beans) or winter produce (root vegetables/potatoes) may not supply enough A, D or C.

Depends on the weight of the upper skillet and how coarse or fine a grind you want… but not a long time. Maybe five minutes for a French press, ten for espresso. At the outside. For a single cup, five minutes tops. 

Simple non electric method for grinding beans is to put them between two cast iron skillets of appropriate sizes then press and spin the top one until your desired grind is reached. No need for an expensive hand grinder.