Personal Safety
Bulletproof Bushcraft On a Budget
Interested in great bushcraft ideas? I was searching around on the web a few nights ago and ran across a great YouTube series from Dave Canterbury ( from Dual Survival Season 1 & 2). Dave is someone whom I admire for his ingenuity, survival skills, and bushcraft skills. He is all about being prepared but also being practical about it. Dave knows that survival needs to be put into the hands of the common man and that your survival gear doesn't always have to be a huge brand name in order to be high-quality. I loved this video series and wanted to share it with you. Dave talks about the importance of sleep and the quality gear you can acquire at a reasonable price. Check out the series below and let me know what you think.
Bulletproof Bushcraft | Quality Sleeping Gear for All Seasons
Budget Tarps
If you have the money to spend, you can go for quality lightweight tarps that are fairly expensive. It will be at a price range of around $65-100. On the other hand, these inexpensive tarps are an alternative bushcraft camping gear:
- Regular Polypropylene Tarp – Choose a thickness of 4 mils for this tarp. It's a pretty good thickness that will last at least a season. At 6 x 8 ft, this tarp is big enough to cover one person and costs only $4-5 depending on where you buy it. This tarp is also going to fold up really small to put in your pack in emergency situations.
- Canvas Tarps – The canvas tarp in this video has grommets in about 8 to 10 places on the tarp. It costs $35 but this one's going to last longer than a season. Canvas tarps are water resistant and are not as susceptible to flame as Polypropylene and other more expensive tarps.
Wool Blankets
There are high-quality wool blankets that are thick and big for you to wrap up in comfortably below freezing point. However, if the temperature goes down below 20 degrees, it's going to be hard staying comfortable unless you spend more money on a good one. Keep in mind that if it's not 100% wool, there's not a whole lot of advantages. Wool blankets have to be fire retardant, water resistant, and maintain the insulative value even if wet. This can only be accomplished if the wool blanket is 100% wool. The difference in price between ordinary wool blankets and hand-woven 100% wool blankets is huge. Ordinary wool blankets costs around $15-20 whereas 100% wool can be 10 times the price. The big advantage of 100% wool is it keeps you warm below freezing point.
Sleeping Bags
The modular sleep system for the military uses the bivy bag and arctic bag. It's a sleep system designed for harsh weather conditions considering what soldiers go through in the field. The bivy is a gore-tex bag which is 100% waterproof. You can lay in a puddle with it and not get wet. With the use of the bivy and arctic bag, you can sleep on top of nine inches of snow in minus 13-degree weather and still feel warm. Sleeping bags have the advantage for their lofting that keeps you warm and traps dead airspace. However, the big disadvantage is that you can't use them around a campfire. A small mistake can easily burn these materials. Looking at the brighter side, this waterproof sleeping system costs around $75.
This is really good information for preppers out there. There are advantages and disadvantages to any system that you want to use. If you have the money to buy, there isn't going to be a problem looking for the most durable and comfortable sleeping system. If you have a tighter budget, then you need to be able to mix and match the cost and quality of your gear.
What do you think about Dave's presentation in choosing your sleeping gear? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Up Next: 14 Unique Camping Tricks | Camp Like A Redneck
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Editor’s Note – This post was originally published in May 2013 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
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Ben in Coloredo
May 2, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Can’t get the video to play, Whassup?! Going to youtube….
Joe
May 2, 2013 at 3:53 PM
Hey Ben, not sure what happened it works fine for me. sorry about the confusion
Richard
May 7, 2013 at 5:36 PM
I’m 71 years old, retired Army Sergeant Major (32 years & Vietnam TET-vet medic). I have a Master’s degree in family counseling, but haven’t practiced in several years. My wife is approaching 70 & she has COPD. What can I do to start getting prepared for whatever will be (notice I didn’t might be!!) coming down the pike?
Hollister
October 12, 2013 at 1:42 PM
Richard, What can you do in the case an EMP? A budget plan that helps all might be to keep the “food factories” going. What would a farm with livestock need to be productive without electricity? Planting, harvesting and storing food is their priority. Pamphlet an area. Talk to people now. Get a pump to presurize their home water supply. Get hand tools. Planters, wheel hoes, scythes and corn knives would keep their operation productive. Seeds that produce storable, nutritious food and information that would make living easier. Few farms will be ready for an EMP. Good people will always need good people. You will find each other.
Ken Robinson
May 20, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Joe,
Those Pathfinders Videos are Excellent! Taught with respect to a beginners level without insulting the more advanced.
A Great Refresher and picked up some new ideas.
I was a bit disappointed at the prices in the store, hardly “Budget” IMHO. But it IS good stuff.
Overall you hit the mark!
Brian
January 21, 2014 at 10:24 AM
I have seen a lot of survival programs and I would have to say the best one that I have seen is “Dual Survival” !!! I cannot learn enough from Dave and Cody and I think that they are the guys that you want to teach you how to survive.
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