Survival & Self-Defense

Water, fire, shelter, navigation and the lawful defense of yourself and your family. Skills you carry, taught safety-first, for men and women.

The BRO Survival & Preparedness GuideThe printable family manual: a kit and go-bag builder, water and food calculators, the core skills and a family emergency plan.Get ready, calmly

$Do the walk-out math at the trailhead, not at mile six$

GuideWes DunbarNov 6, 20266 min

Do the walk-out math at the trailhead, not at mile six

Most people guess wrong about how far and how long the walk back is, and they all guess in the same direction. Here's how to get it right before you need it.

Your survival kit doesn't fit on a wrist

From the Survival & Self-Defense archive

Older stories

GuideWes DunbarOct 10, 20265 min

Search and rescue starts looking at your kitchen table

GuideNina CastellanSep 23, 20266 min

Concealed carry for women that actually works

BRO TakeDean ShawSep 26, 20266 min

Your Right to Bear Arms Is a Promise to Your Family

GuideNina CastellanSep 23, 20266 min

Pepper Spray Is a Skill, Not a Keychain Charm

GuideMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

Start Your Son on a .22 and Make Him Earn the Rest

GuideNina CastellanSep 23, 20266 min

Gear that fits and nerves that hold on your first solo trip

Survival & Self-Defense on video

Worth an hour of your evening

From channels we rate. Plays on YouTube.

Joanna Soh OfficialApr 26

5 Self-Defense Moves Every Woman Should Know | HER Network

Matt NumrichApr 14

Top 4 Situational Awareness Tips Every Senior Should Know

Wilson CombatDec 6

The 5 Stages of Situational Awareness - Critical Mas EP 72

CPPSJan 7

Three Tips To Practice Effective Situational Awareness - The Center for Personal Protection & Safety

Warrior Poet SocietyApr 3

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS without Being Paranoid

Ranger Survival and Field CraftMar 26

Learn 10 Beginner Bushcraft & Survival Skills!

BUSHCRAFT TOOLSMar 4

50 Survival Tips - Food | Fire | Shelter | Water - Wilderness knowledge you should know

Woodsbound OutdoorsFeb 4

20+ Wilderness Survival Tips and Bushcraft Self Reliance Skills

Ranger Survival and Field CraftApr 24

10 Military Wilderness Survival Skills in 10 Minutes! Vol. 1

Woodsbound OutdoorsOct 22

10 Wilderness Survival Tips and Bushcraft Skills you need to know!

WIREDFeb 26

How to Start a Fire in a Survival Situation | Basic Instincts | WIRED

TA OutdoorsJul 22

10 Wilderness Survival Tips in 10 Minutes

Survival LillyJun 17

12 Survival Skills Everyone Should Know!

Clay HayesSep 16

10 Survival and Bushcraft HACKS you probably didn't know!

ON ThreeApr 2

Survival Skills For Beginners (Crash Course)

Simon, a bloke in the woodsDec 8

Purifying Water - Filters vs Boiling vs Chemicals. What I do to Make Water Safe for Drinking.

Survival & Self-Defense quizzes

Quiz yourself, then your friends

All quizzes

GuideDean ShawOct 11, 20266 min

The water filter that outlasts the trip, and the parts that decide it

A filter can fail without a single visible sign. Here's what wears out, what to read in the warranty, and how to tell a keeper from a one-season gadget.

GuideWes DunbarOct 10, 20265 min

The spark was never the hard part

A ferro rod throws a fat shower of sparks. The rookie still ends up in the dark. The veteran lights it on the first strike.

Ask BRO

Rewrite my CV so it actually gets read

Ask it

GuideWes DunbarOct 10, 20265 min

The first night under a tarp, done wrong and done right

One guy learns at 2 a.m. what another learned decades ago. A rookie and a veteran pitch the same tarp, and only one of them sleeps.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

PartnerGermProof.com

4 min read

The bow drill set that makes smoke instead of excuses

Friction fire is a real skill with real steps. Here's how it actually goes, including the part where your first forty minutes produce a warm stick.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

GuideSam OrtizOct 10, 20266 min

Hand your teenager the map and then keep your mouth shut

A weekend hike, a $20 compass and one rule for you: let them be wrong while it's still safe. How to teach a teenager to read a topo map on the trail.

GuideDean ShawOct 10, 20265 min

The Lighter Was Empty. It's Always the Lighter.

Gear rarely fails because it's cheap. It fails because nobody tested it since last season. A ten-minute check at the kitchen table fixes most of it.

PartnerWhackAWoke.com

GuideCal BrennanOct 10, 20265 min

Can you carry a forty-pound kid two miles?

Survival fitness isn't sprinting or pull-ups. It's walking far with weight on you, and almost nobody trains for it.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

GuideCal BrennanOct 10, 20266 min

The eye burn you won't feel until midnight

Snow blindness is a sunburn on your corneas, and it shows up hours late. Here's how to keep your eyes and skin intact above the tree line.

GuideCal BrennanOct 10, 20266 min

A Carry-Out Turns One Injured Hiker Into Three

Most carry-outs shouldn't happen. Here's how to tell, and how to build a stretcher that holds when yours is the rare one that should.

Ask BRO

Give me something to do with my kids this weekend

Ask it

GuideWes DunbarOct 10, 20266 min

Snow is free water until you try to drink it

Melting snow costs fuel. Eating it costs body heat. Here's how to make water from snow without scorching a pot, running out of gas, or chilling yourself.