DIY AKS-74U Krink Build – Part 1: Parts, Tools and Disassembling the Parts Kit

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Bryan Black
1 of 3 in the series DIY AKS-74U Krink Build

It’s been a few months shy of a year since I embarked on the AKS-74U Build and I’ve learned a whole lot along the way. The single most important thing being that assembling an AK from a demilled parts kit is no easy feat. I’ve mentioned this before in other articles about the AK platform, but I equate assembling an AK like this as true craftsmanship, while the AR is more like putting together a LEGO set.

When you break down the tools, steps and fitting that’s required, it may not be a project that you want to dive into. For the adventurous that are still with me, I’m going to go through everything I’ve learned about building an AK in this series and by the time it’s over, I hope that you’ll know exactly what you’d be getting into if you want to take on a project like this.

I’d like to first thank Jim Fuller, Billy Cho and the Rifle Dynamics crew for their time in helping me with the various questions and concerns that came up while tackling this project. The Rifle Dynamics AK Builder Class that I had the opportunity to attend earlier this year, gave me the confidence to continue with this project. I’ll be honest, looking at a box of demilled AK parts is very intimidating and it’s hard to know where to begin. Again, that’s my hope with this series, to give you an overview of what you’ll need to know to do this yourself.

AKS-74U History

If you remember my first DIY AKS-74U article from last year, I talked about the history of the platform and how in 1974 the Soviets began fielding a new AK design that utilized the smaller 5.45x39mm cartridge, which they dubbed the AK-74. It’s been said that the utilization of a smaller round came out of the US adoption of the 5.56mm, although that was ten years earlier. The 5.45 did significantly reduce the weight of the 7.62x39mm round to about half.

AKS-74Us

Moving further along in nomenclature, I’ve always heard that the Krink (which is short for Krinkov) was a nonsense word in Russian and only recently have I learned from Jim that it is in fact an Americanized way of referring to what the Russians call the Suchka (sooch-ka) or “little bitch.” The captured Russian officer that was carrying the first AKS-74U that Americans had ever seen, was named Krinkov, thus why we refer to it as the Krink over here.

The other parts of the AKS-74U designator are that the “S” in AKS stands for Skladnoy, or in english, folding. The “U” stands for Ukorochenniy, or shortened in english. So basically a shortened (8″ barrel) folding stock variant of the AK-74 chambered in 5.45x39mm.

Parts Required

The core of the AKS-74U I’ll be building comes from a Tula Parts Kit that I picked up at RGUNS. They’re still available and run $775 at the time of this article. Just note that once these parts kits are gone, they’re gone. It’s highly unlikely you’ll continue to be able to source these in the next few years other than through a personal sale. They’re drying up according to Jim and my suggestion is that if you’re interested in ever building one of these on your own, go ahead and buy a quality demilled parts kit like the Tula and worry about the rest later.

I’ll be ensuring that this build is 922r compliant by using many US parts, like a US barrel and US Receiver. The point of mentioning this is that everything else is available here in the states, it’s the parts kits that will be unobtainium at some point. This brings us to those core parts I just mentioned, the receiver and the 8″ barrel. I was referred to 74U, LLC by Jim and I’ve been extremely happy with the authentic US made receiver I purchased from them. Note that it’s currently a three month wait on their work, but it’s worth it. For a little more than $200 I purchased their AKS-74U receiver, built specifically for the 1986 Tula kits.

DIY AKS-74U Krink Build 01

The attention to detail was incredible on the receiver; stamped selector markings, milled selector detents, correct size, number and placement of spot welds and even the correct style center support rivet head. What really intrigued me about the 74U, LLC receivers was that they offered a service to engrave the correct serial number from the parts kit into the receiver, as well as add the NFA SBR markings. This build is classified as an SBR and you’ll need to Form 1 it (see this article for more information on building an SBR.)

Next up is the barrel, I used a barrel that I was fortunate enough to obtain directly from Rifle Dynamics. I’ll be honest, getting an 8″ Krink barrel right now is tough. RGUNS has them on their Website for $100, but they’re always out of stock. This barrel from Rifle Dynamics was made for them by Montana Rifle Company, which has recently been acquired by Freedom Group. I received the barrel and had to have it turned down on a lathe by about 20 thousandths of an inch. RD obtained these to fit the approximately four different sized front-trunion barrel journals out there, with only a slight turning required. Just remember the 5.45 barrel should to be chrome lined. Another resource for barrels you might also want to check out is Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Co., Inc.

A rivet set is also required. I’ll try not to stray too far on rivets, but something to remember is that AKs aren’t rigid and firm like US guns, they stretch, move and flex like jello. Everything is hand fit, there’s no CNC Machining or Mil-Spec on the AK. One of the results of this flexible design is the need for leaded rivets. Not just any rivets will suffice and the reason leaded rivets are used on the AK is that they stretch like a rubber band right along with the gun.

Regular pop rivets will shear right off. You may get off a round or two off before the gun falls apart, or you get physically damaged when the front trunion falls apart. Same goes with screws and don’t even think about welding an AK together. Build it properly from the beginning and it will run forever. I purchased a proper rivet set from AK Builder. I’d highly recommending buying two or even three sets, as it’s easy to mess up when pressing rivets and you’ll need to replace what you screw up with a new rivet. The rivet sets are only around $9, so it’s not a huge deal to pick up extra sets. We’ll get into the different types of rivets this build uses in a later article.

922r Compliance

In addition to the US Made Barrel and US Made Receiver, I need an additional four parts to bring the total to six US parts. While the original specs of 922r identify that if an imported firearm has more than ten of the 20 identified parts that make it an imported “assault weapon,” it’s illegal. As the AK only has 16 of those 20 parts, you need to replace six in order for it not to have more than 10 and be 922r compliant. If you’re interested in reading the full 922r compliance specs, they can be found here:  http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/firearms-technology.html

For this build, the four additional US parts I’ve used are a US made Piston and a Tapco G2 Trigger Group, which along with the hammer, trigger and disconnector, count for three US parts. Something else you might want to consider is a Retainer Plate, which replaces the spring that holds in the hammer and trigger pins. It makes things much easier during installation and I’d highly recommend one.

This pretty much sums up the parts required with the exception of AK74 Magazines. I was able to pick up a few from AK Builder, but also give K-Var a look.

Here’s a look at the cost thus far:

  • $775.00 – AKS-74U Parts Kit
  • $240.00 – Receiver
  • $100.00 – 8″ Barrel
  • $9.00 – Rivet Set (buy two or three)
  • $33.00 – US Piston
  • $30.00 – Trigger Group
  • $5.00 – Retainer Plate
  • $65.00 – GO/NO-GO Gauges
  • $35.00 to 50.00 each – Magazines (5.45x39mm)
  • TOTAL $1,292.00 (minimum)

*Include $200 for the tax stamp on your Form 1 as well*

Tools

While I’m going to get more into the different tools as they’re used in future build articles, I’d like to start by listing the bigger ticket items so you’ll get a sense of what you’ll need overall. You’ll quickly see how much sense it makes to go in with a few buddies on these tools and save some money. Unless you plan on building multiple AKs, purchasing all these tools isn’t very cost effective. The actual rivet tools and jigs from AK Builder are more than likely what you’ll have to purchase as many of the other tools are fairly straight forward and might already be owned or obtainable from a buddy.

13 Charlie Distance 04

12 Charlie Distance 04

DIY AKS-74U Krink Build 04

08 Charlie Distance 04

Disassembly and Demilling

We’ve created videos for each step of the process we’ll be going over in this series, as it’s hard to truly describe what’s happening in words. The AK is such a hands-on build that video is really the only way to go. In this video, we’ll show the disassembly of the stock latch, removal of the folding stock hinge pin, disassembly of the front trunion, punching out the pins on the front sight/gas block and removing the trigger guard.

Stay tuned for the next article in the DIY AKS-74U Krink Build coming soon!

 

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The Secret Operations of P.O. Box 1142

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Mike Petrucci

PO Box 1142

Today it’s an average park where families come to barbecue or play baseball, but during World War II, there were secret operations taking place at this location less than 15 miles from the Pentagon.

To go back even further, this land used to be part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and was purchased by the War Department in 1892. Large gun emplacements were installed to defend the Potomac River from attacks. While operational in 1898, it took until 1904 for all battery construction to be completed.[0]

The massive eight inch guns could fire a round up to eight miles away and were designed to disappear from view when not firing. None were fired in anger and by 1918 all of the batteries were dismantled and sent elsewhere.[1]

Battery Mount Vernon at Fort Hunt

A mixture of uses claimed Fort Hunt until 1930 when the area was transferred the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital. It became a recreational area, much like it is today.

Most likely due to it’s proximity to the Pentagon and the natural surrounding of thick trees, during World War II, the park was transferred back to the War Department for top secret use. Two operations took place at Fort Hunt, MIS-X and MIS-Y at the location simply known as “P.O. Box 1142.”

Author’s Note: This is in no way an exhaustive list of what went on but more of an overview. I highly recommend that you dig for more information yourself because there is a lot out there.

MIS-Y

P.O. Box 1142 POW Transport BusBy the end of the war, some 4,000 captured German prisoners spent time at Fort Hunt. Some would call it a POW camp but technically speaking, it was labeled as a “temporary relocation center.” This was done to get around the Geneva Conventions which required the location of captured personnel be disclosed to their home country.

The Army buses that delivered prisoners to and from P.O. Box 1142 had the windows darkened or were even made windowless so no one could see who was aboard during transport.

The goal wasn’t to simply capture and interrogate as many German prisoners as possible, but rather they aimed for those who possessed significant information. Some of the more well known prisoners to pass through Fort Hunt were rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, spymaster Reinhard Gehlen and Heinz Schlicke who worked on stealth technology. U-boat Lieutenant Commander Werner Henke was also held at Fort Hunt but was fatally shot as he climbed the fence to escape.

Top POW's at PO Box 1142

Photos © Wikipedia

Many of the soldiers stationed at P.O. Box 1142 were born in Germany. These men were recruited specifically for their abilities and background. Since they truly spoke the language and even grew up in the country and culture, they were able to relate well to the prisoners and in some cases they would even act as prisoners themselves.

PO Box 1142 Soldier Station

Listening Bugs In Ceiling

To be clear though, interrogation at this camp did not happen like it does today. In most ways, the interrogators were friendly and cordial.

One soldier later mentioned that they would sometimes give the prisoners just about everything, “wine, women and song” to get information out of them. Often times they would play sports together, swim in the pool and even take them out for dinner dressed in civilian clothes.[2]

Another trick used to gather information was to “bug” the rooms. With these listening devices in place above the ceiling, interrogators were able to gain inside knowledge while the prisoners thought no one was listening.

The men that worked at P.O. box 1142 were sworn to secrecy and many of those still alive are refusing to talk. Luckily, some have shared insight as to what went on because it is declassified today but others have never talked about it to anyone, even their family.

Photos above Courtesy of NPR and the National Park Service.

MIS-X

While MIS-Y was as a type of POW camp at Fort Hunt, there were other covert activities taking place that were even more secretive. So secretive that almost no one knew of its operation and the budget was hidden from the government. Not even those working at MIS-Y were aware MIS-X existed.

The purpose of MIS-X was to send American POW’s in Germany care packages with hidden items allowing them to escape and evade their captors. Fictitious aid organizations and even fake relatives were created so these packages would to reach the captured American soldiers without much suspicion.

Secret Playing Card Map

Through the use of coded messages, American prisoners in German camps became spies and would send back inside information about their surroundings.

On the site of P.O. Box 1142 was a building code named, “the Creamery” which was where cryptoanalysts would decipher coded messages sent from captured American soldiers.

Across from “the Creamery” was a separate building, code name “the Warehouse.” This was the location that held machines and materials necessary to build and assemble escape and evasion kits. These kits would often include saws, button compasses and maps but were always disguised as other items.

Playing cards could be separated so sections of a silk map would be revealed and compasses were hidden in buttons of clothing. Radios were also built into items such as cribbage boards and baseballs that allowed the prisoners to listen to the BBC for coded messages.

All of this effort resulted in the escape of many captured Americans and undoubtedly provided valuable intel on how operations took place.

Hidden Cribbage Board Radio

Photos above courtesy of the National Museum of the US Air Force.

1945

Just days after Japan surrendered and WWII came to a close, the Pentagon ordered that everything at P.O. Box 1142 be destroyed. Some items such as unused food rations were sent to the Salvation Army but all records and devices created at Fort Hunt were burned.

Walking the grounds today, you wouldn’t even consider that anything interesting happened here, let alone some of the most top secret operations of the war.

Remembering P.O. Box 1142

The men that worked at Fort Hunt deserve our thanks and respect. They took their job seriously and understood the importance of maintaining silence during the war.

In 2007, a few veterans of Fort Hunt that served as intelligence workers got together for a reunion. They were honored and recognized for their contributions during their time at P.O. Box 1142 and a flagpole and plaque was placed in Fort Hunt for the first time since WWII.

Fort Hunt Veterans Reunion

Photo Courtesy of the National Park Service.

If you are ever in the Washington DC area and have the time to head a few miles South, I highly recommend you take a trip to Fort Hunt. There’s really nothing left of the top secret operations that took place but if you have an imagination like mine, you’ll still have a great time.

You can also explore the old batteries that are still in place and have been relatively untouched since 1904. While the guns have been long removed, there’s plenty of history to soak in.

Further Reading

Just doing a web search for “P.O. Box 1142” yields many interesting articles and I recommend you poke through them all. Here are some articles in particular that have grabbed my attention:

Footnotes

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Is an NSA-Proof Messaging App Possible? Heml.is Thinks So

Posted on July 24, 2013 by The ITS Crew

Hemlis means “Secret” in Swedish and hopes to bring a messaging app to the market that will prohibit anyone from listening in, including Hemlis themselves.

Companies that we all depend on for our news, information and social experiences have been forced to disclose their user data and even prohibited from telling their users that they have. Even our private communication is susceptible to monitoring.

http://youtu.be/oPeujbY3feM

Secrets are only secrets if they are secret, says Hemlis. To keep our future text messages that way, Hemlis will be based on end-to-end encryption using XMPP w/ PGP. If you’re not familiar with XMPP, it’s an open-source instant messaging protocol that anyone can use. Furthermore, because of the flexibility of XMPP, custom functionality can be built on top of it. In this case, that functionality is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy.)

Current Secure Offerings

The concept of a secure messaging platform isn’t new and there are a few platforms currently available.

Wickr

You may remember that we took a look at Silent Circle’s text messaging offering some time ago and noted that it was a proprietary system and that “Proprietary security software is an oxymoron — if the user is not fundamentally in control of the software, the user has no security.” [source]

Another app worth looking into is Wickr, which offers military-grade encryption of text, picture, audio and video messages. It also features sender-based control over who can read messages, where and for how long.

Apple has also been public about not being able to access communications over FaceTime video chat and iMessage, as the data is encrypted between sender and receiver.

Hemlis hasn’t given a release date for their app, other than saying that it will be ready when it’s done, but has said it will be available through the Apple App Store and on the Android through Google Play.

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Filter Water Easily with the Lightweight and Simple Sawyer Squeeze

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Mike Petrucci

A couple of years ago, I started looking for a water filter to use while hiking in the backcountry of Colorado. Before that time, I hadn’t been on any trips that required me to filter or purify drinking water, so this was all very new to me.

Today, I want to share with you a piece of gear I’ve really enjoyed having on camping trips and feel confident recommending to you. To be blunt, the Sawyer Squeeze is a lightweight water filter that’s extremely easy to use and weighs just ounces in your pack or even your pocket.

The only other filters I’ve seen in use have been pump versions and while a lot of them have proven to be reliable and seem to work well, I was searching for something simple and inexpensive. That’s when I found the Squeeze.

Sawyer claims that their Squeeze Filter is the lightest and most versatile filtration system on the market. In the time I’ve gotten to use it, I feel that’s an accurate description.

Sawyer Squeeze Filter System

Specifications

The spec sheet on the Squeeze Filter is quite impressive. In addition to filtering out just about anything that will make you sick, it boasts a filter life of one million gallons.

“All Sawyer filters deliver 0.1 absolute micron biological filtration, removing 7 log (99.99999%) of all bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, Vibrio cholerae and Salmonella typhi (which cause Cholera and Typhoid); and 6 log (99.9999%) of all protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium.”

This particular model does not treat for viruses and if that’s something you need, you should check out the Sawyer Point Zero Two Viral Water Purifier. It’s a gravity system and works differently than the Squeeze but it seems to be the first portable filtration device to remove viruses mechanically.

Sawyer Squeeze Filter Data

Chart © Sawyer Squeeze

For more information on the technology used and official testing, visit the Sawyer Filter Technology page.

What’s Included

  • (3) Lightweight Durable Collapsible Pouches (0.5 L , 1 L, and 2 L pouch)
  • (1) Replaceable Pop Up Drinking Spout
  • (1) Sawyer 0.1 Absolute Micron Hollow Fiber Membrane Screw On/Off Water Filter
  • (1) Cleaning Syringe
  • Cleaning and Maintenance Instructions

How to Use

  1. Fill the included pouch (or bottle) with water you want to filter.
  2. Screw the filter onto your pouch (or bottle).
  3. Squeeze water through the filter.

That’s it!

If you ever feel the filter getting bogged down, it may be in need of a backwash. They include a syringe to do this but I’ve never had any issues personally.

Versatility

Sawyer Squeeze Filter In ActionAs mentioned, the Squeeze Filter works not only with the included pouches but with most plastic water and soda bottles as well. This is a great feature for those concerned about the water quality while on a trip, or if you lose the pouches that came with the kit.

I like to carry the 1 L bag wrapped around the filter and secured with a rubberband. It hardly takes up any space and weighs in at just over 4 ounces. Since I usually have a 3 L bladder and sometimes a Nalgene bottle, I can leave the Sawyer Squeeze bag empty until I need it.

The size of the filter and empty bags is so small that it can also fit into a cargo pocket. Throwing it in my backpack is never a question because it doesn’t take up any real space or weight for the benefit it provides.

Real World Use

Sawyer Squeeze Filter in Creek

Filling up the bag is the most difficult part to using this kit. You really need some fast moving water such as a mini-waterfall, but if things are slow you’ll find yourself getting creative with how you fill up the bag (or bottle) with water.

The actual operation of using the filter is easy but you have to be careful. I popped a hole in mine at the seam near the top because I was squeezing water out into a Nalgene bottle and forgotten to open the cap of the filter. Obviously a lot of pressure with nowhere to go will indeed find a way out. A little piece of duct tape worked as a solid field expedient patch and has held up since. It also appears that Sawyer has made new bags which are tougher and more durable but I haven’t had an issue with mine otherwise.

While it does flow fairly well, it’s not extremely fast and requires a good bit of squeezing to get water out. This isn’t a problem for just one person but if you are filling up multiple bottles of other people in your hiking trip, it may get a little exhausting.

To give you an idea on how fast you can filter water, I squeezed [insanely] hard and filled up a one liter Liberty Bottle to the brim in 1 minute and 16 seconds. It was tiring and not really necessary to go that fast but it’s possible.

Why I Like It

While I haven’t tried dozens of different filter systems, I really don’t think that I need to. The beauty of the Sawyer Squeeze is it’s simplicity. It’s also incredibly lightweight and works on a good number of devices (bags and pouches). When you compare it to other filter systems, it’s also quite inexpensive.

I highly recommend the Sawyer Squeeze Filter System to anyone looking for a quality water filter that requires no setup or real know how and is looking to shave some weight from their kit.

Sawyer Squeeze Filter Kit

Where to Buy

You can purchase the Squeeze Filter System directly from Sawyer for $59.99 or a number of outdoor stores. Amazon currently has the kit as low as $37.81.

Posted in Gear | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Redefining Survival: Simply, Getting Home

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Kino Davis

Survival. It’s definitely a topic we all are interested in and something most of us hope (and like to think) we are good at. That single word conjures some of the most primal human drives; after all, most everything that we do is about staying alive.

Truth is, most of us are survivors already. If you were walking around yesterday and you are here today, you are a survivor — and that comes to the point: that word can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.

We can survive lots of unpleasant situations: we can survive illness, a bad job, a rough business and a divorce but face it, for most who frequent this site, when we say “survival” we are referring to jungles, deserts and the remote outback. We can all agree that the situation in question brings to mind the most austere and grim conditions, or some remote alien landscape.

Most of the time, when we think about “survival”, we seem to get lulled into gritty docudramas where one man (and his camera and support crew) are faced with the challenges of living for some unknown time in the woods behind the Holiday Inn. Okay, that’s not entirely fair, some of the popular shows do feature knowledgeable and skilled experts but they seem to focus on just surviving for the sake of surviving. This leaves us running around in the woods or wherever, moving from one obstacle to the next, with no clear-cut goal at the end. No methodology for an end game, other than getting picked up for another season.

There’s No Place Like Home

Sure, we all like the rugged romance of planting our flag in some pristine meadow and starting our own colony. There will be a life-size statue of you in the center of the village and for generations men will sit around campfires and sing songs about you; it’s happened plenty of times before, with arguably mixed results.

I like the colonization skills as much as anyone else. I guess you can call it bushcraft but I’ve always preferred the term “Pioneering.” It seems like a uniquely American term honoring those that pioneered this great country – that is until you look the word up and see its origin which is a tad less than flattering.

But the practical side of this is that in a “survival” situation, most of us just want to get home. Face it, the chances of our wilderness kingdom turning out like Gilligan’s Island are not that great. More than likely it will end up looking a lot more like The Hills Have Eyes.

Decide to Survive

So there it is. The goal for most of the garden-variety survival situations – where my butt is lost, stranded or otherwise somehow abandoned in the middle of nowhere – is to find an end to that situation. I figure there are two things I can do when I am devoid of the creature comforts of my home: I can recreate home where I am or I can remove myself from the situation and go to the home I already have.

People ask me what is the number one thing that I want in a survival situation. I want a helicopter. Seriously, I am not a huge fan of riding in rotary-wing aircraft, but that is the one and only thing that I want in that situation. If I don’t have one with me, I am going to do everything in my power to attract one. They are out there, I have seen them flying in the wild and I know that they tend to gather around areas where a person has been reported lost.

Get this though, I am not naive. I completely understand that it is equally important to be able to live long enough to be rescued, as well as to have enough forethought that I am reasonably sure someone will be looking for me. In a helicopter.

More to Come

I will be contributing a series of articles about the basics of the preparation, necessities and actions that will keep you alive long enough to get home. Hopefully we can stimulate some good arguments and share a lot of information to the benefit of all. In the future we can dive into foraging, trapping, advanced navigation, construction, field hygiene, tool making, pioneering, stranded vehicle recovery and more groovy things, but the first few pieces will cover the basic nuts and bolts: Health, Shelter, Signaling and Water. Looking forward to it.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Kino Davis is now retired from 26 years of combined active duty service with the U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard. After retiring, he worked in the defense and small arms industry before starting Dark Mountain Research, a small consulting and training company. He has also served as the Command Chief, Senior Instructor and Team Leader for a Deployable Law Enforcement and Training Team, where he directly oversaw and/or participated in the classroom and field training of thousands of military, federal and state personnel. Please join us in welcoming Kino Davis as a contributor on ITS Tactical.

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A Look at the BioLite CampStove: Boil Water and Charge Your Phone at the Same Time

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Mike Petrucci

BioLite Stove

If you’re looking to shave ounces on your next hiking trip, the BioLite CampStove may not be the best option. It’s heavy, you can’t use it in a downpour, the fan can be a bit noisy and it may take a little practice to learn how to use properly.

But that doesn’t mean you should write it off.

The BioLite stove is still a lot of fun and can not only be a great camping companion, but is extremely useful in other situations.

Author’s Note: This isn’t a full review or test of how well it works but an overview on the basics.

BioLite CampStove

What is It?

To describe the BioLite CampStove simply, it is a wood burning stove that converts heat into electricity in order to charge USB powered devices.

Using only the sticks and twigs you find in nature, you can charge a wide array of devices with the power converted from the mini campfire you create. Because it runs on renewable fuel found outdoors, it’s also fairly “green” (if you’re into that).

“BioLite Stoves make cooking on wood as clean, safe & easy as modern fuels while generating electricity to charge phones, lights and other electronics off-grid.“

I first fell in love with the idea of the BioLite CampStove when I saw that they were using them during Superstorm Sandy to charge people’s phones and provide hot beverages for those affected by the power outages.

BioLite Stove Charging

Photo © BioLite – BioLite in Action: Emergency CampStove Kits Donated

The BioLite team is based out of Brooklyn, New York and instead of just marking up the cost and selling them on the street to those in need, they gathered up a bunch of firewood and setup stations that would boil water for tea and also charge the smartphones of those trying to check-in with loved ones.

Important Information

  • Compatible Devices: Most USB-chargeable devices including smartphones
  • Fuel: Burns sticks, pine cones, pellets and other biomass
  • 4.5 minutes to boil 1 liter of water
  • Packed size: Height 8.25 inches, Width 5 inches
  • Weight: 2 lbs 1 oz / 935 grams

Why I Like It

It’s fun to build a fire. Well, maybe not for everyone and maybe not all of the time but there is something rewarding about getting a fire started and just watching the wood glow while listening to the sound of sticks crackling. This stove scratches the wood fire itch for sure.

Simply put, the BioLite CampStove is also just a neat idea. If you enjoy new technology then you’ll probably love this gadget.

Backcountry Camping

I feel that this stove is totally capable of handling your needs if you are going backcountry camping. It can provide the basics of providing heat and boiling water and as a bonus, it can charge your mobile phone.

Some will argue that you shouldn’t bring your phone let alone have the need to charge it while camping. I agree that you should embrace nature without having the need to tweet about it non-stop but my phone doubles as my camera and I like to leave with photographic memories for later.

I’ll also often store some notes about the hike on my phone and having a device that charges my phone and can also pull double duty to boil water or cook food is very useful.

BioLite CampStove boiling water

Other Uses

Honestly, I see the BioLite stove really shining when it comes to an emergency or natural disaster. Power knocked out for a few days? You can boil water for safe drinking and cooking and keep your phone charged so you can stay up to date on what’s going on.

It can also be great to bring along in the car if you want an impromptu s’more or weenie roast. Yeah it sounds a bit goofy but it’s easy to set up and if you pack a few sticks (for fuel) beforehand, you’ll have everything you need to enjoy a hotdog in the park.

If you’re looking to do more substantial grilling, check out their new portable grill that allows you to cook about four burgers or six hotdogs at once. It even has it’s own system of HI, MED and LO temperature zones.

Real World Test

Again, not as a timed or metered test of efficiency but a in simple “Does it work?” test, I can certainly say that it works as intended.

BioLite Stove in ActionWhile hiking Old Rag Mountain in Virginia, I brought along the BioLite CampStove to boil water for lunch at the summit. I found all the sticks I needed right where I set up the stove and had it going in no time. It also only took just under 5 minutes to boil the necessary water.

I recommend the BioLite stove but it may not be for everyone. Does this stove fulfill your needs? There are many camp stoves that are both lighter and more inexpensive than the BioLite and they may fit the bill perfectly.

I recommend checking out a few alternatives but if you want something fun and full of new tech, give this stove a shot.

Where to Buy

You can buy the CampStove direct from BioLite or from REI for $129.95.

Posted in Gear | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Enter to Win a Pacsafe Z28 Urban Security Backpack! *Update!*

Posted on July 17, 2013 by The ITS Crew

See below for winner announcement.

ITS contributor Brian Green recently reviewed the Pacsafe Z28 backpack and showed how it can be a secure solution for protecting your valuables while out and about. This backpack would be great for anyone traveling and staying in a hotel room or simply for additional reassurance when securing items in the trunk of your car.

Interested in getting one for free? Of course you are! Thanks to Brian, we have a contest to give away a brand new Pacsafe Z28 backpack valued at $220 to one lucky reader!

Pacsafe Z28 Security Backpack

What’s Up for Grabs?

  • (1) Brand new Pacsafe Z28

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We’d like to thank Brian Green from Brian’s Backpacking Blog for supplying the prize in this giveaway. Be sure to check out his blog for great backpacking tips & tricks and gear reviews.

Good luck!

Congratulations to Mike L. for winning this latest contest! Mike has been contacted and will receive his backpack shortly. Stay tuned fore more contests in the future!

Contest Fine Print:

  • Contest open to U.S. residents only.
  • One winner will be selected at random and will receive a brand new Pacsafe Z28 backpack.
  • The winner will be notified by email. Once contacted, they have 24 hours to claim their prize. If we do not receive a response from them within 24 hours, we will select a new winner.
  • Contest ends at 11:59 PM CST on 7/24/13.
Posted in ITS Information | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Activity: A Comic Book with Realism, Espionage and Intrigue

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Bryan Black

I’m a geek at heart and not afraid to admit it. I love reading comics, graphic novels and watching cartoons when I have the time. It’s something I enjoy in my downtime when not focusing on ITS Tactical, which isn’t very often, but is something I make time for.

We all need our releases outside of our daily routines and plus, I feel that staying young at heart, helps out in more ways that I can write here. It’s this that leads me into the local Comic Book shop on a regular basis and how I first found out about The Activity.

The Activity 01

The Activity is much more than a comic book, despite being released as such on a regular basis. What originally drew me to the series was the first thing that always draws me into a new comic, the art. Of course the action-intensive cover I first saw certainly helped me choose to pick it up over hundreds of other books at the Comic Book Store.

Story + Art = Success

Truthfully, I’m a sucker for great art and without that I admit that it’s hard for me to give a story a chance. That being said, the teamwork that writer Nathan Edmondson and artist Mitch Gerads bring to the table is phenomenal. The story is descriptive, authentic and full of meaning, while allowing the art to pull the reader into the action and tell its own side of the story.

The Activity 02

Another thing that I’ve come to understand is that The Activity is operated by Nathan and Mitch, who have joined forces with Image Comics to produce their work. I’m sure many other comic series’ are developed like this, but I really respect Image Comics for letting the guys have the autonomy to create The Activity the way they want to.

The Activity 03

I continue to search for military inspired comics and graphic novels and have only come across a select few that hold my interest and provide realism. Yes, it’s a comic book and comics are generally fiction, but what’s really grabbed me about the few that I’ve taken to, is the realism. I’ve tried to read G.I. Joe (even the newer ones,) which of course is not even in the same ballpark as The Activity, but I just can’t get past the fairy-tale story line.

It’s like watching a movie where the bad guy shoots over a hundred rounds from a pistol without reloading. Yes it has action and it might have been a good movie, but those always leave me wondering who their “advisors” were on those movies.

Realism and Balancing OPSEC

What separates The Activity, in terms of realism, is the story line that follows a true US Army Unit, Intelligence Support Activity. These are the men and women who collect intel for various Tier 1 military units and are doing great and often unrecognized work for our guys.

Good intel is hard to come by and it’s very interesting to see how The Activity integrates their story, while paying attention to OPSEC (Operational Security) and ensuring that those who are collecting intel against us, aren’t given a leg up.

The Activity 04

Without giving up too much of the plot line, The Activity is also multi-faceted, integrating characters from multiple units and branches of the military. From the Pentagon, to CAG (Combat Applications Group,) JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command,) OTS (Office of Technical Service) and even SAS (British Special Air Service.) Within ISA (Intelligence Support Activity) there’s also multiple units to include SIGINT, HUMINT and Direct Action.

Get ‘The Activity’

It’s been awesome to see the character development and plot twists as The Activity has continued, now in it’s 13th issue with the 14th due out soon. I’d highly recommend The Activity if these kind of authentic military espionage/thriller story lines interest you.

06 Alpha Distance 02

While any good Comic Book Shop can source the back issues of The Activity, Image Comics has collected Issues 1-5 in Volume 1 of The Activity and Issues 6-11 in Volume 2. Both trade paperbacks are available from Amazon for a great price. The Activity is also available digitally through Comixology.

Additionally, if you’re interested in The Activity swag, Nathan has a Website set up where’s he’s selling shirts, stickers and more. I’d also recommend following Nathan and Mitch on Twitter and other social media to keep up with the latest on The Activity and the other projects they’re working on. I surf Mitch’s Website quite a bit too and really dig his art!

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Furry Friend Today: Food Tomorrow

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Tom F.

As our population continues to increase and expand, small towns are now big, rural outskirts are becoming vibrant mini-metroplexes and quaint mountain towns are sprawling communities.

With this progression and expansion of where we are choosing to live, the fusing of nature and our homes are becoming an everyday occurrence. Let’s go for a drive and describe what we see.

Morning

As you cruise through your neighborhood, you will most likely spot a little bunny rabbit on your neighbors lawn in search of something to eat. How many bird feeders and birdbaths do you see with a Swallow or Robin sitting on the edge watching you drive by?

You may spot a grandpa sitting on the front porch with his granddaughter holding a few slices of white bread, rolling them into small doughy balls and tossing them to the squirrels that seem to get closer and closer to eating from her hand every day. As you pass the community pond, you notice that in the center is a fountain launching a perfect flower shaped cascade of water into the air. You also notice that many ducks and geese have made the small pond into their home.

Evening

If you were to wait until it cools down a little and drive by this pond again, you’d see the same older man with his granddaughter. They are now feeding bread to the ducks and geese, but he also has a fishing pole with a line in the water. Now you are home and you are ready to go inside when your neighbor, who is outside mowing his lawn, shuts off the engine and calls your name. You respond with a “hello” as you meet him halfway.

He proceeds to tell you about his morning walk with his dog. He saw a coyote and he offers up some neighborly advice. He tells you to be careful because he has heard of small dogs being taken from backyards by these coyotes.

You drift off into imagination land and snicker to yourself as you think of life without your wife’s yappy little ankle biter of a dog. Jokingly you tell your neighbor, “Maybe I will start letting my wife’s dog into the backyard more often.” You both laugh as you part ways.

Night

You are now sitting reading bedtime stories to your children as you hear a familiar series of events. First, you hear your trashcans crash to the ground followed by one of them rolling down the driveway.

All of this commotion has the neighbor’s dog across the street barking up a storm. You know from past experience that this barking will last for a while until the owner makes his way to his screen door. A “shut up!” rings across the lawn as your neighbor tries to quiet his dog.

You head outside and are cleaning up the scattered trash from the driveway and lawn because those annoying raccoons have gone after your leftovers again.

The Average Neighborhood

This is your average neighborhood. I live here and you live here. Your parents most likely live in a similar neighborhood that you visit every Sunday afternoon.

We are surrounded by Mother Nature’s little critters. The larger animals that hunt those critters and the waterfowl, like geese, that you curse every time you wash off the gifts they left in your driveway. Take a minute to reminisce on your childhood. You are peering from behind the rosebush as the unsuspecting squirrel scavenges the front yard for little morsels of food. You explode from behind the bush and are in hot pursuit of this squirrel.

Either you got dumber or the squirrel got smarter because it became harder and harder to get the jump on him. Now that you are older, you basically do the same thing; you are now constantly trying to rid your yard of these animals that cause you extra work.

You’ve now become the “home engineer” trying to figure out a way to keep the squirrel from eating all the birdseed and how to keep the geese from using your driveway as a porta-potty. You may have also avoided planting particular flowers and plants because you don’t want to deal with rabbits feeding on them.

It’s time to break these habits.

Stop for a second and think about how much wildlife lives around your home. This is an opportunity for you to provide yourself with a food source in the case of a “The End of the World as We Know It” type of event. Do practical things now that will help you if you are faced with the need to provide your family with food later (and there are no stores open).

Leverage Animal Instincts

Animals are creatures of habit. Time and time again they will return to the places where they know there is food and water. You see it a lot in the neighborhood pond. The geese and ducks use that pond as a place to stop on their way south. In fact, you’ve seen them year after year.

The squirrel knows you have a well-stocked bird feeder so he stops by once a day to fill up. You always notice the rabbits in the same yard because that home owner happened to plant flowers that they like to eat.

And of course you feel as if that pesky raccoon only enjoys going after your trashcans and leftovers but your neighbors feel the same way. The fact of the matter is not that you have one giant glutton of a raccoon that makes his rounds to every trashcan, it’s that you have more raccoons in your neighborhood than you would have thought. They don’t call them the “masked bandit” for nothing.

When Catastrophe Strikes

You’re hunkered down in your house for the long haul while a lot of your neighbors have vacated in the hopes to find help. You’ve done your best to prepare but are wondering how long you have to make your supplies last. Will it be a month? Will it be six months? Or will it be even longer? Should you start rationing the food to your family? What will you do if you run out of food or water before things turn around?

Now imagine being able to substitute and supplement your supply of food with fresh meat. If you were able to dry and preserve what you could harvest, your situation could improve greatly.

How do we accomplish this?

Here are some practical tips to start today that will help you tomorrow:

  1. Install bird feeders and birdbaths in your front and back yard. More importantly than installing them is keeping them well-stocked with food and water. Birds aren’t looking for a place to hang out, they are looking for a place to eat. If you provide a consistent supply, you will quickly see a regular group of birds starting to visit.
  2. Install platform feeders on your fences and on your trees. Top them off with some sort of birdseed or other feed and you will start to see regular squirrel visitors to your yards and trees. They will soon learn that they can always come there for food.
  3. Instead of throwing that half loaf of stale bread in the trash, take the time to sit on your porch and feed the geese. Or go to a nearby pond and feed the geese and ducks.
  4. When you make the trip to the pond, take extra bread and maybe some frozen corn. Pick a spot on the pond that will provide easy access to the waters edge and find a location that is somewhat shallow. At least once a week visit this same spot and put some bread pieces, corn, or some other type of food source into the water. The fish will quickly start to frequent this area of the pond. After a while, you should be able to walk to this area of the pond and see a few fish hanging out looking for a quick meal. How easy would it to be to just take a net and scoop up one of these fish?
  5. Buy a small pail or use an old coffee can and when you clean up after dinner and instead of throwing your scraps into your trashcan, put them into this can. When you set your trashcans out put this can near them. You will soon learn that your trashcans will not be knocked over as much. The raccoons will be happy to take the easy food source found in your small can of scraps rather than working to get into the trashcan. Doing this will bring raccoons and other scavenger visitors to your home on a regular basis.
  6. Take the time to ask your neighbors what plants they have that the rabbits keep eating. Now use that knowledge and do some gardening. Within a few months you will see rabbits at your home regularly for feeding.

Prepare now. Ready tomorrow.

This will take some time and effort on your part and possibly a small bump in your weekly grocery bill. You will also have to incorporate this into your existing plans to build up a stash of survival food and water. You need to have enough supplies of birdseed, squirrel food, food for the fish and scraps for the raccoons to keep them coming back.

This plan of action will do you no good if at the point you need to utilize it, you run out of the items that you used to keep the animals coming to your home. But in the long run it could be a life saver.

In the event of a major catastrophe, not only will resources for humans be depleted, but the resources that these animals rely on will become depleted as well. You can take advantage of this situation by creating a habitat in your own front and back yard where animals will know they can visit for food.

Now go back to that thought of actually being in this survival situation. You are able to turn your six month supply of food into a year supply of food because of your ability to supplement it with fresh items. Would you feel a little better about your situation if you were provided with this extra source of food?

Personally, I live in an urban environment and the plans that I have laid out are specifically geared towards those of us who do live in your average urban city neighborhood. Some special considerations to this plan of action will have to be considered if you live in more of a rural part of your state.

Those of you who live in bear country will know that you have to be very careful in the ways that you store food and garbage as to not attract bears to the outside or inside of your home. For those of you who live on a larger piece of land, you will have the ability to garden not only to grow things for your family, but you will be able to grow items specifically to attract animals to your area.

In the end, you know your surroundings better than I do so tailor your plans specifically to your own needs and locale.

If you are willing to add this to your routine of chores around the house, you can get the gratification of seeing a food source visit your home every day and the thought of having to survive becomes little less intimidating.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: Tom works in the firearm industry and spends his downtime researching, learning and practicing self-reliance and survival skill-sets that will help his family in good times or bad.

Posted in Survival | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

ITS Urban Kit for E&E, Slimline Pouch for our EDC Trauma Kit and Sons Of Liberty Stickers New to the ITS Store!

Posted on July 12, 2013 by The ITS Crew

We just added some awesome new items to the ITS Tactical store! This is a lot of awesomeness, especially for one Friday but we wanted to kick off the weekend with a bang! Read on to check out our new ITS Urban Kit, EDC Slimline Pouch and our new Sons Of Liberty Flag Stickers!

ITS Urban Kit

ITS Urban Kit

The Urban Kit is our solution for the tools needed during Escape and Evasion or a Home Invasion Scenario to escape from illegal restraint. This kit was not designed to thwart Law Enforcement or endanger those protecting our streets daily.

Escaping illegal restraint from Zip Ties and Handcuffs is heavily advocated here at ITS Tactical and as long as Zip Ties are available and Handcuffs can be purchased by anyone off-the-shelf from Army-Navy stores or a host of resources online, the average citizen needs to have access to these tools to escape potential illegal restraint.

  • (1) FRS (Folding Razor Saw)
  • (1) Diamond Wire Blade
  • (1) Handcuff Shim
  • (1) Padlock Bypass Tool
  • (2) Universal Handcuff Keys
  • (1) Ceramic Razor Blade
  • (6) Feet of 135 lb. Test Kevlar Cordage
  • (6) Feet of Stainless-Steel Coated Leader Wire
  • (1) Button Compass – Grade AA

Head over to the ITS Store to prep yourself with our new Urban Kit!

ITS EDC Slimline Pouch

ITS EDC Slimline Pouch

The EDC Slimline Pouch is not only our answer for a more versatile way to carry our EDC Trauma Kit, but also a host of other items you’d want to keep close at hand.

ITS EDC Slimline Pouch 08

Weighing just 1.2 ounces, the EDC Slimline Pouch can also be used to hold an iPhone, a full-size tourniquet (SOFTT-W or CAT) a spiral bound notebook and host of other items we haven’t even considered yet. We’ve even been able to use it as a belt-mounted makeshift double pistol mag pouch.

ITS Sons Of Liberty Flag Stickers

ITS Sons Of Liberty Stickers

Our Sons of Liberty Flag Stickers are based on our highly sought after Sons Of Liberty Flag Morale Patches and come in a set of two, perfect for discreetly displaying your support for the rebellious stripes flag. They each measure 3″ wide x 1.5″ tall and are made from high-quality silkscreened vinyl that features a UV coating that makes them perfect for affixing to a vehicle. These stickers are built to last!

Posted in ITS Information | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments