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Supplements for Survival Product Review and Giveaway Tactical Protein Replacement

Many of us are already aware of the need for vitamin and mineral supplements to help insure our diets contain all the necessary nutrients. We often fail to realize that there are other nutrients that are as equally important to our survival. One of these essential nutrients is protein.

Protein is required for maintaining and repairing tissue (especially muscle), to keep our immune system functioning properly, production of necessary hormones and providing energy for our body. These important body functions may be significantly impaired without the consumption of adequate amounts of protein. This can be a critical factor in a survival scenario.

Symptoms of inadequate protein consumption may include weight loss (including muscle tissue), fatigue or a general overall weak feeling, an increased susceptibility to infections, and swelling (edema) due to fluid retention. When your body is low on protein, it can also enter the “starvation mode”. One of the early signs that indicate a lack of protein is muscle weakness. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t store protein and this essential nutrient must come from the foods we consume on a daily basis. This could create problems If we don’t know where our next meal is coming from or when.

The Product

A tactical protein replacement from www.vitalitysci.com called SurvivAmino was chosen for this test. It is a fat-free, non GMO, gluten free protein supplement that contains no artificial preservatives or meat or dairy products. This is a big plus in my opinion. This supplement is also in a form that makes it readily absorbable by the body. This also makes it a suitable product for use by those who require a gluten free product or wish to maintain a strict vegetarian diet.

The Review

For this review, a 72 hour scenario was utilized to check the effectiveness of a protein supplement to:

1. Use as a supplement to avoid cramps or swelling during normal activity levels.

On the first day, the protein supplement was used instead of my normal breakfast of scrambled eggs prior to my daily hike/walk. There was some minor cramping in my right leg after several miles but was “walked off” and my hike/walk was continued without further problems.

2. Use as a supplement to avoid weakness or fatigue due to strenuous activity with limited caloric intake.

On the second day, the protein supplement was used a meal replacement for lunch. The day was spent in a period of fairly steady activity while doing some minor repairs to my bug-out van. Overall the lack of an actual meal did not hinder my ability to work at a steady pace and work wasnt discontinued until well into the afternoon. At this time, temperatures were getting extremely hot and required a break in my activity.

3. Use as a meal replacement to avoid hunger pains due to lack of a sufficient meal.

On the third day, the protein supplement was used as a total meal replacement. Activities for the day were pretty routine and not anything of a strenuous nature. Even though I had missed two meals already, my appetite wasnt that great. After eating a small evening meal, my hunger was satisfied. While this supplement shouldnt be used on a regular basis as a meal substitute, it actually did quite well in this regards. It is best to remember that we get additional nutrients from our food and should make every effort possible to eat regular meals when possible.

Overall Review

The contents of the tactical protein supplement were securely packaged and included both an outer seal on the cap and an inner seal to protect the integrity of the product. The dosage size was five tablets and the supplement contained a total of 100 tablets. The packaging gets a thumbs up.

The tablets are fairly large and required them to be swallowed individually. If you have trouble swallowing large pills, you would probably need to break them in half. In my case, they were just swallowed one at a time.

There is no taste factor involved. When compared with Mrs. RW’s home made granola/protein bars, the clear winner in the taste department was Mrs. RW’s protein bars. The pills won’t satisfy your taste buds even though they had readily available amounts of protein.

A tactical protein supplement can serve you well when hiking or backpacking, as an addition to your bug-out bag or as a means to keep the amount of proteins in your body at sufficient levels. Since the body doesnt store protein, it doesnt hurt to keep a good protein supplement available for when it might be needed. These tablets also have a good shelf life and come in a portable form that is easily stored or carried.

The Giveaway

One lucky reader will receive a free product sample of Survivamino from www.vitalitysci.comby leaving a comment about your experience using protein supplements. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments on this post and announced at a later date. Those of you wishing to obtain this protein supplement can also visit www.vitalitysci.com and use the promo code “rwalker” to receive a discount on your purchase of Survivamino at checkout.

While many people realize the importance of supplements to aid our diet, protein supplements are quite often neglected and sometimes fail to be included in an effort to maintain proper dietary nutrient levels for our survival.

Got protein?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Supplements for Survival Product Review and Giveaway Tactical Protein Replacement

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Gear Giveaway The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide

In his latest book, “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide”, Creek Stewart has put together a rather impressive and unique wilderness survival guide. This survival guide utilizes a theme based on a very popular series of books and a major motion picture. Hollywood special effects and make-up crews can create on camera sequences that almost make survival look easy. In real life, you will need a lot more to survive. This book showcases many of the survivals skills and tricks utilized by the characters in the movie and gives a thorough explanation of how to develop those same survival skills. It is having a proper working knowledge of survival skills that will ultimately keep you alive.

One of the things that is fairly unique to this book is the number of illustrations it contains. It is positively loaded with pictures from start to finish and this makes visualizing the skills being taught much easier. It also makes it an excellent guide for younger people who are quite likely to be more “visually” orientated. If you like illustrations, this survival guide has plenty from start to finish.

Building a primitive survival shelter is one of the more impressive sections of the book. Techniques for building a debris hut are clearly illustrated so that even the novice survivalist can build an excellent shelter for their survival. These shelter instructions are very good.

Even if you haven’t read the trilogy or seen the movie, this is still an excellent survival guide with many useful tips and tricks for developing your primitive survival skills. The subject matter is laid out in an easy to understand and organized manner that closely follows the table of contents. It also has a very impressive index that can quickly guide you to the location of relevant survival information you may be seeking. This also allows you to review specific survival topics quickly, easily and in a very precise manner. Creek has also included a section that lists numerous survival kit resources that will allow you to find additional survival gear or information that you may need.

Creek also includes a number of “Survival Quick Tips” throughout the book that can help you further enhance your survival skills. These tips cover a wide variety of survival techniques that can be of value to anyone reading or using his book.

All things considered, this is an excellent survival guide that is well organized, with easily referenced topics and numerous illustrations to help the reader have a much better understanding of the survival skills being outlined and taught in the book. This can certainly help to put the odds in your favor.

Whether you are new to the game of survival or youre a seasoned "pro", this book will help the novice develop new skills and the more experienced survivalist to reinforce their current skills.

Riverwalker gives “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide ” by Creek Stewart a thumbs up!

Special Reader’s Bonus - Free Survival Gear Giveaway

As a special bonus to my readers, Stealth Survival is also having a survival gear giveaway sponsored by Creek Stewart and Willow Haven Outdoor. Two lucky readers will win a multi-function survival tool, a bandanna, a drawstring backpack and a free copy of “The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide” signed by the author.

In addition, the winners will receive an added bonus. A signal mirror from Riverwalker and Stealth Survival will be included in the gear the winners receive. This is the same signal mirror featured in the recent series of posts on “Building a Survival Kit.”

How do you win? It’s simple and easy. Leave a comment on this post with a “Survival Quick Tip” of your own that you feel others may be able to use. That’s all you need to do in order to have a chance at winning the gear giveaway. Two winners will be chosen from the responses received and will be announced in a special post on June 1, 2013.

You may also want to check out Creek Stewart’s first book, ”Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit”. This is another excellent book that you may wish to include in your survival library.

Creek Stewart is the owner of Willow Haven Outdoor, a Survival and Disaster Preparedness Training Facility located in central Indiana.

Are you ready to put the odds in your favor?

Then let the “games” begin!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Disclaimer: This book is unofficial and unauthorized. It is not authorized, approved, licensed or endorsed by Suzanne Collins, her publishers, or Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation.

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Gear Giveaway The Unofficial Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Bonus Giveaway The MiniFARMING Guide to Composting

Probably one of the least understood things when it comes to gardening is being able to make compost. Knowing a few basic techniques can help you enrich your gardening experience and make your plants a lot happier. Brett Markham in The Mini Farming Guide to Composting: Self-Sufficiency from Your Kitchen to Your Backyard can help you achieve your goal of better gardening through the use of composting.

While not a technical manual on composting, Markham manages to provide a basic and simple understanding of what is required to be successful when composting. He also provides an explanation of several ways to make a compost bin including a simple plan using a five gallon bucket to make a small composting bin. This would even be a great project that would allow urban dwellers with minimum amounts of space to benefit from composting as well. He also gives very good instructions on how to make compost tea in simple and easy to understand terms. Just don’t use one of your wife’s good pillowcases or you could wind up in the doghouse.

Even if you are an experienced gardener, there are numerous tips and tricks throughout his book that can help make your gardening efforts more successful through the use of proper composting techniques. A little compost can go a long way in making your gardening efforts a success.

As an added bonus, one lucky reader will win a free copy of The Mini Farming Guide to Composting: Self-Sufficiency from Your Kitchen to Your Backyard. Just leave a comment telling us of your composting experience. Feel free to include any tips or tricks you think others may find useful. A winner will be chosen at random on March 15th and the winner will receive their free book directly from the publisher.

You might also want to check out Brett Markham’s other books including Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre.

Got compost?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Bonus Giveaway The MiniFARMING Guide to Composting

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Giveaway Good Clean Food

In a world of ever increasing dominance of large national companies that control our food sources, it is increasingly important that we make ourselves aware of the risks this poses to our food supply. In his new book,Good Clean Food, Samuel Epstein, MD helps to inform everyone of these risks and gives you a better understanding of the effects certain practices are having on our current food supply.

One of the main features of this book is the help and understanding that can be gained from knowing about how our food is labeled and whether it is truly organic and safe from toxic substances that can affect our health. There is a wide discrepancy in the manner in which our food is labeled and everyone should be aware of how to properly read and understand the labels on our food products. While most labeling isnt meant to be deceptive, it can also be very misleading if you arent careful when reading the label. You can also learn to decipher the codes on fruit and vegetables in order for you to determine which products are truly organic and better for you and your family.

The book also offers tips on shopping locally (farmer’s markets, etc.), growing your own food and even tips for dining out. It also offers advice on nutritional and dietary approaches to help undo some of the harmful effects in many of our processed foods.

There is also a section at the end of each chapter with information on different organic farms and growers that are considered to have safe and reliable food products. There is also an extensive index with numerous businesses in the various states that have reliable products that you can trust to be safe for your consumption.

Information can be a vital key to understanding what is going on in our world. With government regulations that are at most inadequate in the majority of cases where our food supply is concerned, it is important to educate yourself about the possible risks to your food supply.

The Giveaway

As an added bonus, a lucky reader will also receive a free copy of “Good Clean Food” direct from the publisher at no charge. Simply leave a comment about how you are taking the necessary steps to have good clean food available for yourself and your family. Whether it is growing your own vegetables, forming a buying club, or going to farmer’s markets, let us know how you are working to make your food supply safer. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments received. If commenting anonymously, please leave an identifier in your comments. The winner will be announced in a separate post on July 15th from the comments received.

About the Author

Samuel Epstein, MD is an internationally recognized authority on avoidable causes of cancer. He is the author of more than twenty books and 270 peer-reviewed articles and has served as president of the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health, the Rachel Carson Council, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition.

Got Good Clean Food?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Giveaway Good Clean Food

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Giveaway The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms

Foraging for edible foods in the wild can be an important skill that everyone should learn in order to be more self-reliant. Unfortunately, many food items found in the wild can be deadly if you lack the proper knowledge about the items you are foraging. Wild mushrooms are one such item that require a good guide in order to determine if the mushrooms you find are safe to eat.

In The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms by Pelle Holmberg and Hans Marklund, the authors have created a condensed version of their larger book on foraging for mushrooms. This smaller and portable version contains a guide to many of the more common mushrooms found in the wild. It includes excellent pictures of the various types of edible mushrooms that are generally found in the wild. Cutaway views of the mushrooms are also included in order to help you further properly identify your wild mushrooms.

Amazingly, this is one pocket guide that actually fits in your pocket, even if it is a little tight. This makes it a lot easier to keep handy when you are out foraging for edible mushrooms. The guide also offers some helpful tips on cleaning and cooking your mushrooms properly. There is also a small reference section for more extensive information on mushrooms in the wild along with a handy index section for quick reference.

The only drawback of this guide is there isnt very extensive information on where the different edible mushrooms can be found. The guide does reference basic regions and areas where edible mushrooms are found but you may need a larger and more detailed guide for specific varieties of edible mushrooms in your area. This guide does include a very extensive section on beginner mushrooms that can help to get you started in the proper foraging of edible wild mushrooms.

Pockets guides are not meant to be a definite source and while not all inclusive, this is an excellent pocket guide for both beginners and experienced foragers to use when hunting edible wild mushrooms.

The Giveaway

A lucky reader will also win a free copy of The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms direct from the publisher. Just leave a comment about your experience (or lack of) in foraging for mushrooms or other edible food items in the wild. If commenting anonymously, please leave an identifier in your comment. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments left on this post. The winner will be announced in a separate post on July 31st.

Got pocket guide for wild mushrooms?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Riverwalker’s Book Review and Giveaway The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms

Upcoming Survival Guide Review and Gear Giveaway

On May 22nd, I will be doing a special review of a new survival guide that is being released. Two lucky readers will have a chance to win a copy of the new survival guide along with an additional survival gear package.

More details later.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Upcoming Survival Guide Review and Gear Giveaway