Bird flu outbreak sparks 57,000 fatalities
Phil R. runs a duck farm in California. On a Tuesday morning in October 2025, his staff noticed “a modest increase in mortality.” There were eight dead birds in one of their barns. The next morning, there were a few more than that. They took samples for testing, and on October 24th received confirmation of …
Tree bark for the human, beef jerky for the dogs?
Paula R. is a 21-year-old avid hiker from Seattle. One weekend she went hiking in the Snoqualmie Pass area of the Cascade Mountains. During the hike, she left the trail, became disoriented on the trail, and couldn’t find her way back. She spent three nights surviving the cold weather. Search and rescue crews started searching …
Run over by A dump truck but still kicking?
Glock pistols have earned a reputation for being tough. And there are countless stories about Glocks impressively surviving harsh conditions. One such story involves a private security guard and his pistol. The security guard worked at a construction site and regularly carried his Glock 17. During one routine workday, the security guard accidentally left his …
How to survive when the checks stop coming
Marc M. was a federal employee during the 1995-1996 government shutdown that lasted 21 days. He was classified as “essential,” so he had to keep working without knowing when his next paycheck would arrive. While many of his coworkers panicked, Marc and his wife remained calm. That’s because for years, they lived by the motto …
How Gerald survived while lost in a blinding snowstorm
Gerald F. and his group of friends from Illinois went hiking during September in the Rawah Wilderness in Colorado September. During the afternoon, Gerald got separated from the group. One of his friends called the sheriff’s office to report that Gerald was missing. The friend told first responders that Gerald had military experience and was …
Locked out of your bank accounts long-term?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides cloud computing services (networking, storage, software, etc.) to companies and governments. And while AWS’s server farms throughout the world provide select security services for its customers, many aspects of security are the responsibility of the customer. In October 2025, some AWS customers woke up …
How Disney got hacked by the Russians
Ryan K. is a 25-year-old computer hacker who lives in California. In 2024, Ryan targeted Disney and hacked into their computer systems and leaked data under the guise of a hacktivist collective. He started the hack by targeting a single Disney employee. Ryan did this by communicating with the Disney employee online and convincing him …
Real-life thriller interrupts movie at the theater
Heather M. and her husband often go to the movies for a date night. One evening, they were at a movie theater in the Central Mall in Salina, Kansas. The theater was full for the Friday night showing, and as the film started, the moviegoers heard a loud pop. “At first what popped into my …
Should you use a red dot on your gun?
Rich S. is a 50-year-old man who lived in Benton City, Washington. One morning, he armed himself with a gun and forced himself into the home of a previous girlfriend. He threatened the woman with the gun and barricaded himself inside. He held the lady hostage and told police he was suicidal. Police responded to …
Concealed carry gone tragically wrong
Glenn G. is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who lives in Alabama. One Sunday afternoon around 5 P.M. Glenn met a man to discuss purchasing a utility trailer. Glenn had interacted with the man on Facebook and was interested in purchasing the trailer. When they met up, the 21-year-old man told Glenn that the trailer …
Successfully using your smartphone when the grid’s down
Keeping an old smartphone saved Steven S. from death. You see, late one Friday night Steven was driving on a rural road near Quesnel in British Columbia. While driving, he lost control of his car and landed upside down at the bottom of a steep embankment. Steven was trapped in the car hanging by his …
5-year-old girl found wandering a mountainside alone
Kings Mountain Trail is a popular hiking and camping area above the town of Woodside, California. It’s about 900 wooded acres and contains areas of heavy forest, and steep ravines. Ava C. and her family went to Kings Mountain for a camping trip. While there, five-year-old Ava got lost. The family called 911 when they …
Zach detonates the back of his buddy’s van
Zach P. enjoys shooting his AR-15 and regularly gets together with buddies to go shooting. One of the friends has a large piece of property where they can go shooting anytime they want. On a particular day, it was a little bit rainy, but the group didn’t let it stop them from shooting their AR-15s. …
Surviving for 36 hours in a deadly storm
David M. and Jack C. are avid climbers who were hiking Mount Rainier early one June. If you’re not familiar with it, Mount Rainier is a large active volcano in the state of Washington, located about 60 miles southwest of Seattle. The mountain has a summit elevation of nearly 14,410 feet and is the highest …
Boiling rocks to purify water
Brandy S. lives in San Clemente, CA and like many Californians, she likes to visit the beach. One day she visited San Onofre State Beach with her kids. While there, the kids picked up some colorful rocks to take home. The rocks were an array of colors including green and orange. The kids handed Brandy …
California’s sinister Glock ban
On February 28th, 1997, Larry P. and Emil M. robbed a Bank of America in North Hollywood, CA. The two men were equipped with illegally modified automatic rifles, full body armor, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. One of the men carried a MAK-90 rifle (similar to an AK-47) modified to be fully automatic. The …
Citizens eat “sugar dirt” to ward off starvation
In June 1941, Nazi Germany declared war on the Soviet Union. Months later, the Germans started the Blockade of Leningrad. German forces surrounded the city in what ended up being a 900-day siege. And while Germany never took control of the city, Leningrad was bombed, and many places were destroyed. To make matters worse, the …
Subtle use of graymail for protection
The Iran-Contra Affair was a political scandal that rocked the U.S. between 1981 and 1986. U.S. officials were selling arms to Iran and planned to use the proceeds from the sales to fund the Contras, a rebel group in Nicaragua. In addition, the U.S. administration justified the arms shipments as an attempt to free seven …
Eccentric millionaire captures Russian nuclear sub
In 1968, a Soviet Golf-II class submarine left the port of Petropavlovsk, on a peacetime patrol northeast of Hawaii. The sub, called K-129, was carrying three nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. Then, soon after leaving port, the sub and its entire crew were lost. The Soviets started search efforts but were never able to find the sunken …
This WWII Veteran is the OG of hand loading ammo
Jim Clark was a Marine, gunsmith, and ammo reloading expert. After serving in World War II, Jim returned home and started reloading his own ammunition to save money. He was a competitive shooter and retail ammo at the time was terrible. Plus, Jim wanted ammo that was designed for competitions. He wanted the perfect bullet …
12-Year-old girl surprises home invader with a lead salad
Kendra S. was a typical 12-year-old kid, but she did something that even many adults won’t do when it comes to home defense. You see, Kendra was by herself at her Oklahoma home when she heard someone banging on the front door. Soon after, Kendra heard the glass on the front door shatter, and an …
Busting myths about the effects of suppressors
Tom R. served in the U.S. Military, witnessing firsthand the role suppressors play on the battlefield. During a late-night raid, twenty U.S. soldiers deployed on a mission to capture a high-value target. U.S. forces believed they would encounter about five to eight Taliban fighters, but when the soldiers arrived, they were met by 40 to …
Hackers target kiosks to pilfer personal info
Redbox Automated Retail was a video rental and streaming company founded in 2002 and based in Illinois. The company made a name for itself with automated DVD rental kiosks and was a rival to the video store of Blockbuster. At its peak, Redbox had more than 43,000 kiosks around the U.S. with revenue of $1.97 …
The trouble with red dot sights
EOTech is a U.S. company that manufactures firearm optics, and sights. Their products are often used by the military, law enforcement, and civilians. The company’s holographic sights reflect an LED dot off a lens. It uses a laser to project a reticle onto a film inside the sight. The design of the optic provides faster …