The Genesis of the Survivor Personality

by Al Siebert, PhD

Author of The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure and Bounce Back From Setbacks (2006 Independent Publisher’s Best Self-Help book), and best seller The Survivor Personality: Why Some People Are Stronger, Smarter, and More Skillful at Handling Life’s Difficulties…and How You Can Be, Too.

(A condensed version titled “The Survivor Personality” was published in the AHP Newsletter, Aug.-Sept., 1983, and used as the source of material quoted in chapter eight in Love, Medicine, & Miracles, by Bernie Siegel, M.D.)

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Four Criteria
• Method
• Biphasic Traits
• Synergy Motivation
• Need for Good Synergy
• The Competence Imparitive
• The Role of Learning
• Learning What No One Can Teach
• Conclusion and Hypothesis
• Footnotes
• References
• Permission to Reprint Information
• Bottom of Page

Abstract:

A curiosity which started in 1953 about life’s best survivors led to the identification of a small subgroup within the population who will probably be the normal or typical human of the future. Such persons can be described as having “survivor” or “synergistic personalities.”

Abraham Maslow’s later writings reflected a strong interest in synergy. He assisted Margaret Mead in publishing Ruth Benedict’s descriptions of high synergy and low synergy cultures. Maslow wrote about high synergy and low synergy organizations and their effects on self-actualization. His listing of the motivations and gratifications of self-actualizing people includes nine items indicative of needing to have things work well.

To place the need for high synergy in context it is suggested that the traditional pyramid drawing of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs be inverted and that the need for synergy be added as the next need above self-actualization.

The synergistic personality is characterized as having been able to sustain into adulthood the playful curiosity of childhood. As a consequence, the life-long activity of learning carries such persons beyond their teachers. To make important aspects of their lives function well they engage in self- motivated, self-managed learning derived directly from experience. As adults they exhibit the neurogenic motive that Robert B. White described as “effectance motivation.” Thus as the years go by they become increasingly life competent or “life smart.”

Central to the development of a synergistic personality is the integration of paradoxical personality traits. Such persons are comfortable with and value their inner counter-balanced dimensions. They appreciate the benefits derived from being able to engage in pessimistic optimism, cooperative non-conformity, selfish altruism, extroverted introversion, playful seriousness, and more.

It is hypothesized that the synergistic personality reflects the emergence of a new level of human development and brain functioning that is fundamentally different and more advanced than that of Cro-Magnon humans.

Introduction

When I enlisted in the paratroopers in 1953 the training cadre were all seasoned combat veterans. They were the few survivors from the 11th Airborne Division, a unit that had fought in the Pacific during WWII and later in Korea. Being around them I saw that it wasn’t just fate or luck that these were the few still alive. Something about them as people had made a difference.

Four Criteria

After my discharge I returned to college and majored in psychology. In graduate school I chose clinical psychology as my major field but as time went by I became dissatisfied with the emphasis on mental illness and became increasingly curious about people who are best at handling life’s toughest challenges. My main focus over the years has been to try to understand life’s best survivors. To organize my efforts I developed a list of four criteria or qualifiers. The criteria are as follows:

People with survivor personalities are those who…

1. have survived a major crisis
2. surmounted the crisis through personal effort
3. emerged from the experience with previously unknown strengths and abilities
4. in retrospect find value in the experience (A)

A good indicator that a person meets the four criteria is a statement such as, “I would never willingly go through anything like that again, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Method

Ken Keyes, Jr. once wrote: “It is impossible for you to learn what you think you already know.” Instead of studying survivors by using existing concepts of human personality, motivation, physiology and learning, I let myself learn about people as they really are. Instead of trying to make the territory fit the maps that others had constructed, I wandered as an observer with a curious and silent mind through the territory allowing it to create its own map for me.

Using the four criteria as a frame of reference, I worked backward. Over the years I asked myself such questions as:

• “Is there a basic pattern of traits that survivors share? If so, what are the traits?”
• “What about their uniqueness? How can a person be similar to others and yet be a unique individual?”
• “What are survivors like when they aren’t surviving?”
• “Is the survivor personality inborn or can it be learned? If it can be learned, what are the learning parameters?”

To find answers to my questions, I interviewed many people, read extensively and developed a questionnaire (B) for collecting information from people who identify themselves as having survivor personalities. Once the picture started to become clarified, I sought feedback from experienced survivors about the accuracy of my descriptions.

Biphasic Traits

Survivors puzzled me at first. Survivors are both serious and playful, they are hard-working and lazy, self-confident and self-critical.

The historic mode of thinking in psychology has been to conceptualize personality traits as unidimensional and as either present or absent in a person. Individuals were thought of as being one way or another, as introverted or extroverted, for example. Yet, many survivors show characteristics of both introversion and extroversion.

What is the relationship between being a survivor and being paradoxical?

An article on biphasic patterns of behavior by T.C. Schneirla led to the answer. In this article, Schneirla described his experiments in attempting to understand how living creatures survive in the world. The basic purpose of his research was to find out how “animals generally manage to reach beneficial conditions and stay away from harmful, that is, how survivors do this.” (1)

After much research, he concluded that a creature’s ability to survive is derived from being able to approach or withdraw from anything near it. To survive on this planet a creature must be able to move toward life- sustaining conditions and away from poisonous or other life-destroying conditions. The ability to approach or withdraw was described by Schneirla as being a “biphasic pattern of adjustment.”

Biphasic patterns are possible because of opposing muscular systems in our bodies. Animals have physical control over themselves because the cerebral cortex coordinates flexor and extensor muscles working against each other in controlled opposition.

Similarly, the ability of humans to consciously influence their emotional states is largely a function of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems working in counterbalanced opposition to each other.

Opposing nervous systems give creative response choices. Consciously controlled, counterbalanced systems free humans from being stimulus bound. Moshe Feldenkrais, the originator of movement techniques that lead to better physical integration, has observed that “reversibility is the mark of voluntary movement.” (2) An action that cannot be reversed is involuntary. It is reflective and not under cortical control.

Biphasic personality traits increase survivability by allowing a person to respond in one way or its opposite in any situation. To have biphasic traits is to be both one way and another rather than either one way or another. Thus, complexity and stability are derived from being tough and sensitive, proud and humble, selfish and unselfish, cooperative and rebellious, analytic and metaphoric, shy and bold, etc.

The people involved in my survivor personality research project say that being flexible and adaptable, more than anything else, is central to being a survivor. Having a variety of responses available is what makes possible the handling of chaotic, unpredictable or unexpected conditions.

Respondents also indicate, by the way, that learning about the value of biphasic or paradoxical traits is emotionally reassuring. For example, a woman who worked as a head nurse in a county hospital and was recognized for her outstanding skills wrote to me saying: “appreciate the paradoxes — it’s good to know it’s not weird-I used to puzzle myself about being conservative-liberal, generous-stingy, serious-silly, quiet-gregarious, interested-bored, involved-aloof.”

What the specific pairs of counterbalanced traits are seems to be less important than having many such pairs. The longer the list of pairs of paradoxical or biphasic personality traits (C) that are descriptive of a person, the more complex the person is and, thus, the person is usually better at successfully dealing with a variety of situations.

Evidence establishing the relationship between response choices and survival is available from many sources. Two biologists, in commenting upon successful patterns of survival in the animal and plant world, have stated: “the plants and animals that survive in their progeny are the lucky ones. They hold the winning combination: A successful pattern filling one place and time, and the ability to modify the pattern in the correct direction as fast as the environment changes. The luckiest of all have an adaptation ready, still unused, as though prepared for alteration that has not yet come. They gain a head start in the altered world. Less fortunate are those whose pattern limits them to a single situation. They vanish forever….” (3)

Synergy Motivation

Biphasic traits make flexibility possible; but being complex is not enough. Some complex people do not handle life’s problems well. If having biphasic traits provides options about ways to respond, what determines choices? What gives paradoxical people a sense of direction? How do they know what to do in unique situations? How is it that they handle emergencies so well? How do they know what not to do? How do they know what would not work? Why are they good people to have around?

These are motivation questions. They are questions about the occurrence, direction, and persistence of a behavior. Answers to these questions can be found by examining a major motive in life’s best survivors: It is the need to have things work well for themselves and others.

The need to have things work well explains much about survivors. This need is a central, organizing, motivational principle in their lives. It helps explain why, when necessary, they can successfully handle a situation that no other human being has faced before.

A diagram of the hierarchy of needs that Abraham Maslow described is usually drawn this way:

Visualizing the hierarchy as organized in the form of a pyramid is not conceptually accurate, however. (D) The more basic tissue needs are simple and satisfied quickly. Eating food or bandaging a cut takes only minutes. At each higher level the need is more complex than the one before it. Emotional and mental needs take longer to satisfy. Actualization takes many years.

In addition, the concept of self-actualization does not handle very well the need of people with survivor personalities to have things work well. Maslow recognized the existence of this motivational force in self- actualizing people, although he did not separate it out as another motive.

To make sense out of what I have observed and what Maslow actually described, therefore, I find that I have to turn his pyramid on its apex and add another motivational force beyond self-actualization. The drawing looks like this:

Maslow learned about synergy from Ruth Benedict, who introduced the concept in 1941 in some lectures she unfortunately never published. Maslow later obtained some of her lecture notes and had them published several years after her death.

Having studied many different cultures, Benedict felt the need to develop a concept which would help communicate some significant differences between cultures in regard to the quality of life for a person living in one culture or another. She stated:

I shall need a term for the gamut, a gamut that runs from one pole, where any act or skill that advantages the individual at the same time advantages the group, to the other pole, where every act that advantages the individual is at the expense of others. I shall call this gamut Synergy, the old term used in medicine and theology to mean combined action. In medicine it means the combined action of nerve centers, muscles, mental activities, remedies, which by combining produced a result greater than the sum of their separate actions.

I shall speak of cultures with low synergy, where the social structure provides for acts that are mutually opposed and counteracted and of cultures with high synergy, where it provides for acts that are mutually reinforcing. (4)

Ruth Benedict’s ideas are applicable to groups as well as cultures. High synergy exists in an organization or agency when minimum effort results in cooperative, effective action. Low synergy exists when excessive effort results in little useful action.

Trying to get something done in a low synergy organization is like driving a heavily loaded truck and trailer down the highway with all the tires flat. Working in a high synergy organization is like cruising along the highway in a well-tuned Porsche.

Maslow devoted a great deal of attention to the concept of synergy during the latter part of his career.

He recognized that some people do not merely self-actualize and then stop. Some people transcend being “merely healthy.” (5) They resolve, master and integrate conflicting forces and are motivated to create a good society for themselves and others. Maslow, in referring to the possible desirable state of affairs, coined the term “eupsychia” and defined it as “the culture that would be generated by 1,000 self-actualizing people on some sheltered island where they would not be interfered with.” (6)The central purpose of his book titled Eupsychian Management was to show organizational managers what they need to understand to create an environment conducive to optimum psychological health for workers.

The “need to have things work well” is clearly present in Maslow’s listing of the “Motivations and Gratifications of Self-Actualizing People.” (7) Nine of the 40 items in his list refer to this need:

• They seem to like happy endings, good completions.
• They try to set things right, to clean up bad situations.
• They generally pick out their own causes, which are apt to be few in number, rather than responding to advertising or to campaigns or to other people’s exhortations.
• They manage somehow simultaneously to love the world as it is and try to improve it.
• In all cases there was some hope that people and nature and society could be improved.
• A change to improve the situation where the operation is a big reward. They enjoy improving things.
• They enjoy bringing about law and order in the chaotic situation, or in the messy or confused situation, or in the dirty and unclean situation.
• They like doing things well, “doing a good job,” “to do well what needs doing.” Many such phrases add up to “bringing about good workmanship.”
• They enjoy greater efficiency, making an operation more neat, compact, simple, faster, less expensive, turning out a better product, doing with less parts, a smaller number of operations, less clumsiness, less effort, more foolproof, safer, more “elegant,” less laborious.

Thus, taking into account Maslow’s great interest in synergy, knowing of his clear awareness that people who are self-actualizing become very involved in making things work well, and taking into account that Maslow was a great teacher who encouraged people to think for themselves, I do not feel that Maslow would be greatly distressed to find that I find it practical to invert the pyramid and add synergy as a higher level need. (E)

The link between survivorship and being a competent, synergistic human is as follows: When things are working well, a person:

• can sit back and let things run themselves.
• expends much less energy than people who are struggling.
• has chunks of optional time for being curious about the early signs of new developments.
• can devote attention to the little things that count.
• can spot early indications of potential trouble and take action to prevent it.
• can work on future happenings so that when they occur things fall into place easily.
• is more relaxed, feels better and enjoys “working” as good exercise.
• can put high quality time and energy into emergency developments without having other basic matters interrupted.
• responds to an emergency or crisis with an attitudinal reflex of both expecting and needing for things to work out well.

The Need for Good Synergy

One of the most noticeable qualities of people in whom the synergy motive is strong is that they volunteer to help out when there is trouble. People with survivor personalities are foul-weather friends. When things are working well, they may drift around, apparently uninvolved; but, when there is trouble, they show up.

Their efforts to eliminate problems or reduce pain or distress in another person are partly selfish. Their sensitivity and sympathy for people who are in pain effects them. They feel it when other people are in pain.

The need for synergy is as selfish a motive as any other. The more well integrated a person’s thoughts, feelings and actions become the more the person needs a pleasantly functioning world to live in. Being exposed to discordant, unstabilizing, energy draining, disruptive people or conditions can be painful. Working to make things better is not an unselfish activity.

The selfishness in people with survivor personalities is paradoxical. When they do nice things for others, it is partly because it’s fun to have other people enjoy themselves and partly because it feels good. They have resolved what Maslow calls the selfish-unselfish dichotomy. They have achieved a state of selfish altruism. They can act unselfishly for selfish reasons. In commenting about fusing the selfish-unselfish dichotomy, Maslow states:

Here I would like to take a jump beyond Benedict….In highly developed, psychiatrically healthy people, self-actualizing people, whichever you choose to call them, you will find, if you try to rate them, that they are extraordinarily unselfish in some ways, and yet also they are extraordinarily selfish in other ways…

Somehow the polarity, the dichotomy, the assumption that more of one means less of the other, all this fades. They melt into each other and you now have a single concept for which we have no word yet. High synergy from this point of view can represent a transcending of the dichotomizing, a fusion of the opposites into a single concept. (8)

Since all psychological activities have physiological correlates, such a “fusion” of opposites must reflect the establishment of integrated neurological connections between the various brain centers and neurological systems. If this is indeed the case, then questions about the synergy motive, the need to have things work well, must include attention to neurological variables.

The Competence Imperative

The really competent, synergistic people in every sphere of human activity are those individuals who have gone beyond their teachers. They have learned what no one can teach them. Competence results from self- motivated, self-managed learning. People who follow instructions on how to function successfully are never as skillful as people who are self- motivated learners. Every teacher knows that the students who gain the most from a course are the ones who are self-motivated. Students who passively cooperate in doing as instructed may pass the tests, but they lack the self motivation that leads to mastery.

The motivational forces underlying the learning (F) that results in competence / mastery / effectiveness / skillfulness in making things work well in a variety of conditions cannot be accounted for by external forces such as reinforcers, punishers, social pressures or anticipated rewards. Neither can the self-motivated learning be accounted for by internal tensions or deficits. The self-motivated learning so strongly present in adults who function in synergistic ways is that same as that of small children. The motivational force is neurogenic and has been described by Robert W. White as “effectance motivation.” (9) White, in his classic paper “Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence,” summarized decades of motivation research by saying:

Later in his paper he stated:

In support of his position, White observed that a healthy, adequately fed child or animal “is by no means at the mercy of transient stimulus fields. He selects for continuous treatment those aspects of his environment which he finds it possible to affect in some way.” (12) What is called child’s play “involves discovering the effects he can have on the environment and the effect the environment will have on him. To the extent that these results are preserved by learning, they build up an increased competence in dealing with the environment.” (13) White defined competence as “an organism’s capacity to interact effectively with its environment.” (14) He says that, “In higher animals and especially in man, where so little is innately provided and so much has to be learned about dealing with the environment, effectance motivation independent of primary drives can be seen as having high adaptive value.” (15) White conceived of effectance motivation as characterized by satisfactions derived from explanatory, varying, experimental behaviors and conceptualized the activities which lead to competence as linked to feelings of efficacy. (16)

The synergy motive can be understood as having two motivational dimensions. First, a discordant, energy-draining situation may upset, irritate, or bother the person and may stimulate activities to improve things; and, second, there is the feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction from being able to take actions which results in things working well.

The Role of Learning

Linking the motivation for competence to internal, neurogenic processes helps explain how and why people who learn directly from life’s experiences are synergistic and handle life’s difficulties better than people who try to function as directed by others. It is not that people with survivor personalities have learned how to learn; instead, it is more accurate to say that they have managed to maintain the way of learning that enhances ongoing neurological development and leads to ever increasing personal abilities.

My own rough model of the circumstances in which people learn is this:

Ways in which humans learn:

• trained or conditioned to act, think, feel, speak as told.
• in structured experiences designed to teach predetermined thoughts, feelings and actions.
• working as an apprentice with a skilled person who helps “educe” useful learning.
• assisted in learning how to successfully deal with unique and unexpected challenges by a mentor.
• unsocialized, self-motivated, self-managed learning directly from experience.

Some people make it through the training, educational and other experiences forced on them by others with the motivation and ability to learn directly from experiences still strong. In some cases, the competency flourishes in spite of the efforts of parents, trainers and educators; in other cases, the competency flourishes because the parents, teachers and educators did not interfere with the self-motivated learning.

Many people do not make it through the training, educational and other experiences forced on them by others with much self-motivation left. Some are victims of severe, although usually well-intentioned, mental and emotional abuse, others seem addicted to “educements.”

Learning What No One Can Teach

The benefits derived from years of self-motivated, self-managed learning include becoming increasingly competent in dealing effectively with real life events and acquiring skills to learn what no one can teach. Everyone encounters difficulties they were not prepared for. Those happen at work, in marriages, with life changes and changes in the external world. Survival responses and synergistic actions both usually depend on the person being able to assess a situation quickly and invent a workable plan of action without asking for approval or waiting for help. The pattern of activities associated with the development of synergistic skills and a survivor personality include the following: As adults, such persons:

• play in the way that happy children do.
• may play aimlessly with no purpose other than for the enjoyment of the activity.
• can become deeply absorbed in an activity, losing all contact with time and external events. While so absorbed, they may talk with themselves, hum or whistle absent-mindedly.
• have the curiosity of a long-time child who asks: “How does this work?” “What if I did such and such?” “What would happen if I acted in another way?”
• allow their feelings to guide their curiosity.
• have an observing, nonjudgmental perceptual style.
• are willing to be foolish, make mistakes, get hurt and laugh at themselves.
• may test the limits, break rules or disobey laws to find out what happens.
• appreciate unpleasant information about themselves.
• carry on conversations with themselves, day dream and have active imaginations. They play in and with their minds.

Indicators that developmental processes are enhanced by these spontaneous, self-motivated activities include observations that such people:

• have empathy for individuals and groups, particularly for opponents / enemies / adversaries.
• have empathy for clusters or systems of relationships such as organizations or equipment.
• use subliminal perception as a valid, useful source of information.
• have good timing, especially when speaking or taking an original action.
• recognize early clues about possible developments and take meaningful action.
• rapidly assimilate new or unexpected experiences and facilitate being changed by them.
• get smarter and enjoy life more as they get older.
• are comfortable in and even amused by ambiguous situations that may frighten or bewilder others.
• exercise conscious choices over biphasic response alternatives.
• maintain a positive direction and show surprising self-confidence against sustained adverse circumstances.
• fall back to and successfully rely on inner resources in disruptive, chaotic circumstances.
• can be a cooperative nonconformist, i.e. not being controlled by social mores, laws or standards, and yet choose to abide by the laws and rules.
• have a talent for serendipity; able to convert accidents or what others would regard as misfortune into good luck.

Such indicators allow us to infer that self-motivated, self-managed learning can lead to advanced levels of neurological development. With some people, however, learning may only play a minor role in the development of the survivor personality.

A few people are born survivors. They are the natural athletes in the game of life. Just as some people are born musicians, writers, artists or singers, some people are gifted at coping well. This ability is so strongly inborn in a few children that even the most adverse home conditions and neighborhoods cannot break them. Julius Segal refers to such children as “invulnerables” and describes them as “an enigma.” They are “children who should be psychological casualties but aren’t.” (17)

E. James Anthony says about invulnerable children: “They deal with life with an excellence and adaptive capacity that doesn’t seem to come from anywhere, as if they had carved these qualities by themselves.” (18)

Nature provides a few people with such a strong inborn capacity for survival that even as children they apparently need minimum help or support from their world. The majority of others follow along lines that would be predicted by the normal distribution curve of human abilities. For most others, the potential for developing a survivor personality is present or absent to a greater or lesser extent. For them, it takes more time and more experience. Thus, for the majority of people, life’s circumstances (nurture) can enhance or diminish the probabilities that they will learn how to take control of their ongoing development.

The extent to which a person can function in ways aligned with deeper, neurological, organic processes is revealed in extreme circumstances. Terrance Des Pres, in summarizing his research into the survivors of the Nazi Death Camps, concluded when people are stripped of all their usual supports and even their health, “when the external props collapse, survivors fall back on life itself.” (19)

It may be that a significant, although subtle, force operating within human behavior and human functions is a species motive rather than an individual one. In the 1840s, Arthur Schopenhauer stated:

The inmost nature of every brute, and also of man, accordingly lies in the species; thus the will to live which is so powerfully active is rooted in this, not really in the individual. (20)

Ex-POWs have told me that, during some of the worst times in captivity, “dying is as easy as letting go a rope.” They would even joke about deciding to stay alive by saying: “We must be crazy to stay alive. Any horse treated like this would have died long ago.”

Conclusion and Hypothesis

Highly stressful situations, ambiguity, unwanted changes, and torturous conditions reveal that some individuals have more capacity to survive and make things turn out well than others. From studying people who successfully survive

and gain strength from extreme circumstances, I hypothesize that:

1. the survivor personality cannot be taught but it can be learned.
2. those motives, activities and experiences enhancing the emergency of survival abilities are the same as those which enhance the emergence of synergistic abilities.
3. neurological maturation can continue in humans throughout their lives.
4. for those persons who discover and facilitate the life and growth forces within them, life gets better and better decade after decade.

The methodological problems in testing the hypotheses are considerable. Since an ideal anything can only exist in the abstract, how can individuals with unique abilities be compared-especially when taking into account that one person’s way of solving and surviving real life problems may be quite different from another? To make such comparisons would be more like trying to judge an art competition than doing scientific research.

How can the ability to survive extreme conditions be tested? Humans cannot, for research purposes, be thrown into major, life disrupting conditions.

Even if methods such as those were used by research teams during natural disasters could be used to verify the observed correlations, what could be done to determine whether or not neurological development has occurred and is a significant variable? Can psychologists develop assessment devices that measure advanced levels of neurological functioning in the same way they assess neurological impairment?

Despite the methodological research problems, my observations of life’s best survivors leads me to conclude that the human species is in a transformation to its next level of development. A more developmentally advanced human being is emerging who will compare to the Cro-Magnon way of thinking and living at about the same level of comparison that Cro- Magnon compared to Neanderthal.

Comments and reactions are invited.

Footnotes:

(A) The “survivor personality” is, thus, an operational definition. It is a description of an abstracted system as distinguished from the hypothetical construct “mental health.” Such persons could just as well be described as having “synergistic” or “serendipity” personalities because these are also core attributes of exceptional mental health.

(B) What follows, then, is a preliminary report in which those variables and principles observed to be most central to the survivor personality are described. Research issues are discussed at the conclusion of the paper.

(C) The term “androgynous” is being specifically avoided here for the following reason. I have been using the terms “biphasic,” “paradoxical” and “counterbalanced” in reference to personality traits since the early 1960s and prefer them because they are gender neutral. “Androgynous” is a sexist concept implying that a complete person is a mixture of both male and female traits. I view people with survivor personalities as humans whose traits make them good survivors and that their sexual identities are relatively superficial when compared to more fundamental personality dimensions. Besides, the terms counterbalanced and paradoxical teach better. Try telling a room full of city maintenance department employees that they may be able to handle life’s challenges better by becoming androgynous.

(D) See the diagram in The Third Force by Frank Goble, on page 50, and notice how difficult it was to include the self-actualization growth needs in the space at the top of the pyramid.

(E) Another human need which Maslow hierarchy does not cover well is sexual activity, so even my revised version of his model may be considered to have limitations.

(F) Learning being defined as “a change in behavior that results from experience.”

References

(1) T.C. Schneirla, “An Evolutionary and Developmental Theory of Biphasic Process Underlying Approach and Withdrawal.” Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Vol. 7, Marshall R. Jones, ed. (1959). Reprinted in Selected Writings of T. C. Schneirla (W.H. Freeman, 1972).

(2) Moshe Feldenkrais, Awareness through Movement (Harper & Row, 1972), p. 85.

(3) Lorus J. Milne and Margery Milne, Patterns of Survival (Prentice-Hall, 1967), p. 4.

(4) Abraham Maslow and John J. Honigmann, eds., “Synergy: Some Notes of Ruth Benedict, American Anthropologist, Vol. 72, (1970), pp. 320-333.

(5) Abraham Maslow, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, pp. 282-292.

(6) Abraham Maslow, Eupsychian Management, (Dorsey Press, 1965), p. xi.

(7) Abraham H. Maslow, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, (Viking Press, 1971), pp. 308-309.

(8) Ibid, pp. 43 and 210.

(9) Robert W. White, “Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence, ” Psychological Review, Vol. 66, Sept. 1959, p. 329.

(10) Ibid, p. 305.

(11) Ibid, p. 32.

(12) Ibid, p. 320.

(13) Ibid, p. 321.

(14) Ibid, p. 297.

(15) Ibid, p. 329.

(16) Ibid, p. 329.

(17) Julius Segal, A Child’s Journey, Chapter 12 “Children Who Will Not Break” (McGraw-Hill, 1978), p. 282.

(18) E. James Anthony and Bertram J. Cohler, The Invulnerable Child (Guilford Press, 1987).

(19) Terrance Des Pres, The Survivor: Anatomy of Life in Death Camps (Oxford University Press, 1976).

(20) The Will to Live: Selected Writing of Arthur Schopenhauer, Richard Taylor, ed. (Doubleday & Company, 1962), p. 140.

The Resiliency Center was founded by the late Al Siebert, PhD who studied highly resilient survivors for over fifty years. He authored the award-winning book The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure and Bounce Back From Setbacks (2006 Independent Publisher’s Best Self-Help book), and best seller The Survivor Personality: Why Some People Are Stronger, Smarter, and More Skillful at Handling Life’s Difficulties…and How You Can Be, Too.

10 Best Places To Hunt in Texas

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Texas is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It’s the second-largest state based on both area and population and is often called “The Lone Star State”.

When it comes to hunting, it’s not hard to find accounts of award-winning large-antlered whitetail deer and record-setting wild pigs in the Lone Star State. The phrase “everything’s bigger in Texas” seems to hold true even to their game animals.

Other huntable game species include alligators, javelinas, mule deer, pronghorn, squirrels, turkeys, waterfowl, and upland birds, especially quail. You can also find hunting opportunities for more exotic game species being offered in some of the state’s fine hunting ranches.

Big Hunts in the Lone Star State

With so many fine hunting opportunities abound, finding quality hunting opportunities in Texas can be difficult. Read through this article to find our suggestions for the best places to hunt in Texas, what game you can expect, and who you can contact for guides hunts and hunting opportunities.

1. San Angelo: Whitetail Deer

The City of San Angelo is the county seat for Tom Green County, Texas. The city, and its territory, cover an area of about 59 square miles and is located in the Concho Valley with an elevation of 1,844 feet.

When it comes to the city’s climate, San Angelo has hot and cold seasons. Its hot season lasts from May to September and can see average temperatures of up to 95 °F in July. Its cold season lasts from November to February when cooler temperatures go down to an average of 36 °F in January.

Whitetail deer is the main big game animal around San Angelo. To score some choice animals, you can contact Bar None Hunts. This company offers accommodations and guided hunts on over 50,000 acres of West Texas whitetail habitat.

2. Menard: Deer, Hog, Turkey, and More

Menard County is located on the Edwards Plateau in Texas. Covering a total area of 902 square miles, the county’s highest point sits at 2,432 feet of elevation.

The county gets just 26 inches of rain (compared to the US average of 36 inches) and only 1 inch of snow (compared to the US average of 28 inches) per year. Temperatures can go up to 93 °F in July and dip down to 31 °F in January.

Menard County has a variety of huntable game species including hog, turkey, and deer. Real Outfitters offers hunting opportunities for the above-mentioned animals plus a chance to hunt more exotic game like Blackbuck Antelope.

3. Coleman: Dove, Quail, Deer, and More

Coleman is another county located in the state of Texas. It covers a total area of 1,281 square miles, with its highest point standing at 1,702 feet of elevation. The county was named after Robert M. Coleman, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.

Summer is hot and humid in Coleman county while winters are windy, short, and cold. Temperatures usually fall between 35 °F to 97 °F and are rarely below 23 °F or above 103 °F.

Coleman is known for its big game like whitetail deer and hog but you can also find smaller game like dove, quail, duck, and spring turkey. First Shot Hunts offers lodging and opportunities to hunt the above-mentioned animals. The company operates on over 600,000 acres of prime hunting land throughout Central Texas.

4. Lubbock: Goose, Crane, Deer, Hog, and More

Lubbock is a city in the Estacado region of northwestern Texas. The city is ecologically part of the southern end of the High Plains subregion and sits at an elevation of about 3,200 feet.

The city and the areas surrounding it have a cool semi-arid climate. The area receives around 18 inches of rain and around 7 inches of snow per year.

Crooked Wing Outfitters offers some of the finest hunting in all of West Texas. This company offers lodging as well as hunting opportunities for several game species including hog, deer, turkey, waterfowl, pheasant, quail, dove, duck, crane, and goose.

5. Ingram: Deer, Sheep, Antelope, and A Whole Lot More

The city of Ingram lies in Kerr County, Texas. Nestled in the geographic region known as Texas Hill Country, the city sits at an elevation of about 1,700 feet.

Ingram receives about 31 inches of rain and just 1 inch of snow per year. The hottest days are in July with temperatures going up to 92 °F while winter temperatures can dip down to 33 °F in January.

The city of Ingram is where you can find Texas Hunt Lodge. This award-winning company offers accommodations and hunts for over 80 game species year-round. Feel free to check out their site for more information.

6. Quanah: Deer, Turkey, Quail, and Hog

The city of Quanah is the county seat of Hardeman County, Texas. It covers an area of just 3.48 square miles and sits at an elevation of about 1,500 feet.

Quanah summers are mostly clear, hot, and humid while its winters are partly cloudy, windy, dry, and cold. Temperatures usually fall between 31 °F to 98 °F and are rarely below 20 °F or above 105 °F.

For opportunities to hunt deer, hog, turkey, and quail in Quanah, you can contact Red River Valley Outfitters. This company specializes in hunting the above-mentioned animals on 10,000 acres of land. They also added hunting opportunities for duck, goose, and Sandhill crane.

7. Eldorado: Deer, Elk, and Much More

The city of Eldorado is the county seat of Schleicher County, Texas. The city covers an area of about 1.4 square miles and sits at an elevation of about 2,400 feet.

Eldorado gets about 24 inches of rain and just 1 inch of snow per year. Temperatures can go up to 93 °F in July and drop down to 30 °F in January.

If you’re looking to hunt the native Texas game and more, you can contact Magnum Guide Service LLC. This company offers full-time guided hunts for Texas whitetail deer, mule deer, and elk as well as more exotic game like kudu, sable, and wildebeest.

8. Brady: Whitetail, Blackbuck Antelope, Oryx, & Much More

Brady is a city located in McCulloch County near the very heart of Texas. This small yet self-sufficient city sits at the outermost edge of Texas Hill Country at an elevation of about 1,600 feet.

The area experiences hot humid summers and mild to cool winters. Temperatures in July can go up to 94 °F and dip down to around 32 °F in January.

For opportunities to hunt whitetail deer and more exotic game, feel free to contact Cross Oaks Ranch. This company is located just outside Brady and offers lodging as well as guided hunts for whitetail deer, Blackbuck Antelope, Oryx, and more.

9. Austin: Deer, Hogs, Turkey, and More

Austin is the capital city of the state of Texas. It’s situated where the Colorado River crosses the Balcones Escarpment, separating the Texas Hill Country from the Blackland prairies.

The city has a humid subtropical climate which gives it long hot summers and short mild winters. Temperatures usually fall between 43 °F to 97 °F and are rarely below 30 °F or above 102 °F.

There are many fine hunting outfitters in Austin, Texas and Sisco D Ranch is one of them. This company offers lodging and hunting opportunities for whitetail deer, hogs, turkey as well as more exotic game like aoudad, Blackbuck, and fallow deer.

10. Mountain Home: Deer, Hogs, Aoudad, & Much More

Mountain Home is an unincorporated community in Kerr County, Texas and one of my favorite Texas hunting locations. Being located in Texas Hill Country, Mountain Home sits at an elevation of about 1,900 feet.

Mountain Home gets just 29 inches of rain a year. Temperatures can go up to 91 °F in July and drop down to 32 °F in January.

Being on the Edwards Plateau, Mountain Home is a prime habitat for whitetail deer, hogs, and turkey.

West Kerr Ranch offers lodging and guided hunts for the above-mentioned animals as well as year-round hunts for more exotic game like:

• Axis
• Fallow
• Aoudad
• Elk
• Blackbuck Antelope
• Sika
• Aoudad
• Scimitar-Horned Oryx
• Mouflon rams

More Adventure Related Reading:

10 Best Places for Hunting in Montana

10 Best Places For Hunting In North America

10 Tips for How to Protect Yourself from Mosquitoes & Ticks While Hiking

An Adventurers Top 20 Essential Travel Items

Backpacking Meal Planning 101

Like This Article On The Best Places to Hunt in Texas?

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To your next adventure!

-David

I am a new shotgun enthusiast from the R3 era – Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation.

I do not come from a family of outdoorsy people or firearm owners. Exposures and accessibility to equipment were rough getting started. Had it not been for the mentors and friendships during my process, I am not sure my love and respect for conservation and hunting would have developed.

After a few seasons of sporting clays and falling in love with upland hunting, I took an interest in learning how to hunt waterfowl. I did not know what was needed to attempt it. I thought I needed a well-trained dog and to master waterfowl calls, but all I needed was a 2 a.m. alarm and a reliable shotgun that suited my frame. When I started hunting waterfowl, I owned one 12-gauge shotgun mainly used for sporting clay.

I am not sure when waterfowl hunting became an obsession, but I was soon in a blind for more than four days a month. I felt my activity level was enough to justify needing an additional shotgun just in case mine malfunctioned. The problem was that shotguns are unavailable in my area to try before you invest in a new one. I made it a personal mission to try out different shotguns and determine my fit, ergonomics, and price range. My first shotgun was on a lucky sale, it was not a perfect fit, but I adjusted to it. After some trial and error, I learned that the feel and fit of a shotgun contributes to successful shooting.

As my hunting adventures increased in frequency, so did my observation of my hunting environment and the desire to blend more in the open. My hunting buddies had “upgraded” to camo-finished stocked shotguns, leaving me with camo envy. Having heard, “ducks do not care what color your gun is,” did not reduce the desire for a camo-clad shotgun.

On a Mission

Luck would have it that I was invited to review a Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite. Now, the kicker was that I had not shot a Franchi at this point in my outdoor life. It never crossed my mind to consider one, and nobody within my circle owned one. I was set on a specific brand, and honestly, I was a little aloof about the Franchi. My only request was that it had a 28-inch barrel length, 12 gauge, and capable of loading 3 ½ inch shotshells. The 3 ½ inch, non-toxic, #2 shot shotshells were much easier to come by during my region’s 2021-2022 season. I was determined that the next shotgun I purchased would be able to handle 3 ½-inch shells in case that was all I could get.

The Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite was shipped to me. It arrived a few weeks before I was heading out for my second attempt at a snow goose hunt. The day I picked up the Franchi, a new found excitement was activated. When I opened the box and saw that it sported the perfect camo pattern for the environment and surrounding areas I hunt

I sent out a group text letting the ladies of my sporting clay league and waterfowl hunting circles know I had a new shotgun to demo. I invited them for a clay date to try it too. I was shocked at how well I handled a 50-target run of sporting clays before sharing it with multiple ladies and a few guys.

I had a few weeks to prepare for my snow goose hunt, so it gave me ample time to practice and become intimate with the Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite. Next, I purchased some inexpensive 3 ½ inch turkey loads to do an ill-advised “mag dump.” I was told by numerous seasoned wing and clay shooters that it had to be the craziest idea I have ever expressed out loud.

They wanted proof that I went through with it. Bets were placed on my shoulder being bruised, and me complaining about aches and pains for a few days. I had one witness that recorded my shenanigans, and we posted it on my social media. Next, I shared a picture of my comfortable, non-bruised shoulder. I was shocked at how soft the recoil felt with those turkey loads. I felt so confident with the Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite in hand that if snow geese flew overhead, I would land a few. The Franchi was balanced and reduced felt recoil. If I could not shoot ten 3 ½ inch shotshells consecutively without discomfort, I would have needed to rush-order 2 ¾-inch shells.

Snow Goose Revenge

The previous season, only one goose showed up. My entire hunting squad was taking a stretch break at the time, and none of us could take a safe shot at the solo goose. This season, I was prepared with a camo shotgun that broke many clays. With a snack-packed blind bag filled with 12-gauge, 3 1/2 inch shells with BBB shot, I was determined to come home with a full cooler.

What a memorable weekend! With the Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite, I had my first successful snow goose hunt. My hunting squad harvested 32 snow geese in total within a few hours.

Maintenance

I needed to tackle cleaning the shotgun. It hunted hard in extremely cold temperatures and muddy, wet, dusty environments. I surface wiped it and bore snaked after every other shoot, but after my snow goose hunt, it was time for a deep clean and inspection. It was a little different than the shotguns I had cleaned. However, it was not difficult to figure out how to remove the forward grip and disassemble and reassemble the components quickly.

I Need One

At the time of my initial review, this shotgun made my potential wish list. Not the I WANT list, but the I NEED list for a dedicated waterfowl gun. The managed recoil, handling, ergonomic structure, and weight worked in my favor. The price point is fair and economically feasible compared to others.

I am still new to the world of hunting, yet I am immersed enough to understand what I need, why I need it, and how much I want to invest in a product. I want reliable, generational products, but I also do not want to spend an ample amount of money this early in my hunting journey or spend a ton of money on a firearm that I have not been able to try out before buying it. This shotgun proved to me that it would be a great dedicated waterfowl gun to add to my staple gear pieces.

Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite

I received the Franchi Affinity 3.5 Waterfowl Elite with the Gore Optifade Waterfowl Marsh Stock finish and a Burnt Bronze Cerakote barrel finish. The MSRP is $1449.00, and retail chains average roughly $1249.99. Here are the features you will have right out of the box:

• Optional Gore Optifade choice of Waterfowl Marsh or Waterfowl Timber stock finish
• Weighs 7 lbs
• TruGlo Dual Color Fiber optics
• Standard 28″ inch barrel
• Franchi Affinity Waterfowl 12 gauge Trulock choke tube set
  • Close Range .720 (Cylinder)
  • Mid Range .710 (Improved Cylinder)
  • Long Range .700 (Modified Cylinder)
• 1 flush choke tube – Modified, steel shot approved
• Choke Key
• Stock counterweight.
• Standard Shim Kit
• ¾-inch recoil pad
• Round Capacity is 4+1, varying by shotshell length
• Oversized bolt frag handle and frag bolt release
• The receiver is tapped for mounting optics
• Length of pull is 14 3/8 inches

• Drop at Heel: Adjustable 2″ to 2-1/2″
• Drop at Comb: 1-1/2″

• Overall length 50 ¼ inches
• Minimum Recommended Load: 3-dram, 1-1/8 oz
• Inertia driven system

Do you know what terrifies me more than any other violent encounter?

A knife fight.

I heard someone once say the loser of a knife fight leaves in a hearse, and the winner goes in an ambulance.

It seems, in general, a knife fight is over before it ever starts.

It’s a terrifying proposition to find yourself in any violent situation. But, as Americans, we carry firearms to bridge the gap and protect ourselves against violent attacks.

However, sometimes we can’t have a gun…or a gun might not be the best choice…or maybe the attack happened so fast you can’t access your firearm.

That is where a knife comes into play.

Is it likely you’ll ever use your knife in a self-defense situation?

No, not very likely.

It’s also not statistically likely you’ll use your firearm or tourniquet.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared to defend yourself with anything on hand.

With that in mind, I’ve gathered some of the best self-defense knives on the market priced under $300.

Why Under $300

For many, a knife that costs $50 is too much. For most, anything over $300 seems crazy.

However, in the knife world, knife guys and gals pay way more than that for some knives.

In truth, the world of knives is massive.

Knives from companies like Microtech can go for as much as $1,000. So, $300 seems a bit more friendly.

This list compiles blades from $20 to $200, ensuring there’s something for just about everyone’s price range.

What to Consider

Before throwing down money on a knife, there are a few things to consider.

Access

How is the knife carried, and how fast can you access it?

Accessing the blade should be rapid and easy to do without much difficulty.

Drawing the knife and getting it into action should be second nature and without complication.

Deployment

Fixed blade knives do not have deployment issues, but folding knives and automatic knives need blades that easily deploy with a single hand. Ambidexterity is a bonus as well.

Concealability

How easily does the knife conceal in regular clothing?

It’s tough to carry a Ka-Bar with a t-shirt to cover it.

A normal person’s defensive blade will need to be concealed. Sadly, that eliminates bowie knives but still opens up some decent fixed blade options.

Get Training!

Like a firearm, you should get some serious training for defensive knives.

Companies like Shiv Works and Active Response Training will get you the skills you need to employ a knife in a defensive situation.

Best Self Defense Knives Under $300

1. Emerson Mini CQC 15

Emerson rose to prominence by making knives for special operations troops.

Ernest Emerson’s small shop became the favorite knifemaker for the Navy SEALs, and word about his fine knives quickly spread.

I carried an Emerson CQC 7 for years as a Marine and became a huge fan of these knives.

While the CQC 7 is great, the Mini CQC 15 is better.

The Mini CQC 15 is a combination of the CQC 7 and Commander models.

It mixes the penetration capability of the CQC 7’s tanto tip with the deep and slash-friendly belly of the Commander.

It allows the user to slash and stab with equal effectiveness.

Emerson knives also sport the wave feature that allows you to open the blade as you draw it from your pocket.

It takes a little practice, but once you’ve mastered it, the Emerson jumps into action.

Your hand won’t slip off the roughly textured G-10 panels.

In fact, if you have a tight grip on the knife and something yanks it from you, some skin is coming with it.

It’s rough but provides a good grip, even when wearing gloves.

As a bonus, it’s also a great knife for EDC tasks and tough enough for camping and general outdoors use.

As far as folding fighting knives go, the Mini CQC 15 is quite versatile.

2. Ka-Bar TDI Investigator

Ka-Bar’s Master series takes numerous knife users’ expertise and boils it into a few purpose-built designs.

Tactical Defense Institute owner and lead instructor John Brenner designed the TDI to be the ultimate police self-defense knife — with firearm retention being the knife’s primary goal.

John’s 33-year police career drove the design, and the end result was a simple but very effective fighting knife.

The Investigator is the compact model and makes concealed carry easier.

As a civilian concealed carrier, I like simplicity, and the TDI makes things very simple.

The somewhat curve to the handle provides you a simplistic design.

Slashing and stabbing with the Investigator is easy as well.

In a hand-to-hand fight, fancy techniques are unlikely. But, if you can punch, you can use the TDI Investigator.

The short blade is unlikely to reach vital organs in the torso, but the sight of your own blood and a large gaping wound would likely deter further violence.

If an attacker gets in knife range, I’d prefer to attack, take the fight out of them, and then beat feet.

Something simple like the Investigator allows that.

As a fixed blade, deployment isn’t an issue, and the sheath allows for a multitude of carry options.

3. Cold Steel Hide Out

Neck knives are all the rage for those looking to carry a fixed blade in the most convenient way possible.

Hide Out turns out to be a rather appropriate name for this neck knife.

Cold Steel designed the Hide Out to be a deep conceal fixed blade dagger design with a 3-inch blade but weighing a mere 1.9-ounces.

A dagger design allows you to stick and stab easily and slash when necessary.

The tip is painfully sharp and will dig in without remorse when told to.

Fixed blades don’t break, or at least they don’t break as often as folding or automatic knives.

Our edge provides a slight belly for slashing, but this is more of a poker than a slasher: more Freddy and less Jason.

A weatherproof material called Kray-Ex adorns the handle and provides a rubberized-like grip with an aggressive texture.

Kray-Ex ensures the knife stays in your hand and provides some degree of comfort as well.

The sheath is polymer and complete with many lashing points to make a necklace or to attach the knife nearly anywhere.

You might say that guy is a little small to be a dagger.

Well, right now, he’s Luke, and you’re a jailed Princess Leia. So, you take what you can get.

It’s small but easy to use and carry.

It’s also relatively affordable and very well made.

4. Hogue OTF

Switchblades are clearly as dangerous as machine guns; at least the regulations regarding them would make it seem so.

Sadly, lots of state laws prohibit the sale and carry of automatic knives. So, before you run out and buy one, it’s worth investigating your local laws.

In short, research before you buy!

If you can carry an automatic knife, then the Hogue OTF might be the one for you.

OTF knives tend to be pricey.

John Wick’s Microtech costs more than a Glock on average.

The Hogue OTF comes in at less than $250. It’s not a budget blade that will fall apart after a few uses, either.

I’ve used mine for years now and carry it all the time.

As an OTF blade, the Hogue deploys with the press of a button, so one-handed deployment is quite simple.

Hearing that schwick as blade deploys is oh so satisfying.

The blade is a clip point with a might swedge for easy cutting and stabbing. It uses a premium grade 154 CM steel that is incredibly tough and quite durable for defensive tasks.

A big grip fills your hand for an effective hammer grip.

Getting slashy and stabbing with the Hogue OTF proves simple, and it will double as a very effective EDC blade.

One-handed deployment will never be easier than with an automatic knife.

Give one a spin, and it’s tough to go back to a standard folder.

But again, local laws supersede the love of a cool tool. Always research your local laws before buying an auto.

5. Toor Knives Jank Shank

Shank is absolutely the best term to describe the Jank Shank.

Look at the simplicity of the little knife and tell me it doesn’t look like a refined prison shank.

The Jank Shank is a simple, lightweight, and ultra-thin fixed blade knife.

Toor Knives is a small company doing big things, and the Jank Shank is a small thing that does big things.

This minimalist design is made for shiving, slashing, and shankin’ with a needle-like blade.

It’s made from CPM 35 VN, a tough tool steel, falling in the premium category of knife blades.

The 3-inch blade is nothing to fuss at and will penetrate deep enough to change someone’s mind when it comes to attacking you.

While it lacks a belly, it will still slice when needed. Ultimately, it’s all about jabs with the Jank Shank.

The Jank Shank has a rear pinky hole to increase retention and make drawing from the sheath easy.

Toor Knives has a multitude of sheath and carry options.

So, you can go traditional IWB, horizontal, or whatever else you need to conceal your shank.

6. Ka-Bar LDK

Another Ka-Bar in the TDI family in the LDK. Kind of. The LDK was designed by a friend of the website, Greg Ellifritz.

LDK stands for Last Ditch Knife, and this fella is teeny tiny.

It’s small enough to work as a neck knife, be laced into a boot, or even stash in a wallet.

Truly, it qualifies as a last-ditch weapon, offering you minimal blade.

That said, the blade is designed to replicate the design of a scalpel. So, even though it’s small, it’s quite effective at cutting flesh.

Like the TDI-style knives, it works well as a punch dagger and is superbly simple to use.

When held, it allows you to add an additional sting to every punch.

At super close quarters, the little blade will open a bad guy up with rapid slashes and punches.

It’s small but mighty and insanely easy to carry and conceal. It can be carried in nearly any style of dress.

It’s friendly to cargo pants and sundresses.

There is no reason ever to be unarmed when something like the LDK exists.

Plus, it’s super cheap and affordable. At less than $20, it’s the cheapest knife on this list by a large margin.

Sometimes simple and small is enough.

Have you tried the Ka-Bar LDK? If so, rate it below!

7. Benchmade SOCP

Finally, we reach the SOCP.

The SOCP is a compact and ultra-thin dagger that was initially designed for military use.

This knife is far from traditional but is inherently modern and easy to use.

While it’s rather long, it is thin, and the included sheath makes it easy to conceal and carry.

The ring at the end of the handle ensures a sure draw and excellent retention.

Users are inclined to use an ice pick grip that allows downward stabs and slashes.

The idea behind the SOCP is simple.

When someone gets on top of you and starts grappling and fighting with you, the SOCP allows you to slash and stab, creating distance between you and the bad guy.

Let the SOCP take the steam out of a violent attacker and retreat.

With how thin the knife is, you can draw your firearm and engage without ditching the knife — very Solid Snake in its design.

The SOCP blade is rather long and will provide some serious sting to the bad guy when needed.

Admittedly it’s not a very good utility knife for EDC purposes.

It’s a bit much to open a piece of mail or to cut through some cardboard.

For creating distance and escaping a threat, though, it’s perfect. Plus, as a fixed blade, there are no deployment worries.

Benchmade also makes a training blade for safe practice. A knife is like a gun, and training is required to be proficient with it.

Conclusion

While the prospect of using a knife defensively is terrifying, it’s still wise to consider a knife as a viable weapon. Not as an alternative to a firearm, but to compliment it, or as a force multiplier in a gun-free zone.

We’ll say it one last time: before you run off half-cocked and buy an automatic knife or a dagger, research your local laws.

If you think gun laws are confusing, wait until you read about knife laws. In some states, it’s easier to carry a gun than specific types of knives.

Do your due diligence, folks.

Agree with my picks? Have your own? Let us know below! Ready for more knife recommendations? We have the 10 Best Tactical Knives and the 4 Best Survival Knives ready for you to read.

Minnesota Deer Season runs from September 16, 2024 – December 31, 2024. Whether you are a seasoned hunter, or this is your first time, it’s always smart to make sure you have a plan and understand the hunting regulations for the year. This blog will provide you with several resources so that you have all the information you need!

Archery Deer Season: September 16, 2024 – December 31, 2024

Youth Deer Season: October 19, 2024 – October 23, 2024

Early Antlerless Season: October 19, 2024 – October 22, 2024

Firearms (Season A) 100 Series permit areas: November 4th-19th, 2024

Firearms (Season A) 200 & 300 Series permit areas: November 4th-12th, 2024

Firearms (Season B) 300 Series permit areas: November 18th-26th, 2024

Deer Season Muzzleloader: November 25th, 2024 – December 10th, 2024

Crossbow regulations for MN Archery Season have changed.

FIGURING OUT YOUR PERMIT AREA

The first step to buying your hunting license is figuring out the permit area you will be hunting in. A person with an archery license can hunt within any permit area except for 287 (Itasca State Park). It is important to understand that different permit areas also have different bag limits. Click here to view the Minnesota 2024 Deer Season Area Map. (WILL BE UPDATED ONCE 2024 MAP IS RELEASED)

***2024 BAG LIMITS***

BUY $2000+ of hunting blinds and get FREE delivery within 40 miles of any Archery Country Location!

BUYING YOUR LICENSE

Now that you’ve figured out what permit area you are hunting in, it’s time to buy your license. You can purchase a license online, via phone or in-person at an approved location.

PURCHASE A HUNTING LICENSE ONLINE

Click here to purchase a hunting license online. When purchasing a hunting license online, it is important to make sure that you only purchase from the DNR website. Make sure to allow 5-10 business days for license tags, permits and passes to arrive via U.S. postal mail.

PURCHASE A HUNTING LICENSE BY PHONE

You can purchase licenses by phone at 1-888-665-4236. This toll-free line is open 24/7 and provides immediate licensing. At the end of the call, you will receive your license number, which will be valid until you receive an actual license via mail.

PURCHASE A HUNTING LICENSE IN-PERSON

Click here to view approved locations to buy your license in-person.

ARCHERY EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS

Bows and arrows for big game in Minnesota must meet the following criteria:

• Bows must have a pull of no less than 30 pounds at or before full draw. (Bows with low draw weight may not effectively kill big game.)
• Arrowheads used for taking big game must have a minimum of two metal cutting edges, be of barbless broadhead design, with a diameter of at least 7/8 inch.
• “expandable” broadheads may be used to take big game if they meet requirements above and 1) are at least 7/8 inch in width and no more than 2 inches in width at or after impact; and 2) are of a barbless design and function in a barbless manner.
• A hand-held mechanical release attached to the bowstring may be used if the person’s own strength draws and holds the bowstring.

Click here to download the 2024 Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations

Thinking about trying archery hunting this year? Read this blog: 5 Things to Know Before You Buy a Bow

Yes, BSA still make air rifles in Birmingham, in their original factory.

BSA air rifles are a superior choice for your shooting arsenal. These highly respected and tradition-rich weapons were created in Britain, where they have been manufactured locally since 1861 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company LTD – or simply “B Sag” as it is known to its fans!

The company’s trademarked logo shows three crossed guns which signify exceptional performance at only one glance; something no other brand can match because of their premium reputation among shooters all over the world who want nothing but excellence from what they use for shooting.

BSA official website:

https://bsaguns.co.uk/

BSA Brand History Highlights:

• BSA, or Birmingham Small Arms, is a gun company formed in 1861.
• The company won its first government contract in 1864 and has been a pillar of the gun industry ever since.
• Its operations were critical to the WW1 and WW2 war efforts, making 1.25 million Lee Enfield .303 rifles, over half a million .303 Browning machine guns, and 60,000 7.92mm BESA machine guns.
• Since 1985 it has been owned by Spanish company Gamo which sensibly elected to keep the BSA brand which today encompasses some of the best spring, gas ram, and pre-charged pneumatic air rifles available.

WHICH BSA AIR RIFLE IS FOR ME?

BSA’s range is one of the widest on the market covering PCP, spring, and gas-powered models to suit just about budget and shooting discipline from target shooting and hunting to back garden plinking. Its PCP range includes both buddy bottle and air cylinder rifles, single-shot and multi-shot options, and traditional rifle and bullpup designs with plenty of stock options on all models.

BEST BSA AIR RIFLE ALTERNATIVES

When it comes to PCPs, BSA’s main competition comes from other established brands like Air Arms, Brocock, Daystate, Benjamin, Gamo, Air Venturi, FX, and Weihrauch.

(For more on the best PCP air rifle on the market, see this post)