Black Scout Reviews - Vitality Sciences LLC SurvivAMINO

In this episode, we review the supplement from Vitality Sciences called SurvivAMINO.  This is an amino acid supplement that can be used when one cannot gather food in the wild and need the proper nutrition.  We describe our experiences with it and provide ways of getting some for yourself.  Check out the link below and use the code: blackscout to get your discount! Also leave a comment box of our YouTube video about your past experience with the product or survival nutrition in general and automatically enter a contest chosen randomly for your free bottle!  Thanks for watching!

Warrior Wound Care: ORAL I.V. Review

I try to eat pretty clean most of the time. This means eliminating any unnecessary sugary snacks, salty stuff, and calories. Most of the electrolyte products on the market are sugary, colored, and has a ton of other nasty stuff in them. People usually relate products like Gatorade or Powerade as "healthy" drinks. In reality they are just marketed towards sports and exercise. I tend to stay away from them.

I came across ORAL I.V. produced by Warrior Wound Care. ORAL I.V. was developed and marketed toward the Military community. It's basically a electrolyte replacement product that contains some other minerals as well. Those included minerals are: copper, iodine, manganese, zinc, potassium, cobalt, sodium, selenium, chromium, silica, and boron in purified water.

ORAL I.V. comes packaged in some very carry friendly plastic vials. The vials are opened by simply twisting the top. They also have the instructions printed directly on the vial so there is no confusion as to how you consume it.

I typically drink tons of water everyday. I always have a Klean Kanteen or Nalgene with me and have to refill them 3-4 times a day. I'm a thirsty guy. So I have to forcefully get myself to the point of dehydration. To test the ORAL I.V. I did just that. A few weeks ago we ran the USMC Mud Run, we have an article about that if you would like to read it. The day before the run I refrained from guzzling the amount of water I normally drink. Before the run I drank the ORAL I.V. with one bottle of water and was fine for the entire race. I also stayed up to about 3 am the night prior- so I was a little foggy prior to the run.

It states that you can use it by mixing with water or just drinking by itself. I just drank it on its own followed by the water. It was fairly tasteless, with a hint of a salty flavor.

Warrior Wound Care says that the results of ORAL I.V. are instantaneous. I was somewhat skeptic about that, so I took it about 20 minutes prior.I don't know if it was a placebo effect but I did gain more awareness and energy within about ten minutes after consuming.

I've used the ORAL I.V. a few times since with my normal workout routines and felt great during those times as well. I'm not a doctor or a chemist, so I'm not going to go into all the science behind it. But I've had some good results from using the product.

Check out www.warriorwoundcare.com if your interested in finding out more information.

Run For Your Lives: Zombie 5K Race

For all you guys dreaming of the Zombie Apocalypse  Your chance is here to evade the walking dead. Here is a video of a very unique "Mud Run" concept allowing you to have that experience. Basically its a 5k mud run type event with obstacles and volunteers that act as Zombies. You have three flags that Zombies try to snatch while your running the course. They seem to have some pretty decent make-up artist to set the tone.

I'm thinking about doing the one this September in Atlanta.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

USMC Mud Run 2013: Team Building and a Little Hazing

It's been a few years since I've been out of the Marines. But sometimes you just want to know if you "still got  it". Well recently we attended the Marine Corps Mud Run in search of the answer.

Working out requires dedication. Dedication is sometimes difficult when you have no set goals other than physical appearance. Everyone wants to look good, however physical appearance goals are slow or hard to notice on themselves. With that, they will most of the time lose the motivation to the point of stopping their workout routine. People that are looking to make themselves healthy or "in-shape" for an actual event will push themselves harder- like a mud run, 5k, or similar challenge.

Living a Healthy Lifestyle doesn't have to Suck

Me getting some on a climbing wall

Survival by definition is continuing to live or exist. Dying from something that you could have prevented is a bummer to say the least. It's also not really considered surviving then right? Many people that call themselves "survivalist" don't really put as much emphasis into themselves as they do the gear that they own.

I'm a firm believer that you should enjoy life, however some sacrifices must be made to enjoy a long healthy life. Many people's vision of a healthy lifestyle is eating salads and running 3 miles a day. I'd have to say that would suck, but introducing healthy habits doesn't have to be that extreme.

Start off by eliminating any bad habits you may have like smoking (your wallet will thank me) and drinking sugary drinks like sodas. If your hooked on sodas, try adding a water in between each soda you have throughout the day. Weening off of caffeine will be tough, but in the end you will have more sustained energy without it.  Go buy a Nalgene or Kleen Kanteen to have water with you at all times. You need one anyway for your survival kit.

When it comes to healthy meal habits, apply a slow weekly integration method like this:

• 1st week 20% Healthy, 80% Regular
• 2nd week 30% Healthy, 70% Regular
• 3rd week 40% Healthy, 60% Regular
• and so on

Also understand your not going to get too many healthy meals from drive-thru's. Meal prep is fundamental in fighting this battle. Every Sunday and Wednesday night I cook my meals for the week. I do this to make it more convenient, inconvenience makes way for the easy way out. The easy way out usually something with a side of fries. Start planning your meals for the week with my integration method above. It will help with gaps and also eliminate any food  being wasted during the week.

Google search the web for recipes, there are tons of delicious healthy options out there. Stay away from the popular fast diets out there, people tend to gain all the weight back once their off of them. What I'm talking about is healthy "eating habits" and not "diets". If you have trouble finding recipes I can point you in the right direction. 

Now getting active. I train 6 days a week, varying from weightlifting, cardio, and other stuff (mountain biking, etc.). I'm able to do this because of a flexible schedule and I have no children in the house. I know that's not a reality for many of you out there. Some sacrifices will have to be made to get active, like a little less television and web-surfing. Getting active can be mountain biking, take up a martial art, joining a gym, rock-climbing, playing a sport with the kids, or running around the neighborhood after work. The list is really endless, and it can be as enjoyable as you make it. If you have a partner, make this a joint effort. You will motivate each other and enjoy the time together. 

If you do decide to join a gym, do yourself a favor and get a trainer. I see so many people in the gym daily that lift weights incorrectly and really just seem confused. This will eventually lead to them not getting the desired results, injured, or giving up. 

Motivation is key to making a change. Make goals for yourself, go buy new gym clothes/shoes, or enter in a 5k road race 3 months out, or to be a better survivalist. 

I mentioned kids and I feel getting active with them and being an example to them will also help them understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Something that's lacking in our society today. 

The benefits of a healthy lifestyle are endless: less visits to the doctor, more energy, greater self-worth, confidence, and being a better survivalist to name a few. This was just a primer and in the future I'll go over a more in-depth approach. If you have any questions feel free to email me or drop a comment in the box below. If I can't answer your question I'll point you in the right direction. Cheers to a long healthy life.

Survival Fitness by Adam Ticknor

This is a guest article from Adam Ticknor. If your unfamiler with Adam, here is a quick bio.

Adam Ticknor, is a former Recon Marine and a Scout Sniper. He currently works as a fitness instructor, rehab specialist and a bodylanguage instructor. You can see him as a member of Discovery Channel's Season Two of the Colony, he has a blog that he sometimes gets around to updating, whynotadam.blogspot.com and if you are in the Austin area and need info or training (shooting, fighting, surviving, fitness or bodylanguage) contact him. Adam.ticknor@yahoo.com

Thanks Adam for sharing this with us!


I have spent 2 months trying to write this damn thing and it kept getting too long and too technical. Even this last one is too long but I tried to make it more digestible. If you are interested in more detail email me or read and follow the books and people at the end of this post.

Keys to survival

• The Will
• The Skillset
• The Mindset
• The Tools

All of us have Bug Out Kits, for home, car, plane travel, etc, that all have contents of whatever we can get away with to aid us in our survivability. We all talk about mindset and keeping the right attitude, and a few of us have had to actually use the skills for actually surviving. Many of us have used our kits not for survival but for creating a better experience wherever we may be. Cool gadgets, simple tools, all the preparation in the world can not help us if we do not have the physiology to use any of it. (Will, Skill, Mindset, Tools).

I have been a fitness trainer for years and without fail men don't understand where they are physically. The bigger problem is Americans don't really know how to get fit. Most folks (especially men and Alpha type men) still have a fitness picture of who they are when they were competitive. This usually means high school and to a lesser degree college. Sorry guys most of you are not that fit anymore. However, fitness is a very very easy attribute to gain. It requires much less time and much less training than do the skills required to survive. However, I believe it is far more important.

Why? How, is being fit more important than knowing how to start a fire in the rain, build a shelter, obtain food?

Lets start with most survival situations. You got lost or stranded, maybe you are running away from something. Maybe you/family member has been in some sort of vehicle accident. Maybe you/family member has taken a nasty fall while hiking and has broken something. Maybe another Katrina happens and you have to pack up and move your family all your kit and bug out. All hell breaks loose and you have to defend you and yours.

All of this means that you have to have a certain level of fitness to deal with the situation. Can you carry drag etc your bodyweight for multiple miles for multiple days? Can you in excrutiating pain get yourself into a winnable situation. Can you do this while keeping a positive attitude and ensure everyone in your party is taken care of?

A quick anecdote: A very good friend of mine is an 18D (Army SF medic) and broke his malleolous, (the bony knobs of the ankle) and had finished the mandatory ruck march on a broken ankle, carrying a load and in the prescribed time frame. He had the whole package, Mindset, Skillset, Tools, buckets of WILL and fitness.)

Back to why?

Metabolic efficiency

More strength means more energy efficiency

If your body is used to dealing with stress in a healthy way it can handle larger bouts of unhealthy stress.

If your overall stress response is in better control in everyday life it is less likely to overflow into a compromised environment.

Stress comes in two flavors. Hormetic and non hormetic. Hormesis is the idea that the stress that is applied is in just the right amount that it causes a positive stress adaptation. Non Hormetic, means that the body can not positively adapt and begins to break down. Once stress gets into the bad levels EVERYTHING gets bad at the same time. All of your standard health markers, blood pressure, cholesterol etc., All of your perceived lifestyle stuff gets bad. Things like sex drive/performance, digestion, sleep, energy. Your body begins to fall apart and cant repair itself. This applies to survival because if you are already stressed out and stuff is not working correctly it sure wont do you any favors when you have to provide food and shelter for your family in a survival situation. Last part on this is your system will begin to have a full tilt response on stuff that doesn't matter.

Lets look at this as something that has happened to me. I am in Hawaii, a 19 year old basic Marine Infantryman, fit healthy and just did a 14 mile jungle patrol with just my basic gear. The Battalion Commander ordered us to give up our rucks and patrol with the very minimum, and our stuff would be trucked to the link up. No extra gear, sleeping bags or ponchos, or poncho liners etc. Most of us asked to keep our stuff and we were told no. That night with nothing but 1 MRE, water, Flak Jacket, Helmet and Deuce Gear when the temp dropped from 85 and sunny during the day to 40 that night. The night temp would usually be around 60. To top it off it rained, HARD, for 5 hours that night and we were in the open. Then most of us, (not all were able to) got up and patrolled another 12 miles. Many of us that started didn't make it and had to be treated for heat issues. Who do you think didn't make it?

Those that were living in a high stress life, weren't fit and had a foul mindset. That situation sucked but in two days I moved tactically over 20 miles, got 40degree wind and rain hitting me for 5 hours, with no extra anything, just enough. My body was pissed, cold, tired, chaffed, blistered and burned, but my body was alive and I was able to wander out and get a steak dinner that night. Like I said, a bunch didn't make it and more were hobbled up in their rooms for the next 2 days.

Had I known then what I know now I would have been more fit and better prepared for such a crappy night. However, it covers some major things. Not enough, food, no shelter, little sleep, and huge physical requirement.

How hard is it to build a shelter, fire, gather water, and get food for yourself?

How much harder is it to do that for your family?

How much more difficult is it to do this if one of the youngins is infant/toddler?

So how do you build resiliency?

You do so the same as any other skillset, Practice and Training.

Eat well, sleep well and move well.

What I require of my clients

Everyday walk lazy and loaded L3 here is a link to a post I wrote on my own blog about L3

http://whynotadam.blogspot.com/2012/07/long-lazy-loaded-l3-why-walk-everyday.html#comment-form

2 days on, 2 days off

on days = strength training and power development

off days are neuro days

Ido Portal

Example of a

1.      Dead lifts 1.5x bodyweight x 3

2.      Pullups x 5

3.      run 200 meters

all of it done with a weight vest of 10% bodyweight

5 rounds in under 12 min

Day 2

1.      500 pound tire flip 3x

2.      sprint 10 yd grab a 7% sledge hammer sprint back and strike tire 10 x pick up ½ bodyweight and run 40 yd

repeat 5 x

Day 3

1.      Ido portal beginners program leg

Day 4

1.      foam roll and work on handstands 20 attempts through the day

The on days have to have

Full hip extension

A push

A pull

Transit or a move through space preferably quickly and explosively

Books to read

The Paleo Solution                    http://robbwolf.com/

The Talent Code                       http://thetalentcode.com/

Why dont Zebreas Get Ulcers http://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Get-Ulcers/dp/0716732106

People to listen to and follow

Dan John                      http://danjohn.net/

Robb Wolf                   http://robbwolf.com/

Pavel Tsatuline  http://www.dragondoor.com/articles/

Ido Portal                     http://idoportal.com/

Jim Wendler                 http://www.jimwendler.com/

John Welborne http://talktomejohnnie.com/

Mark Rippetoe http://startingstrength.com/

Navy SEAL pull up from hell pyramid

This workout will help you develop your pull ups. You need to utilize perfect form or there is no need to do them at all. No kipping and go all the way down to a dead hang position.

Dead hang pull-ups are all that matters.
2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 Regular Grip
2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 Reverse Grip
2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 Close Grip
2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 Wide Grip
2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 Towel Pull-ups
250 total