Longtime readers of SOFREP will recognize Clint Emerson as the author of the 100 Deadly Skills series of books, which are an invaluable tool for anyone that prizes self-reliance and being prepared. For those who may not have run across Emerson’s work in the past, he is one of a few professional warfighters on the […]

For many of us from the conventional side of the military (or who never served at all) the FN Scar tends to carry with it a certain appeal. As a rifle designed specifically for Special Operations troops (SCAR actually stands for Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle), it’s hard not to look at the jagged […]

Here in the U.S., we tend to only see large armored vehicles like tanks parked at local National Guard installations. They resemble large metal works of art, rather than the mighty war machines they truly are. Even if you happen to spot a tank scooting around the Motor T lot, the chances you’ll see one […]

The Marine Corps’ Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), a new armored platform set to replace the legendary Humvee, has reached initial operating capability (IOC) and is now ready to begin deploying with Marines globally. The platform was designed in a joint venture with the U.S. Army to provide American war fighters with greater off-road mobility […]

On July 27, pilot Matt Lehtinen found himself living his worst nightmare. While flying alone in his single-prop aircraft over the remote Quebec wilderness, the plane suffered a mechanical failure that put it into an unrecoverable descent. After crashing into the dense forest (using parachutes to slow his fall), some people might have taken a […]

California’s expansive Mojave Desert serves as a valuable testing and training ground for a number of U.S. military assets. The United States Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, for instance, is the largest installation in the branch — spanning out across a massive 998 square miles, much of which is devoted specifically to […]

Even guys that prefer the woods like me occasionally have had the need to hire a limo service. Sure, I went to the prom in rural Vermont (where there are no limos to hire), but over the years I’ve found myself riding around in some long, fancy rides everywhere from Vegas to New York City, […]

The thing about fighter jets is that just about every developed nation in the world has some, and while the capabilities of these aircraft vary greatly from platform to platform, it’s hard to withhold the awe you experience seeing any one of these purpose-built aviation marvels do their thing. And for the most part, those […]

Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) flights offer a unique way to get troops into and out of terrain that a helicopter may not be able to land on. To the untrained observer, SPIE flights might look like a helicopter simply lowers a rope, warfighters clip on with carabiners, and then they get taken for one hell […]

Skydiving for sport or recreation is among the most popular ways mankind has devised to laugh in the face of our own mortality. As insane as it might sound to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, somewhere in the neighborhood of 350,000 jumpers execute close to 3 million jumps each year in the United […]

The 30 mm General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger rotary canon first entered into service in 1977. The 619 pound monster Gatling gun measured just shy of 2 feet wide and 20 feet long when completed, but more than compensating for its gargantuan size by boasting a terrifying fire rate of 3,900 rounds per minute, fired from […]

Over the past few years, footage of Keanu Reeves demonstrating his prowess on Taran Tactical’s 3-gun range has taken the internet by storm — and with good reason. In this modern era of high budget special effects and personal politics seeping into people’s work, it’s not all that common to see anyone in Hollywood pick […]

Here at The Loadout Room, we’ve presented the rules of firearm safety in a number of different ways: from think pieces to analysis, from training tips to horror stories, but throughout all of our efforts to help keep our fellow firearm enthusiasts honest and responsible, there’s one thing we never thought of trying: lingerie. Fortunately […]

Morse code may not be used all that frequently in today’s era of Snapchat filters and Twitter outrages, but learning these three letters can still save your life. S-O-S isn’t actually an acronym for anything, despite what your Sailor grandfather may have told you — it’s really just the letter designations for the string of […]

Way back when I was a kid, long before I became a college dropout that needed the Marine Corps to help me find my way, I watched 1986’s “Top Gun” and knew I wanted to be a fighter pilot. No, it wasn’t Tom Cruise’s charm, nor was it the allure of playing topless volleyball with all […]

For a defensive minded person, potential threats to the well-being of you and your family are always near the forefront of your mind. Whether you’re walking down a dimly lit New York City alleyway or trudging up the steep and well-worn mountain path behind your wooded home, there are dangers to consider and mitigate if […]

Just about every special operations command in the world uses live fire drills to give its operators realistic combat experience before actually getting into the fight, though as numerous videos around the web have shown, not every nation’s military adheres to the same safety standards. This video, which appears to show Russian special operations troops […]

These days, it’s not unusual to carry a LifeStraw or other lightweight filtration method (like this one from LifeSaver) – but if you find yourself in a survival situation without your kit, good drinking water becomes no less important. In the absence of of water purification tablets or filtration systems, you can boil your water […]

Immediate Threat CQB – ITCQB is a hybrid system, developed through time by Eli Feildboy, the founder of Project Gecko. Tight and confined spaces or L-shaped rooms can be difficult to clear with a teammate without flagging each other. In the second installment of the “Pro’s guide to CQB” series, Eli talks about what we […]

Welcome to our newest series – How to Survive Anything, brought to you by our partners at the Crate Club! Our goal with this series is simple: provide you with short, easy to digest tips, tricks, skills and lessons that will help better equip you to survive anything life throws at you. We’re pulling from […]