To continue reading, join the BBR Network!

I remember a time when I was a big proponent of social media. Apps like Facebook and Instagram were great for staying in touch with long distance friends, finding social groups with common interests, sharing photos, memes, and jokes, or having digital conversations. Facebook in particular was a great tool for small businesses to advertise, post event schedules, and even host private groups.
Over time, it became less and less awesome. There were more arguments, and Facebook went from giving you a block option to nameless Facebook Admins banning people outright, often without warning. Instead of expecting you to just scroll past something you didn't like, they began filtering and fact checking, and preemptively putting temporary or permanent bans on people's accounts.
That was the case for me in March of 2020. After a few "inappropriate content" warnings for mundane memes and political statements, my business page was deplatformed. I also had a private group for my top customers (the Black Bag Resources Inner Circle or BBRIC) that received a "dangerous persons or groups" warning in 2021- our primary violation was sharing memes relating to the Kyle Rittenhouse case. Keep in mind, AlQuaeda still has their Facebook page, unmolested by Facebook (now Meta) admins.
It became clear we were operating in hostile territory, and while I have always advocated for refusing to give up ground, the writing was on the wall. We were leaving Facebook on our own or getting deleted by Zuckerberg. Friends suggested setting up a Discord chat for BBRIC and that was a good stop gap measure for keeping in touch. Not everyone made the migration, but it worked well enough. A few months later, another friend suggested an independent networking site that allowed you to create a digital community. It was far more focused on small businesses and genuine community than standard social media. The best part was complete independent control over content, without outside biases interfering. We launched the BBR Network a few days later, originally intended as just a space for the BBR Inner Circle. However, I immediately saw the value and opportunity with this new software and decided to upgrade and expand beyond just the small Inner Cirle. Again seeking to migrate members out of the Facebook group was a challenge, but those who did were able to download the app to their phone and access the network easily.
In December of 2021, the BBR Network was launched publicly with a nominal subscription fee and membership is growing steadily while Facebook/Meta and Instagram continue to delete accounts and censor content. We're seeing new social media platforms pop up regularly, each claiming to be better but none really delivering. The BBR Network is unique in that it's not only social media with sharing posts, photos, and comments. We also host educational focus groups, peer lead support groups, and interest groups. We're on track to start offering full online courses in March, and each member receives a membership kit. True to the original plan, the BBR Network is also the best place to score our information, discounts and deals, and keep track of our events calendar including gun shows, trainings, and members only BBQs- or as we call them BBRBQs!
Things always have a way of working out for the best, and getting Zucked from Facebook was the imputes to launching something so much better. Check out the landing page for the BBR Network in the link below!

Full disclosure: this article includes an affiliate link which earns us a small commission.
AmmoSquared, founded in 2016, is an ammunition subscription service that helps you make sure that you have the ammo you need, when you need it. To date, their ammunition subscription program has shipped nearly 200,000 pounds of ammunition to happy customers across the US and boasts thousands of 4 and 5 star reviews.
Having ammo on hand is important. Many gun owners were caught flat footed during the crazy ammo run that started in 2020 and doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. With AmmoSquared, you’re able to stock up on ammunition in an affordable manner, so that you always have ammunition when you need it. You can think of it a lot like an ammunition piggy bank. Each month, you set aside a small budget to accumulate ammunition in the background. They make it easy by giving you full control of your budget and preferences and then do the leg-work for you!

Here's how it works:
First, you create your account and select the type of firearm you want ammunition for (pistol, rifle, or shotgun), the caliber of ammunition you’d like, and the purpose of your ammunition (Self- Defense, Hunting, Target, Competition or more). Then, you set your budget and how often you’d like to contribute to your subscription (Ie: $25 a month, $50 every two weeks, etc). Next, you select when you’d like your ammunition shipped to you. You can have your ammunition shipped when you reach a certain round count, dollar value, at predetermined periods of time, or they’ll even hold it for you in their climate controlled facility until you request it to be shipped! Once that is setup, they’ll bill you for the amount you selected and interval you chose during setup, and work on curating the best ammo for your subscription.
All of this takes the hassle out of hunting down ammunition, and makes it convenient for you to stay prepared. Aside from the convenience, AmmoSquared allows you to store your ammo in their climate controlled facility protecting the life of your ammunition. Many people store ammunition in garages or basements which are subject to a wide range of temperature and humidity fluctuation, which can degrade the lifespan and reliability of their ammunition over time. But with AmmoSquared you never have to worry about that. When you request your ammo to be shipped to you, it will be nearly new, no matter how long you’ve been saving up for it.
From their site:
“We purchase ammunition and store it in our temperature-controlled warehouse in what is called “non-segregated” storage. That means that everyone’s ammo is pooled together. You know exactly what you have (even down to the fractional round) by looking at your inventory online.
On the flip side, we try to maintain 97% to 115% of total customer inventory in physical storage, with some fluctuation based on incoming and outgoing shipment timing. Your personal inventory is part of the inventory in the warehouse but the actual brands and make-up of that inventory change monthly as we ship out boxes and get new inventory in. For most of the popular rounds, we completely cycle through our inventory 4-6 times a year. That means that what you are getting has only been on our shelf for 2-3 months max.”
AmmoSquared is the ORIGINAL mainstream ammunition subscription company, which means they’ve been doing this longer than anyone! THOUSANDS of customers have entrusted AmmoSquared with their ammunition needs. Go check them out with the link below!

​Whether you are trying to keep warm or hanging with your friends and family, a campfire can start using primitive fire-starting methods. There are many ways to start a fire using these methods. These include the hand drill method, the two-man friction drill method, the fire plough method, bow drill method, flint and steel method, and many more.

​The hand drill method is the simplest of methods listed, but keep the high speed required to start the fire can pose a challenge to some. This is due to only the hands controlling the rotation of the spindle. Even though it can be challenging, this method works best for dry climates.