A small editorial crew of airsoft players, LARP prop builders and horror readers spread between Johannesburg, Durban and a Karoo farm. We write about gear that holds up in real dust and coastal damp, publish weekly fiction serials, and keep the doomsday panic out of it.
The site did not start with a business plan. It started with four people in a Johannesburg flat, arguing about whether a foam blaster could survive a Highveld winter and whether anyone had actually tested a bug-out bag on the N3. Those arguments turned into notes, the notes turned into posts, and the posts slowly turned into something readers could use.
2019
We published three gear breakdowns and one short story set in Braamfontein. The gear posts were rough. The story got more comments. That told us something: readers wanted the fiction to carry the site, not just sit beside it.
2020
We committed to one episode every Friday, set across Johannesburg, Durban and the Karoo. It forced a rhythm we still keep. Readers started sending their own outbreak scenarios, and we began running the best ones as guest episodes with credit.
2021
The Highveld and coastal bug-out checklists were rewritten four times after reader feedback. We cut items that failed in dust or humidity and added notes on weight, storage and what to swap when you drive instead of walk. The printable versions stay free.
2023
We started running small weekend skirmishes near the Magaliesberg to test foam blasters, magazines and cheap optics in real conditions. The reviews got longer, the claims got shorter, and we stopped recommending anything we had not carried ourselves.
What has not changed is the tone. No doomsday panic, no gear worship, no pretending a weekend kit is a fortress. Just tested notes, regional detail and fiction that treats South African places as real ground. If you want to see where that leads next, the fiction archive and the beginner kit guide are the two best places to start.
The blog did not start with a plan. It started with a group of friends arguing about bug-out bags in a Johannesburg garage, and a stubborn refusal to turn survival writing into fear marketing.
2019
Three articles went up: a foam blaster teardown, a winter kit list for the Witwatersrand plateau, and a short story set in a flooded Johannesburg subway. No ads, no schedule, just a shared folder and a lot of arguing about water filters.
2020
A weekly serial set along the Durban harbour drew comments from airsoft players, LARP organisers and people who had never touched a blaster. The comment threads on episode endings became the part readers came back for, so we kept them open and unmoderated apart from basic house rules.
2021
Readers kept asking for something they could fold into a bag, so we published free printable supply lists for coastal and inland conditions. Around the same time we opened submissions for outbreak scenarios, and the first batch came in from Cape Town, Nelspruit and a farm outside Graaff-Reinet.
2023
We stopped reviewing anything we had not carried through a full weekend. That meant fewer posts and more field notes on spring wear, magazine jams in dust, and how cheap optics fog up on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. Some brands stopped sending samples. That was fine.
Today
The archive now covers gear breakdowns, movie and game retrospectives, and serials set in the Karoo and Durban. The editorial rule has not changed since the garage: no doomsday panic, no fear as a sales tactic, and no review of kit we would not pack ourselves.