We have a new player in the prepper magazine game and, I have to say, the others are looking at some serious competition from the newcomer.

OFFGRID is a spinoff of RECOIL Magazine, much like LIVING READY spun off of GUN DIGEST. The first issue is labeled as being Summer 2013, which seems to indicate this is going to be a quarterly publication.

The cover price of $8.99 is pricey, in my opinion, but you do get quite a bit of solid information here. Every magazine lives on advertising revenue but I was happy to see the ads were minimal in this one. That said, there is quite a bit of product placement throughout the articles.

This issue covers topics from all over the preparedness spectrum:

Must-Know Knots
Choosing a Multitool
Choosing a Defensive Firearm
Paracord Uses
Urban Survival

I could go on and on. There truly is a ton of great information in this issue.

One article I particularly enjoyed was One-Stop Emergency Load-Out. The premise was to send someone into a store with $100.00 and 30 minutes to purchase what they would need to keep a family alive for five days. They surveyed a large store (i.e. Walmart), a pharmacy/small market store (i.e. Walgreens), and a convenience store. Granted, the whole idea of preparedness is to not have to make a last minute dash to the store but I found the results of these shopping trips interesting. The article gave me a couple ideas of things to pick up in my next shopping trip.

The article on multitools was also very well done. Rather than just do a side-by-side comparison (though they did do that as well, with 8 different models), the article talks about general considerations to keep in mind when choosing the multitool that’s right for you, as well as detail several of the most common features found and what to look for in each.

I also learned yet one more synonym for a bug out bag — RTH (Return To Home) pack.

Unlike some of the publications that occupy the lower spots in the food chain, OFFGRID is very professionally done. It is well laid out, easy to read, and has LOTS of photos and illustrations.

All in all, I really enjoyed this magazine and I’m looking forward to future issues. It was filled with common sense suggestions and little to no hysteria or end of the world pronouncements. I’d like to see a bit lower cover price, that’s really my only gripe about the publication.

You can find OFFGRID Magazine at most bookstores and newsstands. I got mine at the local grocery store, for whatever that’s worth.