Alex Hollings

Alex Hollings Alex Hollings writes on a breadth of subjects ranging from fitness to foreign policy, all presented through the lens of his experiences as a U.S. Marine, athlete and scholar. A football player, rugby player and fighter, Hollings has spent the better part of his adult life competing in some of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Hollings possesses a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Framingham State University.

Watch: Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves used live rounds to train for John Wick 3

Over the weekend, “John Wick: Chapter 3” captured the top box office spot away from Marvel’s Avengers, continuing on the success of the first two films and helping to solidify my personal claims that John Wick is America’s long-awaited answer to the most famous assassin from across the pond, James Bond. And as though the […]

Pepper Spray and Defense: Why I’d rather be shot than sprayed with OC again

During my tenure on the Anti-Terrorism Force Protection Team for Southern California, I had the opportunity to participate in a number of interesting and exciting training revolutions. I got to learn knife techniques alongside the L.A. SWAT team, vehicle searches with military police units, and to gain proficiency with a number of weapon systems not […]

Not the ‘preppers’ you see on TV: America’s wealthy take ‘prepping’ seriously

Depending on the circles you run in, the word “prepper” has different connotations. Its use in the media on shows with exaggerated premises about crackpots building camouflaged tree houses has made the idea of “being prepared” for disaster somewhat laughable, but among people that have spent some time in failed states, impoverished nations, or places […]

Three survival skills you learned from movies (that will get you killed)

We tend not to go to movies looking for realism. Even the movies we watch that are “based on” or “inspired by” true stories tend to bend the facts of the tale around a more logical (or marketable) narrative that audiences would be more likely to get behind, but some common tropes have become so […]

The well-read warrior: The books you need to read this month

In today’s world full of motive-driven media outlets and the internet’s non-stop outrage party, it pays to unplug from the anger-matrix from time to time so you can focus on the broader issues affecting our society. If you want to be better informed that than your average Facebook spamming troll, it means learning more about […]

Stashable Survival: Crate Club’s 12 in 1 Survival Kit packs a punch

Of course, we all know there’s no such thing as an “all in one” survival kit, especially when we’re talking about something compact enough to stash in the glove box of your car, but the folks over at the Crate Club know their gear, and they managed to jam this small survival kit with 12 […]

Survival rifle review: Chiappa’s lightweight and foldable Little Badger

I first came across the Chiappa Little Badger survival rifle in a magazine a few months ago, and distinctly recall thinking to myself, “I’m not sure how useful that would be… but it sure looks cool,” as I kept flipping through the pages. In that brief moment, I told myself that if I came across […]

Up for some tactical yachting? Navy puts special operations boat built for SEALs on the market

Back in 1993, the short-lived action-adventure TV series “Thunder in Paradise” showed us what it would be like if you gave a pair of former Navy SEALs (played by Hulk Hogan and Chris Lemmon) a stealthy tactical boat with which they could conduct their mercenary operations. As a series, the concept fizzled out after just […]

The 5 unusual things that’ll help keep your car running in an emergency

In any prolonged survival situation involving a vehicle, the most important things to look for aren’t speed or even ground clearance — the first things you should consider are reliability and ease of repair and maintenance. After all, even the most badass of vehicles tend to lose their appeal when you can’t change a flat […]

Not just kids’ stuff: Why it’s worth having a good quality BB gun in your survival loadout

There’s no questioning that most of us would prefer a reliable firearm over most other weapons in a survival situation. Whether we’re talking about a failure of the electrical grid brought about by an EMP attack or being overrun by zombie hordes, a gun offers security and in many circumstances, the means to hunt for […]