Creating Your Own Secure Messages– Part 1, by DaytonPrepper1

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I am an experienced programmer with a lot of time spent in Excel everyday for my paying job. East Sierra Sage’s article on Cipher Security got me thinking again about One Time Pads and other secure message techniques. I really enjoy automating things with Excel’s powerful formulas and macros. So I set off to create a tool for a One Time Pad spreadsheet that would create the One Time Pads and also encode and decode the messages being sent. How to Use a One Time Pad (OTP) You will need a Shift Chart and an OTP Chart as the basic …


The Four Things I Missed Most In Urban Survival Mode, by J.C.

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Did you ever picture putting all your survival know-how to the test in an urban environment, in a giant city? Did you think about all the piles of rubble you’d have to work around to “put rubber to the road”? Mexico City Earthquake, September 19th, 2017 I know I didn’t, until I found myself in Mexico City on September 19th of last year, that is. This was the day a 7.2 earthquake shook Central Mexico, toppled buildings, and killed nearly 400 people. This also happened to be the anniversary, to the day, of the hugely destructive 1985 Guerrero Earthquake that …


Letter: A Good Word About One of SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Sponsors

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Mr. Rawles, Recently I was pleased to hear that I had won second place in round 75 of your writing contest for my Inevitable American Gun Ban article. As part of that prize, Emergency Essentials promised to provide a 3 day deluxe emergency kit. Thought grateful for the prize, I didn’t really want the kit because I have multiples of every item in that kit already. What to do? Hesitantly, I contacted them and asked if I might order something else from the website and pay the cost difference between the items I chose and the 3 day kit. I …


Letter: HF 3002: Welcome to The People’s Republic of Minnesota

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Hugh, They Never Stop. And they never will. The latest bid to punish the innocent for arms abuse by the guilty— but really to make sure that no sheep-dogs remains protectively collared when the left later disposes of the sheep—is arising in MN. And it’s a doozy: HF 3022 is now in the Legislature. Permit required to own a gun Permit required to buy a gun Permit required to sell a gun Local law enforcement gets to deny all types of gun permits Local law enforcement gets to deny permits to carry Personal medical information must be shared with law …


Birth- Part 2, by A.E.

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According to the CDC, about 11,000 babies are born in the U.S. every day. If anyone in your family or group is of childbearing age, you might want to think about preparing for an out-of-hospital birth. Most people have never witnessed a “natural” or med-free birth. Therefore, they have no idea what natural birth looks like or how to prepare for it. In Part 1, I spoke about the importance of the mother’s psyche in childbirth and also about the sphincter law that applies to childbirth. We began the topic of Preparing for Birth with suggestion for books, such as …


Birth- Part 1, by A.E.

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Typically, when we think about a survival situation, like TEOTWAWKI or SHTF, our minds race to food storage, defense, clean water, growing gardens, and raising livestock; often times, we forget other necessities, like good medical care and childbirth. According to the CDC, about 11,000 babies are born in the U.S. every day. If anyone in your family or group is of childbearing age, you might want to think about preparing for an out-of-hospital birth. Most people have never witnessed a “natural” or med-free birth. Therefore, they have no idea what natural birth looks like or how to prepare for it. …



Stoic Virtues, by A Modern Stoic

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Stoic justice at its heart is about fairness and the golden rule. Other virtues remain, which I will grab onto because a virtuous life is one to pursue for real happiness. Seneca on the Good, the Honorable, and Virtue “Your letter roamed, over several little problems, but finally dwelt upon this alone, asking for explanation: “How do we acquire a knowledge of that which is good and that which is honourable?” In the opinion of other schools, these two qualities are distinct; among our followers, however, they are merely divided. This is what I mean: Some believe the Good to …


How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 3, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members and guide another 21, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series. In Part 2, I went over how I am resolving these problems and my specific plans as well as …


How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 2, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series. How Do You Overcome These Barriers to Success? Now that I have laid out my problems, which are substantial, I want to talk …


Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 2, by Grey Woman

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The focus of this article is on prepping for children and adolescents on the mid to lower functioning end of the autism spectrum. If you are the parent or caretaker of an autistic child, I’m sure you have already considered your child’s or adolescent’s special needs and planned accordingly. This article is intended to serve as a general overview and resource for those who are less familiar with the needs and capabilities of these unique individuals. Autism- A Prevalent Disorder Based on the prevalence of Autism spectrum disorder and autism, it is likely that either your family or a family …


Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by Grey Woman

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“How a society treats its most vulnerable is always the measure of its humanity.” Ambassador Matthew Rycroft A fair amount of literature has been devoted to prepping for the needs of babies and children in general and for the elderly, but there seems to be far less information available to guide decision making in prepping for the developmentally disabled members, including those on the autism spectrum, of our communities. According to the latest analysis by the CDC, between 6% and 7% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed as having a developmental disability. These disabilities …


A Helping Hand, by J.M.

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One of the big debates among people who are prepared is what to do, if anything, to help out folks that weren’t prepared when a SHTF event occurs. Our Christian values tell us to help those in need by offering a helping hand when we’re able, but the logic of the situation tells us that if we give everything away our own family and friends may suffer. While perusing various forums and discussing the issue of handouts with other prepper folks, I’ve seen attitudes that range from “They had the opportunity to prepare and chose not to, so they’re on …


Rights vs Duties, by A Modern Stoic

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“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” – 2 Timothy 4:3, the Bible, New International Version “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate …


Recipe of the Week: Caramel Baked Apples by Grey Woman

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This is one of my favorite ways to use the last of the fall apples once spring comes. You know, these are the ones that have been in storage long enough to be a little too spongy to eat plain but still too good to feed to the critters. Ingredients: Baked Apples: 6 Large apples – I prefer Honey Crisp, but go with what you love ¼ lb + 2 Tbsp salted butter, softened ¾ cup brown sugar ½ cup chopped nuts – I prefer pecans, but, again, go with what you love ½ cup dried cranberries 2 Tbsp grated …