Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 3, by W.J.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) HOW TO MAINTAIN AN OUTDOOR CAT COLONY If you want cats to be attracted to your home or homestead, and to stay around, you need to give them food, water and shelter, and teach them that people are a good thing. And you need to encourage good traits and prevent inbreeding. Food: I did not give my outdoor colony cats the Farmina Prime lamb kibble, imported from Italy, that my indoor fur family gets. But they get decent stuff, as well as leftovers, bones, and oddly enough, wheat germ muffins. They want …


Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 2, by W.J.

(Continued from Part 1.) Mayoclinic.org has good information on hantavirus, and preventive rodent control (they do not address natural predators). They advise not keeping mice or rats as pets, unless they are tested, and then totally quarantined HOW TO CHOOSE A CAT OR KITTEN PHYSICAL ChARACTERISTICS The longer and leaner the cat is, the better. The more it looks like a cheetah the faster it will be, the higher it can jump, and the better it can hunt. While even a chunky hunk of a cat may be a good hunter, it is fighting against its body type. My Joyful …


Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 1, by W.J.

My original title for this article was: Would You Like A Rattlesnake With Your Coffee? Or, Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm. (That was a bit long-winded.) I was sitting peacefully in a recliner, sipping my morning coffee, when my beautiful cat, Rosita, jumped up onto the chair next to me. She wanted to offer me a treat to go with my coffee. A nice, tasty rattlesnake. Fortunately, she had already killed it. She held it up to me, hoping I would like it. What I liked was that it was dead, but I appreciated …


Improvised Casualty Retrieval and Transport – Part 4, by R.D.J.

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) HOW TO CARRY A STRETCHER OVER BROKEN GROUND OR RUBBLE, OR UP / DOWN STAIRS, LADDERS, SLOPES – If you have enough people, assemble a minimum of six stretcher bearers and a team leader for even the shortest move- in dark and confined spaces use at least one person to light and / or guide the way – avoid hurry – wear safety helmets and work gloves and protective ‘work’ boots – drape the patient with a heavy blanket if moving / waiting in cold weather and exposed places but leave eyes …


Improvised Casualty Retrieval and Transport – Part 3, by R.D.J.

(Continued from Part 2.) This log-rolling procedure maintains the patient’s entire body in neutral alignment, minimizing any untoward movement of the spine. (Procedure assumes any upper and lower extremity injuries are already immobilized). Then: 1. Prepare the spine board or stretcher with straps, placing the board next to the patient’s side. The straps are to be positioned for fastening later across the patient’s thorax (chest), just above the iliac crests (hip-bones), thighs, and just above the ankles. Straps or tape may be used to secure the patient’s head and neck to the long board. 2. If you have a cervical …


Improvised Casualty Retrieval and Transport – Part 2, by R.D.J.

(Continued from Part 1.) FIRST RESPONSE AT THE SCENE – BE SAFE! Be aware of the hazards involved in responding to a call for help. Develop an understanding of the safety and priorities at the scene of an incident. Know how to call for assistance (you do have your Baofeng (12) or equivalent, don’t you?) Most accident scenes are uncontrolled and potentially dangerous. DO NOT BECOME A CASUALTY YOURSELF – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and SMELL. The first priority at any accident scene is your own safety, followed by safety of the victim.  Finally, the safety of everyone on site must …


Improvised Casualty Retrieval and Transport – Part 1, by R.D.J.

If I’ve seen one… then I’ve seen one. That is all that means. But did I learn anything from it? CASEVAC Casualty Evacuation: what we need to know and do, when we need to move the immobile ill or badly injured with our own resources? Disclaimer One The following article relates entirely to retrieving and moving casualties both ill or injured, when the situation is such that no one is gonna come and help you anytime soon: not within The Golden Hour, nor even within The Tarnished Day. (1) ‘Cause at the time of writing, 99.5% of serious injuries and …


An Important Time For Giving, by SaraSue

If anyone has funds to spare, I want to remind SurvivalBlog readers that the communities in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee are still suffering the devastation from Hurricane Helene.  Since our government failed these people, We The People have responded en masse to take care of them.  There are people still living in tents as the snow starts to fall.  Many many people have donated trailers, Buddy heaters, blankets, clothing, and food to help keep these families intact. You may ask why those people are still living in those devastated areas.  Many have no other place, or the funds, …


Growing Up in a Survivalist Family, by J.W.T.

Growing up, I attributed my father’s penchant for hoarding to having had a Depression-era childhood. We were comfortably middle-class in the 1960s—a three-bedroom, one-bathroom ranch house, a Ford in the driveway, and never hungry—but I heard stories of my parents’ lives in the 1920s and 1930s, especially on Thanksgivings, when my uncles drank too much and reminisced about the old days with my father. My mother still made her own clothes if she didn’t can fruits and vegetables as her mother had, and my father threw nothing out: his old Army camouflage duds, every used nut and bolt, and the …


Photovoltaic Power and Prepping – Part 4, by B.S.V.

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Question: Will I have power when the grid is down? Question: Can I get net metering with a solar-only system, or do I need storage? Battery size With all the information above, you will be better situated to properly size your storage system. Just be aware that (unless you’re in a totally different socioeconomic class than I) you probably won’t get all the storage you want. I started off with the idea that I wanted to be three-days independent of the grid. When I found the cost of that, I scaled back. …


Photovoltaic Power and Prepping – Part 3, by B.S.V.

(Continued from Part 2.) When it came to setting angles, my installer wanted to install at the U.S. default angle of 20 degrees. That angle serves the most people across the country in most situations. Now, I’m a taller-than average, bigger-than-average guy and wear extra-large gloves, so I know one-size does not fit all. You must consider what is best for you and your goals and not just what may be the rule of thumb. I happened to hear the guys talking about the angle after they had already set the poles in the ground. Like I said, I hadn’t …


Photovoltaic Power and Prepping – Part 2, by B.S.V.

(Continued from Part 1.) Question: How is my system size being determined? Question: How many hours per day of power production will I have? Here is where a little ‘art’ comes into all this ‘science’. Panels come in a few different sizes, usually around 325 to 425 Watts. The most common seems to be 400 Watts of generation. What they try to do is balance your usage with the size of panels. In the above case, it would take about 50 panels @ 400 watts per panel to equal the 19kW system (actually 20, but that is where the ‘art’ …


Photovoltaic Power and Prepping – Part 1, by B.S.V.

Preparedness comes in many shapes and sizes. Where we get a little extra complexity is when we have to prepare to prepare. I encountered this in one of my recent large endeavors, and found myself somewhat lacking. It worked out, but it could have gone smoother. Hopefully this article will help you avoid a similar situation. In a recent SurvivalBlog article, I discussed some strategies for using solar backup. Since then, my wife and I decided to move forward with setting ourselves up a bit better and entering the solar arena with a whole-house system. Before you think that this …


Putting Down My Dog, by SaraSue

I had no sooner sent in my positive update to the blog last week than a near catastrophe occurred. I am sharing this, even though it hurts to write about it. I’m doing so because I think it’s important to recognize that country living has pitfalls, as does self-sufficiency. Your preps and relationships become very important and not just for the obvious reasons. In this case, I needed plentiful first aid supplies, a clear head, and neighbors I could call in an Emergency. I will tell you the story. Warning: This is a graphic heart-wrenching story. Please skip over it …


Thoughts on Retreats: History and Land – Part 1, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This is part one of a multi-part article series on retreats written by a Christian farmer who is praying and searching for a wife. Please prayerfully consider all of the topics that he will discuss. — Preparedness Terminology History My family preparedness history goes back generations. Before the term “prepper” was used, people who were into preparedness were known as “survivalists” and even before then people were known as “retreaters.” Our survival library is very extensive covering preparedness-related subjects including original civil defense publications from the 1950s until today. I have spent many hours reading the articles …