Author: SurvivalBlog Contributor

Authors Introductory Note: This article describes my experience in obtaining, refining and casting scrap lead for later use in bullet casting. The safety precautions in this article are the actual ones I used in this process, and I believe them to be adequate to protect against contamination to yourself and the environment. However, I am neither a doctor nor a chemist, and if you attempt this yourself you should do your own research. — There are many articles on SurvivalBlog about the utility of bullet casting. This is true, especially for someone who has older cartridge guns and black powder …

In times of high stress nobody “rises to the occasion”.  Instead, we all sink to our training and competency. Everyone has heard this statement in one form or another, but it is worth repeating.  Competency of a skill requires repetition.  I have spent significant range time with individuals in law enforcement.  I do not remember a single encounter when I have, not only been more competent, but also been complemented on my level of skill. I do not say this to brag but to help other individuals with a preparedness mindset because I believe everyone can achieve a high competency …

When TEOTWAWKI happens, none of us know how it’s going to go down. Will it be a natural destructive force or world war? An asteroid or weapons of mass destruction? Massive starvation or biological warfare? Maybe you’ll have to bug out and leave home. Or maybe you’ll have to stand your ground and defend what’s yours. We have no idea what the world will be like, only that it will be different. Regardless of how it happens, after TEOTWAWKI, all aspects of survival need to be considered. Of course, hunting, fishing, and foraging for edibles are necessary. And of course, …

Now I might be just a mild mannered, right-leaning, Christian grandma, but in my former life I was a hardcore, back-to-the-land, Rainbow Family hippie. There’s a bunch of us (once young people) who learned survival and community building skills in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and we suspected that someday we might need to be teaching these skills. The Rainbow Family name came from different native American visions of white people who would adopt Native American styles of life. (This was decades before the LBGTQ+++ crowd appropriated the “rainbow” and half of the English Alphabet.) For example the Hopi …

In this article I will describe how to protect yourself and your family from corona virus and other infectious diseases. The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus is causing widespread concern and response by public and health authorities. In this article we will cover the following: What is coronavirus? How does it spread? Official response and recommendations for protection Practical, common sense recommendations for individual protection. What is coronavirus? The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a member of Coronoviridae family. There are currently 16 full genome sequences of the virus published[1]. It is an enveloped RNA virus, one of the largest …

This is going to be a different type of article. Different in that this gedankenexperiment will undoubtedly provoke many readers who will want to disagree with me- and that is fine!  In fact, that is sort of what I am wanting. I am looking for others to explain to me what I am missing, and therefore make me a more informed, prepared, and hopefully secure individual. This article you are reading is going to be about gold. Specifically, how I just cannot agree with all the hype (my word choice perhaps not the best) and advertisements you hear on the …

Most people know the four rules of firearm safety popularized by Colonel Jeff Cooper: 1.) All guns are always loaded. This one has a double meaning – (1) always check an “unloaded” firearm yourself and (2) once you’ve checked, still follow all the other rules as though it was loaded. 2.) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. This doesn’t mean you’re willing to destroy the wall of your home – just that it’s not catastrophic like pointing at a family member. 3.) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target. …

Most readers of this fine blog are well beyond the preparedness novice level. People in this more advanced category often forget their mindset, questions, and concerns when they first became involved in the field of preparedness. This is the case whether the prepping neophyte is preparing for a few days of inconvenience resulting from an ice storm, or a long-term survival ordeal as a result of a massive attack on the national power grid. It is also the case that most articles submitted to web sites across the internet are intended for those readers who are far ahead in their …

Encompassing parts of 13 states from southern New York down through the northern region of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, the Appalachian mountain range offers a Redoubt alternative for those east of the Mississippi. More than just a geographical designation, Appalachia offers some unique cultural aspects that contribute to its potential viability for preparedness living. The “Appalachian Redoubt” has been referenced various survival-minded authors, who mainly focused on the Cumberland Plateau region and the more rugged mountains of North Carolina, primarily geared towards a “bug out” /retreat scenario. I’m going to address the area that I live in — Southeastern Ohio/Eastern …