Retreat Logistics: Establishing Burn Rates, by 3AD Scout

What is a “burn rate”?  It is simply the period of time it takes to go through a given commodity or resource.  Establishing burn rates are important since it is those burn rates that will help determine how much of an commodity or resource you store before an incident and burn rates will also help you manage your resources in a post-incident environment.   In the Prepping world we already have a few burn rates established.  The amount of calories and water we need per day are for the most part for bare minimums.  That is we know we need about …


Reunite Your Family After a Black Swan Event, by J.P.

Like many of you reading this, I have been in the preparedness community for more than a decade. We have seen the videos, read the blogs, read and listened to books, and thought about the what-ifs and I would-bes…. Seemingly endless “when it goes down imma gonna get my kit and my body armor and my weebo disk made by Acme company” or “in the first hours imma gonna go here and do this and that”. The first person tends to be me, myself and I. To be honest, no you are not. Hard stop! You may have loved ones …


Disease Vector Awareness and Action, by K.B., M.D.

I am writing this article to share with our dear readers the information from several news articles featuring illnesses secondary to disease vectors and also spread due to immigration to the United States or international travel to other countries. It is a broad topic that I will condense for our readers in hopes of increasing not only awareness but also instructing in means of protection and treatment. Disclaimer: I am neither prescribing medicine nor dispensing medical advice. Anything that you choose to do as a result of reading this article is your own responsibility. Always seek out treatment and advice …


My Generator: Hard Lessons Learned – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The Second Big Problem Everything was going great until the July test. As usual, the test went well. I put the generator in the shop and when I stood it up on end… the engine fell out! Since this is a family blog, my comment roughly translated to something along the lines of, “Wow, that’s not good.” My second thought was, “This is going to be pretty funny in a week.” Fortunately, it proved to be so. I learned several things about generators in general that I’d never thought about and the …


My Generator: Hard Lessons Learned – Part 1, by St. Funogas

I consider a home generator to be one of the more important preparedness items for coping with the very steep learning curve we’d all go through while adjusting to a TEOTWAWKI situation. While finite fuel supplies will limit its usability for most of us to just a few months at best, with our own generator the immediate aftermath of a permanent grid-down world would be much more tolerable during the first few days and months of adjusting to the “new normal”. Based on my own preps test a year ago (My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, …


How to Build an Outhouse, by Mrs. Alaska

Lack of sanitation has killed more people than wars, so while bullets may be useful, outhouses may be more important! Can you dig a hole and construct a simple structure over it? For more than a decade, we have lived with an outhouse and no indoor bathroom. In many coastal communities, an outhouse is built over a pier. Peering through the toilet, one sees the incoming or outgoing tide. I don’t want to think too much about that. Throughout India, where we spent 9 months, commercial outhouses and bathrooms in modest hotels have tile floors with a sloping center, flanked …


A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 2, by Anon-6

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) – To filter air: Need to get fresh air into the shelter without pulling in fallout particles In rack 1 is everything you need to set up an air filter system that pulls in filtered air Checklist with step-by-step pictures is on the clipboard Instructions are also written on the plywood board that will go in the opened movie room window slot (board already has 12” holes in it for the small yellow industrial fan to pull air into the movie room through one of the furnace filters) [Rack 1 contains a …


A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 1, by Anon-6

I’ve been a prepper since 2012 and was born in the early 60s. I started prepping when Obama was reelected and realized we’re on our own to protect our families from the hazards of a dangerous world. One of my first purchases was a 1-ounce silver Eagle that stays in my pocket to this day as part of my EDC kit – a small metal cigar case that works nicely (maybe a future article on that). From there, research and then purchasing food, water storage, comms, medical supplies, guns, and getting trained. Fast forward to late 2022 and early 2023. …


Grab-and-Go Rifle and Pistol Kits for Impromptu Visitors – Part 2, by S4H

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Provide for the Common Defense We are not extremely wealthy, but over the last several years I have made sure to invest in tangibles including two AN/PVS-14 night vision sets and a few extra firearms with all the fixin’s. My wonderful wife has graciously and intentionally never asked me to quantify “extra firearms” and for that I am thankful! Some of my enhanced armory has come from SurvivalBlog affiliate Palmetto State Armory (PSA) and I frequently select my ‘build-a-bang-stick’ materials from that great company. Having “spare” firearms is a calculated and purposeful …


Grab-and-Go Rifle and Pistol Kits for Impromptu Visitors – Part 1, by S4H

Disclaimer: In this article, situations are discussed regarding loaning firearms to friends or relatives for mutual aid and defense of our families and properties. Clearly, one should not allow a mentally ill criminal type touch your guns, but my family doesn’t associate with those types of people anyway. That said, you are responsible for knowing the oppressive laws and unrealistic regulations in your own area – before handing a firearm to anyone. It may indeed be a felony to even let someone else touch or handle a firearm without expressed government approval. I am not a lawyer (because I have …


A Silver Conversion Exercise, by M.J.

As an intellectual exercise, I converted the price of some of my recent purchases from U.S. dollars to ounces of silver. I did this out of curiosity to see how well I would do in a precious metals-based economy. I used the spot price of silver per ounce that was quoted at www.apmex.com on 09-16-2023: $23.31. The other spot prices for that day are as follows: Gold: $1,937.50 per ounce Platinum: $945.70 per ounce Palladium: $1,286.00 per ounce Here’s what I bought:1 gallon of 30% vinegar: $21.07, or 0.90 ounces of silver. (Regular grocery store vinegar is 5% and costs …


One Way to Get Started in Ham Radio, by Reltney McFee

Simply in case anyone was wondering, this is by no means “the” way to begin. Rather, this is a sort of discussion of how I got into Amateur (“Ham”) radio. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was attracted to CB radio, although, being a teen, my budget to act on that attraction was, well, scant. I had a CB walkie-talkie, and would chat with a friend similarly equipped, a couple of blocks away from me. Once I moved out of my parents’ home, I started working, for Da City’s EMS, and from time to time would note that …


Homesteading: A Trapper’s Perspective – Part 1, by Lodge Pole

This will be an instructional/how to article, though I feel the need to set the stage first as to how I acquired the skills I write about and how I implement them regularly. Before attempting anything described in this article, check local laws and regulations. Introduction About fifteen years ago, when I was a younger man and had an answer for everything, I overheard some cowboys call their Queensland Healer dogs as “tools, not pets.” As I listened to and watched the cowboys work their dogs, I scoffed at their comments about their animals being tools. I looked at a …


My Experience with a Bluetti AC180 – Part 2, by Rick S.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) THE BLUETTI 180P This brings us to a real-world solution: the Bluetti AC180. This is a charge controller/battery bank/inverter in a single, elegant package. The heart of the AC180 is a bank of Lithium Iron batteries with an advertised life of 3,500 charge/discharge cycles and is warranted for five years. Integrated into the package is a charge controller capable of charging from a number of sources: 120 VAC house supply, car charger, or solar panels. It then is capable of supplying that stored power in a number of ways: various USB connections, …


My Experience with a Bluetti AC180 – Part 1, by Rick S.

INTRODUCTION One of the more useful new technologies for preppers is photovoltaic power generation. Twenty years ago this technology was in the early stages with very limited applicability due to a high cost/benefit ratio. Today, due to a number of significant advances, a solar power generation capability on some scale is entirely practical. At the same time, entirely off-grid solar power is not yet practical unless one is prepared to make some significant sacrifices in living circumstances. This can be illustrated by simply referring to your monthly electric bill where you will find a wealth of information regarding your electrical …