Planning Your Escape – Part 5, by JMD

(Continued from Part 4.  This installment concludes the article series.) If you’re even further away you may need to consider how you can supplement your food supply as you travel. One obvious way to do that is to learn how to forage. Foraging can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing, so take some training on how to recognize edible plants and what to avoid. If you’re going to be traveling to the same area frequently you should look into taking a local foraging class; they’re offered in most major locales. I also carry an edible plants reference …


Planning Your Escape – Part 3, by JMD

(Continued from Part 3.) Upon Arrival Once you arrive at your destination the next phase of Return To Base (RTB) preparations begins. Note that I’m assuming you’re at a hotel or rental property – if you’re staying with friends or family you should adjust accordingly. The first thing I do when I arrive is fill up a 5L water bottle. That way I have immediate access to clean water if something takes the infrastructure down. If an event occurs I can quickly fill my hydration bladder and other water bottles from that before heading out. The morning I leave, I …


Planning Your Escape – Part 2, by JMD

(Continued from Part 1.) Using Google or Bing maps provides you with an initial idea of what the route and terrain for a journey home might look like, but it’s far from the end of your planning. While these maps provide information on roads and walking paths, they don’t include details on possible alternatives like railroad tracks and waterways. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the use of railroad tracks for travel in a post-SHTF world. On the plus side railways tend to be more isolated from built-up areas, so you may stand a better chance of avoiding …


Planning Your Escape – Part 1, by JMD

In a previous article in SurvivalBlog I wrote about things you could do to help you survive when you’re on the road and traveling. The focus of that article was on what skills, supplies and activities you should consider to increase your chances of surviving while you’re away from home for any period of time, but I received feedback from several folks that the article didn’t really provide much information about how to actually get back home if an event did occur. The goal of this article is to address that gap and provide some ideas and suggestions for planning …


Gardening Year-Round in North Country, by RAP1

Many people see gardening as primarily a busy spring and summertime activity. But in truth it should be viewed as a part-time, year-round pursuit, and It shouldn’t run your life any time of the year. Autumn is actually a good time to begin your garden for next year. But before I explain what I mean, first some background.   Our homestead is 1.7 acres, in zone 5, located in a sparsely populated community in Maine, and includes a small pond, an orchard with 15 fruit trees, a grape trellis, dozens of blueberry, elderberry and raspberry bushes, an asparagus bed, and a …


What Are You Really Preparing For? by B.P.

After a fair number of years being a designated “prepper” and enjoying the heaps of blessings and trials I’ve received, it happens that occasionally I take a tally on my soul and recall the lessons from my life as a disciple in Christ. Now, your mileage may vary depending on the faith, or lack thereof, you have committed yourself to. For me, it was an easy choice to make early in life, as the benefits greatly outweighed the costs (considering an eternity in torment apart from my Creator as the greatest of these). Since making the choice nearly 50 years …


Making Lidocaine for Injection, by R.J.

Important Introductory Disclaimer: I am not a licensed health practitioner. This article suggests knowledge and understanding you might wish to acquire in advance of a disaster in case no higher care is available. As long as our society is functioning, you should leave anything more substantial than applying a Band-Aid to the professionals. No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician. Preparation of sterile medications by non-professionals should only be attempted in extreme emergencies where there is absolutely no access to commercially-prepared medicines.  Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. …


Our Prepping Journey – Part 2, by Elli O.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Resources: I found it quite helpful to have books at home that cover raising, dispatching (killing), and processing livestock. The internet is useful but nothing beats a written guide when the internet is unavailable. Lessons learned from having livestock: Remember the reason for raising the livestock. They are not pets; they are food for the family. The first cute calves we brought home were named Lunch and Dinner, which served as a reminder to all that these bottle fed babies would someday be on our supper plates. Animals get sick and die. …


Our Prepping Journey – Part 1, by Elli O.

This article describes how we began our self-reliance path, and where we are now. Our Background I am a retired career public safety employee with a secondary career of teaching disaster preparedness. My husband is in sales and has a past career in carpentry. We are both in our 60s and have four grown children. We were raised and still reside in Ohio. The Move to the Farm When our children were still pre-adolescent we moved from a small city (50,000) to our present location. There was something within us that preferred a country setting even though we weren’t exactly …


Prepper Lessons from Noah’s Ark, by C.H.

Before I begin this article, I should clarify that I believe that Noah’s flood is a historical fact, not an allegorical myth. It actually happened; a flood that covered the whole earth and destroyed all humanity and all animals on the earth, with the exception of one man, his family, and those animals with him. As I see it, if one can’t believe the Bible about the flood, one can’t believe it about the resurrection either. Noah is included in the ‘cloud of witnesses’ in Hebrews 11:7. These witnesses are to encourage us to ‘lay aside every encumberance and the …


Getting Out of Dodge – Part 3, by Doc

(Continued from Part 2.  This concludes the article series.) Getting back to the construction details:  I welded up a steel frame and built hinges using 1” bolts and pipe and 3/8” steel plate for the roof of the patio on the East end of the building. I used metal roof material supported by 6”x2” heavy tubing and 2” angle and a lot of rebar and a 3/8’ steel plate for the hydraulic cylinder to lift against. I bought a 5” diameter hydraulic cylinder 48” long and welded a trunion to steel plates on both ends. With the cylinder attached to …


Getting Out of Dodge – Part 2, by Doc

(Continued from Part 1) Two slanted walls were poured on the East end. They were 22′ wide at the building and 14′ wide at the East end and went from 8′ to nothing at the end. This was for a roof for the patio and security when I was traveling. Then I had the messy job of coating the outside with tar to seal it. Next a layer of 2″ closed cell styrofoam was installed on the outside walls. Then part of the ditch was back filled to hold the foam in place. The temperature was hot and I was …


Getting Out of Dodge – Part 1, by Doc

In 1993, I was practicing in a large city and had a home on a lake in the suburbs. I had an attractive younger wife and life was good. I bought a new computer and was stopped in traffic on my way home while ahead of me, a backhoe was digging a hole in the street. I was hit from the rear by a truck loaded with pipe fittings. The truck had a sprinkler company sticker on the door, and was driven by a Mexican with no insurance. The impact was so great that my car was slammed into a …


Outdoor Survival: Of Belts and Tins, by Randy in S.C.

M1 Garand cartridge belts and Altoids tins are a match made in prepper’s heaven. You may already have some of these vintage items gathering dust. If not, they are easy to find. Together they can be a literal lifesaver, more capable than smaller survival kits and far less bulky than the typical bugout bag. The M1 cartridge belt is an adjustable canvas belt with 10 snap-closure pockets, each measuring approximately 3 ¾” x 2 ¾” x 1”. It was standard issue from about 1910 until the full adoption of the M14 rifle in the late 1950s. The belt was originally …


Brewing My Own Kombucha, by S.C.

Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea. Commercially, it is found in the refrigerated section with other prepared teas. It is loaded with live probiotics, so it has many health benefits. It tastes like fizzy vinegar, which takes a little getting used to. The fermentation process converts most of the sugar and caffeine. However, the caffeine sensitive may have to drink it only early in the day. Caveat: Kombucha has a minor amount of alcohol; less than 0.5% if it is sold commercially, and 0.2% to 0.8% (other estimates say 1-3%) if made at home. I mention this so that those …