How NOT to Build a Retreat, by The Jewish Prepper, Pt. 2

(Continued from Part 1) A Word On Showers & Toilets I can tell you that no matter how much you like hiking and camping, you will quickly get tired of working construction all day and not being able to take a nice shower. You also get tired of relieving yourself in the woods. Early in the process, I built a small out-house, which I used for years. For a couple of years, I maintained a membership at a local gym for $10/month, just so that I could have a place to go shower each night I was up there working. …


How NOT to Build a Retreat, by The Jewish Prepper, Pt. 1

Introductory Note: Please forgive the length of this essay, which will be posted in four parts. My project took me 10 years, so I have a lot to include. As a public service to those of you who are considering building a retreat for your family, I humbly offer a few of the lessons I’ve learned through the blood, sweat and tears I spilled to build a 480 square foot cottage in the woods. Prior to this project, I had no real construction experience, and no clue what to expect. The effort wiped out my savings, caused tremendous stress, and …


Making Flour From Mesquite, by Pete Thorsen

My goal this past year was to make flour from Mesquite pods and I did meet this modest goal. To do this I planned ahead and I was able to purchase an old hand crank meat grinder and a hand crank grain mill. Both were used but appeared to be in excellent shape. The all-metal grain mill looks much like the old-style meat grinder but has two flat plates between which the milling takes place. New hand meat grinders and new grain mills like what I bought are still made and readily available. Many can be found on eBay and …


Recipe of the Week: Yogurt Ranch Dressing

Okie Ranch Wife’s Yogurt Ranch Dressing This yogurt ranch dressing is a pantry-friendly recipe. I have made it several times already and it is always gone quickly. What I like about making this recipe is that you choose what you put into it. I stay away from commercial products like mayonnaise that has soy or canola oil in the ingredients. You can make your own mayonnaise using just olive oil. You can also make your own yogurt and apple cider vinegar. This recipe easily doubles or triples.   Ingredients ½ cup Plain Yogurt (not Greek style) 2 Tbsp Mayonnaise 1 …


Is Venezuela on the Verge of Becoming Another Syria?, by Brandon Smith

Establishment elites have always had a predilection for regime change. Obviously, this strategy helps weed out nation states that might be uncooperative with their future plans for a fully centralized global economic and political order. We have also seen regime change occur when former puppet leaders go rogue and refuse to follow the script they have been given. Most of these men have acted as dictators and are not very empathetic public figures, so we rarely care when they get overthrown or murdered. That said, there are always wider implications to such events. I believe the reasons for regime change …


Downturns and Financial Crises – Sequence, by Gary Christenson

Editor’s Note:  This concise bullet point market and economic summary article first appeared at The Deviant Investor and is re-posted with permission. Pay attention folks. This echoes my own writings on the economy. Another global economic crisis could be approaching. — Bond Market Turned Down & Interest Rates Up – Check! Two-Year yield bottomed September 2011 Five-Year yield bottomed July 2012 Ten-Year yield bottomed July 2016 The 30+ year bond bull market is done. Housing Market Turned Down – Check! Mortgage rates bottomed in July 2016. Mortgage applications have fallen hard. London, Vancouver B.C. and Australian prices are down. New …


Cutting Your Power Utility Cord, by Dennis Williams – Pt. 1.

A Short Primer on Making Your Own Electricity Most of us have thought of the dream: A secluded retreat nestled in the woods, off the beaten path, no mortgage, no utility bills, raising our own food, homeschooling our children, spending time with our family, etc. Then we pop back to reality, and try to plan out and prioritize how we make it happen. How do we get from where we are to where we want to be? Ten seconds of background on me: I have been playing with solar energy for 40 years. I am an Army combat veteran, and …


Age-Adjusted Prepping, by Wandering Will

It is said that prepping is not a movement or a philosophy. It is a way of life, and a way of life must accommodate changes in life. Having squarely arrived into my “Golden Years,” I was reluctantly forced to take a fresh look at my prepping agenda. Not exactly a newbie to the game. I’m still eating Year 2000 Problem (Y2K) food, I have accumulated food, gear, and training over the years and have reached a somewhat reasonable level of comfort. However, we all know what happens when we start feeling confident. After a few recent practice drills and …


Misadventures in Moving, by Tober

Editor’s Introductory Note:  I generally avoid posting rants, but this one about a Budget rental truck was genuinely epic and tragi-comic.  If you don’t enjoy rants, then only read the first section. – JWR I think sharing this story will help me a bit, as this was quite an adventure that was mentally and physically exhausting. This article is long, so I decided to put the tips at the beginning. If you want to read the story of why I thought these tips were important, continue below. Here are my mental health tips for you if you’re planning on making …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The Five Levels of Trust: 1. The government man says: Its raining outside. I can look out the window and verify. Trust level is good. 2. The government man says: its 35 degrees outside. I can use simple technology to verify, trust level is good. 3. The government man says: the temperature at 70,000 feet altitude is -42 degrees, I cannot verify without extremely expensive equipment, but others can, so I kind of trust this because someone else can verify it. Trust level is Okay, at this point it does not affect me. 4. The government man says the temperature …


Letter: A Recent Test of Stored 2008-Vintage MREs

Dear Editor: I am always interested in the viability of stored supplies, and am amazed at how quickly expiration dates are reached when one becomes a prepper. I’m the fellow that sent in the report of long-frozen yeast some months ago, and recently conducted a taste-test of an MRE purchased in August, 2008. I thought our brother and sister readers may be interested in my findings. The MRE was packaged by the MRE Star company, out of Hollywood, Florida. It was purchased in a case lot from a Brigade Quartermaster “brick & mortar” store in August, 2008. Though I have …


Sundries For Survival, Part 1, by 3adScout

This article centers on logistics. This is not a list of what you need, but rather an inspiration to get us to think about a category of supplies that isn’t discussed a lot. Beans, bullets and band-aids are definitely key in survival but when you consider many of the items we will discuss in this article, they support our ability to raise, process or prepare food, ensure we can use our bullets if needed by having maintained and operational firearms and providing an ounce of prevention by supporting our health, safety and hygiene so we don’t have to use our …


Telling You a Thousand Times Wasn’t Enough – Part 2, by Orofino

Part 2 (Continued from Part 1, posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.) I have recently been giving this subject a great deal of time in introspection. I was motivated when John Lovell at the Warrior Poet Society web site recently urged his followers to “weaponize consistency”. As if on cue, I recently read a well-written piece, from an author who recounted receiving a charge many years ago, from a sage Japanese gentleman that, “An elephant doesn’t bite, but fleas do.” Consequently, I resolved to incorporate those congruent principles into my personal training, before overtly encouraging my tribe to do likewise. …


Telling You a Thousand Times Wasn’t Enough – Part 1, by Orofino

Self Discipline: Principles in Practice Trainers, educators and parents constantly contend with push back from professionals, students, and children when “the trainer” asks for consistent, repetitive attempts at otherwise banal tasks. What is the best germane rejoinder to such grousing? Worse yet, those of us who don the mantle of Prepper or Sheepdog probably wrestle with the same demons that would have us believe that we are competent in our fitness level and proficient in our gardening, animal husbandry, bushcraft, food preservation skills, etc. The stark reality is that we probably need to settle into the idea that we need …


New Zealand: Thoughts After Seven Years, Part 4, by Nivek

Part 4   Taxes, everybody’s favorite topic New Zealand has a top tax rate of 33%. Okay, you think that’s not bad, the U.S. is right up there also. Well the trouble is you get to the 33% much faster as there are only three tax brackets. Making over $65,000 NZ Dollars per year will get you into the top bracket. That’s around $50,000 US Dollars. There are no deductions for a private person and you don’t get credit for kids or being married. The way around this seems to involve having a business and taking deductions through the business. …