Trekking for Survival, by G.U.

I have to admit that I have watched one or more movies or movie shorts with an apocalyptic theme. Often the survivors (or survivor) are either walking or driving along a barren road, through a barren town, or through the country side. Sometimes, they will have some gear, maybe a backpack, a bottle of water or canteen, and maybe a gun or some kind of club. In some cases, they are well organized and have a compound of sorts, but eventually they have to take to the road for supplies or to find others. In most of the movies, there …


Letter Re: Hurricane Experience

Friends, After reading the contribution about hurricane preparedness, I would like to recommend the bathtub liners for water. We were without water for three or four days. We barely tapped one. I feel that we could have gone six weeks with what the two afforded us. I also keep one full outside contained in a 95-gallon horse trough. There were no problems noted. I so appreciate what all of you do. Thanks. – A. Reader JWR’s Comment: (The WaterBOB bathtub liner is no longer in production, but The Reservoir is comparable.)


Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Cake, by C.S.

Ingredients: 4 eggs (room temp.) 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cloves 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup oil 1 can (1 lb.) pumpkin Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy. Then beat in oil and pumpkin at low speed. Add dry ingredients; mix until combined. Pour into an ungreased 9” tube pan. Bake about 1 hour. Cool, then remove from pan. Serve with whipped …


Letter Re: Firestarters

HJL, I’ve read with interest and amusement the recent firestarting articles (https://survivalblog.com/letter-re-easy-fire-starting-article/ ) and wanted to add my 2¢. For everyday firestarting in the wood stove at home, I use egg cartons dipped in melted bacon fat. We have bacon once a week and save the drippings in a big plastic coffee container. (I also cook with bacon fat, but that’s another story!) Once a month or so I carefully melt that fat in Mr. Microwave until it’s clear-ish. Then I dip the egg carton egg “cups” into the container and put them in an open gallon Ziploc to cool. …


Letter Re: Silver/Swiss Francs/Gold

Hi, sir! I just listened to an interview Mr. James gave on the XX2 Spotlight Report and wanted to ask either you or he a question. I have been following the economy for quite some time and now, as Mr. Trump prepares to enter office (if he actually gets in!), I am getting nervous about the banks. I heard Mr. James mention silver and swiss francs but not gold, and then he mentioned paypal. I have none of the above! I have no idea HOW to buy silver, gold, et cetera, and an investor I met in passing the other …


How To Talk Politics, Preserve Unity, And Focus On Preparedness, by C.B.

Being American once meant surviving through extraordinary difficulty and thriving in the cradle of extraordinary promise. Beating the odds stood as a badge of honor worn proudly along with the red, white, and blue. Today, the need for mental toughness hasn’t diminished, but the payoff for perseverance is hardly the same. The gauntlet is a heavy burden to bear. Between unemployment, underemployment, increasing taxes, Constitutional mutiny, civil unrest, deteriorating returns on educational investment, family unit destruction, and an elite few staging the destiny of the entire planet, the citizenry has grown restless with washed up political promises. In the age …


Letter Re: Manoline

Hugh, For larger volumes: A Deli Slicer. This is one with a rotating blade with adjustable depth. I don’t know about the above, because I got mine from a second hand store, and it’s an old one built like a tank. It helps for freeze-drying as well as dehydrating. The problem with Mandolin slicers is the pressure or movement for some things to slice and limited capacity, and I even have one with a ceramic blade. The deli slicers make short work of large blocks of food. – T.Z.


Prepping For A Five Star EOTWAWKI Experience- Part 2, by T.H.

Oils Oils are another important culinary product to pay attention to. To start, I want to address one issue with oils– they will turn rancid. They don’t store a long long time before this happens; a few months is enough in the wrong conditions. That being said, rancid oil is still okay to use. It will just have a slightly off flavor that many Americans are already used to. (Google Americans Rancid Oil and see what comes up.) The risk of eating oil that has turned are cancer-causing free radicals, but that is a whole different issue. Regardless, oil is …


Letter Re: Mandoline

Hugh, R.T. may change his mind. I bought a Swissmar mandoline and don’t like it at all. I’m now looking at metal mandolins with legs to hold it up away from the food and not so many parts. I found the Swissmar difficult to use and unnecessarily complicated. Also, the plastic “pusher” is breaking already. Excalibur has a couple that look good.


Prepping for a Five Star EOTWAWKI Experience- Part 1, by T.H.

Prepping for the apocalypse, whatever its form, is an important task. Depending on how the Schumer hits the fan, it may be necessary to have 20, 30, or more years of supplies laid up for you and your family. The easiest and most cost effective way of doing this is to buy large quantities of stable, storeable food products, such as rice, beans, grains, pastas, and other dried items. Once you’ve taken care of the bulk of your preparation, it becomes time to focus on the level of comfort of your preparation, because let’s face it rice and beans can …


Letter Re: Easy Fire Starting Article

Hugh, I found the recommended easy fire starter posted a couple of weeks ago to be very interesting. That recommendation involved rolling 2-inch wide newspaper and soaking it in bees wax obtained from a toilet seal ring. My first attempt produced a marginal flame. I realized that I needed more wax absorption. On my second attempt, I used rolled up paper towel. This gave better but still just not adequate results. From the sight of the rolled up paper towel I came up with a better idea– tampons! As a 66 year old widower, I sucked it up and hid …


Neophyte Survival Observations and Lessons from Hurricane Matthew- Part 2, by S.G. in Florida

The extended power outages in Florida after Matthew were due to downed power lines, mostly by wind-fallen trees. Hospitals and other essential services were given priority for power restoration. People who lived near these essential services were more likely to get power restored first. Your proximity to key services might be a good factor to consider when purchasing a home in a suburb or city. After Hurricane Matthew, the city water was cut for an extended period due to the roots of fallen trees damaging city water lines. The two cases of bottled water we had bought for drinking would …


Letter Re: Keeping Preps Cool Naturally In Hot Climates With No Basements And High Water Tables

Even in very hot climates, below ground soil temperatures can be cooler than an air-conditioned house or garage. When you have a house on a slab, and dug root cellars are impossible because of high water table levels, you can still “build up” by putting in an earth berm and storing preps under it. If you have enough land, you can make the berm part of decorative landscaping, or use it to increase privacy and reduce noise from the road. Even on smaller plots, you may be able to use an earth temperature moderating technique that is more common in …


Readers’ Recommendations of the Week:

Reader C.J. writes in: “I just watched “Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America” (I read the book several years ago and of course the book is better). Although I am of Scots-Irish descent, it would at least be interesting for those that are not of Scots-Irish descent. The Scots history of independence from England and why they ended up in Ireland and ultimately America is ingrained in so much of traditional American culture. Religious freedom, hard working, self-reliant, “give me freedom or give me death” types. o o o Recommended by Pat Cascio, SurvivalBlog’s Senior Product Review Editor: Museums, …


Neophyte Survival Observations and Lessons from Hurricane Matthew- Part1, by S.G. in Florida

Our family of three lives in a suburban area of Florida that was greatly impacted by Hurricane Matthew. While our home survived without damage, we were left without power for approximately a week and without city water for around three days. This article summarizes some observations and lessons, after reflecting on this experience. Hurricane Matthew took a very unusual track in the Caribbean, threading the needle between the mountains of Cuba and Haiti to maintain its strength. After this move, Matthew took a very unusual jog to the West, threatening Florida with a severe Category 4 storm. Once Matthew made …