Building the Castle – Part 2, by Jake R.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Metal Siding Metal siding is common on a lot of the newer barndominiums and shop houses. Essentially, it’s the same as the metal roofing used on the building. These are becoming more and more popular and have their advantages and disadvantages. Pros Durability – This type of metal is typically durable and has good longevity. To top that off, it’s also easy to maintain. Easy Installation – The installation of this is also straight forward which reduces the labor costs to have it installed. Fire Safety – This material is also good …


Building the Castle – Part 1, by Jake R.

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This two-part article describes some TEOTWAWKI considerations for home building and long-term maintenance. — Have you ever daydreamed about building the perfect home for the end of the world as we know it? If you’re like me, you may have caught yourself daydreaming about various configurations and options you would like to have on your home to help you survive with better security and better comfort. I would like to say that there is a perfect home configuration out there for everyone but that just wouldn’t be true. When building a home, you must take multiple things into consideration including …


Sensible Long Range Cartridges, by Tunnel Rabbit

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I’m writing this article to follow up on a couple of comment threads that I’ve seen at SurvivalBlog: To have a substantive long range accuracy advantage over .308 Winchester, requires 6.5 Creedmoor to use the 140 grain bullets that have accurate loads that are more often then not, are typically at velocities of between 2,600 to 2,700 fps.  The low recoil advantage should not be underestimated. However this advantage is easily offset by the much longer barrel life of barrels chamber in .308 calibers.  However, exceed 2,900 fps (feet per second) in .308 diameter barrels, and  barrel wear is greatly …


Home Canning With Reusable Lids, by Michele C.

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Editor’s Introductory Notes: The following instructions work with both Tattler brand canning lids and the more recently-introduced Harvest Guard brand lids. The author uses the term “Tattler” generically, just as some people use the word “Kleenex” for facial tissue, even though there are many brands. For time, temperature, and pressure data, be sure to use current water bath or pressure canning instructions, as published by authoritative sources, such as in the Ball Blue Book. – JWR — I have, many times over the years thought about learning to use Tattler lids because they are reusable – but they are so …


Ready for TEOTWAWKI: What’s Bringing Us Along – Part 2, by K.G.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Food for Health I am also working on growing and preserving my own food. This is another family project that my wife and children enjoy participating in. We do not have a large plot of land, so we need to make the best use of what we do have. We really challenge ourselves to see if we can get more than the preceding year. We have had some successes and some setbacks. We learn more from the setbacks than we do from the successes. When the divine hand of providence reaches down …


Ready for TEOTWAWKI: What’s Bringing Us Along – Part 1, by K.G.

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As we age, we need to understand our new limitations and be able to adapt to them, overcome the ones we can and add new skills commensurate with our abilities. The timeless adage “if I knew then what I know now” is quite applicable to my prepping and survival journey. The focus of this article will be on adding new skills that will complement our existing skill set so that we can still be of service and not just survive but thrive in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. The Importance of Family and Like-Minded Friends Having a wife and family members that …


Practical Survival Radio Communications – Part 2, by G.H.

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CONTROL THE AIR Controlling the air often means transmitting, when necessary, large quantities of information accurately in poor conditions in a short amount of time. Even operators that are interested only in the hobby side of radio may fall into an emergency with the radio being the only source of working communications. Communications in an uncomfortable situation or actual emergency requires a much different style than “ragchewing” with friends on the radio as a hobby. If an emergency is the first time an operator faces a communication challenge, the likelihood of successful communications is poor. Practice, Practice, Practice Radio operators …


Practical Survival Radio Communications – Part 1, by G.H.

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Like many families, the miles between me and my brothers are many. Fortunately, we hold a conference call every Wednesday evening to stay in touch. We have been doing this for nearly a decade. Realizing how important communications are to all of us, and from my role as the Logistics Chief for our County during major emergencies, I accepted the assignment of finding communication tools that will ensure communications no matter what. It did not take long to realize that radio communication works when all others fail. I obtained my amateur radio license and have the honor of recognition by …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 6, by JM

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Editor’s Note: This is the concluding installment in this article series. Firearms No article on prepping would be complete without some discussion on firearms, and using them in winter conditions can present some unique challenges. Firearms are precision machines made from metals and polymers, and cold weather can have some big impacts. The materials themselves can become brittle at extremely low temperatures, so you should avoid sudden sharp impacts if possible. Shooting a firearm can heat up the barrel and other parts pretty quickly and cold temperatures can cool them back down rapidly, which can cause weaknesses in the materials, …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 5, by JM

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(Continued from Part 4.) Water Staying hydrated when performing any strenuous activity in the winter is critical, since dehydration can cause you a whole host of problems. One big issue is that dehydration can reduce your appetite, and I’ve mentioned before how critical calories are to staying warm. However, there are a number of factors that are harder to overcome in the winter when it comes to staying hydrated: Our thirst reflex tends to be reduced in the winter, which means we tend to drink less water Water can be harder to obtain, process and transport Water tends to freeze …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 4, by JM

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(Continued from Part 4.) Sleeping Once you’ve got your shelter set up you’ll probably want to get some sleep. You need to start with ensuring you’re as insulated from the cold ground as possible. Earlier I mentioned that if there’s snow on the ground that can actually help insulate you, since snow is mostly air. Another trick is to place leaves or pine boughs down before you lay down your tent’s ground cloth/footprint to add another layer of insulation. Next you’re going to want some kind of sleeping pad to increase your comfort and add even more insulation. Companies like …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 3, by JM

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(Continued from Part 2.) Now you need to think about keeping your core warm, which is critical since that’s what your hypothalamus will focus on keeping warm if you start to get cold. No big surprise – start with merino wool or polypropylene long underwear top, then either a shirt, a turtleneck, a sweater/fleece or a combination, depending on conditions. I have an old Pendleton wool shirt that I received as a gift years ago that I absolutely love, and for sweaters/fleece I like the ones that have zippers in front so I can unzip to cool down. If I …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 2, by JM

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(Continued from Part 1.) Clothing Protecting ourselves from all of the ways Mother Nature can impact us in the winter starts by wearing clothing. Clothing helps us retain our body heat, protects us from the sun, keeps us dry and allows us to carry our environment with us (yay for pockets!), so selecting and taking care of the right clothing is critical in a winter environment. As everyone knows, layering is the best approach for dressing for cold weather – you have multiple layers of clothing that you can put on and take off as you heat up or cool …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 1, by JM

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(Note: This Part 1 of a six-part series.) If you live in the northern hemisphere then it’s that time of the year when things are getting cold and, depending on how far north you live, covered in white stuff. Around Thanksgiving I start planning my various winter outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, skiing and snowshoeing trips, and I thought it would be a good time to review some considerations for surviving and operating in winter conditions. Why would anyone want to be outside in the cold and snow? Because in a post-disaster scenario you may not have a choice, …


A Clash of Cultures, by B.H.

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I have been following SurvivalBlog for several years now after reading the first book in the Patriots novel series. From those books, other post apocalyptic novels, and this blog we have generally followed the advice and warnings. The situations causing huge retrogrades in our society have been put into several categories: EMP. This is generally referenced as a weaponized attack using a detonation of a nuclear device to electronically fry just about all our systems of communication, Internet, banking, defense, power grids and anything electronic to include anything with computers or microprocessors. Most refer to this event as a return …