Some Notes on Remaining Humble, by Marine in Missouri

One of the many great lessons I have read over and over in this blog is that practice makes perfect. This can apply to any skill set one wishes to consider. I would like to stress the word “read” in the last sentence; reading does not equate to learning, and often in our human hubris we decide that if we think about it, we know it. I think one of the most potent sins the father of lies enjoys tempting us with is the sin of pride. Without going on a diatribe of theological concepts on pride (and I’ve heard …


Beekeeping for Long-term Self Sufficiency, by T.D.

Several years ago I was introduced to a book called Passport to Survival written by Esther Dickey. This book elaborates on how you can provide for all the essential nutritional needs for you and your family with just four basic ingredients– wheat, powdered milk, honey, and salt. As I thought about these four items, I realized that I had it within my power to provide for one of these four items without much change in my lifestyle and without an excess of effort. I live in the city, so growing more than just a few handfuls of wheat in my …


Ten Ways that Purchasing an Older Home is Helping Us to Prepare, by C.F.

When we first purchased our home less than three years ago, it was a charming four bedroom, two bathroom, Dutch colonial bungalow, built in 1920. It was a complete flip, featuring laminate flooring, faux granite countertops, and some, shall we say, interesting additions and subtractions. What I mean by this is that we had a few new walls where there used to not be any and a few original walls that were taken down or partially removed. The home advertised new carpeting, flooring, windows, and siding. Most importantly for us, though, it came with new plumbing, electricity, and mechanicals. The …


Communications for When SHTF, by N.M.

Communications is a key element in our everyday lives. If you don’t believe me, try going a whole day with no cell phone, Internet, television, or any other means of communications (COMMS). So it stands to reason that having COMMS, when SHTF, is essential to gaining intelligence (COMINT), the safety and security of your family, keeping informed, and keeping at least one step ahead of anybody with bad intentions. Like any skill, it is essential to practice; that means practicing before SHTF, so that you have the necessary skills. While most of the communications methods discussed in this article are …


The Mindset and Experience of a Single Competent Female Prepper, by Skylar

For the majority of my adult life– 34 years– I have taught, lived, worked, and recreated in wilderness settings. I appreciated JMS’s call for articles from single female preppers, as it has been a frustration of mine for many years. My early years were spent trying to prove that women can be effective and competent in a survival setting without having to become “one of the guys” or Rambo-esque. It took me a couple of tries before I found an organization to work for that shared this view. I spent the next 10 years working for Outward Bound, and I …


Covert Communications, by J.K.

When it all hits the wall, one thing you should be sure of is that someone is listening to every communication you make within reception range. Many will use scanners to try and find you or your group. If they hear radio activity, especially activity on the short-range radios, they will know you are near. Some will use direction-finding antennas to get your exact location. The idea with radio comms is to use the least power and radio with the least range that will get you reliable comms. If all has gone south, you will want to use radio only …


God and Guns: Your Biblical Right to Self-Defense, by J.B.

You have a biblical right to self-defense. In a life and death situation, you should know that God says it’s okay. This can prove extremely difficult for Christian believers that respect life so much that they don’t want to take it, even when it means it’s necessary to preserve it. The Natural Right to Self Defense Boiled down to its simplest level, every creature on the planet has the natural right to use whatever means necessary to defend itself. Life feeds on life. Nature is brutal and doesn’t show mercy. Wolves eat their larger prey hind end first while the …


How Will YOU Get the Family Together When the SHTF?, by T.W.

If you’re like most of us, your family is very often spread out over a fair-sized area during the course of the day. It’s not unusual for my immediate family of four to be spread out over an area spanning around 30 linear miles. I travel about 15 miles in one direction to work, with my wife traveling about 15 miles in the opposite direction. The kids are usually somewhere between my wife and me. This is by design on my part, although as my son gets older I am relying on him more and more as part of my …


Challenge of Prepping, by R.W.

How My Insights Have Changed With Time I became interested in prepping and survival 12 years ago. It wasn’t so much an event or reading about survival, it was what I believe was a message from God. I was 49 years old and had just finished leading a Bible study in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. On the way home, my wife and I stopped at a Dairy Queen for our usual weekend treat. It was a beautiful, summer day with lots of white summer clouds floating by. As we finished and were sitting there enjoying the beautiful downtown skyline …


Multi-Species Rotational Grazing to Maximize Food and Income in a TEOTWAWKI World, by J.B.

When new preppers begin planning their retreat or bug-out location they often first visualize an abundant garden, overflowing with fruit and vegetables, and focus their food production efforts on learning to garden. This is a wise approach indeed, but perhaps a disproportionate level of attention is paid solely to the labor-intensive task of annual gardening, which produces primarily carbohydrates, versus the less labor-intensive task of livestock grazing, which produces a perennial supply of primarily protein, fat, and pelts (if desired). Also, unlike most plants, protein derived from animals is complete and includes all nine essential amino acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein). Now, please …


Two Forever Foods, by Northern Forager

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Disclaimer: The author and SurvivalBlog take no responsibility for the information or use of information resulting in or from the following article. This article is intended for informational purposes only. There is a world of food that exists outside of the supermarket– types of food that people who only get their food from stores never see or learn about. In my effort of sustainable and self-reliant living, I have become an advocate and convert to the idea of eating local plants in the area where I live, even to the point of eating “weeds”. Doing the same will greatly improve …


The Real Threats, by R.S.

There is a lot of conjecture as to what the event will be that “ends it all” and sends the world into complete chaos, causing Americans to go into “survival mode”. Every corner you turn you hear another theory about how it’s “going to go down”. People’s answers include terms like E.M.P., H.E.M.P., nuclear, biological, chemical, economic meltdown, foreign invasion, global natural disaster, space alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, or all the above (for the real dooms dayers). So, what is the more likely or more plausible scenario or scenarios for having to go into real survival mode? Let’s look at …


Protecting Your Home, BOL, and Supplies from Pests, by JC

Pest control is an industry that touches almost every part of the average person’s life. From the food we eat to the items we buy, each step along the process chain is protected in some way by pest control services. So what will happen in an event or breakdown scenario? Will all those Pest Control Operators (PCO’s) unselfishly leave their families to report to work along with the truck drivers and grocery store clerks? The answer is “no”, of course not. That is why we prepare our supplies now. The coming dangers and breakdowns will effect so many aspects of …


Trading in Precious Metals, by Kestrel

My butcher pulled me aside last fall, while I was in his shop dropping off a deer for processing. He had a gold ring with a diamond mounted in the center. He asked me what it was worth? I own a jewelry store and told him I would take it to the store, weigh it, and give him a price. He explained that a woman came in for some meat and couldn’t pay; she gave him the ring to hold with the promise to come back and pay him the $60 that she owed within the next week. It had …


What Retail Might Look Like At The End of the World As We Know It, by Jacob

In most TEOTWAWKI scenarios, one of the first things to fall is the “kanban” retail system used by big box retailers, such as my place of employment. While I think that there is some truth to this notion, there are a few important things about “big box” store policies and customer trends that are important to know in the event that it all hits the fan. My background is in communications, and I have worked on and off in various positions that involve “crisis management” since high school. Most recently I have worked as a manager in retail at a …