What’s For Dinner?- Part 4, by J.R.

Meats While meat should probably be viewed as a nicety rather than an essential, we have made it an essential in this house. My husband is a type-1 diabetic, and as such his insulin will last a whole lot longer if he goes to a no-carbohydrate diet. We could purchase commercially-canned meats, but we really prefer not to for both economic and safety reasons. We buy pigs and sides of beef from a local family and generally use our meat straight from the freezer. However, we always keep a sufficient number of empty mason jars and new lids on hand …



What’s For Dinner?- Part 3, by J.R.

Powdered Milk/Dairy Ah, powdered milk. It’s probably the ugly stepchild of the food storage world, the last item people want to put in their food storage because it’s the last thing they want to drink. We’re going to change that. First off, let’s discuss the various needs, the bare bones essentials. Children, up to about age ten or twelve years, and pregnant and nursing women need 75 pounds of powdered milk per year to satisfy the nutritional demands of their growing bodies. Teens and adults can make do with 20 pounds of dry milk per year. This reduced amount is …


What’s For Dinner?- Part 2, by J.R.

Sugars The recommended storage amount for sugars is 60 pounds per person per year. Most people in the developed world at this time consume far more than 60 pounds annually. It is definitely far more than we should and what is best for our health. However, if you choose to store less for your family, be sure to increase the amounts of other foods you store to compensate for the loss in calories. To give you a bit of perspective on sugar demand, here are some historical figures on per person sugar consumption in the developed world. In 1700, sugar …


What’s For Dinner?- Part 1, by J.R.

I tell my family that those are the three most dreaded words in the English language. At the same time, I often think about how very difficult life is going to become when most women will not be able to answer that question for their families. While those who are preparing for complete collapse of the economy and our society may feel they have the situation covered, the reality is that the vast majority of preppers, at least those I have conversed with and observed, do not. The reasons vary. For most, it is lack of knowledge of what foods …


Blueprint for Rebuilding- Part 2, by GRC

Security With the basic necessities provided for by a thriving local economy, specialists can be employed to organize our third bullet point, security. In our pre-Reset cooperative outline we can lay the groundwork for our security strategy. Few families can hire a professional trainer full time. Gym membership for physical fitness or even a group membership at a local gun range are important first steps. The self-defense cooperative’s purpose would be to take this further and secure the services of a qualified professional skilled in physical fitness for all ages and abilities, self-defense techniques, and team building[23]. With the understanding …


Blueprint for Rebuilding- Part 1, by GRC

Timelines differ, and predictions of what causes mayhem differ. One thing we all agree on is that the time to prepare grows short, not time as we modern Westerners understand it, after all our civilization was built and rebuilt over the course of 2000 plus years, but the expiration date is surely fast approaching. Each day brings thanksgiving mixed with surprise that the thin veneer of our existence has lasted another sunrise. And while those who prepare for an uncertain tomorrow welcome the opportunity to tick another item off the to-do list, the rest of the world laughs at such …


A Six-Month Trial of TEOTWAWKI, by J.P. in Occupied Territory

I have been living a real life trial of TEOTWAWKI for the past 6 months and wish to share what I have learned. My wife and I have made a decision this past spring to pack up and move closer to her parents. He is 90, and she is in her 80’s and has developed Alzheimer’s. During one of our visits last winter, her father, who I don’t believe ever asked for anything from anyone, asked if we could come back to help. Both my wife and I are in health care, and she has spoken of caring for her …


Building a Redoubt Kit, by M.C.

Anyone who has seriously considered preparation for TEOTWAWKI knows that the ultimate preparation is to have a well-outfitted redoubt, located in a remote location. Unless you’re rich and you can purchase one with all the trimmings or you’ve been working on it for several years already, you’re feeling significant apprehension as current events imply time is short and you are unprepared. Why Have a Redoubt Kit? Now, if you are the diligent one that built a well-stocked redoubt but find that over time civilization has overtaken the area, this is for you also. Finally, if you have your redoubt, it …


Some Harsh Lessons of Beekeeping, by Keith K.

I would like to share my experience with beekeeping to help others decide if it might be for them. My initial interest in beekeeping began before I moved to the Redoubt. My wife and I attended a beekeeping night at a local library and later took a four-day (four Saturdays) beekeeping course. We learned a lot. We found that beekeeping hobbyists were very enthusiastic and touted the many benefits of beekeeping along with the fun of it. It was very easy to be influenced by all of the positive and energetic people. Ultimately, we decided that beekeeping would be part …


Windstorm 2015 Washington, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

So, in Washington this week on 11/17/15 and almost a year to the day of last year’s massive windstorm, we had another massive windstorm. Last year, at our place, we had a single sustained 70 mph gust that broke 10 trees in half. This year we had multiple 70+ mph gusts that only broke down six trees. (God must want me to have a lot of firewood.) The wind blasted and mangled many of our roof shingles along with those of perhaps thousands of other homes, outbuildings, and businesses in a wide swath. The howling winds lasted about 12 hours …


The Second Amendment and Its Relevance in Today’s Society, by B.E.

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Amendment II (the Second Amendment) of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights declares a well-regulated militia as “being necessary to the security of a free State” and prohibits infringement of “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” It is a controversial subject whose ramifications are still being debated to this day, over two-hundred and thirty years after it was written. Its place in the Bill of Rights as the Second Amendment is indicative of how important our nation’s founding fathers thought that right should be. It is still relevant in today’s society, despite haphazard attempts at …


Left Of Boom”– A Different Way of Thinking About Prepping, by The Retired Professor

“Left of Boom” is originally a military term referring to the timeline before an explosion. When the explosion happens (the boom), then the timeline shifts to “right of boom”. Left of boom is where you want to be. This gives you time to avert the explosion, or at least prepare for it. Right of boom is where you do not want to be. Being right of boom means you now have to shift from averting and preparing to focusing on recovery. The whole concept embraces a timeline of “before”, “during”, and “after” a calamity, be it personal or systemic. On …


The Grid Will Never Be Down in the Way You May Think! – Part 2, by X-liberal

Discrimination Imagine eating lunch inside your employer’s break room and reading lovely gestures on the bulletin board, such as “We are an equal opportunity employer. We don’t discriminate over race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, etc.” The liberal leadership stands next to the bulletin board, illustrating to the world that they would never discriminate in hiring practices, no way, no how! Then these same enlightened liberals enact a diversity program whereby they hire solely based on one’s skin color, gender, or sexual orientation, thereby ignoring the law they just stood behind! That means these “chosen few” (in the diversity) have …


The Grid Will Never Be Down in the Way You May Think! – Part 1, by X-liberal

I want to illustrate is that the grid is never going to be down. That is, I mean it won’t be down for the “chosen few”. Why? Well, let’s go to God’s word in the Book of Revelation Chapter 13:16 and have a look. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” What this is saying …