To Bee, or Not to Bee – Part 1, by Prepared Grammy

About Me When I was a small child, I know I was a bit odd. I loved bees. I played with bees and tried to get them to crawl on my hands. I caught them, put them in a jar, and wanted to keep them as pets. I wanted my own beehives, so I could harvest my own honey. I told you, I was odd. Yes, I was occasionally stung, but my love for bees did not waiver. I never got over the desire to have bees. My husband and I have three grown children, and our third grandchild is …


This is Your Brain; This is Your Brain When the SHTF, by SERE Guy in OH

The average American today considers comfort their greatest need. There is no scientific research needed to come to this conclusion. Just look around you and you’ll see people worried about vacations, going out to eat, parties, and the list goes on and on. Before I go any further, realize I have nothing against any of those things; in fact, I enjoy those comforts as much as the next person. The difference between us– me and most likely every person reading this website– and the rest of the world is that we understand that all these niceties are fleeting, and we …


Married Under God or Licensed Marriage, by G.P.

Three women and two men who wear robes to work` have decided that they know more than God on what marriage is. They have chosen to throw out all that we have known as Godly marriage. I fully and firmly disagree. Married Under God What does it mean to be “married under God”? Let’s start at the beginning, at creation. The Man: These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in …


Don’t Tread On Us, by B.J.

This past July 4th was a somber day for us. We spent the day reflecting on the state of our country, not the least of which was the recent Supreme Court actions and the world and sacrifices our founding Fathers endured. Later in the day my wife and I decided to get off the farm and go to town for a burger. We passed a large city park that was packed full of people making merry. I wondered, “What independence are they celebrating?” Did I miss something? Have we solved the pesky little problem of unreasonable searches and seizures in …


Timeless World War 2 Lessons, by T.W.

After recently reading a number of books on intelligence, subterfuge, spying, and survival in World War 2, I have been led to compile a list of lessons that we can draw on today. Preparation is Key The best spy masters and espionage groups built up networks of contacts around strategic areas before the invasion or war. This allowed one to gain information without being seen as suspicious. If your spy doesn’t know the language thoroughly, errors in translation lead to disaster. A few weeks in language school is rarely enough, but that’s what many operatives received during World War 2 …


Beyond The B’s…Now What? – Part 2, by Jason (Soon To Be In The Redoubt)

Don’t Be Too Cool For School SurvivalBlog readers, at least on the greater web, believe it or not, have a reputation as being amongst the more educated and affluent members of the preparedness community. Take that for what you will, but up until quite recently I had relied on a work ethic, intelligence, and blessings to continue to secure my rise in my chosen field. I had left college some eight years ago after being stuck in the “somewhere in my senior year” quagmire for what seemed like forever, after deciding that I had plenty of opportunity in my chosen …


Beyond The B’s…Now What? – Part 1, by Jason (Soon To Be In The Redoubt)

Living a prepared life, as most readers understand, is not something that stops. One is never properly finished preparing. It is not something one works on for a bit and then says, “Okay, I’m done.” It is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency and preparedness. One of the first things most preppers come across in exploring the basics of preparedness is the three B’s– beans, bullets, and Band-aids. How many times have we read, even on this blog, “Make sure you have your beans, bullets, and band-aids squared away first!” That’s sage advice, and we should all follow it. However, what happens …


A Portable and Easily Constructed Manual Water Pump – Part 2, by G.G.

Parts Required First, here is a picture of the necessary parts. All metal parts are made of brass, and all plastic parts are made of PVC. Brass parts and seal: 1 @ 1/2” x 3” brass nib 2 @ 1/2” x 1” brass nibs 2 @ 1/2” threaded brass coupler 1 @ 1/2” threaded brass ring/nut (I had to sand mine down as it was hexagonal) 1 @ piston cup seal – McMaster Carr part # 9411K12 1 @ 1/2” brass check valve (I used Merril 800 series CV50) 1 @ 1 1/2” brass check valve with filter screen PVC …


Aquaponics, by A.M. in NC

Introduction As a forward to this article, let me tell you a little about myself. I’ve been an avid daily reader of SurvivalBlog for about four years now and an avid prepper since my days as a Boy Scout. I’m 30 years old with a wonderfully supportive wife and two adorable girls. About two years ago, after being introduced to the idea of aquaponics, I started thinking about how much the cost would be to get started, how much more of my time toward prepping this would take up, and then finally how I would convince my wife that this …


Do What You Are Good At, But Work At What You Aren’t, by R.D.

Fear and prudence I’ve never thought of myself as being particularly knowledgeable on specific things regarding preparedness. I wasn’t in the military, so I don’t feel qualified to give “tactical firearms advice”, but I like to shoot and train as much as possible. I’m not an EMT, but I’ve put together several first aid kits that our family feels comfortable using. I’m not a farmer, but we have learned basic gardening over the last seven years in our small urban garden. I’m not a professional mechanic, but I prefer to maintain our cars and equipment largely by myself. I’m not …


Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI), by N.N.

My experience is based on working with the SMI population in a behavioral health outpatient clinic and through personal experience with a spouse with a SMI diagnosis as well as a parent with an SMI diagnosis. The types of individuals that are in the SMI population vary wildly and can been acutely symptomatic and asymptomatic depending on their diagnosis. This is NOT a complete guide on mental illness; it’s only an experienced perspective on mental illness. Acute symptoms Acute symptoms are often easy to identify; they include talking to self, responding to internal stimuli, depression, aggression, or suicide. Common symptoms …


Amazing Affordable Force Multipliers – Part 2, by Tupreco

EMP-Proof Your Radio Comms With a USGI Ammo Can Inexpensively How can you EMP-proof select comm gear for under $100? You can do this more easily than you might think. Radio comms are radio-based systems that can communicate across distances from a few miles up to thousands of miles, under the right atmospheric conditions. In order of range (and cost) these radio comms include walkie talkies using the Family Radio Service (FRS) and the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). Next, at higher cost and more range, is citizens band radio or CB. At the top end in price and range …


Letter Re: Amazing Affordable Force Multipliers

HJL, I enjoyed reading this article about inexpensive thermal/IR force multipliers, but there are a few things I’d like to mention about these. Turning on any smart phone in a combat situation would look like someone holding up a 60” flat screen to anyone with real night vision and would probably draw the attention of the naked eye too. PVS 4s can spot a man puffing on a cigarette from over a mile away, so imagine what the light emitted from a smart phone looks like whether it’s facing you or not. To use a thermal smart phone effectively, you’d …


Amazing Affordable Force Multipliers – Part 1, by Tupreco

Night Vision, Thermal Vision, Wireless Video, EMP Protection I decided now is the time to put this together because the consistent theme in every prepper blog and financial publication today is that TIME.IS.RUNNING.OUT. Even non-preppers know something is up because it is starting to pop up now and then in random conversations. Many average people are finally realizing that something is different this time. However, they mostly still want to complain and do nothing, but at least it’s a start. In the meantime, the more motivated among us are making ready for the pending disruptions we know are coming. This …


The Most Important Preps Of Your Life – Part 2, by J.M.

Motivation Staying motivated can be tough. What worked for me was finding that thing that can keep me going indefinitely. For me, that’s my wife and kids. Everything I do is for them– my fitness level, my prepping, my everyday activities…..everything! Every time I don’t want to go to the gym, I think about them. Every time I stock some ammo or food away, I think of them. I do it for their safety and health as well. I am not the most fit person in the world, nor am I the most prepared, but I give it my all …