It is Planting Time – Part 3, by L.R.

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(This installment concludes the 3-part article series.) In Part 2, we discussed the variety of foods you may want to plant when vegetable gardening. Plant what you like to eat, but also be aware that different foods have different caloric content. If you want to preserve food as a hedge against a grid down, you may want to grow a variety of high calorie foods like corn, beans, potatoes and peas. We also looked at two popular methods of preserving food, freezing and canning (although you may want to experiment with dehydrating and pickling as well). Additional Thoughts If you …


It is Planting Time – Part 2, by L.R.

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PART 2 In Part 1, my goal was to share with you the value in raising a home vegetable garden, especially if you consider food resupply in a grid down situation. Hopefully, I encouraged you to seriously think about raising your own food and to get started with learning valuable gardening skills. I also wanted you to be realistic in meeting your gardening goals and not to expect perfection especially with your first gardening efforts. In Part 2, I’d like to share some perspective on what vegetables you may want to plant and consider options on how to preserve your …


It is Planting Time- Part 1, by L.R.

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PART 1 (Of 3) With the end of winter and the frost date for my area passed, my thoughts naturally turn toward my vegetable garden and this year’s crop. During the harvest last year, I saved a number of seeds for planting again this year, I also saved a ton of money purchasing seeds from our local Co-op left over from the end of last year’s growing season. Properly stored, I’ve found they germinate at very respectable rates and I have always had good luck planting them. I’ve been an avid home gardener for better than twenty years; that’s certainly …


Preparedness Lessons from the 1930s – Part 2, by J. E.

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(Continued from Part 1. This part concludes the article.) Twice a year the cabin was emptied of everything. The walls, floors, and ceilings were scrubbed with lye soap and a bristle brush. All the belongings were also cleaned before they came back into the house. This was pest control and it was needed until DDT became available. Even then, bedbugs, lice, ticks and other creepy crawlies were a fact of life and were controlled by brute force. Failure to do so left you in misery and maybe ill. Foods were stored in bug proof containers. The most popular was fifteen …


Preparedness Lessons from the 1930s – Part 1, by J. E.

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It’s one or two years after an EMP attack and you are safely tucked away in your retreat somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Your storage foods have mostly been used and your high tech electronics is useless. The really bad stuff is mostly past. Now it’s try to stay fed and alive and pray that civilization as you know it is coming back. You’re going to have to work your environment to live. Ever wonder what life might be like to Homestead? What would it really be like to have no running water, electricity, sewer, newspaper or Internet? No …


Prepper Complacency, by Wood Tamer

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In this writing I will be referencing Hurricane Michael. This is not just a narrative about my experiences with this hurricane but rather a reflection on my life experiences as a prepared individual, family, and neighborhood. Throughout my life I could probably be defined as an individual more prepared for unexpected events than most others. That was not necessarily by design but rather necessity and lifestyle. I was raised in a large family and we always needed to make ends meet. As an adult I have been blessed with an abundant life without much adversity or concern until I heard …


Displacement Planning – Part 3, by J.M.

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(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article series.) Regardless of how you plan on loading equipment and supplies, it is critical that you document a loading plan. This should define what gets loaded in what order and where it’s loaded. How detailed this needs to be depends on your requirements – if you’re planning on walking from your location to a well-stocked bug-out compound, keeping a simple bug-out bag packed will probably meet your needs,  since you won’t need to pack much to get going. However, if any significant amount of packing or loading will be required prior to …


Displacement Planning – Part 2, by J.M.

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(Continued from Part 1.) Depending on the circumstances you may be able to utilize GPS for navigation along your planned route. To do so will probably requires that you have the appropriate maps and app(s) downloaded locally on your device (don’t rely on an Internet connection being available) and that your device be charged for the duration of the displacement. If you plan on using GPS you should also include some sort of external battery pack for each person so they can recharge their device. Due to the relatively delicate nature of electronics (including GPS satellites), I strongly recommend that …


Displacement Planning – Part 1, by J.M.

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(The first of the three-part series.) One of the primary tenets of the preparedness community is that we want to be prepared for any eventuality. We stockpile supplies, develop skills and make changes to our homes and lifestyles to help increase the chances that we can survive any scenario that we might encounter, be it natural or man-made. In regards to displacing in the event of a major SHTF situation, some people plan on taking the ‘forting up’ approach and fortifying their current location, while others favor the ‘bug out’ approach and plan on relocating to a more secure location. …


Sauna and Survival by D.F.D.

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Let’s get the first thing out of the way: Sauna is pronounced SOWnuh, not SAWnuh. The incorrect pronunciation is sure to “trigger” any Finn you meet, so beware! The sauna, or banya in Russia, used to fill incredibly important functions in remote areas, and is a fine example of an older technology that we should all be familiar with. Nowadays saunas are seen more as a luxury, at least in America, but in Finland are considered a necessity. Once you learn some of the properties of saunas I think you’ll see why you should at very least know how to …


Coping Without Fresh Meat, by S.A.

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Introductory Note: This article is not a recipe submission. It’s a feature article about how to cope without abundant fresh meat. It’s first-hand, based on a lifetime of experiences, all tried and tested over the years. I’ve divided it into three parts. Please read through to the end. Needless to say, “Your Mileage May Vary” and please eat sensibly and pay attention to calories, sufficient protein and fat and carbohydrates intake. Likewise, do not ignore adequate vitamin and mineral requirements (RDAs). I’m not a doctor, and no medical advice is implied. – S.A. PART 1 WHEN MEAT IS SCARCE Who …


Challenge & Password for The Prepared Family, by A. Jackson

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One of the best ways to improve your preparedness skills is by adapting military skills to preparedness uses. Today we’re adapting the U.S. Army Common Task of ‘Challenge & Password’ to the needs of the survivalist. Scenario Consider the following scenario: About six weeks ago it finally happened, the currency collapsed and since then the security situation has rapidly deteriorated. Crime has begun to run rampant as the populace grows more and more desperate to fill their and their family’s bellies. At some point most of the local police force realized that their entire paycheck couldn’t even buy their family …


Spices for Long Term Storage, by Upper Midwesterner

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This isn’t going to be just another food storage article. For excellent advice on that subject, start by exploring  the SurvivalBlog archives and the LDS web site. But there’s a related topic that I felt was worthy of discussion. It wasn’t that long ago that .22 rimfire ammo disappeared from shelves, and conversations about PMAGs in stock sounded pretty similar to claims about Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster – utterances viewed by most listeners with great skepticism. We live in a ‘just in time’-supplied world, where almost anything can quickly affect the price – or the availability – of …


1803: The Preps of Lewis and Clark, by S.K.

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Prepping is many things to a great and growing number of people. Americans have been prepping since the entire European presence was behind a wall, back there in the Jamestown Colony.  As a people, we have this written in our DNA.  The long trek west and the adversarial relationship of native and non-native is a compelling story filled with survival lessons for everyone. And none is more spellbinding than the story of the Corps of Discovery.  How did Lewis and Clark do it, and what was in their “G.O.O.D. bags”? Thomas Jefferson had been interested in exploring the American West …


The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 3, by Wingfootjr

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(Continued from Part 2. This part concludes the series.) After a couple years of this I decided the pocket reaming operation was too labor intensive and taking too much time, so I decided to throw some money at it. After evaluating tools, I decided on the top of the line Dillon Super Swage 600 primer pocket swaging tool ($125). While a fairly expensive tool, its performance is unequaled and known to be the best for the task. It is also a “lifetime” tool. If taken care of and used properly, it should last forever. But also very important, replacement parts …