Practicing Your Food Survival, by M.B.

After reading one of James Wesley Rawles books about five years ago, my husband and I began our prepping journey. It has been a long and eye-opening experience. In the beginning, before we were prepped, we were terrified our world would immediately deteriorate. Rushing into a buying frenzy, we purchased as much volume of materials as we could afford. We were quickly compiling our supplies, planning storage areas, and generally operating in a frenzy. Having a list of areas of focus was helpful, and we did not really waste energy in the wrong places. We started by using a lot …


Letter Re: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer

Hugh, Great Harvest Right review! It’s incredibly informative and well written. Thank you. I’m currently about to pull the trigger on purchasing one of their machines. I was hoping you might be able to share some wisdom on your experience with ice cream. You mention cream content below 1/3 worked well. Did you try various brands and something “light” like this worked best? What was the drying time? Was this one of the high liquid foods that required you to defrost in the middle of the process? Any insight is incredibly appreciated. Hugh Replies: That ice cream will work just …




Odds ‘n Sods:

A bit of “prepper” humor for your enjoyment: 30 Signs That You’re One of Those “Crazy Preppers” – G.W. It’s scary how many of those actually fit. o o o United Nations Seeks US-based Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Specialists – B.B. And lest you think this is a hoax, here is the link to the actual job posting (requires login). – H.L. o o o From B.C. – This is the DHS equivalent to the probably better-known DoD QDR review of missions. It is certainly long (may need a large file warning for bandwidth-constrained users) but may be of interest …



Notes for Tuesday – June 24, 2014

June 24th is the birthday of rifle-toting, abolitionist, pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kansans that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles. Wikipedia states: Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. o o o Today we present another entry for Round 53 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: …


My Journey To The “Summits On The Air”, by Banjo Ninja

The Meta Game of Portable Communications as Practice for Prepping 1968 I had an interest in electronics from an early age. Back before most consumer electronics went digital, people actually repaired things when they stopped working. One of my earliest memories was Mr. D. coming to the house to fix our TV. In those days, the TV repairman came to your house, tested and replaced vacuum tubes, which was the dominant technology of the times, and Star Trek magically returned to your screen. This whole process fascinated me. Plus, Mr. D was a retired Air Force Colonel, so he was …


Letter Re: Gravity Fed Water Systems

Editor, A good and useful post by J.S. I always appreciate articles by those who have lived and used what they are proposing. As an irrigation contractor I built and used a homemade water system for a couple of decades in the Colorado mountains and can offer a few further ideas. For an infiltration gallery, I dug a small trench under the spring/small stream I had on the property and placed in the bottom 10′ of 4″ perforated flexible plastic drain pipe that came with a mesh “sock” around it. This pipe is used in French darins and the like. …


News From The American Redoubt:

If you are looking for an off-grid property in northern Wyoming, this may be for you: Right on the MT/WY State line, very isolated, yet not far from Billings, off grid, abundant water. o o o Company disputes Idaho rare earth mining claims . – RBS o o o Are you looking for a way to help you get to the American Redoubt? The American Redoubt Jobs Clearinghouse o o o Men cited for melting Kuna road with burning Christmas tree . – RBS o o o Woman needed staples in head after Oregon port-a-potty blast



Odds ‘n Sods:

CFAPA.orgon the web: Survivalist starts issuing his own press passes o o o Chicago Children’s Hospital Takes Custody of 16-Year-Old Away from Parent Who Sought Second Opinion. – D.S. Incidents like these do not seem to be an increasing problem with the state, rather private hospitals are causing the issues. Child Protective Services (CPS); Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD); or whatever else the government services are called have a long history of letting real abuse slip through the cracks of the system and unfairly attacking healthy homes, but this phenomena by private hospitals is something new. Egos the size …



Notes for Monday – June 23, 2014

SurvivalBlog would like to welcome our newest advertiser, Gun Mag Warehouse. They have said that if anyone has any questions or needs assistance with any magazine choice or compatibility, they can simply call support and ask for Peter. Be sure to mention that you are a SurvivalBlog reader. This can be very helpful to those who are in states, like California, where confusion about what can and cannot be purchased is still common. Save time and frustration, visit their website and give them a call. o o o Camping Survival is having a sale on Mountain House freeze-dried foods this …


Guest Article: The Timetable For Bugging Out, by H.B.

We all get nervous when faced with the prospects of possibly bugging out because of a disaster or threat of some kind occurring. Do we leave or stay?  This has been discussed many times over, and it is based on the type of threat, your particular location, your preparedness, and what all. This article will simply touch on the possible timetable, as it relates to your chances of effectively escaping to your destination without getting caught in the middle of a traffic jam and all of those corresponding issues.  Let’s review your handling of being actually caught in the jam. …