Category: Charity

Letter Re: Charity and Food Storage Rotation

JWR, As I was reading the letter about the Vancouver riots, the part about the homeless man reminded me of one of the ways I rotate the food in my bug out bag (BOB). I know that a lots of people don’t like to give money to beggars, because they don’t want them to just buy booze. I also know that many people don’t use the food in their BOB (I’ve personally seen some rather old, funky smelling granola bars). Yes, I know you can use them when you go camping or hiking for practice, or just have MREs or …


Letter Re: The Vancouver Hockey Games Riots

Mr Rawles, I first posted this in a Survival forum I frequent often in response to the widespread, violent riots that broke out in Vancouver after the local hockey team lost in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I just was reading up on it this morning and you got to ask yourself: If your “countrymen” would essentially devolve into barbarian hordes over a stupid game – what do you think they’ll do when they have no food, water, heat, electricity and no government to bail them out or keep them in their place? I was speculating this morning that Vancouver is …


One Week’s Worth — Examining the Ethics of Preparedness, by J.L.

James has a family of two which include his wife and four year old son. He loves them both very much and would do anything to see to their well being. Given the recent events in Haiti, Thailand and most notably Japan, James has decided to prepare himself and his family for a natural disaster. Living in the Southern California area, he has focused his preparation for an earthquake and possible tsunami. In his home he keeps enough canned food and fresh water for his family to survive for at least one week. This week long time frame is about …


Lessons in Survival: Family Innovation and Industry in the U.S. Great Depression by W.J.

I have always been fascinated with history and might have become a history teacher if there had been any possibility of making substantial money at it.  Growing up in the 1950s and ‘1960s in rural Texas the lessons of the U.S. “Great Depression” were still fresh in the memories of my family, so our frequent family get gatherings produced many stories from those days, some of which were “not so good old days”.  I want to relate some of this story for the benefit of those preparing for possible future, harder times: There was no money.  For a few years …


You’re Ready for the Outlaws, But What About the In-Laws?, by Ellie Mae

I’ve been a daily visitor to SurvivalBlog for nearly three years now.  I really can’t believe it has been that long since that desperate day when anxiety from losing my job took over and compelled me to search for survival information on the Internet.   You see, I was a 20 year mortgage originator.  Not only had I lost my job when my company folded, it was clear to me that I and millions of others had lost any ability to make a living in that crumbling industry.  The music stopped while I was chasing the dollars and it was game …


Nearly-Expired Storage Foods: Take Them to the Food Bank, Not the Dump

As your storage foods–both wet-pack and dry-pack–near their expiry dates, I recommend that you consistently donate them to a food bank. This approach has several advantages: 1.) You will be charitably helping the less fortunate. 2.) Food will not be going to waste. 3.) Your own larder will be stocked with fresher, more nutritionally- complete foods. 4.) You can take a tax deduction for your donation. (Be sure to get a signed receipt.) If you are concerned about OPSEC when making donations, then drive 40+ miles to a food bank in a neighboring county. Keep in mind that most food …


A Key Concern and a Preparedness Strategy, by Patrick E.

I have been an avid SurvivalBlog reader for a couple of years now, and I have been a lifelong prepper, although never like I am now.  Through this blog and other excellent sources, I have gained immeasurable information and comfort, and the feeling that by the grace of God and diligent effort, I am finally obtaining a level of preparedness which ensures a very good chance of providing safety and security for my family and me through whatever the future may bring.  Though I have made many personal preparations, I don’t feel that I have done enough to help others …


Buy It Wholesale–Free Food Now and Free Food Later, by P.O.

I wanted to share with my fellow preppers a way to rapidly increase your food storage. Yes, it’s legal and for real!  I have no sales pitch and nothing to gain out of this, I’ve been doing this for almost a year now and the results have been just amazing.           My wife and I started a Farmer’s Market in our community almost three years ago.  The following “system” I have developed since then has come from our experiences there as well as my almost 20 years in restaurant management.  It can easily work for you with minimal effort.  Please …


A Christmas Gift for the Unprepared — The Starter Prep Kit, by Sean F.

Christmas isn’t what the television commercials would have you believe. It’s not about diamond jewelry, new cars or power tools. It’s not about trinkets and treasures and toys. It’s not about online shopping and last minute bargains. It’s about love. Not love of possessions or material wealth, but love for friends and family. And because you love them, you naturally want them to be happy and safe. In easy times, this isn’t a problem. But what if the Schumer really does Hit The Fan? Will the ones you love be able to sustain themselves and survive? If your family is …


Inventory, Organize, Adapt and Overcome, by T.C.

My wife and I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina and we have been in serious preparation mode for about a year now. Let me explain what I mean by serious preparation: I am talking about creating a defend in place (bug-in) plan and a bug-out plan along with identifying and obtaining the necessary resources to carry them out. Understanding how to Hunt, fish, trap, raise livestock, garden, can and preserve food along with the necessity of having an alternate heat and readily available water sources are still a way of life in the Appalachian Mountains. …


Letter Re: Supporting the Any Soldier Program

Hello James, I see that you link to AnySoldier.com from your blog site. Any Soldier is a great organization that works hard to support our troops in the time that they need it most. As a Gulf War veteran, I really appreciated the support from Any Soldier when I was over in Iraq. Now that I am back safe and sound, Airsplat, the company that I work for, it doing their part to help Any Soldier. They have pledged to send 5% of all sales to Any Soldier from people who come to the site and enter the coupon code …


In Defense of Prepping: When Disaster Doesn’t Strike, by A.S.D.

In Defense of Prepping: When Disaster Doesn’t Strike, by A.S.D. Hi everyone. I’m relatively new to the prepping scene, as I’ve only been at this for a few years or so. I’d like to attempt to tackle a subject that, somewhat naturally when you consider what this site is all about, doesn’t often seem to be addressed on Survivalblog: what happens if disaster doesn’t ever happen? You see, thanks to the diligence and enthusiasm of JWR, we have literally thousands of detailed articles and opinions at our disposal regarding a myriad of topics: food storage, guns, ammunition, homesteading, homeschooling, cache-building, …


Psychological Preparedness for TEOTWAWKI

We do not know what the future brings, though in the survival community there is no shortage of speculative events that may occur. This article is a brief primer on psychological techniques that can be used in a TEOTWAWKI scenario to help prepare for and stave off psychological fatigue until a time at which you can properly cope with the situation at hand. Also, it provides some coping techniques to help get you back on track after all has settled. Why are we so driven to preparation? The answer is death. It is inevitable, and we must all face it …


Two Letters Re: TEOTWAWKI: Getting Folks to Recognize the Possibility

Sir, As a recent “convert” to Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy, I very much identify with the author of “TEOTWAWKI: Getting Folks to Recognize the Possibility.” I did, however, take issue with his conclusion regarding his treatment of family members in a Schumeresque world. Having recently presented my “list of lists” to my wife, she made the comment to me that my quantities were off. As a future pastor (I am currently serving in the Navy and preparing to enter seminary) she made the point that if the SHTF we would undoubtedly be taking in strays from my congregation who did not …


Survival Rations and Food Security, by J.I.R.

I think we can all agree that a deep larder is good insurance for bad times. There is some variation on how we approach this topic, but we probably all have a lot in common. I would like to present my approach to food storage to give your readers (perhaps) a new perspective. Some of them may have inadequate plans for feeding their families. First, I have to admit that I am probably not as well prepared as a lot of readers and that my preparations could easily be improved if I were less lazy or worried more. I don’t …