Category: Contest

Introducing Your Community to Emergency Preparedness – Part 2, by A.F.

(Continued from Part 1.) The next topic is water. I begin with the low hanging fruit of having water stored at all times. It hurts my soul to thoughtlessly parrot the “one gallon per person per day minimum” tripe we have all heard so many times. My recommendation is to store no less than three gallons per person per day or ten gallons each. I follow this up by encouraging each family set a goal of having a five-gallon water jug set aside for last minute filling for each person. For those who lament storage space, I recommend the collapsible …


Introducing Your Community to Emergency Preparedness – Part 1, by A.F.

Back in 2016, the organizer for a local church’s senior citizen ministry approached me regarding a program she wanted someone to present on family emergency preparedness. In the two previous years our area experienced a “thousand-year flood” and the wind effects from a passing hurricane. Several of the seniors had requested a speaker who could help them think through steps that could be taken to minimize the impacts of another storm or similar short-term disaster. This article is a summary of what that presentation has become after multiple iterations over the past ten years. My hope in sharing is that …


Lessons From a Fight at a Restaurant, by Robert E. Downing

(The photo above, courtesy of Openverse, was taken by “Terren in Virginia“, a witness to a 2008 baseball team “fan rivalry” brawl at a New York sports stadium.) The following is what I learned about security at lunch one day: Scenario One Tuesday, about six weeks ago, I stopped for a late lunch at a local upscale family restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that is part of a well-known chain.  It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon and it seemed to be a quiet place to have lunch and prepare my Sunday school lesson. I selected a seat near …


Balancing Farm Life for Success, by SaraSue

2025 was a difficult year to get through.  By the end of the year, I was not enjoying any of it.  In fact, I wanted to quit (do I feel this way at the end of every year?).  You have to laugh and find your sense of humor or you won’t make it through anything that is slightly difficult.  There were so many things that went wrong, so I had to sit down and list accomplishments to remind myself that a lot of things went right.  And once reminded of all the good, I can face the next year in …


A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 2, by Mike in Alaska

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Once you have cut, stripped, and made the proper ring terminal connections to the wires, then the  next job is to solder them to the various locations as required; this will involve soldering the 6.0” wire and two other wires twisted together as one wire onto the variable capacitor of the kit. I used a dab of Kester 186 solder flux on the wires before I tinned them and then after I crimped the wires onto the terminals, I put a very small drop of the flux on the crimp connection and …


A Crystal Radio Kit for TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska

Imagine a time when radio was just some experiment in the labs or basements of inventors trying to figure out the phenomenon of sounds being heard over the air. Seems a bit of a stretch? During the period of 1904 to 1915 the first types of radio transmitters were developed which produced continuous sinusoidal waves: the arc converter (Poulsen Arc) and the Alexanderson alternator. These slowly replaced the old damped-wave spark gap transmitters. Besides having a longer transmission range, these transmitters could be modulated with an audio (voice or music) signal to transmit sound by amplitude modulation (AM) radiotelephony. So …


SWL Receiver Considerations and Buying Advice, by Sarge B.

The following is my list of recommended features and some features to avoid, when looking  for a general coverage receiver. This is based upon my personal experience over the years as a shortwave listener (SWL) and Amateur Radio operator. Frequency Coverage: Look for a minimum frequency coverage of 500 kHz to 30 MHz. This covers the AM broadcast band (520 – 1710 kHz) and all of the shortwave broadcast bands (2 – 30 MHz). Coverage of the FM broadcast band (88-108 MHz) is also highly desirable. Digital frequency display: Allows precise tuning to a specific frequency. Avoid any radios with …


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 5, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) Truckers. Contrary to popular belief, the depiction in the movies of truck drivers being a prime source of hitchhiking rides, just isn’t true. Maybe I’ve been doing something wrong all these years but in all my hitchhiking miles I’ve only been picked up by a trucker once. He explained that between company policies and insurance regulations, they’re not allowed to pick up hitchhikers. So, even though it won’t hurt to try, don’t expect to get many rides from truckers. Comedy. Humor can also help get a ride sometimes. On a cold day …


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3.) WEAPON It’s important to always maintain situational awareness wherever we are, and even more so when hitchhiking. There was only one time in all my hitchhiking travels where I had a negative experience during a ride. It got to the point where I thought it might be necessary to calmly let the driver know I was armed. A well-dressed guy in a Lincoln Continental gave me a ride. He looked like he was on his way to an important business meeting. We chitchatted for a while and then he made a homosexual proposition. It was out …


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) TRAVEL LIGHT The more belongings you have, the less the chances are that you’ll catch a ride in a timely manner. A single backpack will be more appealing than a bunch of gear. One important thing to keep in mind when you get picked up is to never put your gear in the trunk of a car, if at all possible. The chance of anyone driving off with your gear is minimal but as with all things, probabilities have to be weighed against consequences. Bugging out after losing all your gear would be a huge challenge, …


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) THE BASICS OF TRAVELING BY THUMB To be successful, a hitchhiker must consider several things: 1. Appearance 2. Destination sign 3. Traveling light 4. Gender and group size 5. Having a map 6. Weapon 7. Food and water 8. Money 9. Just can’t get a ride 10. Shelter APPEARANCE Appearance is the single-most important qualification if you want to catch a ride in a timely manner.


The Hitchhiker’s Guide to TEOTWAWKI – Part 1, by St. Funogas

In case the Powers That Be ask our opinions about how the world as we know it should end, I’m going to recommend the slow-motion kind that takes a few weeks, rather than an instantaneous welcome-to-Teotwawkiville atomic explosion or EMP. That will give die-hard preppers time to top off their supplies and buy that extra pallet of Thin Mints, but more importantly, give those with a bug-out retreat time to get there before the final SHTF events usher us into TEOTWAWKI. For those who find themselves up Schumer Creek with no reliable means of travel to their bug-out location; for …


Using GSSF Matches to Prep, by Iowa Dave

Author’s Note: I am not affiliated with Glock or the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation other than volunteering as a range officer at their matches and shooting their matches. JWR likes to say that owning a gun doesn’t make you a shooter any more than owning a surfboard makes you a surfer. You need to learn, train, and practice. Practical pistol disciplines such as International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) and International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) are outstanding ways to practice, but they can be intimidating to the novice. That’s where the Glock Sport Shooting Foundation, or GSSF fits in. Glock started …


Prelude to World War – Part 3, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Timelines Given As we listen to all the chatter, day in and day out about a widening war in Europe and war with China, we can see some recurring messages in the reporting.  How many times have you heard that NATO needs to be ready for a war with Russian in 3-5 years or that China will likely invade Taiwan by 2030.  There are a few variations of the dates but regardless of the actual dates we need to ask why NATO and our Asia-Pacific Allies need to be ready by those …


Prelude to World War – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1.) Defense Production Act The Defense Production Act was passed in 1950.  It is an important piece of legislation that we should all know about.  Why?  Before the bombing of Pearl Harbor part of Congress (GOP) was advocating an isolationist stance regarding the war in Europe.  Since Congress controls the budget, it made providing military aid to our Allies extremely hard.  The Defense Production Act aimed at making it easier for a U.S. president to prepare the U.S. for war without “permission” from Congress.  One key part of the act is the ability of the president to …