Category: Contest

Creating Your Own Secure Messages– Part 1, by DaytonPrepper1

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I am an experienced programmer with a lot of time spent in Excel everyday for my paying job. East Sierra Sage’s article on Cipher Security got me thinking again about One Time Pads and other secure message techniques. I really enjoy automating things with Excel’s powerful formulas and macros. So I set off to create a tool for a One Time Pad spreadsheet that would create the One Time Pads and also encode and decode the messages being sent. How to Use a One Time Pad (OTP) You will need a Shift Chart and an OTP Chart as the basic …


The Four Things I Missed Most In Urban Survival Mode, by J.C.

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Did you ever picture putting all your survival know-how to the test in an urban environment, in a giant city? Did you think about all the piles of rubble you’d have to work around to “put rubber to the road”? Mexico City Earthquake, September 19th, 2017 I know I didn’t, until I found myself in Mexico City on September 19th of last year, that is. This was the day a 7.2 earthquake shook Central Mexico, toppled buildings, and killed nearly 400 people. This also happened to be the anniversary, to the day, of the hugely destructive 1985 Guerrero Earthquake that …


Birth- Part 2, by A.E.

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According to the CDC, about 11,000 babies are born in the U.S. every day. If anyone in your family or group is of childbearing age, you might want to think about preparing for an out-of-hospital birth. Most people have never witnessed a “natural” or med-free birth. Therefore, they have no idea what natural birth looks like or how to prepare for it. In Part 1, I spoke about the importance of the mother’s psyche in childbirth and also about the sphincter law that applies to childbirth. We began the topic of Preparing for Birth with suggestion for books, such as …


Birth- Part 1, by A.E.

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Typically, when we think about a survival situation, like TEOTWAWKI or SHTF, our minds race to food storage, defense, clean water, growing gardens, and raising livestock; often times, we forget other necessities, like good medical care and childbirth. According to the CDC, about 11,000 babies are born in the U.S. every day. If anyone in your family or group is of childbearing age, you might want to think about preparing for an out-of-hospital birth. Most people have never witnessed a “natural” or med-free birth. Therefore, they have no idea what natural birth looks like or how to prepare for it. …


Stoic Virtues, by A Modern Stoic

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Stoic justice at its heart is about fairness and the golden rule. Other virtues remain, which I will grab onto because a virtuous life is one to pursue for real happiness. Seneca on the Good, the Honorable, and Virtue “Your letter roamed, over several little problems, but finally dwelt upon this alone, asking for explanation: “How do we acquire a knowledge of that which is good and that which is honourable?” In the opinion of other schools, these two qualities are distinct; among our followers, however, they are merely divided. This is what I mean: Some believe the Good to …


How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 3, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members and guide another 21, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series. In Part 2, I went over how I am resolving these problems and my specific plans as well as …


How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 2, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series. How Do You Overcome These Barriers to Success? Now that I have laid out my problems, which are substantial, I want to talk …


How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 1, by Patriotman

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I think this article will resonate with many of the SurvivalBlog readership, because I suspect that many of us are in a similar situation of being the only one preparing. While some of you may be lucky to have complete buy-in and participation with prepping from your family or survival group, many others, like myself, may find that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Before I speak about my experience with this issue and the steps I have taken to attempt to mitigate this, let me provide some background on myself as well as what the composition …


Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 2, by Grey Woman

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The focus of this article is on prepping for children and adolescents on the mid to lower functioning end of the autism spectrum. If you are the parent or caretaker of an autistic child, I’m sure you have already considered your child’s or adolescent’s special needs and planned accordingly. This article is intended to serve as a general overview and resource for those who are less familiar with the needs and capabilities of these unique individuals. Autism- A Prevalent Disorder Based on the prevalence of Autism spectrum disorder and autism, it is likely that either your family or a family …


Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by Grey Woman

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“How a society treats its most vulnerable is always the measure of its humanity.” Ambassador Matthew Rycroft A fair amount of literature has been devoted to prepping for the needs of babies and children in general and for the elderly, but there seems to be far less information available to guide decision making in prepping for the developmentally disabled members, including those on the autism spectrum, of our communities. According to the latest analysis by the CDC, between 6% and 7% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed as having a developmental disability. These disabilities …


A Helping Hand, by J.M.

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One of the big debates among people who are prepared is what to do, if anything, to help out folks that weren’t prepared when a SHTF event occurs. Our Christian values tell us to help those in need by offering a helping hand when we’re able, but the logic of the situation tells us that if we give everything away our own family and friends may suffer. While perusing various forums and discussing the issue of handouts with other prepper folks, I’ve seen attitudes that range from “They had the opportunity to prepare and chose not to, so they’re on …


Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 2, by Snow Wolf

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After I happened to watch the first episode of a 1975 British TV series called Survivors, I began to think differently about survival. Two conversations rearranged everything I’d assumed about survival and the continuation of civilization after a catastrophic disaster. I began to think from a perspective of thirteen century style survival. I watched as the character in the show named Abby interacted with others and concluded that no one person had the knowledge to make much of anything in our modern society and she needed to learn how to master the old crafts. You might know some part of …


Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 1, by Snow Wolf

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Like many preppers, I love disaster movies, whether Godzilla stomping a city, asteroids hitting the earth, pandemics, earthquakes, or volcanoes. After all, any of these things could happen, except maybe Godzilla, and useful ideas can come from anywhere, regardless of the style of disaster. The disaster movies were good for a laugh, but they also convinced me that any major disaster—asteroid, pandemic, or nuclear attack—will make societal recovery lengthy and perhaps impossible and survival difficult. Then, I happened to watch the first episode of a 1975 British TV series called Survivors. Two conversations rearranged everything I’d assumed about survival and …


Florida Gun Owners, I Feel Your Pain, by Swamp Cracker Yankee

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This past week Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, signed a new Florida “school-safety” bill that bans bump stocks, extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns, and raises the minimum age to buy long guns from 18 to 21. This was all in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. Wouldn’t Have Believed Gun-Friendly Florida To Enact Restrictive Legislation If you had told me years ago that a state like Florida with “gun-friendly Republican lawmakers” would enact such legislation, I would not have believed you. Since …


A Few Hard-Learned Lessons- Part 2, by Grey Woman

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I am continuing to share some of my hard-learned lessons as a single woman who moved out into the country. My story and lessons that follow, provided in no particular order, might save you money, time, injury, and humiliation as you make this journey towards self-sufficiency and preparedness. Yesterday, the lessons were on chainsaw, firewood, and wood stoves. Bears, Birds and Bullets One part of moving out of the suburbs and into “the country” that I was really excited about was being more in touch with nature, especially birds. I have always loved watching wild birds and hearing them sing …