Category: Contest

Time and Planning, Pt. 2, by 3ADscout

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(Continued from Part 1.) Learning from history about older technology and ways people lived is great knowledge but having the knowledge without the “tools” still leaves a gap in your preparedness. Finding the tools and devices of bygone eras will also take time. Scouring antique shops, flea markets, garage sales, estate sales and attending auctions takes time but again the time spent can be productive use of your time in several different ways. It can be quality time spent with the family. It can also be used to teach our children about the past and what “things” were used for. …


Time and Planning, Pt. 1, by 3ADscout

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Have you ever considered the influences that time has on your preparedness efforts or will have upon your survival post-TEOTWAWKI? When we take an in-depth look at time, we will realize that time is one of our greatest preparedness resources. This article will discuss ways to use our time wisely now so that we can save even more time in a post-TEOTWAWKI world. We all have a finite supply of time, just 24 hours a day, no more. We can’t buy more time regardless of our income. We all only have seven days a week. There are however, a few …


How NOT to Build a Retreat, by The Jewish Prepper, Pt. 4

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(Continued from Part 3. This part concludes the series.) Final Electric Up until this point, we had been working off generator power. Flashlights and battery powered LED lights were our only light source, and a kerosene heater and an old window AC unit were our only climate control. Once I had the drywall up, the inspector signed off on permanent power. This meant I was legally allowed to have the power company hook up a line to the house. There was only one problem: they needed to be able to get a truck in to set a pole. To get …


How NOT to Build a Retreat, by The Jewish Prepper, Pt. 3

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(Continued from Part 2) Windows and Siding You will often see people recommending salvaged windows for construction projects. Ignore those recommendations! You want new windows, and the ones with a complete rectangle of vinyl trim that snaps into place on the front. I got a good deal on windows that had no interior frame and no exterior vinyl fins, which meant I had to cobble those parts together myself. Every time I drive by a house with beautiful vinyl-framed windows, I feel a pang of jealousy, because mine not only took far longer to install, and they will always look …


Making Flour From Mesquite, by Pete Thorsen

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My goal this past year was to make flour from Mesquite pods and I did meet this modest goal. To do this I planned ahead and I was able to purchase an old hand crank meat grinder and a hand crank grain mill. Both were used but appeared to be in excellent shape. The all-metal grain mill looks much like the old-style meat grinder but has two flat plates between which the milling takes place. New hand meat grinders and new grain mills like what I bought are still made and readily available. Many can be found on eBay and …


Cutting Your Power Utility Cord, by Dennis Williams – Pt. 2

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Step 4: Equipment Inverters When setting up your off-grid power system, don’t buy the cheapest inverter that you can find on Amazon! There are several excellent inverter manufacturers out there. I have some that I love, some of them are okay, and some I will not install. Keep in mind, as a professional installer, my reputation is at stake on every project I put in. There are some cheap ones that may perform well, I can’t go there. Some of the “good stuff” out there can power your retreat, automatically start and stop the generator based on battery status, and …


Cutting Your Power Utility Cord, by Dennis Williams – Pt. 1.

A Short Primer on Making Your Own Electricity Most of us have thought of the dream: A secluded retreat nestled in the woods, off the beaten path, no mortgage, no utility bills, raising our own food, homeschooling our children, spending time with our family, etc. Then we pop back to reality, and try to plan out and prioritize how we make it happen. How do we get from where we are to where we want to be? Ten seconds of background on me: I have been playing with solar energy for 40 years. I am an Army combat veteran, and …


Sundries For Survival, Part 2, by 3adScout

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Part 2 (Continued from Part 1, posted on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019.) With the many disaster and TEOTWAWKI scenarios, we can’t be 100% sure of everything that we will need in a post-event life. But the goal is to be as close to that 100% as possible. Another good saying to apply to prepping is that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Having a diverse on-hand stock of sundries can allow us to improvise and adapt those items to what we need. When at the hardware store I like to go down the aisles and look at items and think …


Sundries For Survival, Part 1, by 3adScout

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This article centers on logistics. This is not a list of what you need, but rather an inspiration to get us to think about a category of supplies that isn’t discussed a lot. Beans, bullets and band-aids are definitely key in survival but when you consider many of the items we will discuss in this article, they support our ability to raise, process or prepare food, ensure we can use our bullets if needed by having maintained and operational firearms and providing an ounce of prevention by supporting our health, safety and hygiene so we don’t have to use our …


Telling You a Thousand Times Wasn’t Enough – Part 2, by Orofino

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Part 2 (Continued from Part 1, posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.) I have recently been giving this subject a great deal of time in introspection. I was motivated when John Lovell at the Warrior Poet Society web site recently urged his followers to “weaponize consistency”. As if on cue, I recently read a well-written piece, from an author who recounted receiving a charge many years ago, from a sage Japanese gentleman that, “An elephant doesn’t bite, but fleas do.” Consequently, I resolved to incorporate those congruent principles into my personal training, before overtly encouraging my tribe to do likewise. …


Telling You a Thousand Times Wasn’t Enough – Part 1, by Orofino

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Self Discipline: Principles in Practice Trainers, educators and parents constantly contend with push back from professionals, students, and children when “the trainer” asks for consistent, repetitive attempts at otherwise banal tasks. What is the best germane rejoinder to such grousing? Worse yet, those of us who don the mantle of Prepper or Sheepdog probably wrestle with the same demons that would have us believe that we are competent in our fitness level and proficient in our gardening, animal husbandry, bushcraft, food preservation skills, etc. The stark reality is that we probably need to settle into the idea that we need …


New Zealand: Thoughts After Seven Years, Part 4, by Nivek

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Part 4   Taxes, everybody’s favorite topic New Zealand has a top tax rate of 33%. Okay, you think that’s not bad, the U.S. is right up there also. Well the trouble is you get to the 33% much faster as there are only three tax brackets. Making over $65,000 NZ Dollars per year will get you into the top bracket. That’s around $50,000 US Dollars. There are no deductions for a private person and you don’t get credit for kids or being married. The way around this seems to involve having a business and taking deductions through the business. …


New Zealand: Thoughts After Seven Years, Part 3, by Nivek

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Part 3   Weather Weather in New Zealand is widely varied with the north island getting much more rain than the south island. An exception on the south island is the far south-western tip called the Fiordlands. It’s a very rugged place with thousands of waterfalls. It is worth seeing. The north island has higher temperatures and higher humidity. I chose a location on the top of the south island that would have the most sunshine and dryer weather. I am a desert person and it takes a lot of getting used to the humid conditions. Take a look at …


New Zealand: Thoughts After Seven Years, Part 2, by Nivek

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Part 2 I’ll begin Part 2 with some random thoughts. I am just going to comment on various items from daily life. A Small Country One really important thing is the size of the market here in New Zealand. The population is something over 4.5 million spread out over an area about the size of California, and then split into two islands. The U.S. has well over 350 million people. This makes world products to be priced high here because the market share is low and the logistics are difficult to get things down here. Another factor is that almost …


New Zealand: Thoughts After Seven Years, Part 1, by Nivek

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Part 1 Many of you have probably wondered about “bugging out” to another country. I would like to share with you what I have learned after living in New Zealand for seven years. I will try to organize my thoughts in different categories to help you get some answers. The first part will cover why and how I made the leap. Part 2 of the article will discuss various experiences. Part 3 will cover weather, gun laws, cars, car insurance, and shopping. And in Part 4 I will finish by covering taxes, telecommunications costs, and post a “points system” locales …