Category: Contest

Preparing for the Inevitable American Gun Ban- Part 3, by Rector

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I believe a full gun ban in the United States is inevitable. In the first two parts of this article series, I’ve explained why I expect this, through cultural, legal, and demographic trends. Part two discloses the first step for protecting your guns. Let’s move on to the second step in the plan. Protecting Your Guns (continued) Step 2: Prepare the Registered Gun Collection Your Amazon browsing history (now up to 15 years old), your credit card records, your membership in the NRA, your concealed handgun permit, your GPS tracked trips to the gun range, et cetera will provide investigators …


Preparing for the Inevitable American Gun Ban- Part 2, by Rector

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A full gun ban in the United States is inevitable. In part one of this three-part series, I begin to outline the cultural, legal, and demographic reasons I believe this is the case. Let’s continue looking into the changing demographics of the United States and its subsequent affect on the political landscape. The Enemy Has A Vote In my former life as an Infantry officer in the U.S. Army, we were fond of saying that “the enemy has a vote”, meaning that our best laid plans were likely to be undone by enemy action. Rest assured, the statists and gun …


Preparing for the Inevitable American Gun Ban- Part 1, by Rector

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A full gun ban in the United States is inevitable. Any honest reading of the cultural, legal, and demographic trends in the United States will confirm this thesis– the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall be infringed, and we will lose our firearms. Many of you are rightfully rejecting my premise and doing so on solid intellectual ground: the 2nd Amendment, the Heller decision, the rise of concealed carry, the election of Trump, and the power of the NRA. These are formidable weapons in the fight to retain our rights. Yet, ultimately, we will lose the …


What To Do and Not Do When a Pandemic Starts- Part 2, by Scientist69

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  In part 1 of this article series, I explained the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic as well as virus transmissions. We also went through some basic biosecurity measures, including items to have on hand and how to use them, including some detail on various disinfectants. Now, let’s move forward in our discussion on dealing with pandemic-causes viruses. Vaccination Vaccinations have gotten a bad reputation, unfortunately due to the occurrence of some rare issues such as allergies to vaccines, autoimmune responses, et cetera and a whole lot of misinformation. Generally, if you had regular vaccinations, you might have …


What To Do and Not Do When a Pandemic Starts- Part 1, by Scientist69

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The Basics (Science is Awesome) What is the basic difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? In an epidemic, an infectious disease spreads quickly between people; however, this will be relatively confined to a geographic area, country, or even a continent. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is an example. On the other hand, a pandemic means that this infectious disease spreads quickly to other continents, basically causing disease globally, most likely resulting in high fatality rates. Examples of infections that can potentially cause a pandemic are the bird flu (avian influenza), SARS or MERS like infections that are caused …


Reindustrialization After The Fall- Part 2, By Redneck Granddaddy

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Yesterday, we took inventory of the situation two years after the balloon went up after the fall, and we realized that things could be pretty challenging. However, with charcoal and a forge, the problems we mentioned wouldn’t be such a dilemma. Yesterday, I shared several options for how to make charcoal. Today, I will share how to make a forge and more tips for smithing. So, let’s get started. Masonry Forge Boy you are ambitious to look at a masonry forge! That’s okay. Depending on your particular situation, this might be easier and or better for you. A masonry forge …


Reindustrialization After The Fall- Part 1, By Redneck Granddaddy

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Okay, the balloon went up, but you were prepared enough that two years later, you and your family are still alive at your retreat. Great! Right? Well, maybe. Let’s take inventory. Post-Balloon Evaluation Food Storage Your food in storage is about gone. You have been gardening for the last ten years and thought you were golden, but the first year wasn’t near big enough. The second year you went way big and plowed more land while the tractor still ran, but you didn’t have the seed or fertilizer. Still, you carried on with composting and seed saving, but most of …


Clarity of Mind and Survival- Part 2, by The Recovering Feminist

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This is the second part of an article that focuses on the reality of forgiveness in a person’s survival mindset. It is not approached from a psychological perspective but recognizes that having a clear and sharp mind is critical not only for making good survival decisions but for making good decisions in general. In part one, we covered how forgiveness is essential to survival, vengeance v. mercy, and the sexual assault epidemic, including the harm of the “me too” trend. Let’s continue on. Confront Evil Some of the worst acts of betrayal happen to those in positions of vulnerability who …


Clarity of Mind and Survival- Part 1, by The Recovering Feminist

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Survival and a Clear Mind Survival necessitates recognition of both outer and inner realities, both material and immaterial truth. We tend to think externally about survival. For instance, we think of addressing food storage, first-aid, efficiency, self defense, physical preparations, et cetera, but we fail to realize that all of these decisions are influenced first by a clear and sharp mind. We all have an inner life. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the inner life affects every decision we make. Harboring bitterness over past scorn or wallowing in the life experience of betrayal influences a person’s clarity of mind. …


Life Before SHTF Was a Problem But It’s Getting Worse, by Old Bobbert

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Okay, the title about life getting worse says it all. We need newer methods, procedures, styles, and formulas– stuff about problem solving. We need new ways to look at finding workable solutions to new people problems, new situations, new limitations, new responsibilities, and new rules of survival. And we, all of us, especially need new ways to maintain our sanity in the insane world of post-SHTF, and we need it in advance and in full measure. New Needs Yes, it is possible that you already have all these new needs in your fully stocked and tagged kitchen pantry. But I …


The Long View- Part 3, by J.M.

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I try to have a long view, one that is both near and far in perspective. We are in the final part of this article, taking a look at the preparations required for a long-term scenario, in the event of a major societal break down. This is part of my routine, as I evaluate my own preparations compared with risk assessments. We have looked at repairs, food, water, weapons, and medical topics in the previous two portions of this article. Now let’s move on to how we keep warm and prepare our food. Heating and Cooking If you don’t live …


The Long View- Part 2, by J.M.

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I try to have a long view, one that is both near and far in perspective. Whenever significant events occur, I do a quick review of my potential events risk analysis to see if anything’s changed that might impact how I’m prepared. In this article, I am taking a look at the preparations required for a long-term scenario, in the event of a major societal break down. We have covered the need for repairs and tools to make repairs, when items or parts and supplies won’t be easily replaced or shipped to us. Food (continued) Yesterday, we also covered a …


The Long View- Part 1, by J.M.

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I try to have a long view, one that is both near and far in perspective. Whenever significant events occur, I do a quick review of my potential events risk analysis to see if anything’s changed that might impact how I’m prepared. For example, when North Korea started acting up, I realized that I needed to do some additional preparations to handle potential nuclear and EMP events. At the start of every year I also do a deep-dive review to see if there’s anything I might need to re-consider or adjust. A Question During This Year’s Review During this year’s …


Apartment Dweller Prepping- Part 2, by AKM295

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When I relocated to the big city and moved into a shared apartment, I began to simultaneously look at prepping and consider how to make this work– living with others and trying to be prepared for a disaster. What I’ve Learned From Experience (continued) I’m writing about what I’ve learned over year’s of experience of living through power outages and disaster, including Hurricane Sandy. In covering topics for apartment dwellers, we have taken a look at storage, food, and water. Security When I was moving out from my childhood home, I tried to figure out how I could get my …


Apartment Dweller Prepping- Part 1, by AKM295

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Precious metals, dehydrated food, bug out cabins, and surplus everything are some of things that may spring to mind, thanks to pop culture and the media, when you mention prepping to someone who isn’t familiar with the topic. Those were the things that I thought of too, when I first began looking into how I could be more prepared for an emergency or disaster I might face back when I was fresh out of college. When I Moved To A Big City Back when I was a naive graduate who moved to a big city with student debt on my …