Category: Contest

Why You Should Write an Article for SurvivalBlog, by St. Funogas

I’m going to cut right to the chase for once: You should write an article for SurvivalBlog because the prizes are great! In addition to that, you should write an article because everyone has a skill, or knowledge, or a viewpoint that would benefit the rest of us. That includes you. Everybody has something to contribute. Many of us look at SurvivalBlog as an online group discussion and everyone would like to hear from you. How I Got Started Writing Articles Before I was a regular SurvivalBlog reader, I used to run across SurvivalBlog articles now and then in my …


Farming and Prepping As a Lifestyle, by Bulldog

I have lived a prepping/survivalist lifestyle for a lifetime. I was born and raised in the Midwest to parents, who even by mid-20th century standards grew a huge garden every summer. A garden large enough to feed 6-8 large families, either selling or giving the excess to others. They canned and otherwise preserved more produce than anyone I knew at that time. In addition, we milked about 150 head of Holsteins. We were the largest dairy farm in about seven counties. Of course, all of the milk used in the household came out of the bulk milk tank. Prepping was …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Community and Employment – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Much like society today, those who have “the means of production” control industry, finance, and banking are like the nobles. Those who run the factories and institutions are like the vassals and blue collar and farm workers are like the peasants. So, thinking that in times of great social upheaval when a hundred-plus years of technology disappears, we could see feudal-“like” societies form out of the ashes. This is not far-fetched. Unlike hundreds of years ago, most communities are not self-sufficient. The closest thing to a self-sufficient community today would be Amish …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Community and Employment – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

Humans are no strangers to catastrophe. Through the centuries, civilizations across the earth have succumbed to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, plagues, and crop failures. Regardless of where this took place, or the people it affected, there was a rebuilding of society and life went on. For many of us, we focus on surviving the immediate effects of disaster or catastrophe, but few focus on what comes next, the recovery or rebuilding phase. Just like being prepared to survive the immediate impacts of an incident starts in the years long before the disaster ever strikes, so does preparing for rebuilding our …


Downsizing: Back to Farm Basics, by SaraSue

Things can change overnight, and recently, they have.  In my opinion, we have entered WWIII.  We don’t know yet how bad it’s going to be. But what we do know is that things are heading south, fast. There is no way to rationalize that we Americans are “going to be okay” with what is happening on the world stage. Not to mention, how quickly goods and services have degraded here at home.  You’d have to have your head stuck so deeply in a sand dune that you can’t get it out.  It is better to stand up and face reality …


Reunite Your Family After a Black Swan Event, by J.P.

Like many of you reading this, I have been in the preparedness community for more than a decade. We have seen the videos, read the blogs, read and listened to books, and thought about the what-ifs and I would-bes…. Seemingly endless “when it goes down imma gonna get my kit and my body armor and my weebo disk made by Acme company” or “in the first hours imma gonna go here and do this and that”. The first person tends to be me, myself and I. To be honest, no you are not. Hard stop! You may have loved ones …


Disease Vector Awareness and Action, by K.B., M.D.

I am writing this article to share with our dear readers the information from several news articles featuring illnesses secondary to disease vectors and also spread due to immigration to the United States or international travel to other countries. It is a broad topic that I will condense for our readers in hopes of increasing not only awareness but also instructing in means of protection and treatment. Disclaimer: I am neither prescribing medicine nor dispensing medical advice. Anything that you choose to do as a result of reading this article is your own responsibility. Always seek out treatment and advice …


My Generator: Hard Lessons Learned – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The Second Big Problem Everything was going great until the July test. As usual, the test went well. I put the generator in the shop and when I stood it up on end… the engine fell out! Since this is a family blog, my comment roughly translated to something along the lines of, “Wow, that’s not good.” My second thought was, “This is going to be pretty funny in a week.” Fortunately, it proved to be so. I learned several things about generators in general that I’d never thought about and the …


My Generator: Hard Lessons Learned – Part 1, by St. Funogas

I consider a home generator to be one of the more important preparedness items for coping with the very steep learning curve we’d all go through while adjusting to a TEOTWAWKI situation. While finite fuel supplies will limit its usability for most of us to just a few months at best, with our own generator the immediate aftermath of a permanent grid-down world would be much more tolerable during the first few days and months of adjusting to the “new normal”. Based on my own preps test a year ago (My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 108

We’ve completed the judging for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  The judging was particularly difficult for this round, because there were so many great articles. Round 108 began on August 1st and ended on September 30, 2023. (The contest is run in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 108 are: First Prize First Prize goes to Reelfisherman, for: Vintage Car Repair Part 1 and Part 2, posted on August 29 and 30, 2023. He will receive the following prizes: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% …


How to Build an Outhouse, by Mrs. Alaska

Lack of sanitation has killed more people than wars, so while bullets may be useful, outhouses may be more important! Can you dig a hole and construct a simple structure over it? For more than a decade, we have lived with an outhouse and no indoor bathroom. In many coastal communities, an outhouse is built over a pier. Peering through the toilet, one sees the incoming or outgoing tide. I don’t want to think too much about that. Throughout India, where we spent 9 months, commercial outhouses and bathrooms in modest hotels have tile floors with a sloping center, flanked …


A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 2, by Anon-6

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) – To filter air: Need to get fresh air into the shelter without pulling in fallout particles In rack 1 is everything you need to set up an air filter system that pulls in filtered air Checklist with step-by-step pictures is on the clipboard Instructions are also written on the plywood board that will go in the opened movie room window slot (board already has 12” holes in it for the small yellow industrial fan to pull air into the movie room through one of the furnace filters) [Rack 1 contains a …


A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 1, by Anon-6

I’ve been a prepper since 2012 and was born in the early 60s. I started prepping when Obama was reelected and realized we’re on our own to protect our families from the hazards of a dangerous world. One of my first purchases was a 1-ounce silver Eagle that stays in my pocket to this day as part of my EDC kit – a small metal cigar case that works nicely (maybe a future article on that). From there, research and then purchasing food, water storage, comms, medical supplies, guns, and getting trained. Fast forward to late 2022 and early 2023. …


Grab-and-Go Rifle and Pistol Kits for Impromptu Visitors – Part 2, by S4H

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Provide for the Common Defense We are not extremely wealthy, but over the last several years I have made sure to invest in tangibles including two AN/PVS-14 night vision sets and a few extra firearms with all the fixin’s. My wonderful wife has graciously and intentionally never asked me to quantify “extra firearms” and for that I am thankful! Some of my enhanced armory has come from SurvivalBlog affiliate Palmetto State Armory (PSA) and I frequently select my ‘build-a-bang-stick’ materials from that great company. Having “spare” firearms is a calculated and purposeful …


Grab-and-Go Rifle and Pistol Kits for Impromptu Visitors – Part 1, by S4H

Disclaimer: In this article, situations are discussed regarding loaning firearms to friends or relatives for mutual aid and defense of our families and properties. Clearly, one should not allow a mentally ill criminal type touch your guns, but my family doesn’t associate with those types of people anyway. That said, you are responsible for knowing the oppressive laws and unrealistic regulations in your own area – before handing a firearm to anyone. It may indeed be a felony to even let someone else touch or handle a firearm without expressed government approval. I am not a lawyer (because I have …