Category: Contest

Preparing With a Parent in Decline, by C.H. in Kansas

It’s a hard thing to watch a parent who is in decline. This may include physical failings, cognitive decline, loss of memory, forgetfulness, disturbed sleep patterns, and bad decisions. The person who once took care of you is simply no longer able to take care of themselves. What responsibilities do you have toward family? 

In this article,  I’m going to relate some thoughts regarding the care of an elderly parent and some considerations for general preparedness planning, not necessarily TEOTWAWKI. This is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject of hospice, elder care, legal issues, or anything …


How to Make and Use Vinegar, by St. Funogas

If there’s one thing we take for granted in our kitchens it’s vinegar. For a couple of bucks you can buy a gallon and it’ll last most people a year or more. After the SHTF when every survivor must learn home canning as well as make their own cleaning products and limited antiseptics, vinegar making is a skill every household will need to master. Today it’s a fun activity and a way to put our canning waste to good use but after the Crash, it will be one of the most important food-preservatives available to us. Thus, it’s one more …


Selecting Ham Shack Equipment, by Muscadine Hunter

When it comes to assembling equipment for a ham shack, there are about as many options as there are differing opinions about what one needs. Also, a ham shack for hobby and one for intel gathering post TEOTWAWKI is vastly different. With that said, allow me to share my experiences and background. I started fooling around with radios when I was about 10 years old. One of my dad’s best friends was an avid short-wave listener and introduced me to the hobby. I would sit in Hoyt’s den for hours listening to various overseas shortwave stations as well as occasional …


Getting Ready For Winter in a Northern Climate, by Hollyberry

It may now be summer but it’s time to think ahead to those cold weather months. It has been said that in Maine there are only two seasons: winter, and getting ready for winter. Winter is beautiful in Maine with the white snow, blue sky, and evergreens. Winter is also dreaded by most people but a little preparation can go a long way in making it easier. It’s also a great time to get outside and enjoy the crisp, clean air (as snot freezes to the side of your face). Its soooo tempting to just forget about winter and head …


Assembling a Stealth Prepper Group – Part 2, by PrepperDoc

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article) Developing your leadership skills If you work at this, you’ll gain many skills in the areas of operational communications, and in logistics as well. You’ll find the Professional Development Series will help your skillset for leading a volunteer group– whether a prepper group or an ARES group. You’ll be well accepted by the local Emergency Management folks for your willingness to help forestall the onset of anarchy in your community. Most emergency managers realize that communications is a weak spot in their own knowledge base, and if you come across as likable, …


Assembling a Stealth Prepper Group – Part 1, by PrepperDoc

On the wonderful pages of SurvivalBlog, I have read article after article about hardy souls setting up individual homesteads and gaining hard-won knowledge at significant cost. But also, of course, of people bemoaning the out-sized risks of “loners” in a truly desperate time, and the need to find some way to establish a like-minded group. That adventure is fraught with risks, as leadership, membership, and governance are sticky but important issues. I wish I were young enough and strong enough to have my own homestead, but that was not my path in life. (Someone has to be the doctor, engineer, …


Building a Simple Faraday Cage, by OhioGalt

This article describes the effects of EMP and CME and how to build a simple inexpensive Faraday cage. Most readers of the SurvivalBlog are aware of the potential damage from either a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) or an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) and the impact on everyday electronics. With an EMP, an electromagnetic pulse is generated at high altitudes from a nuclear explosion damaging sensitive electronics. A CME damages electronics in a similar way with the release of a large solar flare from the sun reaches carrying magnetic fluxes and plasma toward earth. These magnetic fluxes interfere with Earth’s magnetic fields …


Could You Live Off Your Land, Right Now?, by SaraSue

As world events, both nationally and internationally, explode in violence, deep debt, instability, and uncertainty, I ask myself have I done enough?  Am I far enough away from the violence?  Do I have systems in place that will hold me and my family in good stead for years to come?  It’s complicated, and a heavy burden, to detach from the culture, from the world systems, and to create a self-sufficient lifestyle.  It is also freeing.  There’s so much detail to each aspect that it’s no wonder people throw up their hands and say it’s impossible.  I think it’s possible to …


Accessibility: Retreat Design, by SwampFox

Everybody gets old. Everybody gets hurt. Time and chance happen to us all, and these are unfortunate facts of life. Is old age, injury, or disability part of your planning? Can you keep going with essential work if you are hampered by physical limitations? As always, it is better to think ahead and be prepared than to be surprised by the unexpected. I am used to thinking about physical limitations. My mother is a retired physician, and has bravely phased a physical disability for 35+ years. Both of my parents are getting older, and my own health and physical build …


The Case for “Dumb” Phones, by A.R.

In the fall of 2021, I took a college course titled “Ethics & Social Responsibility in Technology.” The course began by investigating Amish communities as an example of technological stewardship. Contrary to popular belief (including my own before the class), Amish communities do in fact utilize a variety of technological innovations. What differentiates Amish technology use from mainstream culture is that the Amish view technology as a means to an end and do not blindly adopt new tech for the sake of progress. Rather, each new technology is carefully evaluated to determine if it aligns with their beliefs and lifestyle. …


An Outdoor Brick Oven, by 3AD Scout

Outdoor ovens have a very long history of use, compared to the modern gas and electric indoor ovens of today. The fuel for outdoor ovens is practically endless (depending upon where you live) so for those preparing to survive the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI), an outdoor oven is a perfect addition to the retreat or homestead. In England in the early 1600s, wealthy landlords would have ovens built and would sometimes charge the peasants to use the ovens. It was common in history for bread ovens to be shared by a community. We need to …


Fix Bayonets!, by SwampFox

Bayonets have been part of warfare for more than 400 years. Likely first invented in France and named after the town of Bayonne, soldiers have found uses for something long and sharp at the end of a rifle or musket. While the days of single-shot weapons are long past and even some militaries are giving up teaching the use of the bayonet, it is an important tool that you should have. Since the early days of black powder warfare, soldiers have been taught the basics of fencing one-on-one with bayonets, as well as swarming an enemy position as a group …


Some Ramblings on Preparedness, by Jed

The following are really ramblings and they will be all over the place. I lost my teeth several years ago and dentures didn’t work. With no teeth, the amount and kind of food became greatly reduced. I lost weight for sure but also lost muscle and energy. The big surprise was how must my brain depended on food. My thought processes slowly became diminished. Figuring out problems, making plans, being creative, making poor decisions, and that sort of thing is worrisome. The lack of all those things in an austere environment could be bad if not deadly. Food is needed …


Third World Living: Austerity Lessons, by T.S.

When I was a younger and more idealistic man, I had the opportunity to spend a year “nation building” in a Third World country. Although I now think those aid dollars would have been better spent at home, I did learn some lessons that could help in a dire situation. After all, there’s no better teacher to prepare you for SHTF than people who have been living in austere off-grid conditions for their entire lives. After some reflection, I organized the lessons I learned into four major categories: Power, Communications, Climate Control, and Food. Power None of the villages in …


A Power Outage Experience – Part 2, by Big D.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes teh article.) DURING THE POWER OUTAGE Fortunately, my cell phone service remained on during the entire event. That allowed me to directly access the internet from my phone or connect the phone to my computer and smarty TV for outside access. After the first day the electric company updated the “outages” page on their web site and showed the extensive outages that they were dealing with. The system had both “grid” issues of downed power poles and system components as well as individual properties and businesses who had service lines damaged or disconnected on …