Category: Contest

The Cactus Police, by Hubbyberry

We just got back from the grocery store where my wife bought a cactus. I’m not a “plant person” generally, but if it makes her happy, well, then I’m happy. Removing the new plant from its bag revealed it to be a dragon fruit cactus. FOOD!!! I am always up for food. A closer look at the label revealed more information that was odd. Turns out the company placed a registration number on the houseplant’s tag, which allows the consumer to register it online with the company. Needless to say, (but I am going to) this led us to investigate …


A Christian Prepper’s Response to Postmodernism – Part 2, by Benjamin Szumskyj

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Additionally, various elements of postmodernism do not fit together to form a coherent system; it seeks to exist as much as a coherent system, yet doesn’t want to exist as a coherent system. While postmodernists claim that there is an overarching coherence, this cannot be true as this is only true inasmuch as the individual believes it to be according to their view of reality and how they interpret knowledge. By its nature, it could have coherence, order, and structure and at the same time, seek to dispel these are real, possible …


A Christian Prepper’s Response to Postmodernism – Part 1, by Benjamin Szumskyj

From the ancient world to the contemporary, followers of Jesus Christ have encountered philosophies that often seek to compete or undermine the Christian faith and the Scriptures they are based on. The Apostle Paul, in writing a letter to the church at Colossae, exhorted to believers that they should ensure “no one takes [them] captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary” (Colossians 2:8). One of the most prevalent philosophies of the latter and current century’s is that of postmodernism. The informed prepper knows this. Postmodernism is the philosophy that rejects absolutes, …


End-Times Trends and Pre-Tribulation Events, by R.G.

The Old Testament of the Christian Bible (which is the whole of the Jewish Bible) gave many astonishing predictions of what will take place during the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). The key passages found in the Old Testament include Psalms Chapter 83, Ezekiel 36-39, Zechariah 14, and Daniel 7-12. The last book of the Christian Bible, Revelation, and many other New Testament books are full of end-times predictions. Jesus combined most of these Old and New Testament prophecies about the end times when he gave the Olivet Discourse (Mat 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). This …


Handling Predators, by Hollyberry

Predators come in all shapes, forms, and sizes. Some have fur, feathers, or scales. Some of them walk upright among us. What exactly is a predator? As the name implies, they prey on a victim. Who doesn’t hum the theme to Jaws when stepping into the ocean? As soon as you enter the water, you become part of the food chain. Sharks are predators, we are the prey. When an animal preys upon another animal, it is usually not on a personal level, it’s to eat. Yes, sometimes dominance is involved. When humans prey on other humans, it’s all personal. …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced – Round 110

We’ve completed the judging for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  Round 110 began on December 1, 2023, and ended on January 31, 2024. (The contest runs in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 110 are: First Prize First Prize goes to A.F., for Winter Plumbing Preparedness, posted on January 13-14, 2024. See: Part 1 and Part 2. He will receive the following prizes: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite …


Encouraging Plant Pollinators, by Steve R.

Editor’s Introductory Note:  Over the years, we’ve published several articles on beekeping in SurvivalBlog. But this is our first fundamental article on pollinators.  If you want to have abundant crops, then you should encourage pollinators, locally! – JWR We are getting help with crops, fruits, nuts, and vegetables from little flying, crawling things you probably know little about. They are animal pollinators of plants. A book about pollinators has a first sentence of the first chapter that says it is impossible to overstate the service they provide to plants. You can do a lot to help pollinators, no matter where …


Heating Your Home With Wood, by Hollyberry

Nothing beats stepping into our toasty cabin on a subzero day to a nice, warm wood stove. Having had experience with all types of heat and fuels, wood beats all! As soon as friends come in, they stand right in front of the stove to warm up. The dogs fight over who gets to lay directly in front of the stove on the hearth rug. Our Jack Russell Terrier usually wins that argument. We do not have access to piped natural gas in this part of the state but there are many ways to heat your home. After trial and …


The Greenhorn’s Guide to PSYOPS, by Scarecrow

When in doubt, do the OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. In other words, see what’s going on, understand how it relates to your situation, figure out what to do, then do it. But what happens when you can’t do your OODA loop because you can’t properly see what’s going on, i.e., you can’t Observe and then Orient? What happens when the tools you use, for example, mass media, are (at best) trying to obscure the truth or (at worst) are intentionally lying to deceive? Here are some clues that “they” (the government, the media, etc.) might be using propaganda …


Storing Valuable “How to” Digital Data, by Slate Creek

I am constantly collecting data from the web and I save it to several USB memory sticks that I carry with me daily. If I’m in the office and happen to run across something of value I often pull the USB stick out of my pocket and save a copy. I have sub-directories organized on my stick such as “Food Storage”, “Water Supply”, “Topo Maps” or “Ham radio related” and then sub-category that into say “Antenna Builds”, “Local Repeaters” or “Radio Manuals”. I’m not advocating saving everything on a USB stick because nothing beats having the piece of paper in …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 5, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) I’ll refer the reader to My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 4 for the details of how my system works and what I am able to do with it. In a nutshell, during sunlight hours I can take the available 1,500 watts and feed them into my home/shop wiring system and run nearly everything including the freezer. On Day One if the SHTF, the actual switchover process from grid-tie to off-grid takes just a few minutes. In a simplified explanation, I activate the SPS switch at the inverter and plug a suicide …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3.) 8. Simple Electricity: Car Batteries and “Solar Generators” Car-battery electric systems are basically a DIY “solar generator” and are easily put together at a fraction of the cost of commercial ones using three inexpensive components. As mentioned, solar generators don’t actually generate electricity and are really just large portable batteries with some extra features. They’re better referred to as “portable power stations.” They can be recharged three ways: solar panels ranging from 25-100 watts, 120-v house electricity, or 12-v vehicle electricity via the cigarette-lighter plug. They’re handy for many functions such as lighting, recharging laptops, and …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) 5. Meals and Menus for Day One and First Week This may seem like a silly priority item but read on. There term “menu” is being used very loosely. My DOM Action List 1. Keep freeze-dried foods in plain sight on the table. 2. Check cabinets for other easily-prepared foods and put on the table. First and foremost: Do NOT open the fridge/freezer to get food for meals! During my 10-day preps test I lost 6 lbs (and I’m not overweight to begin with) mostly because I was so busy and didn’t want to have to …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) Now, let’s dive in. My Day One TEOTWAWKI Manual Table of Contents 1. Do This First! 2. Don’t Do This! 3. Round Up the Group 4. Freezer and Refrigerator Contents 5. Meals and Menus 6. Fuel 7. Electricity: Generator 8. Lighting 9. Electricity: Using Car Batteries 10. Electricity: Whole-house Solar Panels 11. Inventory 12. Water 13. Sanitation 14. Garbage Management 15. DOM Copies for Neighbors 16. Defense 17. Nuclear war preps Points 1-4 are ultra critical for any prepper’s manual and must have the highest priority in order to prevent wasting important and/or irreplaceable resources as …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 1, by St. Funogas

Last year I did a 10-day test of my preps. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) It was the most important prepping activity I’ve every done and a real eye-opener to say the least. I found it an enjoyable experience that required a lot of problem-solving. For 2024, I highly recommend such a test of our preps, even if only for a few days. How about during a week’s vacation? I promise it’ll be one of your most memorable and educational. As the test began, I quickly I discovered I only had a very fuzzy idea of what …