Category: Contest

Improvised Shower Fixtures and Pumps, by A.F.

My first iteration of an improvised shower came about while stationed in Texas. Our unit was participating in a field training exercise and were allocated one trip to the shower point per week. As this exercise was more of a practice of our daily grind in field conditions rather than a battle simulation, our platoon of mechanics set up a minimal motor pool and for the most part spent time catching up on service work. One of the few actual repairs I was given over those days was replacing the power steering pump on a M1009 CUCV better known as …


Secure Local Comms With POTS Equipment, by Tractorguy

Land-line analog telephone service was ubiquitous in most of the 20th Century. This hardware is now commonly Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS).  This was our primary means of communication. It was simple, robust, and reliable. A few users still have landline service, although most landline service has migrated to digital means over a public Internet connection, with a modem at the user’s residence converting the digital data back to analog and providing ringer voltage to operate the bell. A lot of these telephones and associated equipment still exist, and are sitting in basements and attics. They could be easily pressed …


JIT Training for Trusted Friends, Family, and Neighbors, by Dr. Bob

This article will provide some thoughts on how to address a few common problems seen in the preparedness community. The first problem involves the difficulty finding like-minded people to form a community before the Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF). The second problem is how to engage friends, family, and neighbors so that they take actions to prepare their families prior to SHTF. These problems are related and center on the realization that many people are bound by their current life circumstances and are unwilling or unable to consider that the current paradigm is in danger and, secondly, many of those …


A Costly Freeze-Drying Prepper Mistake, by Mrs. T.

Doesn’t everyone want a freeze dryer? It feels like the ultimate answer to long-term food storage, your foods, your way, preserved “forever.” Perfect for a nuclear war, another COVID lockdown, or just peace of mind. My family has a lot of food allergies, making it difficult for long long-term food storage solutions. We have never been able to find freeze-dried foods that were a combination of what we eat, and not processed in facilities that process ingredients we’re allergic to. That’s why the freeze dryer seemed like the perfect solution. And honestly, it still is. But not before I learned …


Maximizing Prepping Storage Space – Part 2, by Iowa Dave

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Here are the steps that I followed in this project: Figure out how much space is available. Don’t just think in two dimensions (length and width), look up and consider how tall the available space is and what is above it. You are essentially playing a three-dimensional version of the old two-dimensional Tetris game in this exercise, while factoring in the features of your home. My basement shelving has been constrained by things like water lines, waste lines, propane lines, and HVAC ducts. Consider how wide any aisles between rows of shelves …


Maximizing Prepping Storage Space – Part 1, by Iowa Dave

Author’s Introductory Note: I am not a carpenter or engineer. I am simply sharing concepts that have worked well for me and can be applied by anyone. Beans, bullets, and band aids. Their volume grows over time, and we all need somewhere to put them. Mr. Rawles calls his storage space Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR). I call mine The Temple of Doom. Managing the storage of these items is a challenge faced by all preparedness-minded individuals. Most of us have limited resources, and few would say they have enough storage space. The concepts in this article …


The Art and Science of Tool Making, by Grandpappy

Introduction The rule of “Two is one, one is none” applies to almost all preparations. But what happens if once we’re safely in our shelter, we discover we’re missing a tool? In a WTSHTF situation, with no way to go out to a hardware store or have an online store deliver it to your doorstep, this situation would be catastrophic unless you had basic tools and knew how to build your own. With makeshift materials (as some military manuals call them) when there isn’t anything else suitable available, you can build a tool for yourself that will do the job.


Review: Ramen Bae Topping Mix, by Mike in Alaska

DISCLAIMER: I paid out of my own pocket for this food and Ramen Bae did not sponsor this review article in any way. Some folks love Ramen, but others say if you eat it you’ll die a horrible, painful death. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch; bottom line is that as food it’s not the same as say a prime rib dinner. But then it doesn’t need you to take out a second mortgage to buy, either. After all the years I’ve eaten food that some might call questionable, ramen isn’t anywhere near the top of the list …


Goldilocks Fire-Starting Kits, by C.S.

The Problem In the spring of 2009, a group of adventuresome whitewater kayakers dipped their boats into the meager headwaters of the North Fork of the Virgin River above Zion National Park. The weather was cold, but spirits were high. The paddlers had read about kayaking through the Zion Narrows in the preeminent whitewater guidebook for the southern Rockies. Confident their paddling abilities were more than up to the task, the group shrugged off having to frequently drag their boats through early shallow stretches. They knew the North Fork of the Virgin River picked up most of its flow from …


Chiming in on A.I., by SaraSue

This is purely my opinion and may be of no use to you.  My “tone” is sarcastic and rude and confident on purpose.  I am not that kind of person, but there are certain topics, such as Artificial Intelligence, that rub me the wrong way.  Maybe I am, or used to be, smarter than most.  Maybe the opposite is true.  In any case, I seek to put A.I. in its place, in a box, lock it in there, sit on the lid, and laugh. It is always going to be true that human beings are flawed (original sin, if you …


Fully Practicing Your Preps, by A.C.

In our world of unpredictable emergencies, from natural disasters to personal crises, a common saying always holds true; “You don’t rise to the occasion, you revert to the level of your training.” This isn’t just my cynical view of human nature; it’s a powerful call to action, especially to us self-described preppers. It emphasizes that true readiness isn’t about spontaneous heroism or “hoping for the best”.  Instead, it’s actually about the deliberate, often unglamorous work of turning preparation into an ingrained, automatic response. When the “stuff” hits the fan,  our carefully laid plans are only as good as our ability …


My Concerns With Artificial Intelligence – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) AI WRITING While there are many brain developments, AI will be shortchanging our youngest single-digit aged youth on, they’ll also be robbed of learning many of the skills that are learned later in life as well. I’ve always enjoyed writing and creating things with pencil and paper since that poem I wrote about the Pilgrims in second grade that my teacher loved so much. It’s something I’ve continued to develop since then and even after all these years, I’m still learning. I don’t know what a dangling participle is and I can …


My Concerns With Artificial Intelligence – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) TRYING AN AI APP After my wow experience with my daughter showing me how her drawing app works, she showed me the ropes and I started doing some pictures myself. Since I have the artistic ability of a quadriplegic starfish, it was a lot of fun to be able to create some photos, paintings, and cartoon characters. I’ve been working on illustrating the events of my life the year I was nine years old. While it’s done nothing to develop the artistic portion of my brain, it’s physiologically too late for that, it’s been amusing. And …


My Concerns With Artificial Intelligence – Part 1, by St. Funogas

I appreciated JWR’s comments in his August 19th article on artificial intelligence. I’ve also had a lot of thoughts on AI recently, which I’d like to share. JWR’s informative article addressed many of the societal changes and threats we’ll experience just as sure as the grass is green. At this point, my concerns are mostly on a personal level of how things will affect my grandchildren, and to a lesser extent, how they’ll affect my children and siblings. WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? When people ask me to define what artificial intelligence is, I give them my country-bumpkin definition: Human intelligence …


An Everyday Pellet Gun, by Lodge Pole

Where I grew up, we called them pellet guns, not pellet rifles or air rifles. I am by no means a pellet gun expert. Nearly all of my experience is with a single-shot, break-action pellet gun. The knowledge and advice I offer in this article is solely based on my experience and familiarity of single-shot, break-action pellet guns. Depending on your age, physical build and desired purpose of use, pellet gun actions vary, though in application, the concept remains the same. There is an option for everyone. About twenty years ago, I was camping with a friend who had a …