Category: Contest

Vintage Car Repair – Part 1, by Reelfisherman

I’ve been reading SurvivalBlog for more than 10 years. God willing, I hope to continue for another 10 years. I’m not sure how I found this blogsite, but this is the first site I go to every day. I have always wanted to write an article for SurvivalBlog. From this blog I have gained some valuable information over the years such as getting out of debt, saving my nickels, buying gold and silver, and numerous how-to articles. This article describes how to select and keep older vehicles running. With so many concerns today about an  EMP attack from another country …


Basics of Wound Care – Part 2, by D.C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Another aspect of wounds to consider is whether or not necrotic (dead) tissue is present. Necrotic tissue is “dead” or non-viable tissue that delays the progression of healing. There are a few types you may find. Eschar is black or brown and described as hard or leathery. It firmly attaches to the wound bed and obscures the depth of the wound. Gangrene is tissue decay secondary to an interruption of blood flow to a specific area of the body. This is most seen in the distal extremities, but it can affect muscles …


Basics of Wound Care – Part 1, by D.C.

This article is intended to provide readers with a simple overview to wound care and a general understanding of related terms. I am a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant who spent time training in wound care as it relates to that specific healthcare discipline. Physical therapy’s role continues to expand when it comes to wound observation, treatment, and patient education. Much of this information will be valuable to “preppers” due to the assumed lack of easy access to medical care. It will hopefully give readers confidence in recognizing and treating certain common wound types and provide a better idea of what …


The Garden Failed This Year, Now What?, by Hollyberry

Every gardener, worldwide, has glorious expectations of the upcoming gardening season. Many families rely on their gardens for daily food and for getting through winter with canning and preserving the summer harvest. Gardeners can control many area of the actual process of growing, like enriching soil and getting good seed stock. We can also control some pest/insect infestation. Controlling the weather, well that’s a whole different story. To some degree, you can mitigate adverse weather conditions. Planting after a last frost date, provided the full moon has occurred is a relatively safe bet. If you live in a northern climate, …


Bugging Out With a Cat, by Feline Tamer

Picture this: “Honey, this is it! The collapse I’ve been talking about all these years! The power’s been off a day and a half! There’s no running water! There’s no cell phone service! We’ve got to bug out now!” My wife is frantically chasing our male tuxedo cat, with the brilliant original name of “Tuxie.” She grabs her prized pet and tries to drop him into a crate, an animal carrier. Tuxie hisses, swipes at wifey’s arm, jumps down and scurries away into a bedroom. “Owww, he scratched me!” she wails. I grab a couple more bottled waters and stuff …


Countering Rampant Food Price Inflation, by SaraSue

When one of my daughters, who has a good job, starts complaining about how insane food and supply prices are, I pay attention.  She has started shopping at Walmart searching for the lowest possible prices.  Her recent cart rung up at $450 and she didn’t buy hardly any food – mostly toilet paper, paper towels, dog and cat food, a few household items, and enough food for a few good meals for her family.  She exclaimed, “This won’t even last us a week!”  I keep telling her to shop Costco for certain items – you get way more product for …


Fixing a Canning-tastrophy, by St. Funogas

It was Bette Davis who famously said, “Old age isn’t for sissies!” When you’re 15, hearing this for the first time only makes you scratch your head. At 35, it’s pretty comical. But about the time you’re getting that first social security check it’s not so funny anymore. During my recent first canning experience of this season, I made a mistake that fell firmly into the not-funny category. Fortunately, there was a way to fix the error. It wasn’t fun, but was still a fix. Getting in the Canning Groove I have a little hideaway cubby space under the kitchen …


Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 2, by Michael X.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT Sadly, I have found that it is very easy to not use the proper protective equipment. If I happen upon a piece of work that needs doing, I have a tendency to just start it. If a person doesn’t think about the proper tools and processes used for a task, they may not use them. If they don’t think about the risks with the work, or they decide the proper tools and PPE is inconvenient to get, they may just start the job. I have learned some hard lessons …


Basic Home Safety Plans for the Duration – Part 1, by Michael X.

With the current state of decline afflicting many of the institutions of our country, many people may feel our country is at a tipping point and our lives will revert back to near-pioneer status. Those who feel they are prepared to continue living on separated from the sagging society and decaying government may soon be isolating themselves at their preferred location, whether it is the bug out location, homestead, suburban ranch, or even a bug-in location in a populated area. Once you are at your preferred location it could be for the long haul and things will get harder and …


Defensive Spray Selection, by SwampFox

Important introductory Disclaimers, Provisos, and Warnings: The author has no affiliation with the companies selling the products mentioned in this article. No financial or other benefits have been derived, and no sponsorship is involved. The product testing mentioned in this article was not conducted scientifically, and was conducted only for the sake of curiosity. Testing chemical agents on yourself is not recommended, and is potentially hazardous to life and health. You should not attempt to replicate the test described in this article, and you should not use chemical agents on yourself, other people, or animals, except in self-defense and in …


The Time It Takes, by SwampFox

I work as a truck driver. That means I spend a lot of long, boring hours driving from state to state. I have a regular route, covering the same roads each day. On good days, not much happens that is new or exciting, and to pay attention to my job I need a bit of entertainment in the background. So I listen to a lot of audiobooks. A handful of these have been survivalist fiction or preparedness-oriented. I have discovered that many authors and readers may possess some unrealistic ideas about what a prepared life looks like, or what life …


PV Power Challenges and Solutions, by Tractorguy

This article should be subtitled: “And, the importance of regular visits to your Bug-Out Location (BOL).” Back in August of 2020, I wrote about the solar photovoltaic (PV) power system at my Bug-Out Location (BOL). I believe it was General Electric that used to put on all their professional product literature, “Our policy is one of constant improvement.” That’s great advice for all of us! In the last three years, I have made some refinements and corrected some significant shortcomings in it. My BOL is deep in the woods, a quarter-mile off the road, and is surrounded by trees. That’s …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 107

We’ve completed the judging for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 107 ended on July 31st, 2023. The contest is run in rounds that each last two months. The prize-winning writers for Round 107 are: First Prize First Prize goes to PrepperDoc, for: Assembling a Stealth Prepper Group, posted on July 18th and 19th, 2023. 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 Academy …


Using Pop Culture to Teach Survival and Civics, by M.J.

This short article does not teach any particular skills, tactics, or procedures. My only objective here is to offer some suggestions for using pop culture to get children or teenagers to start thinking about survival and to learn about civics. While most pop culture ranges from fluff to downright destructive, there are some gems we can pull out of the trash heap. Some of the examples here are irreverent and some have bad language; that’s the point. Books and sober lectures aren’t always the best way to get people’s attention. Note that I am labeling anything with vulgarity or profane …


Lessons From a Road Trip, by Richard T.

In April of this year we made a road trip from our home near the upper Mississippi River to the southern tip of Florida. In a previous article I covered navigation, communications (between driver and passenger), and maneuvering in traffic on that trip. This article is about other aspects of the same trip and what worked, and what didn’t. This trip had a two-fold purpose, to make a visit and to deliver cargo. Late the night before we were going to leave we decided to take the truck instead of the car as we needed the room for the cargo, …