Category: Contest

Medical Emergency Sheets – Part 1, by K.B., M.D.

Today begins a four-part article series called “Medical Emergency Sheets” in an effort to assist fellow readers who may face certain emergencies. Why? During an emergency, people panic and may forget what to do or may never have had any medical training whatsoever. Circumstances may also require immediate action which won’t allow time to peruse medical articles or books. While we still have it, call 911 first and always get help from medical professionals! I do, however, encourage you to make a notebook with dividers for certain categories (various body parts, diseases) and place these Medical Emergency Sheets as the …


A Sweater and a Knife, by The Novice

This is my gear review of a German Army Wool Commando Sweater Reproduction and Opinel No. 8 Outdoor Sea-Mountain Knife I love wool sweaters. For roughly nine months out of the year, I wear one pretty much every day. An inventory of my closet reveals a total of 21 wool sweaters: nine “cold-weather-office” sweaters, five “manual-labor” sweaters, and seven “cool-weather-office” sweaters. Norwegian Sweaters My love affair with wool sweaters began in Norway, where I lived for ten years. In Norway, wool sweaters are more than just a practical item of clothing. They are an art form. My first “Norwegian” sweater …


Spring Update, by Animal House

Hello Survivalblog friends! This is just a brief spring update of what’s going on the farm. Every year I replace 1/3 of our chickens with new chicks ordered from the hatchery. This is usually 25 chicks. I change the breed each year so I can tell how old the chickens are and cull the useless eaters. Last year I added Rhode Island Reds and this year I ordered Barred Rocks. Both breeds are very hardy and lay large brown eggs. I have some older buffs which are ready for harvesting at the end of summer. I also incubator-hatch ornamental silkie …


TEOTWAWKI Toilet Options – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Proper Two-Year Composting System There are various types of composting toilets but the remainder of this article refers to the inexpensive types, not the fancier commercial ones that compost in a chamber below the toilet. I’ll let you explore that option on your own. Proper humanure composting uses a two-pile system and only a small percentage of the material in the pile will be humanure, especially considering that your poop on average is only 25% solids. Once your compost pile has received humanure material for a year, plus kitchen, farm, yard, and …


TEOTWAWKI Toilet Options – Part 1, by St. Funogas

This my view of Personal Poop, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Loo. Did you know you can eat your own poop? Did you know there are poop banks, just like blood banks, where doctors can access pathogen-free poop like yours and feed it to their patients to cure their Clostridium difficile intestinal infection? No? Then read on! As I begin writing this, I’m reminded of two thoughts. Jonathan Swift said, “You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reason himself into.” And as a way of saving face, “I used to …


Review: Tortoise Gear Firefly, by The Novice

For decades, I carried a Victorinox MiniChamp in my left front pants pocket. There it shared space with a Maglite Solitaire LED and an ink pen. The ink pens came and went. They could not stand up to the wear and tear of pocket carry. The Solitaire and the MiniChamp endured, battered but unbroken. Sometime during the course of those decades, I noticed a Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD at a garage sale. It cost one dollar if I remember right. I bought it as a backup in case I should happen to lose the MiniChamp. I took it home, …


Demonetizing Precious Metals, by Serena

What got us here: In the coinage act of 1792, Congress in the United States declared the definition of our monetary units (The Dollar and the Eagle) and defined the character of each of these units with specified weights, measures, and the number of grains in silver or gold for each of these monetary units. They went on to declare the silver to gold ratio to be 15:1 which at the time was a worldwide standard. Should that balance not be declared and maintained the undervalued units would naturally migrate to other world economies. In the following 80 years, our …


Food for Diabetic Preppers, by S.F. in Oregon

Prepping for diabetics presents a unique challenge. What I’m not discussing how to store insulin, as that has already been discussed at length inSurvivalBlog. Nor am I going to go into the oft-mentioned differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Rather, I’m just talking about food choices. Rice, hard wheat, and noodles all have something in common. They have what is called a high ‘glycemic index’. That is the ‘octane’ of a given food. Glycemic index is the speed at which any given food will metabolize into sugar in the blood. People with blood sugar problems have compromised abilities …


My Perspective on Bug-Out Field Gear, by H.H.

You can throw a couple of items in a backpack and say “I’m prepared”, but are you really? For everything you do to prepare, think through all the things that can go wrong. My wife says I’m too pessimistic, but being an engineer, I’ve been trained to think about what can go wrong. You don’t want the plane to fall out of the sky or the bridge to collapse. The first rule is always have more than one way of doing something. I had heard (maybe attributed to Army Rangers or SEALs) “Two is one and one is none.” If …


U.S. Military Field Phones, by Ken in Michigan

If you are looking for a secure communication system for your farm, ranch, or retreat, then look into a military phone system. You can create an ideal communication system, any size, from two positions overnight to multiple positions in a large permanent retreat. Military Field Phones (“MFPs”) do not require external power. They are designed to operate in adverse conditions and most importantly, do not emit any electronic signal. MFPs cannot be overheard by radio scanners or radio direction finders. MFPs keep your location undetected by electronic surveillance, unlike today’s radio communications that can be overheard and DF-located using today’s …


Shaving Options, by Anonymous

After seeing bare grocery store shelves last year, have you thought about different ways to perform everyday tasks? Sure, we have stored food, paper towels, paper plates, paper gold (toilet paper), and countless other necessary items. However, have you considered the everyday task of shaving? A multi-bladed shaving cartridge is considered the norm, but what happens when that shelf is bare too? Whether it is every day, once a week, or once a month, eventually it is a necessary task that nearly all men perform. Having a few alternate shaving supplies stashed away when your first choice is unavailable, will …


RF Scanning for Preppers – Part 2, by R.W.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) — Scanner Models When radio systems were still purely analog, there were many manufacturers vying for your attention to buy their scanning receiver. With the costs of developing digital-capable receive technology and a dwindling user base, the market has collapsed to just two manufacturers of multimode (analog and digital_ scanning receivers: Uniden and Whistler. Uniden, having been one of the pioneers in consumer electronics developing dozens of models over the past 40 years, currently has twelve scanner models available while Whistler offers six. For those who might want to dip their toe …


RF Scanning for Preppers – Part 1, by R.W.

Sir Franics Bacon is attributed with saying, “Knowledge is power.” And nothing could be more true than when it comes to prepping for emergencies and SHTF situations. When the forces of nature or the whims of men (or women) turn life upside down, we need to have a plan for reacting. If you’re reading this then you, more than anyone else, understands how true this is. For those who are unprepared it can literally mean the difference between life and death. Shortly after I began writing this article the people in Texas were put to the test with massive loss …


What To Do with Trash?, by Mrs. Alaska

Living remotely means, among other things, that we receive no municipal services for trash and garbage disposal or recycling. Surely anyone with a hunting cabin or a bug out location has had to do some of the following: We have become very intentional about what we haul out to our home because we have to figure out how to dispose of what remains! I have been inspired by Internet sources like “1000 uses for wooden pallets” and whimsical yard art from cans as well as techniques referred to now as “zero waste kitchens,” which I realize, applies to what I …


The Five “C’s” of Prepping, by Mr. B.

It strikes me that as a prepper, whatever your level of commitment and however you become involved in prepping, that we all go through various feelings and stages. I have pondered recently – in light of unnecessary lockdowns, “mandatory” face masks, and threats of imposing questionable vaccines – that one might interpret that there are five stages of “being”. These are my Five C’s. Let me explain: Challenged The first is being challenged. This is the starting point when you are challenged by a moment or thought, an action or a reaction, to an event that takes you out of your …