Category: Contest

Training Yourself For Preparedness, by Joe Dolio

So many of the people in the preparedness community build massive stockpiles of supplies, including food, camping gear, backpacks, weapons & ammo, and all that ultra tacti-cool stuff. The problem is, they rarely get off the couch and train, and they rarely get out and use their gear. It does you no good to have a cool backpacking tent, but have no idea how to set it up. Having an ultra-light backpacking stove is great, unless you have no idea how to use it. Your 70 pound “bug out bag” may very well be well-stocked, but unless you’ve trained on …


Strategic Lumber Storage, by 3AD Scout

To paraphrase an old saying: How much wood should a Prepper prep, if a prepper should prep wood? Author’s Note: This article was started in early December 2020 when from today’s standpoint lumber prices were reasonable. I think 2020 and 2021 will be the years that many of us might realize that wood, primarily as in lumber, should be added to our preps. I suppose for those who live in areas prone to Hurricanes having some wood on hand might be normal to board up the home when a storm approaches but wood has many forms and hence many uses. …


Your Best Invisible Prep, by T.C.

First of all, lets take a moment to praise our Lord God for this wonderful world – and for all of bountiful blessings that we have. We need to look no further than what is happening in India to be reminded to get down on our knees and pray. I have personally heard from medical doctors on the ground that talk about how those in the COVID wards – and field hospitals are pulling their O2 masks off to be able to die so that their families will not go bankrupt from the hospital bill. We are awash in blessings …


On Irish Democracy – Part 2, by Born Free

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) As I stated in Part I, I favor massive non-compliance at every level possible without landing myself in jail.  This approach calls for the “Gray Man”, “Going Galt”, and true to my heritage, “Irish democracy”.  The important characteristics of such intent is to not organize, to not be heard or seen, and to not seek to massively disrupt the status quo. It’s all underground, under the surface, like small tremors that can’t be attributed to a particular earthquake fault line or dormant volcano.  Think of it, if you will, as undiscovered termites …


On Irish Democracy – Part 1, by Born Free

Ah yes, there’s a little Irish in me.  I had forgotten about my heritage until one of my offspring did a 23&Me genetic test and after looking at the test results asked “Who’s Irish?”  She is the only one in the family with tons of reddish blonde naturally curly hair paired with blue eyes. That question triggered memories, history, and I shared the information that would have been forgotten.  My father’s mother’s family hails from the hills of Tennessee, the Appalachians.  My father insisted that they were Scots-Irish and at one time he traced the American family tree back to …


Improving Heavy Clay Soil and Maximizing Potato Production, by Tunnel Rabbit

This video: How to Make Inexpensive Garden Container Mix: Organic Fertilizer, Lime, Peat Moss, Compost & Dirt shows us the proportions of the basic materials discussed that can be used to make an ideal soil, but it is only a starting point when working with clay.  Last year I was able to incorporate heavy clay as an unmeasured part, using similar methods demonstrated in the video.  The proportion used is unknown as it was my first attempt, and the goal was to produce as much usable soil with the least amount of manure. Ordinary topsoil was used in the video, …


My Recent Emigration to Israel, by Yorrie in Jerusalem

Some background: As a student during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and as a tourist, I’ve been in Israel for four years over the course of six decades. I made Aliya (migrated back to my ancestral homeland) a week ago. Aliya is the Hebrew word for “To go up.” I arrived just as missiles were fired towards Jerusalem. Israel’s two international airports subsequently closed (entirely or partially) due to incoming missiles and unpredictability of future missile attacks. As I’m writing this, I can hear sirens coming from the direction of the eastern part of the city. It has been that way for 60 out …


Scared to Health and Preparedness, by J.A.

This is my take on Surviving The World As We Know It (TWAWKI). After previously writing a brief article for SurvivalBlog, I found that I really enjoyed taking the time to sit down at a keyboard and bang away and put my scattered thoughts onto some semblance of organized digital ink. I found that I enjoyed it enough that after the first submission, I realized I wanted to write another article for submission. After pondering for a bit, I thought had a basic idea about what to write next, but I knew it was going to be deeply personal, and …


The Honeypot Survivalist, by Gnorizon

Surviving virtually any event largely comes down to resource availability, planning, groups and perhaps most critically thinking. Thinking is the one innate ability that separates humanity from the wild and, arguably, from other humans unable or unwilling to adjust to new events; history, particularly noted in war, is replete with such examples ranging from the macro level down to the individual. The ability to leverage thinking can compensate for a weakness in resource availability, planning and groups – such as cohesion of individuals in the group, its longevity and so on. The purpose of this article is to present information …


Growing Your Own Food in the Inland Northwest – Part 4, by D.F.

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Harvesting I have tried several contrivances for hand harvesting grain or lentils etc., but each time I have been disappointed. Inevitably I have resorted to pulling a clean plastic garbage can behind me while I manually grab the grain heads and jerk or strip them off and deposit them into the garbage can. Surprisingly this procedure has been “perfected” such that I can harvest about a bushel worth of wheat per day. A bushel of wheat weighs 60 lbs. Because wheat and dry legumes have about 1,500 calories per pound a person …


Growing Your Own Food in The Inland Northwest – Part 3, by D.F.

(Continued from Part 2.) Little marvel peas were the usual variety planted for shelling. They also had a bad year in 2020 for some unknown reason. Some of my dry field peas were picked while green and shelled to substitute for this bad year. They are a satisfactory backup to the garden varieties. Shelled peas can be stored frozen or dried. Rehydrating dried ones has been acceptable but is not yet perfected. Oregon sugar pod peas for eating the pods have been planted. They generally produce acceptably, but suffered this last year with the other garden peas. They taste great …


Growing Your Own Food in The Inland Northwest – Part 2, by D.F.

(Continued from Part 1.) What to grow I have tried quite a variety of plants, and have learned some that I like and others that I don’t. The Heavy Hitter Plants: Pinto beans appear to be the best bean variety for my situation. I tried black beans, grex, and navy beans. Routinely pinto bean plants look less robust than the others, but they surprise me with yields that are just as good; and they seem to get ripe and dry down for harvest sooner than the others. This is important if the fall rains are on time or perhaps slightly …


Growing Your Own Food in The Inland Northwest – Part 1, by D.F.

My Background I grew up on a family farm in the Midwest where at one time or another apple orchards, field crops, cows, pigs and chickens were raised. I assisted my parents in nearly all these endeavors and in the process drove several different farm machines. This experience caused me to feel significant confidence in my gardening skill. However, I subsequently realized that I really only learned how to do farm work as instructed by my parents rather than actually learning how to farm. I am surprised sometimes at things I know that others don’t, but at other times I …


Simple Photovoltaic Power, by A. DoItYourselfer

This article presents my photovoltaic power experiences to give fellow do-it-yourselfers an understanding of what it takes to use the sun for energy. I am a 69-year-old carpenter with experience in residential, commercial and industrial construction. I abhor relying on others for needs. So that is what drove me in the area of energy, especially stored energy. By “stored energy, I mean propane, solar battery systems, stored food, and so forth. I live in Arkansas which is considered a subtropical climate in late spring to early fall. The heat in summer coupled with humidity from the Gulf of Mexico is …


Review: Cambridge University Press KJV Large Print Bible, by The Novice

I have heard it said that preppers should stockpile beans, bullets, band-aids, and Bibles. Beans, bullets and band-aids are easy to understand: in a disaster, we may need something to eat, something to defend ourselves with, and something to provide for our own medical care. But why Bibles? In Mark 8:36, Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” The best stockpile of tools and supplies, even when well utilized in the most effective possible manner, cannot prevent someone from being eternally lost. In 2 Timothy 3:15, …