Category: Contest

Building Hippie Earth Lodges, by Valerie

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Now I might be just a mild mannered, right-leaning, Christian grandma, but in my former life I was a hardcore, back-to-the-land, Rainbow Family hippie. There’s a bunch of us (once young people) who learned survival and community building skills in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and we suspected that someday we might need to be teaching these skills. The Rainbow Family name came from different native American visions of white people who would adopt Native American styles of life. (This was decades before the LBGTQ+++ crowd appropriated the “rainbow” and half of the English Alphabet.) For example the Hopi …


Small-Scale Hay Making, by Oregon Bill

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This is my simple experiment on small-time hay making.  Small fields of grass can be valuable even if they aren’t worth the effort to mow and bale.  We only have a few acres of pasture – enough for a few sheep or goats year-round or for a 2-year-old steer for three months.  With so little pasture, it doesn’t make sense to invest in a large mower or bailer, and we wanted to see how feasible it would be to and put up the hay by hand.  The amount of hay is worth gathering, and the cutting improves the health of …


Fighting My Flinch: The Mantis X10, by The Novice

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I tend to flinch while firing handguns. I recently tested the Mantis X10 Elite Shooting Performance System to see if it would help. My shooting improved significantly. Here is my story. The Offer On October 22 and 23, 2019, SurvivalBlog was kind enough to publish my article My Continued Handgun Search. In that article I wrote about my search for the ideal handgun for me, and mentioned my struggles with trigger flinch while firing handguns in self-defense calibers. The next day, Mr. Rawles forwarded an e-mail he’d just received from Mantis to test and evaluate their X10 Elite Shooting Performance …


Infectious Disease Protection, by S.A.D.

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In this article I will describe how to protect yourself and your family from corona virus and other infectious diseases. The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus is causing widespread concern and response by public and health authorities. In this article we will cover the following: What is coronavirus? How does it spread? Official response and recommendations for protection Practical, common sense recommendations for individual protection. What is coronavirus? The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a member of Coronoviridae family. There are currently 16 full genome sequences of the virus published[1]. It is an enveloped RNA virus, one of the largest …


Thoughts About Gold, by Todd from Florida

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This is going to be a different type of article. Different in that this gedankenexperiment will undoubtedly provoke many readers who will want to disagree with me- and that is fine!  In fact, that is sort of what I am wanting. I am looking for others to explain to me what I am missing, and therefore make me a more informed, prepared, and hopefully secure individual. This article you are reading is going to be about gold. Specifically, how I just cannot agree with all the hype (my word choice perhaps not the best) and advertisements you hear on the …


Beyond Cooper’s Four Rules by L.K.R.

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Most people know the four rules of firearm safety popularized by Colonel Jeff Cooper: 1.) All guns are always loaded. This one has a double meaning – (1) always check an “unloaded” firearm yourself and (2) once you’ve checked, still follow all the other rules as though it was loaded. 2.) Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. This doesn’t mean you’re willing to destroy the wall of your home – just that it’s not catastrophic like pointing at a family member. 3.) Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target. …


Lifeboats Versus Yachts, by Survivormann99

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Most readers of this fine blog are well beyond the preparedness novice level. People in this more advanced category often forget their mindset, questions, and concerns when they first became involved in the field of preparedness. This is the case whether the prepping neophyte is preparing for a few days of inconvenience resulting from an ice storm, or a long-term survival ordeal as a result of a massive attack on the national power grid. It is also the case that most articles submitted to web sites across the internet are intended for those readers who are far ahead in their …


Post-Exposure Prevention (PEP) Protocol, by JJ in MI

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Everyone already knows about the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak so I’ll skip an overview of what it is and why it’s dangerous. No doubt you’re also aware of the CDC’s recommended preventative measures of hand hygiene and avoiding close contact with those who may be infected. You may have also acquired items such as masks, goggles, or gloves (if you didn’t have enough already) as additional preventative measures, and those can help limit exposure when used properly, but they do not provide 100% protection either. You may also have considered social distancing, or even self-quarantine, but that’s not always possible – …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Pest Control – Part 2, by J.S.R.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) and Lyme disease are two bacterial tick-borne infections of particular concern. The ticks that transmit both of these diseases are found all over the United States. The CDC states that RMSF is most common in Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. After the three- to twelve-day incubation period, the early signs (days 1-4) of RMSF include a high fever, severe headache, gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, anorexia), and edema around the eyes and on the back of the hands. Two to five days after symptoms begin, the …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Pest Control – Part 1, by J.S.R.

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Historically, guns and knives make barely a blip on the charts in their ability to kill when compared to mosquitoes, lice, and ticks. These killers trigger no motion sensors or metal detectors. They don’t need night vision goggles. They spare no one and are entirely indiscriminate in their attacks. It was true historically, and it is true now. It will continue to be true in the future. Focusing too much attention on Hollywood’s distracting scripts for doomsday scenarios where firearms do all the killing prevents people from preparing for the far more likely assassins that will find, wherever you bug …


The Appalachian Redoubt, by Bethany

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Encompassing parts of 13 states from southern New York down through the northern region of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, the Appalachian mountain range offers a Redoubt alternative for those east of the Mississippi. More than just a geographical designation, Appalachia offers some unique cultural aspects that contribute to its potential viability for preparedness living. The “Appalachian Redoubt” has been referenced various survival-minded authors, who mainly focused on the Cumberland Plateau region and the more rugged mountains of North Carolina, primarily geared towards a “bug out” /retreat scenario. I’m going to address the area that I live in — Southeastern Ohio/Eastern …


On Respirators and Viruses, by Marius

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I want to start off by saying that some of what I will discuss here is based on simple facts, and some is based on nothing but my own meandering experience. I am not a doctor, and nothing I say here should in any way be construed as medical advice. This article does not in any way constitute respirator training. With the outbreak of the unknown virus overseas, I have seen a lot of questions about respirators. I hope to answer some of those questions here, just please be patient if I cover things too poorly. Most people are asking …


Building the Castle – Part 2, by Jake R.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Metal Siding Metal siding is common on a lot of the newer barndominiums and shop houses. Essentially, it’s the same as the metal roofing used on the building. These are becoming more and more popular and have their advantages and disadvantages. Pros Durability – This type of metal is typically durable and has good longevity. To top that off, it’s also easy to maintain. Easy Installation – The installation of this is also straight forward which reduces the labor costs to have it installed. Fire Safety – This material is also good …


Building the Castle – Part 1, by Jake R.

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This two-part article describes some TEOTWAWKI considerations for home building and long-term maintenance. — Have you ever daydreamed about building the perfect home for the end of the world as we know it? If you’re like me, you may have caught yourself daydreaming about various configurations and options you would like to have on your home to help you survive with better security and better comfort. I would like to say that there is a perfect home configuration out there for everyone but that just wouldn’t be true. When building a home, you must take multiple things into consideration including …


Sensible Long Range Cartridges, by Tunnel Rabbit

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I’m writing this article to follow up on a couple of comment threads that I’ve seen at SurvivalBlog: To have a substantive long range accuracy advantage over .308 Winchester, requires 6.5 Creedmoor to use the 140 grain bullets that have accurate loads that are more often then not, are typically at velocities of between 2,600 to 2,700 fps.  The low recoil advantage should not be underestimated. However this advantage is easily offset by the much longer barrel life of barrels chamber in .308 calibers.  However, exceed 2,900 fps (feet per second) in .308 diameter barrels, and  barrel wear is greatly …