Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter: Rocket Stove & Slow Cooking

Mr. Rawles, SurvivalBlog is one of our daily Internet staples. My family has gleaned far too much from the site to ignore. Today’s article on rocket stoves and a reader’s submission touting the benefits of a slow cooker were meant to go together, maybe even Heaven sent. We have a slow cooker, and we also have a rocket stove. However, in a hunker down crisis the slow cooker becomes almost useless without using an alternate AC source. But the rocket stove, grid down, becomes a wonderful item to have in your quiver of preps. It excels in heating items quickly …


Why You Need a Rocket Stove And How To Build Three Types- Part 1, by Charles Fockaert

It finally happened. You knew it would. It took longer than you expected, but the Schumer hits the blades scenario you knew was coming is here. It is now “Your. New. Reality”. To survive, you are going to have to cook food and heat water daily, for yourself, for your family, and perhaps for your friends but maybe without electricity, propane, or natural gas. All you have available for fuel is wood. Your New Reality The Federal Reserve Note, a fiat currency created out of thin air by the multiple trillions over the last 100 years, has been rejected finally …


Sarah Latimer: Unrealized Expectations – Part 2

In continuing with the idea of not relying upon others for the “sweet” wants and needs we have, here are a few more ideas that you can provide for yourself (and feel quite good about your independence in doing so!): Fresh and Dried Fruits and Vegetables– Want organic, highly nutritious fresh or dried fruits and vegetables year around, economically? Plant fruit trees and bushes and grow a garden as well as consider using a greenhouse for winter produce. Then, can, freeze, dehydrate, and/or freeze dry your excess produce for later seasonal use. We are still enjoying freeze-dried cubed tomatoes from …


Community Risk Mitigation, by T.P.

I hate it when I see statements on prepping site that make assumptions of our fellow citizens that are overly broad and frequently demeaning. You know the things Iā€™m talking about. ā€œThey assume the government will save them.ā€ ā€œSheeple.ā€ ā€œThey refuse to prepare because of their narrow mindedness.ā€ There is certainly a small subset of people who fit that mold. Most however are of the ā€œignorance is blissā€ variety. They simply havenā€™t woken up to the risk. Prepping is simply a form of risk mitigation. Itā€™s insurance. When my family woke up to the risk, we didnā€™t suddenly realize the …


Letter Re: Low-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers

Dear Editor, Regarding the article ā€œLow-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers, By T.Z.”, there are a few points of this article that should be clarified. The low-carb diet can be used to great effect, however you need to be aware that you can overdue it and cause yourself harm. Symptoms of harmful ketosis are thirstiness, feeling tired, peeing a lot, feeling sick to your stomach, belly pain, throwing up, dry or flushed skin, trouble breathing, confusion, and fruity smelling breath.  The main benefit of the ketosis diet is the lack of hunger your body feels when on the diet, making …


Letter Re: A Lesson from Fasting for Preparedness

Dear Editor: I enjoyed the post by J.C. regarding Fasting for Preparedness. It was well written with lots of info for those who may wish to explore further. I am a 55 year old male. I am 6’3″ and weigh 190 lbs. I’ve been blessed with a strong Christian upbringing and was familiar with the concept of fasting for spiritual reasons most of my life. The Bible is chock full of fasting references, from short duration to supernatural fasts such as Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 4. So back in the 1990s when I began fasting, it was for spiritual …


A Lesson from Fasting for Preparedness, by J.C.

First off, let me tell you a little bit about myself and experiences. I am a thirty-four years old, six foot tall, and an active male who enjoys long distance trail running, running mountains, and competing in mud obstacle races and triathlons. I have been married fourteen years and have two pre-teen sons. I currently work out of town as a carpenter and commute three hours each day and work ten-hour days five and sometimes six days a week. During the warmer months, I train nearly every day, mostly running on stairs, hills, trails. During the winter, I am running …


Letter: T.Z. Answers Some Questions on Paleo Prepping

HJL, As to getting rid of accumulations of prepper storage carbs, find some livestock that naturally eats such things. Maybe a local beekeeper could use the sugar over winter. Maybe some chickens can turn it into good eggs or meat. As to storage, I already mentioned good, organic vitamin and mineral supplements and protein powder, which you can put in bug-out bags. If I have fat on me, I’ll be burning that for a while as I’m bugging out or assessing the local area for wild food, barter, or what I’ve stored. Since I’m not hungry all the time, I …


Letter Re: Prepping for a Paleo Diet

Hugh, TZ’s article on the Paleo diet vs. the more usual heavy-on-carb diet that preppers typically prep for was exciting for me to read because it addressed many of the issues my husband and I are dealing with. We’ve been formally prepping for the past six years, storing up wheat, rice, beans, etc. Then two years ago we found a great doctor, a Functional Medicine Doctor, who emphasizes the health model vs. the pathology model. He started with extensive blood tests, then based on the results starts you off on a series of supplements and a strict non-carb diet. We’re …


How to Use Old Cooking Oil: The Floating Wick

A few months ago, one of my consulting clients mentioned that she had over-stocked her supply of vegetable oil. She had also neglected to store it in her freezer, to extend its storage life. The result after four years was 10 quarts of corn oil and two quarts of olive oil that had gone rancid. She asked if there was anything she could do with the oil. (She bemoaned the fact that that olive oil was particularly expensive.) My reply: Buy some floating wicks, and burn up that oil as a source of light and heat, during power failures. Floating …


Letter Re: Making a Final Run

Dear Hugh, In regards to the final run concept, I have to add my contrarian view and say, don’t do it! I have witnessed first hand the competitive spirit of people at a Walmart prior to a weakened hurricane making landfall. It made Black Friday look calm. Any perceived event that would be seen as significant enough for the general population to panic and flock to stores will be extremely dangerous. Why risk physical danger to the “runner”, damage to that person’s vehicle, exposure to any illness being carried by members of the general population, (which could be the reason …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Thank you so much for what you’re doing here. I don’t understand people who say they want to prep but won’t put this website on their daily reading list. In reference to Making a Last Run, at first I was appalled that any prepper would go to the store to stock up on even more food at the last minute. At the time I thought, “Why take away from those who didn’t prepare in advance? Let them get what they can. We already have enough.” Then I read the letter stating that with a 10-year larder it wasn’t necessary for …


Low-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers, by T.Z.

I wouldn’t have much to eat in “What’s for Dinner”, so I’m going to write up my own personal paleo/primal low-carb approach to nutrition, especially as it applies to prepping. The mountain men, hunters, and others rarely had sugar and flour and were healthier. I’m not as active as them, but I’m trying to eat like them. Micro and Macro Nutrients– What Your Body Really Needs The first thing to do is separate nutrients from calories. You need nutrients– vitamins, minerals, protein, and a few other things to keep things running. These, like oil and radiator fluid, are things you …


Letter Re: Making the Last Run

Hugh, One thing I didn’t notice in his post was learning your store layouts. Most stores are pretty much laid out the same way, but they do on occasion move things around. Notice where everything is and make sure you pay attention each time you visit your local grocery store. Bread and milk are not normally placed together, thus you have to go through the whole store to get both. Milk is usually at the back of the store or at least very near the back, so that you have to go all the way through to get a gallon. …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Hugh, I just wanted to add a tidbit to the article of making a last run when the SHTF by GMJ. Though this was a well written and well thought-out article and most obvious a great tool for the newbie to the art of survival, for me and my family we will not be in need of one last run. Because of all of us being a great student of this business we have benefited greatly from the steps outlined by our fellow survivalists. So for the new comer to this important scene of preparedness, you might want to pay …