Category: G. O. O. D.

How to Survive the Cities During TEOTWAWKI, by Lara W.

Get out of the cities. Most would agree this is a key rule of survival during the end of the world as we know it.  After all, millions of people reside in cities around the globe. Supply store shelves can become bare in mere minutes, water can become rapidly contaminated by overwhelmed sewage systems, and riots can outnumber and overtake law enforcement. The urban environment also renders certain wilderness survival tactics unsafe, such as cooking over a fire. Cities are vulnerable to uncontrollable fires. They make prime nuclear targets. Disease spreads among city dwellers at an astounding rate. There are …


Practical Tips on a Cross-Country Move, by P.J.G.T.

We are moving from the East coast to the Northern Rocky Mountains, and here I sit in a Midwestern state at my cousin’s house waiting for a part for our car to be shipped in. So, I thought I’d take this opportunity to put down on paper the best answer I have come up with to a question I had before the move: How do we move our family across country with limited funds, lots of stored supplies and more than a handful of tools? My husband and I are walking a fine line to make this move the best …


Letter Re: The Thinning of The Horde by Matt B.

Dear Survivalbloggers: I just finished re-reading JWR’s novel “Patriots“. Anyone who has read it knows that in Chapter 21 a number was given on the percentage of the population that perished during the Crunch. This has allowed me to open my mind. There will undoubtedly be a Golden Horde, but as you will read, it will quickly and overtime diminish considerably.   This last semester I took a human geography course which I found especially relevant to the way that a ‘Horde’ would move. In the course I have learned that in a typical East Coast suburb, there are about …


How to Pack Storage Totes For Evacuation, by C.Y.

One way to pack emergency supplies is in plastic storage totes, which are available inexpensively at department stores. Many stores have 18 liter volume totes, between five and ten dollars per tote. They also have smaller sizes, which may be more convenient. The smaller sizes may be easier to pack in the car.) [JWR Adds: For strength, the opaque Rubbermaid brand totes are preferred over the more brittle transparent totes. I also recommend taking some detailed measurements and doing some test fitting of bins in your vehicle(s), for the most efficient packing arrangement.] There are two general categories of action …


Product Review: Mainstay Emergency Rations and Water by Michael Z. Williamson

It’s a good idea to have an emergency food supply in one’s bug out bag, but it needs to be something that doesn’t decay, leak or spoil, and has a good shelf life in possibly extreme conditions.  Enter the Mainstay rations.  They’re made by Survivor Industries and packed in what feels like a heavy mylar-lined foil, rated for five years, and can withstands temperatures of -40° F to 300°F (-40°C to 149°C).  They meet USCG and DoD standards for packaging.  They’re in convenient 400 calorie bars, each constituting a meal, which make management easy, and eliminate trying to break them …


Prepping With Limited Funds, by L. Burton

I am a beginning Prepper. I am broke.  This combination is presenting a lot of challenges that I am determined to overcome. When I started on this new stage in life I did what many people do, when starting something new, I began researching as much as I could on the subject.  The first layer of research came up with a wonderful array of web sites that were willing to sell me a years supply of food, pre-packaged and ready to go.  The problem was the price tag.  I could buy food or pay the rest of my bills. My …


Getting Home and Getting Away, by D.L.

My life has become a series of bags. I’ve written before about how ill-prepared my family and I were for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. Although we were very lucky, and to this day have experienced only minor inconveniences, we nonetheless dove head-first into something resembling prepping. Unfortunately, prepping with neither a plan nor a little forethought is a bit like diving head-first into a strange lake without first surveying the depth and the bottom. The best that can happen is nothing; the worst that can happen is permanent damage. Our attitude when we went shopping was …


Prepping From the Ground Up, by N.V.

As a newcomer to the survivalist game (and by newcomer, I mean that I haven’t planned for anything bad to happen in the future except for my daughter reaching dating age), I thought it would be interesting to detail how I came to be reading this web site at this point in my life and the steps I have taken so far as a “virgin” survivalist.   I became interested in it recently due to several factors. The first is I have always found literature regarding end of the world scenarios to be fascinating.  I have read everything from On the Beach …


Emergency Prep for Travelers, by O.P.

In March I was traveling on business when the earthquake/tsunami struck Japan.  My brother was in Japan at the time on business travel.  My brother finally made it home five days after the earthquake struck.  Meanwhile I was in Israel when the rockets from Gaza started up again, and a bombing occurred at the Jerusalem bus stop.  We both travel considerably throughout the world, and have often discussed preparations during travel for emergencies.  My brother is less concerned about preparations at home, but our experiences have convinced him over time on the need for backup options when away from home.  …


Aircraft and Aviation, Post-TEOTWAWKI, by G.R. in Texas

I read JWR’s books “Patriots“ and“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” with interest and have been thinking and acting on them since. In particular, I was struck by the concept of using aircraft post-TEOTWAWKI for various purposes as illustrated in Patriots. I’d like to submit the following for your review, and for posting on Survivalblog if you feel it worthy. Background  I’ve been a commercial pilot (not airline) for about six years and have amassed flight time in aircraft as light and simple as a Van’s RV-7 (experimental) up to Beechcraft King Air-sized airplanes in …


The Art of Getting Home, by Shattered

So you have successfully prepped for every possible SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation, your house is completely off grid, you’ve stockpiled enough chow to feed you and everyone you know for three full years and you have amassed a huge arsenal of assault weapons and ammunition that is sufficient to put even your toddler in tactical gear, body armor and small arms for the next ten years of sustained combat operations. Everything should be good to go right? So you’re sitting at work in your suit and tie and TEOTWAWKI just pops off, maybe it’s a rain of ICBMs hitting major …


Bug In, or Bug Out?, by H.C.

I am a double transplant recipient who is 50 years old and in fairly good health but with restrictions as to what I am physically able to do.  My household consist of myself, my wife, and our 8 year old son. I also have a grown daughter that lives three hours drive to the west but she is not a major factor in emergency plans. I don’t say this to be heartless or imply I love my daughter less but,  from my standpoint, she is now on the periphery of my planning as is any other family member who is …


An Urban Camouflage Get Home Bag, by K.S.

As I live and work in a small city, and do not have a survival retreat to bail out to, over the years I have been giving much thought into how I would get home should an EMP or CME strand me away from home. I have looked at others suggestions such as small backpacks or laptop cases. I have read the debates as to what to wear to blend in while making your way home. I have had a few get home bags (GHBs) that held the things I needed, but I felt that they would look out of …


Bug Out and Strategic Planning Aids Using Freeware and Open Source Software, by Josh M.

The following is intended to introduce some free computer resources to use for disaster planning. Topics covered are Bug Out Route planning, neighborhood  resource identification, and offline data back up. My background includes growing up in the Arizona desert. Living forty miles from town and two miles to the nearest neighbors encourages one to be self reliant. Later in life I moved to and still live in the Pacific Northwest. During most of this period I was in complacent consumer mode. After the birth of my two children I began to question my abilities to provide for my family in …


Two Letters Re: Bugging Out Via Boat

Dear Jim, I disagree with [SurvivalBlog Editor at Large] Mike Williamson’s opinion on boats as a bugging out survival alternative. With proper planning, thought and equipment selection; as well as the appropriate “ships stores”, and with all the knowledge necessary to any other solution to the problem, the right boat will allow you to avoid many of the perceived problems associated with a complete breakdown of society. It’s no easier or harder than any other subject, just different and less common. Just look at the volumes of material on your site, the problem is never solved and there is never …