Category: G. O. O. D.

Vehicle Preparation – Part 1, by Traveling Mechanic

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Like what seems to be most of SurvivalBlog readers, I am stuck near a city by the need to work. I have an exit plan (a.k.a. Bug-Out plan) that we are following. I decided to share some aspects of our actions. If you do the suggested vehicle maintenance and repair work then this will assist you to avoid being broken down along the road during your Bug Out exit. These checks and corrections will also benefit by eliminating typical defects that arise in normal use. The beginning part of each check is an inspection of your Bug-Out Vehicle (BOV). I …


How to Teach Situational Awareness to Children – Part 4, by T.Y.

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(Continued from Part 3.) Game 4: Bug Out! Summary Teach the concept of evacuation and what is important to bring by simulating an event where their toys must leave home. Concepts Taught Strategic evacuation. Materials required You will need a favorite character toy, a bag, and some basic supplies for the toy to have such as clothes, food, water, blanket, etc. A doll with doll items would be perfect, but you can also use a superhero action figure with some play food, or even a stuffed dog with pretend dog food and bowls. Before the Activity Choose one of your …


Relocation In Catastrophes – Part 2, by J. of T.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) PREPPING WITH A DOZEN OR MORE PLANS (PLAN A, B, C….. C1, C2, Z1) Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. This precept works in business, in missions, and in prepping. I have at least a dozen plans! I also have at least that many meeting points, encase of emergency events (tornadoes, earthquakes or civil unrest). I have numerous family defense features and I’m adding new ones every month. For example, if your electronic intrusion detection and firearms fail you (and sometimes they can, in extreme weather), you’ll want a loyal …


Relocation In Catastrophes – Part 1, by J. of T.

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  The author has a Christian worldview, and many years of experience as a missionary. He applies these to his family preparedness. Whether you are a Christian or not, you will probably find this article useful. — Lot was Abraham’s brother. He is mentioned in Genesis 14-19. He also receives honorable mentions in the New Testament. The Holy Scriptures don’t even hide his failures or his sin. I love God’s Word because its is brutally honest. It’s like having a best friend tell you the good and the bad about our life. Lot’s life is an example of …


Bug-In/Bug-Out Transportation, by WVA

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In this articles, I will discuss some considerations for selecting and preparing your Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF) vehicle. Nearly all post-disaster/prepper/survivalist/etc. novels follow one of two plot lines. The first, our heroes are caught away from home and forced to travel on foot when their vehicle ceases to operate due lack of fuel, mechanical failure, being stolen, etc. The second, our heroes are at/near home and are bugging-in, using the vehicle for short trips until bugging-out when the situation deteriorates. Either of these plot lines show how vital reliable and capable motorized transportation will be when the worse happens. …


The Ultimate Prepper Vehicle, by Spotlight

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I will admit that the title that I chose for this article was mostly tongue-in-cheek. There is obviously, no ultimate prepper vehicle. What works for me may not work for you. However, I do want to take the opportunity to make the case for what I think is an excellent prepper vehicle: the minivan. Yes, the lowly, oft-mocked minivan. The “Loser Cruiser” as one of my buddies put it when I drove up one day. As I sensed he was attacking my manhood I responded that if he was getting his manhood from the car he drove, he had much …


Prepping at the Dollar Store, by Ani

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Editor’s Note: Coincidentally, I received two very similar articles from readers in two states, in the same month. But because they have different perspectives, I’ve decided to post both of them. (The other one was posted yesterday.) — With a lot of attention being paid in the past few weeks to the spread of the novel coronavirus in China and the potential but still unknown ramifications for both the health and economy of other countries. preparedness has been getting some attention. While many of us who have been avidly following the news on this virus are experienced preppers, there are …


A Dollar Store Prepping Expedition, by T. Lee

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Editor’s Note: Coincidentally, I received two very similar articles about dollar store shopping from writers in two states in the same week. But because they have different perspectives, I’ve decided to post both of them. The other one will be posted tomorrow. — I’m here visiting our oldest son in New York City, always an eye opening experience. After church, several of his friends have asked how to get started on building an everyday carry (EDC) bag after seeing our day bags. However, after seeing their respective apartments, we decided to start more basic (understanding we are teaching a few …


My One Month TEOTWAWKI Road Test – Part 2, by Maui Dan

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(Continued for Part 1. This concludes the article.) I was consistent with daily hikes using them for recon practice, making maps, taking notes of locations and observing any nearby people. Judging who I thought may be friends or foes. I did take note of two males in their 20’s who appeared fairly intoxicated early in the afternoon. I hiked for the benefits of physical exercise and enjoyed the quite beauty of the land. There were several memorable hikes. The day time temperatures were now in the upper 80’s. I wore Timberline hiking boots and stripped down to shorts. Finally found …


My One Month TEOTWAWKI Road Test – Part 1, by Maui Dan

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Backround: I’m a country boy who grew up in the farm land of Western Pennsylvania. I lived in the Amish region, observing their off-grid way of life. I was taught to take care of our animals, and that they would take care of us. Nearly everyone learned to hunt and had a knowledge of basic outdoor skills. I was a Boy Scout and learned “Be prepared.” I was a multi sport athlete in high school and  college where I made life-long friends. I have a career in physical therapy spanning 38 years, and achieved a 4th degree black belt. I’ve …


Planning Your Escape – Part 4, by JMD

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(Continued from Part 3.) Some Kit In my previous article I talked quite a bit about the kit I take on the road, but there are a few items that are a lot more relevant to a long Return To Base (RTB) journey that I’d like to focus on. Keep in mind that if you’re flying you’ll be a lot more limited in what you can take, and I’m not recommending that you’ll want or need everything on this list – do your route planning and figure out what makes the most sense for your plans. If you can’t bring …


Build the Plan vs. Test the Plan – Part 4, by T.R.

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(Continued from Part 3.) Later that morning/early afternoon, we sat down at the kitchen table (having brewed a pot of coffee on the spare camp stove from the basement according to our “A” plan) and talked through this. We needed a balance of water, fuel, gear/shelter, food and safety/security. Optimizing the mix of these five items (plus cash and valuables) and optimizing how to pack them efficiently with some degree of access to the right items in what order took significantly longer than either of us expected when a filter criteria of “not coming back” was inserted vs “we are …


Build the Plan vs. Test the Plan – Part 3, by T.R.

(Continued from Part 2.) Some background: I still work almost full time, but portions of the year are full throttle 60+ hour weeks and other blocks are much lighter, with my husband retired from the military. We wanted a vacation in terms of scenery and wildlife and we wanted to test our plans across a number of elements. To appropriately field test our plans with a degree of stress testing that would replicate a certain amount of tension present in real threat condition whilst isolating certain elements one at a time to calibrate parts of our plan in a systematic …


Build the Plan vs. Test the Plan – Part 2, by T.R.

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(Continued From Part 1.) During 2018, I made a dot chart counting how many days fit into each category A, B, C and D in terms of readiness and then converted the “dots” into a percentage of time for the year. As a corollary, if things are leaning environmentally towards TEOTWAWKI, then we would already be limiting our “D” types of trips away from home and/or starting to pursue our exit via our “B” plan scenario. If things look particularly grim but quasi-temporary, then we would limit our “C” scenarios to avoid leaving home for long blocks of time and …


Build the Plan vs. Test the Plan – Part 1, by T.R.

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(Editor’s Note: This Part 1 of a five-part article series.) My goal in this article is to detail how to “build the plan” versus “test the plan” for bugout, while having fun. We regularly read SurvivalBlog and enjoy it immensely. We’ve also read and studied a lot of great books including Lights Out and Patriots. However, a few years ago we realized our learning curve was too slow for the fast-moving risk profile of a civil society becoming more frazzled (coupled with having moved to a hurricane-prone state after my husband’s retirement). We brainstormed how to compress the time required …