Category: Health and Fitness

Practical Preparedness Suggestions – Part 1, by R.J.

This article is a compilation of practical preparedness tips, insights, and lessons learned. It starts with what I call inner resources, or mindset and moves toward the hard, practical items. I offer a rather broad field of experience, including military/industrial electrical work, Christian hospitality in organized retreat settings, hospice/end of life care, and some alternative power experience. I’ll close the article with a Christian exhortation as we head into this Christmas season. Mindset You can break the preparedness mindset down into: homesteading, military, social, domestic categories, etc; or synthesize it into one grand holistic prepster/survivalist perspective. Just don’t flunk the …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — Version 1.0 of Elon Musk’s AI-generated Grokipedia has gone live. At first glance, it appears to be a far less biased alternative to Wikipedia. The mainstream/statist Le Monde of France had this report:  ‘With Grokipedia, AI will be trained using the world as Elon Musk describes, perceives and desires it. JWR’s Comments:  Without …


Prayer as Medicine, by Jennifer Rader

Some of the best things in life are free. The same holds true in medicine. A caring heart, a listening ear, a good laugh—these don’t cost a dime, and most everyone agrees that they work. Prayer, on the other hand, gets a bit controversial. While a significant number of studies with prayer and healing have been conducted, the results have been somewhat mixed. This can be attributed to the way the study was designed, how prayer is defined and practiced, and to the placebo effect.


The “Come as You Are” Collapse–Have the Right Tools and Skills

Introductory Note From JWR: This article is an update and small expansion to a succinct post that I made back in February, 2008. When the Second World War broke out in September, 1939, the United States had nearly two full years to ramp up military training and production before decisively confronting the Axis powers. In the mid-1970s, looking at the recent experience of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Pentagon’s strategic planners came to the realization that the next major war that the US military would wage would not be like the Second World War. There would not be the luxury …


A Covid Experience: Three Years Later, by Tom In Alaska 

It was October 31, 2021. I was living in Arizona with a full season of cool weather hiking on the calendar. The first (and last) walk of the season was delightful. The temperatures were on the warm side and a steady breeze was kicking up the omnipresent Arizona dust. I arrived home in the evening filled with the satisfaction of a good first day but told my wife that my throat was slightly sore from the “blowing dust” Waking on November 1st with a 102 F fever was an omen. The next day I immediately drove to the local Urgent …


Your Last Day, by SaraSue

On Monday I seemed extra tired while trying to get morning chores done, and it took longer than normal.  I struggled milking the cow and carrying the milk in.  I felt dizzy, a little short of breath, like walking underwater.  I tried to shake it off, but it wasn’t shakin’.  After morning farm chores were slowly finished, I sat in a lounge chair and put my feet up.  I pretty much stayed there all day.  At least, until, it was time for afternoon chores, and I didn’t milk the cow.  Just couldn’t do it.  Went to bed early and slept …


Chelation After a Nuclear Event, by S.F.

Editor’s Introductory Note: For those who are not familiar, there is this general background, from the Infogalactic Wiki: Chelation therapy is a medical procedure that involves the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. Chelation therapy has a long history of use in clinical toxicology[1] and remains in use for some very specific medical treatments, although it is administered under very careful medical supervision due to various inherent risks.[2] Chelation therapy must be administered with care as it has a number of possible side effects, including death.[3] In response to increasing use of chelation therapy as …


Year 3: An Honest Look at the Farm – Part 2, by SaraSue

(Continued from Part 1.) Gardens and Jungles In my Year 2 update that was posted in SurvivalBlog last summer, I shared that I had nothing but garden failures.  There are several problems I had to solve with gardening where I live.  First, I had to turn a lawn into a garden.  Second, plowing only brought up dormant seeds that I jokingly say are from all the surrounding counties.  Third, there is no water piped out to the garden and I didn’t have enough water due to the previous well situation.  Fourth, we had a semi-drought in year 2.  Fifth, the …


Rethinking Food Storage – Part 2, by Anita Bailey

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Although these genetic modifications are generally considered safe to consume, there is scant long-term research on the effects on human digestive function or other bodily processes. We just don’t know. People who consume them may be unwitting testers. However, there are indications that some herbicides remain in grains, even those labeled as organic. One of these that is increasingly concerning, is glyphosate which has been linked to non-Hodgkins-lymphoma, and other inflammation-related diseases and disorders such as diabetes, gut disorders, and autism. This chemical is used to kill unwanted grasses and other weeds …


Rethinking Food Storage – Part 1, by Anita Bailey

Most of us who read SurvivalBlog likely have some food – maybe a lot of food – stored up for the proverbial “rainy day” or other possible situations. Storing food has increased in public interest over the last few years. An internet search on “food storage” produces 1.6 billion hits at this writing, averaging about 1 search per minute all day and night. That’s a lot of interest. It’s not slowing down, either. I’ve been storing up for well over five decades. When I started, I lived in a major city. Now I’m rural on a farm. I continue the …


Two-Ingredient Hygiene Treatments, by Mrs. Alaska

Have you ever wondered how people cleaned themselves for centuries without access to a thousand different commercial soaps, shampoos, and lotions? Several answers lie in the treatments below, which largely utilize kitchen staples, and, in many cases, only one or two ingredients. Ancient Romans, for example, slathered olive oil on their skin and then scraped it off with a dull blade (called a strigil), removing dead skin cells and moisturizing the skin at the same time. Contemporary friends in India swear to the efficacy of coconut oil for their luxuriant hair and lovely skin. A clay tablet, from about 2200 …


Cowboy Hot Tubs, by A Bielski Brother

Hygiene and clean clothes.  When you first hear those words, they sound boring.  Hygiene and clean clothes are not sexy like, “30-round magazines”, “Bug-Out-Bags”, or LP/OPs (listening posts/observation posts).  They are not sexy. They are something more.  They are essential. When, not if, the grid goes down, you will want to wash your clothes and stay clean.  I spent three years in Afghanistan and two years in Iraq as a military contractor.  Having hot showers was a mini-vacation for us.  When you’re outside in the elements continuously, it wears you down.  When the grid goes down, the elderly and young …


Making Wine At Home – Part 1, by H.F.K.

People have been making wine for almost as long as there have been people. In the Bible, we’re told that Noah, after disembarking from the ark, “was the first to plant a vineyard.” (Genesis 9:21) This article will give you some how-tos, whats, and whsy on making wine at home, as well as a brief description of how I got into it. How I got started on making wine at home The first time a friend of mine, Pastor B., visited our home, he gave us a bottle of homemade apricot wine. It was incredible. I picked his brain on …


The Bible, For Preppers, by K.D.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Bible for preppers, a comprehensive book that contains useful information that we really need to know? Well, there is such a book! And it is The Bible. For those of you who are neither Jewish nor Christian, I ask you to look at the following examples that I’ve compiled, and decide for yourself whether the Bible is a worthwhile source of information, regardless of who you think wrote it. Aspects of Biblical wisdom are often hidden from the readers. We’re told to do something, or not to do something, but we’re rarely …


Overcoming Starvation — Food for Thought, by M.M.

Introductory Disclaimer: What follows are my personal experiences and observations.  This information is for educational purposes only.  Although I am a physician, I am not your physician.  I am not providing you medical advice.  I am not a dietitian or nutritionist.  Before you consider taking any course of action similar to mine, consult with your physician. — Recently I completed a fast lasting 11 days, during which time I consumed zero calories.  I drank water and black coffee but took in no nourishment.  Notably, I never experienced hunger or a significant decline in function.  I lost approximately 25 pounds during …