Category: Health and Fitness

Letter Re: Sources of Vitamin C in a Post-SHTF World, by Okie Ranch Wife

HJL, Regarding R.T. in Georgia’s advice of using sassafras root tea to counter “bad water”, sassafras tea won’t halt a bacterial infection, and it isn’t safe to consume as tea, regardless. From Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: “Because there is no evidence of effectiveness, sassafras should not be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, infections, or any other medical condition. “Sassafras is classified as a carcinogenic substance. It caused liver cancer in laboratory animals; the risk of developing cancer increases with the amount consumed and duration of consumption. “Sassafras was once used as flavoring agent in root beer and candies, but …


Letter: Grain Milling Muscles

JWR and HJL: We bought a grain mill—the Wonder Mill Junior to be specific–from one of your advertisers and we are pleased with the purchase. However, I must warn my fellow readers that if you have bought one of these and just threw it on the shelf alongside your the stack of #10 cans and food storage buckets, then you made a mistake. Unless you regularly start your Ford Model T with a hand crank, then you are in for a morning-after surprise. This is another example of the importance of “practicing your preps.” A seven year old cannot turn …


Letter: What You “Learn” Can Kill You

HJL, My name is Mark and I’m a Prepper. Sounds faintly like how you’d introduce yourself at an AA meeting, but even though I’m afflicted by the Prepping bug it’s not a disease like most of America would want you to think. Most of my family years ago were farmers and poor backwoods people. So prepping was the only way to survive the harsh winters after the short growing seasons. I fell into it easily being raised to hunt and raise a garden. When the last administration was installed in 2009 I saw what was happening. And being former military, …


Letter Re: Sources of Vitamin C in a Post-SHTF World, by Okie Ranch Wife

Sir: There are a couple of sources of Vitamin C that are not common knowledge. If you are an oldtimer like me you may remember the name Euell Gibbons, the spokesman for Grape Nuts cereal. His catchphrase was “Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible.” He wasn’t kidding. The inner bark of a pine tree is a great source of Vitamin C, Thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin A and other beneficial properties like Protein and fat, yes fat one of the things everyone needs to survive. How to get it? Take a branch the size of your little finger (this …


Sources of Vitamin C in a Post-SHTF World, by Okie Ranch Wife

Let me start by saying that I am not a medical doctor or a nutritionist. Any suggestions in this article are based upon my personal experience and should not be considered medical advice. There will be many health concerns for people in a post-SHTF world, for people who have prepared as well as those who have not, including but not limited to the lack of life-sustaining prescription medicines, limited food, reduced caloric intake, and limited access to life-saving antibiotics. There will be a resurgence of diseases, such as cholera and TB to name just two, that were eradicated in the …


Letter Re: Good Use of Your Dog’s Waste

SurvivalBlog, We live on 1.3 acres in a semi-rural area of Colorado. We have one dog, and used to pick up after her and put it in the trash for collection. When we stopped mowing our large deer-fenced front yard that has a number of small- to medium-sized evergreen and shade trees, it occurred to me to stop throwing this high nitrogen fertilizer away and stop buying fertilizer. I collect the stuff from the small, fenced and mowed back yard in a bucket with the usual scooper and distribute it in the drip line of the trees. The result has …


Hypothermia: Prevention, Identification, and Treatment, by Stonecold

Hypothermia is a condition wherein the core body temperature drops from its “normal” temperature, with normal being between 97.7 and 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Some symptoms, in order of increasing seriousness, are cold extremities, mild shivering, mental confusion, muscle incoordination, severe shivering and shaking, combativeness, paradoxical undressing, and cardiac arrest. A drop in core body temperature of as little as three degrees can result in these symptoms and eventually lead to death. Hypothermia should be a concern with anyone who lives in Western Washington, given our wet, temperate climate. Its prevention, identification, and treatment must be in the forefront of our …


Letter Re: A Year’s Supply of Food on a Budget by J. H.

HJL I’d throw in that the rice and beans need to be stored in a ratio of 10 lbs. of rice to 6 lbs. of beans. Together, in that proportion, they provide the essential proteins according to smart people with credentials to whom I am related. Fats and oils are important as PW asserts. Check out Piteba Nut and Seed Oil Expeller Oil press. It is important that you not just buy it and put it on the shelf. There are expendable parts, and the instructions include direction to a video to figure it out. Also, I understand it takes …


Letter Re: West Nile Virus

Hi Hugh, I recently heard from two people (one who stayed in Florida, the other in Texas) that restaurants were hanging zip-loc bags with water in them around their outside dining areas. Apparently, that repels mosquitoes and flies. Although no one could provide an explanation as to why it worked, I have a theory that may explain it. When sunlight passes through water droplets in the air (when it’s raining) the light bends as it passes through the surface of the water droplet. The different wavelengths of light bend at different angles. A second bending occurs when the light exits …


Thoughts on Pre-Event Healthcare Preparations – Part 3 , by B.E.

Vaccinations [Editor’s note: This article takes a pro-vaccination stance. It is SurvivalBlog’s position that every parent has the right to raise their children as they see fit and that mandatory vaccination programs are an overreach of governmental authority. Aside from the discussion of whether the vaccinations cause reactions of one sort or another, there is an ethical issue on what materials are used in the production of vaccines. SurvivalBlog will never advocate using vaccines that are manufactured with aborted fetal tissue and/or toxic ingredients.] Now back to my initial story about having to get a vaccine due to a lack …


Letter Re: West Nile Virus

Hugh, In August of 1999, my father, then just 67, fell ill at 0240 while my family was staying with he and my mother on a vacation. I took him to the local hospital; his pain was debilitating, localized just above the pelvic region. After initial medical triage, he was transferred to the larger city hospital, where his condition worsened. He fought fever of unknown origin, underwent exploratory surgery, became confused and comatose, and after a total of 30 days from start to finish, he passed away. As the hospital bore some degree of suspected negligence (they incorrectly inserted his …


Thoughts on Pre-Event Healthcare Preparations – Part 2 , by B.E.

Waste Elimination When confronting sanitation issues, the basics are still the most important. Practicing good personal hygiene, such as bathing regularly and washing hands before handling food, eating, and after using the toilet, will prevent the spread of pathogens. However, sanitation can be over done. All these antimicrobial soaps and hand sanitizers are probably contributing to the emergence of MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus) and other resistant bacteria that are so prevalent in the news now days. I don’t think the importance of waste elimination can be overemphasized, despite it not being a very palatable subject (no pun intended). In …


Thoughts on Pre-Event Healthcare Preparations – Part 1 , by B.E.

…”An ounce of prevention is worth….” I am fairly new to this blog but have found it immensely interesting and useful, and it prompted me to write down some thoughts I have been having for years. As a physician, I am particularly interested in how healthcare and basic needs will survive in a post-apocalyptic world. If this article is redundant for long-time users of the site, I apologize. On June 5, 1976, at around 12:00 p.m., a catastrophic failure of an earth-built dam in southeastern Idaho occurred, resulting in the release of 250,000 acre-feet of water on an unsuspecting Snake …


Are You Fit to Survive, by S.D.

Disclaimer: This article is presented as an example only. The author is not a licensed medical practitioner and is unable to diagnose any medical condition or give recommendations on treatment of any medical condition. There is inherent risk involved with any physical training, and if you undertake anything mentioned in this article it is at your own risk. Neither the author nor SurvivalBlog.com are responsible for any injury that occurs while exercising under the guidance of this article. Please consult with a physician before beginning any exercise program. About the author: I’ve spent the largest part of a decade in …


Do What You Are Good At, But Work At What You Aren’t, by R.D.

Fear and prudence I’ve never thought of myself as being particularly knowledgeable on specific things regarding preparedness. I wasn’t in the military, so I don’t feel qualified to give “tactical firearms advice”, but I like to shoot and train as much as possible. I’m not an EMT, but I’ve put together several first aid kits that our family feels comfortable using. I’m not a farmer, but we have learned basic gardening over the last seven years in our small urban garden. I’m not a professional mechanic, but I prefer to maintain our cars and equipment largely by myself. I’m not …