Category: Health and Fitness

Seasonal Items and Survival Steps, by P.F.

It never ceases to amaze me when something seemingly trivial that occurs in my life can lead to so much self reflection and totally change the direction I travel, so to speak, in my life planning. I recently decided to purchase a spare, portable plug-in heater for my camper, in the interest of redundancy. So, off I went blissfully unaware that this simple, last-minute decision would alter the course of history, my history that is. I went to my local big-box store and soon realized an important issue I had never thought about before– seasonal items are difficult to find …


Letter: Toledo Water Crisis

Hugh: I live in Toledo and was part of the recent “water crisis”. From what I understand, a Berkey, Lifestraw, or any kind of water pills cannot get rid of “mitocystin”, which was what was in our water. So, we had plenty of “water”, but no way to make it drinkable. I was wondering if your readers: agree that these won’t work on mitocystin have any alternative method of purifying water with this in it. – B.J. Hugh Replies: This is not something that I have knowingly dealt with, so I had to do a little research to come up …


Food Less Fortified: Vitamins in a Time of Grid-Down Existence – Part II, by PA Jes

Today, we’ll conclude the article reviewing the vitamin situation in a SHTF scenario and how to provide our body with necessary vitamins without bottled vitamins or vitamin-enriched foods. Vitamins D, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E are reviewed in Part 1, so go back and read it if you missed it yesterday. Vitamin K Vitamin K is necessary for the body to produce blood clots. Blood clots are the body’s method to control bleeding. Without enough vitamin K, people could easily bleed to death. Worldwide, vitamin K deficiency is a major cause of death in newborns, a result of …


Food Less Fortified: Vitamins in a Time of Grid-Down Existence Part I, by PA Jes

TEOTWAWKI can take on many forms. This article is directed towards those who will transition (or already have transitioned) to locally-grown, seasonal, and non-processed (non-vitamin-fortified) food. This includes food produced as a result of homesteading, self-sufficient living, or surviving in a situation where trucks stop stocking supermarkets with vitamin-fortified food, multivitamins, Florida oranges, ocean tuna, and so on. Will America regress to a level of malnutrition typically seen in a third world county? This article is written to be a practical guide to surviving in a vitamin-deficient world, describing some of the key vitamins and their respective government-directed fortification in …


Letter: SHTF Water-Related Questions

Jim I keep hundreds of coffee filters at my house and quite a few in the BOB to extend the life of the Katadyn ceramic water filter when it comes down to that. Could a reusable gold-screen coffee filter basket be deployed to pre-filter water in a survival situation (with possibly other applications I’m not thinking of yet)? I have one I no longer use but nothing goes in the BOB unless it will serve well. My wife tolerates a giant stash of coffee filters because I use them every day, but she is less tolerant of salt accumulation, whether …


Survival or Sustenance Gardening, by D. B. Prepper

I’ve had a garden on and off again over the past 30 years, depending on where I lived, whom I was married to at the time, and whether or not my job allowed me to be at home frequently enough to care for it. So I have followed the recent spate of gardening posts with some interest, especially those who have struggled to start a garden. I thought I would take an opportunity to add my own two cents on how to create a garden that can support you and your family in good times or bad. It’s a Learning …


Prepping During the Calm After the Storm, by D.L.

One of the hardest things to do in prepping, especially if you were inspired by a specific incident or disaster, is to maintain your preps long after the initial threat seems to have faded away. There’s an initial burst of energy and acquisition of skills; then there is a slow fade and then a rapid fade. Eventually, something will happen, and you will find yourself unprepared again. It’s a bit like dieting before your high school reunion. Then, once the reunion is over, trying to keep your diet going but allowing yourself a weekly cheat day, then adding a cheat …


Letter Re: Tuberculosis

I read the TB article linked to at SurvivalBlog. The comment section in it explains why we have a problem– all NYT liberals wanting to save the world… Charity, while noble, should be private and personal. (I am not an organized church believer, so even that meets with my disdain, as example the harboring of the illegals being advanced by so called church “Christians” now, all Marxists in sheeps clothing….) The influx of illegals now will cause a health crisis so that should be the number one concern; close the borders. Thank you for all the work you do. I …


Letter Re: Confiscation of Stored Foods

Hi Hugh, I really enjoy the blog. There is a lot of good info. You mentioned about losing weight during TSHTF along with everyone else. I and others in my group have bought used clothing in bigger sizes than we wear now. I have worn this clothing around people who haven’t seen me in awhile. All of them commented on how much weight I had lost. Some even asked if I had been sick. In truth, I was the same size I was before. The clothes made it appear I had dropped 20-30 pounds. Perception goes a long way. I …


Letter Re: Salve Making

Dear Mr. Latimer, S.T.’s article on salve making was very interesting. I’ve been making them for several years now. Because I gift and sell them to other people, I buy different size amber and cobalt blue jars to pour the final product in. A great muscle balm salve (which I sent to soldiers’ in Afghanistan who liked it a lot!) is to use oils infused with arnica, meadowsweet, comfrey with a little added coconut oil to the melting beeswax. My favorite lip balm is “baby balm”, made with calendula, chamomile, and roses. It’s also great for diaper rash. A friend …


A Primer On Salve Making, by S.T.

Salve making is an important skill now, and it will become an even more important skill after SHTF. So, master the skill now, collect your recipes, and obtain the various ingredients and equipment needed, because after SHTF there will be no more manufactured goods, and you may not have access to the essential oils and extracts that are needed. My salve making came about when I went looking for a way to replace store purchased hand lotion with a better product that I could make post-SHTF and has evolved from there. From rosemary salve for dry hands to salve for …


The Pachamanca: A Survivalist’s Feast, by J.C.

Sometimes, in survival situations, it is in one’s best interest to avoid detection when possible. However, this can be difficult to do when food preparation comes into play. Fire is often a necessity, when it comes to cooking outdoors, but fire creates smoke, which can draw unwanted attention. There are alternatives to open fire cooking, namely solar ovens, but these alternatives often require special conditions, like minimal cloud cover, to work effectively. Camp stoves are also a possibility. However, they can be bulky; often require a scarce, non-replenishable fuel source; and sadly, not everybody is going to have access to …


Proselytizing With Pandemics, by D.C.

Perhaps in the nature vs. nurture debate, it is going to turn out that people worried about emergency preparedness are just born that way. Certainly, I have tried for years to persuade many of my skeptical friends that having, say, some extra food on hand or some means of personal protection, or even a backup source of energy greater than an extra D battery, is just plain common sense. What I have experienced in response to my well-intentioned suggestions are rolled eyes, turned backs, and closed minds. I’ve pretty much despaired of ever making even the smallest dent in their …


Letter Re: Seven Secrets of Medical Prepping

Hugh, I appreciate the concern pharmacist MDS, Pharm.D. has for keeping all of us safe. His comment regarding the danger of expired tetracycline is worth addressing in more detail. According to the respected newsletter, The Medical Letter, Vol. 44, Issue 1142, October 28, 2002, “The only report of human toxicity that may have been caused by chemical or physical degradation of a pharmaceutical product is renal tubular damage that was associated with use of degraded tetracycline…Current tetracycline preparations have been reformulated with different fillers to minimize degradation and are unlikely to have this effect.” This refers to a 1963 incident, …


Letter Re: Seven Secrets of Medical Prepping

Hugh, As a relatively recent addition to the prepper society, I am a HUGE fan of everything and anything on SurvivalBlog.com and all things James Wesley, Rawles. Kudos on all that you, JWR, and the team do on a daily basis. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. I glean and digest all of the information that I can from the website and JWR’s novels. I am currently reading Expatriates and have already read and passed around to friends and family Patriots, Survivors, Founders, and How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It. I take the information in …