Category: Health and Fitness

Fit to Survive, Part Two: All the Other Stuff

In Part One of this article (posted on May 16th) I tried to emphasize the importance of strength and what roles it played in survival.  I want to reiterate that strength is the cornerstone of all human physical ability.  The stronger you are the faster you can run, the further you can jump, and the harder you can hit.  However strength is not everything and being satisfied with only developing strength is like only focusing on purchasing guns for your SHTF scenario, it’s very one dimensional.  After a period of time, up to a year, it would be wise to …


Letter Re: Caring for Babies in TEOTWAWKI

Hello Mr. Rawles, What a fine blog you have! I read with interest the entry Caring for Babies in TEOTWAWKI. I respond to the part about breastfeeding your infants. The author makes many excellent points about the tactical advantage of breastfeeding infants as opposed to relying on formula, including the potential to feed other members of your family. If you are successfully breastfeeding when the balloon goes up, it would be very advantageous for your family to have a battery operated breast pump, simply to collect more milk. The author also included a very touching video of a woman acting …


Caring for Babies in TEOTWAWKI by A. & C. K.

You’ve seen it in the movies: the very pregnant woman gets stuck in traffic, or an elevator, or wherever on the way to the delivery room. (Although, a very pregnant woman was recently rescued by Sheriff’s helicopter on I-40 during the recent floods here in Middle Tennessee!) On the screen she usually makes it to the hospital with some stunt driving from a frantic father or some Samaritan will deliver the baby in the back seat. The whole affair ends with smiling patients and doctors happily mewling over a freshly swaddled newborn. Then everyone heads home in their nice family …


Healthy Food Storage, by R.J.

A common staple in any good prepper’s store is food and another is medication.  We make sure to have loads of food that will last a long time (grains, legumes and corn) and do not realize that eating these very things help contribute to cancer, diabetes, heart attacks and cardiac syndrome X (just to name a few).  WTSHTF where in the world are we supposed to get chemo medication?  Or who is most qualified to do a triple bypass or mix up a new batch of insulin?  If the need ever comes to actually use our stores it would be …


Pregnancy and Nutrition in Hard Times, E.C. in Alabama

As a mother of a toddler with one on the way, and a former medical student and “birth junkie,” I’m very interested in the plight of the pregnant woman and newborn child in Third World nations (i.e. women with no access to higher-level medical attention) and in TEOTWAWKI scenarios.  Pregnancy is a vulnerable time in a woman’s life, and her nutrition is paramount. Of course, quitting any noxious habits, like smoking, drinking, and drugs of addiction, is crucial. Beyond that, good nutrition is the best prenatal care mother and child can get. The modern pharmaceutical industry would have you believe …


Letter Re: Diabetes Management and the Jerusalem Artichoke

Mr. Rawles; Several posts have mentioned that in a serious, long-term disaster, diabetics unable to maintain a store of insulin will have a high death rate. The following may help. Note that Jerusalem artichokes contain Inulin, not Insulin; however, the effects are similar for stabilizing blood sugar levels, according to several online sources (see Jerusalem artichoke, diabetes, and inulin). Inulin works for diabetes, pre-diabetes, and hypoglycemia; and helps with overweight which is related to a variety of medical conditions. It may also help to prevent the development of diabetes for those prone to it, or with mild cases. Jerusalem artichokes …


Fit to Survive (Part One): The Importance of Being Strong

I have been an athlete all my life in one form or another.  I hear many survival and preparedness enthusiasts’ talk about fitness, health, and well being (being in sound physical condition) but I have yet to see a thorough guide to becoming “fit” for a survival scenario.  I have heard Crossfit mentioned a few times on this web site and while I agree that Crossfit is a decent program to get someone “fit” it is not the end all solution to everyone’s needs.  Crossfit is merely a re-hashing of things that have been around for a very, very long …


Letter Re: Managing Back and Joint Pain

Jim, I recently “took a bad turn” and re-experienced some back pain. My original injury was in 1979, when I was in the military. After three days I decided to see a chiropractor … like many men, I will see a Doctor only when I have one foot in the grave … (insert visual of wives nodding their heads here). This painful episode got me thinking about survival pain management. In a previous career, I was the Safety Manager at a poultry processing plant. One of my duties was to manage the in-house Clinic staffed with RNs and LPNs and …


Suburban Survival, by The Suburban 10

I am a public school teacher with five kids and one income. There is little in the way of extra cash to protect the family, but I will do my best to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. If you want to plan well; plan as if it was a lesson plan and you are going to teach it to a class. My class is my family the the goal being not to get anyone panicked (Refer to # 9 below). Having a receptive audience is difficult, because of what I deem…complacent comforts. These are built into the core and routine of our …


Letter Re: True Self Sufficiency Requires Multi-Generational Teamwork

To The Editor, I am an outdoorsman. I love camping, hiking, and biking. To enjoy these things, I must be in decent shape. I have to work at physical health because I have a desk job. So I exercise regularly. Keeping oneself reasonably healthy is part of being prepared. But I am not so young anymore. I am not old, mind you, in my early 50s, but I don’t consider myself young either. Yet, I am reminded of my physical limitations more often the older I get. I thought of this the other day when I was working in the …


Your Survival Readiness Level–A True Self Assessment, by Gina W.

By definition survival preparedness means attaining the state of having been made ready to outlive another person, thing, or event. Years pass by reminding us that life is short and meant to be enjoyed. People concentrate on material items but often overlook factors involved in determining the comfort level of a new living situation. A true self assessment now will determine whether life is barely survivable or comfortable. People forget how the mind body element affects lifestyle changes. It is important to assess your actions before a situation takes away your ability to feed the habits that control you. Reflect …


Home Childbirth from a Prepper’s Point of View, by Ranger Squirrel

I’ll discuss bringing someone into the world the old-fashioned way. I realize that as a man I may not be considered by some readers to be the most qualified person to write this post – but hear me out.  I have four kids, all four of which I’ve helped to deliver, the last two of which were done at home, three of which were assisted by midwives, and one of which was done without any assistance at all.  I’ve also had EMT training, including classes on emergency childbirth.  Nothing in this article, however, is medical advice.  If you need medical assistance, you …


Two Letters Re: Cost-Effective Emergency Water Treatment

Jim, Having been a small municipal water system operator in Upstate New York, I have some experience with basic water treatment. The link provided in ” Chris in West Virginia’s” article is sound in regard to using Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione. One would want to use a test kit to measure residual chlorine in the water and maintain the level between 0.3 and 1ppm after initial treatment. To treat water, chlorine is added until the level is at least 0.5ppm after an one hour contact time. It is critical that the chlorine have time to interact with the water and some method …


Running for Disaster Readiness, by A.R.

Proviso: The writer of this article and SurvivalBlog shall not be liable for any loss, damage, injury or death as a result of any actions that the reader may take after reading.  This article is for informational purposes only.  I write this because one of the core elements of being prepared includes maintaining an above average level of physical fitness.  Having been a swim and fitness coach for over ten years, as well as training for and completing two marathons, along with a number of other road races, I feel adequately prepared to try to motivate readers of this blog …


Letter Re: Matching and Meshing Personalities for Close Quarters Living

Dear Mr. Rawles, I have read your novel “Patriots” and found your web site. I have been going through your archives to see if anyone has touched on this subject but so far I’ve only found partial references to this topic. Although I have not made it through all the archives yet.In your book I noticed that the characters knew each other for years and had time to work out differing personality traits or not be included in the group. (BTW, it really saddened me when you killed off two of the characters.) I got to thinking about the types …