Category: Reader-Written Contributed Article

Generosity in Dire Times, by Elli O.

Warning: This article may be considered controversial by some readers. During this global pandemic it seems as if TEOTWAWKI could be just around the corner. Daily the media is not only reporting the number of infected and deaths, they are also reporting on different shortages- both real and unsubstantiated. Some are in the present and others in the near future. First it was toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Then it was N95 masks and disinfectant wipes. This past week it was meat- poultry, beef, and pork. For those of us who have been preparing for such times, we were not …


Starting an Old Engine, Part 2, by John Leyzorek

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Now we come to the oldest parts of our marvelous rediscovered machine, already centuries old in our English Common Law heritage when they were written into our Constitution. Who will indict powerful members of government itself, when they break the law they are sworn to uphold? Everyone knows how the System protects itself, and the law be damned. The Grand Jury, that is who, an institution first described in the year 997 and wholly independent of judges and prosecutors, with lawful power to investigate any suspicion of crime in its jurisdiction and …


Starting an Old Engine, Part 1, by John Leyzorek

I like old machinery. It tends to be simple, and rugged. Because it is considered obsolete, it tends to be available, cheap, and with a little tinkering it will often get the job done very well. I was unloading a truck and pulling saplings out of the ground with my 89 year old tractor just yesterday. I think this interest is practical, but many more pursue it as a hobby. There are numerous web-sites devoted to this interest, innumerable threads about “Look what I found in the woods”, and “Hear it start for the first time in 20/50/80 years!” Of …


100 Days of Final Preparations – Part 2, by Elli O.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) ONLINE SHOPPING To maintain our health we chose to order some items online to avoid the public stores when possible. Fabric for blankets, washable family sanitary cloths, and face masks, and Betadine wound cleanser/disinfectant were purchased. I also ordered and received a non-electric carpet sweeper. ACTIVITIES AT HOME Although the rest of the family is considered “essential”, all of my disaster preparation teaching has been postponed until future dates. This has given me time to complete more than a few projects around the homestead. I have been cooking and canning the rest …


100 Days of Final Preparations – Part 1, by Elli O.

I’m writing this as a stand-alone article. However, if you would like to read more about our journey through the world of preparedness and our homestead, please see my previous article in the SurvivalBlog archives for November 26-27, 2019. As a follow-up I am writing this to explain what we have done just in the past 100 days and how the global pandemic and possible near-future economical collapse has impacted us and our preparations. 100 DAYS OF FINAL PREPARATIONS For as long as I can remember, I have always had a mindset of preparedness, partly because of my background as …


Knives Under $50 That I Love – Part 2, by The Novice

(Continued from Patrt 1. This concludes the article.) The Mini Survival Kit Since I mentioned the mini survival kit, I will tell you more about it. It is easy throw into any pack or game pocket when I head outdoors. In addition to the aforementioned Opinel No. 8 knife , it contains a waterproof match case filled with waterproof matches, a ferrocerium rod with a built in compass and whistle, an extra whistle, and a half dozen or so cotton balls dabbed with Vaseline enclosed in a plastic bag. All of these things are kept in a pint sized SubZero …


Knives Under $50 That I Love – Part 1, by The Novice

The use of tools is one characteristic that distinguishes mankind from the animals. It may be true that chimpanzees will crack nuts with a stone and that some kinds of crows will use a stick to extract insects from tree bark. But when it comes to making and utilizing tools, human being operate on a level far above the most sophisticated denizens of the animal kingdom. Perhaps the most widely used tool across cultures and throughout history is the knife. From the flint knives of paleolithic tribes to the laser knives of modern neurosurgeons, knives enable us to cut things …


Propaganda and My Prepping – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from  Part 2. This concludes the article.) The other big problem I soon discovered with the Thank a Vet program is that it propagates the myth that our military keeps us free. Think back to our childhoods: riding our bikes down to the gravel pit with our Stevens Crackshot .22’s across our backs with a sling, then walking into the little grocery store afterwards to buy some penny candy and nobody calling the police or thinking anything of it. We rode on the floor in the back of the station wagon, or in the front passenger seat of the …


Propaganda and My Prepping – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) Propaganda can also be very damaging to us as individuals, and especially to us as a nation. Advertising = propaganda is ultimately about controlling us. Controlling us so we’ll quit littering, or controlling us so we’ll hand over our money and buy their products instead of the competition’s, or controlling us so we won’t object when they take away more of our freedoms either in the form of raising our taxes again or by passing more laws pushing us towards a more Orwellian future that awaits us. The term Military Industrial Complex (MIC) was popularized by …


Propaganda and My Prepping – Part 1, by St. Funogas

(Part 1, of three parts.) Author’s Introductory Note: I normally enjoy interacting with commenters after JWR posts one of my articles but I will state in advance that I will not be debating any of the topics discussed herein. My apologies for that. My sincere desire is that you will read this, avoid knee-jerk reactions, and ponder what I’ve said before you respond. I’m sure some of it has never crossed your mind before. So I hope that instead of forming an immediate opinion, you’d instead ruminate on this for a while and let it simmer over a cinnamon roll …


Bug-In/Bug-Out Transportation, by WVA

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. …


Thoughts on Force in the Real World, by K.M.

The following is my essay that explains the 2nd Amendment, with the issues distilled down to essential truths. The right to keep and bear arms is a God-given right to self defense against any source who would force their unlawful will on you. Whether that is to violate your person, relieve you of your property, or physically attack you, or as an extension, to protect others in the same dire situation. For such a right to be capable of performing in the real world it would have to be able to meet a threatening force with an equal or greater …


Learning Food Storage From Hard Experience, by PitbullRN

We all have our stories on how and why we got in to prepping. Mine began about seven years ago after reading One Second After, a 2009 novel by American writer William R. Forstchen. (I highly recommend this book, if you haven’t had the chance to read it!)  It is about how life changes for a small western North Carolina town following the collapse of the grid due to an EMP. As a nurse who lives in Western North Carolina, this book interested me not only for the setting, but how people with chronic illnesses would suffer and die if …


Home Water Storage on a Budget, by KC Seven

There is really no reason why one can’t store a considerable amount of water. If you have access to food grade containers and some potable water from the tap or better, a modest water filter, then one can store copious amounts of water. It just takes a little time. We are retired and living that “fixed income” lifestyle. Fortunately, we learned to prepare at a fairly early age and spent a little time to store important tools and supplies when we could afford to do so. Then, later in our careers, we found ourselves acquiring a broader array of tools …


Wu Flu Versus Spanish Flu, by Steve Coffman

I’ve long been unhappy with the way COVID-19 and the Spanish Flu of 1918 have been compared. Obviously it is a short hand way to compare quarantine and stay at home measures of today with 1918, as opposed to the lethal nature of the sickness. For the record, the Spanish Flu was a far more terrifying and deadly disease than the Coronavirus. On the subject of quarantine though, there are reasonable comparisons but only to an extent. While the Spanish Flu shut down many places, it did not cause the same crippling economic impact that we are seeing from Coronavirus. …