Category: Reader-Written Contributed Article

Beyond Beans Bullets and Band-Aids, Part 2, by Todd Albertson

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Have a Plan The key to preparing for a disaster —both emotionally and physically—is to plan ahead of time. Make sure you know what your role is during a disaster. During an actual emergency, you may be literally incapable of thinking clearly as life suddenly and drastically changes. Knowing what to do should this happen can lessen your anxiety during an emergency. Being less anxious can help you think more wisely and logically and thus reduce the risk of injury or death. In addition, research suggests that knowing what to do during …


Beyond Beans Bullets and Band-Aids, Part 1, by Todd Albertson

Supplies like water, food, and medical supplies are essential during a disaster. However, these may not be enough. Research into past tragedies demonstrates that our mental resources may play a significant role in survival in emergency situations. We have been told that it’s essential to prepare for disasters throughout history. In the Bible, Genesis books 41 and 42, God directed Joseph to stockpile enough food to survive seven years of famine. During the Middle Ages, people gathered and preserved as much food as possible during the summer months. This helped them get through the cold winters in Europe without starving. …


Ham Public Service Communications, by Reltney McFee

Amateur Radio Operators (“hams”) have a tradition of public service. Indeed, the FCC rules, section 97.1 (a) states one of the purposes of Amateur Radio is: “Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public as a voluntary noncommercial communication service, particularly with respect to providing emergency communications.” Commonly, that public service is rather mundane, providing communication support for, by way of examples, the Boston Marathon, Michigan’s Consumer’s Energy AuSable Canoe Marathon, and the annual Marine Corps Marathon which starts and ends in Arlington, Virginia. Commonly, hams interact with other, non-ham folks, as in the AuSable …


Surviving a Transition to Solo Prepping, by JPK

This article addresses when the end of the world as we know it hits… but for you alone. When prepping, planning and long-term goals are done as a family it makes life so much easier. We started in earnest pre-Y2K then my husband and I were blessed to be introduced to JWR’s writings in 2008. So our preps have been ongoing and well-thought-out. From our conversion of a grid-powered well to a solar-powered pump with cistern to the metal roof on our rock house to the multi-year tree removal plan we had the big things on track. We found a …


Our Experience Living Out of a Car, by M.B.

Living in a 2008 Toyota Prius on the road in the United States during much of the 2020 and 2021 pandemic mandates was an unexpectedly rewarding growth experience. Here are the top five suggestions I have for living on the road out of your car during these times. 1. Be careful where you park when you sleep. The best locations to park for a night are highway rest stops, some Walmarts and at 24-hour gas stations. 2. Buy water by the gallon. Staying hydrated is top priority when living on the road. I like the Crystal Geyser brand spring water. …


On Thermonuclear War, by 3AD Scout

A lot of chatter can be heard and read about “nuclear war” these days. Like every other subject, there are many differing opinions as to whether or not it is going to happen. As Preppers, our goal is to survive disasters regardless of the origins of the disasters. There are some disasters that we seem to let our politics sway our opinion more than facts and some of us also become unknowing victims of the normalcy bias, nuclear war being one of those disasters. I am a product of the Cold War. As a teenager, I didn’t read comic books. …


Review of HCMAGS Tactical Pack for the Ruger 10/22, by Francis, the Semi-Prepper

I’m 76 years old and we live in a Home Owners Association communiity near a major southern city in the suburbs. My wife and I will not leave our grandchildren who live in the city but they DO fortunately attend a Christian religious school, not a public school. I have previously posted about our first steps in abandoning our home if we have to. We will not leave them but do have plans which I intended to present here for abandoning our home in case of the WROL or TEOTWAWKI but because of OPSEC will present nothing anymore on that …


My Newbie Experience Buying a Milk Cow – Part 2, by SaraSue

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) A Calf is Born and Begins Milking It’s been a bit of a rodeo, but I am undeterred. She was gentle as long as you didn’t touch her. LOL. She was sweet and beautiful as long as you didn’t interrupt her grazing on the grassy knoll. She learned to come into the stanchion, which is basically a structure you build to milk your cow in if you don’t have a barn set up to use. It has a “head gate” so that you can hold the cow’s head still, and therefore her …


My Newbie Experience Buying a Milk Cow – Part 1, by SaraSue

Finding the Right Cow My grandpa grew up on a farm in the South. When I was a little girl I asked him what it was like. He said it was hard work and dirty. I asked him about getting milk from a cow and he laughed saying, “Do you know how many germs are in that milk?” When I was a little older, probably studying the Great Depression in elementary school, I asked him “What did you do during the Great Depression Grandpa?” He said, “Well, we all went back to the farms!” In my child’s mind I had …


Signs Of The Times – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Vasili Arkhipov prevented TEOTWAWKI — During the Cuban Missile Crisis one single man, a Russian submariner named Vasili Arkhipov, prevented the use of nuclear torpedoes against an American warship which likely would have touched off a nuclear war between our two countries, a position our own government willingly put us into by refusing Russia’s request to remove our missiles from their border. Three officers on board that Russian sub were required to authorize the use of nukes and Vasili stood alone in refusing to consent. Most historians refer to this event as …


Signs Of The Times – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) False Flag Events Do an honest study of American false flag events beginning with the Lusitania, the Maine, Operation Dirty Trick, and blowing up one of our own warships in Guantanamo Bay to discredit Cuba in order to manipulate the public into backing a war against them. Most importantly read the 15-page Operation Northwoods document. The Lusitania and Maine operations had the primary purpose of benefitting larger corporations and wealthy individuals in the case of the Maine, to steal land from others for the purpose of empire expansion. I’ll give the Joint Chiefs the benefit of …


Signs Of The Times – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) Ukraine corruption — When it comes to the Russia sanctions the only conclusion I can come to is that things, as always, are not as they appear and we’re all being played by the PTB who run the world. The one certainty is that the sanctions have nothing to do with world leaders feeling sorry for Ukraine, but rather, they’re not letting a good crisis go to waste or an opportunity to punish Russia. Only six months ago they were calling Ukraine’s government corrupt and evil, ranking in the bottom third of the corruption scale compiled …


Signs Of The Times – Part 1, by St. Funogas

Since we’re as close as we’ve been in the past 50 years to the possibility of not only WW III, but the nuclear war we’ve all feared since Hiroshima and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the time seems urgent for all Americans to get out of our normalcy bias and start prepping, and for current preppers to kick it up a notch or two. Or three. This article has been edited many times and has been in and out of my “Do Not Submit” folder at least seven times. While many SurvivalBlog articles are preaching to the choir of us like-minded …


Lathe-Cutting Screw Threads – Part 2, by Steve A.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Screw design must be considered. If the screw shank will go into a hole drilled to accept the nominal size of the threaded fastener then this diameter must be cut all the way to the screw head. If this is a fully custom application you can, of course, leave the shank any size you desire. In this case, the hole in the fixture was made to accept the existing blank screw shank diameter. The trick in all of this work is holding a relatively long, small diameter, and fragile part for threading …


Lathe-Cutting Screw Threads – Part 1, by Steve A.

Making, modifying, and using threaded fasteners seems to me to be a pretty basic part of repairs needed in keeping things running. I realize that the following information is not likely to be directly used by many of the readers due to the use of a metal lathe and the terminology. An amateur machinist should be able to make threaded fasteners as described. In any event there are absolutely a number of good ways to accomplish making a threaded fastener. Understanding that this just scratches the surface of the topic, I hope that it will reach a few folks and …