Category: Retreat Groups

Letter Re: Change Your Mind, Save Your Life

Jim, There seems to be a lot of debate on ‘should I head for the hills, post-SHTF‘. In my opinion, what most people miss is: Yes, it is a bad idea to head for the hills with no firmly established destination. Either move now or establish a place you are welcome to before the SHTF. I doubt a small town will be welcoming strangers in that situation. As for the fantasy of ‘living off the land’, you and 85 million other people? Ever try to bag a deer during hunting season with the limits in place today? – Ross JWR …


Letter Re: Advice for a Partially Disabled Prepper

Mr. JWR: I am 57, been collecting prepping supplies for the last 5+ years, but was involved in an accident in 2008 where I was disabled. I’m ambulatory, but limited in lifting and such (three inoperable herniated discs in lower back) – I am planning moving to the Redoubt, but fear that my limited abilities will make me less than attractive or welcome to any community or preppers I may encounter. I do have manual skills in building both small items up to buildings, but cannot actually do the work. Is it worth it for me to move there? I …


Letter Re: Key Questions For and About Your Children

James: In regards to M.D.M.’s article, I’d like to add something to his Question #4, There is no reason to smother a baby or toddler to keep them quite as in that M*A*S*H episode mentioned. I learned an old Indian trick years ago, when my kids were young and restless. All a mother needs to do is blow lightly in the child’s face when they start fussing and about to cry. This blowing lightly momentarily takes their breath away, and they stop fussing, and concentrate on breathing, It doesn’t take much blowing lightly in their face, and they soon drift off …


Preparation Could Mean Survival, by D.S.A.

Some people say you can’t prepare for every situation.  I say, you can because every situation has one common element that can and will hurt you outside of the event itself: other people.  Lets face it, if you die in a storm, a nuclear/biological/chemical event, or terror attack, then you are dead.  There is nothing from stopping God’s will.  You don’t prepare for those events, you prepare for surviving those events.  There are many events, (and not far-fetched crazy extreme events) which people should be prepared to deal with to protect themselves and their families when it’s over and you …


Is It Time for Financial Tough Love in Your Family? by Mrs. Lynne

I want to address a common issue these days for “empty nester” parents.  How much and in what forms do you financially help your adult children?  Over the last two years, this has been our experience.  First, let me tell you about us.  My husband is in his late sixties, and retired from law enforcement and is living on a pension.  He was diagnosed with throat cancer last year and with God’s grace and first class medical treatment, he is doing all right.   I have a good job in a medium size city.  I am in my mid-fifties.  We live …


Family Planning, Post-TEOTWAWKI, by Lisa F.

Bring to mind one of the post-TEOTWAWKI scenarios you most frequently imagine, be it the after-effects of a worldwide flu pandemic, series of natural disasters, economic collapse, or nuclear war.  Is this a world into which you’d want to bring children?  At least for the short-term aftermath, I bet you wouldn’t.  Not while you may be on the move or actively defending your retreat or community from danger.  However…”birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it”…c’mon, sing along with me and Cole Porter…”let’s do it, let’s fall in love!”  As the song says, love is natural and …


After the Shooting, by Tupreco

Your bedside clock says 3:40 a.m. You have just awakened to a sound like breaking glass.  You pick up the phone to call 911 but the line is dead.  It’s dark in the house and you ease out of bed to retrieve your handgun from the closet safe just as you have practiced dozens of times.  You wait inside your bedroom door with your ear straining to hear. Someone is down the hall sliding something on the tile.    At that instant, the 30-second delay on your security system expires and the alarm begins to peal.  Another crash in the living …


A Community Action Plan, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Introductory Note: I wrote this plan as the local Neighborhood Watch Captain and instructor for a nearby monthly Preparedness Workshop. I’m convinced of the value of having a written plan to follow in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or crisis. I’m sharing this for those sheepdogs who do not yet have a plan in hand – start with this and edit it. Make it your own. But have a plan. When it gets crazy this may help you get through it all. Be Prepared. Trust God. We can do both! FIRST 15 MINUTES Walk / bike / drive through …


Long Term Preparedness: The Outer Limits of Public Health, by F.B.D.

Preparedness is on the periphery of public health. Many facets of local and federal public heath deal with disaster preparedness but almost never for preparations beyond 72 hrs. I have worked in public safety and healthcare administration in various capacities for over 20 years and the subject is almost taboo. However, it is the growing “pink elephant” in the corner of the room. Anyone who works or deals with disaster preparation in an official capacity knows that official disaster assistance is woefully inadequate and that there are many scenarios that could trigger a “collapse, or severe problem, extending beyond 72 …


Out of the Neighborhood and Into a Community, by J.N.

As a firearms enthusiast, I have spent far too much time reading gun-related forums.  The collective knowledge of the larger forums is amazing and far outweighs the poorly thought-out words of the few ignorant posters who have nothing to add.  Often, after catching up on my favorite firearm sections, I find myself checking out the survival/preparedness sub-forums that the major firearms forums all seem to have.  Limited on the depth of their information, I usually hop over and research a topic on survival-specific forums and blogs where the levels of knowledge and experience are at much higher standards. The topics …


Generational Preparedness, by S.D.

Articles written as personal memoirs always have a special way of reinforcing why preparedness is so important to me. They inspire me to continue learning, and make me proud to call myself a prepper. Hopefully my story of growing up to live among the modern generation of preppers can do the same for you. I remember my high school shop teacher, and the day he wheeled a television into our room and turned it on. His face was flushed as he changed the channel to a news station, and we watched as thick smoke rolled out of the World Trade Center. …


Picking the Imperfect Retreat Location, and Making the Best of It, by Michael C.

I think I’m the the position of many out in the real world. I’m strapped for cash. Feeling the time crunch that I must do something soon or be caught up with the unprepared masses and get overrun. I’m also feeling the responsibility for my immediate and extended family whether they are preparing or not. It’s a huge burden to bear when you have been raised to be the “man” of any situation that might affect you and your family. That being said, I’m also a logical, common sense person. I approach things like this: 1. Look at the situation …


Prepping, in Its Infancy, by E.B. in Florida

I was trying to come up with way to write down all of things that I have been going through lately as a concerned husband, son, uncle, and brother.  A little background on me: I am turning 36 tomorrow.  When I was 24 I joined the U.S. Army.  I was fooling around in college (still) without a good source of income.  My three year relationship was coming to an abrupt end as my girlfriend was graduating college and moving into the next phase of her life (kudos to her making the tough decision to do what was best for her, …


Learning From Our Elders in Prepping for TEOTWAWKI, by the Measure Man

Let me begin with a brief history and a few insights into my journey towards being prepared for The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI.) I was born and raised, until the age of 7, in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States (the greater Los Angeles area). At which point my parents came to the realization that city life was no way to raise a family. So, they moved my sister and I to the Central San Joaquin Valley and began my education in rural life. At age 18 I joined the military …


Dragging Your Family Into Preparedness, by W.M.

I am 52 years old – a working woman, a wife, mother, stepmother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, and daughter.  My parents had six children, I have six grown children, and you can start counting out from there.  We are a big family.  We are the typical outgrowth of middle class American suburbia.  Some of us are financially better off, but all of us are accustomed to our luxuries, even if that means rich, freshly ground coffee in the morning or a delicious sip of good red wine in the evening.  Many of us lost substantial resources during the past …