Category: Retreat Groups

How to Find Helpful People Around You, by K.W.

I have lived in the UK for the last 25 years, but the first 25 years of my life I spent in what is now called an ex-Soviet block country, so I have a view from both sides. In the Eastern Europe people would generally be more interdependent, for the simple reason that the society was less commercialized. In the West you can usually buy anything you need, so the biggest issue is to have money to purchase goods and services. In the East there was more reliance on the informal means, especially when times got tougher. Younger people, who …


Sleeping With the Friendlies, by Heidi C.

In comes TEOTWAWKI. You grab your B.O.B. pack and lay feet to a packed truck and trailer toward a predetermined secret house in the boonies. After a long day of inventory, greetings, and ears peeled to the radio, you amp down from that first frightening night of your uncertain future. You lay exhausted, in 1 of 3 bed sheet curtain bedrooms, and suddenly find yourself all and sundry, plummeted into a collage of personalities and lifestyles you thought you were familiar with – but are you? In what once was your quiet home, your new place is full of distractions. …


Maintaining Mental Health in the Face of Crisis: Dealing with Anxiety Disorders, by G.M., RN, MSN, CNL

Many of us have considered how we would provide for our family’s physical needs, including medical care, during a prolonged crisis.  Indeed, it would seem foolish to be unprepared for trauma related to accidents, violence, fire, etc., when professional medical care might not be available for weeks, months, or more.  What most of us don’t think about, however, is the toll a long term crisis could take on our mental health.  This may seem to be a low-priority concern, next to food, shelter and security, but depression and anxiety related to traumatic events can have lasting and highly detrimental effects, …


Learning To Prepare, The Hard Way, by Barbara L.

I cannot even remember a time when I wasn’t a “prepper”.  Although until a few years ago, I had no idea of what I was preparing for.  Before the dawn of my awakening, I had serious urges to learn how not to kill plants and flowers. I wanted to grow my own food eventually, so I started with a trip to the local Big Box store, and bought some bare root fruit trees. Now in my mind, they are already dead, so if I could resurrect them, and keep them going, I was on my way. If they didn’t survive …


I Didn’t Want To Be a Prepper, by Laura Y.

I didn’t want to be a “prepper”.  In fact, when I first starting hearing about survivalists and preparing for TEOTWAWKI,  I thought it was a bit extremist.  I have long been a conservative and Christian, but a skeptic as well.  When my sister-in-law started talking to me about stocking up on things and buying a water filter, I have to admit my initial reaction was not to jump on the bandwagon.  Oh, I followed our state’s recommendation to have two weeks’ worth of water and food on hand for a disaster, but that was about it.  The turning point for …


Prepping For Death, by J.D.A.

Preparing for death is probably not the usual topic discussed on this board, but a recent illness in my family has put this issue squarely in my face.   It is my hope that all reading this blog will live many more years and will leave this earth either via the Rapture or natural causes at a ripe old age. That being said, death is something we have to consider in our plans.  I approach this topic from two angles: 1) losing a loved one in a non-Schumer situation, 2) losing a loved one in a Schumeresque situation.  I hope to …


Thinking Outside the Box, by Karen I.

My father was an engineer at Boeing, and Boeing builds in (or at least they used to) triple redundancy.  Kind of hard to find a hardware store or plane mechanic mid-air over the Atlantic, so you can see why what appears to be over-building really isn’t in the case of an airplane.  You might think that to effect this on the ground you’d need three or more of everything, but that’s not actually the case.  What you need for food, for example, is obviously more than one year’s supply.  You aren’t going to quit eating if you can help it, …


Letter Re: Establishing a Neighborhood Watch

Recently a neighborhood watch was created by the initiative of a lawyer who had many thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his property in broad day light, while members of his family were home, with a trailer that had been stolen from across the street.  He saw he need for a greater sense of alertness and vigilance among our residents, who for the most part feel we live in a nice area and don’t have to worry about crime.  (Mostly this is true).  We don’t have gangs or violent crime, but if the picking seem easy enough for …


Letter Re: Dealing With Livestock and Neighbors in The Crunch

Dear James, Thanks for all you do to educate us all.  You certainly woke me up.  I offer a few thoughts that may be of use or interest to your readership: I live off-grid, at end of a mile-long driveway. Been here twenty years. Spring water, solar power, wood heat. Have chickens, goats, cows, machine shop, wife and kids, and a few bang-sticks. Save for the critical issues of man-power to mount a defense, and deep enough pockets for deep stock of supplies, I look “prepped”. From this perspective, a couple of thoughts. First, I am not growing all the …


Getting Started, by C.W. in Michigan

I am not like most people; mainly because of the way I was raised as a child.  Hunting, fishing, trapping, and outdoor/survival skills were not only practiced but often encouraged by my father.  In hindsight I can say it wasn’t necessarily that he thought I might need the skills someday.  I think it was more because it was a good way to keep me and my brothers out of trouble.  It seemed to work. My father was always the type of guy to take us out of school for the important things in life.  The opening day of fall firearms …


You Are At Your Retreat — What Now?, by D.H.

Many of us have plans to get our family and friends to a retreat once the Schumer hits the fan (SHTF). Many of us have written down plans that tell us what things to grab before we leave (so we don’t forget something important), but how many of you have written down plans for what to do once you’re there, at your retreat? Why write them down? Well, because even though you may know everything you’re going to do once there, maybe the others don’t. For some unforeseen reason, you may not even make it there. Will your family know …


Next Steps: Prepping for the Middle Expertise, Middle Life, Middle Philosophy Preppers, by A.L.G.

Salutations! And for those of spiritual and religious bent, Blessings, from my wife and I in these troubled time. A few weeks back, after my assistant’s grandson returned to his school year, he brought home a “bug” as the kiddies often do. My assistant naturally fell ill, and a week later, sure enough I found myself on my couch with my wife good-naturedly giving me some grief (and chicken soup…) With some time on my hands, and not much energy to actually do anything, my mind started turning as I laid there and watched an earthquake hit D.C. and a …


Survival Preparedness With Toddlers in Tow, by H.P.

As a former Boy Scout and long time minimalist, survival preparation is a natural fit for a “hobby” as I enter my thirties.  Of course this “hobby” is an important life decision, unlike how one might approach golf or poker.  The importance of this life decision really becomes clear when I think about my wife and our two little girls.  As anyone with small children will confirm, hobbies and social activities take a backseat to the needs of your toddlers.  My longtime interest in the outdoors, camping, and shooting have provided a sensible platform for a jump into the survivalist …


Letter Re: Plan B–Call Them Your Hobbies

JWR: Robert B. mentioned some great ideas for the “hobbies”. I don’t have a problem with my spouse, but it does give me some ideas of how I can normalize my activities to other people I know. I have an idea for your food storage though: One of my favorite things about food storage, aside from the incredible peace of mind it gives me, is that I never/rarely run out of things. I just go to my pantry. Maybe you could conspicuously run out of something important a few times, necessitating a trip to the store, and then bring up …


Letter Re: Plan B–Call Them Your Hobbies

JWR: Some of us don’t always have a spouse that is 100% on board with prepping.  So I thought I’d send a list of some hobbies that help with prepping in a SHFT situation, and have a non-SHTF function too.  Most have worked out well for me, some my wife has become more avid than I, the remaining she tolerates. Flower Gardening – Allows for purchase of gardening tools, composting, development of good growing beds, fertilizer, books on growing and seeding, and pest control products. You will have to pay attention to vegetable safe products, but in SHTF you will …