Category: Retreat Logistics

A Weapons Systems Approach to Firearms and Training

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Being well-armed and trained is a cornerstone of preparedness. I’m writing this to reiterate and expand on a subject that I’ve briefly mentioned several times in the more than 12 years that SurvivalBlog has been published. This is the concept of a taking a Systems Approach to firearms and firearms training.  By this, I mean changing your entire mindset about simply “buying a gun.”  You are not just buying a gun. Rather, you are acquiring a weapons system, including logistics and training. Here is a thumbnail list to consider: The Firearm Itself Ammunition. (At least 1,000 rounds for each primary …


Window of Opportunity: The Modular Pistol Revolution

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To begin, I should mention that our main carry pistols here at the ranch are all Glock Model 21 and Glock Model 30 .45 ACPs. I intend to keep those as our family’s standard for the foreseeable future. But in the past two years I’ve branched out into buying several SIG Model P320 9mm pistols. I like the clever modularity of these pistols. The same serialized trigger group module can be used in assembling everything from a subcompact pistol to a full size race gun. I also find their ergonomics quite good, their controls instinctive, and their trigger pulls decent–right …


Apartment Dweller Prepping- Part 2, by AKM295

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When I relocated to the big city and moved into a shared apartment, I began to simultaneously look at prepping and consider how to make this work– living with others and trying to be prepared for a disaster. What I’ve Learned From Experience (continued) I’m writing about what I’ve learned over year’s of experience of living through power outages and disaster, including Hurricane Sandy. In covering topics for apartment dwellers, we have taken a look at storage, food, and water. Security When I was moving out from my childhood home, I tried to figure out how I could get my …


Apartment Dweller Prepping- Part 1, by AKM295

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Precious metals, dehydrated food, bug out cabins, and surplus everything are some of things that may spring to mind, thanks to pop culture and the media, when you mention prepping to someone who isn’t familiar with the topic. Those were the things that I thought of too, when I first began looking into how I could be more prepared for an emergency or disaster I might face back when I was fresh out of college. When I Moved To A Big City Back when I was a naive graduate who moved to a big city with student debt on my …



What We Have Done So Far- Part 2, by N.F.

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In part 1, I provided the foundation of our move to Northern Arizona, where we have lived for five years. I defined the seven most important elements I would like to see in the property, and these seven items form the building blocks for a sustainable life that we are trying to live. I’ve already covered our water plan, which is the first, and began discussing our food plan. Now, let’s continue with the food plan as we wrap this article up today. Chickens When we first arrived here, we were befriended by many people, one of which was really …


What We Have Done So Far- Part 1, by N.F.

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This is the story of a city boy and girl who decided to make the long journey to become country man and woman. This unlikely story has roots stretching back to childhood. Hopefully, my hindsight can offer some foresight to others on this blog who have not started down this formidable path. For any who have embarked on this journey, I hope my individual experience will give you new ideas and insights. Going from a high density human existence, to a life of constant challenges out in the wide open spaces, changes one’s perspectives on many different levels. This is …


Identify And Secure Your Retreat Like An Engineer, by JAD

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Area assessment and planning is a key component of determining where to establish your secured retreat location. Establishing a retreat is not enough; you need to have clear objectives for what that area will accomplish for you or for those in your network. In order to establish your secured area and to determine the objectives necessary to allow it to function, you must assess and plan. Your planning must consider varying threats, uncertainty in threat duration, and likely enemy strength. Effective planning requires beginning at a macro level and reducing the scope until all details are captured. The work in …


Letter: Sealing a #10 Can

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Hugh, A friend recently acquired the capability to seal #10 cans. He’s bought a supply of new cans and is still playing around with the concept. He offered me the opportunity to do a few cans of my own. The concept has intrigued me. What would you pack in a #10 can if you could choose the contents? My preliminary thoughts My thoughts are a #10 can would be good for stuff that must stay one or more of these: Oxygen free Dry Sterile Clean


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in firearms magazines. (See the Tangibles section, near the end of this column.) Precious Metals: Jack Chan: Silver Price Update o  o  o Gold Forecast for the Week of August 14, 2017, Technical Analysis Stocks: Top Four Gold Stocks as of August 2017 o  o  …


Emergency Checklists, by M.B.

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Where’s your emergency checklists? The worst part about emergency situations and disasters is that they never happen when it is convenient. It’s 2 AM and you awake to find someone pounding on your door. The dam has been breached and you have maybe 30 minutes to get to high ground. What would you do? How do you know what steps to take? What items would you take with you, and how would you prioritize things? Emergency Chaos Maybe you live in New Orleans or one of the other Gulf States. A category 5 hurricane is bearing down on you. Do …


Fire Fight, by J.M.

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Are you ready for a fire fight? One of the most discussed topics in the “preppersphere” is how to start fires. There are tons of articles, blogs, books, and products geared towards helping you start fires in wilderness or TEOTWAWKI scenarios. However, there’s one aspect of fires that tends to be overlooked—how to put them out when you don’t want them. Every year in the U.S., fires cause thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollars in damage. And that’s with fully functional fire departments in almost every city, town, and county. Imagine how much worse …


Letter: Heating Oil and Kerosene Uses

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Hello Jim: I wanted to write a note about an idea for heating. We use a Nestor-Martin as well as a napoleon oil stove to heat. These are very, very efficient. They burn one and a half to three gallons maximum per day and can heat a 2000 square-foot home. They require no electricity in their gravity fed from oil tank. I’ve heated with wood most of my life. (There is nothing like a wood fire.) To give you an example of how much the world has changed, in the late 70s and 80s as a Boy Scout our troop …


Building Or Purchasing Your New Country Property – Part 2, by S.T.

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After our move across the country and decision to purchase rather than build our new country property, we had some work ahead of us. Our home was more than 30 years old and needed considerable work. In this section of the article, we continue to review the improvements made and plans for the future. Year 3 Property Improvements (cont.) New Flooring and Wall Storage The floor was updated and unused space appropriated. The original lino floors were replaced with new tile floors. The back wall of the kitchen had not been used. I installed four open shelves with the bottom …


Letter: Hybrid or Electric UTV?

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HJL and JWR, After conducting Internet research with mixed results, I’m reaching out to the Survival Blog community. Does anyone have experience with electric UTVs, either hybrid gas/electric or all electric? For obvious reasons, the ability to quietly and quickly access remote areas of the homestead has definite advantages. There seem to be multiple choices in all-electric UTVs and hybrids. I should mention that I currently do not have an ATV or UTV at this time. My partially wooded homestead of 50 acres has elevation differences of over 200 feet. Many areas are easily accessible with a conventional 4×4.