Category: Retreat Logistics

Worth Reversal, by 3AD Scout

Being a serious preparedness-minded individual, I often look at venues that offer used or previously owned items for sale. These venues could be flea markets, thrift stores, antique stores, yard or garage sales, auctions, or online sites like Craigslist. It never ceases to amaze me the items that are offered for sale at these venues. When I go to these venues, I have prepping in mind and am looking for items to help make me and my family better prepared. Often, I have to wade through piles of, in my opinion, useless junk. What is useless junk in my book? …


Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 2, by M.M.

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.) #6   12-volt deep cycle batteries and at least two battery charges. (I prefer the 2-,6-, and 10-Amp chargers. I do have a 50-amp charger, but it is hard on a battery. The slower the charge, the better the life expectancy of the battery). These are extremely important and are actually my #2 priority item only after fuel. Get several if they are available. You can build a light system for your property using 12-volt lights or buy an inverter that switches to A/C  use. For outside lighting go to an RV/off-road store …


Thinking About Resilience, by C.H. in Kansas

Introduction I would like to direct this article to new SurvivalBlog readers. Perhaps you were referred here by a friend or coworker. Perhaps you stumbled into SurvivalBlog through an internet search. However you arrived, if you’ve taken the time to poke around, you may be overwhelmed by the abundance of information on preparedness both here and at other sites. As of this writing, the war between Hamas and Israel has entered its third week. The death toll continues to rise. Dead and wounded among the victims—the Israeli citizens and other nationals—number in the thousands. Violent demonstrations against the US have …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Community and Employment – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Much like society today, those who have “the means of production” control industry, finance, and banking are like the nobles. Those who run the factories and institutions are like the vassals and blue collar and farm workers are like the peasants. So, thinking that in times of great social upheaval when a hundred-plus years of technology disappears, we could see feudal-“like” societies form out of the ashes. This is not far-fetched. Unlike hundreds of years ago, most communities are not self-sufficient. The closest thing to a self-sufficient community today would be Amish …


Post-TEOTWAWKI Community and Employment – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

Humans are no strangers to catastrophe. Through the centuries, civilizations across the earth have succumbed to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, plagues, and crop failures. Regardless of where this took place, or the people it affected, there was a rebuilding of society and life went on. For many of us, we focus on surviving the immediate effects of disaster or catastrophe, but few focus on what comes next, the recovery or rebuilding phase. Just like being prepared to survive the immediate impacts of an incident starts in the years long before the disaster ever strikes, so does preparing for rebuilding our …


Some Lessons Learned in Israel’s Kibbutzim

Like most other Americans, I have been closely watching the recent events in Israel.  I traveled there once, as a tourist, for several weeks. On that family trip, we drove up to the northern border with Lebanon, and all the way south to Eilat, on the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba. My wife (Avalanche Lily) has studied Hebrew for many years, and she has traveled to Israel more than a dozen times. In all, she has spent more than three years in Israel. So for us, watching the Israel-Hamas War brings back a lot of our travel memories. Lily lived …


Downsizing: Back to Farm Basics, by SaraSue

Things can change overnight, and recently, they have.  In my opinion, we have entered WWIII.  We don’t know yet how bad it’s going to be. But what we do know is that things are heading south, fast. There is no way to rationalize that we Americans are “going to be okay” with what is happening on the world stage. Not to mention, how quickly goods and services have degraded here at home.  You’d have to have your head stuck so deeply in a sand dune that you can’t get it out.  It is better to stand up and face reality …


Retreat Logistics: Establishing Burn Rates, by 3AD Scout

What is a “burn rate”?  It is simply the period of time it takes to go through a given commodity or resource.  Establishing burn rates are important since it is those burn rates that will help determine how much of an commodity or resource you store before an incident and burn rates will also help you manage your resources in a post-incident environment.   In the Prepping world we already have a few burn rates established.  The amount of calories and water we need per day are for the most part for bare minimums.  That is we know we need about …


Caged Retail Stores: A Sign of Deeper Societal Degeneracy

In this essay, I will be quite brief and to-the-point: The recent waves of large-scale shoplifting, flash mobs, store lootings, and “street takeovers” in America’s cities illustrate a profound change in American society. I can see that it will only be in retrospect that historians will recognize this turning point for America. This is the stage where the basic Social Contract — characterized by civility and trust in retail commerce — has been severed. I found these two articles indicative: Target to partner with Homeland Security to battle organized retail theft — company expects to lose over $1 billion due …


Grab-and-Go Rifle and Pistol Kits for Impromptu Visitors – Part 1, by S4H

Disclaimer: In this article, situations are discussed regarding loaning firearms to friends or relatives for mutual aid and defense of our families and properties. Clearly, one should not allow a mentally ill criminal type touch your guns, but my family doesn’t associate with those types of people anyway. That said, you are responsible for knowing the oppressive laws and unrealistic regulations in your own area – before handing a firearm to anyone. It may indeed be a felony to even let someone else touch or handle a firearm without expressed government approval. I am not a lawyer (because I have …


Hospitality in Exigency: Opening Your Home, by Jonathan Rawles

The tragedies of the wildfires in eastern Washington and on Maui, followed by hurricanes and flooding in California and Florida brought a secondary topic to mind: hospitality in exigency. It’s often alluded to, but it’s worth exploring the practicalities. How can a prepared household effectively support friends and family who have to leave their homes? If you successfully make your household productive and resilient, it will assuredly become a refuge to others at some point. It’s wise to consider what this might look like now. Types of Scenario Let’s start with considering the cases where you might have to offer …


The Death of the Incandescent Lamp, by OhioGalt

I was recently walking through the local Amish hardware and noticed a variety of 12 volt LED lamps with power tool battery adapters for Dewalt and Milwaukee tools. So it seems the Amish have been moving away from the old Aladdin kerosene lamps (which we have a house full of) and more towards modern electric lighting. Along side of the 12volt LED lamps were standard 120v LED and Incandescent lamps. I remembered at that moment our Washington DC administration had quietly banned the sale of Incandescent lamps as of August 1 of this year. My guess is the Amish probably …


Long Term Storage of Household Batteries, by OhioGalt

Several years ago, I began purchasing Lithium Batteries in AA and AAA sizes for long-term storage in case of some event where batteries were not readily available. I was also using them in several trail cams around the property because they would last roughly 10-to-12 months before replacement. I recently went to buy another couple of 48-packs and found the price had significantly increased. The cellular cameras I use offer a rechargeable lithium pack and comparing to lithium AA I found I could pay for the rechargeable pack in less then two sets of AA lithium batteries. Unfortunately, you cannot …


Countering Rampant Food Price Inflation, by SaraSue

When one of my daughters, who has a good job, starts complaining about how insane food and supply prices are, I pay attention.  She has started shopping at Walmart searching for the lowest possible prices.  Her recent cart rung up at $450 and she didn’t buy hardly any food – mostly toilet paper, paper towels, dog and cat food, a few household items, and enough food for a few good meals for her family.  She exclaimed, “This won’t even last us a week!”  I keep telling her to shop Costco for certain items – you get way more product for …


The Time It Takes, by SwampFox

I work as a truck driver. That means I spend a lot of long, boring hours driving from state to state. I have a regular route, covering the same roads each day. On good days, not much happens that is new or exciting, and to pay attention to my job I need a bit of entertainment in the background. So I listen to a lot of audiobooks. A handful of these have been survivalist fiction or preparedness-oriented. I have discovered that many authors and readers may possess some unrealistic ideas about what a prepared life looks like, or what life …