Category: Survival Mindset

Preparedness and Homesteading as a Middle-Aged Woman, by P.B.

This is what I know, but I am no expert.  This is what I do and I am sometimes successful….most times half successful. I know about preparing for emergencies and learning to homestead.  I live a small homesteading life with my husband of almost 27 years while working a full-time medical job and caring for my sister who is wheelchair-bound and completely dependent.  We raise turkeys for meat as well as meat and laying chickens. I was inspired back in the 1970s by the television show The Waltons.  Living a simpler, self-sufficient life seemed the best.  Surrounded by a large family …


On Leadership, by Old Bobbert

Editor’s Introductory Note:  This is the 30th article written by Old Bobbert that has been posted in SurvivalBlog.  In all, he’s written more than 97,000 words for SurvivalBlog, and we are grateful! — True leadership is a status conferred by knowledgeable persons whose choices reflect their recognition of ability, experience, integrity, character, and a full commitment to a common cause or endeavor. Being chosen as a leader generally is a result of a decision that they will be supported and enabled by the leader to be successful and secure in the common group efforts. Often the new group members have …


Training Yourself For Preparedness, by Joe Dolio

So many of the people in the preparedness community build massive stockpiles of supplies, including food, camping gear, backpacks, weapons & ammo, and all that ultra tacti-cool stuff. The problem is, they rarely get off the couch and train, and they rarely get out and use their gear. It does you no good to have a cool backpacking tent, but have no idea how to set it up. Having an ultra-light backpacking stove is great, unless you have no idea how to use it. Your 70 pound “bug out bag” may very well be well-stocked, but unless you’ve trained on …


The Honeypot Survivalist, by Gnorizon

Surviving virtually any event largely comes down to resource availability, planning, groups and perhaps most critically thinking. Thinking is the one innate ability that separates humanity from the wild and, arguably, from other humans unable or unwilling to adjust to new events; history, particularly noted in war, is replete with such examples ranging from the macro level down to the individual. The ability to leverage thinking can compensate for a weakness in resource availability, planning and groups – such as cohesion of individuals in the group, its longevity and so on. The purpose of this article is to present information …


Readying Yourself for Inflationary Times

As a boy, I can remember my grandfather, Ernest E. Rawles, saying to me: “If you consistently save ten percent of what you earn, then you’ll never go to The Poor House.” That was great advice, coming from someone who had lived through the truly traumatic deflationary Great Depression of the 1930s. But today, we can see the looming threat of another economic depression, and this one will most likely be a traumatic inflationary depression. And this one may last even longer than a decade. In an inflationary depression, even millions of dollars in “savings” in cash (that is: greenbacks …


A Moving Story, by Uncle Reid

Think about having to move all your stuff. Think about the weight. And the volume. The Wuhan Flu put my wife and me on the unemployment line on March 16, 2020. Living in northern New Jersey (NJ), in Bergen County with its nearly 1 million inhabitants, 25 miles from New York City, with incredibly high property and personal income taxes was no longer tenable. We had a place to “bug out” to. My son had moved to Tennessee a few years ago and had a bed for us. But just a bed. No room for our 60 super pails, our …


Building Prepper Infrastructure – Part 3, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Can you hear me now? How do you plan on communicating when your cellphone doesn’t work? There are numerous radio options available including FRS/GMRS, MURS, CB, Marine band, and ham bands. Having spare radios and accessories will be important and those spares should be stored in Faraday cages. The problem with radio communications is that they are not secure, meaning others can listen in on your conversations gathering information that might then be used against you. Some of those radios will require batteries too that may give out at some point and …


20 Reasons Why America’s Next Bank Holiday Will Be a Nightmare (Updated)

JWR’s Introductory Note: Today, in lieu of our regular bi-weekly Economics and Investing column, I’m presenting an update to an article that I wrote for SurvivalBlog, back in June of 2012, titled:  20 Reasons Why America’s Next Bank Holiday Will Be a Nightmare. If anyone compares this with the original edition, you will see that I’m standing by the majority of my 2012 predictions and recommendations. If anything, nine years later, the threats that we’d face in a banking crisis will be even greater, because of increased reliance on electronic payment systems, power grid reliance, Internet reliance, and the larger …


Preparedness Principles – Part 2, by Old Bobbert

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Bobbert’s Principle #5 – Principles are never my personal possession I try daily to practice the principles regularly promoted on Sundays as being the right way to conduct my life, and as to how I should treat others, and what to teach my family, But I am also fully aware that these fundamental principles are not owned by any belief system. We can confidently look to any, and every, good and worthy example for enlightenment and information. Additionally, as preppers / leaders, we must never forget that “Being Wrong Does Not Make …


Living In The Age Of Deception And Betrayal

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For the past 12 years, I’ve been telling my readers that we are living in an age of deception and betrayal. My first use of that phrase in SurvivalBlog was In 2008. Here is a brief excerpt from that essay: “I urge all SurvivalBlog readers to redouble their efforts to keep a low profile in their communities and their presence on the Internet. If the Cold War reemerges with the same intensity as the Cuban Missile Crisis, we may very well soon enter an age of deception and betrayal that could sweep up innocents as well as malefactors. It is …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Today, on Christmas Day, in place of my normal Friday news column, I have this special bit of investing commentary for my readers: Investing In Your Children’s Future Today, December 25th, for most Americans, is a holiday of generous excess. We live in a still relatively prosperous nation, and we are a people known for our generosity. One end of your house is most likely strewn with bits of wrapping paper and ribbons. Your children or grandchildren are surely playing with their new toys, dolls, and games. A few of them are probably pouting, because they didn’t receive a Playstation …


Eight Ways to Make Your Days Count, by Elli O.

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With the global pandemic, the inconclusive election results, the weird weather, and pending winter, it seems that some people are in a shopping frenzy, trying to prepare for their uncertain future. I believe they call it “topping off their preps”. Others, still, are doing very little to prepare. If you are reading this article then the reason for your inactivity is probably not denial of the possibly “end times”. It is very likely that you are just overwhelmed with everything that you think needs to be done RIGHT NOW! How can we stay motivated? How can we look at our …


What Happens When You Get Old, by R.F.D.

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I have been blessed with good health and a clear mind these many years. I also have been blessed with inherited traits, or maybe they were learned, which have allowed me to pursue interesting (for me) activities outside my job during my working career. These activities have mainly revolved around becoming self-sufficient, physically capable, working with my hands, and clear thinking. Another trait that may be good or bad is, I tend to be quite obsessive when, I,m picking up a new skill. I was fortunate in being born late in the Great Depression and having parents who were brought …


Tips for Moving to the Country, by The Novice

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Civil unrest has rocked many American cities. Looting, arson, assault and murder are common. As a result, a growing flood of refugees is fleeing the cities and their surrounding suburbs in order to seek safety in more rural settings. For those of you who may be voting with your feet in this way, I have gathered some tips regarding moving to the country. These tips deal primarily with unfamiliar things you may experience in a rural setting, and how to best respond to them. SurvivalBlog readers with experience living in the country are encouraged to supplement my list in the …


Ready Yourself for a Turbulent 2021 and Beyond

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The year 2020 will be remembered as an exceptionally turbulent year, marked by multiple worldwide crises and massive urban protests and riots. It has been a year of significant drama and trauma. I do not expect that 2021 will mark a “return to normality.”  If anything, 2021 will be just as jarring to our collective psyche. Parenthetically, I should mention that I created a meme for that. In this essay, I’m posting my recommendations for SurvivalBlog readers on how to ready yourself and your family for any of the following in 2021: Economic Turmoil Sociopolitical Upheaval Global Military and Terrorism …