A Prepping Reality Check – Part 1, by Mama Bear

(How-To Think, Plan and Make Decisions in Preparation for When the SHTF) Let’s have a reality check for all preppers, survivalists, and conspiracy theorists. How serious are you about being ready for TEOTWAWKI? I read many articles on the blogs about guns, food storage, politics, etc. But one thing that I read very lttle of is anything on the issue of decision making, attitude, commitment and how to think about surviving the coming TEOTWAWKI. All the guns and food storage in the world will be of no benefit to you or your family unless accompanied by decision making, priorities, survival …




Seven Steps to Survival, by Allen A.

Back in the day, when my hair was a different colour, the Seven Steps to Survival was part of the survival course that I taught.  This article will discuss those steps and how I applied them in a recent survival event that I found myself in. RECOGNITION Simple as it may sound the first step to surviving is to identify and accept that you have a problem and that it is serious.  Denial of your situation or the refusal to accept how serious it is can get you killed or injured.  Without acknowledging the nature and seriousness of the situation …




Psychological and Physical Survival – Part 3, by K.B. MD

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) — Part 3 – Preventive Strategies Yesterday, in Part 2 we covered disaster’s effects such as depression, grief, and PTSD. Today in Part 3, we will focus on numerous preventive strategies. It is imperative to work proactively at protecting the psychological health of your entire group. This will require advance study and forethought for some unless you are blessed to have an individual in your group with medical and/or counseling experience to call upon. Nevertheless, it is crucial to think, read, and plan for psychological stress management as we do for other …




Ready for TEOTWAWKI: What’s Bringing Us Along – Part 2, by K.G.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Food for Health I am also working on growing and preserving my own food. This is another family project that my wife and children enjoy participating in. We do not have a large plot of land, so we need to make the best use of what we do have. We really challenge ourselves to see if we can get more than the preceding year. We have had some successes and some setbacks. We learn more from the setbacks than we do from the successes. When the divine hand of providence reaches down …




Ready for TEOTWAWKI: What’s Bringing Us Along – Part 1, by K.G.

As we age, we need to understand our new limitations and be able to adapt to them, overcome the ones we can and add new skills commensurate with our abilities. The timeless adage “if I knew then what I know now” is quite applicable to my prepping and survival journey. The focus of this article will be on adding new skills that will complement our existing skill set so that we can still be of service and not just survive but thrive in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. The Importance of Family and Like-Minded Friends Having a wife and family members that …




Economics & Investing For Preppers

This is my last Economics & Investing column post for calendar year 2019, so today I’m posting my 2020 recommendations: Stocks: Minimize. The unprecedented 11+ year U.S. economic expansion cannot continue indefinitely. So far, the banksters have kept “the everything bubble” expanding by means of artificially low interest rates. At some point in the near future, the bubble will deflate, and possibly pop spectacularly. Keep in mind that 2020 is a presidential election year. If The Powers That Be (TPTB) want to see President DJT ousted, then they can do so with an orchestrated crash. If they merely allow interest …




Open Fire Primitive Cooking, by M.M.

In part because I like to eat well, and in part because of my curiosity to learn and apply new skills, I taught myself to cook.  In recent years, I became passingly familiar with Central and South American cooking styles, and couldn’t help but connect some of these methods to the self-reliant folks among you.  Each method can be done over an open fire, can be scaled to feed a multitude, makes delicious food, and has a certain “wow factor” when you feed your friends.  I’ve used all these methods extensively for several years and they have been a great …




Living Off The Grid – Part 2, by V.F.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) In October of the first year, I remember going out to take a shower in the “shower room” outside. By the time I had finished I was sobbing, crying incoherently, full of pity for myself. You see, it was already freezing cold and while I thought of solutions like adding a heater and so forth, I realized that I just didn’t want to have to deal with this anymore. But I had made my bed and I was going to have to sleep in it as the old saying goes. I let …




Living Off The Grid – Part 1, by V.F.

When I was a child, my mother moved to a very remote area of Eastern Washington and we lived off the grid. This was long before the term had been coined, as far as I know. The property did not have a house. We lived in a little travel trailer. We went to town once a month and did laundry at the laundromat. We boiled water from the creek to wash dishes. The creek was also our refrigerator. We ran a PVC pipe in the creek and placed a horse trough in the creek. This is where we kept drinks …




Prepper Lessons from Noah’s Ark, by C.H.

Before I begin this article, I should clarify that I believe that Noah’s flood is a historical fact, not an allegorical myth. It actually happened; a flood that covered the whole earth and destroyed all humanity and all animals on the earth, with the exception of one man, his family, and those animals with him. As I see it, if one can’t believe the Bible about the flood, one can’t believe it about the resurrection either. Noah is included in the ‘cloud of witnesses’ in Hebrews 11:7. These witnesses are to encourage us to ‘lay aside every encumberance and the …




Getting Out of Dodge – Part 3, by Doc

(Continued from Part 2.  This concludes the article series.) Getting back to the construction details:  I welded up a steel frame and built hinges using 1” bolts and pipe and 3/8” steel plate for the roof of the patio on the East end of the building. I used metal roof material supported by 6”x2” heavy tubing and 2” angle and a lot of rebar and a 3/8’ steel plate for the hydraulic cylinder to lift against. I bought a 5” diameter hydraulic cylinder 48” long and welded a trunion to steel plates on both ends. With the cylinder attached to …




What I Learned From the Recent Power Outage – Part 2, by A.K.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The house is located in a rural locale with only two other homes on the road (friends of theirs). They have a well and septic system. And they even have a decent amount of food stored such as canned goods that I could access in an emergency(and pay them back for later). I was pretty pleased to realize this. I actually felt the best here (and safest) that I have felt during my entire time traveling. I figured that in an emergency I’d be okay here for a while. It’s even located …




One Last Chance, by J.W.F.

And the Lord God said: ”Hear my children a father’s plea; the beginning of wisdom; is to get wisdom. At the cost of all you have, gain understanding” (Emphasis mine. Though the Word of God itself is enough for emphasis). I am 63 yrs old. My ‘awareness’ that something was not right came about some time when I was a teen. It was an imperative enough sense, that from that moment, I began to read as much as I could. Not just books with inspiring tales, but tomes which held information pertaining to Faith. As well as prophecies, and conspiracies. …




JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week I have a special recommendations column devoted to countersurveillance references and products. Books: Claire Wolfe: The Freedom Outlaw’s Handbook: …




Thoughts on Survival at Rosh Hashana, by Ze’ev

Editor’s Introductory Note:  This essay describes a SurvivalBlog reader’s thoughts on the nature of survival and the meme of survivalism, from the perspective of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. This was celebrated just one week ago. Rosh Hashana is a holiday, but a serious one. It is a time of introspection and renewal of faith.  L’Shana Tovah Tiketevu!  – JWR — What does it mean to ‘survive?. There are different levels of survival for human beings. And even those ‘levels’ are subtle–based on how we perceive notions of survival. For more than 15 years I’ve oscillated between binges of …