Category: Survival Mindset

Avoiding Prepping Tunnel Vision – Part 1, by T.Z.

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Both news media and social media have the ability to quickly spread information all throughout the world. When news of a disaster reaches preppers, we like to quickly find solutions to mitigate risk to ourselves and our loved ones. However, in their zeal to find solutions, many preppers get tunnel vision. They only focus on one or two kinds of disasters, failing to consider the unanticipated consequences that a disaster might have. It is interesting to note that many preppers stockpile food, water, and ammunition, yet underprepare for the second and third order effects of the disaster. In this essay …


Prepping and Survival as a Mindset, by F.B.

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People — being people — have all kinds of reactions to “prepping.” Some get it. Some think they get it. And some consider themselves too sophisticated to “prep” because that implies the system will fracture; so to them preppers are “extremists of doom.” I’m not a prepper; I’m just a Dad responsible for a family. And once you wrap your mind around that, you’re already down that slippery slope of being a “prepper.” Prepping Begins in the Brain I have life insurance, like any middle class salary man. I pay for it every month. I don’t think I’ll die in …


The Simplicity that Prepared Us – Part 2, by John S.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) COLD-HEARTED US DIPLOMATS and FRIENDLY FOREIGN ENVOYS It was a shock to me that our own diplomats (some, not all) hate missionaries and Christian humanitarians. I found this out, directly. My sister is a diplomat at the defunct Department of State (DOS). I was aghast that she joined such a liberal, hate filled left wing organization! The lengthy, dangerous lines at US Embassies in Africa was a big reason we returned back to America. People were stabbed in line there in Nairobi, in 2016. There’s no priority for US citizens, because your …


The Simplicity that Prepared Us – Part 1, by John S.

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We grew up in the woods of northwestern Montana. Life was tough. We were five kids and shared each others clothes, while growing up. Mom and dad worked a hard, simple routine. We didn’t have ski passes, adornments, and excesses. We had the bare minimum. We got mocked a lot, by the social climbers in school, church and work. Wealthy people stood out in our small Montana village. I didn’t understand the value of hardship growing up, until decades later. As a child, I complained at times, not comprehending the valuable life skills our struggling parents displayed to us, daily. …


Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 2, by Ani

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(Contined from Part 1. This concludes the article.) If it were spring or summer, I would also expect many refugees to head to what they perceive of as a good place to pitch a tent and set up “camp” such as farm fields, your “back forty”, the woods behind your house, any stretch of land that appears “unoccupied” etc. I know for sure that many urban/suburban people don’t view rural land as being “owned” in the same way they do their apartments or front lawn/back yard. They also see this as being way more than anyone needs. So why not …


Consider Horde Mentality in Your Planning – Part 1, by Ani

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As a prepper for many years, I’ve put some consideration into trying to understand the mentality of the “hordes” who might be forced to leave their cities and heavily populated suburbs, in the event of a major disaster. I think that while we may not know how things are going to unfold or what sort of disaster might provoke people into leaving and essentially becoming refugees, we can consider some of the more likely to occur scenarios. Doing this will let us examine how well-situated we are in our own homes, the risks that we might be most susceptible to, …


Safety Versus Security, by Michael Z. Williamson

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I have a few brief observations: Your typical citizen is a pushover who’s all-in on living in a police state to be “safe.” Example 1: A while back, I had an Australian woman perusing the wares in my booth. She looked at a reproduction rapier. “Very nice. But we wouldn’t be allowed to own something like that. Keeps us safe, though.”* “Oh, are random rapier duels in the street something you worried about in Sydney?” You could almost see her neurons engage. *Swords are not, in fact, banned in Aus. But that she assumed they were proves my point again. …


A Prepping Reality Check – Part 1, by Mama Bear

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(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.

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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

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(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.

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(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.

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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.

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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.

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(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 …