Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: What’s a Dime Worth?

HJL, The contributor states $4 today will buy: “Now, we ask, when we walk down the aisles of our local grocery store, what’s currently priced for about $4? Let’s start with the staples: Two gallons of milk Two or three loaves of bread Two or three dozen eggs” I am not sure where he is shopping, but it is obvious it is not in the USA. Milk is closer to $4 for ONE gallon, bread (decent bread) is over $3 a loaf, and eggs are selling from $3-6 a dozen depending on organic/ NON Gmo etc he also writes: For …


It’s TEOTWAWKI and the Living’s Easy, by N.M.

I’m talking about the upside of long-term, remote, Rocky Mountain survival. The very fact that you are reading this essay means that you are concerned about the state of the world around you and that you have serious concerns about what you are seeing. Whether your concerns center on the threat of attack from outside forces, economic collapse, fears that elected officials in the American government are taking us irreparably away from the government envisioned by our founding fathers (my concern), or the Zombie Apocalypse (my wife’s favorite), you’ve decided that the time has come to prepare for the possibility …


Our Family’s Journey to Preparing For an Extended Grid Down Event- Part 2, by Old Man

Katrina was one of those life-changing moments, when we awoke and realized how unprepared we really were. Katrina caused us to completely overhaul and step up our prepping. We changed many things, but for purposes of this article I will focus on the power aspects. We began to ask ourselves what would we do if we had no power for weeks. We answered that question by taking an inventory of everything electrical in the house. Due to the work we previously did with reducing our electrical usage, we had a complete inventory. Additionally, as an unanticipated benefit, we had already …


Letter: Another Note on Infant Nutrition

Hugh, We raised six healthy kids on a diet best described as “locally grown, in harmony with the seasons”. Unless you’ve got the food stockpile of the century, you too will soon be eating primarily “locally grown, in harmony with the seasons” when those refrigerated rail cars quit rolling and are looted out. We live in the grain belt, and whole grains in one form or another play a major role in our diet as they have for much of mankind’s history. I’m not talking about white bread, Doritos, or noodles here but the “Staff of Life” freshly milled whole …


My Experiences And Lessons Learned As A Suburban Prepper- Part 1, by CGman

As I sit here typing I wonder again what has taken me so long to write down these thoughts. I think this website is one of the most important places on the Internet for people who are actually concerned for the future of their family and this country. I cannot begin to write down all of the things I have learned and used from reading the articles on SurvivalBlog. My reason for typing this article is not to win a prize but to try to pass some important information along to others who are in similar circumstances. As an upper-middle …


Letter Re: Head Up, Eyes Open, by Hondo

HJL, I would like to comment on the article, “Head Up, Eyes Open”, by Hondo in the 10/30/2015 blog. I too have a background in law enforcement and am currently working as a full-time trainer with a state academy. I will strongly agree with the author that the vast majority of people in public are tied to their “smart phone” or some sort of attention-stealing electronic device. Professionals in the criminal justice field are not immune. Just this last week, while working with two significantly different groups of trainees, I noted that at every break the first thing upon clearing …


Feeding The Vulnerable At TEOTWAWKI: Infant Nutrition- Part 2, by P.G.

Plant-derived Milk Substitutes Are Dangerous For Infants Plant “milks” should never be used as a substitute for breastmilk or infant formula. Without exception, they are too low in calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Soy, rice, almond, and sweet chestnut milks have been associated with severe problems in infancy, including death. Protein malnutrition and growth arrest, rickets, hypothyroidism, iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, seizures, and coma have all been reported in infants who were fed these substitute milks. Substitutes For Commercial Baby Foods Most pediatricians recommend that infants receive only breastmilk, no water or fruit juice, for the first six months …


Six Prepping Principles Derived from One Year as an Expat- Part 2, by G.L.

Fourth Principle: Prepare for Where You Are I can think of no greater irony than for someone who is a “prepper” moving somewhere and not doing some of the basic analysis required to adjust the preps for where you are. Still, I have talked to several like-minded expats who basically suspended their preps while on assignment. In researching the assignment country, we noted that there are particular risks for which we have never specifically prepped in our part of the U.S. These are risks for which our preps would contribute to the preparedness required for those events. This can be …


Six Prepping Principles Derived from One Year as an Expat- Part 1, by G.L.

About a year and a half ago, my company offered an expatriate assignment for a period of between two and three years. For those who don’t know, an expatriate assignment is where an employee and his or her family is relocated to another country (from now on referred to as the “assignment country”). In large corporations, this generally includes certain benefits to make the transition easier and “worth it” to the employee. For our family, this news came at a great time from a career point of view and for the age or our kids and what an international move …


Soothing the Savage [Beast], by Captnswife

It’s easy, when preparing for the worst, to concentrate only on material needs and ignore the less tangible but vital elements of health. Music, and the ability to produce it, will be an extremely important salve on the mental, emotional, and even physical wounds of a diminished lifestyle, should the SHTF. Modern science has shown us that there are tangible physical benefits of listening to music, including the ability to help in healing illness and injury. We must remember it’s only been in the most recent decades that the Western musical experience became the passive listening of professional recording artists. …


Letter Re: The Harsh Truth About Bugging Out of Cities

HJL, A very short but pointed book is How Do You Kill 11 Million People?. If things collapse, there will be radio broadcasts or just assumptions that rescue will come. The Jews were told by the Nazis that the trains were to take them to safety so they didn’t fight until they couldn’t. I’ve been through two major “grid down” situations in an urban setting. The first was an ice storm in southeastern Michigan, where there was no power for two weeks. The second was the east coast blackout about a decade ago. In the first case, it was just …


What We Lack In Training Can Be An Advantage- Part 2, by R.W.

Unfortunately, when we talk about FM and defense, we are probably going to wind up taking it up a notch to talk about guns and, of course, which guns are best for a WROL situation. Tons of articles abound about this topic, but suffice it to say I believe it is our duty to have a weapon or weapons and be people who are trained and proficient at using them effectively. Though the adage says “He who runs away will live to play another day,” that may not always be an option; if confrontation can be avoided and if use …


Letter Re: On the Golden Horde

Good day, Mr Rawles. It’s been a while since I’ve written to you or submitted anything, almost half a decade, in fact. How time flies. At any rate, having approached prepping from many angles for near a decade now, I wanted to share an opinion about the much-discussed Golden Horde. People seem infatuated with the idea of predicting what the uninitiated will do when a civilization-ending calamity occurs. “People will stay put,” says one. “People will flood out of the city,” says another. Bitter arguments ensue, neither recognizing that the very fact that they’re arguing indicates that they’re both right …


Letter: A Few Random Thoughts

Hugh, Here are some random thoughts on more outdoor work than usual when water is precious: Stock talcum powder, no-rinse washes, Lubriderm (or generic) hand lotion, lip balm. More on non-power tools: Get lots of can openers, because they all fail, older U.S.-made ones from yard sales will last longer; stock U.S.-made GI versions as backup because they always work. Egg beaters and hand drills with an idler gear on the back side are more durable, not just from the support but because they are better quality to begin with. Antique shops are high $ place to shop for hand …


Letter Re: Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness

Dear Editor: I have a response to Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness (A Cautionary Tale), by Bob C. from Oct. 9, 2015. H is article brings out the idea that beauty is way more than skin deep, an idea that I totally agree with and often share with young people. My husband and I are in the ministry and we often deal with teens who have not been taught the value of selecting a mate based on other qualities besides physical attraction. So, I think I understand the author’s point. I would just like to comment that …