Category: Survival Mindset

Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI), by N.N.

My experience is based on working with the SMI population in a behavioral health outpatient clinic and through personal experience with a spouse with a SMI diagnosis as well as a parent with an SMI diagnosis. The types of individuals that are in the SMI population vary wildly and can been acutely symptomatic and asymptomatic depending on their diagnosis. This is NOT a complete guide on mental illness; it’s only an experienced perspective on mental illness. Acute symptoms Acute symptoms are often easy to identify; they include talking to self, responding to internal stimuli, depression, aggression, or suicide. Common symptoms …


Guest Article: Are Mountain Lions More Important Than the Safety of People, Children, and Pets? – Part 1, by William E. Simpson

In the late 1980s, it was determined by a relatively small group of financially- and politically-biased scientists and their lobbyists that the population of mountain lions (aka: cougar, puma) in California was dangerously low. So, they launched a massive media campaign to convince Californians that there was a genuine problem, giving rise to the 1990 California State legislation that provided a “protected” status for mountain lions. However, there was no overwhelming body of scientific evidence supporting such a claim. If there had been such credible evidence supported by a collective of unbiased and objective wildlife biologists, forming a majority opinion, …


Letter Re: Illusive Self-Sufficiency

HJL, I have a question for you and the SB readers. This is our third year living on our rural retreat and fifth year prepping in earnest. We have animals, a large garden, stored food, and other essentials. We’ve come a long way, but I can’t help but think when I survey everything how far we still have to go to become truly self-sufficient. Our garden wouldn’t come close to feeding our family year-round, but I’m already stretched to capacity with the current size, not to mention the animals and general farm chores (like cutting and splitting wood for the …


The Most Important Preps Of Your Life – Part 1, by J.M.

Many have threads, blogs, magazines and even books on the single most important prep that people have to stockpile. Some of the common phrases you may hear include “you need three of this” and “make sure this is in your bag”. Whether it be weapons, tactical gear, water filters, can openers, or any number of other items, all of these things are nice to have in multiples of each. Like the old saying goes “one is none and two is one”, but there is something that most people forget when it comes to their preps. It’s something that a lot …


The ABC’s and 123’s of Survival Preparedness – Part 2, by The Circumspect Survivalist

Now we will move to the physical aspects of preparedness as they relate to survival. Survival Systems Physical fitness is a given when talking about preparedness, but a detailed discussion of it is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that it is of vital importance and if you aren’t in shape right now you’re at an extreme disadvantage. During whatever time we have left, it would be prudent to at least take some positive steps to improve your fitness level if you haven’t already made it a priority in your life. Survival systems, on the other …


Letter: How People Behave with Galactic Stupidity

Dear Hugh, A local supermarket announced that it was having a re-furbishment, and to clear the shelves it would open at 6:30am on a Sunday morning and all goods will be at 50% marked price. Now, think what you would buy. Make a list and read on. One of my tenants told me this, and so my wife and I checked out the store and confirmed the situation was just as reported. We came home and rearranged the freezers to see how much space we had available; one of our neighbors was let into the situation and she had space …


The ABC’s and 123’s of Survival Preparedness – Part 1, by The Circumspect Survivalist

End of the Line For those who are already deeply entrenched in the fortified bunker of their survival awareness, it is universally understood that we as a nation and a world are about to transit through a very dangerous and challenging period in our history. Whatever your personal beliefs, there is no question that either because of an economic collapse, social and or political breakdown, another world war, or one or more environmental catastrophes, our present way of life is about to change forever. The days are drawing near, if not already upon us, when the luxuries and services that …


One Yukon Learning Event, by S.H.

On a mid-November day years ago, I set out to walk over a high, broad, timbered ridge through some apparently uninhabited spruce, poplar, and birch woods in the Yukon Territory, Canada. I was headed over and down to the lower part of a long creek about seven direct miles away. I carried metal tags that I’d received from the Mining Recorder’s Office for nailing to two sets of placer claim posts that I had cut, labeled, signed, and recorded a few weeks before, one set done by Power of Attorney. Daylight hours were now becoming seriously short at that subarctic …


Planning Your Preps Using the Rule of 3s, by Last NJ Conservative

I have been an avid reader and novice practitioner of prepping for some time now and, like many, I have been bewildered by the vast amount of information and details available on the subject matter. One area in particular that I have found utterly confusing has been tying it all together to develop a start up, or a beginning plan, to guide us in a prioritized and scaled approach. Using some basic doctrine that is already available on the Internet and modifying some common sense tenets into it, I believe a generic footprint follows to assist you in your efforts. …


Personal Notes of Application From SurvivalBlog’s “The Frog in A Slowly Heating Pot”- Part 2, by C.F.

Self-reliance/independence Self-reliance and independence is required in every area, if we wish to be free. It is always better to take the side of truth. Freedom is dangerous; tyranny is worse. Helpless dependence upon humanity is bondage. Helpless dependence upon Christ is freedom, for He is our source of ability. Remember the principle “that every man be armed” does not require that every man be armed with any particular tool but that every man be armed with the most effective equipment he can obtain and be trained in its proper and effective use. “Put on the whole armor…, and having …


Personal Notes of Application From SurvivalBlog’s “The Frog in A Slowly Heating Pot”- Part 1, by C.F.

First of all, let me say that Mr. N.H., who wrote The Frog in a Slowly Heating Pot, is a skilled writer; he provided a very picturesque, succinct, and articulate article. More importantly, the experience he shared was dynamic and highly educational. It was not some far-fetched, improbable scenario, but a very common and probable one, and the lessons he learned can be a blessing to many, it seems. Yes, we have questioned the story’s authenticity, but upon close examination I cannot find anything that would prove it to be fictitious based on internal evidence. If it is fictitious, the …


Prepping Like It’s 1920, by G.S.

My grandparents were born at the turn of the century, right around 1900. They were married around 1920, and my grandmother died in 1923, a year after my dad was born. Their entire life was, in a snapshot, the epitome of today’s prepper beliefs. If it didn’t happen virtually without the involvement of anybody except the immediate family and what was there at the farm, it didn’t happen. It did help that they were far in the woods on top of a mountain in Vermont. The funny thing is that when you really look into it, they had everything we …


Letter: Food Shortage

Dear HL and Readers of SurvivalBlog, We all know that in a TEOTWAWKI situation, people will panic. After what I saw this week, I believe it will happen sooner and to a worse degree than I previously thought. I live outside a small town in the Midwest. We have one mom-and-pop grocery store, a “milk store”, two convenience stores, Walmart, and Kroger as our choices for local grocery shopping. I noticed the shelves at Kroger were somewhat bare the last two times I shopped. I was wondering why this was the case but just thought the employees were not doing …


Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game! – Part 9 of 9, by Pat Cascio

Chapter Seven Threats in the Future…Today? Some so-called “experts” believe that future threats to our safety and well-being will come from our children. In a manner of speaking, they are correct in their assumptions. However, you need only watch the evening news to see that the future has already arrived. Read on. Los Angeles, California District Attorney, Gil Garcetti, probably best summed it up when he said, “My God, this could happen to me . . . What is going on here?” Garcetti was in a news conference describing what was being called the “Wrong Way Shooting” of an innocent, …


Letter Re: Becoming A Warrior At Gunsite Academy, by J.H.

Hugh, There is no way a civilian can develop the proper mindset, skills, and base of knowledge required to be considered a “warrior” by attending a class for a weekend or even a week. Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say. Classes like this can be beneficial to an individual as long as they do not leave the false impression that a warrior has been created. This false belief can lead someone to get hurt if they respond with inflated confidence during an actual life-threatening situation. There is no way to become a warrior, unless you make …