Category: Survival Mindset

Letter: Are We Prepared?

Dear HL and Readers, I am a faithful reader of SurvivalBlog and enjoy the links to related articles. I, along with many of you, am seeing the signs of problems ahead. Your readers are preparing and have beans, bullets, and bandages. They are ready, but are they really? I went to Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. I was part of a Christian mission team who helped with the construction of a home for a family in the Port-au-Prince area. For a period of about eight days, I experienced some incredible things. I slept in a tent inside a …


Traversing the Hinterlands – Part 3, by Iowa Farm Boy

Dangerous Areas It will be extremely difficult to cross this region while avoiding some major cities. For example, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are very close together. You all know as well as I do what happens when people get desperate. How far away from the cities this will effect the countryside, I don’t know. Cities to avoid specifically are the ones with major prisons, like Fort Madison or Anamosa. There are several prisons or minimum security facilities across the region, and someone coming through Iowa needs to do their research and avoid them, if possible. I have spent the …


Letter Re: A Problem Today That is Only Going to Get Worse When SHTF

Those that we’ve urged to prep over the decades and who know we are well stocked up personally have given the typical parting comment from most of them; “Well, at least I know where I’m going when TSHTF”. Clearly implying their only prepping will be gas enough to come here. When I hear that I respond that they won’t get anywhere near here then without the password. “Password!?! What’s the password?” I’ll then cup my hands up to my mouth like I’m yelling in from afar outside the gates: “I brought all my own food!” I’m not laughing or smiling …


This is Your Brain; This is Your Brain When the SHTF, by SERE Guy in OH

The average American today considers comfort their greatest need. There is no scientific research needed to come to this conclusion. Just look around you and you’ll see people worried about vacations, going out to eat, parties, and the list goes on and on. Before I go any further, realize I have nothing against any of those things; in fact, I enjoy those comforts as much as the next person. The difference between us– me and most likely every person reading this website– and the rest of the world is that we understand that all these niceties are fleeting, and we …


What Happens After the End of TEOTWAWKI?, by Virginia Visionary

Many years ago, my wife and I were aghast at things the government was doing, and we were talking frequently with friends in the same state. Several years ago, we realized we needed to make preparations for survival because this ride is obviously not going to end well. We were pleasantly surprised to find many of the same friends thinking exactly the same way. Today, we have a lot of our preparations in place, including food, water, protection, debt freedom, and so forth. Achieving this now has me thinking ahead, as should we all. What’s going to happen after the …


Beyond The B’s…Now What? – Part 2, by Jason (Soon To Be In The Redoubt)

Don’t Be Too Cool For School SurvivalBlog readers, at least on the greater web, believe it or not, have a reputation as being amongst the more educated and affluent members of the preparedness community. Take that for what you will, but up until quite recently I had relied on a work ethic, intelligence, and blessings to continue to secure my rise in my chosen field. I had left college some eight years ago after being stuck in the “somewhere in my senior year” quagmire for what seemed like forever, after deciding that I had plenty of opportunity in my chosen …


Letter Re: Most Important Prepping

HJL, Regarding CC in Ohio, while concerned about his current status, he is also way ahead in that he is aware and attempting to get to his personal end result. He has weapons, ammo, food, he’s a HAM, and he has the mindset that shows he is watching and planning. Many of us (I’m in my 60s and active) understand that we no longer have physical youth on our side. Teamwork is putting together a team that works well together. I’m sure that if CC can keep his ears open, I feel certain he’ll find someone that would love him …


Beyond The B’s…Now What? – Part 1, by Jason (Soon To Be In The Redoubt)

Living a prepared life, as most readers understand, is not something that stops. One is never properly finished preparing. It is not something one works on for a bit and then says, “Okay, I’m done.” It is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency and preparedness. One of the first things most preppers come across in exploring the basics of preparedness is the three B’s– beans, bullets, and Band-aids. How many times have we read, even on this blog, “Make sure you have your beans, bullets, and band-aids squared away first!” That’s sage advice, and we should all follow it. However, what happens …


Letter Re: Illusive Self Sufficiency

Hugh, When I read the letter from RG, I thought, “Did my husband write this?” We have been in the same spot, also at year three of striving for preparedness and self sufficiency. I wrote SB over a year ago; it was the article on Year One at the New Retreat. We have continued our preps and property improvements and are still working very hard. I suspect we will never reach that point where we have thought of everything. Since my husband travels as part of his work, a great deal of the work around the property falls to me. …


Do What You Are Good At, But Work At What You Aren’t, by R.D.

Fear and prudence I’ve never thought of myself as being particularly knowledgeable on specific things regarding preparedness. I wasn’t in the military, so I don’t feel qualified to give “tactical firearms advice”, but I like to shoot and train as much as possible. I’m not an EMT, but I’ve put together several first aid kits that our family feels comfortable using. I’m not a farmer, but we have learned basic gardening over the last seven years in our small urban garden. I’m not a professional mechanic, but I prefer to maintain our cars and equipment largely by myself. I’m not …


Letter Re: Most Important Prepping, by JM

HJL, JM’s article on preppingis very good, well written, and info we need. But, what about senior citizens like myself who are on the downside of 70s, partially disabled by a neurological condition and couldn’t walk a mile if my life depended on it? My wife, who is five years younger and in better shape than myself, can outwork most men. I have adequate weapons, some stored water and food, but I don’t feel we are more than 30-40% prepared. We would like to protect our home as long as possible. We are in an older, smaller sub-division about 45 …


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 …