Category: Survival Mindset

While some of us currently have enough to survive for months and the necessities to survive for much longer, this article will be for the beginner. There are so many different ways to start prepping. My family started by setting financial goals. Getting excited about prepping is really easy, but so is deciding that it won’t work for you. I have seen this before with friends who I have spoken with about what I do. They get really excited and go home and rally the troops. Then they realize that they have no funds to do so. While most Americans …

Mr Rawles, I listened and read as much as I could of the good advice of blogs like this and other sources of inspiration. I got myself an older 4X4 diesel pickup– an ’86 6.9L. Just the other day the original alternator went, but the engine didn’t seem to care as long as it got started. When my car alternator died, I was off the road in minutes. I’m starting to see the value of these old rigs. I’m considering taking off the turbo to eliminate an oil leak and simplify the system, because the turbo increases heat and can …

I really enjoyed the article “Random Thoughts on Prepping, by Stymie.” I want to thank him for writing that article for the blog. For a long time, I’ve also questioned the thinking that the golden horde would migrate to places like Idaho. I keep telling myself that better minds than mine have come to that conclusion, but I still can’t quite buy it. I’ve been thinking long and hard about the issue of establishing a truly remote homestead as a prepping strategy. We bought property in the Sierras, in Northern California, above the snow line. I kind of question how …

Sir: There has been some debate as to whether ‘the Collapse’ will precipitate quickly or not. I think it will depend on the immediate cause of the collapse. I was in the Ba’ath Party Headquarters in Baghdad in 2003 a couple of days after our cruise missiles hit it, starting the war. It was though Saddam Hussein was there watching a movie, but he was not. I walked through the Headquarters, and saw blood and brain tissue on the walls. I found a cruise missile fan blade on the roof. All the carpets, vases, pictures, furniture, et cetera had been …

Hugh, The poster of this article did a good job overall. One thing that was mentioned in brief was dehydration in cold weather. In the Army, while stationed in Germany on a few tours during the winter, I helped to assist fellow soldiers who were in fact dehydrated due to “not feeling thirsty”. Thirst is a lousy gauge of hydration. By the time you are thirsty, it is too late. One item not mentioned was how to make sure that you have plenty of potable water. In cities, snow melt can be contaminated with the exhaust of automobiles, and if …

In the 1970s as a native Texan living in Houston, I was a listener and reader of Howard Ruff, and I was a devotee of Mel Tappan and Jeff Cooper. I subscribed to Mel Tappan’s Personal Survival and had two of his books– Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival. I even paid to talk to him about preps on the telephone. Then I journeyed to Oregon looking for a place and met the man. I was surprised to see him in a wheel chair, complete with a 45 strapped to the chair. I explained to him about a chapter in …

You’ve got your bug out kit, know your route, have the map, GPS, song-line, idea about who, what, where, when, and how; you even have the shiny where-with-all to bury stashes, practice an escape plan, share it with family, and then sleep better at night. “Be prepared” is the motto, and you have all the supplies, but can you succeed when the unpredictable, yet inevitable true survival situation confronts you? That question stalks your mind from the shadows in their many forms. Making a primitive fire from scratch takes practice, but can you make that fire when you’ve only had …

Hello all! I’ve been a reader for a couple of years now, but really wish I had found this site a lot earlier. The prepper primer posts are, hands down, the best comprehensive posts for beginning preppers. They are not so technical that interest wanes, but they give a great overview of important aspects of survival in a SHTF scenario. I am going to have my teenage son read them. There is one item I would like to address, however, and that is the bit about the backroads of rural America. The true backroads are the unpaved and poorly marked …

I was born and raised in Québec City, Canada. For those who don’t remember their geography class, Québec City is located about 160 miles northeast from Montréal. Considering the latitude and the very special climate (mainly caused by the sudden widening of the Saint-Lawrence River), one could call the city the northernmost “major” city in North America. Winters are comparable to those in Norway, yet we get more snow, on average. They get about 31 inches of snow in Oslo; we get 124 inches. I call that a difference. Just check Wikipedia to see if I’m right. Then, let’s take …

Communication If traveling by foot, plan on only taking the AM/FM crank radio. It will last for weeks on a couple of AA batteries and for much longer with its crank power. All the HAM radio equipment and walkie talkies are not worth the weight and have much higher power consumptions. If you can, always listen to any radio using headphones in one ear so you do not attract people to your location with the radio noise. Radio stations may only be operational for short bursts throughout the day, so try all the AM and FM frequencies at different times …