Category: Survival Mindset

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 …

Traveling Not all those who wander are lost[1]. We are not men of Numenor keeping the evil of Sauron at bay. In the situation for which this document is written, your goal should be to travel to somewhere where your odds at survival are greater than your current location. Our car has two spare tires– one full-size tire in the back and one smaller one under the front of the car. The car’s manual describes how to change a tire. Our car has a full hydraulic-size jack in the back (in the blue Tupperware container). This jack is much more …

HJL, I saw a link to this in the Galts Gulch Daily Digest. I still am amazed that people think that they deserve such handouts without having to put forth any effort whatsoever. It reminds me of the documentary on the Pruitt-Igoe housing project failure in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe was where people who were provided with low income housing allowed their neighborhoods to become overrun with prostitution, crime, and drugs, but were not willing to do anything about it. Other than call the police for someone else to fix their problem that is. My children are Millennials, but they have …

Dear Sir: For those who plan to leave the big cities in the event of disaster, the critical question is when to go. Leaving too soon means missing work and family obligations, but leaving too late may well be fatal. I am guessing the Internet will be down by then, so do you have any wise guidance in advance of that time? Thanks – Worried HJL Replies: This is always the million dollar question, and if I knew the answer I could be a very rich man. The real answer depends on you and your situation. For some, the answer …

Food and Water I recommend making a catalog of everything in our stores, if time allows. Do this for sure if you are staying at our home. Open all of our buckets; some contain non-food items! Do not forget to include items in the garage, shed, and throughout the house that may be useful. This list will be invaluable when it comes to planing what to cache and how to solve problems. You need to know what you have to work with. Obviously, hide this catalog very well. Food The kind of foods you want to pack in your BOB …

Purpose: To quote my spouse, “I didn’t know when I married you that you were a bucket of crazy.” So essentially, this article is intended to help the spouse whom you love but whom is not a prepper. There are many hundred-plus page books written on this subject, but this primer can be read in less than an hour and is tailored to my personal situation. It is the hope of the author that others will create their own such document for family and friends using this as a starting point. Whether I am dead, geographically separated from her, injured, …

Hugh, While I absolutely agree with Mr. Rawles’ statement, he left out the year 1913. That is the year States Rights were finally obliterated for good. While the War Between the States made the Federal Government supreme, the year 1913 legalized the concept. The 16th and 17th Amendments provided for direct income tax and popular elections for Senators. Previously money for Federal operations were apportioned among the states, giving the States power over the Federal. Senators were the representatives of State governments while House Representatives were elected by and represented the individuals. Using a reliable, and still successful technique, the …