Category: Survival Mindset

A Retreat for Aging Preppers, by Barbara H.

Addressing the problems facing aging preppers. Start early! Our initial problem was two-fold: Finding sustainable land while still trapped until I was retirement-eligible. Two years before retirement, we began our search for viable land approximately 100 miles from any major city. Our initial search was for about 20 acres, a nearby small town, and off of well-traveled roads. The land had to have a water source with a full-year-running creek. Remember moving to an unknown rural community places you at a disadvantage of finding appropriate skilled help and unscrupulous persons who will overcharge you based on your lack of knowledge. …


The Dynamic of Older Church Security Team Members, by R.E.D.

Several weeks several weeks ago, I was asked to evaluate a proposed self-defense program that was to be used by a number of local church security teams. I was asked to do this because in my previous business career I often helped develop or evaluated training programs. The program that they were considering focused on both striking and grappling (judo, Brazilian jujitsu, etc.). The group also wanted to discuss training with collapsible batons as part of the proposed program. I told the individuals that I strongly recommended against the program. Initially, they were shocked and felt that perhaps I didn’t …


Government Decline: The Next Big Thing, by Michael X.

The civilized world is in decline. The decline is definitely affecting the once-great United States. Most people know we are in trouble. Many do not like the current course of our government. Unfortunately, many of those people still believe we can make some adjustments (vote ‘em out!!) and “get back to normal”. This belief keeps them from making the changes and the preparations that may help them in the future. It is time for a realistic review of the situation and the beginning of an effort to decide what is wrong, what if anything can be done to fix it, …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Financial Concerns, Taking a Vow of Poverty In my case, retiring early and cashing out most of my 401k took a leap of faith to say the least. It helped that I was debt-free and willing to put up with almost any inconvenience and suffer financially if necessary if it meant finally getting to live my dream life in the country. That was my primary goal above all else. How to get by if the funds ran dry was only a secondary concern that I’d deal with later if necessary. That’s how …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued From Part 1.) Design Features and Customizations Every place I’ve ever lived had a large living room and a smaller kitchen. I made the kitchen the largest room in the house since we spend a lot of time cooking, baking, and playing board games. There’s a loft on both sides of the kitchen leaving an 18’ ceiling with a large skylights above, giving the room a much larger feeling as well as making it bright and cheery, even on cloudy days. There’s a large 4’ x 6’ picture window to enjoy the view. The cat wanted 8” wide window …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 1, by St. Funogas

With winter ebbing and spring headed our way, some folks are probably thinking a little more frequently about getting out of the city once and for all. Having “been there done that,” it saddens me to read comments on SurvivalBlog from people wanting to start living a simpler more self-reliant lifestyle in the country but they just can’t seem to make it happen. For some of those, I’m confident they could turn their hopes into reality if they could learn to think out of the box, rethink normalcy, toss some of their fears aside, and make some sacrifices to make …


On Growing Older – Part 3, by A.E.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Adding families into the social mix of the hunting group made socializing more complex. Basically it meant there were three levels: the men who could and did get along, the women who might get along, and the kids who would usually get along with a little parental supervision. There were exceptions. There was the woman who I’m sure had vinegar instead of blood in her veins, another woman looked for things to complain about and make an issue of, and the woman who would drag a hapless family member into their tent …


On Growing Older – Part 1, by A.E.

I am growing older and have celebrated the birthdays to prove it. Note that I am not calling myself old…It is too easy to convince yourself that you shouldn’t do something because you are old. No excuses, but there are limits. Instead, I continue to make my to do lists and push forward as best I can, testing my limits and recognizing that the joints are stiffer, the muscles weaker and the stamina slipping. There is no avoiding the slow march of time and the effects on the human body. The most we can hope for is to slow it …


A Florida Vacation, or SHTF?, by Z.P. Wilson

Greetings from Michigan, where the summers are glorious, and the winters long and cold. My wife and I have lived here all our lives, and have endured the seasonal cold by hunkering down at home with books and television. During our work lives, I often told her that when we retired, we would travel to warmer places when the snow flies. We retired last year, so this was the first winter to put my idea into effect. I rented a house in Florida for the entire month of February. As we made plans for what to do and what to …


A Call to Arms Toward Thriving – Part 2, by PrepperDoc

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Communications If we are left alone, then we can produce capital and transmit ideas and create industry at a far greater restorative rate than the original inventors of the 18th Century, who worked nearly in the dark. The carcasses of the production facilities will still exist. The machines will still be there, and the brilliant minds who know how to run them can still be found. Like any nation coming out of war, we should rapidly move forward to excess capital production. The prepper groups should be leading that charge, using already-cataloged …


A Call to Arms Toward Thriving – Part 1, by PrepperDoc

I am hardly an expert compared to so many who’ve had articles published here in SurvivalBlog, on so many aspects of survival. I have to make apologies in advance that my concerns may be misstated. Yet I hold them and would like to share some suggestions for how the prepper community might advance. I served 30+ years as a physician, still serve in charity work, and I’m also an electrical engineer, and I’ve written simple techniques to mitigate the impact of EMP. (The DHS has well-written levels of protection that are worthy of studying.) Now in my retirement, I’m a …


America Is a Prison Disguised as Paradise, by John & Nisha Whitehead

“If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison. They’ll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government.”— President Dwight D. Eisenhower The government wants us to bow down to its dictates. It wants us to buy into the fantasy that we are living the dream, when in fact, we are trapped in an endless nightmare of servitude and oppression. Indeed, with every passing day, life in …


Some Stark Realities of the 2020s are Pushing Us Off-Grid

There are a number of societal changes that have accelerated our plans to fully go off the grid. The day may soon come when we decide to lock our gate at the county road, and hunker down. Our only regular contact would then be with our contiguous neighbors. For many years, I thought that the only circumstance that might necessitate such a move would be a societal collapse. But now, I have many other concerns. The most prominent motivators for taking on the mode of self-isolation include: Currency inflation The surveillance state Increasing regulation Forced vaccination schemes Supply chain disruption …


Preparedness: Now What? – Part 2, by O.C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Into The Pentagon After nine years or so as a defense contractor around the DC area, I was able to secure a job in the Pentagon as a civil servant in the Directorate of Special Access Programs. There I learned about Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government (COOP/COG) for the first time. It’s fascinating. Although Nancy Pelosi originally claimed that she was not taken to a secure location, she indeed was, based on COOP/COG protocols. I won’t say exactly where, but I think it was [a hardened site] not far from D.C. I …


Preparedness: Now What? – Part 1, by O.C.

Upfront, I should say I am a few months away from 70 years old. I was raised in New Jersey. Even though I spent 26 years in the US Air Force and the Montana Air National Guard, I was not prepared for anything out of the ordinary. My journey to prepping really began on September 11, 2001. At that time, I was working as a defense contractor in Crystal City, Virginia, just down the road from the Pentagon. Meanwhile, my wife was a civil servant working inside the Pentagon building. In my cube-ville we were no radios or televisions allowed. …