Category: Survival Mindset

Letter Re: Budget Prepping in the Suburbs

JWR: Kevin’s article on budget prepping touched me to the core. We all began the journey, at the begriming, with all the problems/challenges of those young or older and the common denominator of the demands of family/job/time/location and the most important limiting factor: fiscal resources.   Please bear with me while I lay the groundwork for this subject, throughout my prepping learning curve of about 55 years which started when I was about five years old,  began with my parents trying to spoon feed me information as a young child, with their own prepping experience, which they never thought of themselves as being …


Budget Prepping in the Suburbs, by Kevin from Tennessee

Even though the idea of prepping “on a budget” or “in urban or suburban areas” may be common themes, it seems (to me, at least) that more often than not, the lovely people that contribute their knowledge, advice, and expertise to the topic of prepping seem to, somehow, have more capability than most when it comes to logistically and financially supporting these ventures. They may have lived on a farm for most of their life, they possibly inherited land from a relative, they may be able to work from home and have time to spare, they may be older and …


TEOTWAWKI Mental Health Issues, by Dr. Bob

There are many things about our “on-the-grid lives” that really are not all that fun.  We get depressed about stuff and certainly have anxiety over lots of things that will simply disappear WTSHTF.  My personal philosophy, along with many of our readers and patients, is that without a grid, life will be a little more simple.  With preparation, things don’t have to be that gloomy.  It will sure be a bummer for lots of other people, but for us and ours, it means a return to the basics.  The reality is:  none of us knows how we will cope with …


A Grandfather’s Advice on How to Survive and Thrive, by M.R.B.

I have managed to learn about two really important things in my lifetime.  I’m not talking about plumbing, math, how to tie my shoes, how to make waffles, and the countless skills I have acquired.  I’m talking about really important things.  The first is understanding money. Think about the game Monopoly?  Each player is given some paper money (ones, fives, tens, etc.) with instructions that this money can be used to buy property and pay fines, rent, and get out of jail.  With our game hats on we enter the world where these pieces of paper are money.  We roll …


How to Find Helpful People Around You, by K.W.

I have lived in the UK for the last 25 years, but the first 25 years of my life I spent in what is now called an ex-Soviet block country, so I have a view from both sides. In the Eastern Europe people would generally be more interdependent, for the simple reason that the society was less commercialized. In the West you can usually buy anything you need, so the biggest issue is to have money to purchase goods and services. In the East there was more reliance on the informal means, especially when times got tougher. Younger people, who …


Sleeping With the Friendlies, by Heidi C.

In comes TEOTWAWKI. You grab your B.O.B. pack and lay feet to a packed truck and trailer toward a predetermined secret house in the boonies. After a long day of inventory, greetings, and ears peeled to the radio, you amp down from that first frightening night of your uncertain future. You lay exhausted, in 1 of 3 bed sheet curtain bedrooms, and suddenly find yourself all and sundry, plummeted into a collage of personalities and lifestyles you thought you were familiar with – but are you? In what once was your quiet home, your new place is full of distractions. …


Prepping While Unemployed, by Paul H.

I am writing this because I have talked to so many people who believe that there is little they can do to prepare because they have no job.  There is a difference between having a job and working and although I have not had a real job now for over three years, I continue to work six days a week.  I had already been unemployed for almost a year by the time I started reading your books.  Having moved to this small city for a job in finance, I paid cash for an old mobile home in a trailer park …


Making Survival as Easy as P.I.E., by Reece in Missouri

When I finally grew up and opened my eyes to the chaos occurring across our country and the entire world, I knew I needed to prepare for the tough times ahead.  As I started my research, mainly online, I came across some startling observations. When I would type in “survival techniques” or “tips for survival” and such, the same results would appear. Article after article, blog after blog, site after site, and YouTube video after YouTube video of the same things showed up: Guns. What the best gun for survival, what guns do you need when TSHTF, and on and …


Maintaining Mental Health in the Face of Crisis: Dealing with Anxiety Disorders, by G.M., RN, MSN, CNL

Many of us have considered how we would provide for our family’s physical needs, including medical care, during a prolonged crisis.  Indeed, it would seem foolish to be unprepared for trauma related to accidents, violence, fire, etc., when professional medical care might not be available for weeks, months, or more.  What most of us don’t think about, however, is the toll a long term crisis could take on our mental health.  This may seem to be a low-priority concern, next to food, shelter and security, but depression and anxiety related to traumatic events can have lasting and highly detrimental effects, …


The Information Snowball, by Scott T.

My wife and I have just recently started prepping (about a year now) and were amazed to find out how little we knew, in regards to living a self sustaining lifestyle/homesteading.  We had recently moved from our big house in the suburbs where farm animals weren’t allowed, to a secluded 5 acre parcel just outside of a small rural town. We, in this troubled time are in the midst of trying to build a cabin (cash as we go) while preparing for The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI).  We started storing food while learning to garden …


Letter Re: A Surgeon’s Observations on Survivalism

I read with interest the data on food inflation recently on your blog. This confirms my own recent observations about food and hardware store items. Additionally, I have observed a drastic shift in the behavior of the people around me. When you think of survivalists you don’t generally picture of a bunch of guys and gals in surgeons scrubs discussing weapons. But they do, now. I have been a surgeon for over twenty years, and in the last two years much has changed. Conversations that used to begin with, “Have you ever seen a case of…?” now begin with, “Gold …


Learning To Prepare, The Hard Way, by Barbara L.

I cannot even remember a time when I wasn’t a “prepper”.  Although until a few years ago, I had no idea of what I was preparing for.  Before the dawn of my awakening, I had serious urges to learn how not to kill plants and flowers. I wanted to grow my own food eventually, so I started with a trip to the local Big Box store, and bought some bare root fruit trees. Now in my mind, they are already dead, so if I could resurrect them, and keep them going, I was on my way. If they didn’t survive …


Letter Re: Guns and Combatting Home Invasion Robbers

Hello Captain, Greetings from one of your neighbors in the American Redoubt. I couldn’t help but be bemused when I read the article about the elderly couple being beaten and robbed of their gun collection. Not because they got hurt or robbed of course. But because of a couple other points:   She yelled for her husband to "Call 911!" I guess that goes to show that wisdom doesn’t always come with age. Were that scenario to happen at my home, my wife wouldn’t answer the door. And I can’t remember the last time I answered the door without my …


Not the End But the Beginning, by Rod in Texas

We all read and see in the media where the world is going. Many debate the “How” of the “end”: Economic collapse, solar flare, pole shift, “Planet X” and so on. I believe we should ignore the “How” and focus on what we as the human race will do “when this happens”, whatever “it” is? Let’s take a minute and think: Certain disasters will necessitate certain supplies, specific preparations, and or survival techniques. If you are like me you’ve dedicated yourself into the world of “The End” then you have most likely done your due diligence and prepared to one …


A Work in Progress, by Defiance

As a family, we have been practicing – and experimenting – for years.  It started with a small garden, which took the place of the kids’ swimming pool when they got older and lost interest.  Our soil is a heavy clay, so after a couple of years of wrestling with the rototiller (it always won the battle), we decided to move up.  Of course, by that I mean raised beds.  So we bought some boards, and nailed them together.  Then we ordered a truckload of top soil, and wheeled it out back one wheelbarrow load at a time.  And since …