Category: Survival Mindset

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 …


A Lifetime of Survivalism, by Allon

I was fifteen years old when the Sylvester Stallone movie, First Blood was released.  I identified with John Rambo in an adolescent way, as I too had many times escaped to the woods near my Appalachian home.  I was raised in a fairly violent household and learned at a young age that rage is only temporary.  If I could just make it to the door, my long legs would carry me to the high grass where all I had to do was fall down to become invisible.  I was afraid to stay out all night when I was in grammar …


Prepping For Death, by J.D.A.

Preparing for death is probably not the usual topic discussed on this board, but a recent illness in my family has put this issue squarely in my face.   It is my hope that all reading this blog will live many more years and will leave this earth either via the Rapture or natural causes at a ripe old age. That being said, death is something we have to consider in our plans.  I approach this topic from two angles: 1) losing a loved one in a non-Schumer situation, 2) losing a loved one in a Schumeresque situation.  I hope to …


Thinking Outside the Box, by Karen I.

My father was an engineer at Boeing, and Boeing builds in (or at least they used to) triple redundancy.  Kind of hard to find a hardware store or plane mechanic mid-air over the Atlantic, so you can see why what appears to be over-building really isn’t in the case of an airplane.  You might think that to effect this on the ground you’d need three or more of everything, but that’s not actually the case.  What you need for food, for example, is obviously more than one year’s supply.  You aren’t going to quit eating if you can help it, …


The Ultimate Altoids Tin Survival Kit, by J.C.R.

As hunting season begins to kick into high gear here in central North Carolina and I begin to drag out my gear and go over it like a child on Christmas morning, I thought of something.  The thoughts of a basic survival kit came to mind.  As I replayed a situation many years old that could have gone badly, I made up my mind to look seriously into putting together a kit.  Several years ago while deer hunting in eastern North Carolina, me and my hunting buddy wandered off into a marshy swamp and spent all day trying to get …


Help For Those Who Have Recently Awakened, by Mike H.

Many SurvivalBlog readers have been prepping for awhile and are comfortable with their plans.  However, the process can be overwhelming for people who have recently “woke up” or who are trying to convince loved ones who aren’t sold on the need or desirability of prepping. This shouldn’t be minimized or downplayed.  It can be very disturbing when you first realize you aren’t   self-sufficient.  It is easy to become overwhelmed with the scope, cost, and time necessary to prepare.  The concept of TEOTWAWKI can be troubling and concerning even to completely self-sufficient preppers.  Even the possibility of angry mobs trying to …


Letter Re: Dealing With Livestock and Neighbors in The Crunch

Dear James, Thanks for all you do to educate us all.  You certainly woke me up.  I offer a few thoughts that may be of use or interest to your readership: I live off-grid, at end of a mile-long driveway. Been here twenty years. Spring water, solar power, wood heat. Have chickens, goats, cows, machine shop, wife and kids, and a few bang-sticks. Save for the critical issues of man-power to mount a defense, and deep enough pockets for deep stock of supplies, I look “prepped”. From this perspective, a couple of thoughts. First, I am not growing all the …


Letter Re: Farmer’s Markets in the American Redoubt?

Sir: I’ve been a follower of SurvivalBlog for some time. We’ve seen this mentioned before: building communities of moral, responsible,  and like-minded citizens (in the Robert Heinlein sense of the word) has strategic advantages. I would go a step further and say this process is, in fact, crucial. I number among the many souls who wish to relocate and become self-sustaining but all to often find ourselves in a serious minority among our immediate circle of relationships, as well as beset by other challenges to overcome. Our particular circumstance may vary: Maybe we’re small business owners in a depressed area, …


A Grandmother’s Practical Preparedness Plans, by Mrs. M.B.

Those of us who are from the 1930-1940s generation may have a lot of childhood memories from our parents and grandparents that will serve us well as we approach TEOTWAWKI.  As I meditate back on the sketchy memories of childhood, I can recall a number of things that today would be called “survival living” but for us at that time was simply “living.” In survival times, let us not forget our kids emotional well-being.  In addition to needing extra love and assurance from parents and grandparents, there are many simple ways to help them entertain themselves and break free of …