Category: Survival Mindset

The Five Steps of OPSEC Assessment by Stone of Scone

Operational Security (OPSEC) which is the evaluation and control of any critical information that could be used against you by an adversary. The result of good OPSEC is the elimination or withholding of the most damaging information that your adversary has the ability to gather and understand how to use against you. OPSEC happens everyday. When you go on vacation and hold your mail and newspaper delivery, and use timers to turn your radio and lights on and off to make it appear that you are home, you are practicing good OPSEC. Here is a another example of OPSEC. A …


How to Handle Fear and be Stronger for the Experience, by P.G.T.

I am out of my comfort zone. We executed a move and I have to battle fear. I am afraid that we will fail. I am afraid that our plans have been too costly. Our “threes” have been reduced to one – and we all know that one is none. We no longer have three ways to heat, cook or travel. We don’t know the terrain well, nor do we know the roads.  We do not have all of our supplies here with us. And, to top it all off, today I opened a package of spiced almonds only to …


Letter Re: Vignette of an Eastern U.S. Earthquake

Hi Mr. Rawles: I want to share with you today’s events in Washington DC. I came home early from school and decided to go to the gym to burn off some of those summer pounds. As I was walking to the gym (two blocks away), listening to my iPod. All of the sudden I heard some crashing and screaming. Since this is DC, everything happens so I kept on walking. I finally realized that something was definitely wrong when I saw people pouring out from every building including a rather overweight man wearing only a bath towel  that was way …


A Defining Moment, by The Indexer

I suppose that I have a “prepper” all of my almost 57 years. The oldest of four children, I was raised by my engineer father who would probably seem quite believable as the father in the bomb shelter in the movie Blast From the Past. My mother went along with my father’s seemingly odd ideas, but I don’t really believe it went past accommodating some ‘strange ideas’. This article is about the psychology of a perceived ‘survival’ event, at least. First you will need a little background: I was with my father on the way back from my uncle’s house …


Spiritual and Moral Preparedness, by A. Padre

I guess I am a prepper.  When I started “prepping” 15 years ago they called it being a survivalist, but I think prepper is more apropos since the word survivalist suggests Rambo and anyone who knows me knows that’s not me.  Over the past few months I became aware that prepping is gaining momentum again, like it did before Y2K when I first got involved.  Some months back I stumbled on a YouTube channel and since then I have been making the rounds of the prepper sites.  I have been really thankful to all of you preppers out there who …


Letter Re: Prepping for Missionaries and Other Long-Term Foreign Workers

Jim: The NGO Security Page Safety & Security Resources for Humanitarian Organizations page is a great site with lots of free NGO Security Manuals in PDF. These may be relevant to both Aid Workers overseas and civilians without military experience. The International Committee for the Red Cross Manual Staying alive: safety and security guidelines for humanitarian volunteers in conflict areas is particularly good at explaining the effects of military weapons to laymen who’s ideas about their effects come from watching too many B movies. In my experience what gets foreigners in trouble overseas is cultural arrogance and doing reckless things …


Letter Re: Prepping for Missionaries and Other Long-Term Foreign Workers

Hello,  I have been a regular reader of SurvivalBlog and am very grateful for your efforts in maintaining such a great resource for those of use concerned with survival-related topics.  I would like to make mention of a recently-published book that is one of the best I have read in this field: Everything That Follows Is Based on Recent, Real-Life Experience That Has Been Proven to Work: Professional Survival Solutions, by James Shepherd-Barron  Here is a description: “James Shepherd-Barron has worked in more than 26 countries, including the conflict zones of Iraq, Kosovo, Croatia, Central Bosnia, Burundi, and Rwanda. Once …


Converting a Standard American Home Into a Hardened Retreat, by CentOre

Not everyone can find or afford a solidly built brick home with fittings to hang bullet-proof shutters and doors. We agree with the bulk of the writings we have read concerning the ‘non-defensibility’ of the average United States home.  Our group has choices as to which house will become ‘The Retreat’ for the entire group when the SHTF.  Our group’s consensus is our ‘Primary’ retreat will probably be a 2,600 square foot triple-wide ranch style manufactured home.  It has three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a living room and family room.   There is an adequate kitchen with a totally …


Letter Re: Plan B–Call Them Your Hobbies

JWR: Some of us don’t always have a spouse that is 100% on board with prepping.  So I thought I’d send a list of some hobbies that help with prepping in a SHFT situation, and have a non-SHTF function too.  Most have worked out well for me, some my wife has become more avid than I, the remaining she tolerates. Flower Gardening – Allows for purchase of gardening tools, composting, development of good growing beds, fertilizer, books on growing and seeding, and pest control products. You will have to pay attention to vegetable safe products, but in SHTF you will …


The Prepping Imperative, by A.L.T.

Three years ago, my husband and I had never heard the terms “prepper”, “survivalist” or “bug out”.  We were blissfully unaware of our country’s and world’s dire circumstances and didn’t know how to do much of anything truly useful.  This is a chronicle of the journey that brought us to where we are today, and I have included some of the specific books, resources and equipment that are the fruit of much research and thought.  We didn’t have much to spend on equipment or commercially packed stores of food, but through providence and thrift, we are much better able to …


A Prepper Goes to College, by S. John

In this article I intend to give the prepper some Christian perspective on what is valuable in an education. First, a couple of quotes: “Youth is wasted on the young.” – George Bernard Shaw “Education is wasted on the youth.” – Michelle Hanson Many people are considering college and advanced education this year, especially with the unemployment at record highs. They believe that having a college degree will help them get out of the economic slump they find themselves in. They imagine a high-paying job in a new field, and economic prosperity. Unfortunately, college is not what it used to …


Planning for Multi Family Cohabitation, by J.B. in Idaho

There are many situations where multiple families may need to live together under one roof.  These can range from retreats for a SHTF scenario, economics such as job loss, ill health of an older family member, to a multi-family vacation.   Recently, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Mexico with my husband’s family where a total of seventeen people shared one house.  In addition to sharing the house, a city-wide water shut-off occurred for three days.  Also, I spent the last seven months sharing my home with a parent that had health problems and did not have means …


Raising Children to Be Ready for Life, by P.J.G.T.

It is my observation that many children are not being raised ready to live a real life. I can speak as a full time teacher for ten years and as a stay-at-home mother for the past 17 years. Here are my suggestions for how to improve your children’s education so they will be ready to think and succeed. Please do not think that our children are perfect and always wonderful. They are not! However, they are respectful, tidy and courteous to everyone. We have been told numerous times how “lucky” we are to have such delightful children. No, we are …


Prepping From the Ground Up, by N.V.

As a newcomer to the survivalist game (and by newcomer, I mean that I haven’t planned for anything bad to happen in the future except for my daughter reaching dating age), I thought it would be interesting to detail how I came to be reading this web site at this point in my life and the steps I have taken so far as a “virgin” survivalist.   I became interested in it recently due to several factors. The first is I have always found literature regarding end of the world scenarios to be fascinating.  I have read everything from On the Beach …


Lessons from Life on The Edge: The Evolution of My Go Bag, by Tim K.

I was stranded on the streets of Los Angeles because my so called “friend” stole my rent money.  Down and out, with no one to help, in a state where I knew nobody, I started out with nothing but the clothes on my back.  I started out grabbing odds and ends in an attempt to get by and make do.  I got some give-away matches from a corner convenience store and used a coffee can to cook whatever I could find.  After some finagling, I came up with a thick black garbage bag which held my supplies: Rain poncho I …