Category: Water Storage & Filters

Letter Re: California’s Water Filter Ban

Mr. Rawles, My name is Christian and I live in California. I have been reading SurvivalBlog for some time now. I am currently serving in the National Guard. I was wondering if you knew why California does not allow Big Berkey filters and most ceramic filters to be shipped to California. Do you have recommendations for another one? As you well know, California is in a grave financial situation–one that could have catastrophic consequences. Prepping in California has been a way of life because of earthquakes, and recently wildfires. Thank You. Sincerely, – Christian R. JWR Replies: Your question went …


Water is Life, by Damon S.

If you have to bug out, bug in, or even just hang out in the Superdome with the other hurricane survivors, you can go for 10 days or more without food.  It will be unpleasant, you will feel ill, unhappy, and desperate.  You will, however, live if you get a reliable supply of food within a few weeks of your TEOTWAWKI event. Water, however, is a different story.  It’s not just something you use to bathe, wash your car, or do the dishes.  It is, literally, the elixir of life.  You will die if you go four, maybe five days …


Budget Survival: The Ins and Outs, by J. Lewis

Where to Begin First, take into account how many mouths you have to feed, what resources you currently have available and what resources will be available if SHTF in your current location.  Figure out a monthly budget that includes money coming in, bills going out, and what you have left over.  This will give you an idea of where you can trim the fat. (We will cover more on this later.)  Next, take an inventory of you already have that will be useful if SHTF, such as lighters, matches, wool clothing or blankets, canned food.  If you have camping gear, …


The Disappearance of the Anasazi Explained, by Ben F.

Staring at the “Arrival: Imminent” message flashing on the screen of my Garmin Etrex, I stumbled into the canyon below the Banister Ruins cliff dwellings in Grand Gulch Utah at about midnight. I couldn’t be sure where I was, because darkness obscured the familiar landmark of the ruins. I dropped the 50-lb pack with 10 days of freeze-dried foods and other paraphernalia, marked the spot on the e-Trex GPS, and then tried to follow the shifting arrow to the spring that was supposed to be there.     Instead, I would confront an 800-year-old secret for which my technology would be no …


Letter Re: Question on Shelf Life of Water Stored in Bottles

Good Afternoon, Having purchased the The “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, you asked for some feedback. I think the most concise way to put it is that I started out with a list of around 95 questions about preparedness. And that list was growing at the rate of about one question a day. After reading the binder and listening to the audio CD, I am left with precisely one question. The “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course is worth every dime as far as I’m concerned. There is one more “preppie” (no pun intended) spending about $10 a week …


Survival Through Adaptation, by Jason G.

Regardless of what you may or may not believe about evolution, it’s hard to argue that the organisms best able to adapt to changes in their environment are generally the ones that survive.  While organisms with less intelligence do this over generations, we humans were gifted with the ability to think and adapt on the fly.  Sometimes this is not a good thing when we are manipulating currency on the fly or making decisions that can adversely affect our survival.  But dealing with those circumstances with adaptive ability is the other edge of said sword. After TSHTF neither I, nor …


Letter Re: From Beginner to Fully Stocked Prepper

Jim: This was a great article, but I have one technical question that I’m sure others do as well: the author advises using pool shock to create bleach, and then to use that bleach to disinfect water. But what amount of pool shock creates a standard gallon of bleach? Thanks, Dan. JWR Replies: This letter in the SurvivalBlog archives describes how one 50 pound bucket of hydrated Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione “Pool Shock” can be used to treat up to four million gallons of pre-filtered water.


Beer Brewing Basics, by Doctus

“Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”” – Benjamin Franklin, 1779 letter to André Morellet Beer has been a coveted drink from time immemorial.  It has witnessed the rise and fall of many great nations.  It has been the start of relationships and the ruin of marriages.  It is full of memories and yet causes selective amnesia.  Beer is ingrained in us and in a certain sense is a part of …


From Beginning Prepper, to Fully-Stocked Retreat: What to Buy, and When, by Scott in Wisconsin

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It’s easy to see that the world may be heading for more trouble, and we need to prepare for hard times ahead.  But it can be daunting to decide what to do, what to stock, and when to get it. I’ve been working at this a while, and I’ve figured out a simple balance in what to buy, and when to buy it, that I think will help other Preppers move ahead with confidence. You could call it my 100/1,000/10,000 system, and I hope it helps you get going, and get to a place where you feel more prepared for …


Retirement and Surviving TEOTWAWKI, by Pat M.

All over the Internet are articles on surviving really hard times that are expected.  I note with some humor that most of these articles are talking to about 28-46 years old age groups, at least under-50 somethings.   I have seen nothing directed to the under 26 year-old or much over the 50 year-old.  Considering that we have a problem with what has been termed as an aging society retiring, what about us folks that can no longer throw on a 70 lb pack and hike 20 miles into the wilderness, or no longer have a sufficient income to prepare a …


Suburban Survival Revisited, by The Suburban 10

In April 2010 I submitted “Suburban Survival”. a set of ten steps I was going implement in order to get ready for TEOTWAWKI. Boy… did I underestimate the power and importance of survialblog.com! First and foremost I thank all of you who responded and gave a cold slap of reality. I thought I was going to be in good shape, but now my view and attitude are vastly different. How did it change? It really started when I bought and read Jim’s survival book. It offers solid fundamentals and interesting insight that I am adapting to my particular situation. My …


Letter Re: The Plan “B” Map

Sir: Regarding the comment in the The Plan "B" Map article about draining and filtering fire sprinkler systems for emergency drinking water: I’m definitely not an expert, and have only seen a few sprinkler systems purged, but the stuff coming out of those pipes is only loosely defined as “water”. The Fire Tech told me that some buildings have the original water in the fire sprinkler pipes dating back to when the system was installed, so it looks like motor oil coming out of those pipes. My office had the sprinkler system replaced, and it looked and smelled like sewer …


Convince Your Loved Ones To Prepare–Even When They’re Kicking and Screaming, by Patriot Chick

Becoming self-sufficient during a financial meltdown is difficult enough, but trying to convince reluctant loved ones to prepare can be doubly frustrating. It’s hard to understand how anyone wouldn’t want to start stockpiling their pantries after watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, and more recently the devastating floods in Pakistan. We all watched the newsreels; millions of homeless and hungry fighting for a spot in breadlines. If that isn’t reason enough, the U.S. continues to be threatened with nuclear attack. Meanwhile, most of us are hanging by a gossamer thread between solvency and financial ruin. We …


Letter Re: What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

Dear Sir: I believe I represent the younger group of your readers. I’m 28 years old, third year medical student. I have no wife, kids or major responsibilities beyond school at the moment. I have a Facebook account which I mainly use for socializing with classmates of friends back home. Also as a relatively young adult/student I enjoy the long summer vacations many of my contemporaries do not due to work or other obligations. However unlike many of my classmates and friends I was born and raised up to the age of 14 in the former Soviet Union and have …


Letter Re: Survival Tips From a Sarajevo Siege Survivor

Jim: The following is one of those anonymously penned items that keeps getting passed around the Internet. It dates back to the Siege of Sarajevo in the ethnic civil war in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s: Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war – death of parents and friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing, fear, sniper attacks. To prepare… 1. Stockpiling helps, but you never know how long trouble will last, so locate near renewable food sources. 2. Living near a well with a manual pump is like being in Eden. 3. After awhile, even gold …