Our SHOT Show coverage officially begins this weekend, as people from around the country pour into Las Vegas for the annual National Shooting Sports Foundation SHOT Show. […]
Security overload leads to apathy. How often do you hear a car alarm go off and roll your eyes hoping the owner would disable the blasted thing before the incoming headache comes a knocking? The primary objection I have to such systems is they work too well. Every week I hear an alarm being triggered […]
I would like help from people who actually have used BOTH helmets for tig, and can describe me, or even better put pics or videos of the actual view while tig welding. I read that for some people the A50 does not work for low amperage tig, while I saw one video of someone using it for aluminum tig with no problems. Will appreciate your input regarding quality of view, tint of light, and which one looks more natural. Also, description of the difference in view on the A50 with the amber vs clear lenses. Thanks.
Today on The Survival Podcast, I take your calls on CSAs, food clubs, store policies, pest control, snakes, water filters, permaculture, gun rights, gardening and more. Remember to be on a show like this one just pick up your phone …Continue reading →
The Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16th, 2003. STS-107 would explode on re-entry 15 days later, killing all seven of the crew members on board. SurvivalBlog salutes all seven crewmembers: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool (pictured), Mission Specialist David Brown, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon. — Blog readers who live in Washington are reminded that there is a gun rights rally scheduled in Olympia on Friday (January 17, 2020.) Please be there! See the GOAL web site, for details. SurvivalBlog Writing …
Prepping can sometimes seem like a daunting and time-consuming task that takes a lot of money to do right, especially for beginners or non-rural preppers. But, that is simply not so.
Sure, there are many survival supplies that will have you digging deep into your pocket and activities that require multiple steps and preparation, but there are also many things you can simply get up from your laptop or smartphone and do right this very minute to prep.
Taking the very first step or even a renewed interest in prepping needs not be hampered by either your budget or time constraints. If you are inspired to get up and start prepping right now, you can accomplish some vital survival tasks – most without even spending a dime … no matter where you live.
1. Get Organized
This part of your prepping could be either low energy, or require a robust amount of manual labor. It all depends on how may preps you have stockpiled, and how developed your survival plan is.
All you need in order to do this crucial prep right now is a pen and paper. The first step in getting prepared is to set your survival goals, and develop a timeline to implement them. If you have already developed a survival plan, skip to number 2 on the list below.
Make a Survival Plan – Setting Prepping Goals
Make a list of five to 10 things you need to do or achieve to become more self-reliant or skilled in order to survive a SHTF long-term disaster. For example: turn your home into a bugin location, find a bugout location – prepper retreat, stockpile basic essentials, list them each specifically, record the survival skills you possess and the ones you want to learn, etc.
Make a prepper inventory of all the survival items you currently own, a list of all the food, water, and medicine you have on hand, and a list of items you want to purchase to make you more prepared in the following categories: food, water, medical, communications, bugout location, bugout bag, everyday carry – EDC, gardening, livestock husbandry, weapons, morale boosters, barter, tools, off grid cooking, and alternative power.
Do a bit of math and determine how much of your budget you can devote to stockpiling preps or learning survival skills each week or month.
Consider the amount of time your current work and family commitments require on a weekly on a monthly basis to determine how much time you can regularly devote to prepping.
Create a timeline for accomplishing the purchases and goals that fit both your fiscal and free time schedule.
Once you have this necessary information infrastructure, you are well on your way to having an in-depth prepping plan and enhancing your chances of survival.
2. Physical Fitness and Endurance
Getting yourself in optimal physical shape should be at the cornerstone of your prepping plan. In our modern world, more and more people are living a sedentary lifestyle.
Increasing your muscle tone, strength, and endurance will help prepare you for the many physical hardships and manual labor that will be necessary to survive a long-term SHTF event.
If you are not used to working out on a regular basis, the physical challenges will be more intense during a disaster, and can likely lead to pulled muscles and tendons that will render you ineffective in a self-defense situation, for instance.
You may also have a hard time doing the multitude of rough daily chores that will be necessary in an off the grid world where you and only you are suddenly responsible for growing or raising all of your own groceries, keeping the family safe, and supplying alternative fuel sources to heath the home.
Free Ways To Get In Better Physical Shape You Can Do Right Now
Find some 5 to 10 pounds food containers or similar items, and use them as weights to work out your arms.
Put on music and dance for at least 15 minutes to simulate a cardiac workout.
Do manual labor chores you have been putting off like cleaning out the garage.
Take your dog for a walk.
Do push ups to increase upper body strength.
Do jumping jacks for at least five minutes,
Do wall sits to increase leg and back strength.
Find a YouTube fitness channel, and follow along.
Throw a ball around with your kids.
Set up an ax throwing range in your backyard (if legally allowed) and practice throwing the ax at a simple wood or hay bale target to increase strength in both arms.
These are just a few examples of free physical fitness training you could do right now without spending a dime to grow stronger in prepared for a SHTF scenario.
Once you get up and get moving you should find your energy levels increases and inspire yourself on to move lengthy or advanced physical training.
If you have any type of health condition or have not exercised in a long time, consulting your physician for tips and health risks is highly recommended.
3. Foraging
No matter what the season, there are likely always wild edibles growing on your land or somewhere around your home.
Going for a walk armed with a sack and the camera on your smartphone can help you not only acquire some wild edibles to taste, but also to bring home and learn more about the pros and cons of each, how to best identify the wild edibles, and any potential home remedy use they could provide.
Recommended Foraging Hike Wild Edibles
Plantain
Daisies
Black Eyed Susans
Clover
Dandelion
Wild Strawberries
Wild Onions
Wood Sorrell
Blackberries
Black Raspberries
Cattail
Acorns
Walnuts
Purslane
Mullein
Bull Thistle
Coltsfoot
Curly Dock
Hickory Nuts
Milk Thistle
Coneflower
Blue Vervain
Chickweed
Fireweed
Alfalfa
Supplejack Vine
Morel Mushrooms
Echinacea
Pineapple Weed
Yarrow
Chamomile
Lavender
Field Pennycress
Queen Anne’s Lace – Wild Carrots
Stinging Nettles
Peppergrass
Lambs Quarters
Toothwort
Sowthistle
Always consult with your doctor before embarking on any natural remedy regimen. Simply because something comes from nature does not mean it is either safe to eat or safe to eat for everyone.
Never eat any wild edible that you are not 100 percent sure both of its identification and that it has not been sprayed with any chemical pesticides.
4. Emergency Drills
Part of being prepared is practicing to be prepared. Everyone in your family, no matter how young, must learn how to react during an emergency.
Make a plan for each emergency scenario you think your family could be subjected to. Share the plan with your loved ones, and then practice how they should react when faced with the emergency both when they are at home or away from home.
Types of emergency situations you should do drills for:
Fire
Flooding
Hurricane or Tornado
Sudden Power Outage
SHTF when the family is separated – not at home
Medical emergency at home, away from home, and during SHTF
Home Invasion
Lost child or elderly family member at home and away from home
Martial Law Declaration
5. Water Collection
Start setting up a simple rainwater collection system with items you have on hand, or plan to implement one by purchasing items as a part of your survival budget.
You can also fill up empty plastic bottles and jugs with water.
6. Make a Cache
Find a piece of PVC pipe and connector ends, bucket with a firm fitting lid, or a trash can with a firm fitting lid, and create a survival cache to hide on your land – or somewhere along a frequently traveled route.
The items inside may need to be wrapped in plastic, or placed inside of a Ziploc bag to better protect them from the elements (if using a trash can as a survival cache).
Unless you are sinking the survival cache in a pond or other body of water, the actually burying of the cache can also serve as part of your physical fitness prepper training.
7. Make a Faraday Cage
Making a Faraday cage to store you sensitive electronic devices in to protect them from an EMP attack or solar flare. Unless you feel so inclined, there is no need to drag out either power tools or manual tools to make a Faraday cage.
Use a metal trash can, metal box, metal chest, metal tool box, etc. as the base of your Faraday cage. Place cardboard along the bottom and sides of the Faraday cage to make sure none of the items inside are touching bare metal.
If the items are stored in their individual cardboard packaging, there is no need to do the cardboard lining, but it still wouldn’t hurt. Never store batteries inside of radios or other electronic devices.
Batteries of any type should be separated by cardboard from themselves, the device they will be used in, or the metal on the Faraday cage.
Before closing the lid on the Faraday cage, place a layer of cardboard on top of the items stored inside to add an extra layer of protection.
Suggested Items to store inside of a Faraday cage:
If you keep a 2-way radio in your bugout bag, take the batteries out if and place both the radio and batteries in separate Ziploc baggies. Wrap multiple layers of aluminum foil around each plastic bag to create a makeshift portable Faraday cage.
There areheated debates about the level of protection aluminum foil provides, but it definitely does not hurt to give it a shot, and help protect your communication tools from natural or man-made EMPs.
8. Make a Radio Communications Code
You definitely do not want others who might listen in on radio transmissions between your family or mutual assistance group members.
Develop a simple code to serve as survival shorthand to allow communications to remain as covert as possible. Example: Blue means stay where you are, I am coming to get you.
Suggested Survival Communications Code Keywords And Phrases
Stay where you are
I’m coming to get you – help is on the way
Rally point not safe
Home is not safe, go to X
Missing person found
Possible attackers on our X perimeter side
Unknown persons approaching
Code name for each family member or survival group member.
I found the survival cache
I am ok
I need help
9. Make an Off-Grid Communications Code
Radio batteries will not last forever, do not make a possibly fatal mistake of relying on them for communications for the duration of the long-term disaster.
Develop a simple no-tech communications code that can be used in place of radios in case batteries go dead, to prevent information from being detected by marauders who could read a regular written note.
Everyone in the family should be assigned a single color or symbol they can easily and quickly leave to let others know they are safe, or that they have been home or to the rally point, but had to leave and are going on to the bugout location or secondary rally point.
Whatever supplies used as tools in the off grid communications system should be lightweight and portable so they can be carried in bugout bags, purses, briefcases, and school bags. Never assume your loved ones will be either at home or all together when disaster strikes.
Example: a blue bandana or symbol could alert loved ones the house is not safe to enter so they travel to a designated rally point.
Suggested off grid communications code supplies
Single colored bandanas
Spray paint
Paint pens
Duct tape in different colors or patterns.
Chalk – this will not work if the space where the design is left is not undercover in the rain or is found and disturbed before the message has been relayed.
10. Growing Your Own Groceries Planning
When the SHTF, expect grocery store shelves to go bare within just three hours and stay that way for weeks, months, or even years.
Things you can do to start or enhance your food cultivation efforts:
Clean out your refrigerator, and start a compost pile outdoors.
Find a bucket or other container with a firm-fitting lid, and use it as a kitchen compost container to regularly collect scraps that can be transported to the outdoor compost pile when it gets full.
Dig up a little bit of dirt from all of your current or prospective ground growing plots and any existing compost pile to test the soil to determine pH balance and nutrient levels. It can take months to enrich subpar soil, so do not hesitate to launch into this prepping project any time of the year.
Look for scrap materials or items that would otherwise be deemed trash that can be upcycled into growing containers. Plastic bottles, milk jugs, plastic barrels, old boots, cottage cheese containers, etc. are all great for starting seeds, growing herbs, and growing many types of vegetables.
Starting or enhancing your prepping can be just as simple as doing any of these superb 10 prepping right now projects.
Not only will you be invigorated to learn even more ways to build upon these initial efforts after getting rolling, you are bolstering your family’s chances of survival with each 5-pound coffee can lifted to get more muscle, and with every word written on a piece of paper to organize your preps or communications plan.
Get started prepping right now and don’t ever stop, there is always one more thing you can do or learn to increase the safety level of your family and to hone your survival skills.
The Division of Parks and Recreation is seeking public input on the Wilderness Gateway State Trail plan. When finalized, it will guide project stakeholders as they refine the planned corridor and build the trail.
The trail will connect Chimney Rock State Park to locations in Catawba County as well as the Overmountain Victory State Trail, the Town of Valdese, and South Mountain game lands and state park. When complete, the trail will traverse Rutherford, McDowell, Burke and Catawba counties.
The plan is being developed by the division with input from officials from the four counties, major towns in the corridor, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina and Conserving Carolinas Land Conservancy, among others. It will identify opportunities, challenges, trail section sponsors and stakeholders along the trail corridor.
Drop-in style open house meetings to receive public input will be held on Jan. 14, 15 and 16 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the following locations:
Jan. 14 Rutherfordton County Administration Office 289 N. Main St. Rutherfordton, N.C. 28139
Jan. 15 South Mountains State Park 3001 South Mountains Park Ave Connelly Springs, N.C. 28612
Jan. 16 Catawba County Government Center 25 Government Drive Newton, N.C. 28658
Members of the public are encouraged to attend and can expect to spend about 20 minutes to review, discuss, and comment on the planned trail corridor.
I decided to tackle this route on an alternate trail because I could reach this section terminus by bus. I knew from the map that there was a hydroelectric plant in the valley I had to ascend but did not think much of it … When I approached the valley on a well used dirt road I saw a big guard station at its entrance. There were lots of signs but none said “no entry”. So I tried to just walk by while the guard was dealing with some cars. Of course I was stopped. The poor guy did not really seem to know what to do with a hiker – and in order to play it safe he denied me access. I decided to not make a scene. This was all open landscape with no fences and it would be easy to just sneak in. And hopefully that late in the evening nobody would stop me once inside.
My designated camp site …
It was easy to bypass the guardstation without being seen and soon I was on a huge maintenance road leading towards the power plant. I just made it 2 kilometers in before I was discovered by another security guy in a car. He stopped immediately and asked me where I was going that late. “Have you registered at the guard station?”, was his next question. I mumbled something about cross country and hoped for the best. At least it now looked like hikers were allowed here. He told me to get into his car because he wanted me to register at the guard station and promised to bring me back afterwards. There was nothing I could do about this – but I wondered how the security guy at the guard station would react when he saw me again … It would then be very obvious that I had disobeyed his orders ….
But I was incredibly lucky: In the meantime a new work shift must have begun because a different security guard was sitting at the entrance. He copied my passport details and off we went going back. Unfortunately the driver would not let me out where he had picked me up. He told me again and again that this was too dangerous and there were pumas and so on. He would take me to a safe spot. Again there was nothing I could do. After five more kilometers he finally stopped, showed me a very nice camp spot close to the river and left. I don’t want anyone to know where I was camping but it was already getting dark. I decided to trust the guy and stayed. And indeed nobody showed up while I was camped there although vehicles were coming and going to the powerplant all night long.
I never made it down to these lakes …
I did’t see a single person next day! I passed the power plant, ascended 1000 meters and walked in breathtakingly beautiful country. At the end of the day I wanted to descend down to the lake in the photo and camp there. I could already see on the map that this 400 meter descent would be difficult because it involved a 1 km long traverse of a very steep slope. When I stood at the beginning of this traverse and looked down things were a lot worse than expected. The very steep slope had eroded so badly that there was no more trail whatsoever – only sun baked dirt covered with loose pebbles. If I slipped there I would fall almost 400 meters … I retraced my steps very carefully. I felt too exhausted at the end of the day to tackle this difficult section and walked two kilometers back to the last water source. Next morning I deliberated my choices: If I took the risk to traverse the steep slope (and survived!) I would immediately be confronted with the next problem. The GPT passes very close to the volcano Chillan which was in “alerta naranja”, orange alert now. As hikers were not suppposed to get closer than four kilometers I would have to take an alternate route that involved a very long and very exposed cross country section …
I came to the conclusion that no trail in the world was worth this risk. I just did not feel comfortable continuing – and therefore decided to turn back and skip the rest of this section. In order to get some variety I wanted to hike out on the regular route which turned out to be incredibly beautiful – and full of steep slopes with eroded trails … After 16 kilometers I came to another section where a slip would have meant immediate death. As spectacular as the scenery was – I did not want to risk my life for it. I turned back and hiked out the route I had come in. For someone who is 100% sure footed and free of vertigo this would probably have been easy. And even for me the chance of an accident was minimal – but I did not want to take that risk …
I arrived back in the valley after a very long day and steep descent, set up my camp and slept very well. In the morning my decision to turn back was confirmed by the fact that my shoes were falling apart. The sole was coming off and I would have felt even more uncomfortable in this difficult terrain with defective shoes … But before I arrived back in civilisation I was in for another surprise. A lonely puesto near the trail that had been empty two days ago was now full of people, probably a family. When the father saw my clumsy efforts to climb over the gate next to the puesto he immediately invited me over. “Have a drink, have a peach, relax!”, he told me and offered me a chair.
Hugo and yours truly in front of the puesto
Hugo was here on holiday with most of his family. Only one son was back home looking after the cattle. They had brought a goat from their herd as food for the weekend. When I jokingly told him that I had never ever eaten goat, I was invited to try a bit. His wife put a huge piece of meat onto the open fire inside the hut and thus warmed up the rest of last night’s barbecue. Despite the rather primitive hut I was served this meal on a porcelain plate, with silverware and napkins. The meat tasted delicious and Hugo even sang for me!
When I left these friendly hosts my luck continued. When I reached the power plant and the road again I was picked up by two locals who had been cutting wood here. We passed the guard station without any problems and they took me to their village, where to only direct bus to Chillan, my next destination stopped for me within five minutes ….
