While it is unlikely and not exactly pleasant to think about, the occurrence of large-scale nuclear disaster is a real threat that should be taken seriously. As is the case with any natural disaster, prepping for nuclear fallout is something that can and should be done to mitigate losses in the unlikely event nuclear war does occur. PVC pipe is an inexpensive, versatile material that can be used in a variety of projects, especially ones involving disaster prepping. This article will showcase 10 PVC pipe DIYs that are essential for a fully stocked fallout shelter. Without further ado, let’s get prepping!

This DIY PVC knife holder build from The Family Handyman is a great addition to any fallout shelter. Requiring only some PVC pipe, a PVC cutter, tape measure, 2 end caps per holder, and some PVC cement, these PVC knife holders are cheap and easy to make. Using these knife holders will help you keep your knives clean and organized, an extremely useful function in a nuclear fallout scenario

A PVC survival cache is a great way to store smaller items such as batteries, flashlights, and lighters. Another benefit of these caches is that they can be buried in places only you know the location of, and the PVC pipe will make it harder for metal detectors to locate the contents of the cache. The writers over at Commercial Industrial Supply created a very detailed guide that includes a list of all the materials you will need

  Another extremely useful prepping project from The Family Handyman is overhead PVC garage storage. If you have wooden ceiling joists in your shelter, you can create a space-saving storage unit for items such as metal rods or fishing poles. All you’ll need is some PVC pipe, PVC elbows, a drill, a PVC cutter, some PVC cement, and some WYE connectors (optional; they can be attached to cross braces for extra support).
​

This hanging garden build from BuzzFeed is a great way to increase your food-growing capacity without taking up much space. Simply take some PVC pipe with your outside diameter of choice and cut off the entire top half/fourth, leaving some of the top portion on the ends of the pipe to hang it with. Once your garden is set up, you can grow small plants like peppers and parsley. 

An oil recovery system made out of PVC pipe is a great way to conserve scarce motor oil in the event of nuclear fallout. All you need to make this project is some PVC pipe, some 45- and 90- degree elbows, some T-fittings, and some pipe straps. Once the build is complete, simply use the pipe straps to secure the recovery system on a wall and place a container with a funnel at the lower end. This project is great as it is practical for everyday use as well as doomsday prepping. Additionally, it can be used to preserve other valuable

Coming from user newwarhammer2 over at Instructables, this DIY PVC bow project is a great addition to any prepper’s arsenal. A bow has the benefit of having ammunition that isn’t unreasonably hard to craft yourself, and using one is much quieter than firing a gun. The Instructables article has an in-depth list of materials needed and steps required to craft a PVC bow.
 

This PVC chicken feeder build from user ugarxfish over at Instructables is an inexpensive project that can bolster any homestead’s self-sufficiency. Building a chicken feeder out of PVC is much cheaper than buying one from a farming supply store and allows much more customization. The Instructables article has a detailed set of instructions as well as a list of required materials.

The firewood carrying device build courtesy of Survival Hax may be a simple project, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful. Simply take some rope or paracord and tie it to both ends of a PVC pipe length. This awesome device will enable you to carry much larger loads of firewood than if you were only using your hands.

axA PVC Canteen is a simple, cheap, and effective way to store your water in the case of disaster. All you’ll need is a length of PVC pipe, 2 end caps, some PVC cement, and some rope (optional; you can use rope if you want to carry the canteen on your shoulder). Once finished, you’ll have a handy water storage device that is much cheaper than store-bought canteens.
Source: Survival Hax

Last but not least, this DIY PVC bow stand build from Survival Life is a great addition to any fallout shelter and is a much cheaper alternative to purchasing a bow stand. The Survival Life article has a detailed list of instructions and required materials.

Picture courtesy of user laroye123 over at ArcheryTalk.com

Hopefully, reading this article has given you some ideas on how to make sure your fallout shelter is fully prepared in case of disaster. Thanks for reading, and happy prepping!
 
Author Bio:
Mark Ligon is the Marketing Manager at PVC Fittings Online, an online store that features PVC products including pipe, fittings (CPVC, PVC, Etc.), valves, plumbing supply, and more. Mark enjoys completing DIY projects and providing valuable PVC-related tips to individuals looking to complete their own DIY projects.
 
 

Camping is always meant to be an experience to remember for a good while in our lives. Every once in a while, people tend to go on camping trips to escape their busy lives and find solace in nature. Some are pro campers and some may be beginners. However, as "fun" as it may sound, the whole idea of having fun at campsites could be changed into something entirely different because of some basic mistakes. In this feature, we will look into a few of them, which are suggested to avoid if you want your camping experience to be a memorable one.

1.Are you doing enough research?

One of the most significant mistakes camper make more often is that they do not conduct enough research about the campsite and its ongoing conditions. It is a very important matter that all campers should take into account before going on a camping trip, no matter where and for how long, because failure in doing so will or may result in unfortunate or unexpected consequences and could ruin the whole trip.

For example, before settling on a campsite, you could make a few basic investigations through various sources. It could be the internet, dedicated websites, and native people of that place and so on. Knowing about the ongoing condition of the campsite is imperative, for example, the political state, social (if the place is camping friendly in the first place) and environmental state and of course, the weather condition, availability of resources and other facilities (if needed for an emergency) etc. 
These are a basic few knowledge that you must gather through your research before you leave for your camping trip.
 
2.Do Not Forget To Take The Essentials

The core part of camping is to be out in nature and have fun. There really is no need to take or carry extra baggage because it will only cause hindrance to your convenience and will literally turn out to be a baggage over your shoulder. However, taking the essentials are imperative. But what do we mean when we say essentials? It may vary from person to person as per their preferences, but here are a few things that you must carry.

For example, first aid kits, dry food or convenient food supply, wet wipes/napkins/toilet essentials, bug sprays (important), sleeping bag and beddings with necessary arrangements (you do not want to freeze to death at night, pack your bedding having kept that on mind), suitable clothes (according to weather and activities), torch lights and batteries, power bank, extra lights etc. the main idea is to take things that you will need for sure and to avoid things that will not be needed but add on extra weight to your backpack.

For beddings or sleeping bags, make sure you are taking things with you that would help you sleep comfortably at night, because for a while you would have to spend nights like this, so it is important that you get a full, satisfactory sleep. In that case, you may take ear plugs, eyes mask if needed. And pillows, if you must, but note that you might have to carry them.
 
3.Camping Gears & Equipment

Needless to say, the first and foremost thing regarding camping is the tent or canopy. It is recommended that you rent instead of buying. Because sometimes, buying new camping gears costs a lot of money, which is really not convenient as half of the budget will be spent behind buying things rather than behind the trip itself. However, it is mandatory that you do not compromise with the quality of the tent, because it would not be much of a pleasant scenario if your tent goes up flying if the weather decides to turn its back on you.

So, renting or not, make sure your tent is well reputed or well recommended. The size of the tent is also important. Having said that, please do have a test run with your gears. See if they are functioning in the proper manner, and in this way, you will have a little practice as well on how to set up a tent appropriately. After that, you could take a camping stove or a small solar oven with you in case you wanted to have a quick bite or a cup of coffee, because always relying on a bonfire is not a wise option and is not always possible as well.

4.Clean Up!

When you are camping, it is very important that you make sure that the area is being cleaned. Any sort of garbage, or leftover food, barbeques and other food wastes or similar materials should not be near the camping site/area or near the tents. The obvious reason is there of course, that the place where you are staying, and eating should not be dirty, but it also has another reason. That is, it grabs the attention of many nocturnal visitors, due to the smell. Bears, and other animals could be wandering around near the camping area due to this reason, which obviously is not what any campers would be looking forward to.

So, besides keeping the place clean, pleasant and hygiene, if you do not want any unfortunate events to occur on the premises, do clean up well.

5.The Early Bird Catches The Worm

There is nothing more inconvenient than arriving late on a campground. That is just very unfortunate. Not only will you not have your desired/preferred/comfortable space to set up your gears, as all of the nice available space will be filled, but also, by some stroke of luck, even if you get one tiny corner, it would be very hard for you to be at ease without any supportive environment. Camping is meant to have fun, you wouldn’t really be able to have fun if your whole arrangement is upside down.

Sometimes, due to higher demand, the campsites get very busy, especially when there is a festive season or concerts. Organizers will not be able to help you with much facilities in those cases. So you better be early and make necessary appointments.

Conclusion
Apart from these, there are always many small mistakes that you need to be aware of not making. Such as, never forget to cover the firewood. Needless to say, dangerous fire incidents might take place if the fire has not worn off properly. Checking the weather and taking extra safety measurements because the forecast isn't always right. Taking enough lights and not relying on the campfire all the time. Taking sufficient water and medicines etc.

If these basic mistakes are avoided, it is very much expected that you are bound to enjoy yourselves without any inconveniences caused. 

Tip #6: Keeping Your Head On Straight -- The psychology of survival is a big one. Survival experts all agree that if you can’t keep it together when everything goes to hell, it could cost you and your groups lives. We’ve seen it happen in The Walking Dead when Rick goes a little crazy and becomes delusional.

While The Walking Dead series is designed entirely for entertainment, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two from it. And although the chances of a zombie apocalypse are highly unlikely, natural disasters are very real and can disrupt your normal way of life for weeks or months until help arrives.
Where and how you learn survival skills isn’t as important as the fact that you actually learn them and can apply them when the time comes.
​
With that being said, what’s your take on The Walking Dead? Any survival tips of your own?
​

By ​Conrad Novak 

As parents, we can be hesitant to leave our loved one's home for an extended period. It's our nature to worry. We feel as though our families become more vulnerable without us. If we prepare for emergencies when we are away from our loved ones, we can feel more comfortable leaving them.
Most disasters tend to happen when you least expect it. When you're far away from your family, these 5 ways to prepare an emergency plan will allow you and your family to respond to emergency situations in the best way possible.

Put Someone in Charge
First, establish a chain of command when you are away. Who is next in line to lead the group? The person to be left in charge should be the most responsible for the bunch and be someone that has the rest of the family's respect. The person in charge should be groomed to do what you would do in an emergency.

This person may be your oldest child or your youngest child, depending on the level of maturity. Without having someone in charge there is no order. To prevent panic, someone should take the lead in case of emergency.

It's crucial that your family understands the importance of working together, as one wrong decision could lead to a life or death situation. Emergency plans only work if your family members execute it out correctly. It's important for them to know that in case of an emergency everyone needs to stick together and not panic.
​
Traits to look for when choosing a leader are effective communication, positive attitude, trustworthy, and innovative. Be sure that the person in charge knows that they are in charge and will step up and accept responsibility for the others in your absence. This person should have access to the emergency plan and everything needed to execute it. Knowing that you have a second in command will ease some worries until you can get back to your family.
​

​ 
About the Author:
Conrad Novak is a proud father of two children. His journey as a prepper began when Hurricane Katrina hit and he lost his job due to the 2008 economic crisis. That made him realize that everything can change for the worst in a very short time. This experience was the detonator for him to pursue learning and becoming better prepared to face the kind of unexpected disasters that may occur at any point in our lives. You can read more of his content at SurvivorsFortress.com

​How to Survive in the Wild?

We call city life crazy, spend a day (and night) in the wilderness, and then we will have a chat! Out there, even a sip of filtered water seems like a luxury! Whether you are out hiking or camping, be prepared! Without that, you will be completely stuck.
 
Do not believe us?! Talk to adventure enthusiasts and they will tell you the base reality! Some may even share about unfortunate events of being stuck out there. But that does not mean you stop living and enjoying adventures! You need to enjoy, but also be prepared for the curve balls that life throws at you.
 
Here are a few ways you can stay prepared for survival out in the wild:
 

1. Inform Someone of Your Trip: May it be for half a month or half a day, let someone know where you are headed! Give them an estimate of how many days later they should raise the flag! This way, even if by some unfortunate turn of events, you get stuck out in the wild, someone will be looking for you! Do not change your area of adventure drastically. Even if you do, come back to the area you said you would be. So, it is imperative that you at least have a compass with your high tech GPS device! 
2. Pack Smart: You need to have the right things in your backpack. But, first make sure that your backpack is strong enough to hold it all. Here is a checklist for the crucial supplies:
   1. Dry food supply & can opener
   2. Supplies for building shelter
   3. Tools to start a fire
   4. Supplies for water filtration
   5. A torch & headlamp
   6. GPS device & compass
   7. Dry Bags
   8. Binoculars
   9. Water Bottles (preserve them for future use)
   10. Tools for hunting and surviving (just make sure you know the local regulations on carrying knives). In case you carry something like a pocket knife or bowie knife, make sure it is from reputed sellers like Perkin so as not to compromise on quality and dependability.
3. Brush up on Your Bushcraft Skills: You never know when you could need these skills! So, it is best to brush up on them. If you have none, then get going. You need to know basic survival skills before you head out for your wilderness adventure. The skills include everything, from building a shelter to starting a fire. Did you know that a feather stick could come handy? Do not know how to make one? Well, that could be a problem! Talk to the experts and learn what skills you need to survive in the wild.
4. Train to Stay Calm: Whatever the scenario, you need to stay calm. If needed, attend yoga and meditation classes before you head out on your wilderness adventure. Sounds foolish? Well, in the worst of conditions a cool head can be the difference between life and death. The feeling of loneliness will creep in and if you do not stay calm, it will have a compelling grip on you. You do not feel this is needed?! Okay, just imagine a scenario, you are out in the wild (rather stuck out in the wild) and panic has set in! Do you think that you will be able to think straight and work out the next step to survive? Definitely not! So, practice to stay calm (much ahead of your trip).
5. Compass: Your GPS device is an electronic device, which can malfunction without notice. Learn to read a compass and ensure that you have packed one! If that fails as well, you need to know to read the stars. Are you laughing? No need to laugh! The natives navigated using the stars. If you can learn it, it is quite easy actually.

These are the preparations that you need to look after, before heading out to the wilderness. Once you are in the wild you need to be prepared as well. Do not relax one moment! Misfortune can hit you at anytime!

​Here is what you need to do out in the wild to prepare for the worst (God forbid that ever happens, but be prepared)! Here are a few things that need your attention:

1. Build a Shelter: Out in the wild do not take anything for granted. Chances are that if you let down your guard you are bound to be caught unawares. Make sure you have an understanding of your surroundings. Build two types of shelter, if needed! One should be high up in the trees and the other one on the ground. Night-time is a dangerous time!
   
   
2. Water: You can go days without food, but not without water. You have no idea, if you might be stuck in the wild. So, make sure that you preserve the bottles. Later on, these can come handy for fetching water and storing filtered water.
   
   
3. Enough Food Supply: A day or two is still bearable, but after that you will need food. After your food source has depleted, look for avenues to dig out edible tubers or hunt (if needed). If you could not carry a survival knife, you must have a pocket knife?! Create a handmade spear with wooden branch! If you do not have that as well, find a sharp rock. Create a spear with a stick of wood, by shaving it with the rock.

 
What do you do if you do get stuck?
 
If you are fated to go for a ride, adverse conditions are bound to appear. So, now that you are prepared, you should not be fearful. Here is what you need to do:
 

1. Start by staying calm: If you panic, as we said, everything will go downhill.
2. Make a mental note of your observations: You must have researched about the surroundings! So, start making mental notes. This will help you escape, in case you are confronted by an adversary (and you cannot fight)!
3. Climb up to the Shelter in the Trees: The first night, you should spend in the trees! Do not sleep, keep an eye out!  See what kind of animals do the rounds on the floor.
4. Start Accumulating Food and Water: Never let either deplete! You will need all your energy to get out of the situation or at least survive till help arrives.

 
When in an unexpected adversity, just Ride it Out! That is all we can say. Future is unpredictable. Stay calm and make sure that you survive. Follow all the pointers provided; and let your instincts and intellect do the rest. You will definitely emerge victorious (safe and sound!) and return to your near and dear ones!

To be able to navigate effectively means that you are able to move from one point to another intended point by using the least resources possible. There are many tools to help us navigate, and using these tools effectively may be key to effective navigation. What are these tools? Amongst others are a GPS, laser rangefinders, a map and a compass.

The following article would be separated into different navigation methods and certain tips you can use to effectively navigate by employing that particular method. 
 
Navigating by using a Map
Topographical maps are really good for navigating in the wild because different contour lines would show different landforms such as mountains, bare land or valleys. Basically, it shows you different levels of elevation.

Remember, that map reading takes practice especially if you want to use it to navigate. The goal is to be able to picture the landforms in three dimensions and later confirm whether it is true when you are traveling on foot.

Other tips to remember is to always carry your map in a waterproof case or prevent the map from having contact with water. Essentially, you should be able to locate yourself using different landmarks along the trail such as streams and junctions.

Do note that maps are only useful if you know where you are on them. This makes keeping track of where you are on the map really important, where you start, where you are going and where you intend to be.

The disadvantage of using topographical maps is that most sources of data would be out of date and the government now usually use aerial photography to update maps rather than surveying. Therefore, what you see on foot may be different!  
 
Navigating using a compass
Basically, a compass would aid us by ensuring that we are moving on the right direction. Usually, you would use a compass with a map. This tool becomes useful especially in situations where you know that you should for example turn south, but you do not know which direction is south.

This is a really important aspect of traveling because knowing ‘where you are’ consists of three aspects, which are your position, your orientation and the intended direction you want to travel, where all three aspects are equally important. When your orientation which is you alignment with your surrounding is wrong, you would not be able to accurately pinpoint your position and would fail in traveling your intended direction.

The map would complement in providing you with visible milestones. The common problems faced is that the compass sometimes is affected by a “magnetic” north rather than the pointing to the magnetic pole. This means that the compass is aligning with the local magnetic field. The corrective action you can take is to acquire information and make corrections towards the reading.

Ideally, you would be able to get a proper compass with a bezel and a baseplate for effective navigation. Certain compass features you can consider would be a clinometer for measuring slope angle, a sighting mirror and luminescent markings so you can read your compass in the dark.
 
Navigating using a GPS
A GPS would be one of the most effective methods to navigate, but this method holds the highest risk. Navigating using a GPS can only occur if the GPS works. This means that there are situations where the GPS batteries may die or not being able to lock onto a satellite.

There are constantly 24 US navigational satellites circling the globe, which runs the Global Positioning System (GPS).  A GPS functions by monitoring signals from multiple satellites and provide you an accurate estimate of your location.

A GPS would immediately let you know your position, your orientation and where your intended direction should be. Other functions would include informing you of your latitude and longitude. One important function which pulls the GPS apart from other navigation methods is the capability to allow distress signals.

With a GPS, you can use personal locator beacons or satellite messengers which are two different kinds of transmitters which gives out distress signals.  The personal locator beacons are usually used only when there are extreme emergency situations. Usually, normal hikers or travelers who are lost would use the satellite messengers to inform our rescuers of our coordinates.
 
 Reading nature’s compass
For this section, we are introducing a do-it-yourself method for determining where you are and where you should go. First, you can make your own compass. All you need is a large leaf, a compass needle and a magnet. You have to rub a magnet against the needle around 25 to 30 times to make sure its magnetized. After that, float the needle on a leaf in a pool of water. After some time, it would orient itself from North to South.
 
Other important rules would be remembering to always go downhill because the conditions for survival are better downhill. Another thing to note is to follow a river downhill, as it would slowly lead you back to safety. One other alternative would be looking at the starts to measure your approximate latitude.
 
Conclusion
Getting lost in the wilderness can happen to any of us, and it can happen in a matter of minutes. Therefore, by using the tips above, you should be able to get back to safety without much problems. Also, you can make it a habit to always do scouting before you go for your next trip. Scouting means that you would use maps on computer to familiarize yourself with the landscape first. After that, you can mark those locations which you are interested in the computer and transfer the waypoints into your GPS.

This is an extremely useful method because now, there are much more resources in the internet such as Garmin’s BaseCamp software or Google Earth. You just have to ensure that your GPS have sufficient memory storage to store the waypoints. By employing these methods, hopefully it can help you to navigate better and be more confident travelling! If you have any other tips you would like to share, please comment below!

About the author:
Author Bio: I am John Lewis, a blogger, survivalist and outdoor enthusiast. You can follow me over at Epic Wilderness.

By Judy Robinson 
​

We all love rain in the pleasant outdoors. But sometimes, it can be the unwelcomed relative you are forced to meet at a family event. Rain can brighten your day in the right place but at the wrong time, it can kill your mood. 

One such place where the impact of the rain can be disastrous is when you are camping outdoors. But you do not always have to let the downpour ruin your adventure. If you want to camp in the rain, it's best to prepare yourself to have a fun-filled and adventurous experience.
To help you plan, we have listed the top seven tips to camp safely in wet conditions. Keep reading!

1. Be particular with your rainy-camping equipment
Keeping a check on the weather before you set out on a camping adventure can save you a lot of hassle. While you can't deny the beauty of natural views when it is raining, not having the right equipment can ruin your camping adventure.

To minimize the impact of weather and to ensure you have maximum fun camping outdoors, make sure you are well-equipped. Some of the most important items you should pack include raincoats, beanies, gloves, gumboots, and warm clothing. Also, pack an additional change of clothes in a waterproof bag in case the weather gets worse, and you don't get time to dry wet clothes.

Pack with you several tarpaulins as they can be helpful and against the rain, wind and even the sun. Waterproof sleeping bags can be great equipment to carry so you can have enough time to rest without worrying about the weather.

Having a backup for food is also essential in case the weather ruins what you already have, and there's no way to cook food. Be more careful with your wet-weather equipment if you are camping with children. 

2. Pitch your tent smartly
Before you adjust your tent, explore the area and inspect the surrounding. The ideal location for a tent is where the ground is high, and there's no chance of water puddles to build around. If you can't find high spots, look for the flattest part of the ground.

Next thing you need to consider is the ground's ability to support and hold the tent. If the ground is wet and doubtful, use waterproof tarps before setting the tent pegs.

A great tent location will also ensure adequate ventilation. This helps keep condensation from building inside. Consider placing a tarp on the tent to keep the rain from entering inside through windows.
When it rains, fold your bedding and other important items and place them away from the tent walls. This simple action can keep your essentials from becoming too damp and uncomfortable.

3. Pick a waterproof tent
Another crucial pick is a waterproof tent. If you are a frequent camper, investing in a waterproof tent is a great idea. It ensures you continue to have fun and adventure despite the conditions.

If you are not sure about this feature of the tent, test it before you carry it to the campsite. There are other ways to make your tent rain-proof. You can find waterproof tent covers made of thick plastic that you can use to cover your regular tent. This, however, does not always provide 100% safety in the rain because the size of the cover and tent may not be the same and does not provide full coverage. 

4. Plan indoor activities
While you can always enjoy the rain by indulging in activities outside the tent, sometimes the weather can become too harsh for outdoor activities.

To keep yourself entertained, you and your family can enjoy indoor activities when it is raining. Card games, board games, magazines, music, and books are great options to carry with you for rainy-day camping.

Just use your imagination and be creative with your approach and have fun while the weather becomes adventurous.

5. The right lighting equipment
You can't risk going totally dark during rain. Having the right lighting equipment that doesn't betray you when the weather becomes harsh can be your savior.
Carry lighting equipment that boosts not only the ambiance but also provideS you enough light to survive. LED string lights can be a great option. These can be draped around the tree canopy, campsite, and can be even placed in mason jars to give you the perfect indoor ambiance.
Other than that, carry flashlights and camp lanterns. To avoid running out of the battery, don't forget to carry extra batteries, specifically lithium ones that are more reliable in wet, rainy conditions. 

6. Carry plastic bags
Carry lots of plastic bags with you as they can be the lifesavers when the weather becomes wet. Plastic bags will not only keep your essentials safe and dry but are also a great way to pack smart. Carry plastic bags in different sizes to accommodate a variety of items.
Plastic bags are naturally waterproof and can keep various stuff dry and safe. Use them to segregate clothes and secure your belongings, especially your food.
It's best to use the reusable plastic bags to avoid pollution. In case you are using the cheap plastic bags, make sure you dispose of them properly.

7. Dry out camping equipment right away
All of your camping equipment, including tents, clothing, and other items, must be vented. Whenever you get a break from the rain, make sure you dry out all your wet camping equipment before storing them.
If you pack without drying the equipment, it will develop mildew molds and unpleasant odor. It can also corrode and ruin items. Avoid hanging your equipment to dry at night. It may rain in the middle of the night and can ruin all the effort.

Conclusion
Rain is natural and can happen anytime. It is best to do your research and pack according to the weather. If you invest in the best family camping tent, your outdoor adventure won’t be ruined. Use these tips mentioned above to plan your next camping trip.
 
Author Bio:
Judy Robinson is a passionate health and lifestyle blogger. She loves to write on healthy lifestyle, travel, fitness 101 and DIY related topics. Follow @judyrobinson for more updates.
 

​When does preparation ever become over-reaction?  In my mind, never.  And my guess is: people who have lost their homes to disasters, lost their loved ones to an epidemic, and lost all they have to tragedies feel the same way. The bottom line is: you have to be prepared to survive.
​
The “polar vortex” officially became a thing this year as it turned weather conditions upside down. Epidemics and viruses, threats of war, and economic meltdown — these are some of the occurrences no man could stop from happening.  In June 2012, four million people went without electricity when an unexpected summer storm knocked out power across the mid-Atlantic region.  Hardest hit were the Washington suburbs of Northern Virginia and Maryland.  A storm during the summer? Who would have thought?
 
On that fateful day, I decided to never compromise the safety of my loved ones.  On that day, I decided to be a prepper.  Yes, a prepper — a growing community that gave National Geographic its highest ratings ever. The majority of people who saw the “Doomsday Preppers” series were not very kind, calling preppers crazy and wild-eyed people waiting for the end of the world as we know it.  But the thing about preppers is they don’t wait, they prepare and not just for the apocalypse (as most assume) but for emergencies and occurrences that most people don’t take seriously.
 
However, if you were with my family who huddled in the basement as the storm ripped through our neighborhood, tearing our roofs, slamming windows, and blowing down trees, you would probably understand.  More than 20 people died.

​Photo 1 via Flickr

​The next day after the storm, temperatures reached triple digits again. The extreme heat was hurting recovery efforts. Our house was damaged, we had no power, supermarkets and shops were mostly closed, and we ran out of food.  During those weeks, I thought: I will never let this happen to my family ever again.
​
A Prepper In All Of UsIt dawned on me that I was not alone.  I was not the only one who will do whatever it takes to keep my loved ones safe.  I was not the only one who fights hard to survive.
As many as three million Americans call themselves preppers.  They are regular people who like regular things.  They are professionals, couples, rich and poor, old and young. You could be living next to a prepper and not know it.  They are the new breed of survivalists whose preparedness guide and practices go beyond the norm.

A prepper’s emergency management includes not just a 72-hour survival food kit.  Prepping means sustainability.  Keeping a stockpile of food and artillery, getting survival training, and having an escape plan are among prepper practices that make people cringe and laugh.  But the truth is: there is a prepper in all of us.  Preparing for the future, preparing for simple home emergencies, preparing for hurricanes make everyone preppers.  The difference probably lies not in magnitude but the extent and degree of wanting to survive which transcends beliefs, orientation, and practices.
 
Being A PrepperIt is not easy to be a prepper.  The “Doomsday” series was more like a weekly invitation to laugh at us, “lunatics”.  Some imagine preppers as armed zealots hunkered down in bunkers.  When visitors drop by my house, I still don’t have the courage to show them my own survival kit.  We call them bug-out bags: our own array of disaster swag.  Members of the New York City Preppers Network proudly exhibited them at a church in Washington Heights last year.  They contain: compasses, hand-cranked radios, solar-powered flashlights, fire starters, road maps and pills.  Some preppers tweaked bug-out gear to suit their needs and interests.

Photo 2 via Flickr

Preppers often have their own checklists and preparedness guides. Prepping seems like a tough practice and the common question is: “where do I start?”  If you are the type that will do everything to protect your family, then prepping should not be a difficult task.  Everything will come naturally with training and practice.  There is no single formula for prepping — emergency survival kits must be patterned with what you and your family need and the training required varies with what specifically you are preparing for.
​
However, for beginners to have an idea of what prepping is all about, the basics are food kits, the art of stockpiling food and preserving it, first aid kits and skills, keeping your place warm or cold, locating sources of water and power, and disaster training.
​
Preppers And Pop CulturePreppers are an ever-growing community, thanks to television shows, documentaries, movies, businesses and dedicated websites that make the idea of preparing popular and common.  Taking after the National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers,” the Discovery Channel launched its own series called “Doomsday Bunkers” and the TV special “Apocalypse Preppers.”

Movies such as “2012,””Contagion” and “World War Z” show viewers that, while fictional, the world is not safe from disasters and epidemics.  Like these movies, preppers do not intend to cast paranoia among people.  They simply remind that complacency has no place in this world.

There are also hundreds of websites and blogs, personal or official that are dedicated to preppers.  Top websites such as SHTF Plan and Survival Blog get as much as 60,000 visits a day combined.
Whether for long-term or short-term emergencies, people seem to be taking action and industries cashing in on preppers are proof of this — from ordinary household items to bug out gear.  The demand has made prepping a multi-billion industry.

Prepping is often seen as overly-dramatic but to me it is nothing but preparing to survive.  It is survival revolution.  No one deserves to feel the pain of losing someone we love or losing everything we worked so hard for.  Prepping is more than just a phenomenon; it is here to stay because danger does not discriminate — it can happen anytime, it can happen to anyone. Preppers are regular people who will do everything to keep themselves and their families alive. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
Author’s bio:
Jack is an experienced hunter, shooting & self-defense instructor. On Secretstorages.com, he writes about self-defense knives, security camera systems, surviving in the woods, etc.

By Tom Ginevra

Well, you might think that the answer would be simple but, no it isn’t. It depends on the jurisdiction (who administers justice in your country) and it depends a lot on the circumstances. Nevertheless, this can be a life changing moment for all parties involved, you, your family and the intruder. Here are some basic guidelines for this very difficult question.
​

​Self-defense
In order to demonstrate that shooting an intruder is legal, you need to show that shooting was:

• Necessary; in that, if you didn’t shoot them then something terrible would have happened to you, i.e., the intruder would have shot you, inflicted serious bodily harm, rape, robbery or kidnapping
• Imminent; something terrible would have happened immediately. What is meant by this is, you can’t shoot someone who says they are going to rape you next week!
• A reasonable response; compared to any other response like running away from the danger

As a defense, it seems that there is no compulsion to run away if the intrusion is in your own home and most intrusions in your own home would give rise to an urgent situation, meaning it must be dealt with now.

​If the intruder is armed and threatening you, then it would be considered ok to shoot first. If the intruder is unarmed it may still be ok to shoot first, especially if he or she is behaving aggressively and is physically bigger and stronger than you. If the intruder is not being aggressive then you are faced with deciding not to shoot but to threaten them with your firearm and calling the police. This sort of action requires a strong and confident personality which many of us do not possess. If the intruder is running away, then shooting them in self-defense is less acceptable.
Generally, if you feel that your life is at risk, then shoot, otherwise don’t. But, of course, it is very difficult to make rational decisions under such stressful and possibly terrifying circumstances.

Protection of property
At no point is it considered legal to shoot an intruder for mere protection of property. Using deadly force would only be legal if it could be proved that the intruder had further violent intentions and that they were actually trespassing.
 
Castle doctrine
So called because it is based on adopted 18th century common law wording “And the law of England has so particular and tender a regard to the immunity of a man's house, that it stiles it his castle”.
In certain states in the US, the castle doctrine or castle law is a legal defense. This is a legal doctrine that designates that a person’s home or any legally occupied place (could be a vehicle) is a place in which that person has protections and immunities permitting the use of force including deadly force as a defense against an intruder, free from legal prosecution for the consequences of the force used.

A person my have a duty to retreat to avoid violence if it is reasonably possible to do so. This duty to retreat does not apply in the person’s home where that person has a right to be. Deadly force may be justified as a defense in cases when the person fears in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm to themselves or another. The castle doctrine is not a defined law but rather a set of principles that can be incorporated in some form in the law of many jurisdictions.

In practice
You should always go to a safe place like your bedroom or a bathroom, lock yourself in and call the police. You can only use deadly force when your life or the life of another in your direct vicinity is in life-threatening danger beyond any doubt. When you decide to shoot an intruder in your home, there must have been no alternative – a last resort.

For you to justify the use of deadly force, the intrusion must be unlawful, the attack must be imminent or already happening, the intrusion must not be complete, the defense must be against only the intruder or attacker and defensive action must be proportionate to the circumstances.

Bear in mind that your property is not worth more than the life of an intruder.

​Possessing a firearm at home gives you a huge responsibility to use it wisely in difficult moments. Should you get woken in the middle of the night to the sound of someone breaking in, then your heart is sure to start racing while you try to work out what to do – stay calm, breathe deeply and ensue you make the correct decision.

Related:
15 Affordable Ways to Protect Your Home in an Emergency

​It is my assumption that you have been listening to the news. What do you make of the relationship between North Korea and the West? As a survivalist, am always attentive to such news and those of natural disasters both of which can happen without warning. When it happens, I want to be among the survivors.
 
As a survivor, one of the most important things is the ability to cut and chop wood. The wood is the primary source of fuel to keep you warm, cook our food and boil water. Not any tool can achieve this. You need tools that can help you cut and chop wood easily and conveniently for survival. Here are brief discussions of my favorite 4 tools to cut and chop wood for survival.

1. Spitting Maul
A splitting maul is one of the most efficient tools to cut and chop wood for survival. A splitting maul is a heavy, long-handle axe with a triangular or wedge-shaped head for splitting wood along its grains. This tool is very good in chopping wood, especially that which is intended for making firewood outdoors. It is the best survival tool to choose if you want an easy way to chop firewood. You can choose the best splitting maul from different brands and models currently in the market.
 
2. An Axe
Another vital survival tool for cutting and chopping wood is an axe. This tool has been in use for hundreds of years and it still remains as relevant as it was then. An axe is the premium tool for shaping, cutting and splitting wood. This highly versatile tool can and has been used as a defensive or combat weapon. There are many forms of axes but the most common form consists of a head and a handle called a helve. You can choose from a variety of brands and models depending on your preferences.
 
3. Survival Knife
All survivors know the importance of carrying a knife along in their survival kit. It is one of the most valuable tools to cut and chop wood for survival. Having it alongside a splitting maul and an axe can guarantee you a steady supply of wood for fuel. Survival knives come in many different styles, designs, and sizes. Larger knives may not be as portable as the small models but they feature long blades (some times up to 8 inches) that are strong enough to chop small pieces of wood for lighting fires.
 
4. A saw
A saw is extremely important survival implements. It is perhaps the best-suited tool for cutting wood. These tools come in all designs, shapes, and sizes. A good choice would be a folding saw, which offers the convenience of portability and sturdiness for fairly heavy use. You can store them easily yet they still have the power to cut through logs quite large.
 
A good alternative would be a takedown bucksaw. This saw type has many advantages including the fact that you can make one from materials lying in your vicinity. You can fix it on your own. Furthermore, the saw is simple to use and stows away easily.
 
Conclusion
If you want to be a complete survivor, one that can weather the storm and live through the ordeal then you can trust these 4 tools to cut and chop wood for survival to help you through the entire period. I have been a survivor for quite long and these tools have proved invaluable at all times. You too will most likely love them.

​by Douglas Brooks

Many people within modern American society no longer feel safe and secure out in public and within their homes. The issue of self- defense is very important for many individuals especially when it comes to protecting the lives of their loved ones and their possessions.
​
Choosing the right type of gun for the purpose of self-defense can be a difficult thing for people to do, especially when they’re unfamiliar with the use of firearms. However, there are certain types of weapons which are best suited for close combat fighting and personal protection.

​Confession: I love my survival knife. We all love these simple tools that have hundreds of uses. You may not believe you can make mistakes with them, yet they exist, and they can force you to increase your survival budget to buy a new knife.

Unless you’re a critical survival situation, you have no reason to make some of the mistakes below. IN theory, your survival knife should last a lifetime.
​
Without further ado, let’s see what the biggest survival mistakes you can make with your knife are.

Cleaning and Sharpening

Provided you actually use your knife (and you most definitely should), you also need to make sure you keep it in shape. Sharpening it and oiling it are two of the most important things you must do to maintain it. The key to sharpening your knife is to do it at the right angle.
Now, cleaning it should be done every time you use it, sharpening should be done less often. For example, you can do it when you check your survival stockpile and gear to make sure your food hasn’t spoiled and that all your tools and gear still work.
The simplest way to sharpen a knife is using a whetstone. It’s cheap and you can find plenty of youtubes showing you how to do it. Two places you shouldn’t forget is to clean the handle and the portion where the handle meets the blade.

Messing with the Tip of the Blade

That’s exactly what I did when I tried to open a bottle. The knife still works, sure, but I learned my lesson.

Another way you can damage it is to split wood. That’s exactly what a friend of mine did last time we went to the woods. He had this new bushcraft knife that was advertised it can do this. Or maybe he saw it on youtube, I can’t remember.

Still, just because you can do it, that doesn’t mean you should. A good knife is expensive, why would you want to abuse it? Sure, it’s useful to learn how to use it to split wood should you need to do it in a survival situation, but it can’t turn into a habit.

By the way, in case you want to fix a broken tip, here’s a video showing you how to do it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQDX7gVR0qM

Using it on the wrong surface?

If that surface is glass, stone or the palm of your hand, you may want to reconsider. The first two will damage your knife, the 3rd one will damage you.

Not Knowing How to Use It

I’ve used knives all my life, what do you mean I don’t know how to use it?
Well, there are best practices for most things, including knives. Plus, certain survival situations require that you’re extra careful with it. Attaching it to a pole and using it as a spear for fishing, for instance, may sound like a fun thing to try, but I wouldn’t do it unless I really really had to. Not with my main knife, at least. Don’t use it to open cans or bottles, either.
Furthermore, please be advised of what your knife can and cannot do. Many knives are advertised as survival knives but not all of them are able to cut certain things or split logs.

Using it to Start Fires

Unless your knife has a built-in fire-starter, you should definitely not use it like that. Not unless you’re in a survival situation and don’t have a choice, of course. The thing is, you can damage the blade when you use it with a ferro rod. So please don’t.

Not Choosing the Right One

Perhaps I should have started with this, but you need to know what you need before you spend your money on it. This means having basic preparedness knowledge and knowing the situations in which you intend to use it.
For example, if you’re an urban prepper, you might not need a large bushcraft knife. Your bug out bag is probably smaller too, so a smaller one such as those made by Mora will do.
Now, even if you live in the city, you still can’t rely on a folding knife. Sure having one is great but you cannot ever consider it as being a survival knife. It’s much too small for that and you won’t be able to properly do many of the tasks you may need. They will generally take longer and you’ll surely ruin it in the process.
So figure out whether you’ll be bugging in or out, figure out whether you want a standard BOB or an inch bag, all the activities you’ll do in the wilderness and you’re well on your way to finding the right knife for you.

Not Having a Back-up Knife

Contrary to what I’ve been saying throughout the article, the reason you might need a second knife is because you might, in fat, use it in ways in which it’s not intended. You want to protect your main (and more expensive) blade, so having a second blade could prove useful for things like spearfishing, splitting wood and what not.

Final Word

​Ok, so these are the main mistakes you can make. Have you made mistakes with your survival knife that aren’t in the list (probably related to misuse)? Please share below.
​

By Benjamin ‘Raven’ Pressley
​

​What is the number one reason people die in a survival situation? Statistically speaking it is the mistakes they make, paranoia, thinking more about what they don’t have instead of what they do have. The number two killer is exposure. Your top four priorities, in order of importance, are as follows: SHELTER, FIRE, WATER, then FOOD. Why this order? Most people that die when thrust into a survival situation die of exposure, not hunger or thirst. An emergency shelter can be as simple as a natural shelter, such as a hollow tree or cave. It really depends on how much time you have and what you have to work with. 
​

​It also depends on what you need shelter from (temperature, rain, snow, etc.) In some cases you may not need shelter overhead you may just need a well insulated ground bed. I have read journals of early explorers surviving a cold night by putting some natural insulation between them and the ground and sitting in an upright fetal position, with back leaned against a tree and covering themselves under a blanket. ​
​

The secret to insulation and staying warm is surrounding yourself with some material that will retain dead air space. This should be a consideration even in the clothing you buy for outdoors. Your clothing should be able to maintain dead air space even when wet. For instance, down is a fine insulator until it becomes wet, then it clumps up and even squeezing it out only clumps it up more. Holofil or some other modern insulator is a better choice because it can be squeezed out, shaken and dead air space and insulating qualities return. Cotton clothing by itself is not a good choice for outdoor clothing. When it gets wet it takes too long to dry and has no insulating qualities especially when wet.

​This slow evaporation though can be a plus in a hot area where you need to have heat taken away from your body. Layering different materials is best. That way you can take off a layer as needed. If you are caught in the cold and don’t have these materials all is not lost. Tie the cuffs of your shirt and pants legs and stuff your clothing with dry leaves and grass. You may look like a scarecrow but it could save your life!

​Types of Shelters

​If there is enough snow on the ground a simple snow cave can be constructed by making a depression in the snow and covering it with branches. If the depression can be filled with leaves and other natural insulation, all the better. The consideration here is getting out of the wind and putting a barrier between you and the ground. Many campers make the mistake of putting more blankets over them than under them and wonder why they remain cold. It is because of the tremendous amount of heat loss conducted to the ground. 

Debris Shelter

​There are many emergency shelters that can be built with the materials around you, such as lean-to’s, wickiups, etc. but the quickest, most efficient emergency shelter to build is the debris shelter (see pictures). It will keep you warm even when the temperature drops down into the ‘teens. Simply described, it is constructed of a center pole that may be leaned against a tree and be of sufficient length to allow you to lie down comfortably and sit up in a cross-legged fashion with a head’s height above your head. This allows for freedom of movement, in case you are in there for a long time. Other branches are then leaned against it leaving an opening to one side near the tree supporting it, only big enough to crawl through. Smaller branches are then laid on top of these creating a spider web effect. 

​Then leaves are poured all over to a thickness of 12 inches or more and branches are laid on top of this to keep them from blowing away. The shelter is then filled with dry leaves and packed down 3 times. You may then crawl inside and surround yourself with this natural insulation, scooping enough against the door to cover it or construct a door from matting cattail leaves together or some similar matting. If you have ever taken time to take a squirrel’s nest apart you would see a similarity. I have personally tested this type of shelter at 15 degrees F with it snowing, with only jeans and a T-shirt on and spent the night and remained perfectly warm.
​

Wickiup

​A wickiup is basically a teepee shaped structure made from natural material (see picture). It takes longer to construct. It is more of a long-term shelter. You may make it any height or diameter you wish. With any shelter it is always a good idea to not build it any bigger than is needed and the smaller the opening the better. This consideration is important because the larger the space the more it will take to heat it and to keep it warm. The larger the opening the more of a chance there is for heat to escape. (I know I am mostly addressing heat loss in my discussion but a well insulated shelter can also be useful to protect you from overheating. Allowances being made for body heat.) 

To build a wickiup get three strong limbs that you can interlock or tie at the top establishing your height and three points on your circumference. These are the infrastructure that all else will depend upon so it is important they be strong. I have even built these three limbs against a center pole of a live tree. They must be securely tied together or interlocked securely in some manner at the top and they must have a stake driven in the ground at the end of each one to keep it from collapsing. Then you proceed to layer more and more limbs and eventually cover with debris like leaves, bark or whatever you have the most of. I have even covered one with lots of small junipers (cedars) before. It really depends on what material you have available. I usually lay the first layer of branches with limbs pointing up so they will serve to hold the next layer in place from sliding down.

You do want to finish with a layer of limbs facing down though so water will run down. Use what you have. If you have a lot of vines wrap a course of vines every now and then to hold everything in place. While building leave only a small entrance you can crawl into. Then make a door of some sort to cover the opening that you can pull shut from the inside. I usually make two panels by lashing several limbs together patterned to cover my entrance. Then I take these two panels and sandwich debris between them and then lash the two panels together to hold everything in place. This panel construction is a good technique to know. You can create several panels like this and use them to cover a framework creating a shelter like the Paiute did. ​

Lean-To

​The lean-to is a good choice if constructed properly. I like to construct a double lean-to or some type of reflector wall in front of my lean-to for the purpose of reflecting heat into the area where I will be sleeping (see pictures and drawing). You then build a trench fire the entire width of the opening and lay across the width parallel to the fire. This will maximize warmth from your fire. In case of a double lean-to one party sleeps in one lean-to and another party sleeps in the other with fire between the two lean-to’s with both parties benefiting from the fire.

​Ground Beds

Ground beds are generally of two different types. One is a debris bed and the other is a hot coal bed. Ground beds are only practical if you are in an area where it is safe to sleep on the ground. Concerns would be particularly aggressive insects or known predators that could harm you in your sleep. In cases such as these you need to get up off of the ground and build a platform or hammock of some type.

A debris bed is as simple as enclosing a space with logs and then filling it with soft dry debris such as leaves, pine needles or dried grass. Build the layer of debris 24-36 inches because it will pack down as you sleep on it. Choosing soft, level high ground, if possible, is important also.

A hot coal bed is a little more involved and tricky to sleep on. Basically you dig out a space big enough on the ground that you are going to sleep on and dig a depth of eight inches in the ground. You then build a fire and let coals burn down till you have a good layer of coals. Then you cover the coals with about eight inches of dirt and smooth it out and you lay on top of this space. As the heat of the coals comes through the ground it will heat you and keep you warm. The tricky part is if you are one of those who roll around a lot during your sleep and you dig a spot out accidentally while you’re sleeping you will get burned.

​There are many possibilities for shelter. These are the ones I consider most viable in a survival situation though. Space does not permit me here to cover the bark covered shelter, the cattail leaf covered shelter and many others. Again, be resourceful. Work with what you have. Use your head. Layer your clothing. Wear clothing that dries quickly. Know how your body loses heat.

​Benjamin ‘Raven’ Pressley has been teaching survival skills since 1986. He has written for many magazines and is considered by many to be a primitive and survival skills expert. This article is an excerpt from his book CAN YOU SURVIVE? Available along with many other resources on his website WayoftheRaven.net

By Dennis Diaz

​Most emergencies bring the possibility of putting your and your family's lives at risk. Most people will take shelter in their home, because this is where their emergency supplies are stashed and the place where they feel safe. It is where they feel the most comfortable. Even though a home will provide basic safety from the elements, it may not be safe from those who don't have the same supplies and safety net you do.

​Those people could become a real threat and may be willing to do you serious harm to take what you have, including your home. You have to be able to protect your home and ultimately, the people sheltering inside. The supplies you have in your home are going to be extremely valuable. Having food, water and first aid supplies will be critical to your survival, which is why it is important you guard and protect what you have. Imagine being tossed out into the street without nothing more than the clothes on your back. You can stop that from happening by finding ways to protect your home. 
​
Protection doesn't have to cost you a fortune. There are plenty of ways you can protect your home in an emergency that are very affordable and fairly simple.

1-Sheets of plywood can be purchased new for under $10. Each sheet is typically 4x8 feet which can cover a door or a couple of windows. Have these sheets cut and stashed and ready to put over the windows and doors that are susceptible to be broken into. Use long screws drilled into the window frame to hang the wood as soon as disaster strikes. Nails are too easy to pry up. Short screws can be removed fairly easy as well by a determined person who wants to get inside. The wood will be a good thing to have in the case of a natural disaster or other scenario that can result in windows being blown out and leaving your home seriously damaged.

2-A preemptive approach will go a long way to keeping your home safe. Using large boulders in front of the home looks attractive and relatively normal while it makes it impossible for a vehicle to ram your front door. The boulders will also create a fence that will make it difficult for someone to get into the yard with a way to escape quickly.

​

3-Planting thorny rose bushes and barberry bushes under the windows on the first floor will help keep intruders out. Planting these bushes in between the giant boulders around the perimeter of the home will add another layer of protection.

4-Window alarms can be purchased at any hardware store for under $10. These alarms work similar to electronic security systems. When a window is opened past a certain point, the alarm will go off. You can put these small, inexpensive alarms on your doors as well.
​
​5-A dog is an excellent deterrent. A large breed tends to look scarier in general, any dog will offer some form of protection. You don't have to buy a pure bred German shepherd or similar protection dog. A mixed breed will be just as effective. If you cannot have a dog, you can fake out would-be attackers. Have some large chew toys and bones in the front yard area. Post a “Beware of Dog” sign on your fence or front door. Take it a step further and borrow large piles of dog scat to strategically place in your yard. You can even buy fake scat! Other paraphernalia like a leash, studded collar and heavy chain strewn about to really sell the guard dog idea is also helpful.
​

​Here is a Method That is Helping Thousands to “Bullet Proof” Their Homes 
and Keep Their Families Safe in a SHTF Scenario Click Here
​​​

By Dennis Diaz

When it comes to home protection there are several things that will be effective whether you’re protecting against intruders under normal day to day circumstances or against looters under a larger scale crisis.

However there are many aspects that would be much more ineffective in a larger scale crisis.
In a previous article we touched on some of the basics of home protection against intruders under normal conditions. 

However in this post we’ll focus more on recommendations for a larger scale crisis
​

​Deter

How to make your home less of a target? This area occurs before you are aware that there’s a threat. The idea is to implement elements that will affect the potential intruders psyche and make them choose a different target.

There two main ways to do this

1. Make yourself and your home seem to strong and protected that a potential intruder will choose to target someone else. The problem with this is that it takes a great deal con resources to appear this strong. And it’s just a matter of time before someone figures out that, if you’re protecting your home that hard, there must be something very valuable inside and chooses to attack. Its almost like putting up a "Preppers Live Here" sign.
2. Pretend you are worse off than you actually are. This will cause potential intruders to not really want to target you because the risk might not be worth the loot. This is achieved by blending in and making your home the Grey home.
   A few ways to do this is

• Dogs
• Cameras – In a collapse power might be out, but the sight of a camera will always put doubt in an intruders mind (Can they see me?)
• Fences and barriers
• NRA or Armed Group stickers or signs - Make them think there is a chance they will get hurt by looting from your home

 

​Delay

How can I make my home harder to loot or buy me time? Once you’re aware of the threat this area is designed is to give you as much time as possible and also funnel the threat to apposition you are able to defend.

This is where the layers of security element actively engages with the potential threat. You want to have as much separation and as many layers between you and the intruder as possible

You want to start with the outer perimeter

• Fences
• Thorny bushes
• Razor wire
• Trenches
• Lookouts and Snipers     
• Alarms  
• Barricades & Obstacles  
• Old cars and other junk  
• Natural barriers
• Traps

 
Then you want to harden your home        
 

• Reinforced your doors - One simple and cost effective way of making this harder is to reinforce the jams and door-frame with something like the EZ Armor Door security kit
• Install brackets, slide in 2X4 board at doors, Charley Bar for sliding glass doors
• Replace glass on windows with high strength plexiglas or add security films
• Reinforce walls and entry points with sand bags. –a well configured sandbag barrier will give you ballistic protection in case

​
At the same time, if the delaying layers are being defeated you want to design your system so it funnels the threat if it continues to defeat your delaying layers.

What is "Funneling"? – It basically means, directing attackers into the positions that you want them to be in. This can be by implementing the use of, barriers such as fences, logs, rock walls, ditches, ponds, pools, heavy brush, etc., can all be used to keep people from hiding and force them to a location where you can defend. 

Keep in mind that, unlike other new endeavors, becoming a prepper is a goal the beginner may feel a lot of accomplishment right away, because there is a much higher likelihood of shorter-term disasters happening, and shorter-term disasters are easier to prepare for.  So dive right in!  

Start by storing some stuff for you and your family to survive a three-day power outage:  a case of bottled water, some dehydrated food (from the camping sections of Target or Walmart), some flashlights with good batteries, and some clean clothes, coats and blankets are all that would be needed to get most people through a short-term disaster.

Beyond that, it would be a good idea to look into “bug-out bags” for everyone in your family, and for those family members who commute or who may be away when a longer-term disaster could hit, that family member should keep their bug-out bag in their car.  The contents of the bug-out bag depend on your surroundings and what disaster you envision could happen.  I have a bug-out bag in my car, and in it I have a change of clothes, a Berkey Sports water bottle, bottles of water, a few power bars, camping food and pans, a minimal first-aid kit, a flashlight, pup tent, lots of cash, toilet paper, copies of important papers, a tire-iron and a small hatchet (the last two for protection but also for foraging if need be).  All of these items can be bought on Amazon or at Walmart for not much money.

Beyond that, I see no reason why preppers would not plan on anything and everything going wrong, and prepare accordingly.  If you plan on the end of the world with a full-blown survival retreat, survival group members all trained and ready to go, and the end of the world never happens, so what?  You have some extra stuff stored up and friends who have prepared for something that never happened.  No big loss.

I recently wrote a non-fiction book on the subject of prepping, entitled Dirt Cheap Valuable Prepping, by Cal Wilson.  In the book I prioritize the items new preppers should stock up on, with an emphasis on really cheap items you can buy, and where to find them.  For example, a sleeping bag, which is an important item to have on hand, could be bought new at a store for hundreds of dollars, or used on Ebay or at a thrift store.  Even a laundered, used sleeping bag would be a huge savings over a new one.

In the book I also included a lot of ideas that have not been covered anywhere else.  For example, many prepping experts advise stocking up on toilet paper, which could run out of in a prolonged disaster.  I advise buying a travel bidet, which take some getting used to but will still keep you clean after you have run out of toilet paper.  $15 on Amazon, and unlike toilet paper, reusable.

I also wrote about details on the brands of good and inexpensive flashlights (Dorcy) and rechargeable batteries (Eneloop) to buy, what types of containers to use to store stuff in, the importance of electrolytes and recipes, dryer lint to start fires, medicines for skin fungi, and so on.

At the end of the book I also included a list of prepper-themed TV shows, movies, websites and prepper podcasts that I advise the reader watch or listen to.  Prepping is not only something to do, or a series of things to buy.  It is a lifestyle, and the prepper podcasts and other media I recommend get you into that lifestyle pretty quickly.

Become a prepper!  You can do it!  And you don’t have to spend a ton of money or become rabid to do it.

My book, Dirt Cheap Valuable Prepping, by Cal Wilson, is available on Amazon, Kindle and Audible.

--Cal Wilson
Author, Dirt Cheap Valuable Prepping

Reusable menstrual pads are among items you should have in your emergency survival kit in order to be prepared for any crisis or SHTF event that may happen during your lifetime. In addition to clean underwear, a torch and wet wipes, reusable cloth menstrual pads or reusable menstrual cup should be one of the essential ‘just in case’ items you have packed in your survival purse, ready to go.

If you’ve never used before, cloth menstrual pads are just like your regular disposable pads, except that they are made of fabric and come in a whole bunch of colors, sizes and styles. They are perfectly safe to use in place of the disposable types and provide just as much protection. You simply put them on as you would with the regular types and replace them every 2 – 6 hours, depending on your flow. Instead of discarding, however, you would lightly soak your cloth menstrual pads to prevent stains then you can toss them in the washing machine or hand wash if you prefer, and they are ready to be used again.
With that said, are cloth pads also a good choice in times of crisis when surviving is paramount? Here is why the answer to that is a resounding yes and why you should include a set in your emergency survival kit. They are:

• Reusable

After a catastrophe, businesses may shut their doors, and even if they are open, stock may be damaged, depleted, or looted. If you run out of disposable sanitary napkins, you might be left in an embarrassing situation. The best cloth menstrual pads can be washed and re-used for as long as you want until things return to normal.
 

• Safer for you

Menstrual cloth pads contain no chemical by-products that will interfere with your body’s natural chemistry; neither do they have in toxins that have been linked to toxic shock syndrome. In a survival situation, it would be an even bigger tragedy if you had to worry about dying from a bacterial infection or catching an annoying yeast infection, so you should invest in some high quality cloth menstrual pads as part of your survival kit.
 

• Better for the Environment

Research shows that women can use as much as 11,000 feminine hygiene products throughout their lives, of which disposable pads make up a significant proportion. That in turn leads to a lot of garbage in the landfills, which contributes to pollution. The idea of catastrophes in the world is already based on pollution, but using environmentally-friendly cloth menstrual pads may not only help you survive but possibly prevent future disasters.
With all the different changes your body goes through on a monthly basis, seeing your period is one event that you have to be prepared for at all times, including when there are floods, earthquakes, or  tsunamis. This is a sensitive topic that many women might not be eager to address. But, if you want to be truly prepared for an emergency, it’s one elephant in the room that you will have to face. If you’re not sure where to start, there are many high quality cloth menstrual pads available on Amazon. They come in many patterns and sizes, from light flow to heavy flow or overnight pads.  Be prepared and use reusable cloth pads for all the reason stated above.  It’s an essential item to stock up that also come with little wet bags, which you can use to store used pads in until you can wash them later. Check them out and be prepared for any time of the month.
 
By Amy Napoli
www.periodmate.com
periodmatemama@gmail.com

Survivalists should take the time to learn how to construct primitive traps. Traps are much more efficient that hunting since they continue to operate while you aren’t there. Once you have learned how to construct them there are a few things that will keep you from catching as many critters as you should.

​​Poorly Made Traps
There is a reason why professional trappers use store bought equipment. Primitive equipment is inferior in almost every way except for price. With this in mind you will need to read a lot of books, watch a lot of videos and get out and practice making several different types of traps.
 
The trigger system is the key to most primitive traps. If you can master a couple different types you can adapt them to whatever type of set you need to make. (deadfall, snare etc.)
 
Not Setting Enough Traps
There are professional trappers out there making hundreds of sets and catching tens of animals. One or two deadfalls or snares won’t cut it. You might get lucky once or twice but to keep a continuous supply of meat coming in you will need one or two dozen sets, minimum. (50 or 100 would be better) It might take a few days to get that many out, but once they are in place you should only be having to reset a few a day.
 
Setting Traps where there are no Animals
You will need to learn to read the animal sign available. Tracks, trails, dense cover and dens can all be good places to set. Without clear sign always set in or next to dense cover for the best chance of catching something.
 
Setting where it is convenient for you might be nice for you but it will have little chance of catching your supper.
 
Primitive traps can feed you in the wilderness if you take the time to learn to construct a quality trap, set out enough of then in the right places.