Author Archives: kaylene

Alternative Ideas for Bug-Out Locations

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Whether you are a dedicated prepper/survivalist or not, it’s actually a good idea to have a secondary refuge apart from your present abode. If anything happens to your present residence, you have somewhere to go. You can let a friend or family member stay there if you don’t have the room. At the least, you have a personal asylum where you can get away from your regular routine. There are the more conventional refuges that preppers and non-preppers have such as log houses, RVs, boats, and the like. I’d like to suggest a few other possible bug-out locations that you … Continue reading →

5 Red Flags of Imminent Collapse: Be Aware of the Warning Signs

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These indicators will give you anywhere from a few days to a few months of warning that things are about to change drastically. Interest rates on US Treasuries go up steeply, and/or suddenly The definition of ‘defaulting’ on its debt means the US Gov’t isn’t able to pay the interest on the almost $23 trillion it owes. Currently, interest rates are at all-time lows – as many homeowners are enjoying by re-financing their homes at lower rates. Interest on the debt is currently the smaller of the four biggest expenses the US Gov’t has.  As interest rates rise, the interest … Continue reading →

The Cause of Riots and The Price of Food

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Over the years I’ve watched time and time again as the US Gov’t passed laws that reduced personal liberty, violated the constitution, or blatantly transferred more wealth to the already wealthy. At first I naively thought, “wow, this is outrageous, surely going to cause a riot”. But no, nothing really ever happened. Maybe some protests, some demonstrations, or a bit of debate by the talking heads on t.v., but nothing really. I continue to watch as more and rights are eroded away, more and more money printed, and the US Gov’t continues to get bigger and more powerful. It just … Continue reading →

Can You Be Sure Your Preparedness Is Enough?

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Unfortunately, a crisis does not come with a crystal ball and instructions as to the event, timeline or the duration of a crisis. The best any of us can do is make the decision to prepare, determine if we want our preparedness supplies to cover a 3 month, 6 month, 1 year or longer time frame, and from there,  keep our eye on the goal until we’ve reached our personal safety zone. But there is one often overlooked step to preparedness that will uncover problems that can be addressed to avoid failure in a full-blown emergency where failure is NOT an … Continue reading →

DIY Emergency Supply Kits 101

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Flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and earthquakes can strike at any time and often with little warning. In 2012, nearly 125 million people worldwide were victims of natural disasters, and in the United States, weather-related disasters caused about $157 million in damages. The time to prepare for a disaster is not before or just after it hits – the best time to prepare is now. Making your own emergency survival kit and having a plan in place could save your life when disaster strikes. Take a look at these tips for how to make your own DIY emergency kit: Food For … Continue reading →

How to butcher a chicken

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The pioneers and settlers grew up butchering chickens. The ins and outs of how to do it and what not to do were well known. Not so much today. And it is easy to get very wrong. The best set of instructions on the web for butchering chickens is found at the How to Butcher a Chicken blog. Who would have thought about blogging that!? I’m glad they did. It’s useful information that is long forgotten. Nothing about the process has changed since the days of the pioneers and settlers. Our knives haven’t changed and chickens are still chickens. Even … Continue reading →

Making an electric battery from 1896.

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The DIY instructions from the pioneer and settler handbooks always contain a few surprises. They also give us first glimpses at emerging know-how that will one day become ubiquitous. Hidden within the pages of the 1896 Home Mechanic book are some of the world’s earliest instructions for making your own galvanic or electric battery. We don’t usually associate the late 1800’s with electricity. But scientists had been working with electricity since the late 1700’s and commercial electroplating operations started appearing in the UK in the mid 1850’s. These instructions from the Making chapter of the Home Mechanic book, show how … Continue reading →

How pioneers made laundry soap.

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Washing clothes in the days of the pioneers and settlers was an elaborate ritual.  Multiple tubs of water, scrubbing boards, handmade soaps, blue dyes for the whites, starch – and all done on a Monday. Monday was always washing day. Before the pioneers and settlers could wash their clothes they needed laundry washing soap. What was important was that it had to be a liquid soap that would easily mix in with the clothes. Hard soaps were readily available and reasonably complex to make, so it was always easier to buy hard soap.  But liquid soap wasn’t so easily transported. … Continue reading →

The Best Fire Starter Kits

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Being properly equipped to survive the harshest of terrains requires the proper tools. A Fire Starter Kit is one of the basic tools that is needed in such situations. Fire Starter Kits comes in different types. Storm Proof Match Kit This is a special type of matches, designed to be moisture proof. Some persons doubt if this actually exist, in actual sense, it does and it comes, well packaged in a water proof container. This is a very important type of matches as each match is capable of staying lit for up to 12 seconds even after being submerged in … Continue reading →

Untraceable SHTF Comms

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EchoLink This is a program where Ham repeaters are wired into the internet. This is obviously only going to work if the grid and the internet are working but if you mask your IP, use proxies, VPNs, TOR, etc… you’re location will be fairly secure. This program only works with a valid call sign issued by the FCC. You can also use this on a laptop and (illegal activity warning) jack into the outside phone technician box on a random house to get your access, hell, everyone has high speed internet now a days… OR, use someones free WiFi like … Continue reading →

Video Review: Magpul Dynamic Handgun

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This is a review of the Magpul Dynamics video “The Art of Dynamic Handgun“. To sum it up quickly this video is the bomb! This is a 4 DVD set with the first 2 discs being the main course. The 3rd is a basic concealed carry course and the 4th is a disc on various drills (I’ll list these below). Mixed in among all the training is detailed talk about equipment. Guns, Ammo, Suppressors, Holsters, Belts, Lights, Lasers, etc… along with the outtakes. These are flat hilarious. Unlike just about every other firearms training video from other people I’ve watched … Continue reading →

Holster Review: Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.0

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This is my review of the Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 3.0 IWB holster. This is their top of the line IWB holster. So, here are my thoughts. Ordering to the door took 9 work days which is commendable as they estimate 12-14. Packaging is nice. There are plenty of video reviews on YouTube about the packaging and the holster so I’ll get into the meat of my review… The holster its self. I messed around with all the different configurations possible with this holster and ended with the slide side all the way up and the grip side all the … Continue reading →

Control the Food. Control the People

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It’s long been known by dictators and tyrants that if you want to control a people you need only starve them out. If you can control the food supply, you have near total control of the nation. I believe whole heartedly that the government and corporations alike are working overtime to tighten their grip on our food supply. Not a week goes by when you don’t hear about crop failures and food shortages. Some of this is legitimate, some is not and I’d dare say most is manufactured. Let me just list a few of the ways I believe they … Continue reading →

Review: 5.11 Tactical Double Duty Belt

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The 5.11 Tactical Double “Duty” belt is a very nice pistol belt for the price but I’m not sure I’d refer to it as a duty belt. A duty belt is typically bigger and beefier and used to carry equipment easily, in a readily-accessible manner, while leaving the hands free to interact. This is more than just a pistol and mags. This is radio, cuffs, taser, etc… I would not consider this belt a “duty” belt. Description from their website: “With a dual-layer reversible design that offers two different color options, the 1.5” Double Duty TDU® Belt offers exceptional versatility … Continue reading →

Rotating through my extra gasoline

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In a previous post I wrote about my extra gasoline stash and how I like to keep my vehicles as close to full as possible just as good practice.  The basic theme of the post was that I always try to keep the prepping mentality somewhere in my mind, because even little things can make a difference.  According to many seasoned survivalists/preppers, it’s not only about having stuff but more importantly having skills.  I would argue that maintaining good situational awareness (even about how much gas I have) falls into the “skills” category, even if it is a bit of … Continue reading →

SHTF shopping on the cheap at the dollar store

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These days most items found at dollar stores cost more than one dollar, strange but true.  Retail outlets like Deals, Dollar General and others might have a few bargains in the store but they have strayed away from the true essence of what a dollar store should be.  Prices of just about everything have gone up exponentially over the past decade making true dollar stores hard to find, that is until today.  A tip lead me to a dollar store 20 minutes from my house, and I was shocked to find that truly everything in the store was $1.00 or less.  Sure … Continue reading →

2 way radios are now in my SHTF inventory

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Communication is a vital part of our everyday life.  In a SHTF situation typical means of communication might not be working (eg cell phones, land line).  Therefore I decided to purchase some 2 way radios as a backup method of communication that my family could utilize if times got hard and other systems were down.  I’m thinking we could use them if we had to conduct movements in separate vehicles, or if I had to make runs for water or other life sustaining items (leaving someone at home). As with any purchase I did my research online prior to getting the Motorola … Continue reading →

Maintaining proficiency with weapons

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Proficiency when using weapons is important, because no matter how well trained we are rust can form on our shooting skills as well as our weapons cache.  When I talk about being proficient I realize there are different levels of proficiency, surely what I consider to be proficient is a far cry what a military special operator or civilian swat member (someone who shoots thousands of rounds a week) would consider proficient.  You have to put things into perspective I guess, I can’t afford to shoot thousands of rounds a week but I’m also not being dropped off by a … Continue reading →

Pumping water by hand is my solution

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In previous blog posts I identified what I thought to be a huge problem in my SHTF “hunker down” strategy. We are prepared to bug out in an event where it becomes impossible to stay in the local area, but a best case scenario would see my family and I remaining in our house and holding out as long as possible. The problem which I thought I had identified was my basement, and the high probability of it filling up with water if the SHTF and there was no available and reliable power. Of course a basement full of stagnant … Continue reading →

5 Survival Myths

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1.  The myth that weapons are the most important thing Firearms should be treated just like catastrophic health insurance.  You should own them hoping that you never need them, but just like insurance, if you need them, you need them badly.   And, just like with hypochondriacs, there is a certain segment of society that can’t seem to look beyond the terrible events that would necessitate using a firearm in self-defense at more likely occurrences.  To make matters even worse, popular culture and the media both suggest that violence during survival situations is normal, and that hardship always brings out the … Continue reading →