Self Reliance and Preparedness

If you've ever worried about the true shelf life of food items in your survival stockpile, you are not alone. Although many products available today come with expiration dates printed directly on the packaging, how much can you really trust those dates? At some point you may have experienced some type of food item that went bad before it's prime or, on the other hand, risked it with something that had been on the shelf a little too long and lived to tell the tale. With these things in mind,...

When planning for TEOTWAWKI, a pressing issue is always food. It is important to have enough of it and be able to properly store it, ideally without wasting anything. In order to achieve this, we focus largely on non-perishable food items such as canned goods and anything else with an extended shelf life. As we are stockpiling such items, however, we are still putting things in the refrigerator at the same time. If the SHTF tomorrow, how much refrigerator and freezer food would you end up...

Your emergency survival plan will likely include an area where you will store food, water and other basic supplies. This area deserves some special attention, I call it the emergency food supply isle. After all, it is the place that holds the key to you survival. Don't make the mistake of storing your food in an area that promotes the spoilage of the food you have worked hard to collect. The following tips will help you create the best food storage area you can in your home. 1-Enough space...

Every now and then it can be good fun to get dirty. What is not fun, however, is experiencing the negative effects of getting dirty and/or staying dirty once TEOTWAWKI has arrived. Sure, our society is in good shape now with soap, detergents, running water, toilets that flush, showers, washing machines, and dishwashers, but when you remove all of these things from the equation, things will change dramatically. What is clean today could quickly become pretty gross tomorrow. The thing about...

If ever there were a miracle survival supply, it would be paracord. Considering the many abilities it has and functions it can serve, paracord has a place in every survivalist's life. With its extremely powerful tensile strength as well as an inability to rot or mildew, you'd be hard pressed to find a reason not to like paracord or want to keep some around. In survival situations, we sometimes find ourselves up the unsanitary tributary with no means of propulsion. Although the preference...

Sometimes we camp for fun, sometimes we camp as a means of survival, and sometimes this type of outdoor expedition can turn quickly into a disaster. There are many reasons you could set out into the woods for a brief window of time only to find yourself there much longer. It could be yourself that falls ill or a member of your party becomes injured. Then what? Photo: GSanders No matter how hard we try, it is impossible to ward off every potentially dire situation you may face in the woods....

Imagine going to the grocery store and swiping your debit or credit card as you always do, only to have it decline embarrassingly. Shocked, you try again or try another card only to be met with another decline. Unaware of what's going on, you reach for your emergency cash to pay for your purchase and sheepishly leave the store. When you get home, you check your bank account or credit card statement online. Much to your surprise, you find some unexpected charges you did not make or authorize....

There has probably been a time in all of our lives where we performed a sniff test before deciding if we could don a piece of clothing or not. Though this may be a little on the gross side, imagine a world post TEOTWAWKI when tossing clothes into the washer and pressing a button is no more. At that point, clothing is going to wind up pretty offensive to the sense of smell after a while unless you're equipped to do something about it. Having clean laundry is nice. Wearing clothes that are...

In the back of our minds, we all have an image of what life will come to look like post TEOTWAWKI. Whether you see cities ablaze or flood waters raging, we all have some collection of thoughts regarding the future. After whatever cataclysmic event you envision passes, it is also likely that you have an image in your mind of how things will be, and beyond that the shape the new world will take. Only time will tell how accurate these visions will be, but one certainty that exists is the...

Not being able to find what you need, when you need it, can be a source of frustration that slows down progress. Although some of us are naturally disorganized, that can be a real problem when it comes to creating and maintaining a survival stockpile. Since it is advantageous to always know what you have on hand as well as how much or how little of it, you first have to be able to find things that are like in kind, which is a difficult task if you do not have some sort of organizational...

Pantyhose are not just a fashion staple anymore. Believe it or not, pantyhose, which have for decades been worn under skirts and dresses to enhance the wearer's wardrobe, are good for much more than their original intended purpose. No, we are not talking about their unfortunate dual purpose as bank robbery attire, but instead a legitimate list of survival purposes that pantyhose can serve. Photo: Pinterest If there are no pantyhose already stashed somewhere in your house, it may be time to...

Even if you aren't on a regularly on bunch of prescribed medicines, odds are you still have at least a couple of pill bottles somewhere in your house. Whether it was an antibiotic you were prescribed last year or pain medicines from that sprain or strain six months ago, pill bottles have a way of hanging around. Being that they are small, it is easy to set them off to the side and forget about them. At some point, your collection may grow to epic proportions, but that does not mean it is...

As you meet and converse with other preppers or peruse written materials, you may hear or come across something that sounds downright odd. Strangeness aside, people may tell you to try something that seems absurd at best and you may hesitate to believe it. Even if a survival hack seems outlandish, don't be in a hurry to write it off, as there are plenty of unlikely, and unexpected, tips and tricks that will surprise you, such as the those listed below. 1. Crayons are not just for the...

Designating certain days or months to specific events or causes helps bring about much needed awareness and attention. One example of this that may be fresh in your mind is the many Ice Bucket Challenges that have spent time in the news, and news feed as the case may be, for the past several weeks. Because of this, people who have never heard of ALS now know what it is and a respectable sum of money has been raised for the cause, making it a win all the way around. That said, why should...

Depending on the conditions you are facing, getting wet can be unpleasant. Staying wet can be even more unpleasant and lead to disease and discomfort such as trench foot. This can be quite debilitating in a survival situation not just because you could literally lose some toes but also because of the pain involved. Even in cases where it is hot and a cool rain feels good, you do not want to stand out in that rain forever much as you would not get much enjoyment out of having your own...