Prepper: Eight Survival Myths that Will Get You Killed
This blog is LOADED with the latest from the world of prepping, homesteading, health and survivalism.
You can see more and more people wearing a paracord survival bracelet and talking about survival and prepping as they’ve seen it on TV, movies or after reading about it in various magazines. However, what the media transmits to the consumers does not reflect what true survival requires and this is how survival myths were born.
Although the media can have a positive impact and now, more than ever, people are stocking on food supplies and other survival items, the average person will have a hard time surviving a natural or man-made disaster. If people will continue to develop a false sense of security as transmitted by the media with the sole purpose of entertaining the masses, they will most certainly perish in a real-life survival scenario.
I’ve had the chance to discuss with many people about survival and I couldn’t help notice that there are a few survival myths that have been embedded in the minds of the masses. Somehow, people believe in them and they don’t even bother to question them. As for putting these survival myths to the test, well… most of them think that when time will come, they will be ready and this knowledge will save them. I think it’s time to unlearn some of these ‘survival rules’ and give the reader a fighting chance to endure an emergency situation and emerge stronger and more confident by avoiding these mistakes.
You should learn to distinguish fact from fiction if you want to survive a worst-case scenario and you should always test the information you receive. Read on to stay informed and make sure to pass this knowledge forward.
Eight Survival myths busted:
No fire, no problem!
Most people think that fire is a given and that it can be easily created in an unknown environment. That might be true if you have a lighter in your pocket or some matches, but without fire starting gear, you’re going to learn this the hard way. Rubbing two sticks together to make fire doesn’t work like in the movies and fire by friction is not a guarantee. Even the most experienced survivalists know that starting a fire without tools is a daunting task, it takes time and most importantly it takes patience. There are many factors that play an important role in creating a fire, factors such as having the proper material, moisture in the air, past experience and so on. Making fire without modern tools is a skill that takes time to be mastered and you should never assume that fire is a given in a survival situation. To save yourself from a cold night, carry a fire-starter with you at all times.
Suggested articles: Making a fire when the odds are against you
I need to eat first to stay strong
We are a generation that is used to eat more than three times per day and we are programmed to see food as our top priority. That may be true on a day to day basis, but when you are in the woods, food should be considered only when you have taken care of all the other survival tasks. Finding water and being able to purify it comes first, erecting a shelter and starting a fire that saves you from hypothermia are all important steps to keep you mentally prepared for what comes next. You should take care of these tasks before trying to fill your belly. Humans can survive weeks and even months before they succumb to hunger. Even tough your stomach may give you other instructions, you shouldn’t listen to it and you should concentrate on the priorities.
Hypothermia only occurs in cold climates
This is one the survival myths that will get most people killed because they think that hypothermia can become a problem only in cold climates. They couldn’t be more wrong and there are many factors that can make hypothermia a harsh reality. A wet environment, blowing wind and high elevation is all it takes. These conditions can be found almost anywhere and it doesn’t matter if you’re in the jungle or in a damp forest. To be safe, you should follow a simple rule: stay dry and warm; it’s all it takes to prevent your core body temperature to drop to a life-threating level. Dry your wet clothes, add an insulating layer between you and the ground, build a fire, etc. All these actions will keep your body’s temperature high and you will live to fight another day. You don’t need snow and ice to create hypothermia and it can sneak up on you even in the friendliest environments.
Recommended article: Eight fire types you can make in the wild
If it’s flowing water, it is safe to drink
This is another one of those survival myths that have been transmitted on by former generation and we somehow think that if water flows, it can clean itself and it is safe to drink. This wasn’t true decades ago when pollution wasn’t such a big problem as it is today and it was mainly a gambling game. Just like back then, chances are you won’t be lucky enough to find a clean water source. After walking for hours during a hot day, the sound of a quick-flowing stream will tempt you to quench your thirst, but you should resist the temptation. Bacteria, viruses and other harmful parasites can hide even in the most crystal clear waters. All these waterborne pathogens are waiting patiently to enter your body and even though you are not thirsty anymore, you have given them a chance to create life-threatening problems. If you drink unpurified water you could end up with diarrhea, vomiting and nausea. These are all symptoms that you need to avoid during a survival situation because they can lead to a full-body shutdown. You should purify all the water you need to use, including the water you will use for washing your face. To ward off this worry, you should carry a water filter with you or you should consider options such as water purification tablets or iodine pills.
All these wild plants will keep me fed
Thinking that you can pick and eat wild plants randomly in order to survive is wishful thinking in my opinion and many will make this fatal mistake when being stranded. The vast majority of wild plants are not edible and some can make you incredibly sick or they can turn your lights off for good, even though they look appealing. I’ve heard many people talking about foraging and currently, there is a hunt for morel mushrooms even though many of them cannot tell a true morel from a false one. Foraging is a skill that takes years of experience and even experienced foragers can still make an error when selecting wild edibles. Even if you have a field guide with you, mistakes can still happen and you should avoid eating something if you are not 100% sure it is safe for eating. It is better to be safe and hungry than eating poisonous plants that can get you killed.
Suck the venom from a snake or spider bite and you will survive
The venom from a snake or a spider will enter your bloodstream almost immediately upon being bitten. In many movies you see the character making an X cut on the bite mark to suck the poison out just to gain more time. Instead of gaining more time, you will waste precious time that you could be using in order to get professional medical assistance. This is one of the survival myths that we just can’t get rid of and many people don’t know that the residual poison from the bite area may harmfully affect your lips and mouth. Even more, if you make the mistake of ingesting the venom, your internal system will be affected and you will diminish your chances for survival. Instead of doing surgery on yourself and experiment what you’ve seen in the movies, you should seek for professional help as quickly as possible.
Suggested reading: Spider bite guide – Know your spiders!
Hunting and fishing will keep hunger away
Most people will assume that wild game and fish are plentiful in the wild and it’s just waiting for them to get there. If Rambo made a spear from his knife and managed to hunt a wild boar that provided him with a large quantity of bacon, that doesn’t mean you will have the same success out in the wild. First of all, we need to separate fact from fiction and second, hunting and fishing require practice and a lot of knowledge if you want to rely on these skills for obtaining food. Even with the most sophisticated hunting weapons or fishing gear, bagging a meal is not an easy tasks. Becoming a successful hunter or fisher takes a lot of practice even when you are equipped with every piece of gear you can think of. How do you think it will work out for you when a survival situation catches you unprepared? You need to learn about your region, about what type of game can you find and how to catch it. You should learn to set up deadfall traps, snares or fish containment pens if you want to improve your chances of survival in the wild. Even with all this knowledge, chances are that the outdoors meals you are hoping for may never arrive.
I’ve read about all of this I’m ready
Watching survival shows, reading books and magazines or spending tens of hours on the internet reading about survival and prepping, will worth nothing if you are not curious to test what you have learned. The best preparation is experience, and only by testing the knowledge you’ve accumulated you can discover what works for you, how you can improve your skills and eventually, you will learn from your mistakes. Without testing what you’ve learned, you will break down quickly both physically and mentally in a survival situation. Your best survival tool is your mind and you should know how to use it and how to develop a survival mindset. I’m not telling you that you need to become a survival expert or an experienced prepper, but you should at least have the wits to look for alternative solutions to the problems you might face during a crisis scenario.
The survival myths listed in this article can easily be unlearned and you need to question things before you taking them for granted. I’m sure there is a lot more false survival knowledge being transmitted out there and it is up to us if we decide to question it or follow it blindly. It’s better to put aside these survival myths and learn to distinguish fact from fiction.
Stay safe out there!
Survival Basics: 10 Steps For Preparing A Family Emergency Plan
Sometimes it is the simplest things that are overlooked. Case in point? The Family Emergency Plan.
Here we are, so diligently putting away food, storing water and purchasing gear when perhaps one of the most important aspects of emergency and crisis planning has to do with having a plan to get in touch with family members and loved ones after disaster strikes. Equally important is having a plan for meeting up at a safe location as well an evacuation plan for getting there.
Whew! Sounds like a lot of work pulling this all together. But it does not have to be difficult. Below you will find ten easy steps for creating a family emergency plan as well as on online tool to get you started. Don’t worry, this is going to be easy.
THE FAMILY EMERGENCY PLAN
1. Sit down with your family members and decide how you will get in contact with each other in an emergency. Possible methods may be by cell phone, texting, email, or a standard land line.
2. Once you figure this out, document the contact information on both a master sheet and on wallet sized cards to be carried by all family members. This document will become your “Family Communication Plan” and it will form the cornerstone of your family emergency plan. It will list all family members, their date of birth, and other important information. Include a photo for each person as well as any important medical information. Also include a contact number for an out of town contact person.
3. Determine a meeting place where you will meet in the event you can not get home. This may be your workplace, the home of a parent or relative, your church or even at a school if there are children involved. Whatever you decide, you will need at least three possible locations:
Your home or the home of a designated family member
A safe meeting place near home
A safe meeting place outside your immediate neighborhood
4. Determine the best evacuation routes from your home or workplace to the safe meeting places. Go to Google Maps or some other online tool and create maps showing your evacuation route along with printed directions. Then take the route and make sure it is accurate and that you understand the directions. This is important! You must drill and practice your evacuation procedure.
5. Prepare a list of all workplaces along with the address, telephone number, and closest evacuation location in the event getting to the pre-designated meeting place is not possible.
6. Also prepare a list of all schools that are attended by your children along with the address, contact names, and telephone numbers. Contact the schools now to learn about their own emergency evaluation policies and procedures.
Important Note: In many areas, the State, County or City emergency evacuation plan takes precedence over any school preparedness plan. When it comes to evacuation routes, check with your local county or city preparedness office or call and find out what their plans are since THEY will be the ones determining which roads are used as evacuation routes and which will not.
7. Prepare a list of your doctors and your veterinarian along with their telephone numbers.
8. Prepare a list of your insurance policies, including the carrier, the telephone number for claims, and the policy number itself. Include health insurance, homeowners or rental insurance, life insurance policies.
9. Consider creating a phone tree. Think of your phone tree as a pyramid where the person at the top of the pyramid contacts two people, who each call two more people, and so on, until every person on the tree has been contacted. This will allow you to distribute information quickly without redundancy and without placing the burden of work on one person.
Important Note: Be aware, however, that phone lines and cell service may not be functional following a catastrophic disaster. Although a valuable tool, do not count on your phone tree to be the sole mode of communication following a disaster. If you text, you might want to consider a “texting tree”. Texting is usually available even when cell service is down.
10. Store all of the information you have carefully compiled in multiple locations:
Your bug out bags and go-bags
Your family preparedness binder
On a flash drive that you carry with you
In your desk drawer at work
In an email attachment sent to yourself at one of the cloud based email services such as Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail)
THE FINAL WORD
One easy way to get started is to go to the Ready.gov website where you can fill out much of this information online. You can then print out the online document and add the supplemental information on your own. You will find the fill-in form here: Family Emergency Plan Fill-In Form.
Whatever you do, do not fall prey to rip-off artists who will want to charge your hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to prepare a Family Emergency Plan for you. Unless you are independently wealthy, you can do it yourself over the course of one weekend. (Be sure to read my article, The Black Umbrella Rip Off to give you an idea of the sneaky ways folks will try to coax you out of your money.)
Then don’t forget to practice your evacuation plan and to test your escape routes. Your safety – and your life – may depend on it.
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Top 10 Alkaline Foods You Should Be Eating Everyday
by Sophie Robinson
Blogs.NaturalNews.com
The way that digested foods react to our bodies can either result in an acidic blood pH or an alkaline blood pH, which can have a significant impact on our health. Studies have proven that the more we alkalize, the better we function and the more energized we feel. An alkaline state promotes vitality, a disease free body and can significantly increase your life span. It can help you to lose weight, lower blood pressure, destroy cancer cells, prevent heart disease, soothe arthritis and keep you looking and feeling younger and stronger.
Acid forming foods include white flour, meat, eggs, dairy, coffee, alcohol, fish, legumes, sodas, sugar, fried food, canned goods and dried fruit. Sweeteners, medication, and environmental toxins also cause acidity, as well as stress, anger and toxic emotions.
Modern standard diets and lifestyles are generally highly acidic, and it would take practice and careful attention to shift your mind and body to an alkaline state. But there’s good news! There is an abundance of incredibly delicious, healthy and nutritious alkaline foods that you can easily add to your lifestyle today to eliminate acidity from your body. You will feel more energized, less stressed and will have a body that is functioning at its optimum for long term sustainability.
Here are the Top 10 alkaline foods for your new lifestyle:
1. Avocados
Creamy, delicious avocados have a pH of 8.0, which not only alkalizes your entire body but also helps to neutralize any other acidic foods in your stomach. You can add them to salads, make a delicious guacamole or eat them halved with salt and pepper.
2. Ripe Bananas
Most of us have made the mistake of eating unripe bananas, which can lead to constipation, acidity, and poor nutrient absorption. Ripe bananas have spotty skins: the little brown spots and the soft, easy-to-peel tips signal that they are ready to eat, offering a stream of vitamins, minerals and plenty of alkalinity.
3. Almonds
Most nuts are acidic, but almonds and almond milk are an incredible source of health, vitality and alkalinity. They help to lower cholesterol, improve brain function, improve digestion and leave your body with a perfectly balanced alkalinity.
4. Asparagus
Noted as one of nature’s most powerful alkaline forming foods, asparagus also gives your body plenty of fiber, water, vitamins, minerals and anti-ageing antioxidants. Its pH is 8.5, making it a great addition to any meal.
5. Watermelon
Watermelon offers a pH of 9.0, and is packed with vitamins, minerals and electrolyte-balancing water. The high fiber and water content make it a great food for eliminating toxins, as well giving you a good flush of alkalinity.
6. Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne is an excellent anti-bacterial spice that also offers your body a good dose of alkalinity. It has a pH of 8.5, and helps to improve circulation, lower blood pressure, eliminate toxins and boost brain function.
7. Papaya
Papayas are known to be easy on the digestion, soothing multiple digestive ailments, and disorders. This is due to its highly nutritious and alkalizing flesh, which is packed with fiber, water, vitamins and minerals for better health.
8. Lemons
Lemons might taste highly acidic, but through the digestive process, they are transformed into an incredibly alkalizing substance that benefits your entire body. In fact, lemons are the most alkalizing foods available, which makes it a great idea to add slices of lemon or lemon juice to your daily glasses of water.
Read more »
Burn Coffee Grounds in Your Backyard to keep bugs away, the Results Are Amazing (Video)
http://beforeitsnews.com/self-sufficiency/2016/06/burn-coffee-grounds-in-your-backyard-the-results-are-amazing-video-2505369.html
Suffering From Adrenal Insufficiency? 7 Techniques Check for Dangerous Dysfunction
The adrenal glands are located in the body just above the kidneys. Their job is to produce and release certain regulatory hormones. These hormones control the “fight-flight” reactions of the body’s central nervous system and respond to highly charged emotional situations. The other function of the adrenals is to manufacture steroids and sex hormones. Along with helping to manage stress, the various hormones produced help control blood pressure, blood sugar, fluid balance and a myriad of metabolic functions. The main cause of adrenal dysfunction, also called adrenal fatigue, is stress of all kinds, ranging from emotional reactions to life’s challenges to responses by the body to illnesses and nutritional deficiencies. Testing for adrenal dysfunction is necessary to help avoid the more serious adrenal failure whose onset can arise from long term, unchecked stress creating adrenal dysfunction. Checking the health of your adrenal glands can be done on your own with a few self tests and with the help of a trained healthcare practitioner.
Adrenal Testing Methods and Tools
· Seek a practitioner who has been trained to recognize and treat adrenal fatigue. Many conventional doctors are not familiar with testing for adrenal fatigue, being only able to administer blood tests that indicate adrenal failure, known as Addison’s Disease.
· Ask your holistic health practitioner to administer blood, urine and saliva tests to determine the condition of your adrenal glands.
· Use a home saliva test several times during the day to check cortisol levels as well as DHEA, epinephrine and nor epinephrine, whose levels can help determine the health of your adrenals and appropriate treatments.
· Self screen for adrenal fatigue using the blood pressure test known as Ragland’s sign. You need a home blood pressure monitor to do this test. Take your blood pressure when sitting down. Then stand up and immediately repeat taking your blood pressure. The first number or systolic pressure should rise at least 8-10 mm. If it drops, this is an indicator of adrenal dysfunction.
· While looking in a mirror, shine a flashlight into one eye…. READ THE FULL STORY HERE: http://www.jbbardot.com/seven-valuable-techniques-to-check-for-adrenal-insufficiency-and-dysfunction/
Prepper Story: 78-Year-Old Vet Builds $1000 Cave Fortress
Good survival skills come from practicing for years, but age and practice means nothing unless you have a good survival plan, then have the power to stick to it when needed.
This 78-year-old ‘Nam vet could easily prove it right. Meet Bruce, a Survivopedia reader who built his own off-grid cave fortress for less than $1000.
Read the following article and discover a great story of survival from a man who definitely deserves our respect!
“I am what you might call a survivalist but the big drawbacks are my age (78) and my health. I live in a mobile home park and I do have a small garden in which I grow basic vegetables and some herbs.
My health problems cause me take 700 MG of morphine for pain control and there is no way a doctor who prescribes my meds will give me more than 28 days at a time even though I have asked many times. I have about a 90-day reserve that I have put aside just in case, and the only way I was able to do this was by cutting myself short. Instead of three a day I was only taking two. Some days I suffered because of this, but I got through it.
Do you wander what makes a man like me strong enough to fight for survival despite the age and health issues? I’m going to tell you.
I started building my cabin back in ‘88 when I was a lot younger and more physically fit. My neighbors jumped into the picture when I found I couldn’t do everything myself. He’s an EMT and somewhat of a prepper himself.
I told him about the cave I found and the rock cabin I had started to build and asked if he and his wife wanted to join in on the project. The next weekend was the first time they went to see the beginnings of the cabin and they couldn’t believe what I had already done. The work parties started.
I do have several fire arms in my home and if it comes down to it I won’t be afraid to use them. Fact is, I just assembled my own AR15 pistol in 5.56X44 caliber. I have four 42-round magazines and one 30-round. Three are loaded with armor piercing rounds, and the other holds silver tips.
I built it from scratch and it’s considered a pistol because it only has a 10 inch barrel. Because my eyesight isn’t all that great, it’s equipped with a 4 to 16 power day/night scope with a green laser sight for point and shoot, as well as a red laser sight.
I have practiced with this gun in a few gravel pits and I must say that I have a great group of 15 rounds in a 2-inch circle at 500 yards in a prone position, and a five in circle at 200 yards free-standing. The short barrel length allows me to get around with it in my home or even out in the bush with ease but it doesn’t affect the accuracy one damn bit. I also pack a 9mm Beretta fixed with a green laser for point and shoot. Standing, I have a good 3-inch group at 30 yards.
I served 3 tours in ‘Nam and spent time in a POW camp, and survived. I was wounded twice but again I survived. I’ve eaten grubs, common garden snails, and slugs which you can virtually find anywhere. All are high in protein. I’ve also eaten all sorts of roots and leaves; even moss. I even have a vest that I got from a fellow in the Army. It will stop a .308 round but I don’t want to try it out. It’s in my bug out bag.
I have that well-hidden, small 8X10 heavily constructed log cabin and only two other people know about it, and they are with me just in case SHTF. The back is open and butted up to a cave, which allows us to grow mushrooms of all kinds. There’s an underground water supply and maybe a years’ food supply. All items have a 25-year shelf life and will be enough for up to 7 people.
About every three months, the three of us spend a weekend there, keeping it well hidden and just making it more comfortable to live in for a long time; as long as a year or more. Last year it survived a wild fire that destroyed several homes in the neighboring area. The slate roof protected it.
From a quarter-mile away it looks just like the rock slate that it is built of, and it’s built at the base of the hill. The walls are 3 feet thick and made of stone and mortar. It only has small windows made of 2-inch Lexan. I salvaged that from an old dismantled bank and cut it down to size.
I feel safe there in case SHTF and the three of us can survive there for a year or more. The only way you can get there is by walking because there are no roads within half a mile. We also have a stash site to hide our vehicles in.
Read also: Top 10 Vehicles For Your EMP Survival
We do have a quad that we keep in the cave along with two 55-gallon drums of gas treated Stay Bril to preserve it. The only thing that the gas is for is the quad, and that’s only for hunting and for providing electricity for lighting in the cave and cabin; all wired for 12 volts.
We don’t hunt near our cabin and there is plenty of game in the area: deer, moose, elk, bear, rabbits and all kinds of birds. I could go on and on. If it really gets bad where I live, my neighbors, whom I trust with my life, will bug out with me to the cabin and be comfortable in our surroundings long-term.
Oh, I forgot to add that the only door leading into the cabin/ cave is made of white oak and is 8 inches thick. It took me four weekends to make it and is held together with 6 1/2-inch ready rod. I made the hinges myself because you can’t buy them. They are made from 3/8 steel plate with 1-inch pins – I think it could protect Fort Knox. LOL.
Heat is provided by three wood stoves and we have 38 cords of stacked wood inside the cave, all nice and dry, so there won’t be much smoke at all. We usually only burn it at night, so no one can see it anyway. Believe it or not, it will usually keep the cabin and the first chamber of the cave warm with just 6 hours of burning using only 2 of the stoves when it’s -10 degrees outside.
Here’s the good part.
All that I have invested in the whole thing is less than $1,000, not counting the sealed survival food or the quad which we found in the woods, wrecked and abandoned. However, the parts to repair it is included in the total cost. The slate for covering the roof came from an old quarry about three miles away. We got lucky with the mortar to build the cabin; all we had to buy was the cement and lime because on one side of the rockslide, there is a sand pit from which we collected sand.
We washed it and dried it before using it to make our mortar. Some of the stones in the walls weighed well over 600 lbs. so we made a 30-foot A-frame to place them with and it worked well. When we were done with it, we cut if up for firewood.
Read also: How to Heat Your House without Electricity
We have a short wave radio, a CB, and yes, we even have a TV. We get 4 stations for news and such. We even have a 2000-watt inverter that will give us 110 volts for a hot plate if needed. Presently, we are working on a digestive septic system because our one toilet is in the cave. The 200-gallon holding tank is made of fiberglass, and the only drawback is that we need to the vent the smell but we’re working on that.
The Challenges I Took and the Lesson I’ve Learned
The biggest challenge we faced when building the little cabin was building the A frame. It took three trees 60 feet long and they had to be dragged for nearly a mile and. It was done with just the three of us using cane falls and hand-cable winches. It took nearly two weeks working 12-hour days and a lot of will power to get this done.
You’ll find you have a lot of muscles you haven’t used before because they will get sore. We did take a few breaks from the dragging just to get healed up a bit, but we never stopped completely. I think if we had, we still wouldn’t have it finished.
The biggest survival lesson that I’ve learned after 3 tours in ‘Nam and a fire that took out houses around me?
In ‘Nam I wanted to die about 20 times and I refused to smoke weed like about 80% of the guys did, even on patrols.
In the POW camp, about the only protein we got was from the rats we caught and ate, grubs, slugs and a few other unmentionables because all the Charlies fed us was rice and that was a small bowl at that. I learned what you could eat and what you couldn’t by trial and error; I got sick so many times because of that.
The cabin survived the fire just because it’s got the slate roof laid over 2-inch planks, which we cut with our Alaskan sawmill using a chain saw. The wood was treated with a fire preventive made of Borax and water. We added about 8 coats, letting it soak into the wood for days on end.
When it got dry, we gave it another heavy coat, then the slate was laid over that. We used cement-coated galvanized nails to hold the slate down and every time you wanted to put a nail in you had to drill a hole to start. We went with cement-coated nails because you can’t pull them out at all, making it fire-proof. It can withstand the heavy snow-loads in the winter.
Our cabin is on state land so you have to be careful to cover your tracks. Concealment is essential, for if they find it they will probably tear it down. We found out that by placing a claim on the property, we could build a cabin to live in. The catch is that we have to mine a mineral and produce an income of X amount yearly to keep the claim.
Our mineral is lead, which isn’t much but it’s enough to keep the claim. Study what is the laws are in your area. Most can be found in BLM (bureau of land management); they can tell you what you can do and not.
Funny thing is that a lot of the state maps per county (Metsker maps) don’t even show the rockslide where my cabin is. That’s telling me it is un-surveyed, or at least it hasn’t been for a good many years. All the better for me.
If you ask me what is the survival advice for younger preppers and survivalists, I’d say oh, God help me here. I guess the biggest thing is not to try and do everything at once, for nothing will get done. Make up a flow chart and keep with it. Take it one step at a time and when you get that done, move onto the next phase and stay with it. Even though you may be tempted to skip a step, don’t. We were tempted to change things several times but didn’t and it payed off in the long run. It took us two years to build the little cabin and in the meantime we lived in the cave.
In the meantime, learn many skills which you can use: herbal remedies for ailments is essential, hunting techniques and trapping, what game is available during the different times of the year and how to preserve it. Water bath canning is by far the best method. You can salt it down, but then you have to soak it to get rid of the salt.
One thing that’s really important: don’t do any shooting around where you live. The one thing you don’t want is to attract attention to you because gun shots can carry a long way in the mountains. Also, you don’t want to scare the game away from you until the time comes when you really need it.
Knowledge is essential for survival and in the event SHTF, knowledge can be a tool to barter with. 2 miles away someone else is now building a cabin maybe 300 square feet in size. I haven’t met them yet and I don’t even know if they know we’re there and have been for 28 years.
They’re building a log cabin and it is gonna be something if they don’t fire proof it. I started out with a log cabin but added 3 feet of stone walls on the outside to blend it into the rockslide. Mine is hidden, stocked, and fireproofed. If they’re smart, they’ll do the same.”
Depression Is an Allergic Reaction to Inflammation : New Research
New research is revealing that many cases of depression are caused by an allergic reaction to inflammation. Tim de Chant of NOVA writes: “Inflammation is our immune system’s natural response to injuries, infections, or foreign compounds. When triggered, the body pumps various cells and proteins to the site through the blood stream, including cytokines, a class of proteins that facilitate intercellular communication. It also happens that people suffering from depression are loaded with cytokines.” Inflammation is caused by obesity, high sugar diets, high quantities of trans fats, unhealthy diets in general, and other causes.
By treating the inflammatory symptoms of depression — rather than the neurological ones — researchers and doctors are opening up an exciting new dimension in the fight against what has become a global epidemic. Caroline Williams of The Guardian writes: “The good news is that the few clinical trials done so far have found that adding anti-inflammatory medicines to antidepressants not only improves symptoms, it also increases the proportion of people who respond to treatment, although more trials will be needed to confirm this. There is also some evidence that… READ THE FULL STORY HERE: http://www.jbbardot.com/discovers-depression-inflammation/
13 Must Have Items for Families to Survive the Apocalypse in Style (Videos)
http://beforeitsnews.com/politics/2016/07/13-must-have-items-for-families-to-survive-the-apocalypse-in-style-videos-2820846.html
120+ Survival Tips That May One Day Save Your Life
When my assistant and I came up with the idea for this article, we didn’t exactly have a goal in mind BUT we knew what we wouldn’t be able to do, Gather all the survival and preparedness knowledge in a single post.
That’s just impossible since the knowledge about survival and all its aspects is simply huge. So we had to settle for a less ambitious (yet still honorable) goal. To give you a huge collection of some of the most overlooked survival tips that would appeal to the novice as much as to the seasoned prepper.
Since this article will turn out to be pretty long, I’m gonna stop here and leave you with the tips…
General Survival Tips & Tricks
Don’t forget to prepare your pets and farm animals for all the SHTF scenarios. Post-disaster, you’ll need them even more than you do now.
Remember that the skills you have are worth a lot more than your entire stockpile.
Don’t overload your bug-out bag as it’s going to be a pain to carry it on your back for miles on end. Every ounce counts. Tricks like breaking off the handle of your toothbrush, making holes in some of the containers inside your BOB, using AAA batteries instead of AAs, carrying freeze-dried foods instead of canned food, and removing non-essential items, are going to reduce the weight of your backpack.
Adopt an assertive attitude when getting your family to prepare. Talk to them about small-scale disasters first, preferably about the ones that have already happened in your region or town.
Don’t forget to stockpile games, books and other ways to entertain yourself post-SHTF. you can find over 40 ideas right here.
Think twice before throwing anything away. Pencils, paper, used car parts, rags – anything can be useful post-disaster.
Keep activity to a minimum in hot weather to reduce the need for water.
Put blankets on all your windows to avoid people seeing you have electricity.
Many disasters, whether natural or man-made, bring with them even more destruction. Earthquakes have aftershocks, hurricanes bring floods, Martial Law will bring gangs and rioters who will rebel against it.
Keep in mind you and your family may not be home when SHTF. You need plans for all scenarios.
If possible, pack all your family’s bug-out bags in the same way. That way you’ll know where to find something when you need it. (The U.S. Army uses this trick.)
If you’re taken prisoner and they’re trying to tie you in one way or another, contract your muscles as much as possible so the ties are, in fact, loose… allowing you to escape.
When in a hotel, always sleep with the air conditioner off. This way you’ll reduce the spread of smoke in the event of a fire.
Make sure you have a safe room and if possible, a means of escape from it in case you’ve got attackers on the other side of the door, trying to get in. Only use the safe room as a last resort.
These three old lessons will ensure your children will be well fed when others are rummaging through garbage bins. Click here to learn all about the 3 skills that will help you thrive in any crises situation.
Stockpiling Tips
Think in terms of threes. Prepare for 3 days, then 3 weeks, 3 months and then a year.
Don’t buy MREs (meals ready to eat). They’re too expensive. Your first options should be canned food, beans, and rice.
Find out what allergies each of your family members has before stockpiling.
Freeze-dried foods have great shelf life and are lightweight but will require water to cook.
White rice has a greater shelf-life than brown, even though brown rice is considered healthier due to the fact that is less processed and has more nutrients.
Store wheat berries instead of flour. Wheat berries have a shelf life of 20 years, while flour only lasts for a few months.
Veggies such as carrots, horseradish, turnips, and cabbage can be left in the ground during winter, as long as you cover them with dry leaves or straw.
The best way to store large quantities of water is in large 55-gallon barrels. Make sure they are food-grade and BPA free.
Keep your stockpile in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight with low humidity and hidden from everyone.
Unconventional places to hide your food and water include in fake air vents, inside trash cans, inside Pringle’s cans, in fake pipes, in PVC pipes buried underground, inside trees, inside barns, inside wells, in abandoned cars, inside pots and pans you don’t use, and in your garage. Ensure all the conditions previously mentioned to avoid food spoilage.
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Use oxygen absorbers to improve the shelf life of your foods.
Don’t forget comfort foods.
Never approach your cache food locations until you’re sure you’re not being watched.
You should store at least 1.5 gallons of water/person/day. 1 gallon is not enough as you need water for cooking and personal hygiene.
Only store water in glass, plastic and stainless steel containers. Never use containers that used to hold milk or some other beverage!
Store more than one type of food in each plastic bucket. This way, when you’re bugging out in a hurry and you can only grab one bucket of food to take with you in your car, you’ll end up having a variety of foods instead of just one.
Bottled water is safe to stockpile and has unlimited shelf-life (until you open it).
Store water in dry places, away from ground, sunlight, and solvents.
A Self Sustaining Source Of Fresh Meat,Vegetables And Clean Drinking Water
Frozen food is great as long as you have enough space in your refrigerator or freezer but it becomes a problem in a grid-down situation.
Don’t forget to stockpile things to help you open, cook, and consume your food: can openers, cooking pots, stoves, spoons, forks, etc.
Label all your food with what’s in it, the date it was canned, and the estimated expiration date. Color code it if you want to.
Well water has benign bacteria in it that will metabolize sulfate minerals once you store it. One way to inhibit them is to chlorinate your well water each year.
Always rotate your food and water stockpile. Use FIFO methodology: the first can you put in is the first one you’re going to consume.
If water is scarce, avoid sweating, drinking diuretics, too much effort, and get enough sleep to limit your body’s water consumption.
A good place to stockpile water is your swimming pool. However, it’s best to boil it or add bleach to it before drinking.
Home Defense Advice
Always keep your doors and windows locked, even when you’re inside. Most burglaries happen because the thief sees an opportunity.
Don’t keep all your dogs outside. Keep one on the inside in case the burglars decide to poison or even steals the others.
Prune large trees that could allow a thief to climb in through one of your windows.
Make sure your house number is clearly visible from the street to allow the police to quickly find it in times of emergency.
Get light activation systems for your porch and back yard that turn on and off at certain intervals. This will make it seem like someone’s at home and they’re better than the ones that just stay on all night.
Use double-cylinder deadbolts for your front door.
Don’t defend your home when it’s obvious you can’t. Your life is more important.
Strengthen your door. A lot of burglars just kick doors open.
Don’t plant bushes on your doors and windows as they help burglars sneak in unseen.
Make sure your door hinges are on the inside.
Replace basement windows with plexiglass or polycarbonate or install security bars.
Don’t put a sticker on your window that tells the burglar exactly which type of alarm system you have installed. This will only make it easier for him. Instead, put up a sticker that warns of the alarm but doesn’t tell say which one.
Replace hollow interior doors with solid ones that are harder to break through.
Install a wide-angle peep hole that’s at eye-level when you kneel. This will make you a smaller target if the person on the other side has a gun.
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Urban Survival Tips
Cooking and burning trash could easily attract unwanted attention. Eat canned food and find alternate ways to get rid of your garbage.
Don’t get involved in fights; it will only deplete you of resources and energy.
Get all the water you can. Fast. Water is going to be a huge problem when SHTF.
If you’re still stuck in a city when the store shelves are empty, lakes, ponds and other body of waters are the first places to look for food.
If you’re paying rent, try to move as close to your workplace as possible.
Take a secondary route out of the city as fast as you can before they all get clogged or blocked by police or military.
Wilderness Survival Tips
Use the bottom of a ceramic mug or pot to sharpen a knife.
Partially freeze meat to make it easier to cut.
Have good tinder when starting a fire: straws, vaseline-soaked cotton balls, even a deck of cards, can make good tinder.
Fill plastic bags with leaves to create a mattress for you to sleep on.
Oil, grease, mud, and smoke are great pest repellents.
Reptiles are not good at indicating water sources. Birds and insects are.
Use your reading glasses to start a fire.
If you Bic lighter runs out of fuel, it will still spark so you can use it to light your char cloth.
If your Bic lighter doesn’t spark anymore, make sure you salvage the flint to be used as a firestarter.
Tips for Bugging in or Out
In most cases, it’s better to bug-out, even if that means leaving your home and your valuables behind.
Think about and practice bugging out during the night. It may or may not be the best choice when disaster hits but it’s necessary to be ready and ok with the possibility.
Have a pair of hiking boots near your bug out bag. Never bug out in shoes or sneakers, you will get tired sooner and develop blisters.
Fill a plastic bag with air and secure it with duct tape and use it to cross a river. If you happen to slip, it will keep you afloat.
Keep your guns hidden when on the move and trade them for your life if necessary.
Avoid wearing camouflage clothes, brightly colored clothes, and perfume.
Natural Disaster Tips
Never eat snow to hydrate. Melt it first, then filter it with a cloth.
The second you see a wildfire, you should start gathering water by all possible means.
Cars aren’t good Faraday cages. If your radio waves can get in, an EMP can get it. Wrap your electronics in tinfoil and then place them in a real cage such as this one.
Avoid low-lying areas, river valleys, and keep all your body parts covered when running away from a volcanic eruption.
Don’t attempt to remove water from your flooded basement as soon as the waters withdraw. There’s still plenty of it inside the earth and your cellar is going to get flooded a second time.
Tips to Deal With Man-Made Disasters
Don’t try to escape a riot by going against it. Going with it isn’t a solution either. The trick is to move with it but at an angle until you’ve reached the outside of the mob.
Don’t use walkie-talkies when facing a riot. You will only attract attention and be labeled as a prepper.
Never-ever leave a fire unattended. Never build a fire near trees or bushes. Basic but useful advice.
A continuous roar, whirling dust, and a low cloud or a torrential rain followed by complete calm, bright flashes near the ground, these are all signs of a tornado.
To anticipate where a tornado is heading, pick a point really close to it (preferably right in front of) and notice where it’s heading relative to it.
Be alert to and careful of flying debris caused by a tornado, it can kill you.
In case of a house fire, as you’re evacuating, close the door behind you to slow down the speed with which it spreads.
Never hide near a heavy refrigerator during a tornado, earthquake, or hurricane, it can fall on you and kill you.
Survival Medicine and First Aid Tips
Never store your meds in bathroom cabinets. Keep them away from moisture at all costs.
Never consume antibiotics past their expiration dates.
Stockpile sunscreens and moisturizer cream if you think you’re going to spend a lot of time in the sun when bugging out.
Honey can be applied on wounds because it acts as an antibacterial. So is lemon juice.
Never touch or get too close someone who’s experiencing an electrical shock. The current can travel through air and will get to you to. Either stop the electricity source or use a wooden stick to push the person away from the current.
Keep your first-aid supplies in the outside pockets of your BOB for quick access.
Use belts to stop bleeding (as tourniquets).
Mix vinegar with water, then apply on sun-burnt skin to relieve pain.
Best Post Collapse First Aid Survival Guide Ever
SHTF Communications Tips
Keep a cell phone + extra batteries in your bug-out bag.
Use pre-paid cards to communicate.
HAM radios are great for communicating with people across the Globe but you may need a license to own one.
Mindset Tips
Whenever you find yourself having to do a large task, break it down into smaller ones and do them one by one.
Use the visualization technique to see yourself successfully achieving something.
The only way to master fear is to understand that it exists and admit that it’s something you can’t fully eradicate.
To deal with loneliness, find friends among even the smallest insects. Focus on easy, mindless tasks such as polishing your shoes.
Weapons and Ammo Tips
Careful with shotguns. They’re so powerful that the bullets travel through walls and kill your neighbors.
Always carry and know how to make from scratch alternative survival weapons such as boomerangs, bows, slings, spears, air guns, paintball guns, axes, machetes, swords, and bayonets.
Keep an inventory of your guns and ammo.
Find out more about using cold weapons for survival on Bulletproof Home.
A Prepper’s Guide in Safeguarding a Home
Tips for Building Shelters
Avoid making shelter in a ditch. While it will protect you from the wind, in case of a flood it will get inundated.
Thoroughly check out a cave before choosing it as shelter. Check for “residents”, falling ceiling and the possibility of it getting flooded.
Bunkers are, in most cases, less than ideal. The people outside can either wait until you run out of food and water or they can smoke you out if they discover where the ventilation system ends.
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Self-Defense Tips
Always use the least amount of energy necessary to escape an attacker.
Whatever the attacker demands of you, say “no” and make it difficult for him to get it from you.
When you attack someone for self-defense, always aim for the eye, ears, throat, and cheeks. Other sensitive areas are the knees, shins and the groin.
A lot of everyday items can be used as “part-time weapons” such as your car keys, a coffee mug, a pencil, a stapler, a comb, a bandanna, a scarf, a large vase, and even a lollipop!
Keep a weapon near