Samuel 
One of the less glamorous aspects of survival is being prepared for either short-term survival during some kind of attack, or the need to be prepared for lethal encounters after disaster strikes. When supplies are low and tension is high, violence is bound to be at least someone’s mode of survival, so you need to … Read more
If you are a survivor of a natural disaster one of your first concerns will be clean drinking water. Attempting to drink water that has not been treated could lead to serious illnesses. Some of these illnesses are life-threatening even in good conditions, but when you are under stresses common to post-disaster scenarios such as malnourishment, … Read more
Your chances of living through an event such as being stranded in the wilderness or civil unrest will greatly increase if you have a healthy capable body and mental determination. These are not the only factors by any means, but when all else is equal, someone who can cover 10 miles of rough terrain … Read more
Most attacks occur in what is called transitional spaces. These are places where you are transitioning from one environment to another and where the attacker can easily come and go. Examples would be parking lots, convenient stores, gas stations, elevators, and bus or train stations. When you are in these spaces, as many of us … Read more
In a wilderness survival situation, you can’t count on things going your way. This time of year, cold will be a main concern if you find yourself stranded outdoors, since exposure too cold can kill within hours. Fire is the obvious solution, but there are a number or reasons why you might not be able … Read more
You can never have enough fire starters, ammo, or bottled water. This list contains just a few of the fire starters that can be made from items you probably have lying around the home, or potentially improvised even after disaster strikes from resources you could scavenge. Tuna can and cardboard Nearly everyone throws away cardboard … Read more
People have a tendency to feel safe in their vehicles in a similar way to feeling safe in your home. And while being in a vehicle has its safety advantages in a defensive scenario, it is no fortress on wheels. When facing an attack in your vehicle, knowing its strengths and vulnerabilities will greatly impact our … Read more
After disaster strikes and we are cut off from a normal flow of resources our bodies are going to be under high levels of stress, the last thing we need is to expose ourselves and those around us to biological hazards when we are in a vulnerable state. One commonly overlooked aspect of preparation disaster … Read more
You have a lot of things to consider when you are choosing the best bug out bag, and you can’t simply buy what friends or family members are buying and believe that it’s going to work for you. You have to stop and think about what you need, your size and frame, and what you … Read more
While a gun that is in poor maintenance is unlikely to pose an active threat to your life, it could very well be putting you in danger. Whether you will need your gun to function effectively in a self-defense scenario or to hunt, a malfunction could cost you your life. In a self-defense scenario fractions … Read more
In this instalment of lock bypassing we will be talking about bump keys. A bump key is basically a key that has been filed down to the lowest depth. They are used to jolt the pins of the lock above the shear point by applying tension on the bump key, and then bumping it. Bump … Read more
In case you are not too up-to-date on the news, and this would be easy to miss, but Venezuela’s economy has completely crashed and its citizens are starving. They have to wait in line for hours for government rationed food, and they are even crossing the borders in droves to buy food from neighboring countries. … Read more
I’m sure many of you have strong feelings about this upcoming election, which is unlike any election in US history. You may feel love, hate, reluctant support or some combination of the three towards either (or in the case of hate, both) candidate, but if you are a survivalist, regardless of political leanings there are … Read more
Snakes are a big benefit to the world. They help to control the population of vermin, for example. However, when you are in a survival situation and you are limited on the types of food available to you, snake just might be something you have to put on the menu. It’s not as bad as … Read more
Survival in an urban environment is completely different than a small town or rural setting. Your carefully acquired survival skills and supplies might not be of the most use if you’re trapped in a chaotic urban jungle during a disaster. In this case, it might not be hunting or shooting that saves your live, but blending … Read more
There’s no doubt that a firearm is one of the most important survival tools you can own. For home defense, self-defense, self-reliance and disaster preparedness, having a firearm has countless advantages to any prepper. But it’s not as simple as owning a gun, or even knowing how to load, unload, discharge and aim. There are … Read more
Have you ever stopped to think about what it would be like to not have water? We’re not talking about not having the bottled water that you like. We are not talking about not having water for a couple hours coming out of the tap. We’re talking about being in a survival situation where you … Read more
Most people prepping and gearing up for survival know just how important it is to have a good supply of food on hand. However, even though they know they need a lot of food, they may not truly understand exactly how to go about doing it the right way. Let’s look at a few of … Read more
I recently came across a very interesting article from the 90s about the skills and coping mechanisms of Holocaust survivors who escaped to America and made a life here following their harrowing ordeals. The article covers various studies that have been done among Holocaust survivors as to how they have learned to cope with their experiences … Read more
In light of current events, we thought it might be a good time to discuss some basic safety tips for riots. This is not necessarily for long-term survival during civil unrest, but you can read about that here. This is basic advice for staying safe if you find yourself caught up in a violent protest … Read more
As we head into winter our preparations should take into account the changing seasons and the weather that we will potentially see in our areas. The winter season has its own unique risks that go along with it, and those of us that have children need to think about how to respond if we are … Read more
Locks keep honest people honest, but after disaster strikes, they may be what is separating honest people from food and secure shelter. This is the first in a series of articles about lawfully bypassing locks to obtain necessary supplies or shelter for survival, not for theft. You might be thinking that you don’t need to … Read more
Sometimes, a cellar full of food isn’t the most viable option for your individual or family survival food needs. You might not have a cellar, you might not have the funds to fill your non-existent cellar with canned and dehydrated food, and you also probably anticipate being any number of different places when disaster strikes. … Read more
You know how important it is to have a good first aid kit in a survival scenario. However, you might not simply want to buy a prebuilt kit from the market and call it a day. Instead, think about adding some other items to the kit that will come in extremely handy, and that you … Read more
If you plan to use a bow and arrow to hunt deer as a means of getting meat in a survival scenario, you need to know what you’re doing. Instead of waiting until the SHTF, you want to have a bow and a deer hunting license now. Get out there and learn how to hunt … Read more
If you own firearms, or are planning on purchasing your first firearm, you are probably torn between listening to people who tell you that you need to keep your firearm unloaded, in a safe, within a larger safe, with ammo in a separate safe in another building, and people who tell you not to worry … Read more
Most violent attacks do not occur at the pistol range or NRA meetings. Whether it be muggers, jihadists, or simply crazy people, most attackers chose “soft targets”, or people when they are most vulnerable. But even in this age of “gun free zones” there are ways to protect yourself that have not been legally limited … Read more
If your area is hit by a natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake, it is possible that the supplies you have stored would be damaged or destroyed by the disaster, in part or in whole. This may mean that you are required to search out food sources quicker than you had planned … Read more
You want to have a bug out bag that is full of all the items you need for survival until you reach your bug out destination. Naturally, you need to have food in this bag. The food needs to be calorie dense and nutritious, and you don’t want it to be too heavy, as it … Read more
You consider yourself a prepper and a survivalist. You have all the gear you need. You know the bug out location you’re going to head to when needed, and you have plenty of ammunition for all of your weapons. No matter what happens, you are ready. At least you think you are. You have to … Read more
If you haven’t gone fishing before, or if you haven’t been in a long time, you can’t expect to be able to fish and feed yourself and your family in a survival situation. You need to take the time right now to learn how to do it and how to be successful at it. This … Read more
There is a certain amount of prepping that can be done for any general disaster or survival situation, and it’s good to have a grasp of the basics. But it is also definitely wise to think about specific disasters, their likelihood of occurring in your area, and what you will need for each. It is certainly impossible … Read more
Being able to identify poison ivy is probably one of the best survival skills you can have. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, given poison ivy doesn’t necessarily threaten your life, but being able to protect yourself from it is protecting yourself against a very uncomfortable experience that could seriously interfere with your survival efforts. … Read more
Whether it is a solar flare, earthquake, tornado, or terrorist attack, when disaster strikes, the things we rely on the most to survive could be cut off from us. Most importantly drinking water. While some wilderness survival is applicable to urban environments, finding drinkable water in a concrete jungle is going to be quite different from … Read more
If you don’t have a lighter in your pocket when you realize that you need a fire, then it’s even less likely that you remembered to bring your bow drill with you. So what else is there that you can use as a fire starter? Steel wool and battery While this alternative might not always … Read more
I was recently browsing some of my favorite survival blogs and saw an article that I thought was brilliant. It was on the site PreppersSurvive.com and it was about “the Off-Grid room“. I was thinking it was about a room that you kept all your preps in or something, but when I read the article … Read more
Many of us prepare for the immediate after-effects of survival, but what if civilization completely collapsed and we had to survive long-term, or try to rebuild some semblance of what once was? Supplies aren’t the only thing that will be needed, but rather, possibly more important will be skills. When you study anthropology, what defines civilization … Read more
Talks of the possibility of martial law get more and more popular each year, and whether or not it is going to happen, given the drastic effect it will have on civilian life in the United States it’s certainly a scenario worth anticipating and preparing for. What is martial law? Martial law is when regular … Read more
Since the vast majority of people walking the streets today have not lived through life threatening survival scenarios such as a plane crash in the arctic or being stranded in the remote desert, the things most people think of when they think about survival are either things they are just repeating from other people who … Read more
When you think of survival in a post-apocalyptic world, you probably think about what kind of vehicle you will need. I mean, we’ve all seen Mad Max. Being able to travel safely and quickly can make all the difference in survival, so it’s definitely worth thinking about how you will do so. This awesome infographic … Read more