Hey! You there! Reading your RSS feed, or blog roll, come say hi! I see our readership numbers. I know there are lurkers out there. I know I spend a lot of time in this space, talking about the view from MY front porch. Today I’d like to hear from YOU!
So, come say hi. Hit that comment button and introduce yourself! I’d like to know something interesting about where you live, or how you live. Are you a prepper? Do you have any interesting hobbies? How’s the world looking from your front porch?
Old friends, give us an update. There are a few readers I haven’t heard from in awhile, it would be nice to hear from you again.
We’re past the Autumn Equinox, winter is coming, how’s your pantry looking?
- Calamity Jane
Hello from the Piedmont of NC. We’ve been working on our self reliance & preparing for the past three+ years, gardening, canning, raising chickens, living debt-free(other than a small mortgage), purchasing what will be needed should the SHTF. Considering moving to a more rural location, since we live way to close to a large metro area. Continuing to build our skills & meet new like-minded folks.
Enjoy the blog. One of my regular stops.
Hey Tony and Michelle here…we also live in the Piedmont area just over the line from the big metropolis! We have been prepping for 3 years: storing Beans, Bullets, Bandages & Bullion. We are debt free like you except for small mortgage also looking for bug out location far away from the city & nuclear plants. Have been gardening, HAM Radio, and stockpiling.
Also the Piedmont of NC. I live alone and for now have been focusing on learning to shoot. It’s become a passion and I’ve begun competing in IPDA to build defensive skills. Enjoy reading and getting the constant reminders that there is much more to work on to be ready for natural disasters (hurricanes, tornados, and winter storms) as well as other unexpected things that life can throw us.
Checking in from Texas, just like to say I’ve read this blog for a looooooong time. From when I was working overseas up till now. Love the articles, never posted though. Mostly an Opsec thing, I don’t like to get out there so to speak. The ideas on here are awesome and I have used some of them already. Keep up the good work and from the rest of the Chinchilla Militia, thanks! BTW, Chinchilla Militia is just a joke name that me and mine came up with for our own entertainment in prepping, we’re really not a militia just a family trying to make it in this crazy world.
Of course I am a lurker (wuz)…now that ya got me to “come out”.
not gonna give much up though.
I have learned a lot here, valuable info.
Keep up the good work.
Warlock: Good reply. I’m Brad (Indiana, that’s all you get. Besides the fact that I have NO extra food, water, or ammo…. ;) so please get off my porch). Yes, I also lurk everyday. I too enjoy this place and have learned much as well. If anyone asks, I was never here, you never saw me. Good luck, and may God be with you (and you with Him). Peace!
Crap….now I’m freaked out that you’re really “The Man” trying to get a lock on my position. I’ll never come out alive. You hear me…(Starts throwing cats out of window at authorities) NEVER!!
Hello from NW Florida! I really enjoy this blog and all the work that is put into it, its on my daily read list. I really enjoy backpacking so I fortunately had some of the basics, but a little over a year ago I started getting more long term preps together and have been working on it ever since.
where in NW FL? ive been looking to network if you’re interested?
Well I thought I had posted a comment, but it didn’t show up. Long story short, love the blog, full of great information. And love the sponsors, Lucky Gunner, for the win!
Sometimes posts get stuck in a spam folder until I can release them. A URL in the body of the text will sometimes cause it to get flagged by the spam software. It usually does a pretty good job of keeping the *real* spam out, but sometimes it catches comments from real people too.
If you (or anybody) ever posts something and it doesn’t show up right away don’t despair! I usually try to check it at least once or twice a day and I release them when I do.
I’d like to thank everybody who’s checked in so far! Thanks! C’mon, I know there’s others out there! Check in and say hi to your kin here at SHTFblog!
-Jarhead Survivor
Greetings from San Diego Jarhead:
Thanks for the superior site.
I have been a consultant to US and allied law enforcement and intel agencies since Julius Cesar was a corporal.
I am the luckiest guy in the world doing what I want, where I want to do it and with whom.
We founded the ( non profit ) Magnified View, ( Analysis of News You Can Use with Actionable Tactics To Survive And Thrive in Troubled Times a couple of years ago and are doing better than our wildest aspirations.
Keep on keeping on Jarhead. You are helping more people than you could possibly be aware of.
Respectfully, Yoda@magnifiedview.com
Hello from south texas! Started prepping this year after reading Rawles’s “Patriots”. I check this blog and Rawles’s every day. While both informative this one is more grounded and useful. My families preps have now evolved from the three B’s to silver, hand tools, and power generation (solar, rechargeables, generator, fuel). Economic collapse is our number one fear. We live in a suburb of a major city and would love to buy some land in texas but doubt the economic climate will ever be stable enough for us to risk a mortage payment. We rent and move alot, following the work as it booms and busts in different places. Thank you for your time and effort on this blog.
:-D I have a lot of family in South TX. Welcome Shawn!
The view from my front porch in SE Wyoming looks pretty grim. We’re hunkering down for a long, cold, dark winter and hoping for an early spring. Without being able to resupply we will be good for about 90 days here. But expect we’ll be pretty skinny come spring. Working on water logistics and alternative heat. Every day that the lights are on is a GOD given opportunity to prepare. We don’t waste a minute. Thank you for your great advice!
Nightshift from South Mississippi. I am guilty of being a near daily reader but rare poster. You have a fine blog here. If I have time to check any websites yours is definitely in the bunch.
Moved 3 years ago to 32 acres, 15 miles from any gas station and 20 plus miles off the coast. We are trying to build so we can get out of the single wide into a well built brick house. Hurricanes and stray hunting rounds…lol.
I’m working my arse off at a couple jobs while there is work cause harder times are coming.
Paying off debt
Healthy food storage level.
Never enough guns and ammo but realistically good.
Chickens, fruit trees, more stuff in the works.
Building a cash reserve. I know inflation but will still be bills to pay.
Y’all take care.
Hi Calamity, Hi Jarhead. Sorry I haven’t hollered in forever. Been readin, just not writing. The weather up here in OH can’t decide whether to turn cold or not so my garden doesn’t know whether to produce or die off. For some reason I have it in my mind that we are gonna have a pretty nasty winter this year up north, so tryin to think ahead as much as possible. God Bless ya’ll. Stay safe.
Good to hear from you again Moutainspirit! We’re being told, here in Iowa at least, to expect another dry winter… I’m hoping it’s not so, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Ya Calamity they keep trying to tell us that we are going to have a mild winter, but I am watching the wildlife, and the coats on the squirrels are already starting to tell a different story. I’ll know for sure once the caterpillars come out. Either way, I think we are just about ready for it. How did your garden fair this year? How are the littlens’ doin? God Bless.
I’ve been a daily reader from near Cleveland for a couple years now. I talked to my wife awhile back about the need to be “ready” and she agreed that we should have something set aside. She doesn’t know the full extent of what I have prepared but I don’t think she’d be too upset if she did. I’ve got about 3 months of dry goods, a water filtration plan (and a couple of back-ups), defensive weapons and ammo stored. I have no plans of obtaining a BOL. I live in a small town about 10 minutes from Amish country as it is. I plan to “bug-in” if the SHTF and, with your help, I think I’m more prepared every month.
pretty busy as we are in the middle of wildfire season here in the laguna mountains of southern california. I mostly read, dont really comment all that much. Probably one of the best blogs out in the ether…..comments are usually helpful too. Painfully learned not to submit guest articles.
Awww… don’t be too hard on yourself. I was in a cold sweat for the first 2 weeks I was a writer here. :-D I think you had a fine guest article.
Take care, I hope the worst of the fires avoid your area.
hello from the mountains of western nc. been reading this blog for a while love the ideas and info! been in prep mode for quite sometime now. we do have a great group of like-minded folks here. we are all just seeing what we don’t see and hearing what we don’t hear. kinda like reading between the lines!
Hello! My name is Elaine and yes I am one of your lurkers! ;) live your site, tons of info. Keep it up!
Yay! Another lady prepper! :-D
Howdy from way under down under. New Zealand to be precise. Home of Hobbits, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, 60 million sheep and one newbie prepper. The missus and I enjoy reading this blog, we have being watching dooms day preppers on nat geopraghic. So a Kia Ora to all!
just saw we have another kiwi onboard, which area / island?
Auckland, by way of the might Bay of Plenty!
Hello all from waaaay south Texas. Yes, I lurk at many survival sites and yours is among them. I find it friendly, and encouraging. We are trying to get our things together, and move waaaay northwest! We are too close to Mexico for my comfort. I now consider myself delurked. Keep up the great work!
Texas is the place… I’d dearly loooove tooo beee. But all my x’s live in Texas….
Sorry, that song popped into my head when I read your name. :-D
If you can’t make it NW, give Iowa a chance, good land, good people and much better weather than S.Tx.
Many thanks to you all for all of your work on this site from Arkansas. I lurk, therefore, I am! My goal is to do “something” everyday for the next 40 days–canning, making jelly, dehydrating, purchasing meds or ammo—just “something” for what is coming soon. Be safe, everyone.
hello from the South Pacific, little islands of New Zealand! great country just a shame about our gun laws
As the name suggests, I am a Mossberg Fan, currently own:
464 straight stock 30/30, 702 Plinkster .22lr, 510mini .410g, Maverick 88 .12g
Wish list: MVP varmint .223, 590 ati collapsable pistol grip stock .12g, 4×4 in .338 lapua (unsure of stock style yet), 464 SPX 30/30.
As you can see no mention of any semi auto AR style, as I do not have the MSSA class on my liscence.
drives me nuts that you can only get a 5 round magazine for rifles and you the lucky yanks get banana clips and keep on pulling that trigger! (i’m living WAY down under in Southland)
This place is the BEST!!!
Keith??
Hello, all!
Prepper greetings from Chicago—one of the last places you’d want to be when the grid goes down!
Just discovered this site a week or two ago. Have been prepping since April. Slowly working towards food storage for six months. Purchased my Big Berkey, my S & W .38 as a starter for home protection, and some silver Eagles to hold in reserve.
Look forward to learning from and getting to know al of you in the months ahead! God Bless—
Welcome Pete! I have to admit, I LOVE Chicago. Whenever I need to get away for some good food and good dancing, I always head to Chicago. I would never want to live there though! Get out while you can! :-D
Hi all gat31 here from north central Florida. l used to comment all the time but now just occasionally. Still never miss a day and always learning so much from this group of awesome people. l do a lot of experimental gardening and have many successes and few failures. Still not at the level l want to be at as far as preps in place, but getting there ever so slowly. Love this blog and all the information l have learned from it. Just wanted to say hello to all those out there that don’t usually comment and even to those who do. :)
Happy Prepping.
Gat, good to hear from you again.
hi,
my internet handle is badkittie748 and yes i am something of a prepper albeit for only a couple of months. my hobbies include making just about anything and everything i can if only to learn new skills, science fiction, going to movies, COOKING ( sorry for the caps, thats a big one for me though :) ) i have three small boys so prepping is definitely a challenge especially in our shoebox of an apartment. while bound by texas property laws – my landlord expressly forbids the presence of fire arms or weapons of anykind, so our prep plans have to be weaponless. while we may not have several months to a years worth of food stored what i have managed to squirrel away has saved our butts on more than one occassion despite the fact that we live on a single income. my husband is NOT a prepper or survivalist in any capacity and i sometimes think that he likes to remain blissfully ignorant of our current states as a nation.
Men do need to be taken care of sometimes. :-D
Have you had any discussions with him about it? I know with my hubby, he was resistant at first, but it was only because he was overwhelmed by everything that could go wrong and felt that every place he could start prepping would be wrong because it wouldn’t cover ALL the bases. I found that if I approached things from specific angles, i.e. keeping heating costs down, or making sure we had tornado supplies, he was able to get in and start and let go of some of the anxiety.
Glad to hear from you! Take care!
Things are chooglin’ along over here on the Puget Sound. I’ve hooked up with a local non-profit that does gleaning on local farms and distributes the food to local food banks and will be going out on my second glean with them tomorrow, it should be fun. I’m also plugged into my local emergency response group, but haven’t had much time to do anything with them. I’m hoping to do a CERT training this fall.
I keep meaning to get in touch with local gleaners. I know there are a couple of agencies around that do it.
Thanks for the reminder Michael.
We completely filled the back of a 15′ Econoline van with food that would have gone to waste this morning. The food will get distributed to local food banks, the farm will get to write the value of that food off on their taxes, and I had a good time and got more than my share of exercise. So, it’s a win, win, win, situation.
Howdy! I’ve commented on a few of Jarhead’s posts but never on one of yours Calamity. You tend to be very practical and informative with your posts and therefore I haven’t been able to leave a comment that adds to the discussion in a meaningful way. O’l Jarhead tends to stir the pot and then let everyone fight it out in the comments!
I really enjoy the blog and the fact that there are varied points of view brought up and emphasized by each of you. Keep up the good work!
Hi Calamity,
Joe here, hail from piedmont NC, and work as er rn…new to prepping as a verb, ” always ready” has been my mantra since my time in the military. My wife is total noobie and we are learning together! I would like to learn more about canning and have spoken with city officials about allowing us to raise a few hens! May go with rabbits though…advice?
Small animals are a great food backup. Especially as far south as you are, I bet you could raise more rabbits than you would ever need.
I may save your question to expand into a post. :-)
My name is Theron Watson. I grew up in Idaho but have live in Louisiana for the past 16 years. I am a former Combat Arms soldier turned Chaplain (by the grace of God and His sense of humor). I am also the Pastor of a local Baptist church. I am fitness enthusiast, carpenter, cook and fellow prepper just name a few. I enjoy following your blog and even write two of my own. Thanks for the invite to visit. Be blessed. TW
another jarhead from the south…I check in about once a week. The wife & I are prepped fairly well, but can always use a few tips. Keep up the good work
Nice to hear from another jarhead. Semper Fi and keep on keepin’ on!
Yep I am a lurker. Added your blog to another I was following after recommended it to his/her readers. Haven’t decided if I am in total agreement with everything expressed here but most is logical and worthwhile. Learned some stuff and bought some recommendations. Been prepping since Hussain was put in office. Now I am trying to step it up a notch cause it may be sooner than later that stuff hits the fan. Bow hunted for years and can live for three days with what I carry in my pack ( which is basicly the stuff you have mentioned several times here) but plan to stay put as long as I can. Now stocking my spare room with the basics.Thanks for the useful info and keep it coming.
Welcome carbine! We don’t mind if you don’t agree 100%. Variety of opinions keeps things interesting and helps steer us closer to what’s true.
Hello. Been lurking for 2 yrs
I read SHTF Blog through my feed reader, just easier for me. I work the night shift at a call center in Oregon, and we’re all preppers in my household (me, my hubby, my young adult daughter, & my best friend who’s like a sister). My hobbies are mainly of the crafty type — crocheting, sewing, spinning — but I like to learn a little bit about just about anything. The last few months I’ve been learning to make bread from scratch (experimenting with lots of recipes, found a couple my family loves!), and both pressure canning & water bath canning. Trying to improve my gardening skills but I have only a tiny patch (about 15×30 feet) of mostly-shady yard to work with, so I’m doing a lot of container planting. Love your blog!
Greetings fellow lady prepper. I have a love/hate relationship with container plantings. Sometimes it works really well, and other times extreme weather hits and anything that doesn’t have roots into real soil just keels over.
I would love to learn more about spinning. I know my Mother-in-law does some, but she’s so far away we haven’t had the chance to talk about it much.
Do you find it’s cost effective? To buy wool and spin it? Where do you get your wool? I know I shudder at the prices of local wool that’s been hand spun. I’d love to support them, but I don’t have the funds to pay 30$ a skein you know?
Glad to hear from you!
Luckily we don’t get much in the way of extreme weather in the Willamette Valley, or I wouldn’t bother with container planting! I’ve been able to keep most herbs alive in containers through the winter outdoors, even in snow.
Buying wool & spinning it is only cost-effective if you don’t include your labor in the cost! But it’s very rewarding and downright peaceful & meditative after you get into a groove. You can find very nice wool, both dyed & undyed, on Etsy for a wide variety of price ranges. Also some local yarn stores sell it by the pound (I pay about $32/lb at my local yarn store for very soft undyed wool — compare that to the average 3-oz or 4-oz skein of fancy yarn at $12-$30!).
The best thing about buying wool is you can dye it yourself, and it’s not expensive or difficult to use the dyes, just slightly more complicated than dying Easter eggs! Plus you can choose how many plies you want in your finished yarn, and make the trendy yarns like thick-and-thin or thread-wrapped. I’ve gotten quite good at using a drop spindle, completely failed at a kick-spindle, and am still trying to learn to use the spinning wheel my awesome husband got me for Christmas last year. Since I work nights and can’t attend spinning classes (they’re always scheduled for my sleep times), I’ve found that YouTube videos have been invaluable! There are videos on not only the very basics of how to spin, but also on every aspect of the art.
Good Morning,
NW VT reporting in. I enjoy the site and have it loaded in my news reader.
I love that part of the country! You live in a beautiful spot there, Friend.
Good Afternoon,
Thanks. I have spent time in S. ME, NH, VT. I enjoy all three areas. I do like N. ME better as there are fewer folks. But, where I am it is nice. Not far from the border, plenty of woods to roam in.
It is nice to see that there are some folks in the NE that have a similar interests.
Regards
Morning,
Wife and I are both retired. Sold our home and built a big place in hills above Del Rio.TN. My daughter changed jobs and she and her husband and two small children moved into one end of the house and my wife and I have the other. Lots of room with 4 baths, 5 bedrooms and two living rooms. We are on 50 acres. The wife joined me in prepping after Obama got elected. Both of us worried about the grandchildren. Loading up on preps: guns, ammo, silver, generators, food, fuel, etc. I enjoy your site because it affirms my preparing and provides encouragement.
Orwellian,
(Sorry for the off post)
Not sure if you are using your real name there, but if you are, you have my maiden name. I am my family’s geniologist, and am always looking to further build my tree.
Hi CJ,
Bran here from E. Tenn. I’ve been keeping up with you for a few months and really enjoy the site. I come from farming / hunting country and have been making tentative inquiries about putting together a cooperative group of people with various talents in case things get worse. I travel nationally with my work, so my biggest concern is being away from my kids and home during an event. I spend significant time working out plans and talking with my two teenage sons about scenarios. My personal prepping is about to outgrow my house so, I’m looking into secure alternative storage methods. I’m blessed to be from an area where common sense is a common trait. Good Land, Good People. God Bless America.
HI from n. cent FLORIDA, We have following a long time now,enjoy the site. We finished puttin up summer garden,planted winter garden. We have a pond thats well stocked with fish,chickens keeeping the bugs down,suirrels by the hundreds in our woods,deer,turkey,andquail seem to like the solititude on our place.
We occasionally see panther,bear,bobcat and foxes at the pond. Have taken pics from back porch. Like most we feel that we will never be ready for what we feel is coming. By the grace of GOD we will get thru
Hello from Cape Cod Mass. I’ve posted a few replies to the Blog. Overall it has really helped me think and plan for the future. Particularly around food and gardening, but especially physical fitness, the area I probably need to do the most with!!! Thanks for all the ongoing information.
Ah yes, physical fitness, don’t we all need a kick in the pants for that one! :-D
Thanks for dropping by!
Greetings from east central Oklahoma. Middle nowhere USA! We are in a good position for survival, an hour+ from big city, no close neighbors and great access to rugged wilderness close-by if we have to bug-out.
I am continually amazed at the number of people across all walks of life and financial standing who all feel the urge/need/desire to prepare for the unknown future.
We live in a very rural area and power outages are common…..so we have experience to draw from there WTSHTF….and we live close to the earth so much of our “prep” is everyday life, raising some of our food(meat, milk and eggs) and garden when the drought doesn’t destroy everything. However, recently have felt a much stronger urge to truly prepare beyond a week or so of food stores.
Nice to “meet” all of you and your common sense or “insanity” depending on point of view……..a little scary as well as comforting to be part of this “family”!
Thanks for the great tips and suggestions……
Would love reviews on survival food items(food bars, food tabs, good/bad MRE type foods etc), price comparisons, suggestions on gun and ammo storage, ideas on essentials for primitive survival, and more.
Thanks for being our connection and voice in this frightening unstable world!
OK farm wife
Greetings Ok Farm wife! I spent many of my formative years in Oklahoma. I still miss the way the wind would smell before a nice rain.
Reviews on survival food options is a good thought, I’ll see about rotating some of my food stocks for fresher fare, and I’ll do a taste test of some of them. I have to admit, I haven’t even tasted some of what we have stored. There hasn’t been any need for the bars or MRE’s lately.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hey there. I’m Aaron from Arizona. I’m not a prepper but having been a boy scout I still have that be prepared mentality. If the grid went down I could keep us going for about a month. Love the site, gives me lots of ideas for long term preparedness. That’s my main goal, 2-3 months ready. Love the web site!
Indianagal,
yes, I read your site everyday and love it! Thanks for the info. Starting prepping last spring. Have lots to get ready as hubby is not too interested about it but has been impressed with what I show him. Am doing the best I can on a p/t pay, got laid off two years ago.
Jobs etc not good here and lots of empty houses and people paying attention to Dancing with the Stars!
Neal from Wisconsin checking in! I have been reading the post daily (almost) for about 60 days now. Appreciate the topics as I am a ‘beginner’ as a prepper. Have lost too many jobs and seen too much change in the economies and political landscape here in WI to not pay attention to prepping. I love your writers’ approach, the humor and the seriousness that are woven within this blog. Keep it coming! (love the book reviews and suggestions) *yes, please bring us some quality gear and items to your site/store
I’m not a lurker! I live in Central Oregon, and work at the local community college as the student newspaper advisor. Always been a prepper, am the author of survivalcommonsense website. Only come indoors when I have to.
Hello from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, I’ve been lurking for probably about a year now. Prepping since 2000 or so I guess with my family. I read this site everyday with many others. I enjoy shooting anything at least once a month, be it indoor pistol range, or outdoor skeet ranges.
Ernie from memphis TN answering your call! Ok about me, I am a Army veteran, 11Bravo Infantry, served 2 years with 25th I.D. 4/87, I am currently a 10 year veteran of Shelby County Fire Department, I am an EMT IV, and I love to hunt and fish. I love coming on here and getting new ideas, no matter how prepped I think I am, I always learn something new. I appreciate what you do, and always look forward to seeing your emails in my inbox. I am a prepper of sorts, I like to think I am prepeared for the most part, but finances and kids always seem to keep me from being as prepared as I want to be. However I am always looking around wherever I am at and thinking what can I use what could I get if I needed it, becasue TSHTF! Keep up the good work and keep this blog going, I really love it.
Greetings from Missouri!
Where the weather is as unpredictable as our football team. ;) Actually, I don’t know that much sports, so that might not be an accurate statement now that I think about it. My interests in survival prep are both personal and professional. However, my survival skills are not really up to par. Thankfully, there’s your blog. The pickling and food posts are my favorite ones, but I don’t think there’s one post that I have not found enlightening and educational.
Keep of the good work!
Pacific Northwesterner here. I have been reading you for over a year and getting my ducks in a row. I have really been focusing on growing food, water purification/ storage and getting physically fit. Storing a bunch of food is great for a short term emergency but in an all out collapse I feel growing food will be more important. I had no idea how much effort goes into getting harvestable seed for next years crop! Besides I have cut my grocery bill by a $100.00 per month.
Keep it up you are an inspiration to many and a valuable commonsense resource to us all.
Greetings from Bothell Washington, just east of Seattle and close enough to the Canadian Border. I used to think I was just a “do it youselfer” but now I believe it’s called “prepper”. Thanks for your interesting info, love your posts.
Hello from NJ! Really enjoy this blog and the topics you cover. In my mind, we’re getting close to the SHTF and time is running out.
Thanks for filling people in and helping them prepare.
Hey, I’m in Southern California at the moment. I move a lot and am new to the prepping experience. But since I don’t have a home base it gets pretty tough to prep. I’ve been learning a lot about herbal medicine and growing my own food (only small potted plants right now I’m in an apt.) Also really interested in hunting but I’d have to start completely on my own and just can’t afford the gear yet.
Hello from Pinellas County Florida! Been lurking for around three months, started prepping just this year, given what I’ve seen in the service (haven’t deployed so don’t thank me for my service, I haven’t done anything yet!) and what I see on the news; figured it was time to be ready to take care of my family should an emergency happen. I live in the city, but not downtown area, so I can’t use some of what this site has, but alot of good information. Curious to see if you guys could do more aticles on things for city slickers and maybe some more info on archery (a hobby of mine that can be utilized in shtf)?
Grace and Peace, Pierce
Hi everyone; Greatgrandmother here from the U.P. of Michigan.I have been a prepper for almost 40 years .Back then we didn’t have a name for what you did 12 months of the year. I learned and passed down to my children and Grandchildren and hopefully my Great grandchildren. I can my food,butcher,make all meals from scratch then can the left-overs,garden make my cleaning and laundry products and believe in herbal medicine that I make. Love this site for further learning. One piece of advice,NEVER stop learning from others that are willing to share. God Bless
Thank you for teaching your grandchildren & great-grandchildren, and please PLEASE keep doing it even if they don’t seem to be paying much attention or appreciating it. I lost both my grandmothers last year, and I wish I’d asked more and listened more and appreciated more what they taught me before their amazing & loving knowledge was lost to me forever. It’s only now that I have some understanding of how precious their wisdom was, and I am doing everything I can to pass what I can along to my daughters.
Another lady prepper, Calamity! We moved up to Amish country a few years ago from the South coast, and I love it here. Now we live in our BOL! I’d like some acreage, but we are mortgage free (though not yet debt-free), and have some land and access to more, so I’m dealing with it. My husband is a pastor, and we thankfully have a lot of resources available to us via his congregation which is made up primarily of farmers (wheat, corn, sorghum, soy, milk cows, beef cattle) who have lived here their whole lives. The local Amish community is actually very welcoming, willing to answer questions, etc.
We are prepped to “extended winter storm” level, and I’m comfortable with that for now, although the next steps for us are increasing water supply/access and heating/cooking resources. Then we move on to more food and other “extended outage” supplies. We finally broke down and got a handgun for immediate protection, but in serious SHTF we have a good community base. We are obviously very concerned about helping our neighbors, and I think we live far enough out of any city (even small ones) that it’ll take a while to start seeing rabid strays, if you know what I mean.
I’ve not yet grown much more than a few peppers and tomatoes and weeds, but I’ve always been into organic gardening from heirloom varieties. I think that knowledge will be my own best asset to this area that has so much to offer us, as they are very conventional in farming methods here (yes, even the Amish, much more than you’d think!)
I’m also new to knitting and sewing, but I’m getting there. :) Next skill is learning to pressure can and feel comfortable actually eating what I put up.
A little late, but South Central Maine checking in.
Hi, I’m a major lurker and never posted before. I am a beginning prepper in southwest Arizona still learning about options and such. I appreciate the work you do.
Greeting from Missoula Montana home of the US Forest Service “Smoke Jumpers”. Prepper ever since I can remember (Dad started me that way), Navy vet, firearm enthusiast, survivalist.
Hello from Afghanistan! I normally live in Minnesota, and hoping to relocate to the west if I can find a job in civilian law enforcement! I love the blog! Great to have a real, down to earth group of preppers!
The san diego sheriffs department will be hiring 2000 sworn and non sworn personnel over the next few years. If you stay away from the city and pick a place in the eastern part of the county to live, you’ll be happy.
A big hello from your friends in the North.
Overall, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of love coming out of the Great White North, which is a darn shame. You guys and gals have an outstanding blog over here, and send my many thanks for the heaps of great advice and entertainment. Though we nay not have the ease of operation or resources here in Canada, you guys get the little wheels turning. Been prepping for years, in and out of the big city, and find your blog to be a great supplement where I fall short. Keep up the great work. A many thanks in advance. M
hi there, from southern Ontario!
Another lady prepper who has been lurking in the background. I’m from BC Canada on the west side of the province. First started getting serious about my preps after a snow/ice storm that kept me house bound for 2 weeks. I made it but it was a little lean towards the end. I’m at the point now where I shop for groceries monthly and only when what i need is on sale. I’m happy with my pantry now. Also, I’ve started canning and gardening. Really learning a lot from your blog. thanks
Better late than never………….This was the first prepper site I ever joined. Learned many things and have alwAys enjoyed it. Raised cattle in the ozark mtns, my whole life. Have enjoyed much of what I’ve read here.
Pretty significant response…
I just got out of 7 years active duty as a submarine officer, and work in a company headquartered out of Minnesota and am a part time Reservist now. I travel for my job for weeks at a time and won’t settle down somewhere semi-permanently for another year, so I’m a little anxious to get actual preps and storage taken care of since I can’t really do it now.
My interest in guns starting in 2005 led to an interest in politics (which I THOUGHT I had since I majored in poli sci, and realized later than I wasn’t nearly plugged in enough), which led to an interest in further awareness of what’s going on in general, which lately has led to an interest in survivalism and prepping — it’s all still relatively new and intimidating for me! But between this and survivalblog, I really enjoy the articles and things to think about and research.
Hello from SW Missouri (Springfield area) ive been lurking this place for months. I have commented once or twice but keep low key. This is one of my favorite sites and I have learned a lot from you all. Thank you and keep up the good work!
so i’ve been reading here for about a year or so. i never would have thought about any of this stuff… but then i had my 2 kids. i decided it was about time to prepare for anything within reason.
we (me, my wife and 1 and 3 year olds) live in AZ. i’m still pretty new to all this stuff so we’re not that far along with preps. i spent the last year trying to convince the wife about this kind of stuff. then one day the local water company founf e-coli in the water. for a few days they were warning everyone to boil all their water, etc. and you can bet that within a couple of hours you couldn’t buy bottled water anywhere within about a 45 minute drive. that finally settled it.
anyway, the site’s been very helpful. while i have developed some skills myself (5 year military medic, currently an RN) and my preps are more along the lines of a local disaster on the scale of something like katrina it’s always important to learn new things. so, thanks.
Hi there. I did not know there was a term for someone like me – a frequent visitor who doesn’t contribute.
This site is the best prepper site I’ve found. Maybe it’s because the POV seems less hysterical than some other EOTWAWKI sites, maybe it’s just the NW Iowa connection. I grew up on a farm near Sioux City, now residing in a Seattle suburb.
I’ve been interested in prepping for a long time. Several years ago, a flood 150 miles away caused my local supermarket shelves to empty, and observing the effects of a few power outages over the years have been a constant tickle in the back of my brain for a long time. Recently I’ve kicked prepping into high gear. It started with simply storing some jugs of water away, but I’ve since put in a garden, acquired some “instruments” for home defense, put away about 3 months worth of food, and am working on a water purification system. Also been playing around with hobo stoves, and thinking about alternative heating methods, should the lights go out again.
If/when the SHTF, I expect hunkering down will be my family’s best option.
Thanks for all the great info, and I apologize for lurking. :)
Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Partial Lurker, I guess. Read all I can, love the blog. Don’t always have something constructive to add, so… Not sure how long I’ve followed this blog, but less than a year. But I’ve let most of the ones I found go, because the info got stale, updates were intermittent and nothing constructive ever seemed to get posted. Not this site, wish I’d found it a lot sooner.
As for me, rocky mountain boy, somewhat new to prepping, but spent most my life in the woods (here that means aspen and pine and scrub oak), and if it wasn’t for my wife and kids, I think I would tell society to stick it and just head out for good. Hence the prepping. Damn women tend to complicate things. And I got three daughters in addition to the ball and chain. But, my girls are learning to live off the land, and how to survive without anything modern. (Rough on them and the ol’ lady, but fun as I can make it). Got tons of ideas from here that will keep the wife happy, and family alive with more than a debris hut and squirrel stew, lol.
Next step, seed bank and better garden, dry and can as much as possible, get the wife a gun, bows for all of us, and on and on till shtf.
I moved back from South Korea this year partly so that I wouldn’t be stranded there if the SHTF. I’m now living in Indiana and I’m just beginning to prepare. I’m very inspired by what I read here.
I see I am a little late to this party but figured I would De lurk anyway. I am in central OK, married with 2 great young sons and have been prepping for a few years now. Got a pretty good larder built up along with water and weapons. Only issue is that I can pretty much count on at least a dozen more close family showing up at my place come any shtf event. So that pile of food starts to look small when I think about that. Been spending more time trying to convince all those family that they should be prepping more as well but most are not convinced enough to stock more than a few weeks worth of food. Of course the easy part is when it comes to the prepper “toys” and we should have more guns and ammo than we know what to do with. That means security will be decent and they also bring along a small herd of cattle and some horses so that will be helpful.
I am one to try about anything and have dabbled in all kinds of things good for teotwawki learned from this site and others including gardening, wine making, distilling (shhh don’t tell uncle sam), worm composting (failed big at this), regular composting, canning, candle making, homeopathic medicine, primitive cooking, archery (still a work in progress), and everything guns (started with only one antique family heirloom and no knowledge, now my wife says it is an obsession). My family thinks I am a bit eccentric (nice way to say crazy) but my motto is you never know till you try it.
Hi all… one of the very few suburban MA(holes) on here :-) Some may know I’m in LE from previous comments; I have to look at the SHTF subject from two angles… work and home. I’ll let you figure out which comes first…
Plenty of “tools” for situations, due to work. Two alternate power sources, several food/water sources, and a 3-tier plan; Stay here with all our stuff, stay close by near our stuff, or head to the “broken arrow” location if things go real bad.
I travel “light” compared to some of you, but years of learning self-sufficiency come into play for getting what i need to fill any gaps. I’ve also done some research in my areas to determine where food/water sources are if needed.
Please don’t get nervous about the LE thing… :-) I’m here- that should give some idea of where i’m at. If there’s any way I could assist anyone due to my area of knowledge, I’d love to assist.
as for the New Englanders…. I’m more at home in the secluded northern parts…. don’t shoot if you see me and my big-ass smile coming :-)
Some good topics and good discussions on here… great resource, and I’ve gotten plenty of tips that I’ve put into play- thanks all!