Hi Everybody.
This post is about you and what you’d like to see here at SHTFblog. Ranger Man and I cover a myriad number of topics, from chickens to survival knives, and I was wondering what it is that most interests you.
What keeps you coming back every day? Gardening? Raising animals? Guns? Wilderness survival stuff? Gear reviews? Current events? The excellent variety we offer?
Is there anything else you’d like to see here that we don’t write much about? More physical fitness stuff? More gun posts? Something on canning?
Needless to say this post is just one big question, but instead of getting bogged down in trying to answer all of these questions – although I’d certainly love the feedback – I’d appreciate it if you answered this one question:
What topics would you like to see us cover at SHTFblog?
Or what the hell, maybe we just slay it every day and just keep on doing what we’re doing!
Now, to sweeten the pot I’m going to throw in M.D. Creekmore’s book “Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat” and to win it all you have to do is leave a comment below. He sent me this book to read and it’s chock full of good information about how to set up your very own bug-out location or survival retreat in a manner that anybody can afford.
I’ll draw the winner on Monday in the same manner that Ranger Man has been doing over the past week and announce the lucky prepper’s name on Wednesday.
-Jarhead Survivor
56 comments
Just keep up the great work! Good variety of posts. You’re my first
mouse-click of every day.
How about a version of David Letterman’s Stupid Pet Tricks, only with a preparedness view. A post which just lists DIY camping / hiking / home repairs and tricks that we all can learn from.
I think this website is doing an outstanding job btw, kudos to all of the people who contribute and get this done.
I enjoy the mix of topics on your site now. Keep on Keeping on.
Eldogg out!
I’d like to see something on a Mosin Nagant as a hunting rifle, and intricacies of different types of hunting rifles/bullets for optimal targeting (some bullets have more drop, so the barrel has to be raised or lowered to compensate for drop when shooting uphill, or downhill), those types of things, but specifically something on the Nagant… They go on sale for about $99 at places like Cabela’s, and if it would be a suitable hunting rifle along the lines of a .30-06, it’s a much less expensive option than a $500-600 rifle…
Hi, I mostly lurk here. I’d be most interested in wilderness survival and evasion topics, but it is all very interesting and informative to me. I’m also very interested in replacing aspects of consumer society with homemade equivalents and replacements (such as dandruff control or homemade antiseptic treatments).
Got to say, this is one of the best sites I have found. Very wide varity of subjects and the subject are realistic. Being somewhat new to the survivalist community, I would like to learn more of the basics. The simple things that tend to be overlooked by those that have more experience and are often learned by mistakes made.
I, as well as many just starting out in preparing, find cost one of the most challenging issues to overcome. Any advise or suggestions on how to prepare and not break the bank at the same time would be great too.
I, like Wolfgang, mostly lurk here. This is one of my favorite sites, though, generally the first place I go after checking my email at work daily. You guys are doing a great job.
That being said, it’d be great if you could track down a few more firsthand accounts of SHTF situations–for example, the 100-mile woods incident, or maybe some accounts of Argentinians who went through the economic collapse(s). It’s great to work with one’s best estimate of what a SHTF situation will be and to prepare in a general sense, but nothing really beats a firsthand account written retrospectively and analytically, with assessments of what the individual did right and wrong.
Keep up the good work fellas. Cheers.
Great site, full of info. I would like to see advantages or disadvantages of using an item Like Game ears or hearing amplifiers In a TSHTF situation. Thanks, keep up the good work.
The situation of early American colonists has a lot of similarities with a lawless to semi-lawless chaotic situation with people thrown on to their limited resources.
I posted one time about a letter from an early colonist of Texas (when it was still part of Mexico). In a post script on his letter he said: Oh, yeah tell the next batch of people coming to bring hand grinders because we don’t have any mills.
LOL-so even in the 1830s people would forget that they could not depend on “modern” luxurious.
Native tactics against the settlers are very much what you would likely face in a newly lawless world. A lot of false-flag sneak attacks, a lot of ambushes, not a lot of organized perimeter-patroling type situations.
I check this site regularly, and enjoy both the topics chosen and the comments. As somebody who is relatively new to the preparedness life-style, it’s all enlightening to me. As a former Marine, I feel pretty well qualified in “guns-and-ammo” type stuff, but the topics of food storage, gardening, water purification etc., are all welcome—and maybe the more basic, the better! Thanks for continuing to post real information, and thanks to all those commenting and sharing their thoughts and experience.
Shoe Laces has a good idea there.
I’d love to see how folks engineered/improvised things in crapsack situations. Since one cannot conceivably prepare for everything and anything, improv skills are a great way to make what you don’t have, or couldn’t get beforehand.
For instance, I remember a while ago where one of the big cable channels had a news spot on Bosnia (back in the 1990s), that showed how a family got electricity from a water wheel / car alternator rig they built and hung in the river.
Another idea would be to analyze some of the SHTF gear that some companies are beginning to sell (solar generators, etc). Doesn’t mean buying one, but perhaps thinking it through, to see if a given item or technique is actually useful or not.
This is probably one of my favorite blogs, you guys are doing a great job. I personnally would like to see any modifications I can do to my house to make it a better bug in location and be able to survive off the grid if we lost power, water, natural gas, etc.
Another topic would be setting up a off grid cabin for survival and weekend retreats.
I am digging the site and the mix of topics.
One thing that would be interesting is choosing a bug out location, maybe with photos of the good and bad.
I really learn a lot from the articles where you detail your own personal experience. I think you may take for granted the little things that you do on a regular basis (like a check list of your current stash of preps). Those are the kinds of things that inspire me to do the same. I especially like hearing about the failures in your experience (and not just because I enjoy laughing at you). It raises thoughts on things I hadn’t considered.
“Gardening? Raising animals? Guns? Wilderness survival stuff? Gear reviews? Current events? The excellent variety we offer?”
In a word: Yes.
Being a former Marine I can’t see anything wrong with the way your doing it. Keep up the very good work.
God Bless America.
Would love to see more on food storage–how to start, what you need, how to plan–what other essentials you need besides food. How to create solar, wind power options, outdoor ovens etc. I LOVE this site and have been inspired by your coffee can survival kit etc. Keep that up. And thank you for doing what you do.
“daily up-dates” are a pretty ambitious undertaking. you guys have done a great job so far. “ranger” and “jar-head” are what the blog should mostly be about. tell us what you’re doing, where you’re doing it, and what interests you guys. (while maintaining good OPSEC, of course)
the main thing is for you guys to keep having fun with this. (unless you’re making tons of money at it. in which case, do what ya gotta do)
You guys are doing a great job, Id love to see more information on food storage without the freeze dried, bulk stuff from Mountain House or whatever. Like how can the average person stock up on everyday foods and store them safely…?
again, keep up the great work and feel free to pop over to my blog anytime to see what wacky things Im up to on my farm!!
-=S
http://www.beewench.blogspot.com
Riverian canoing, boating. They are skills that used to be very common, but are almost forgotten outside of hobbyists.
I like what you are doing now.
I would like to see more scenario analysis. I.e., here is the event, here’s your conditions, what do you do now. What would potential threats do in response. How would family / kids handle the scenario. etc. etc.
Some DIY projects and experiments with off-grid/primitive technology would be interesting.
Yall are doing a great job, I’ll still lurk even if you keep doing what you’re doing.
awwww…..just go ahead and send me the book….I promise to mail it to the next winner.
Well l love this site and hit it first everyday and throughout the day. So obviously l’m happy with it. The one thing l would like to see added (and l don’t know if it’s possible) ls maybe a question and answer area. For example l’m not a master gardener (yet) but l would like to help answer questions or even ask them to others if l have them. Same with products.
Firesteel over magnifying glass etc. l love the videos and pictures of demonstrations and the DIY tools. l agree with matthew about the scenarios as well, here’s the event, what would you do, and why. Then someone say yay you lived or sorry you probably didn’t, and here’s why.
My mother is very religious and believes in the rapture and l tried to tell her, that l think some people are destined to stay behind, regardless of their belief, to help the others that are left.So knowing that my grandparents lived off the land, but all of their kids don’t even make a garden, raise animals for food or even go fishing, their kids don’t have that skill. l picked up some, but not enough. Trying to teach my kids has been a joke because they are tethered to the electronics and not interested as l suspect most of yalls kids are too. So now here l am trying to relearn the things l should have been taught from the most unusual place. (here) Anything that helps me get back that knowledge is a good thing. And having other people out there going through it out there is comforting. So please keep up the good work we (at least I) need and depend on it. Good luck and happy prepping everyone!
I enjoy your articles. I am living on my retreat and am ready for just about anything I could think of. I would like more articles relating on how to prepare for attackers if and when TSHTF. I would also like to see information on how to organize and govern a retreat and how to prepare for the aftermath of societal collapse if you survive the initial onslaught. Thanks and keep up the good work. TJ
Even after being a re-loader for many years I still don’t understand about why european 7.62 ammo cannot be reloaded because of the primers?
articles about post SHTF problems we will encounter would be nice.
For those of us who have always depended upon the butcher at the grocery, I’d appreciate a post, or a series of posts, about cleaning and preparing wild game.
How about chemical, biological, radiological survival skills.
More improvisations, low budget survival tips, How to survive as a teenager, weapons, gear reviews, clever double use items. And above all else, anything that provokes thought or makes you want to plan.
I am never too old to learn new tricks or to answer questions that seem to be asked by every newbie, I always seem to pick up new info or ideas from you every week, The most intresting post of late, in my opinion was the vertical PVC planting. I started crafting and designing some of my own the same week.
Thanks
Hi, I am new to prepping and I really enjoy your site. I like the mix of topics and I look forward to each new post. I too would love some ideas for a bugout shelters and locations. Also any ideas for budget preps are much appreciated. Keep up with all the great work you do.
PS I really love all the gear reviews
Beer and wine making, never see that on any shtf sites,
you could take the lead.
I would like to see more on alternative energy – DIY solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and anything else in that realm. Otherwise, I come back here to see what you guys are up to and hoping to learn something.
I’m another who likes the mix of subjects on the blog.
Discussions on likely scenarios & how to deal with them could turn into a good series. Between flooding, tornados, civil unrest, caught in a riot (trying to extract yourself and/or survivie), winter storm (home or vehicle), zombie up-rising there are many possibilities.
More gear reviews are always welcome. DIY gear could also be covered.
Steelheart
I like the variety of topics that you cover. I pay most attention to articles about wilderness survival and the home made kits such as the can stove etc. Great site as always, that’s why I keep coming back! Thanks for all you do.
1. Top 10 items to have in a medical kit with a listing of appropriate uses for each item
2. Top 10 food items to store based on nutrition, shelf life, caloric density and ease of preparation
3. 20 indispensable items to have readily available in a home kit or Go-bag
4. Suggestions for generation, storage and efficient use of electricity in a SHTF situation, with emphasis on lighting, communications, and power tools
Nice work. I enjoy the site.
ideas for a first aid kit, maybe a how to make snares for small game
Hi Guys ,
Sense you asked , An article itemizing what you think would be in your medical kit for both a BOB and BOL . Not much is said on what to put into a medical kit and needs to be . Its one of the most difficult things to decide for a beginning prepper and one of the most important things in your survival inventory . That would get the ball rolling on the forum so beginners could read from the more experienced as to what they have in their kit . Much needed .
T.R
I like what you guys do and stop by everyday.
More on recipes, using basic ingredients and basic spices, things they would have cooked 1700 and 1800s out on the trail or farm
More on making herbal meds and such
Necessities/niceties you can make at home
Alternates to expensive should haves
What basics you need to survive each different scenarios and what things will make it more bearable
I enjoy all the articles and usually enjoy the comments. I like the community here.
Thanks for what you guys are doing!
BUDDY
I just found your blog so I’ve been sifting through but I would love to see maybe a home built panic room build. Something your family can retreat to in case they are home during a burglary or you make really bad enemies.
While I lurk often and comment little. (because of general satisfaction, &/or nothing to say+add)… I think a “fast day” where you (or someone) ate at least one raw meal, visible from the front door (or perhaps back door…), would be very helpful to most new prepper folks.
(you don’t actually have to eat it… just know about it, and save it for later…)
So what if it’s bitter! It’s healthy food/vitamins/minerals+enzymes… You don’t need as much because it’s instant fresh.
As marines and rangers y’all should have a few ideas that city/rural folk could add some some food value to a meal.
Anyone who’s ever studied edible wild plants, knows we are living/moving in a sea of food.
Wouldn’t it be nice if folks, knew the foods in they’re path?
The daily prize would be a meal, =2, the cost of the energy to pick it up and prepare it.
Of course, there’s carrying-capacity to concider. That’s where gardens come in…
Anywhey, thanks for the site. It’s good. I like the random. Keep it like that.
Great site – thanks for all the great information!
One topic that I think would be worthwhile covering is basic preparations for a slow SHTF or intermittent survival prep in your home. For example, in New England one of the most important issues is heat. Since most winters we seem to lose power for a few days, you would expect everyone that follows this blog to have a wood stove and plenty of firewood or at least a portable propane heater (MD recommends a little buddy unit). Maybe it could be organized into various scenarios with specific details – Scenario #1 Ice storm and you lose power for a week – what preps do you need. Scenarios #2: Bank holiday – what preps do you need -etc…
I would like to read up on unusual routes to take with a car (not suv) to bug out. I was reading an article, don’t know where about using rail tracks, or its service road that run parallel to it. I never have thought about it. More ideas like that would be amazing. But it would have to be for car. Because if I were to hike, I can walk climb over, go around pretty much everything.
Thanks and keep up the good work
more gear reviews…..ham radio… shortwaves….. 2 way radios
flashlights…..mre and freeze dried food(which ones are tasty.)
bags for bug out…..firearms……gps…….trail shoes……energy bars……..swiss knives…..am/fm/noaa radios….online army navy stores……etc etc
Bill
also some links once in a while from readers…like they do at survivalblog. mostly about current economic and inflation articles…..and silver /gold links that are timely.
also….current spot price for gold /silver/copper/
for instance….zerohedge.com always has valuable news on the economy….also market-ticker.org does too.
Hell, Just keep doing what you’re doing. The only thing I can consider changing would be to post 7 days a week instead of the current 5.
What keeps me coming back every day, or every other day if I get busy, is the variety of the pieces that get posted here. Favorite topics are survival, gardening, prepping posts and how to survive AFTER TSHTF. I like to think I won’t need OPSEC, but I read all that too and file it away mentally in the “just in case” file.
I tend to skip over gear reviews, but the one that stuck out the most for me was ChefBear’s review of fishing equipment. I know I’d have a hard time trapping squirrels, rabbits and the like, so I’m thinking fishing will be the source of my family’s post-shtf diet. I’d like to see more on fishing for survival. Wild food foraging is an interest of mine too. Ever consider doing more on that?
You have one of the BEST blogs out there…keep up the fantabulous work!
Really like the site. My favorite posts are gear and/or DIY related. I always learn something from them, so more of those if anything. You guys always do a great job on those posts! Keep it up!
I am not sure if I’ve read all of your posts, but it’s always good to add articles focusing on keeping yourself safe, especially in survival situations. I was being careless for a second while trying to cut off part of a knot in a tree limb I was whittling and sliced right into my finger. I hurt myself because I was more concerned with getting something done instead of slowly taking into consideration where the blade could go. I’m sure there are many things to be said about safety.
Something I know I just remembered was how much my mind reacts to seeing myself bleeding a fair bit. I just about passed out trying to go get something to cover it up to stop the bleeding. So maybe topics on knowing how your body works and how you react to things is as important as knowing what’s in your bag. This could translate to other physical or even mental things like knowing how long you can hold your breath, knowing how far and how fast you can run, etc.
Besides that, I am always interested in gear reviews or interesting uses or mods for gear.
Communications! Secured and monitoring in many different forms. The simpler and cheaper the better. Not everyone can afford the Ham radios or the time to get up to speed on them…reviews of some of the gear out there 2 way and monitoring.
I like the blog the way it has has been presented. It has a lot of variety. The inclusion of guest posts on current events and topics is something that interests me – particularly those who have actually experienced shtf situations.
After this blog, MD Creekmore’s blog (the survivalist blog.net) and Rawles blog (survival blog.com) are the only other survival/prep blogs that I read. One of the factors that make MD’s blog so successful is his open forum format. Also, his weekly “What Did YouPrep This Week” posts garner a lot of responses. Rawles’ blog has a lot of good guest posts, which makes it a must-read, but it lacks the vitality of feed-back expression that MD’s blog has.
I would like to see youall talk about how to cache some survival gear.
I like what Eric just said about knowing how your mind reacts to different situations. That is something most of us don’t take into consideration.
Earthquakes cause my heart to go into arythmia and I havn’t figured out how to keep from panicking when they happen.
The cutting yourself thing I figured out. Focus on getting the Celox out of the medicine kit. It stops the bleeding in a hurry.
Tips for tactical awareness….
I would like to see some articles about survival fishing and trapping.
I read this blog every day and I’m pretty sure I’ve read all the archives. I think what I enjoy MOST (ie. find the most entertaining) are the weapons/tactics related posts (call me an armchair internet warrior, but I’ve got a DD214 that proves otherwise :)) However, I think what I take the most away from, practically speaking, are the posts regarding food/water/bare essential storage and preparation.
I LOVE your website…have to check it out daily. Personally think y’all are doing a great job but if I HAD to think of one subject to add more of it would be one the subject of the psychological issues of when the shtf. I am feeling more comfy with the “raw” materals/provisions I’ve prepared for myself and family, but I am still alittle concerned on dealing with the mental issues of the eventual collapse of our society; I’m not a the “touchy-feely” person…
Comments are closed.