The Prepper Journal

The last few years have left many of us on edge and I don’t

To be fair, the current unrest in its many forms has been brewing for a while. Many point to the Pandemic as an event that appeared to kick things into high gear – it certainly was a time of heightened unrest. While things calmed down a little – depending on where you are looking - it seems like we have not been able to completely settle down from that chaos and return to a more – for lack of a better term- civil existence with our neighbors.

From the riots of the pandemic period to divisive elections - to protests for any number of triggering events and -  to seemingly continual political tension, many on the left and the right keep prophesizing an impending break and that has been called various things but the most prominent and concerning of these in my

On today’s episode of the Prepper Journal Podcast, we're

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This is the second part of my discussion about Survival Gear. These are the vital items you should ensure you have at your location to give you an advantage in austere times.

The original article with tons of links is at 75 Item Survival Gear List – Protect Your Family With This Vital Checklist - The Prepper Journal

Read more about Prepping and Survival at The Prepper Journal Blog.

The dictionary defines survival as “the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances.” As Preppers, this is our primary goal even though each person has a unique vision of what that looks like for their life. The Prepper Journal’s survival gear list is designed to help you “continue to live” in spite of “difficult circumstances”.

But this equipment for survival is going to be general survival gear in a lot of respects. If you have most or all the items on this gear list, or some reasonable facsimile, you should be fine in a lot of emergency situations or “difficult circumstances”.

Read the original article with links to other content here - 75 Item Survival Gear List – Protect Your Family With This Vital Checklist

Bartering is the key. This will be the solution to all our problems when the grid goes down and society devolves back to somewhere around the early 1900s,  or at least that is what everyone in the prepping community would have you believe. Everyone that is except for the 10% who are anxiously awaiting the collapse so they can finally live out their lawless fantasies to their fullest.

Bartering, in theory, makes perfect sense. It is at its core, trading services or goods for other services or goods. An agreement between two people to exchange one thing for another. The assumption is that two people would have an honest contract implicit in nothing more than a firm handshake or “you have my word” statement. This will work for most people as I believe that most people are good and honest. However, some people are not honest and forthright and those are who you will need to be aware of when the subject of bartering comes up. Bartering has its good points and it's bad so today we will discuss the pros and cons of bartering as it relates to preppers.

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To the individual who is either interested in Prepping or already knee-deep into preparing for any number of potential emergencies or disasters, security has to be one of your primary concerns. This is not any truer if you have a family than if you are all alone. The simple fact of life is that when people are scared, hurting, or in some other way seriously under duress, the niceness of society disappears quickly. Someone who used to be your best friend will kill you if you are standing between food and their baby is starving.

It should be clear from any number of recent disasters where looting happened within hours that you and your family need to plan for security wherever you are. Firearms are most commonly (and for good reason) associated with security. Are there other options? Sure, but I would rather have my trusty shotgun as opposed to a baseball bat and harsh language if there were a bunch of people trying to knock down my door any day.

For more Prepper Articles - www.theprepperjournal.com

Original Article - Top 5 Firearms You Need To Get Your Hands On NOW! - The Prepper Journal

From the fanatical doomsday prepper to people who are just trying to be more self-sufficient and everyone in between, each type of prepper has its strengths and weaknesses. Increasingly often though I keep hearing from self-described “Sensible preppers.” On the surface, the phrase is understandable, but I am starting to think that those who describe themselves as a sensible prepper could be leaving themselves open to problems at best. At worst, it could be minimizing the importance of prepping overall.

When I refer to “sensible preppers” I specifically mean, self-identified preppers who view anything more than very cursory preparations as symptoms of lunacy and panic. I’ll give you an example. I was reading a social media thread a few days ago and a topic was brought up by a Sensible Prepper who quickly pointed out that they just have some food and water stored up for local power outages – I believe they even said protestors in their town asked people to honk.

For a ton of Prepper Information – www.theprepperjournal.com

Original Article on The Fallacy of the Sensible Prepper Mindset - https://theprepperjournal.com/2021/02/08/the-sensible-prepper/

Article on Bunker Basics - https://bunkerbasics.com/the-prepper-journal-pat-henry/

In thinking about preparing your family for survival after a disaster or emergency situation you can’t forget to consider their health. Your family’s health is affected by so much more than having adequate stores of food. Having the best gun for self-defense is great and important, but what if someone in your group comes down with an illness that could have been easily prevented with a proper survival sanitation plan?  What if the killer that attacks you is a sinister little microorganism you never saw coming?

The Prepper Journal Blog – https://theprepperjournal.com/ 

The original article - https://theprepperjournal.com/2013/03/17/importance-of-survival-sanitation-after-shtf/

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In the world of Prepping, we group our topics that people want to learn about into just a few major categories when you think of it. The overarching goal of prepping or survival is to stay alive, but the disciplines that feed into Survival could be broken simply into food, water, shelter, self-defense, and first aid. There are many other branches but is a simplistic way of looking at priorities. Self Defense is one that has more urgency, and our home fortification plans are some of the most important parts of initial survival we can discuss.

As a parent of small children when I first got into prepping, it was hard to say which item I cared about more, but I know home defense was near the top. The thought of someone breaking into my home and harming one of my loved ones was scarier than just about any hypothetical armed combat against mutant zombie biker gangs in a post-apocalyptic world. Break-ins happen every day so my goal as a father along with providing for the general welfare of my family was keeping them safe.

Home fortification is a complex subject though for a couple of reasons. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. We can make certain assumptions though and understanding that the Prepper Journal’s audience is primarily located in the US, our collective home situations share similarities.

For a ton of Prepper Information – www.theprepperjournal.com

Original Article on Home Fortification - https://theprepperjournal.com/2021/01/09/home-fortification-tips

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Some situations in life do not give you time to think a lot. Sometimes you just must act in the interests of protecting your family. If you are ever faced with having to evacuate your home quickly, a packed go bag is your best bet of getting out of the house fast with the supplies you need to survive, potentially without anything else.

There are few things that provide preppers with a sense of security like a well-thought-out go-bag. Go bags are the same thing as a Bug Out Bag. It is a bag personalized to you and your situation expressly designed to grab on your way out the door. Your go bag should be packed and ready to go when you need it.

Today, we are going to break down what is needed for a go bag list and give you the information you need to set your own go bag up. Hopefully, you will never need a go-bag, but if you do let’s make sure you know the important items to consider when you build your go-bag.

Read the original article on The Prepper Journal

Download the Bug Out Bag Checklist

Our homes are supposed to be a safe place where we can find refuge and rest from the world outside. It’s where we are our most vulnerable, where we lay down and sleep. Our homes are where memories are made, family treasures are stored, and our children grow up. It’s sacred in a lot of ways.

Our home should be secure, it should be a place where we have no fears or worries, and most of the time that is true. We watch TV in our pajamas. We play with our children or pets without looking out the window for strangers lurking outside. We let our guard down.

One of the topics we inevitably discuss in preparedness circles is home defense. There are methods we can take to reinforce our doors and windows, we can add alarms and security cameras to alert us to someone outside, but what if those fail?

What if someone gets into your home… If that sacred space is violated by someone intent on doing you harm? Do you have a plan for what you would do in that instance?

For a lot of preppers, that last line of home defense is a firearm, but what is the best gun for home defense?

The Prepper Journal Blog - www.theprepperjournal.com

Shotgun Review - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqkeKwRmWFY