Today in the show Lisa were honored to have Jane Austin (Survivor Jane) on with us talking about prevention, sanitation and hygiene in a SHTF or disaster situation. There are some things we will have no control over, but we need to stay focused on the things we can control.

Sometimes, the small things that we tend to take for granted can turn into bigger things. The common cold or infections can be easily treated today with antibiotics and medications, but that would be completely different in a disaster scenario.

In any disaster scenario, you will already have you hands full. With proper hygiene and sanitation, you can prevent further issues, or unnecessary issues, and focus on the bigger picture. If we find ourselves in a grid down scenario, we don’t want to compound the situation by having to deal with sick family members.

A Little About Jane

Most of you probably already know who Jane Austin is, but for those of you who don’t, here is a little bit about her. Jane is the author of 5 books (Available on Amazon), the brains behind Prepper Camp (along with her husband Rick Austin) and has her website SurvivorJane.com

Jane is also very active on social media (especially Twitter) and has one of the best personalities of anyone we have interviewed so for. She claims she is “no expert” when it comes to preparedness, but there is much to be learned from someone who has been through the trials and errors, and truly lives the preparedness lifestyle.

SPP225 Sanitation, Hygiene and Prevention for Preppers

This week in the show, we not only talked about hygiene and sanitation, we also talked about how her and Rick got into preparedness, how the homesteading fantasy is different from reality, and how Prepper Camp came to be.

Here are some of the topics we covered in this weeks show…

How You Got Into Prepping?

Jane was a self-proclaimed “city girl” for most of her life, and didn’t really give preparedness a second thought. Like most of us, events happened that caused her to reassess her lifestyle. What her and Rick have done, and how far they have come, should be inspiring to all of us.

PrepperCamp

Prepper Camp is quickly becoming a “must attend” event for most people in the preparedness community…it sure is for me! What sets Prepper Camp above any other event or convention is the focus on learning and interacting, rather than the buying and the vendors.

Everything I have heard from people how have attended (and I literally mean everything) Prepper Camp has been positive. This 3 day outdoor event offers more preparedness classes than you can take, and the opportunity to interact with not only the speakers, but like minded people in the preparedness community.

Hygiene

As we think about longer term disaster events, personal hygiene tends to take a back seat to all the other areas of preparedness. While hygiene and cleanliness may not be an initial concern, it could lead to problems down the line. Here are a few subjects we covered in the show…

* Going to the bathroom – Listen and find out about Jane’s

With preparedness we are constantly thinking about things that will help us survive, or help us get through a terrible situation. It’s also important to remember that maintaining our sanity in these situations is just as important.

While a percolator will not “save your life”, it will give you a sense of normalcy, and possibly save your family from “the wrath of you” haha. Having some of the supplies listed below will also help keep everyone occupied, and in turn, keeping you sane.

As preppers we are blessed with the foresight to prepare for unforeseen events. This shouldn’t stop with the important prepping supplies. The goal in any disaster scenario is to not only survive, but thrive.

SPP224 The Necessary Conveniences

Some of the items listed below are pure convenience items, and some will make your life much easier. Just because It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) doesn’t mean it has to be “the end of the world” all together.

Manual Supplies

Almost every SHTF scenario we can think of as preppers involves some sort of power outage. When this happens we need our manual backups in place. In the show we talked about a few of the following.

Manual Can Opener

Coffee Maker (Percolator)

Manual Dough Mixer

Cast Iron (For Cooking Outside)

Take a look at anything electric in your home that you use on a regular basis, and try to figure out alternatives. Also pay attention to the tasks you do like making bread, or making coffee, and think about how you would do it without electricity.

More Than Just Water

While water is vital to our survival, having something other than water to drink is important as well. Keeping the family happy will help you maintain your sanity, and having something other than water can only help your cause.

Mio (Flavored Water)

Powdered Milk (Kids Love Chocolate)

Cool Aid (Requires Lots of Sugar)

Soda & Beer

Our Vices

As the saying goes, we all have our vices. Even if some of these aren’t all that healthy, they will give us a little normalcy in a tough situation. This could mean a beer at the end of a long day, a cigarette when your stressed, or a cup of coffee in the morning. Here are some of the vices we talked about in the show, and I’m sure there are many more.

Cigarettes

Coffee

Soda

Booze & Beer

Chocolate

Entertainment

Depending on the situation, there could be a lot of downtime. While there will be some important stuff to get done, we all need to unwind every once in a while. For those of you that have children, you know exactly how important this is.

Musical Instruments

Board Games (I Mentioned Axis & Allies in the Show)

Books (Fiction and Skills)

Photo Albums

Crafting Supplies

Breakfast Foods

Having breakfast is not only good for starting the day off ri...

As most of you know, we just finished this year’s PrepperMed weekend and it was fantastic. In this week’s show, Lisa and I went through a recap of everything we learned, as well as added a few audio clips of the presentations themselves.
Lisa got quite a bit of footage from this weekend’s events, so over the next couple of weeks I will be adding some videos to the Survivalist Prepper Academy. While it’s impossible to everything covered in this 2-day event, I want to give Academy members a sneak peak into some of the topics we covered.
For those of you who aren’t aware of PrepperMed (or are reading this in the future) It was the brainchild of Kevin Reiter who runs the Wilderness Safety Institute. With the help of myself, Brian Duff (Mind4Survival) and a couple fantastic guests in the EMT/Paramedic world (Sam Bradley & Kyle Nelson of the Disaster Podcast) this small event turned into a huge success.
SPP223 Colorado PrepperMed Recap & Lessons Learned
One of my favorite parts of this event was the variety of skills and experience levels of everyone involved…including those who attended. We had Doctors, Paramedics, EMT’s, Wilderness Experts, Nurses, Ham Radio operators, a meteorologist, and probably a few others that I’m forgetting about.
Below is a list of some of the topics we covered at PrepperMed, but you’ll want to listen to the podcast and hear some of the audio segments from the actual event and the speakers.
MOI (Mechanism of Injury)
Sam Bradley is an Author, Fire & EMS Educator, DMAT Paramedic, former National Ski Patrol Director and host of The Disaster Podcast. During the class she covered topics such as capillary refill, splinting, distracting injuries, chest injuries, occlusive dressings and a whole lot more.
The segment in the show is of her talking about signs and symptoms, abdominal injuries, and how distracting injuries can cause you to miss a more serious injury. She also talked about the MOI (Mechanism of Injury).
Injury Assessment Triangle

Kyle Nelson is a Meteorologist, DHS/FEMA-Certified Instructor & Evaluator, Wilderness EMT and the official Disaster Podcast weatherman. During the class he talked about natural hazards, weather, injury assessment, splinting and patient stabilization.
The audio segment in the show is of Kyle talking about the Injury Assessment Triangle. This is one of those thinks where on paper it all made sense, but when we had our practice session, it didn’t work out so well for most of us.
Medical Kits & Supplies
Kevin Reiter of the Wilderness Safety Institute was the brains behind this operation, and a recurring guest on both our podcast and the Disaster Podcast. Along with being the full time “chicken with his head cut off” Kevin taught about Dressings, splinting, natural hazards, and medical kits.
The audio segment in the show is of Kevin talking about Medical kits, and how you set up your kit depends on a number of factors. Each person’s kit will be different. Where you go, and who you go with will determine what you need.
Zombie Apocalypse Training

Sam Bradley put together a class called “Zombie Apocalypse Training” that went over assessing a...

One very important aspect of preparedness is home security and personal defense. We spend so much time and money purchasing supplies and getting ready for when disaster strikes, and along with this comes protecting those supplies, and ourselves from people that don’t have the foresight we do.
Even though statistics show that globally this is the safest time to be alive in our history, it really means nothing to us locally. Just tell the people living in Venezuela how good things are today. It’s great that more people have access to clean water, healthcare and education, but what happens when that goes away?
As preppers we are always looking to the future, and catch a lot of heat for thinking about “What if” scenarios. These statistics are great for showing how far we have come, but say nothing about where we might be headed. These stats say nothing about our national debt, nothing about natural disasters, and nothing about the rising tensions in the United States.
Regardless how “good things are” that could all change at a moment’s notice. We need to be prepared for when bad things happen, and we need to be prepared for bad (or unprepared) people that take advantage of that.
SPP222 Home & Personal Defense for Preppers
This week in the show we were honored to have Brian Duff from The Mind4Survival podcast on with us to talk about operational security, situational awareness and defending yourself and your home against intruders.
Below are a few of the bullet points we covered in the show. We went into quite a bit of detail on all of these, so if you get a chance make sure and listen.
Operational Security
Creating Good Habits: Everything we do on a daily basis either puts us at risk, or increases our safety. Over time, our routines become habits, and we basically sleep walk through life. Start creating (or changing) habits that help you become more situationaly aware, and start recognizing what is going on around you.
Keep Your Head Up: Even if we are not paying attention to what we are doing, someone else might be. Criminals are opportunists, and prey on soft targets. If you have your head buried in your cell phone walking to of from the grocery store,  you have no idea what is going on around you.
Knowing Your Neighbors: Like it or not, your neighbors are going to be around when any sort of disaster strikes. We need to determine whether they might be a threat, or an ally in a SHTF situation.
Being the Grey Man: Being the grey man before a SHTF event or disaster scenario is much different than during a disaster.  Things we do online, at work, or around town can put us at risk. Being the grey man means being as unremarkable as possible, and not drawing attention to yourself.
Personal Security
Physical Fitness: What you think you can do, and what you can do are probably 2 different things. We could have the best plan in the world on paper, but a real world situation will be much more difficult. For preppers, physical fitness is more about endurance than strength. In the show we talked about being “farmer strong”, not weight room strong.
Self Defense Training: In a past podcast we talked extensively with Sara Hathaway about personal defense, non lethal weapons and how taking actual classes is much bett...

When it comes to a disaster of any sort, food and water are our 2 main needs. While there are quite a few other areas of preparedness that are important, none of them matter if we don’t have food and water. There are a number of different long term food and water storage ideas for preppers, and it all depends on your situation.
The average person only has a couple of days’ worth of food in their pantry, and very little water storage…if any. With food readily available at the grocery store, and water freely coming from the faucet, people feel that long(er) term food and water storage is unnecessary.
This is why people tend to rush the stores when a disaster strikes. We’ve all seen the pictures of empty grocery store shelves, and the first things to go are bottled water, and staple foods. Whenever I see this, I can’t help but wonder how these people plan on cooking when the power goes out? And why rush to buy bottled water, when you have water at home waiting to be stored.
SPP221 Long Term Food & Water Storage Ideas

In this week’s show Lisa and I went over some different long term food and water storage ideas and how to decide on what works best for you. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to food and water storage, and making informed choices now can save you time and money down the line.
Store What You Eat
You may have heard this a hundred time, but unless you don’t mind wasting money, it is very important. If your family eats spaghetti once a week, go ahead and store plenty of spaghetti sauce jars and spaghetti noodles.
A problem a lot of people have is canned food. Canned food is great for long term storage, but if it’s not used, it just takes up useful space. Take green beans for example. We prefer fresh over frozen, and frozen over canned. However, canned is the only long term option.
Even though we tend to use frozen vegetables when fresh isn’t available, we try to use our canned veggies a few times a month to minimize the chance for spoilage. This doesn’t mean you need to use them daily. Canned corn lasts for about 2 years, so if you eat a can of corn once a week, you can store 100 cans without worrying about expiration.
Set a Goal
What you store Depends on your storage space, family size and income. If you are just starting your food storage plan I would say, start small and get into a routine. Once you figure out what works, start to build on that.
Take a look at your monthly budget and figure out what you can comfortably afford to spend on food storage per month. By spending as little as $50 extra a month on food, you will build up your food storage in no time at all.
Water storage is a little easier than food storage. When it comes to water storage your main cost will be the containers themselves. This can even be done free by using containers like 2ltr bottles or Iced tea Jugs. Keep in mind, this is a short term/low volume option.
Types of Long Term Food Storage
In the show we talked about a few different types of long tern food storage. Some of these are really simple, and some take some time and work, but can save you money.
Shelf Stable Foods: This is the easiest way to bulk up your food storage with food you and your family eat on a regular basis. Canned foods, pasta, beans and boxed meals all have a long shelf life. But keep in mind, if you don’t eat it, don’t store it.
Prepackaged Long Term Food: We sell Legacy Food ...

If you are like me you have probably read a hundred articles, listen to a bunch of podcasts about bugging out, and still want more. This week Lisa and I were guests on the Matter of Facts podcast hosted by Phil and Andrew talking about bugging out, as well as a few other subjects.
We had such a good time on their show, I took a segment of it and replayed it on our podcast. The full podcast will be out tomorrow (Friday the 22nd) at MOFPodcast.com. For those of you who haven’t listened to the Matter of Facts podcast, I highly recommend them. They talk about preparedness and firearms, with a little politics sprinkled in.
SPP220 Matter of Facts and Survivalist Prepper: Bugging In or Bugging Out

When it comes to bugging in vs bugging out, there are quite a few differences we need to consider. Each requires a different mindset, different skill set, and different supplies. While bugging out is almost always a last resort, bugging in (back to your home) may not be a choice.
I get the question all the time “Why do I need a bug out bag? I’m not going anywhere!” My answer is that while none of us plan on bugging out, if we have no choice, and the situation requires it, we need to be ready.
In this podcast we didn’t go too much into supplies, but rather how each persons situation is different. Where you live will be a factor, where you work will be a factor and your physical ability will be a factor.
Here are a few of the bullet points we covered in this show, but in the full podcast we covered much more. Along with the points below we covered silencers, homesteading and food storage.
Bugging Out & Bug Out Bags

* My bag sits in my car along with other supplies, but I need to be ready to hoof it at a moment’s notice. At that point I need to decide what to take, and what to leave.
* Bugging out is longer term than bugging in (getting home). It requires planning for 3 days or more.
* What you can carry is different than what you should carry.
* Your physical fitness will determine what you can take, and how far you can go.
* Learning the right skills means carrying less supplies.
* Keeping your feet healthy is critical.

Bugging In & Get Home Bags

* Bugging in means knowing different routes and planning for those.
* Even if the trip should be short, don’t plan on it. Plan on spending the night, plan for the worst case scenario.
* Bugging in requires supplies for a short trip, and supplies to get you from point A to Point B quickly and safely.
* Will your neighbors be helpful or a hindrance?
* Can you create (or do you have) a support group that will help you stay put.
* How do you maintain operational security.
* Wearing the proper clothes for the weather & environment.

More About the MOF Podcast…
You already know that the MOF podcast is available on iTunes and any other podcasting app, but they also have a YouTube channel, a Facebook group, and they are also on Instagram. Make sure and check them out, and let them know you found them through our podcast.

The Colorado PrepperMed weekend class in early October is quickly approaching, and I honesty can’t wait to meet everyone coming. Because we have made a couple additions, I decided to bring Kevin from The Wilderness Safety Institute back on to go over these updates and talk about a few other disaster preparedness topics.

In the first part of this weeks podcast we did a quick recap about what PrepperMed is going to be. In the past podcast I did with Kevin we went into much more detail about this class, and who is going to be there. You can listen to that here. There are also links on that page to get more information about registration and the email update list.

SPP219 Preparedness Skills and PrepperMed Update

PrepperMed Updates…

IMPORTANT: Registration is only open until September 22nd at midnight. If you are at all interested in joining us, make sure and get your spot while you can.

Along with some of the classes that were already finalized (listed below) Kevin has a couple exciting additions. As I said in the last podcast, instead of 2 days of medical training, we wanted to make this more “preppercentric.”

Zombie Apocalypse Training: This class will be very interactive. Paramedic and DMAT Training Officer Sam Bradley and ER Dr. Arlyn LaBair lead you through the “what if’s” of various real-world scenarios you may encounter, and how to handle some unique situations you’ve probably never considered.

Trip planning: Whether you are planning on bugging in, bugging out or just going hiking, the Trip Planning Essentials course teaches you the importance of planning your trip, and what to include in your plan. It will also cover essential gear to include in your bag/kit/pack that is relative to the environment you’ll be in, along with how to think about planning your gear in general.

The Rest of the Classes…

Medical Training: The first day will be completely focused on medical skills. Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is normally a 16-hour course, designed for laypersons with no formal medical background or training. It’s an outstanding introduction to wilderness medicine.

Saturday will be dedicated covering topics such as vital signs, wound management, first aid kits, and much more. It will also include hands-on practice labs with experienced medical professionals.

Room Clearing (CQB): Former Army Ranger, Paramedic, and creator of the Mind4Survival podcast Brian Duff is doing a session on CQB which is the acronym for Close Quarters Battle. While I am excited about all the classes this weekend, this one should be great!

Natural Hazards Awareness: Meteorologist, natural hazards educator, and wilderness EMT Kyle nelson will go over natural hazard preparedness for the Non-Responder. This information could be vital in a number of situations.

Ham Radio Basics Explained: I put together a 1 hour session on the basics of ham radio. My goal is to answer all the questions you might have that go past the basics you read on the internet. It will cover different types of radios (FRS, GMRS, MURS), Disaster uses, Equipment, and what to expect from ham radio.

Also From the Show…

In the second half of this weeks show Kevin and I talked about quite a few other topics and his recent experiences being deployed to one of the areas severely af...

This week Lisa and I were joined by author AR Shaw on the show to talk about her books, as well as hurricane Harvey, and some lessons we can learn from this, and other natural disasters. Annette (aka AR) has family and friends down in the hardest hit parts of Texas.

For those of you who don’t know about AR Shaw or haven’t read any of her books, she is a post-apocalyptic fiction writer, and is widely known for her Graham’s Resolution series. She is currently working on book 3 in the Surrender the Sun Series.

Graham’s Resolution

Graham’s Resolution is a 4 books series, and AR will be working on book 5 in the near future. Here is the description from Amazon…

“A pandemic ravaged the globe to near extinction. Only 2% of the population survived. A dying mother knows her young son is among the few immune to the virus. What will she do to ensure his survival before her own impending death?

Meanwhile, former math professor, Graham Morgan buried his last remaining family member. Following his father’s advice to move out of the city and into the family cabin, he meets with triumph and tragedy in his quest for survival. Just when he thinks he’s finally got a handle on things, he’s taken by surprise when he learns he’s not alone. A hidden yet vulnerable community of Preppers are nearby. Eerily plausible, The China Pandemic, the debut novel of Graham’s Resolution series, is a unique take on the dystopian and post-apocalyptic genre.”

Surrender the Sun

AR has 2 books published in the Surrender the Sun series, and it working on book 3 at the time of this post. Here is the description from Amazon…

In the year 2030 the Maunder Minimum, a period of solar inactivity, will cause a mini-ice age like it did between the years 1645 and 1710. When it does, Bishop will have to save her not only from the effects of severe weather but also from man himself.

Maeve Tildon and her son Ben live alone in the rural town of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Since her husband died in the war, she’s barely kept her head above water, and when the first freeze strikes in the fall, she’s completely unprepared for what lies ahead. Only a war-torn man, one who prefers the solitude of the Kootenai National Forest, can rescue her and her son.

SPP218 Natural Disaster Preparedness with AR Shaw

All of her books are available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle format, and also available at Audible in audio book format. If you are an amazon prime or have 

In part one of this 2-part podcast series Lisa and I talked about the nuclear threat from North Korea, media hype and false flags. This week we continued the discussion on our top prepping priorities and talked about how and why our country is getting divided, Government corruption, the national debt and long-term food storage.

While an economic collapse has been a concern of mine for some time now, civil unrest and nuclear war have risen on my priority list as of late. I believe that the “North Korea Thing” might be a little (or a lot) hyped up by the media, but it gives me an opportunity to reassess my preparedness.

The civil unrest unfolding in the U.S. is another story altogether. I don’t see this situation going away anytime soon, in fact I see it getting worse. I believe organizations like Antifa and the BLM are to some extent bought and paid for, and the events going on around the U.S. are not as organic as they would like us to believe.

SPP217 National Debt, A Country Divided and the Silent Coup

Below is a list of topics we covered in the show. We sort of went in a hundred directions, so If I missed any links leave a comment below.

A Country Divided

I’m going to put my tin foil hat on here, but I’m not sure it’s needed. I believe a majority of the protests (riots) lately are orchestrated. Small protests turn into national news because people like Soros hire counter protesters to escalate the situation.

On top of that, the police in Charlottesville and Berkley were instructed to stand down, insuring the situations would escalate. While some of these protests start out organically, all it takes is a little extra fuel on the fire to create an explosion.

A VAST MAJORITY of Americans are not racist. To me, the real problem is an economic issue, not a race issue. The government needs us divided and distracted, because if we all paid attention to the real issue (the financial disparity) they would be on the hot seat.

Preying on Our Emotions

After the fire is stoked, the Media hypes it, and the government runs with it. If you dare to question them, you are immediately labeled a racist, and part of the problem in this country. These people feed off our emotions in an attempt to socially brainwash the country.

This is not the 1960’s anymore, although it seems to be moving in that direction. There is one big difference though. In the 1960’s there were real issues, these days we are looking for a reason to fight…or creating reasons to fight.

By listening to the media, and browsing social media you would think we are the most racist country on earth. As a matter of fact, we are one of the least racist. I’m not saying that racism doesn’t exist, I’m saying that we are getting pitted against each other, and I can’t help but ask why?

Social Media Mob Mentality

We all know that when you get a group of people together they collectively become stupid, and make bad decisions. Like throwing raw meat to a pack of rabid dogs, people stop thinking and just react.

The same holds true on social media, except on the internet there is no accountability. People are less likely to do or say something when they are face to face with someone. These days the human factor is taken out, and there is no debate. All you need to do is call out racist, fascists, or Nazi and the “debate” is over.

This week in the show Lisa and I had the pleasure of speaking with Rick Austin, a.k.a., The Survivalist Gardener. Of all the interview we have done on the Survivalist Prepper show, this one ranks high on my list of favorites.

We not only talked about his book Secret Garden of Survival, we also talked about Prepper Camp, his weekly show on YouTube called Politically Correct TV, and Rick’s other books, Secret Greenhouse of Survival and Secret Livestock of Survival.

SPP216 Prepper Camp, Gardening and Politically Correct TV With Rick Austin

Over the course of an hour we talked quite a bit, covering quite a few topics. Below is a list of topics we covered, but make sure and listen to get the full picture.

Prepper Camp 2017

For those of you who haven’t heard about Prepper Camp, Rick does a great job of explaining why it’s better than the typical prepper convention, and what to expect. Rick and his wife Survivor Jane started prepper camp in 2015 and has steadily grown in popularity ever since.

Prepper Camp was put together with the idea of putting the emphasis on learning preparedness skills, not just buying preparedness supplies. This 3 day event offers a number of classes to take, taught by well known experts in the preparedness industry.

There are still a few tickets available (at the time of this podcast) but registration ends on August 31st. Visit the Prepper Camp website for more information.

Secret Garden of Survival

For some people (including me) this seems like it would be a daunting task, but that is not the case at all. The principals or the survival garden apply whether you live in the suburbs, or a rural area. Rick’s garden is on 1/2 an acre, and produces as much food as 2 1/2 acres using typical farming methods…row gardens.

The great thing about a camouflaged survival garden is you don’t even need a half acre to put one together, and after the first year it basically takes care of it’s self. No watering, no weeding, all you have to do is harvest.

Rick’s books are available at Amazon in Kindle or paperback format. He also has a book on a Survival Greenhouse, and Survival Livestock.

Politically Correct TV

I wasn’t aware of this weekly show until I got in contact with Rick, but I’m glad I know now! This isn’t an over the top, and over produced Alex Jones type show, it’s 3 guys asking questions and stating facts.

Rick hosts the show with MinuteMan1776 and Dean Logic (on Twitter) and this show is right in my wheelhouse. If this is something you would be interested in, make sure and subscribe to the channel on YouTube. 

Where Else to Find Rick…

Iv’e already mentioned quite a few places where you can find out more about Rick Austin, but the best place might be his website SecretGardenOfSurvival. He is also active on Twitter,