Author: Guest Contributor

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Gg Lanich. Remember the crazy panic at the end of 1999 when folks had the idea that the dates on computer would fail to roll over and civilization as we knew it would end? I never for a minute bought into that scenario, but it got me thinking…..well, what if did? What if life as we knew it did end? How would I feed my kids, who were school age? How would we live without electricity, etc? It was a head full of those kinds of questions…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Robert Boivin. Resources for learning skills that you might not currently posses come in many forms, but books seem to make the most sense to me. As preppers, I believe you should have some hard copy books for situations where current information sources are not available. There are so many different categories of information you could store, but Robert proposes one book as the most important book that preppers need to consider. When it comes to disaster preparation, I like to separate preppers into two distinct…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Jason. Round 2 of the contest is open now so if you have always wanted to share your prepping perspective and possibly win $$$ make sure to enter now. Mobile phones these days are not just smart. They are powerful. They make lives better, simpler, and now, safer. Our idea of a traditional home security system is something that’s bulky, hard to install, and difficult to operate. However, over the past decade, electronic gadgets and systems went from wireless and compact to mobile-friendly. Today, anything can…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Howard Overton. Some people who are preparing for the future get stressed out by prepping. It can be for many reasons. Maybe you feel you have too much to do to get ready. Maybe you don’t know where to start. You are on a limited budget and are beginning to understand what needs to be done. Maybe you are headed into too many different directions at once. You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. Things take time to prepare, get ready, and you feel time is…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from David Paul Smith. Prepping is an attitude of being prepared. Very few athletes would consider showing up to a major sporting event without training and preparing for it. Few students would show up to take a test without doing any preparations for it. Few adults would show up to work without being prepared to work or conduct business. Through advancements in technology, which has made our everyday lives a lot more easy and a combination of propaganda that the government can take care of us, the…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Saffron. We routinely discuss the prospects of leaving our home and trudging off into the wilderness in search of safety from whatever environmental factors make staying hazardous to our health. There are arguments for and against bugging out but we rarely discuss the very real prospect that some people face in taking care of loved ones whose ability to care for themselves is diminished in some way. Saffron covers a subject I have never heard addressed before at least in Prepper circles, on the possibility some face…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from AH. When you own a long-range shotgun, it’s all about taking those perfect, accurate shots. But it’s not always easy, not even if you’re a seasoned shooter, but especially if you’re a novice. So mounting a scope on your rifle seems like the obvious and easy solution, but it might not actually be as easy as you thought. Unless you are zeroing your rifle scope before you count on it to help you hit the target, there’s no use if firing a single shot. So here…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Angela Cassidy who brings up a subject that many preppers are considering. Once the supplies have been purchased or set aside, once you have assembled a mutual security group and gained as much training as possible, prepping isn’t over. You are prepping for the crisis that might come but the days and weeks or year after the crisis are when you will be more dependent on your preps. Once you survive the apocalypse, what do you do then? In any type of grid-down event, there will be…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Sandy Swizz. If you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly win a $300 Amazon Gift Card to purchase your own prepping supplies, enter today. Originally I wasn’t going to write an article for the Prepper Writing Contest because I am BRAND NEW to prepping. I mean to say that it’s been about a month, so I feel totally unqualified to speak on the topic of expert prepping secrets. Then something happened. The other day, I was reading someone else’s article about…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from TC. In the scenario where you and your family members would have to be able to rely on yourselves for a while or maybe even an indefinite time, first aid and home medical care should be among the skills you possess. That’s why making sure you acquire them should be among your key interests if you’re getting prepared for the worst that may come. No one is saying you should gain the skills of a neurosurgeon overnight, of course, but being able to craft up some home…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Phillip Meeks. Phillip submitted another article titled, “Six Lessons From the Ultralight Backpacking Movement”. We routinely think of a garden as one of the best ways to provide food to our families. Usually, this brings to mind well formed rows of neatly arranged and grouped plantings as well as hours of weeding and cultivating that we can sometimes conveniently put off thinking we will do that later. The edible landscapes concept takes the subject to another level and incorporates the food into every aspect of your yard.…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from JustUS. If you have information for Preppers that you would like to share and possibly win a $300 Amazon Gift Card to purchase your own prepping supplies, enter today. When I first heard of this prepper writing contest, I knew I wanted to share my ideas on how to prep on the cheap, or better yet, prepping for FREE. Of course we can’t get everything for free, however there are a lot of items we can get free in the mail. Things like health and beauty, cleaning…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Roy who much to my amazement, said he composed this article entirely on his iPhone!   In studying everything I can out there, I have noticed a few things that a lot of preppers have not thought about or don’t mention enough. If a major SHTF situation occurs we won’t just be set back a hundred years, we will be set back to a time when basic trade of staple foods and other crucial items will be gone for many years. We also might want to rethink…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from David Paul Smith. I believe that in our society there are so many items we take for granted. I would argue that generally we suffer from an extreme abundance of stuff that because of our culture or economics, throw away without much thought. I presume that I look at this like most people and that if we need something else, we can just purchase it. What if the stores weren’t reopening any time soon? How creative could you get with acquiring tools or implements that re purposed,…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from PAD Commander. You can add the items below in his prepper tool kit to your list of prepping supplies for acquisition someday. I thought I’d follow up on my article for the Prepper Journal about Building a Get Home Bag on a Budget with an article about building a prepper tool kit on a budget. I’ll hit up a few of the same sources from that article, with a couple more as well, while providing a list of what I think you should use to make up…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Phillip Meeks. I declared myself a backpacker in sixth grade. I bought an army surplus pack, a Sterno stove and a ten-dollar Rambo knife from the flea market. I subscribed to a magazine on the topic, checked out all the relevant books from the library and began the lifelong task of arming myself with the perfect array of gear. Back then, the conventional wisdom was to carry no more than one-fourth of my body weight on my back. By the time I hit 18, I was…

Permitted in all 50 states, carrying a concealed gun is no longer a taboo topic of discussion. There are still the ones who strongly disagree with carrying, but the importance of carrying can no longer be denied. Preppers know that in a SHTF scenario, open or concealed carrying is essential for surviving. Having a gun on you at all times doesn’t translate to making rash decisions or going on a mass shooting, as many people assume. Instead, having the right to bear arms offers carriers protection for themselves and their loved ones, safety and a sense of responsibility. 1. Protecting…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from David Paul Smith. David discusses three medical alternatives that you should investigate further to see if their use is something that could benefit you during a SHTF event if all the traditional avenues for medical assistance are unavailable. We know in a grid down situation that medical supplies will become a thing of the past. I worked as a delivery driver for two different major companies supplying hospitals and clinics with their supplies in Northern California. I can tell you for certain that there are no reserve…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Wendy. Survival is not guaranteed by an awesome assortment of tools and gadgets. Many times throughout history, when lives were on the line it was a deep down desire to succeed that kept people going. It wasn’t a can opener, it was the knowledge that somehow that can was getting opened no matter what. The attitude of survival is just as important to preppers as skill and stuff. Make sure your attitude is set on surviving and no matter what you are faced with. All things considered,…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Marshall Prepper. Prepping is a combination of many disciplines but no matter which aspect you are looking at, simply acquiring stuff won’t get you truly prepared for anything. You can purchase a firearm, but if you don’t train with it and understand how it feels, what it does and how to use it properly, it could never be as effective as you hope. Dealing with a grid down scenario is no different but there is a simple way to gain experience by testing your preps one weekend.…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Riss Ryker. Living below poverty level, has, in a sense, forced me to prepare for anything coming my way. Learning the value of plants has saved me more than once. The one thing I believe all preppers should know is the art of herbal medicine. Mother Nature has always been a tried and true way to heal what ails you. Native Americans did it, the Chinese do it, and every holistic doctor out there can tell you that Mother Earth has provided for her children like…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from PAD Commander and in it he discusses how he built his Get Home Bag, rather creatively from a lot of underutilized resources. If you are trying to build your own get home bag, check out some of the ideas below for inspiration. There are a lot of articles out there about building “budget” bug out, GOOD or get home bags, but this one actually provides some alternate sources that anyone can tap into, and builds the complete bag (less EDC items) for under $50. I was…

Winter’s coming, and the nights are getting colder and longer… Today’s post on another excellent prepper blog (Backdoor Survival) linked back to one of its recent posts on the subject of prepping for a power outage, a concern for us where we live, due to the extremes of our weather. Back before Y2K we embraced the idea of installing a standby generator at our home. There are numerous approaches to living with the loss of normally sourced electricity, from sucking it up and lighting candles, enlisting the use of portable generators, to investing in your own whole-house power generation capability,…

Editor’s Note: This post has been generously contributed by Caitlyn Robinson. It’s not a secret that self-reliance plays an essential role in a SHTF scenario. Besides the basic knowledge about making a fire and a shelter, purifying water and dressing wounds, you also have to make sure you have an ample supply of food. Canned beans and frozen meat are bound to run out sooner or later. And if you’d like a side dish with fresh game, you’d better draw-up a checklist of all the essential garden tools you need for a vegetable garden. Tending a small crop sounds…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from Corey. Prepping is more than warehousing freeze-dried food and ammunition for the onslaught of the zombie apocalypse. As a prepper, I’ve accumulated some insight along the way and I’ve realized it’s a way of seeing life with an eye towards one’s future security and incorporating that insight into everyday exploits. With a few keystrokes a person can bring up enough articles concerning prepping to make their head spin. While this can bring about a patent amount of information overload, information really is the first key item any…

Editor’s Note: This post has been generously contributed by Hank Lawrence and he discusses some livestock options that are worthy grid-down insurance items. When the supermarkets no longer provide a source of easy food, will you have alternative sources of sustenance for your family? Raising livestock can be easy, fun and rewarding and while you may not have the farm in the country, a small suburban plot can sustain some of these animals easily. In the case of a SHTF event, we could live without internet, cars and gadgets. We could survive without electricity, air conditioning, heating systems and hot…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest from T-Man. I want to first thank The Prepper Journal for putting on this writing contest to write your own article, for anyone to submit to it, not too shabby huh? Meanwhile, I’m here trying to gather my prepper supplies to create my Bug Out Bag as cheaply as possible because mainly we live paycheck to paycheck. As it turned out I already had a shelter element in my garage, a tarp, to which I have no idea of size other than to say it is pretty large.…

Editor’s Note: This post is another entry in the Prepper Writing Contest that was spurred by a recent post on dealing with fire at home. Fire is s serious subject that we often overlook as preppers. Fire fighter resources would be most likely one of the first services to be quickly overwhelmed in a disaster when you look at the number of professionals per-capita. You plan for protecting your home from bad guys if the police aren’t’ there, but do you have the same plan for fire? Fires aren’t all the same though and you need to consider options for…

Editor’s Note: This post has been generously contributed by J. Thomas Roberts Unwanted as they may be, emergencies do occur and they are never planned. Amid the chaos that reigns during a natural, technological and even human-caused disaster, there’s a high chance that families become separated. While adults may deal with such a situation easily, children will surely have problems adjusting to the unique challenges that finding your loved ones may present. Here are some helpful tips for preparing your children for family separation in the case of emergencies and disasters. There is a multitude of situations when children may…

Editor’s Note: The following post has been generously contributed by Courtney Thompson from Falloutguide.net. If you have written something that you feel would be of value to the readers of the Prepper Journal, please contact us. We are always looking for great new content. Imagine when a nuclear bomb hits your city, decimating everything on impact. You miraculously survive the initial blast, but will you manage to escape the lethal effects of the radioactive fallout? Or how about when a terrorist hijacks your plane or subway train – do you know the most important safety measures you need to observe…