Author: Pat Henry

Knowing where to start can be pretty daunting. Prepping isn’t the same for everyone but most people eventually look for a simple guideline to follow so I have pulled together this preppers list of supplies.

Now, its my favorite time of the contest and that is to announce who our winners are. It just so happens that we had two contests going on at the same time. The first was in celebration of our one year anniversary on January 23rd. The contest for that event was a Bug Out Bag with 12 survival items thrown in there. We received almost 21,000 entries and I am so excited that this contest was a success. The winner of that contest was Craig T. Craig is going to be receiving a great Bug Out Bag to use for…

Have you ever considered purchasing a bulletproof vest or body armor? Do you think that something like this is only reserved for our military forces or police? If you think that, you may be saying to yourself, why would I ever need body armor? Maybe you have considered purchasing this for your family, but you wondered where it falls on the list of items you have considered purchasing for your safety. If you are like my wife, you asked, what if I get shot in the head? It is true that body armor only works if you get shot in…

I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humor most days. Having a sense of humor I feel is necessary to get through life and on some days, your sense of humor could be the only thing saving you from losing it completely. Everyone has different ideas of what is funny but I hope you can agree with me that you must be able to laugh from time to time. Even if the source of that laughter is yourself and/or what you are doing. It was with that frame of mind that I read this article on…

This Featured Video is by Dale Collett, an outdoor survival expert from the British Bushcraft School. Dale shows us the steps involved in building a debris hut shelter in the woods using ridges and dry leaves. You might be asking yourself why would you need to do this and the answer should be pretty simple to anyone who is viewing this site. Shelter is actually the most important survival item you need when we are dealing with temperature. There is a saying called the rule of threes and that is as follows: You can live 3 weeks without food You…

Today we are fortunate to have an interview with Richard Bryant, author of a new book titled “When There Is No FEMA”. ‘When There is No FEMA’ is written as a non-fiction survivalist preparation and reference book intended to help the reader think clearly about preparedness to make their own decisions with their individual resource, experience and time constraints. I asked Richard a few questions so that you the reader would learn some insights into this book and we will also have a free book giveaway for one lucky reader at the end of this interview. I received a copy…

I wrote an article a few days ago titled Pray for the Best but Prepare for the Worst and in it, I asked a question of the reader. The question was about how you view prepping. One of the possible suggestions was that you may look at prepping as some type of insurance policy. One of our readers, Larry had this to say: “I like the idea of looking at prepping as a kind of self-insurance policy. It’s the best kind of insurance; even if you never need it you still have something to show for all of the “premiums”…

This is the second part of the Tactical Hand Signals video from Jim Wagner. Jim’s YouTube channel has many videos dealing with the subject of Self Defense and Defensive tactics. This is the second of two videos that go into the use of tactical hand signals. You can view the first video here. Like I said on the other post, knowing how to use these signals yourself could help you out of a tricky spot. Tactical Hand signals give you and advantage in close quarter operations. Signals can share information about the direction of travel you need to take, any…

I was talking to my wife the other evening about several topics that are common to prepping. She started to make a point that in some cases, people who are into prepping either don’t show themselves in the most favorable light or outright repel others who might be interested in learning more about the subject of prepping by their actions. It all boiled down to her saying that a lot of preppers give the entire concept of prepping a bad name. To prove this point, she said to me, “take the gun issue for example, the people who make guns…

How do you view the subject of Prepping? Is it a fear that keeps you up at night worried about your children or family members? Do you look at prepping as an exciting hobby where you get to buy a lot of gear and gadgets that you have been wanting for years? Is this activity of Prepping, a kind of insurance policy that you have taken out on yourself – one with no paperwork to sign and no limits but your own determination on claiming it? Are the things that you do to prepare or become more self-sufficient done with…

We have discussed the subject of a Get Home Bag before on the Prepper Journal, but in light of the winter weather snafu last week in the South I thought it was appropriate to revisit this topic. What started out as a normal day for a lot of people ended up being a long night because they were either trapped in their cars due to snarled traffic from the snow and ice or they were lucky enough to sleep on the floor of convenience stores.  It is times like this that cause me to think about what steps I can…

The great thing about hindsight is all the wisdom it produces. How many of you have ever wished you could go back in time to a point in your life with all of the knowledge you have now? A lot of us would like to do High School or College over with the brains of our more mature selves. This could be because you know so much more about what kinds of trouble that would be fun to get into, but most likely it is to make better decisions than you did in the past. For me at least, I…

This week’s Featured Video is from FPSRussia who has a mostly comical but slightly practical take on the Top 3 Weapons to Survive the Apocalypse. Here FPSRussia breaks down their favorites and you get to see some aliens blown up in the process. There are no shortage of opinions on what is the best weapon for any given situation. Hey, even we have posted articles on the Top 5 firearms you need to get your hands on now and How to select the best handgun for self defense. I think there is a ton of value in hearing multiple viewpoints…

I love a good movie and when that movie makes me think it’s even better. One of my favorite movie genres is survival movies. I really enjoy seeing how others envision and then react to survival situations. Yes, there is an element of disbelief you have to suspend in some cases, but if you are looking for it, the best survival movies can teach you things. Even if the situation the actors are placed in is somewhat dubious, like a zombie invasion in the Walking Dead, when done right you see how the actors deal with topics we discuss all…

If you don’t have a winter emergency vehicle kit already prepared, you should make that one of your next prepper projects. Most of you who follow the news remember several stories of people stranded in their cars during storms. I remember in January 2014, of the plight of so many people in Atlanta that were stranded in their cars, forced to sleep on the floors of local stores, and a city that looked virtually unprepared for any event like this. It’s times like this that I wonder how things would have been different if everyone involved had taken the time…

This is a video I saw on another website that shows the basics of how to butcher rabbits along with all of the other details necessary to go from live animal to meat ready for cooking. ***WARNING: If seeing animals butchered upsets you, please do not watch!!!*** Rabbits are often listed in the top two animals for preppers to raise to either be self-sufficient or to augment their food supplies. Chickens would be the other obvious choice as they are both easy to raise and relatively low-cost to take care of. Rabbits are prolific breeders so the potential for fresh…

The mere mention of the words FEMA camps is bound to draw polar responses from our readers. Almost any topic that can be linked into a large list of what is routinely called conspiracy theories does that. It seems that no matter what the subject is if there is some form of mystery around it or the possibility that the subject is completely made up, you will have those who will argue passionately for both sides. I think that the more sinister the underlying thought is behind the theory, the more passionate the arguing gets. If one side is seriously…

There are dog people and there are the other people. Either you like dogs or you don’t and I think that it is perfectly fine to hold either opinion. Just like kids, there are some people who really want children and others who would rather not have a child in their lives at any time. There is nothing wrong with either option really and different types of people are better suited to different types of situations in their lives. This is what makes us different, human and interesting. I myself am a dog person though and probably always will be.…

Survival books are what started me on my path to prepping. For a long time now I have been meaning to post a list of prepper resources. I do have a lot already listed on our Resources page, but I hadn’t really spent any time listing the resource books and materials that I recommend. This list of the best survival books below is made entirely of books I own and have read. Well, almost all of them have been read. Some like “Emergency War Surgery” keep getting put on the back of the pile, but every other one has been…

Editors Note: I received this infographic from our friends at Rising S Bunkers, who specialize in underground bunker installation and fabrication. They conducted their own poll that questioned what average Americans believe could lead to a doomsday situation in 2014. The results are displayed graphically below. According to Charlotte from Rising S Bunkers, America has seen a growing trend of those who are preparing to survive a doomsday situation. These ideas are becoming more mainstream as successful TV shows like Doomsday Preppers are shedding light on these concepts. The world seems to be facing a growing list of threats to…

There was a post from Tom Sciacca, owner of the Camping Survival site back in April of 2013 that listed the Top 50 things to disappear from Store shelves during an emergency. This post was compiled from a poll that Camping Survival ran on their Facebook page. In this poll, they asked all their fans what they felt the emergency supplies were that shoppers would swipe up first in an emergency. Tom compiled all the answers, broke them into categories and created this pretty informative list. This list has been reposted on several other blogs and if you are looking…

There are so many lists of possible survival items that can be assembled together to achieve the perfect Bug Out Bag. Heck, we have even created our own bug out bag checklist that you can read here, but everyone has different items, preferences and requirements for what they feel is a complete and well-rounded kit.

Most of you have heard by now of the chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia. For those who are fasting television or news, last Thursday, a chemical used in coal processing leaked from a plant into the nearby Elk River. The chemical was 4-methylcyclohexane methanol that spilled out of a 40,000 gallon tank and officials believe that almost 7,500 gallons leaked out before they were able to stop it. The Elk River is the major source of drinking water for the city of Charleston and as soon as the authorities knew about the problem a drinking ban was issued. A…

I love going to gun shows and I try to visit them every time they show up in our town. The only exception is when I am already planning to do something that weekend or the big sign on the convention center escapes my attention somehow. Gun shows are a great place for preppers and you can get your hands on a lot of gear that you have been looking for. Before I went to my first gun show though I had some ideas that over time have been proven a little, well wrong. I wanted to share my experience…

This week we have seen at least two posts that were directly inspired by comments on the Prepper Journal so first I want to take a minute and thank everyone for both commenting and suggesting topics. We want to write about what you are interested in so if you have questions or ideas, please let us know on our contact form or directly in the posts as your feedback is invaluable. This post is actually going to give you some suggestions on how to get your family on board with prepping and your efforts to be prepared. I received two…

Starting a blog requires a lot of things. Hard work, perseverance and luck play their own parts in unequal amounts. When I started the Prepper Journal, one of the first bloggers who was kind enough to link to our site was Dr. James Hubbard from his extremely informative site The Survival Doctor. Dr. Hubbard has been a family doctor for over 30 years and he has been sharing valuable information on his site since at least 2011 so I was honored when we were asked to review his first print book, First Aid: Fundamentals for Survival. First Aid is an…

Are you ever too old to seriously consider Prepping? At a certain age, is there any point anymore? These are good questions that I have heard before but I received a comment on the blog over the Christmas holidays from someone asking me something very similar to this. His question/suggestion is below: You guys should do an article on the issues of an aging prepper! At what point does one opt to stand his ground because, physically, he/she cannot cover much ground? Food for thought. Looking forward to the possibility of an article such as this since I’m 50 yrs…

What I wanted to do was create a simple bug out bag checklist you can use to get a jump-start at building your own bug out bag that has taken into consideration a few of the lessons I already learned when I did this myself.

Its that time of year when we are finally cleaning up from Christmas – digging out from the sea of UPS delivered packages, polishing off the last cookies and putting away our new toys. The end of the year is time for taking inventory and a common practice we Americans like to partake in is New Years Resolutions. A resolution is simply a promise you make to yourself about some aspect of your life you are going to change in the new year. When the magical day of January 1st appears, you are going to start being a nicer person,…

You have been a good Prepper, busily storing supplies, learning skills and taking steps to make sure your family is prepared for bumps in the road. You have plenty of food stockpiled to last your family through most short-term emergencies; not forever but at least a few months. You have plenty of fuel for your vehicles, sources of alternate power, heat and a plan in place for everyone in your family. You are the model citizen, right? You have done exactly what even FEMA suggests and are someone who isn’t a burden to the system. You as a prepper are…