Author: Pat Henry

Freedom-loving American doing what I can to help prepare and inform others. Editor and creator of The Prepper Journal 2013-2017, 2020 -

As Father’s Day approaches this year, you may be struggling with what to get that Prepper Dad on your list so we have come up with 20 Prepper gift ideas for Father’s Day that the special Dad in your life will love. The gifts are broken out into different price points and we have links to purchase all of the gear shown below so don’t wait! If you haven’t gotten your father something for this Father’s Day, now is the time to order before June 16th! Under $20 Flint Striker – Coghlan’s Flint Striker will give your Dad the ability…

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What if tomorrow you wake up to a world torn apart by a nuclear war? What if the governments fall and the society you knew goes crazy with neighbors attacking neighbors, looting local stores, etc.? What if a deadly virus was leaked as a bio-weapon and turns the people that were surrounding you for many years into mindless, flesh-eating zombies? What if you will need to survive in at least one of these worst-case scenarios? Probably, the very first thing you should take care of during survival is the protection of your body. Living in a progressive world, where almost…

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If you collect any random group of radio owners together and asked them what they would most like to improve on their radios, the chances are most of them would emphatically say they want more than anything to know steps to Extending Two Way Radio Range. Now, when we talk about extending radio range, it is important to realize there are two parts to a radio’s range. The first part is how far away its transmission can be heard, the second part is from how far away it can receive transmissions from other radios. There is usually little point in improving one…

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No, this isn’t a trick question and I do think there are very big differences between someone who calls themselves a survivalist and someone who prefers to use the term Prepper. Regardless of what I think though these two terms are interchangeably used to describe a wide swath of people. These people all have different motivations and philosophies on what they are doing and why. Survivalists and Preppers are just labels. Labels like this though can pigeon-hole people into thinking they need to act a certain way or it can cause assumptions from others based upon their own perceptions of…

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It’s that time of year again! Time to break out all of your summer clothes and put away all of your winter gear, unless you are in the Northeast where they just received a ton of snow. For the rest of you; spring cleaning is a great time to clear away the cobwebs, freshen up everything after a long winters snooze. For the Prepper, it’s an excellent time to make sure your survival gear is in top shape and ready to do what it was designed to do and that is save your life. One of the more common pitfalls…

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If your goal is surviving doomsday then it helps to have all the information you can get your hands on. In my years prepping I have found a wealth of knowledge and experience in the books I have read and the resource materials I have come across to add to our library. There is a ton of knowledge for the prepper community out there for the taking and it is good to have so many sources of information. I was contacted by Richard Duarte earlier this month and was offered a copy of his latest book Surviving Doomsday – A…

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This day is not about pool openings, working on your tan or going to the huge white sale at the local mall. Memorial Day is for remembering the men and women who died while in the service of the United States Armed Forces. According to some sources, there have been over 1.3 million American Military members who have died for their country in conflicts or wars since our very first, the American Revolution. 1.3 million is not a number we should shrug off, but most of us do. These are 1.3 million lives that were lost for a whole host…

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Surviving on the road is something every prepper dreads. But, it’s necessary in case of a major disaster or catastrophe that causes you to evacuate your home. In 2004, a record-breaking tsunami struck South Asia, killing more than 300,000 people. The next year, we witnessed the destruction of New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. Then, there were the Southern California wildfires, recorded as the worst in US history. These wildfires caused the evacuation of more than one million people. During all of these disasters, no one had access to local utility services. Stores were shut-down or ran out of emergency…

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When it comes to being prepared people most often consider the basics first. Food, water and shelter are primarily the initial focus followed by preparedness for extended periods of time and extraordinary circumstances. While there are a myriad of different techniques and products to help you get prepared there might be one area that has been overlooked. The human body can live for weeks without food and for days without water but it will die within minutes without oxygen. Similarly, poor air quality or deliberately tainted air can cause serious and irreversible medical conditions in a very short period of…

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The news offers two more examples of how trained civilians with firearms could have prevented bad things from happening if in the UK they were allowed to carry concealed. In Woolwich, London yesterday two insane individuals ran over a man and crushed him between their car and a sign. After that, they jumped out of the car and started hacking and chopping him with meat cleavers and knives. This resulted in death and near decapitation for the wounded soldier. I am struck by the thought that this could have been prevented if someone had been able to engage these two…

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The newest addition to our list of sponsors is our exclusive precious metals sponsor, JM Bullion. This online dealer of gold and silver has been around for a relatively short period of time, though in that time they have been able to garner popularity of immense proportions. No matter the type of gold or silver you are looking for, chances are that www.jmbullion.com will have it. JM Bullion offers the best prices on the web and boldly challenges you to find better prices anywhere else. Unlike just about every other online precious metals dealer, JM Bullion does not require you…

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Editors Note:  If you are faced with a situation where there is either no running water or no official tub/shower facilities it’s nice to know how to keep yourself clean. Without running water, that can mean a sponge bath. I ran across this ancient article (back from 1981) on Mother Earth News by Ole Wik who was a pioneer in the Alaskan wilderness who is sharing how he kept himself clean very simply.   Some 10 years back, I left the city and set out to build a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness. It was late September before I could actually…

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Editors Note: This is an interesting article I found on PCMag.com by Eric Griffith that has a lot of information you can use to protect your identity online and potentially go off the grid. I do have to take exception with one of his suggestions here though and that is the use of Gmail. Gmail reads all of your email so if you are really trying to stay off the grid, why would you use the worlds largest data mining operation? Other than that, some good information below. There are lots of reasons to unplug from the grid. And I’m…

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With the global economy hanging on by one rusty and wobbling wheel to the triple loop roller-coaster rails we are on; paper money is no longer a wise investment. For those who see the writing on the wall and even the less pessimistic, holding precious metals in the form of Gold and Silver are a time-tested hedge against inflation, currency manipulation and bank defaults. You can’t help but hear the advice of financial professionals who are saying you should buy gold at the very least as part of a diversification strategy. There are numerous opinions about this and I for…

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At some point, the information you have been processing must turn to action. The knowledge that you have been gaining and the perspective of someone who now sees the world differently has to be used to do something for yourself or your loved ones. You must make the choice now to be proactive, to lead and to take control of your life from a prepping perspective because Hope won’t feed you. In my own prepping journey, there have been phases. Initially I was on a serious information gathering mission and devoured all of the material I could. I can’t nail…

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Reading the recent headlines about the revelations that the IRS has been targeting conservative and Tea Party groups and that the Department of Justice has been caught tapping the phone lines of the Associated Press, I find myself in a state of shock. Is this disbelief because I had some rosy-eyed view of wrong and right? Is the sting of this sadness at a form of betrayal? No. I am shocked because I am honestly not surprised. What is worse is from what I have seen and heard out there, the only people who are surprised are the media. What…

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Editors Note: I saw this brief primer on Beekeeping over at the Ready Store Blog. It is a good introduction to a fascinating and rewarding hobby. If you have ever considered raising bees for honey, pollination, or just because it looks cool this article can give you some useful information. In recent years, beekeeping has grown as a hobby to help families grow healthier plants while also helping the families be more self-reliant. You might be thinking that beekeeping is going to be too advanced but in reality, it takes about the same amount of time and means as gardening…

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A bug out bag is designed in theory to give you everything you may need to live for at least 72 hours outside of your home and should be considered as part of any comprehensive plan for disaster or true preparedness.  The tendency with bug out bags is to throw everything but the kitchen sink in them to cover every conceivable scenario or need. When this happens you have people with Bug Out Bags that weigh more than they do. Not only could this seriously slow you down at the precise time you need to be light on your feet,…

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Take a look at these 21 emergency blogs for details on how you can be better prepared for the next emergency your family encounters. You never know when an emergency situation may arise; however, you can take certain steps to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for if and when one occurs. Start by preparing an emergency plan for a fire.  You will need to determine at least two ways to get out of every room and pick a safe meeting spot that is away from the house. Practicing your evacuation route with your family will help everyone…

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In a discussion the other day concerning the GPS, I opened my big mouth and mentioned “the proper way to do that would be…”.  An additional comment got me thinking about how reliant we have become on modern technology and the pretty much lost or dying art of navigating using celestial bodies, including the sun, moon, and stars. Our ancestors used the sky to guide them day or night, across oceans and deserts.  Sure, our ancestors got lost from time to time or maybe they did not hit the exact point they were aiming for with pinpoint, GPS accuracy, but…

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Do you feel like there is no reason to start planning now for surviving a disaster situation? Do you fear an economic collapse but worry that it is too late and there is nothing you can do? This is a common thread on Prepping and Survival blogs, but I will maintain that it is never too late (or too early) to start prepping. Why do I believe that? There is no one who is full prepared for every disaster scenario, only some who are better and some who are not as well prepared. Prepping is not something that can ever…

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So you have this prepping thing down, right? You have plenty of supplies to weather any contingency and there isn’t much left that you haven’t purchased or thought of. You and your family have every base covered, every T crossed and your stuff doesn’t stink. Congratulations! Now, you have joined an elite group of people who have stuff. Now what? Have you made any prepping mistakes? Prepping is unique from the perspective that some people get all caught up in the initial rush of the purchase or acquisition act of prepping. They devour news and information. They study the issues…

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This is a pretty nice video from Rob at Sigma 3 Survival school that illustrates how to fairly easily get water from a tree. This could come in handy in a survival situation but according to the narrator is only effective 2 times a year (early spring and late winter) and works better with certain trees. Rob also demonstrates how to use a root from the tree to support your canteen while the water flows into it.

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If the world really goes to hell in a hand basket like so many are predicting, what do you think you will miss most? It could depend on what your life is like after the SHTF that dictates just about everything for you. It could also depend on how you are viewing the word “miss”. If you have ever listened to country music at all, you can see a trend in some of the more popular songs out there. They take a concept or phrase and spin it on its head to make a point you might not have expected.…

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A lot of people plan to bug out if the SHTF with all of their survival gear stowed in their vehicle or pulled in a trailer. What if you have to turn around quickly? Do you know how to swing that trailer around so that you don’t get stuck? Can you execute a turn on a blocked road so that you aren’t trapped in an ambush? This is what I was thinking as I watched my neighbor this weekend. I was mowing our yard which is my favorite twice weekly activity this time of year (not) and my neighbor was…

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I received an email the other day asking for advice on how to get a loved one on board with prepping.  This is a subject I have wanted to write about for a while because I have had these same thoughts and struggles with various loved ones in my own life as each of you. I won’t try to convince you that I am an expert and there is no book forthcoming, but I do have personal experience of my own challenges of trying to convince someone about prepping and wanted to share this and my perspectives with you. I…

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Editors Note: As we begin construction on our own chicken coop this week, I came across this article on the Ready Store Blog and wanted to share. This has some great and practical tips for making your chickens happy and stress free, which leads to more eggs. If you start to raise chickens to be more self-sufficient, you want them to be as productive as possible. But what if they aren’t laying as many eggs as you’d hoped? The most common reasons that chickens aren’t laying eggs is because they are too young, too old, the hours of daylight…

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From the dawn of time, man has tried to implement home security that would keep him and his family safe. From caves to small huts to castles with moats and now underground bunkers we humans have continued to strive for safety. Safety from what? It depends on the time, the situation and location. The threats could be from burglars, rioters, or ruthless gangs. They could be psycho ex-boyfriends or girlfriends or just some nut that made eye contact with you at the wrong moment and decided to ruin your day. It could be someone you know or a complete stranger.…

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As a child I grew up in a house named The Orchard and although the land had long since been sold off several large apple trees remained which gave us a reasonable harvest each year. I have fond memories of the delicious fruit pies and crumbles my mother used to prepare. Growing fruit is one of the most efficient forms of gardening – once the trees are established you can expect an abundant supply for decades with only a little pruning and mulching to keep them happy. Without a doubt, the cheapest way to start a mini-orchard is to buy…

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