Author: Capt. William E. Simpson

This is not your uncle’s camping axe! I am not an expert with edged weapons, even though I have a trunk-load of them, including the old Buck hunting knife that my Dad gave me when I was a teenager many moons ago. So with that said, I wanted to share my latest prize, which was a Christmas gift from my son-in-law who is a serving USMC Officer who enlisted in the Corps and became a sniper. After his combat tour he was ‘mustang-ed’ into the officer’s program, and our entire family is very proud of him. So back to my…

Are Americans caught in the crossfire of a cyber-war between terrorists and the agencies of both foreign and domestic governments? These agencies, as well as certain rogue nations and terrorists are aggressively collecting information in many new ways and at multiple levels that target banking, government operations, industry and now the personal information on individual citizens. The scope of ‘how and why’ this information can and is being used is very broad, and beyond the comprehension of many people. But to what end could such information be used? Possibly to strike key members of our military? Are the enemies of…

In response to my last article titled ‘Will The Real Ebola Patient Please Stand Up’, I received an inquiry from a reporter who works for a large newspaper in Oregon. In the inquiry, the question that was essentially posed to me was ‘how do I define the word quarantine’. Basically, the reporter wanted to mince words about how I used that word in my article, and in passing also mentioned that there are (as of Nov. 4th) 5 people who are under Ebola watch pursuant to a self-monitoring quarantine protocol. What is concerning is that this brand new protocol is…

We all need to start taking the Ebola situation more seriously! We are coming into the Flu and cold season and this will make screening for Ebola much more difficult. Any travelers entering the United States legally (not considering those entering illegally) and who have a fever due to a cold or Flu and happened to have been anywhere around the infected area of Africa will have to be quarantined. Due to the sheer number of potential candidates, this will become an arduous and complex task very quickly, which is a problem at a time when the public health infrastructure…

Imagine a place in your city where there are thousands of dark abandoned homes and buildings that are devoid of utilities such as water, sewer, and electricity. A place infested with rats and much worse. A place where the criminals and the outcasts of a society in decline have accumulated; a place where evil is festering. As we enter this realm of sinister darkness, our senses are overwhelmed by the odors of rotting garbage, and worse; toilets without water have been used and are overflowing. The sounds of shadowy figures are heard as they move away in the distance accompanied…

Over the course of the past 100 years there have been many fundamental changes affecting our society that have crept-in over time, so that they largely go unnoticed to those people who are not paying very close attention to history. And it’s our past that is critical in guiding our future… after all, who wants to keep making the same mistakes over and over? What has changed is that an elite-class of ultra-wealthy people are now actually running the show here in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world, where they are directly and indirectly responsible for the changes that…

When you read the various Prepper and Survival blogs and comments on Prepping, it’s hard to avoid the constant chatter about guns and defensive warfare… Hollywood has done an excellent job of glamorizing the use of guns and warfare to the point where some people actually believe that by simply owning lots of guns their problems will be mitigated. And nothing could be farther from the truth! What’s even more interesting is that some of these same people own scoped rifles that aren’t even sighted-in! And if you were at a shooting range and handed them a rifle that was…

This is the question that is central to the notion that Americans should seriously consider taking their own steps on a personal level to protect themselves should an epidemic begin. We now learn that a doctor who treated Ebola patients in Africa and who had recently returned to New York had violated known protocol and was touring the city while he was infected. According to the New York Daily News, after frequenting several public areas (bowling, etc), using the trains and taxis, he was finally ‘hauled-off’ in a HAZMAT suit to Bellevue Hospital. How does this happen? We know this…

Back in July I wrote an article about the potential for ‘biological warfare’ being waged against America by terrorist groups. Now, the “JV team” (ISIS, according to Obama) ISIS has Baghdad surrounded and it may fall in the coming days or weeks. In martial arts I learned respect, including respect for my opponents. Underestimating a threat is the undoing of many people, including famous military commanders. We have a president who has underestimated several critical issues, and now he has done the same thing yet again with Ebola. Americans are all at risk when the administration fails to act timely…

Editor’s Note: I have been out-of-town for the last week and the posts haven’t been updated as much as I am used to which is probably a good thing when all is said and done. Our vacation home was supposed to have Wi-Fi but that didn’t work out. Instead of sitting around for hours writing posts each day, I was able to enjoy some time with my family and I am sure it goes without saying which is better for me. Playtime is over though and tomorrow we will resume our regularly scheduled posts on the Prepper Journal and I…

What Can Citizens Do To Protect Themselves? With each successive day since the man (Thomas Eric Duncan) who flew from Liberia to Texas was diagnosed with the first case of the Ebola virus in the U.S., more and more unsettling facts are starting to emerge. As we are seeing, Americans are the ‘last to know’ when it comes to our safety. It turns out that Mr. Duncan actually reached U.S. soil via two separate United Airlines flights. Why is this important? Do we all need one of those yellow suits? The CDC and other related agencies are desperately trying to…

President Obama’s America The current administration’s policies are starting to reap some grim results! The quote on the Statue of Liberty says: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”… Emma Lazarus Obama’s lawlessness and out-of-control policies, especially his ‘open border’ policy may be the end of America as we all knew it? Under Obama’s watch, maybe the quote on the Statue of Liberty should say: ‘Bring me your criminals, your diseases and your failed politics’? Today’s national news (9-30-14) carried the story of a Texas man who flew from Liberia to Texas. It seems…

It’s a plain fact that too many people in our county have become far too complacent. And among several other incredibly serious national problems, we suddenly have a mass influx of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border without any interdiction or safe guards! This is a fact that’s being reported on every major news media source in the U.S. The media is partially correct in focusing on the humanitarian crises that has been created by the current administration’s failure in handling this event, but there is a far more dangerous, lethal side of the current crises.…

The first question that some people might ask is: Why would I want to consider a human powered generator when I could use solar? This is a logical question given the latest developments in compact flexible/fold-able solar panels. The problem we all have with solar panels is that they don’t work when the sun is too low on the horizon or at night, and when there is real heavy cloud cover, the output is too low. Essentially, there’s a big power blackout window that occurs, and if you don’t happen to have a charged battery handy, you are out of…

Since the premiere of National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers season three episode ‘We are the Marauders’ there has been a lot of discussion on various blogs and even a couple articles addressing the show and this episode. All of the articles I read were highly critical of the episode, some essentially suggesting that National Geographic made a mistake airing the show. The real question however for Preppers is; do so-called ‘Marauders’ pose any real threat to anyone who has made any investment of time and money into disaster preparedness? First of all, let’s take a quick peek at Mr. Tyler Smith…

If you are considering some level of disaster preparedness for yourself or your family then this article may provide some insights so that you might avoid making a classic Prepper mistake. And if you’re already well on the road to preparedness, this article might be the catalyst for re-working your strategy, supporting tactics and equipment. From my perspective, the single biggest mistake made by people engaging in disaster preparedness is they follow the wrong advice and adopt a bunch of tactics and related equipment simply because people are chatting/blogging about them. But that’s not how it’s done; you must adopt…

Editors Note: This article deviates from our normal post format in that the subject matter is more of a debate between two professionals around a single subject. I was hesitant to post this at first, but Captain Bill convinced me of the importance of debate on this subject and not having another outlet; this format, while not perfect will suffice. As I told Bill, our community is made better by discussion and even disagreements on occasion. Discussion that is two sided doesn’t always come across well in print, but hopefully this article provides value to the dialog of people all…

Well, the third season of National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers is off and running, and oddly enough, there is a new scoring system which provides the audience with even less information as to how and why Practical Preppers is making their evaluations of the Preppers who are depicted. My regular readers know that my style is direct and based upon facts and experience; I call-them like I see-them when it comes to proposed ‘preps’…so in other words, some people might interpret this as a spoiler, while others may thank me for saving them from the potential loss of time and money.…

As I have said in past articles and in radio interviews; I have confidence that Americans can deal with short-term or regional/localized disasters. However, I stand with many of the Governments chosen experts who are for the large part gravely concerned about America’s current inability when it comes to dealing with large-scale, long-term disaster scenarios. As far as I can tell in my own research, about 5-million Americans have some form of disaster preparedness plans and provisions in place. Of course this leaves more than 98% of the population unprepared, and therein is the vulnerability and problem. One of the…

The quick answer is yes; absolutely, if the show is true to its viewership. That said, it can also go horribly wrong; let’s examine why. The Big Picture: Much of modern society today is operating with a complete disregard to the laws of nature, and it is by no means the master of those universal laws. Instead of learning from those universal natural laws, which have shaped the universe around us over the millennium, some of society stupidly seeks to cheat those laws at every opportunity. One simple lesson that stems from Darwin is this; the smart and the strong…

Whether we realize it or not, or wish to acknowledge it or not, the news media has a definite effect upon our personal psychology. It also affects our mood, and that in turn affects many other things, including how we feel about ourselves. It also affects our views and perspective of the world around us. None of us wants to believe that someone else has control over how we think, but nonetheless, we are affected, by design. It’s obvious that there is a lot of good news out there; in fact, there’s at least as much good news as there…

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be an article about how ‘bad’ or tough I am. This is an article about surviving ‘unexpected events’. Unexpected events are things in life that range from inconveniences such as a flat tire, to serious disasters, such as a tornado, hurricane or tsunami, where loss of life is the unfortunate norm. Most people are Preppers at some level and don’t even realize it. Even the person who makes certain to have a good spare tire, jack and lug wrench in the trunk of the car is a Prepper to a minimal extent. There are…

Ok, first things first; what the heck is a ‘meme’? Here’s the definition from Wikipedia: A meme (/ˈmiːm/; meem)[1] is “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.”[2] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.[3]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme When we look around the planet today, there are few things that instill…

Most survival strategies and related tactics today draw upon the methods that worked in much smaller disasters and will likely work to some extent today in similar small scale disasters. However, large-scale (continental-sized disasters) are quite different in many ways. Some people assume that all disasters are created equal and that one-size fits-all when it comes to survival strategies and disaster preparedness and response, however that is not the case by any stretch in a large-scale disaster. And when this assumption is proffered to others, it ensures that there will be many more casualties than need be. As if this…

Over the past few years, Disaster Preparedness Strategies (‘prepping’) has become a popular topic. A very large mix of people has begun preaching prepping, all having different motives for promoting their particular views on ‘how to prepare’, which makes it very difficult and confusing for people who are trying to figure out what to do. Because of this, some people end up doing the wrong things for the right reasons; they simply want to protect their families and friends. And in other cases, as a result of a lack of continuity in advice, some people do nothing at all, which…

It’s not easy raising children, even on a good day. Readers who already have, or who are currently raising families know this very well. It’s a huge responsibility being entrusted with life, and the initial core values that children develop must come from their parents because frankly, who else can they trust? Prepper parenting adds a new but important dynamic to the act of raising children who are resilient. Subjects like religion and politics must be taught initially by parents, who are not operating with any hidden agenda. Of course, it’s much, much harder when you’re a single parent, because…

Any professional who works as a first responder in the area of emergency response will attest to the critical value of dependable two-way disaster communications. Having reliable 2-way radio communications during and after any disaster provides many very important tactical advantages for relief teams and survivors. Because the aftermath of some disasters can be long-lasting, it demands a high level of importance upon the need for durability and reliability in the disaster communications equipment that is selected by professionals and civilians alike. Preppers/Survivalists certainly have the need for robust disaster communications and most consumer-grade radios are not in my opinion…

As Preppers, we all continue to observe the world around us and update our threat assessment profile; at least that’s the plan, right? Recent events on the Korean peninsula have many Preppers considering the increased potential for a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse strike (‘HEMP’) against America. The same threat also stems from rhetoric that has already been issued by Iran. Should a HEMP strike occur, it will most likely take down most if not all of the national electrical grid, in which case we would enter into a worst-case grid-down survival scenario. In this event, having some communications post-event is critical…

There are hosts of camp stoves in the marketplace today, as I learned when I started to doing my research. Many use liquid or compressed gas fuels, which have the benefit of accurate metering of fuel, and as a result, the heat output of the stove. But they also have the disadvantage of the cost and inconvenience with regard to obtaining fuel, plus the added danger that some of these highly explosive fuels present. Back in the day, being poorly funded, we either improvised a lot of our camping equipment, or we learned to do without. We may have accidentally…

You could ask this question of a half-dozen people and get as many ideas or views. One of the more common views is; someone who is ‘paranoid’ and who collects/stockpiles and stores equipment (including guns and ammo), food, and supplies in preparation for some kind of looming doomsday event. Personally, I am concerned that some people harbor this largely inaccurate view of ‘Preppers‘. I have my own idea and definition of what a ‘Prepper’ is, but first, I think it’s important to touch on my background… Recently I appeared on National Geographic’s hit series titled ‘Doomsday Preppers’. Unlike some who…