Be Heard in Any Disaster with Unstoppable Communications

The Importance of Incoming and Outgoing Communications

Communications are a vital part of any operation. Whether we are talking about military operations, business or even in a family; communication is everything. For preppers the idea of having plenty of water and food is part of the plan. Security, hygiene and first aid are all parts of the average preppers plan. If there is any area that suffers in the average disaster response its communications. To me this is very troubling.

Not only should you have a method for incoming transmissions but also a method for outgoing comms in case you need help when the phone lines and wifi are down. Aside from the immediate concerns incoming and outgoing communications are the best way for a prepper to decide the next course of action. In a disaster the scenarios will change rapidly. If we are talking about a complete collapse of society large scale events will happen even faster. All the intel you can get from your local area will be necessary.

Incoming

There are many ways for you to receive incoming communications. As a prepper I think your best bet is to consider power source and scope. What information can you pick up with a particular device and how will you be able to power that device over the long haul.

Survival Radios
Any radio that is powered by battery and some other off grid means is a survival radio. Whether you are talking about a hand crank radio or a solar powered radio these are great survival options. With these devices you will be able to tap into some local and national level intelligence. Both could be incredibly important following a serious disaster. Its important that you know what is happening and how things are changing? You wont get all of the info but something is better than nothing.

Police Scanners
If you want to move into a deeper layer of communications consider investing in police scanners. For those of you who are uninitiated, you can use these devices to hear the police and EMT channels. On any given day you will hear some simple chatter from these brave men and women. When you are faced with a true disaster these channels will be alive with information that will keep you safe. Vital information coming from police communications at the ground level, as a situation unfolds, could really help your decision to bugout.  Read more about buying your own digital police scanner.

Outgoing

Incoming communications are great until you need something. Once you have an issue, whether health or safety related, the need for outgoing communications becomes very apparent. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many avenues for outgoing comms at the local and national level. Still, if you prepare you will have options.

HAM or Amateur Radio
This method of incoming and outgoing communications is easily the most well known in the prepper circles. This method requires a license and some equipment to work but it is widely accepted as the best possible method for comms when the SHTF. This is because the radio frequency will travel even when phone lines and cell towers are down. There is tons of great in depth information about handheld HAM radio  in this article.

Handheld Radios
These are really only good for short range communications but they could still serve a purpose in a disaster. While you may find yourself buying a set that promises 25 miles of range it will only really function at about 3-4 at best depending on interference. That said, they can still be effective if you have no other way of communicating.

Neighborhood Meetings
Often overlooked, because of our isolated way of life, the neighborhood meeting could be a great way to remedy issues. A cohesive neighborhood will care about their neighbors and check ins will be done even in the worst conditions. This may seem like an antiquated thing to count on in 2017 but I challenge you to look at this as the future of disaster response. The strong community is always what makes the news in times of disaster. I think now is the time to rehearse and get people on board in your own community.

Prepper Investment

Another tool in survival communications is the satellite phone. Now, these things don’t come cheap and are quite an investment. In a vast societal collapse you will have something that could get you in touch with outsiders or you could just have a lot of dead air. I think the satellite phone has a lot of benefits but for most preppers its a serious investment that should be well researched.

Measuring your Current Status

Living Off a Three Month Supply

In this video, I discuss the lifestyle and philosophy behind building and living off of a 3 Month Supply. This philosophy makes it easy to attain a 3 month supply and especially easy to keep it rotated.

The primary philosophy is to become used to thinking of your 3 Month Supply as your ‘grocery store’ and the actual grocery store as your warehouse. You go to the ‘grocery store’ to get your meals and you go to the ‘warehouse’ to stock up the grocery store.

Living this way makes a 3 Month Supply easy to keep up and live off. The approach I explain involves identifying 14 meals that your family will happily eat and breaking the ingredients down to the component parts for each meal. Once you’ve done that you multiply your ingredient list by 6 giving you 3 months worth of food.

The Purpose of a Year Supply

What is a Year Supply? It’s not what you might think! Specifically, it’s not a Year Supply of FOOD – that’s only PART of it. A Year Supply is meant to be a buffer to get you through the first year of a TEOTWAWKI or WROL situation and allow you to stock up and prepare for the next year. The things you need to take into consideration include Clothing, Communications, Documents, First Aid, Food Preparation, Food Storage, Fuel & Power, Gardening, Hardware & Building Supplies, Household Items, Toiletries, Tools, Transportation and Water.

In this video I briefly discuss each of these topics and what items need to be considered in them to accomplish a true Year Supply. I also further introduce the new series I’m preparing to launch which will present a weekly purchasing plan to acquire a full Year Supply.

The Advantages of Storing Freeze Dried & Dehydrated Foods

Right now millions of Americans are returning to a practice of our self-reliant and independent forefathers: Storing supplies of food.

The events and circumstances we are facing here in America are unfamiliar to most of us. But they are so serious that we each must choose wisely how we will face our future. The unpredictability of Mother Natures’ natural disasters; The unpredictability of a greedy Stock Market; The unpredictability of Terrorism; The unpredictability of Sickness all have one thing in common – they were prevalent in the past, are prevalent today and will be prevalent tomorrow. These challenges purpose dangerous threats to the unprepared, and significant tribulation to the prepared, but if you have food and water reserves you will have personal solutions to how these things affect you and your family.
History has proven over and over again that having a stockpile of food and water is the solution to almost every major problem, particularly those involving independence, freedom, security, and most importantly PEACE OF MIND.

History Repeats Itself

Runaway inflation in pre-war Germany followed the same inflationary path that the United States is presently on. Extremely high inflation caused the price for one loaf of bread to double daily until it cost so much that it was impossible to purchase.

Economist, John Williams has spoken concerning the projections of future U.S. food price increases due to the massive monetary inflation being created by the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion quantitative easing. Similarly, a report was written by NIA’s President Gerard Adams, who believes food inflation will take over in 2012 as America’s greatest crisis. According to Adams, “making mortgage payments will soon be the last thing on the minds of all Americans. We currently have a currency crisis that could soon turn into hyperinflation and a complete societal collapse.”. Kevin Freeman, noted in an interview with Hugh Vail that “after the crash of ’08 American’s were prioritizing the payments of their credit cards over the payments of their mortgages”.

Kevin Freeman on GBTV

Peace Of Mind

The unpredictability of our human experience requires us to naturally search for accurate sources of peace and comfort. One of the primary reasons that more and more Americans are putting away supplies of food and water, is because of the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can always provide the basic needs for your family. Food and water are what we depend on the most to fuel our bodies and accomplish our life’s goals. Having plenty of food and water in our own pantries, independent of grocery supplies, semi-truck deliveries, crop shortages, and hoards of people panicing when disaster strikes, and it always does at some point, is the most comforting source that families have discovered.

Let’s look at a few other good reasons to build up food reserves….

• Legislation to prevent people from gardening is being proposed
•  Doomsday Seed Vault is being built in Norway with the intent of being the only source for seed to grow food worldwide.
• Global warming; whether real or fabricated, will likely be used to control fertilization of crops and tax many farmers out of business.
• Christians searching the Book of Revelation believe that there will come a day when no one will be able to buy or sell without the “mark” (most consider the mark to be the National ID card) which is expected to be required in order to buy food.
• Imported food from countries with no safety standards for insecticides, fertilizers, bacterial and chemical contamination have entered our country’s food supply and have proven to be very dangerous. Storing safe, clean food is essential.
• The financial and emotional impact of job loss and illness are hugely reduced with a strong savings account in the form of food.
• In the case of quarantines, martial law, disasters and emergencies, if people do not have their own individual supplies, they will be dependent and helpless like the miserable conditions people faced after hurricane Katrina.
• Storms and weather could make food impossible to transport, destroy crops and isolate some people from food supplies.
• The gasoline prices are predicted to reach $5.00 per gallon in the near future. When this happens the price of food will go up by about one third. Potentially, putting trucking companies out of business and make it almost impossible to get necessary supplies needed for everyday life.
• With a food supply you can help your neighbors, family members, or anyone in need.

In any of these scenarios, the most valuable asset or currency you will have is food and water. It will be more precious than gold, silver or cash. Having food and water reserves is our greatest need. Let’s face it, when you’re hungry, nothing else matters, besides eating gold and silver is very unhealthy.

Alternative Sources of Heat and Cooking

• Make sure you have a propane stove with enough propane for three to 12 months.
• Don’t forget the matches. Store a lot of them. (Two large boxes per month.)
• It is also good to store lighters.
• A wood stove is a big investment, but it will come in real handy if there is no heat or power, because you can cook on the top of the stove.
• A solar powered Sun Oven
• Any other outdoor or camping stove will work as well.

Menu Planning

It is very important to plan out one week of menus and calculate all the ingredients used for every recipe. These menus should all be your favorite recipes and only what you know your family will eat. When you are finished with the menu, then multiply the ingredients used by 12 (because there is approximately 12 weeks worth of meals in a three-month period of time, give or take a few days). That is how much you will need to store of each item.

These foods would get you by in a short-term emergency without having to change your diet and run the risk of getting sick from foods you are not used to eating. For a one-year supply of food, multiply the ingredients by 52 weeks. I recommend that you add pre-packaged convenience foods such as freeze-dried and dehydrated meals to your food reserves. The only requirement is the addition of water and a small amount of cooking.

One-Week Menu Planning Chart

To help you plan a week’s worth of menus and itemize all of the ingredients you’ll need to purchase to have a 3-month supply of the foods that you normally eat. Refer to the chart in my book; Food Storage 101, Where do I begin? Or you can make your own charts for every day of the week. You must tailor your list to your family’s eating habits and according to the way you normally eat. If you are using Freeze-dried meals, dehydrated foods or pre-packaged convenience meals, just insert the name of the meal into the dinner menu plan.

5 Best Survival Foods on a Budget

If you’re looking to stockpile on foods that you will need in case of emergency, but you want to save some money, then don’t worry you are in the right place. Survival foods, as a whole, are not very costly.

Buying them in bulk isn’t going to break the bank. In this article, we seek to provide a concise list of the 5 best survival foods that you can buy on a budget.

It’s very important to be prepared for whatever disaster that comes your way. Below, you will find a list of 5 great survival foods to buy on the cheap. We didn’t mention water, but it goes without saying that safe drinking water is the most important prep to your survival.

The following list will give you your best options when purchasing some new emergency supplies on the cheap!

Top 5 Survival Foods for Those on a Budget

1. Rice

Rice should be first on every list of survival foods. It feeds millions of people every single day and only a little of it can keep you full for hours. Bulk rice from somewhere like Sam’s Club or Costco (which sells many items in bulk) costs around $17 for 50 lbs. of rice.

It will certainly hold you over for a good amount of time, even if you are trying to feed other people as well.^related It’s a staple of diets all around the world and for good reason.

Rice is cheap to buy and filling and nutritious for those that consume it. It can easily be prepared and it’s no wonder it’s a popular survival food.

Be sure to keep some amount of rice on hand in case of an emergency. Plain rice, while not very flavorful, will definitely keep you going during tough times.

2. Spam

Spam is another survival food that will keep you fed in an emergency.

It’s no surprise that canned foods are one of my favorite survival foods and although I don’t love it, spam does the trick just fine. Spam is easy to maintain for a long period of time and is quite filling.

The average container contains 12 ounces of spam meat. At Walmart, you can buy one can for less than $5. Also, if you buy 10 at once for a total of 120 ounces of spam, you will only spend around $40. That one-time investment will help you and your family a long time.

To some, that may seem like a lot of spam, but think about how long a survival situation might last in case a bad storm hits.

It’s important to note, spam is consumed in slices. It is a meat, which can be hard to find for a low price and even tougher to keep when you do not have access to freezers or heat sources. Spam can and should be eaten cold.

3. Powdered Milk and Drink Mixes

Powdered milk can be used for both convenience and for survival situations. Powdered milk is often used to make food that calls for a milk ingredient when the liquid form isn’t available and while providing a good nutritional value.

It is also very valuable when you need it to last without electricity and an emergency strikes.

A box providing 10 quarts of powdered milk costs around $10. That’s a good investment to stock up on if you ask me.

Consider purchasing breakfast drink mixes to use the milk with. Breakfast drinks typically pack in essential vitamins, minerals, and proteins that a cooked breakfast meal normally provides.

Try purchasing Puritan Pride Spiru-Tein, which is very high in vitamins A, C, and D. A two-pound tin sells for around $30 at the time of this article.

The powder can be easily stored, packed with nutrients, and is meant to substitute and entire meal.

4. Dried Eggs

Dried eggs can be used just like powdered milk. It provides the same nutritional value and works just as well as a cooking ingredient and a meal. Eggs are one of my favorite nutritious and affordable foods.

There are not many mornings that I don’t go with a couple scrambled eggs to get my day moving.

Dried eggs were originally produced first for the U.S military, but are now being sold specifically as a survival and emergency preparedness food. Try it out, I am sure you will find then quite tasty when things go south.

On Amazon, a one pound container costs $25. You can maintain them for a good while unopened and should be mixed with water.^related

5. Energy Bars

Last but not least, why not trying out energy bars. Energy bars are used by almost everyone from athletes to extreme sports enthusiasts to adventure lovers who go hiking and camping.

Even the normal Joe likes to snack on one if they do not have time for a full meal. We know how many brands exist out there and how expensive energy bars can be, but you can purchase Clif Builder’s energy bars in a box of 18 for around $20 at the time of this article.

That’s plenty to stock up on for you and your family.

They are a good meal substitute which is normally high in protein and meant to keep you going during heavy activity periods. Save up a few and keep them stored away in case of tough times.

Conclusion

All of these budget survival foods can be purchased online or in stores like Costco and Sam’s Club, which sell many bulk items for a fair price. In case you prefer shopping online like I do, I put some referral links on the foods that we recommend to buy on Amazon.

Remember that your emergency survival foods^related may be extremely necessary one day and are worth investing in. We tried to offer a few low-cost items, but either way, you are going to have to spend money to be prepared.

Not everybody has money to throw around even for necessities. If you fall into that category, hopefully, none of these prices seem out of your range for the amount of food and nutrition you get and the peace of mind you will obtain. Just make sure to store your food in a good place.

Survival preparedness is no laughing matter, so please don’t make the mistake of forgetting about it!

Wool Blanket Roll

I have always been fascinated with how survivalist, campers, hikers etc. were able to tuck their survival gear inside a military style wool blanket and then turn it into a pack that can be carried in multiple ways. I have personally had a wool blanket like the one in the video for a very long time and just used a basic roll to attach it to my pack.

A wool blanket can be used in multiple ways. The most obvious is a way to keep warm by fashioning it into a sleeping bag. It can also be used as a coat/poncho, a back pack, a lean to, an insulated cushioned seat, cordage or even a water filter. (Note: As a water filter that simply means to filter out debris, not diseases or parasites that may lurk in the water.)

In the video posted below, produced by BlackOracle69, he will show us all how to easily roll and tie down a compact pack using only the blanket. The items he rolls into the back are your very basic needs. A tarp shelter, a cooking pot and fire starter, some dry socks, a bandana, a light, para-cord, and a hammock. He shows the placement of each item and how to fold a pocket to keep things you might need, such as a fire starter or dry socks, accessible without undoing the blanket.

I hope you enjoy the video and please feel free to leave comments below.

PREPAREDNESS TIP: HYDROGEN PEROXIDE by Andrew Skousen

Most people dismiss hydrogen peroxide as an ineffective antiseptic, but there are many reasons to keep a supply of this simple chemical not only in the medicine cabinet but also in the laundry, cleaning closet and garden shed.

Hydrogen peroxide is H2O2—two hydrogen atoms with two oxygen. This compound wants to revert to the more stable H2O water molecules and O2 oxygen. The release of pure oxygen is what makes hydrogen peroxide so valuable—and so dangerous. Oxygen is critical for life, but only in diluted form (the air we breathe is only about 20% oxygen). In high concentrations pure oxygen is flammable, highly reactive and mildly toxic. High concentration of hydrogen peroxide can rapidly release concentrated pure oxygen in an extremely hot reaction (often used for rocket propellent). High concentrations of the liquid form can also chemically burn skin and other tissues. For these and other reasons H2O2 is typically only sold diluted in water—typically 3% but sometimes as high as 35% (which is still very dangerous). All the following recommendations refer to the 3% solution.

Hydrogen peroxide does work as an antiseptic. It’s ionic charge breaks open bacteria cell’s thin membranes and reacts with the catalase enzyme inside. This enzyme is prevalent in our cells too, and those with thin membranes (like in the blood and under the skin) are also susceptible to hydrogen peroxide’s oxidative damage. Hydrogen peroxide can be used to clean wounds, but it harms the cells used to repair as it kills the bacteria. Dr. Mercola recommends mild soap (not anti-bacterial) and warm water to clean wounds. I recommend pure tea tree essential oil as the antiseptic in your medicine cabinet. If you do use H2O2 for treating skin don’t continue to apply or wash the affected area with it—the fizzing action will dissolve clotted blood and impedes the bodies healing cells at the damage site.

Before you banish hydrogen peroxide from the medicine cabinet consider these other uses: Some use it to clean out earwax, spray on feet for fungus, gargle on a sore throat, kill odor-causing bacteria and generally disinfectant. For a mouthwash and oral irrigator use a 1.5% solution (dilute 3% with equal parts water). It’s fizzing kills bacteria and helps whiten teeth. You can tell when if your solution is too strong by how much it fizzes and tingles and it leaves your mouth just a little numb afterwards.

One of the most potent natural surface disinfectants is to put a spray bottle top one of the brown bottles of 3% solution and keep it next to a spray bottle of pure white vinegar (don’t mix the two). Spray vinegar on a surface and then follow it with a spray of H2O2. The resulting chemical reaction is considered as effective against bacteria, mold and viruses as bleach—yet is much more mild on humans. In fact you can almost replace your bleach with hydrogen peroxide. A cup of H2O2 in a load of whites help brighten them considerably.

Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as a fruits and vegetable wash. Wild watercress from questionable streams and any fresh berries or melons at risk for salmonella can be disinfected by soaking in water with a splash of hydrogen peroxide.

These are just a few of the many useful applications of a mild dose of oxygen. Some use it with plants, such as adding a capful to the watering can to help seeds sprout, and keep root fungus from growing (a common source of seedling failure). Anecdotal stories say you can even rejuvenate yellowing plants by spraying it on the leaves as an exfoliar mist.

Because the diluted form is mostly water, 3% hydrogen peroxide is very cheap: A liter typically sells for less than $2 at drugstores, supermarkets and at big retailers like Walmart. Light degrades its effectiveness, so it should always be stored in opaque bottles in a cool place. Official shelf life is only 1 to 3 year unopened and only a few months if opened, but I find even ten year old bottles still have plenty of life left in them. A simple test is to splash some in the sink and see if it fizzes. If it is truly degraded only water will be left. I have yet to find a bottle no matter how old (even opened) that acts like water. This is good, because it takes laboratory level work to manufacture it yourself. I suggest stockpiling a dozen bottles of 3% and one bottle of higher concentration 35% (often sold as “food grade”) to make another 10 to 15 bottles as needed.

How to Recognize Which Berries are Safe to Eat

MegLearner / Pixabay

Berries are a quick and easy way to feed yourself in the wild in case you’ve run out of supplies recently and aren’t really a good hunter. However, not all are created equal and not being aware of this simple fact can often cause you a lot of trouble. Certain berries can be non-edible, or they can be straight out poisonous, and learning to recognize them is the only way you’ll know if they’re safe to eat or not. In this short guide, I’m going to attempt to explain, very simply, how you can avoid this an issue like this by giving you some basic tips about the berries that you can eat, and those that you absolutely should not.

Don’t Risk It

First of all, I have to say that if you aren’t a hundred percent certain about a wild berry being edible/poisonous or not, you absolutely must not eat it. Your body is way too important to risk poisoning it just because it “might be fine”, and you don’t have to eat the first berry you stumble upon. I’ve seen dozens of people do this, and a large number of them regretted it a few hours later when the berry made its way through their organism.

The Colors

That being said, you can tell a lot about a berry just by looking at its color, because its color is a result of its chemical properties and it’s those that decide whether the berry is poisonous or not. For example, most white, green and yellow wild berries are absolutely poisonous and to be safe you should stay away from all of them no matter what. Red berries are another case entirely, as around 50% of them are perfectly edible. You do have to watch out for the other 50% though, so unless you have a good idea of what you’re eating you should still be very careful.

Berries that are black and blue in color are, ninety-five percent of the time, perfectly edible. Several of them are poisonous so you should still be careful, but most of the time you can eat a black berry with no concern at all.

Get a Berry Guide

There are dozens of quick guides on berries that you can pick up or find online, that will tell you all you need to know about the most commonly found berries in America, and having one of these on-hand can help you instantly recognize a berry and know all of its characteristics.

The Edible Berry Test

If all else fails, there’s actually a little trick you can do in order to make sure whether a berry is poisonous or not. Take one or two berries, smash them into a pulp and first rub just a little bit of it on your skin. Wait a couple of minutes. If any kind of irritation or skin reaction shows up then you probably shouldn’t be eating that berry. If not, try the same thing with your lips and tongue, just a dab of pulp on each and wait a few extra minutes. If there’s still nothing, the berry is almost certainly safe to eat.

Making Pemmican: The Ultimate Survival Food

In survival scenarios, it is vital that you have a consistent source of protein. This means a great deal of hunting, fishing, and trapping. However, you may find yourself facing a common survival dilemma – and making pemmican is a good way to solve that!

Making Pemmican: How To Preserve Meat To Last Ages

What do you do to preserve your meat? Without refrigeration, it will be spoiled and full of maggots within hours. Anytime you take more meat than you can eat in one or two sittings, you must have a way to preserve that meat. Making it into Pemmican is an excellent solution.

Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat, fat, and other ingredients that can be stored without refrigeration for anywhere from a few months to decades depending on the mixture and conditions. It was invented by Native Americans to give them a protein source that would last and could easily be carried while traveling. Often scouts and hunters would need a food like pemmican to take with them on their long journeys. In this article, we will cover how to make pemmican that will last on your shelf as long as you need it to.

Preparation

In order to make pemmican, you will need to prepare your ingredients before combining them. The meat should be stripped of all its fat. After which, it needs to be cut into thin strips less than ¼ inch thick and dried in an oven or over a fire.

The meat cannot be cooked, so you need to keep the temperature between 100°F and 200°F. This will dry out the meat over the course of six to twelve hours. I like to set my oven to 175°F, but if using a campfire you should set the meat on a rack at a level that allows you to hold your hand over the fire for five to ten seconds before pulling it away. Construct a tripod over your fire and either build a rack or use cordage to suspend the meat above the fire. When it is dry it will break apart when bent.

After the meat is dried, it needs to be shredded to a powder. You can use a grinder or you can use a mortar and pestle to break down the meat. You then need to render the fat down to a liquid. Cook it in a container on low heat until it is liquefied. You can add nuts, dried fruit, honey, and spices to improve the flavor. However, anything added other than salt and spices will reduce the shelf life of the pemmican. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. Only add as much fat to the mix as is needed to hold everything together. You do not want the mix to be too wet.

Once everything is combined evenly, you will have to mold it and wrap it with plastic wrap. The easiest way I have found to do this is to use a muffin tin. Lay down a 10 inch by 10 inch square of plastic wrap over the dip on the muffin tin. Then spoon a big spoonful of the mix into the center. Press it down with something flat until it forms a solid piece. Then fold over the edges to give it an airtight wrap. Once you have done this with all of the mixture, put all of the pemmican in an airtight container. Keep it in a cool, dry place and it will last as long as needed.

Food Storage and Survival shows a video on how to make Pemmican:

Pemmican is an excellent way to preserve your meat so it will not spoil in the wild. I suggest that you try a batch at home before you ever need to make any in the wild. This will ensure that you know how the process works before you ever need to rely upon that process. With a little knowledge and practice, you can always save your meat from spoiling.