(Natural News)
Fortitude Ranch serves a dual purpose. The ranch, which has a membership style similar to that of a country club, allows people to join any of its four locations where they can shoot weapons or organize hunting hikes in rustic and remote areas. But when SHTF, Fortitude Ranch turns into a survival community.
Dr. Drew Miller, the CEO of Fortitude Ranch, related that everyone in the ranch works, hunts and catches fish, prepares meals, collects firewood and does guard duties. “Our members understand that they’re not there to be entertained,” he said, emphasizing that they work hard to contribute to the survival community so that everyone can survive any threat that may come.
Miller said he’s had a lot of help from libertarian blogger and podcaster Tim Poole. While the ranch does not screen for political affiliations, Miller noted that most preppers tend to be libertarians who recognize that the government can’t be trusted when they say everything is going to be okay. People are going to be on their own when SHTF or a collapse occurs.
There are different SHTF scenarios, but Miller believes how one is going to survive is what matters. While the U.S. president and the members of Congress have bunkers under the White House and the elites have luxury condos buried deep underground, Miller said the rest will be left to fend for themselves.
At Miller’s ranch, the “country club-style” business model dues cover not only amenities and maintenance, but also the stockpile of beans and laxatives. There are no receptionists, only staff trained in chemical warfare. Overall, the ranch is like a timeshare for an underground bunker.
Fortitude Ranch has become a trend because of the heightened state of anxiety throughout the nation, as worries about economic instability, political discord, epidemics and extreme climate events prompted Americans to start planning for SHTF scenarios.
Multibillion dollar prepper industry
While there is a trend that spawned a multi-billion dollar prepper industry, Miller’s business venture goes further, blurring the lines of real estate, security and leisure. (Related: Prepping tips: What you can learn from the rich on preparing for SHTF events.)
Fortitude Ranch is an open-air, cheaper alternative to the glitzy services offered by traditional companies. Miller said his objective is to “have some good people survive, not just the marauders who make it or superwealthy people who can buy a place like Survival Condo.”
Miller is also confident in his ability to shepherd a community through hard times. “I’m sure we can make it through the worst disaster. If it is survivable, we will make it,” he said.
The company now has nearly 1,000 clients, and Miller is currently developing a fifth location in Texas. He also plans to open additional ranches in Wisconsin and Tennessee in the coming years while diversifying his offerings to make them more appealing to clients.
Since volunteer models don’t always work, Miller said they set up Fortitude Ranch like a country club where it is a business with full-time staff and an annual food restocking fee. They also encourage people to attend training, mainly on marksmanship and other basic survival skills.
The staff members are the ones to make the decisions and key preparations, while members understand that they are all expected to contribute and work when they do go there in a collapse.
The prepping industry has grown over the years as entrepreneurs in the space overlap their business plans with real estate, retail, outdoor equipment and medicine. High-end companies also offer survival options and community protections. (Related: Even regular people are now constructing bunkers due to fears of a nuclear war.)
One of these companies, Survival Condo, sells high-end condos starting at $1.5 million in a missile silo in Kansas. The Black Hills in South Dakota also have members that are willing to shell out $45,000 to lease one of 575 reinforced bunkers.
“The bunker industry is a lot like the automobile industry in that there is a full spectrum of vehicles with different capabilities and costs,” Survival Condo CEO Larry Hall said.
Find more prepping stories with survival tips at Survival.news.
Watch the video below to know more about Fortitude Ranch.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gardening-soil-SHTF-skill.jpg6661000Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-22 18:16:102022-05-22 18:16:10Fortitude Ranch: A vacation resort that turns into a survival community when SHTF – NaturalNews.com
(Natural News)
While stocking up on supplies before SHTF, preppers also need to figure out how to stock up enough water for drinking, cooking and other tasks.
Read on to learn what to do if you suddenly lose access to clean water. (h/t to RoguePreparedness.com)
If you live off-grid, you’re probably used to either having a well or hauling water from the nearest body of water. However, you should also learn how to deal with lack of access to water so you know how much to stock up on.
Do you know how much water you need?
You need water for drinking to prevent dehydration, cooking, hygiene and cleaning. But do you know how much water you need for your whole family?
It’s near impossible to stock up on a year’s supply of water, but you can at least try to have enough water for one month. Even then, it will be a challenge to find enough space to store a month’s supply of water since it’s heavy and stored in bulky containers.
Before SHTF, stock up on two gallons of water per person and pets per day. How much water you store will also depend on the storage space you have.
Calculating your water needs
When SHTF, you can try to reduce the amount of water you use, but you should still have enough for basic functions like drinking, cooking and brushing your teeth.
To calculate how much water you need, figure out how much water you use on a daily basis. Calculate this by taking a daily tally of your usage for a week and then averaging it out.
Alternatively, you can check the monthly water bill if you are on city water.
If you live off-grid with a family of four and two dogs, you can consume anywhere from 50 to 100 gallons of water every five days. You might need an additional 20 gallons for all four to take a shower, along with an additional five to seven gallons to do the laundry.
What to do if you suddenly lose access to water
If you were caught unaware, you can get water by stocking up on bottled water or freezing water.
Store bottled water
The minute you lose water and you find out it’s going to last for several days or weeks, run to the store and buy gallons of water. Since it’s already purified and bottled up, it’s ready to be used when needed.
Store bottled water away from direct sunlight. Alternatively, you can freeze water because frozen clean water lasts a very long time. (Related: Prepping 101: How long will bottled water last in your stockpile?)
Water for hygiene alternatives
If you need water for hygiene purposes, fill up a small bowl and use a rag to clean yourself. Another option is to set up a solar shower for hand washing or quick showers.
You can also use baby wipes to clean yourself or use no-rinse soap and shampoo.
Washing clothes
If you don’t have water for at least a week, you’ll eventually need to wash your clothes. Do the laundry in several buckets. Place soap in one bucket and clean water in another, then hang the laundry on a clothesline to dry.
You can also wash the clothes in a tub or sink and dry them on a line inside, depending on the time of year.
Washing dishes
If you want to save water by not doing the dishes, stock up on paper plates and plastic utensils. Use paper towels instead of cloth napkins. These options aren’t very eco-friendly, but it’s good to have alternatives if you’re running low on water.
Wash pots and pans with a bit of water and soap. Fill one bowl with soapy water and another bowl with clean water. When you’re done, use the gray water on outdoor plants.
Fill containers
Before filling large containers with water, clean them thoroughly. When that’s done, pour the clean water inside the container.
If you’re getting water coming from a stream, lake or creek, filter and boil the water first before storage.
Use regular unscented bleach to preserve the water a bit longer:
Rotate the water in containers at least once a year. If you don’t rotate the water once a year, you may have to treat it again before using it.
Set up a rainwater collection system
If you get an advanced notice that a storm is coming, fill up your tubs, sinks and other containers with water. If you don’t have the funds for a rainwater collection system, use clean rain barrels or large, unused garbage bins to save money.
Use rainwater for livestock and watering your garden. You can drink rainwater too, but only after properly filtering and purifying it first.
Tips for conserving or reusing water
Before SHTF, learn how to conserve and reuse water.
It can be difficult to store a year’s supply of water, but you should always try to store what you can so you always have access to clean water when SHTF.
Watch the video below to learn about 10 different ways to clean drinking water after SHTF.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Bottle-Water-Plastic-Drink-Half-Spring-Wave.jpg7501000Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-14 18:16:082022-05-14 18:16:08Prepper essentials: What to do if you run out of water when SHTF – NaturalNews.com
(Natural News)
As a prepper, you should always be ready to deal with the inevitable. This means having a get-home bag in your car or at work and having a bug-out bag at home so you can evacuate with the necessary gear if SHTF.
But if disaster strikes and you lose your survival gear, the tips below can help you survive in the wilderness even if you only have the most basic tools in your possession.
Improvised zipper fishhook
If you have a spare zipper, you can make an improvised fishhook. Break off the zipper from your jacket or pants and carefully break the loop.
Pull out the loose end to a 90-degree angle and use a rough stone to grind the exposed tip down into a sharp point. Attach your improvised zipper fishhook to a length of fishing line.
Alternatively, you can turn the ring tab from a discarded soda can into a fishhook.
If you’re traveling in an area that’s near a body of water, prepare a DIY survival fishing kit and keep it in your pocket so you can fish even if you lose your gear. Get an empty tin box or a small waterproof container and store basic fishing gear in it.
You should have the following items in your survival fishing kit:
Bullet casing arrowheads
If you find bullet casings, you can repurpose these into makeshift arrowheads. Grab a large rock and pound the casing flat.
Remove the uncrushable rim by bending the metal back and forth until it breaks off. Next, get a coarse stone and begin grinding down and sculpting the metal into your desired arrowhead shape.
When you’re done, you should have a sharp and strong metal arrowhead.
Dry wet boots with hot rocks
If your boots accidentally get wet while hiking, there’s a faster way to dry them instead of putting them near a campfire.
Gather several large, dry and non-porous rocks and place them on the edge of your campfire. Wait until the rocks are piping hot, then use a couple of sticks to carefully place them inside your boots.
This ensures that your boots dry out more quickly and thoroughly as they’re drying from both the outside and the inside.
Housekey “saw”
If you have keys with you when SHTF, you can turn them into a small makeshift saw. Use a key to make the small notches required for basic traps and various other tools.
Sock lint tinder
Cotton and wool are flammable natural materials. If you’re wearing cotton or wool socks, pluck off loose strands and fibers to make a DIY flammable tinder pile.
Use your firestarting tool to throw a few sparks until the sock fibers combust into flames. (Related: Survival skills: Learn how to cook from scratch so you can feed your family when SHTF.)
Pine mosquito repellent
Mosquitos and other insects are repelled by the scent of pine. If you’re swarmed by mosquitoes, grab a bunch of pine needles, crush them up in your hands, then rub the oils they release onto your clothes. The oils should help keep the mosquitoes away.
Another option is to burn pine needles over your fire for an ambient insect repellent for your whole camp.
Flint rock cutting tool
If you have no knife and you need a sharp cutting tool, look for flint rocks. These rocks are usually beige with a shiny black interior.
Grab two flint rocks and smash them together. After you crack them open, grab some chipped-off small flakes or fragments with a razor-sharp edge.
Multipurpose paracord
Replace ordinary boot laces with seven-strand 550 paracord. This ensures that if you need emergency cordage, you can pull out some of the strong inner strands.
If you don’t have paracord, you can also just remove the whole shoelace from one boot. Use the strong string to start a fire with a bow drill.
Birthday candle firestarter
Add a small birthday candle to your survival kit. If your lighter is running out of fuel or you’re almost out of matches, you can transfer the flame to the candle so you have more time to start a fire with it.
Backpack padding tinder
If your bug-out bag has straps with foam padding, the material might be flammable. Should you need emergency tinder, cut out a few pieces of the foam then use your firestarter to vigorously drive sparks into them to produce fire.
Don’t breathe in the fumes because they are toxic.
Plastic water bottle firestarter
If you have a plastic water bottle with a convex curve, angle it right in front of the sun to focus down the sun’s rays like a magnifying glass to start a fire.
Plastic bottle water purifier
If you need clean, safe drinking water but all you have is a plastic bottle, with the right techniques you can still boil and purify water over the fire. The plastic bottle can withstand the intense heat of the fire without melting or deforming if it’s full of water to keep the water firm.
You can also use plastic bottles to filter water.
If you only have dirty pond water, cut the bottle in half. Use the bottom as a boiling cup and the top as a water filter.
To make the filter, pierce a few holes into the lid. Next, gather some moss, grass and some small stones for the top half. Carefully pour the dirty water through the makeshift filter and it will come out much cleaner.
Boil the filtered water using the lower half of the water bottle and place it into the fire. Keep the fire small and under control and watch as the water begins to boil. When you’re done you should have a cup of clean drinkable water and a reusable intact cup and filter.
Note that this method releases toxic carcinogenic plastic chemicals into the water so only use it as a last resort.
DIY chopsticks
Your hands can get dirty after SHTF. If you’re worried about getting sick if you eat with dirty hands, you can avoid potential illness by eating with a pair of makeshift chopsticks.
Split a stick down the middle and place a twig or stone in between the cut. Use the DIY chopsticks to grab and eat food without worrying about bacteria.
Dunk the chopstick tips in boiling water to completely sterilize them when you’re done eating.
Charcoal firestarter
If you have to move to a different location and are worried about how you’ll get your next fire lit, grab a large piece of leftover charcoal and take that with you.
With a ferro rod you can reignite the charcoal back into a glowing ember for a new campfire.
Soda can mini stove
If you find a discarded soda can, use it to make a portable windproof stove to cook on. First, cut into the side of the can from the top down. Slice across the top and bottom until you have an “I”-shaped cut. This is your “window.”
Peel the window open and you’re good to go. Place the tinder and kindling inside the can, then light it up. Now you have a portable cooking stove.
Mini ferro rods as zipper pulls
Pre-drill two small holes on a small piece of ferro rod. Thread some cordage into the pre-drilled ferro rods and attach it to your jacket zipper pull or strings so you always have an incognito firestarting device on you.
Smartphone tool: signal mirror
If your smartphone runs out of battery or is no longer working, take it apart to make various survival tools.
Remove the screen and all of the back screen elements. After several layers, you will find a mirror. Use this as a signal mirror to reflect and flash sunlight signals into the cockpits of planes or helicopters to get their attention and ask for help.
Smartphone tool: circuit board arrows or cutting tool
Use smartphone circuit boards to make two tools.
First, you can make DIY arrowheads. Either carefully snap the circuit board or vigorously grind them down against a rock into the desired arrowhead shape. Since circuit boards are quite soft, you can easily grind them down.
Alternatively, you can create a sharp cutting tool with a circuit board. Use a rough stone to grind an angle into the edge to make a DIY knife for cutting cloth or shaving wood.
Headphones snare
If your smartphone comes with headphones, use it to make wire snares for small game.
Speaker magnet compass
Behind the speaker elements of your phone you will find a magnet. Use it to make an improvised compass.
You also need a small metal strip made either of iron or stainless steel. Use a needle from a first aid kit, a hairpin, a section of a metal hair clip, or a metal pin from a watch strap.
Rub the magnet down the length of the metal pin for several minutes. This will magnetize the metal pin and it will have an attracting and repelling magnetic pole.
To use the pin compass, place it on something that floats like a leaf. Place the leaf on a cup of water or a still puddle.
Once it floats the pin will rotate and eventually settle after it aligns itself with the Earth’s north and south magnetic poles so you have a north to south direction or line. This is how regular compasses work.
Usually, the end of the pin that’s pointing the furthest away from the sun will be north and the end of the pin that’s pointing closest towards the sun will be south.
Keep in mind that this is only true for the northern hemisphere. For the southern hemispheres, those directions are reversed.
Before SHTF, prepare a survival bag with tools that can help you find food, filter water and start a fire in the wilderness. Use the tips above to make improvised tools if you lose your gear.
Watch the full video below to learn more about 20 wilderness survival tips.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Male-Hand-Starts-Fire-Magnesium-Steel-Striker.jpg6661000Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-10 18:16:062022-05-10 18:16:0620 Wilderness survival tips that might save your life after SHTF – NaturalNews.com
Dealing with the collapse of society is no joke. Some folks might think they know what to expect considering all the rioting and general lawlessness that we have seen in the past couple of years, but a true societal collapse is something altogether different.
burning tires in riot aftermath
The rule of law will be absent entirely or highly sporadic if it is present.
Commerce will grind to a halt and many places that are totally dependent upon the vast and interconnected threads of modern logistics for the supply of food, water, electricity and more will descend into chaos in very short order.
You’ll be dealing with lawless opportunists and throngs of desperate survivors, people who are trying to hold on just like you are.
Trying to hold on in the wrong place could very well mean death, and it is in your best interest to reside elsewhere or at least know what you are up against when the time comes to get out of Dodge.
In this article we will be talking about several such places so you can take stock of the area where you live and plan accordingly.
Disqualifying Factors for Your SHTF Retreat
Most of the time when discussing the ideal prepper retreat, people naturally talk about the positives. After all, we are all looking for that mythical “greener grass,” and it makes sense to learn what it looks like so we will know it when we see it.
This is definitely a valid approach, and you know me, I always like to look on the bright side myself, but in this case we can take an anywhere but here approach to our efforts.
There are some locations, even entire regions, that are disproportionately likely to brew up in a big way once society starts to fray at the edges, and heaven help you if you are near one of these places when it starts to come apart properly.
It is probably more informative, for that reason, to look at the disqualifying factors for your SHTF retreat.
If you live in one of the regions described below, or even just a city that falls into one of these categories, it is time to start thinking about moving now before it is too late.
Trust me, most of the places on our top five list will likely not take too well to strangers trying to put their bags down nearby after the main event has started.
It is far better to get in good while you can and be an actual member of the community before that time.
Fair warning.
Any City or Area with Lots of Political/Cultural Clashes
You probably don’t need me to tell you that America is experiencing cultural and political divides that are breathtaking and genuinely frightening in scope, and as the months take by it is looking more and more like we will not be able to truly heal and close that divide.
I have heard it said that any principle is a pretext to kill, and before you scoff that off as hyperbole just look around and see what has happened throughout America as a result of a massive, manufactured crisis.
Neighbors narcing on neighbors, rewards for turning people in who don’t follow arbitrary and meaningless rules and a class of political partisans that are entirely happy to see the other side burn so long as they get their pat on the head.
Do you think that will be better or worse off once things start getting really, truly bad throughout the nation?
Spoiler warning, it is only going to get worse, much worse, and when you amplify stress levels, paranoia and anxiety by more or less constant fear of physical danger and substantial lack you’re going to have a whole lot of people running around on a hair trigger and looking to vent their frustrations and misery on those that they even tangentially perceive as responsible.
If you live in a city or region that has something of a reputation for political or cultural clashes between citizens, or even between government agencies, the writing is well and truly on the wall. Get the hell out while you still can.
Regions that Don’t Produce Their Own Food or Water
There are two kinds of settlements in America. Those that eat the food that others produce, and those that produce the food that everyone eats.
There are no two ways about it, most places throughout America rely entirely, virtually 100%, on modern commercial transit to bring their food in and stock it so it is available for purchase by hungry, hungry consumers.
If you don’t know by now, you will soon realize that these systems of commerce that make this possible are immensely, terrifyingly fragile, and you had better believe they will break down quickly once society does.
When that happens, shelves will be barren in no time, and just a couple of short, precious days after that, no more food at all in these places.
When that happens, apocalyptic violence and predation will result.
Neighbor against neighbor, all that jazz, because real survival necessities, like hunger, are the ultimate monkey on your back.
You might say that you have your little hobby survival garden that barely produces a jar or two of veggies or berries, and maybe a couple of backyard chickens, and think yourself prepared but don’t kid yourself.
You need to move to a place where the food actually comes from and people actually know how to do it, day in and day out, year after year. I’m talking about farm country, and not just one specialized farm on the edge of town.
That is the only way that you’ll have any assurance that food may yet remain plentiful throughout the crisis.
And the same goes for water. You won’t be able to depend on water just coming out of a tap after society starts to come apart.
Public water works are intricate, complicated systems that depend on constant maintenance and input from human operators to function reliably and safely.
Reliably will be anything but when people start to abandon their posts and the system starts to fail during an SHTF event.
Regions with Extreme Climates
People are remarkably adaptable. And quite literally the most inhospitable environments on the planet you’ll still find people living and seemingly thriving.
That’s a great thing when you think about it; however, this is only truly possible for the long term because the connectivity of society allows these folks even then a sort of safety net.
Communications, regular delivery of supplies, things like that. Or at least, that is how it is in America for all but a tiny fraction of folks with very specialized skills.
Accordingly, you don’t want to live anywhere, or retreat to any place when the time comes that has a particularly extreme climate, either very hot or very cold.
Out of all the survival challenges that people face during genuine crises, it is still exposure that is most likely to kill.
Cold weather in particular can kill you in as little as a couple of hours in the right conditions, and exposure to extreme heat and humidity can do the same thing if you are forced to remain active and in direct sunlight.
You need to reduce these burdens, and the attendant logistical factors required to heat or cool your shelter in kind.
Pretty much every place worth living still has seasons of some kind, and the extremes of a given season might prove to be challenging, but still far removed from the kind of climate you’ll endure in deserts, tundra or polar regions.
Heading to a place with a mild temperate or subtropical climate is probably your best bet.
Huge, Dense Populations
Whatever your view of humanity is, I can promise you that in the middle of a survival situation more people will only mean more trouble and more work for you, and nowhere is this maximum more on constant, vivid and shocking display than major metropolitan areas.
A huge morass of humanity all crammed into comparatively just a few square miles with limited resources and one that is completely dependent upon actual goods from elsewhere to sustain itself is a recipe for bedlam in an SHTF situation.
Never mind there was only enough water and food to go around because of perpetual, round the clock deliveries, this crushing morass of people will turn into a panicked, paranoid stampede when things go bad.
Not for nothing, criminal elements are always present in these places and enforce, and are usually better organized and far more experienced than they are in more rural or remote regions.
If you want to be dealing with packs of hardened predators and mobs of other desperate survivors on top of all your other survival worries, then by all means stay in a city.
For the rest of us who value our lives it is time to head towards smaller, remote settlements.
Military Bases and Important Military or Civic Targets
Lastly, in an ideal world you won’t be settling anywhere near a place that could be considered an important military or civic target, and very especially near a military base.
In times of extreme duress, when the very foundations of a nation are cracking and groaning under the strain, both that nation’s governments and external enemies will be making moves.
With a population running amok and potentially tearing itself along with much of the country to pieces, the government will move to secure its interests, and these interests are things that it can use to project power and move resources.
Military bases, certain military installations, government headquarters, transportation, commercial and industrial hubs and so forth will all be guarded pretty much around the clock.
Not for nothing, it is far from out of the question that the government might try to solve its problems through military action elsewhere that might potentially invoke retaliation.
Else, the wolves lurking in the woods might see that the great beast they have long despised is wounded and ripe for a killing strike.
This means that the same assets and installations above could be targeted by other nations, with disastrous and deadly results for the citizens.
Stay well clear of such places if you have any choice in the matter, and if you do have to live near larger, major targets of importance, put as much distance between you and them as practical.
“Stopovers”
One of the more insidious and subtle places that you should avoid during a societal collapse are so-called stopover towns and cities, waypoints that lie along major transit routes connecting two or more larger urban areas.
It should come as no surprise that people are generally lazy and uninspired when it comes to travel, preferring the easiest and the most direct route above all others when going from place to place.
This means that refugees, survivors and raiders alike will most likely travel along the typical routes that have long been in use between metropolitan areas.
Looking for more loot, more handouts or just shelter, they’ll have to get there one way or another and chances are they’ll use the highways and interstates as normal.
A town or city that lies along this route is an obvious and natural layover location that may well have resources of its own for the gaining.
You can help yourself and your loved ones by staying out of such places in the event of a societal collapse.
The more out of the way and secluded your home is the better off you’ll be.
Capitals
It should go without saying that every prepper must avoid any seat of government power, great or small, during a societal collapse.
Assuming the government holds together, or even a significant fraction of the government, you had better believe they will do everything in their power to secure their holdings against rapacious citizens that might very well want to see them dragged out and strung up from the nearest lamppost.
Additionally, many more people will be drawn to such places with the desperate hope of finding a place that is still under the rule of law or that potentially has supplies or aid to give them.
How the government feels about these people at the time is anyone’s guess, and it is far from out of the question to assume that lethal force will be authorized against trespassers or unruly mobs.
You definitely don’t want to get swept up in that, so stay clear of state capitals and any other place that is considered a seat of government power.
Stay Away From These Places!
The collapse of society will prove to be so bad that it is hard for most people to genuinely imagine.
But it can be so much worse on you and yours if you are in an area that will have endemic disadvantages alongside the bigger picture problem.
You can set yourself up for success by avoiding such places from the outset.
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Aside from skills and supplies, your physical fitness is crucial to your survival when SHTF. No matter how much food and ammo you have in your stockpile, you won’t survive that long in a post-SHTF world if you’re not healthy. (h/t to PreppersWill.com)
Improve your eating habits
The Western diet, also known as the American diet, is the unhealthiest diet on the planet. Many studies have proven that following a Western diet can cause weight gain and impair cardiac function. This unhealthy diet can also increase your risk.
While eating fast food is considered convenient, you need to have good eating habits to reduce your risk of getting overweight, which can be bad for your well-being.
Instead of dining out or ordering in, cook healthy meals at home. If you want a quick snack, eat a piece of fresh fruit like an or snack on veggie sticks.
Cooking balanced meals at home also ensures that you know what goes into your food, unlike when you order meals at fast food restaurants.
Exercise regularly for your overall well-being
After disaster strikes, survivors will need to be physically fit so they can endure any physical challenges that can hinder their recovery. You might also need to travel by foot after SHTF to reach a safer location, so staying fit should be your priority before anything happens.
In a post-SHTF world, you will be required to do some heavy lifting and even some climbing. These tasks require some strength and endurance.
If you’re not strong enough or if your endurance is lacking, you should focus on your fitness just as much as you prioritize learning new survival skills.
You also need to be physically fit if you plan to evacuate or bug out after SHTF. After all, bugging out requires traveling, either by car or by foot. And if you have no choice but to walk to your safe haven, you have to be strong enough to carry a bug-out bag full of gear and supplies.
If there are young children in your family, the adults might need to take turns carrying them if they get tired as you travel to your bug-out location. When this happens, being fit and increasing your stamina are important for everyone’s survival.
Tips for staying fit
Like other prepping skills, being fit requires discipline and hard work. You can’t take shortcuts so you need to follow a balanced diet and exercise regularly.
Focus on building your cardiovascular health if you want to stay fit. If you’re in your 40s or 50s, you should still be able to walk five to 10 miles without getting too tired.
If you belong to this age group and aren’t physically fit, start working out more and improve your eating habits. Go jogging or take brisk walks regularly.
If you’re too busy to do a full workout in one sitting, you can break up your routine into smaller chunks. After all, you can still get the same benefits from 10 minutes of aerobic activity at several points throughout the day as finishing a full workout all at once.
If you don’t have the right equipment at home, enroll at a gym and get helpful advice from professionals on how to safely reach your fitness goals.
And if you don’t want to spend money on gym membership fees, develop a workout regimen that you can follow at home and invest in the right workout equipment. (Related: Prepper fitness: Want to survive when SHTF? Follow these doomsday workout tips.)
You don’t need to break the bank on expensive gear or exercise machines. You can just invest in a decent pair of walking or running shoes for brisk walking, jogging or running.
Commit to a regular workout routine and exercise regularly. Take a walk in the park or jog around the neighborhood. You can also opt for a more scenic alternative and hike in your free time.
Before SHTF, assess your physical fitness. Are you strong enough to carry a heavy bug-out bag for several hours?
If you run out of breath after doing chores at home, start exercising more.
You can also test your fitness by testing your bug-out bag and traveling for 20 miles in one day. Camp at a safe location, then head back home.
Once you’re back from your trip, assess how you feel and use that as a gauge to determine if your fitness level is appropriate when compared to your emergency preparedness plan.
Tasks around your homestead also counts as exercise, especially if your daily activities involve a lot of lifting and walking. These include carrying supplies, gardening and chopping firewood.
Before SHTF, ditch the unhealthy snacks full of preservatives and cook at home. You can also improve your physical fitness by exercising and improving your stamina.
Watch the video below for some leg training tips.
This video is from the .
Story source: https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-05-02-prepper-exercise-regularly-survive-when-shtf.html
The post Prepper fitness: Exercise regularly so you can survive in a post-SHTF world appeared first on Dr. Leonard Coldwell.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Woman-Running-Fitness-Exercise-Jacket.jpg394700Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-06 18:16:132022-05-06 18:16:13Prepper fitness: Exercise regularly so you can survive in a post-SHTF world
Access to fuel under abnormal conditions is a paramount issue. Without proper access, our mobility will be severely restricted after a disaster. Therefore, we need to consider some other alternatives to your standard tank full of gasoline. Propane, methane, or bio-gas are some of these options.
The problem with using any of these alternative methods of fuel is that their chemistry is wildly different from gasoline. Propane, methane, and other gas fuels come from the bottling facility with odorant products added such as ethyl mercaptan, a product not intended for engine use. (Ethyl mercaptan is added to assist people to find leaks. It has a very characteristic odor.)
And what if you have a dual-fuel generator? If your generator can take both gasoline and propane, you need to know the intricacies of what makes it work (and what’s keeping it from working).
What’s hurting your engine?
To understand how we can prevent damage to our engines, we first need to know what are some of the prime reasons damage takes place. Inside an internal combustion engine, we find these as the main ones:
Abrasion
This is caused mostly by dust particles that make their way into the engine. The oil and air filters catch them, but particles smaller than a defined size (your filter indicates this size in microns) will always be there. The carbon deposits produce an abrasive effect too, which naturally break down and get into the oil flow.
Adhesion
This phenomenon occurs when the oil film breaks down and the different metal parts come into direct contact with each other. This can damage any engine very quickly. Oil also loses lubrication properties with time, as the oil film gets weaker and does not wet the surfaces properly anymore. Adhesion damage is detected by the appearance of tiny metal particles or shavings in the oil pan or by cutting the filter open and seeing the same.
Corrosion
When your engine’s oil is in good shape, the chemistry of it neutralizes the acidic compounds generated by your fuel during the combustion process. These compounds get more and more aggressive with time, given the heat generated inside an engine. An increased aggressiveness means they will corrode the wall cylinders, the heads, and other components that need to keep their mechanical integrity as long as possible. This makes the oil go acidic, too.
(Check out our free QUICKSTART Guide to emergency evacuations. You’ll need a functioning engine to evacuate, right?)
How do I stop these three things?
So, now that we know that, what can we do to keep our engines lasting as long as possible on the homestead and after SHTF? I’m glad you asked…
Use the proper spark plugs for your car and fuel.
Spark plugs differ, and some work hotter than others do. The owner’s manual should say something about what spark plugs to use when installing a vehicular gas system. This car manual is one of the most important documents you should have, next to the legal papers.
Do you remember how we said that excess heat in your engine can contribute to corrosion? This is where the proper spark plugs comes into play. Using top-quality and suited coolants and the recommended spark plugs can really help to efficiently get rid of excess heat within your engine.
Make sure you learn as much as you can about your engine model, size, and configuration.
People hired to work in your vehicle will surely appreciate this technical information if they are true to what they do instead of being pompous know-it-alls.
I would suggest using gas in your vehicles in winter/colder times of the year, and using liquid fuel in spring/summer.
Fuel in the form of a gas burned in a vehicle designed for working with liquid fuel makes the engine run hotter. Some will say that once the fuel enters the cylinder it is in a gas form. Well, not exactly, as most of it is droplets and not gas as in a vapor. It’s a mixture.
The important part is this: using just gas can shorten the life of an engine if we do not make a few changes.
The chemical composition of liquid gasoline is not a gas. A liquid fuel evaporates with temperature increase. However, its properties are different from vehicular gas. When liquid fuel gets into the engine, it is in a thin spray form. Bottled gas is much less dense and ignites faster and hotter.
The liquid fuel has a lower temperature, acting as a coolant of the mixture inside the cylinder. Less heat = less corrosion.
In Peru, they use a lot of gas because it is much cheaper than gasoline, and they have plenty of problems with the three types of damage because they don’t change what they need, maintenance-wise.
Vehicular gas is more corrosive than regular gasoline.
The gas needs odorant compounds that can be corrosive because of the sulfur content or the inclusion of hydrogen compounds. The more you can use less corrosive fuel, the better.
Control the length of the hoses to the fuel injector system.
If you use a fuel injection system, the length of the hoses going to the injectors can alter the air/fuel ratio. If the engine runs with an unbalanced air/gas mixture, this will generate damage. But the effect when the fuel is gas is worse.The length of these pipes should typically not be over one foot.
However, now that you already know the length of these pipes can produce a negative effect, you can control this parameter with the assistance of your mechanic. If the feeding system is a carburetor, the hoses to worry about are those running from the pressure reducer to the intake manifold.
The hose length issue applies to a device known as a “pressure reducer” also.
Once the gas leaves the pressurized vessel or bottle, this component reduces its pressure to an adequate one before entering the admission manifold.
This hose going from the reducer to the admission manifold should not be even half a meter long (20 inches), and more importantly, this device should be at a higher height than the manifold itself!
You need a Lambda probe.
It is very important for those engines with 5th generation fuel injection systems to be calibrated and programmed to use the right air/fuel proportion. For this, it is very important to have a component called a “Lambda Probe.” If this part does not exist and the car or engine is brand new, the seller should explain why the Lambda probe is missing.
Stock plenty of quality oil and coolants if you have an internal combustion vehicle.
Engine oils usually have a long enough shelf life, like coolants. I hate generating more waste than needed, especially plastic, but my recommendation is to stockpile oil in 1-quart bottles. Purchasing a 220-liter barrel could be cheaper, but it is hard to protect this from further contamination with moisture and other agents. Moving it from one place to another is going to be very difficult, as well.
It is a good suggestion to use to keep the acid low in our oil, especially in engines without a catalytic exhaust system. Better be careful with this. Do your research.
The compound ZDDP is one of the best lubricant additives out there; it works by mitigating oil degradation and stabilizing it chemically. Another compound useful to mitigate friction is . This is sold as Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2).
Corrosive damage is not that important on engines using liquid fuels like gasoline, but it can become an issue if the engine uses gas 100% of the time. I watched this in taxis back in Lima and talked to plenty of drivers about their experience with vehicular gas instead of liquid fuel. They all reported corrosion in their engines.
Their mistake was not using additives or any additional countermeasure for high temperatures! They just kept using the same oil formulated for gasoline and abusing their cars in the process. Not even one of them mentioned changing the coolant to a more efficient one or using these compounds, or changing the spark plugs for the right ones to use with vehicular gas in their car model.
However, we need a disclaimer: please ask your mechanic before changing some of your lubrication products.
There are many variables involved, and this is a complicated issue.
It seems needless to say that most of these recommendations for car engines will work for any fixed motor.
I treated my brand new with a product that generates an internal coating. It has been seldom used, but in high ambient temperature conditions it’s never presented any failure. I expect this generator to work flawlessly with GNV (vehicular gas), methane gas, bio-gas, or gasoline, for many years to come.
With the current supply chain crisis and incoming hyperinflation you need to take care of your motors now. Following the above tips will help you to do just that.
Any experience using bottled gas in your motors? Let us know in the comments!
Thanks for your support and sponsorship!
Stay tuned!
Jose.
About Jose
Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.
Follow Jose on YouTube and gain access to his exclusive content on Patreon. Donations: paypal.me/JoseM151
The post Tips for Keeping Your Propane Engines Running After SHTF appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/propaneenginesfb.jpg6281200Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-04 18:16:142022-05-04 18:16:14Tips for Keeping Your Propane Engines Running After SHTF
(Natural News)
Preppers know that disaster can strike any time, but the worst season to lose electricity is in winter. Before SHTF, stock up on hand warmers and extra fuel for a heater so you can stay warm at home even if the power goes out for several days. (h/t to PreparedForThat.com)
Before winter comes around again, make sure you prepare for a power outage so you don’t have to worry about how to stay warm during cold weather.
Detailed below are 10 ways to stay warm without electricity.
Alternative power source
Winter can be an inconvenient season, but things are much more difficult if you also have to deal with a power outage during cold weather.
Before you lose electricity, consider investing in an alternative power source like a backup generator and stock up on extra fuel.
Body heat
If you are unprepared for a power outage, you can stay warm using body heat. Gather the whole family in a central room and sit next to each other so the warmth that people naturally have is passed on to each other.
Camping gear
If you’re a prepper, you may already have camping gear in your survival stockpile. When the power goes out, use a camping stove to stay warm outdoors.
If it’s too cold to stay outside, gather everyone indoors. You can stay warm using camping cooking bags with heat packs that produce instant heat after adding water. (Related: No power, no problem: 5 Ways to stay warm when the power is out.)
Candles can help you stay warm without electricity, but you’ll need a lot of them for this method to work. You also need to monitor the candles so they don’t cause a fire.
Follow the steps below to make a flower pot heater using candles:
You will need:
Steps:
Huddle near the candles and the pot to stay warm.
DIY insulation
Create a heated area in your home by using blankets to cover windows and doors. This will help insulate a room.
Once the DIY insulated room is done, gather everyone in the room and huddle together for warmth. It’s best to combine this method with a heater.
Gel fuel cans
Light a gel fuel can to stay warm when the power goes out. One can should last for several hours, but like candles you should never leave a burning gel fuel can unattended to avoid accidents and small fires.
Hand warmers
It can be hard to get any of your tasks done when your extremities freeze. Stay warm when the power goes out by wearing mittens and using hand warmers.
Hand warmers will provide instant heat when there is a power outage and your house heater doesn’t work.
Kerosene heaters
Kerosene heaters don’t require electricity, but you need to stock up on extra fuel so you can keep using them when SHTF.
Wood-burning stove
If you have a wood-burning stove in your kitchen, use it to stay warm. Just make sure the room is well-ventilated and that the chimney of the stove is near a window so the smoke can escape.
Soapstones are very heat-absorbing and they can be used to heat your home during an emergency. However, soapstones require another heat source like an oven or stove.
Once soapstones are warm enough, you can use them as a bed or hand warmers.
Soapstone is a very soft stone, but it’s not porous. Because it’s solid, a soapstone can hold heat and radiate it twice as well as steel or iron.
Place a soapstone in the coals of a fire to absorb heat, then carefully remove it with tongs. Place the soapstone on a fireproof base and use it to stay warm.
Before SHTF and you lose power when the weather is cold, stock up on gear that you can use to stay warm even without electricity like hand warmers or a kerosene heater.
Watch the video below to learn about three off-grid heating methods.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Wood-burning-stove.jpg640960Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-02 22:16:112022-05-02 22:16:11Emergency preparedness: 10 Ways to heat your home after SHTF – NaturalNews.com
Are you contemplating the collapse that is coming and preparing yourself, your family and your community for a major change in how life will be lived? Wouldn’t it be great if there was someone who had experienced such a collapse not only in the economy but the society who could tell you things to be looking out for and how to prepare? Well, a gentleman by the name of Selco has had that experience. He survived the Balkan war in the 1990s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
The Sons of Liberty is also producing informative videos on prepping that you may want to check out. Here are the first four installments with our friend David Pruitt from TheMiracleSalve.com (Use promo code SONSOFLIBERTY and save 10% at his site).
If you are not eating right now, take moment and watch a video of a monkey eating a gazelle.
It feels very wrong for most people to look at this. This shows how much we are out of touch with nature. Most people want to eat meat but not kill it themselves for example. What happens to the gazelle is not good and not bad, it’s nature. It simply is.
When you find yourself in a survival situation you get quickly in touch with nature again. And nature is cruel, and the concept of fairness does not exist.
It is hard to be prepared for that before you experience it. But understanding how nature really is and that we only live in a soft bubble protected from the true face of nature, is the first step.
Editor’s note: One of the most important lessons you can take from Selco’s stories is the value of realizing what’s going on early in the situation. When the rules seem to be changing right before your eyes (does this sound familiar?) believe what you’re seeing. Not allowing cognitive dissonance to take over could save your life. This lesson is especially appropriate right now. How many people have you heard blithely talking about when things go right back to normal? Recognize that the disruption may not be temporary. ~ Daisy
Here is an experience I want to share.
When SHTF started, the great majority of us thought that what was going on around us was something like temporary rioting that got a bit out of control. The city services still worked in some areas and everybody was waiting for the madness to stop.
In that short period before the sh*t hit the fan with full force, people usually lost their lives because they did not recognize the situation.
People were out rioting, stealing, fighting. But all that was still “moderate” in comparison to what was coming.
At that moment, people still were “inside” the system, so we all were trying to hide more or less when looting was going on in the neighborhood. The police were still arresting people and trying to control things. People were shooting each other yes, but it was not yet like full-scale shooting and violence. Most people were simply scaring each other with shootings.
One of my friends was involved in a shooting in those early days. After looting some stores, he got wounded. The wound was not too dangerous – he was shot in the foot.
As I said, most of the city services were still working and trying to bring order to that chaos. City ambulances came and picked him up and they rushed to the hospital with him.
About one kilometer from the place where he got picked up, the group of people that actually shot him stopped the ambulance with an improvised barricade. First, they shot the driver and then they killed my friend in the back of the ambulance. They killed him a little bit slower than the driver, and more painfully – they used knives. We got there a bit later, but it was too late for my friend.
Now this story may sound confusing to you. You may say “it happens in war.” But for 95% of folks at that time it was not war – it was just violent rioting. And 95% of folks still trusted the system. They had trust in police and government that they were going to restore law and order. People still trusted that ambulances were “protected” and nobody would stop them, not to mention shooting at one.
In this story here, the wounded guy and the ambulance driver simply did not recognize the situation. He was a nice guy. Why would this happen to him? Back then, I probably would have gone with the ambulance as well if I was shot. It felt very wrong that this happened, but it was one of the first wakeup calls that fair and unfair were concepts of the past.
My friend, in the first place, should not have been there in that time of chaos. The ambulance driver should have said, “screw it” and taken valuable medicines and gone home at the first signs of real violence and total collapse. He did not. It is easy to call him a hero and maybe the day before or hours before he helped save the life of someone else – but it was still too high a risk to be out at this point in time.
It is easy to say that now but at first nobody realized what was happening.
But in those times, we all still called things by old names, police, trust, government, law, system, penalty…
If that happened maybe a day or two later my friend would have crawled off and treated his wounds alone, or the driver would have refused to drive, or…
A few days after that event, the sh*t hit the fan with real force, and nobody had illusions anymore that something temporary was going on or that things would quickly get back to normal.
The point is that lots of people died in that short period before realizing that things weren’t the same. You should not still believe in the good of people around you, but most people did. This ambulance event was one of many that ended with similar deaths.
So next time, when some rioting erupts in your city, some violence after a football game or some protests because of high unemployment or similar, and you hear gunshots and screams, and words about people being killed on the streets, stores being looted, you need to hope that it is a temporary disturbance.
But you cannot trust in that.
Be suspicious, trust in your bug out bag, trust in your storage, trust in your weapon. Do not go out just “because everyone else goes out”. Avoid being greedy and going looking to have a bit more, even if it sounds easy.
You prepare so you do not have to go out.
When you realize the random and brutal nature of violence, then you realize you do not prepare to be a hero. You prepare to survive. That ambulance guy could have helped many more people in later months when we were fighting for survival if he would not have died. But back then, we did not understand the situation.
If you enjoyed this article, please check out my book SHTF Survival Stories.
About Selco:
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
http://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/selcowhenshtfmain.jpg385750Shannonhttp://meprepper.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/meprepper.jpgShannon2022-05-02 18:16:112022-05-02 18:16:11Balkan War Survivor Warns Americans: When Our SHTF Started, We Thought it Was Just a Temporary Disruption Too » Sons of Liberty Media
