What is the difference between a Survivalist and a Prepper?

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

How are Survivalists and Preppers alike?

Let’s start with the easy stuff first. What do people who call themselves Survivalists have in common with a Prepper? 

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7 Prepper Food Storage Mistakes

1 – VARIETY

Most people don’t have enough variety in their storage. 95% of the people I’ve worked with only stored the 4 basic items we mentioned earlier: wheat, milk, honey, and salt. Statistics show most of us won’t survive on such a diet for several reasons.

• Many people are allergic to wheat and may not be aware of it until they are eating it meal after meal.
• Wheat is too harsh for young children. They can tolerate it in small amounts but not as their main staple.
• We get tired of eating the same foods over and over and many times prefer not to eat than to sample that particular food again. This is called appetite fatigue. Young children and older people are particularly susceptible to it. Store less wheat than is generally suggested and put the difference into a variety of other grains, particularly ones your family likes to eat. Also store a variety of beans. This will add variety of color, texture and flavor. Variety is the key to a successful storage program. It is essential that you store flavorings such as tomato, bouillon, cheese, and onion.

Also, include a good supply of the spices you like to cook with. These flavorings and spices allow you to do many creative things with your grains and beans. Without them you are severely limited. One of the best suggestions I can give you is buy a good food storage cookbook. Go through it and see what your family would really eat. Notice the ingredients as you do it. This will help you more than anything else to know what items to store.

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How to Make Your Food with a DIY Solar Cooker

If you’ve ever stepped barefoot onto blacktop on a sweltering summer day, you’re probably already painfully familiar with the extraordinary heating power of the sun. Harnessing this free energy is the crux of solar cooking – a fast, renewable, pollution-free method of food preparation. Solar cooking has long been on the agenda of ideal sustainable living practices, but with new innovations and dwindling natural resources, there’s hope to have a fully powered solar eating future ahead.

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The 5 Very Best Survival Guns

Before I begin this list, I have to make a disclaimer. I am a gun guy. I like AK-47s, AR-15s, M1As, and just about anything that will take a BIG magazine and send lots of hot lead down range as fast as I can pull the trigger.

I like tactical toys like chest rigs with a gazillion magazine pouches riding over a plate carrier, I like ‘em with an integrated pistol belt that holds a large frame semi-automatic pistol and even more magazine pouches. I like these things a lot, and I can envision a time when all of this might come in handy, but for the moment it’s just FUN!

I sometimes get frustrated with the “Totally Tactical” Survivalists. You know the ones. They spend all their prepping/survival time and money on guns, ammo and paramilitary gear and treat food, water and self-sufficiency as a distant second. Make no mistake folks: Your first priority for preps should be securing your food and water supply, making your home capable of sustaining you and yours through whatever may come. If you haven’t covered these bases, you really don’t have anything to defend.

However, there are some guns that should come fairly early on in your preparedness journey, and that is today’s topic.

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30 Crazy Camping Tricks That Will Make Your Life Easier

Protect Your Toilet Paper

We've entered the age where glamping' is a thing. Glamor camping, for those who mercifully had not heard about it till now, is a type of outing where one sleeps less under a tent and more in a fully appointed home that just happens to be under a canvas roof.

Though the glamping trend feels a bit too much like the One Percent’s approach to the outdoors, glampers do have a point: This is the 21st century, and there’s no reason we need to treat camping like we’re still cavemen. Here are some camping hacks to make your trip less chaotic and, hopefully, more enjoyable.

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Top 10 Mistakes Made by Preppers

Being prepared is something that every single American really needs to be doing. There are approximately three hundred sixteen million people living in the United States today, and according to Google, about three million Americans consider themselves to be preppers. This probably doesn’t include those who have never visited any preppers websites, and those who just have continued to live that way, because that is all they know. However with an increasing number of Americans finally catching on to the fact that something isn’t quite right in this once great nation of ours.

We thought it would be equally important to think about some of the areas of prepping that people can make mistakes with. I myself have been guilty of more than one item on this list, how about you? Take a look at our list, and see how you measure up.

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Why You Should Build Community Before SHTF

Establishing a network of local contacts is imperative for long-term survival during and after SHTF. As survivalists and preppers, we take excruciating measures to prepare the tiniest details for what events might come. We read up on which ammo will pierce an engine block the best. We invest time choosing food-grade plastic in which to store kitchen staples, and we upgrade to the fanciest water-purification systems and run practice drills for if an intruder were to crash through our front door. Then, we debate those things on the Internet, because we as humans love to get lost in the details. Not only are those fun, but they’re concrete concepts that are easy to wrap our heads around.

However, I can’t help but notice that we invest our time, energy, and money on details like those instead of tackling some of the bigger, more uncomfortable problems.

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NSA Director Says Chinese Cyber Hackers Can Shut Down U.S. Power Grid

NSA Director Michael Rogers says that Chinese cyber hackers can shut down the power grid in the United States and essentially end life as we know it in America. According to the federal official, China and “one or two” other countries are capable of  launching cyberattacks that terminate the ability of the power grid to function and shut down other “critical systems” nationwide.

The real possibility of massive and devastating power grid cyberattacks has long been discussed by both national security experts and the five million prepper families in the United States, but has not officially been confirmed by a “top cyber official” in the federal government until now.

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Getting Started: Prepping for a 2 Week Power Outage

If you’re new to preparedness, you may be reading some of the excellent and informative websites out there and feeling quite quite overwhelmed. While many sites recommend a one year supply of food, manual tools, and a bug out lodge in the forest, it’s vital to realize that is a long-term goal, not a starting point.

A great starting point for someone who is just getting started on a preparedness journey is prepping specifically for a two-week power outage. If you can comfortably survive for two weeks without electricity, you will be in a far better position than most of the people in North America.

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How the enemy will gather intel by probing your defense

I love this guy and his video series. Check it out HERE!

Top Economic Forecaster Warns: “No Institution Is Safe”

Economic forecaster Martin Armstrong, who is known for having accurately predicted major events like the Savings & Loan crash, the collapse of Japanese financial markets and the destruction of the Russian economy almost to the day, says that a major turning point is coming to the global paradigm this October. While stopping short of calling for an all out crash, Armstrong’s cyclical turning point of 2015.75 suggests that very big changes are set to take place.

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What Doomsday Preppers Can Teach You About Home Defense

The topic of doomsday prepping is quite divisive. To many, the idea of stockpiling food, fuel, generators, medical supplies, firearms and ammunition to prepare for a natural disaster and/or large scale civil unrest seems more than a little extreme. On the other hand, preppers are typically surprised at how many of their neighbors fail to take basic precautions for themselves and their families in the event of a catastrophe.

You need look no further than Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath to comprehend the importance of disaster planning.

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10 Reasons Why You Do Not Want to Bug Out

The plan seems simple doesn’t it? All you need for the best chance of survival for your family is a well-stocked bug out bag, a keen attention to your surroundings and careful monitoring of what is happening in the news. With these bases covered you will be a very informed prepper and will be able to get the jump on all of the clueless sheep if something bad happens. You will load your family up with your bags and hike off into the sunset way ahead of the approaching death and destruction. You have a plan to bug out.

It sounds perfect, but in this article I am going to try and convince you how that might not be the best and first option you should consider.

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Bugging Out vs. Hunkering Down

A frequent topic in Preparedness and Survival circles is the subject of Bugging Out and more specifically the question of whether you plan to Bug Out or will you Hunker Down. This simple question easily elicits all manner of responses and you will rarely find consensus on which is the better option. The only good thing about this question is there are only two options and one of those has to be the correct one in someone’s eyes. A 50/50 shot of getting this right isn’t too shabby if you are looking at odds, but there will be those who maintain an absolute position on one option or the other.

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Top 5 Diseases During SHTF

This video is from ThePatriotNurse (one of my favorite) and she discusses the Top 5 Diseases that you will be dealing with during a SHTF event.

Check out the video HERE!!!!

5 Easy Survival Hacks Everyone Should Know

5 Easy Survival Hacks Everyone Should Know

This video shows 5 easy survival hacks that everyone should know. Check out the video Here!!

How to Start Prepping: Top 10 List

Top Ten things to get to start your prepping. Have you wanted to prep but don't know where to start because of too much info and too many big prepping companies telling you to buy expensive "starting packages". Tell those prepping corps. to take a hike!!! Start this list today. With a little money and weekends worth of shopping you will be well on your way to keeping yourself and your family fed and safe in extreme times.

Check out the full video HERE!!

5.11 Rush 72 tactical backpack review – the perfect bug out bag?

5.11 Rush 72 tactical backpack review – the perfect bug out bag?

So I posted a question on a couple of forums, my facebook page and in a couple of facebook groups about which backpack everyone thought was the best bug out bag out there. By a LONG SHOT, the number one answer was the 5.11 3 Day Rush Backpack. I decided to get my grubby little hands on one to see what the fuss is all about, and to let you know what I thought of the bag everyone’s getting.

I’ve been using an old Camelbak BFM on deployments and for traveling for about a decade now. So long that I couldn’t find a good link to the exact model for you but this one is fairly close to it. The one I have has smaller side pockets that that one, which is a big improvement from what I have.

Get the rest of the review HERE!