Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. Work continues on the garage renovation. Weather forced a few days off and we’re looking at another run of rain later this week. But we’re making progress and hopefully we’ll have the project put to bed soon.
I can’t say that I’m hating the cooler weather in the last few days. We went from 75 to 55 in just a day or two and it has stayed there since. I know it won’t be long before the snow flies, but for now I’m enjoying the fall weather.
On the work-that-pays-the-bills front, I submitted the last of the articles for Backwoods Survival Guide 27 and I’ll be diving into editing the layouts for Prepper Survival Guide 21 this week. I’ve also been making notes and jotting down ideas about the 2024 Real World Prepping calendar. If you have any suggestions or input on that project, feel free to hit me up.
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Prepper Tip -- For the record, the basic $30 countertop water filter pitcher found at Walmart isn’t going to remove waterborne pathogens from water you’ve sourced outside the home, such as from a nearby pond or stream. They’re good for improving the taste of tap water, but don’t count on them to keep water potable in a real crisis.
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Cover reveal! Prepper Survival Guide 20 will hit stores and subscriber mailboxes in a few weeks. Here are a few of the topics you’ll find inside:
Prioritizing critical needs in a crisis
Survival thermodynamics
Putting together realistic first aid kits
Financial prepping
Embracing discomfort
Tool maintenance
Avoiding online scams
Signaling for help in the wilderness
Handling dental issues when you can’t run to the dentist
Speed up your decision making in a crisis
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Prepper Tip -- Regarding building a survival library at home -- while I’m all for investing in a knowledge stockpile, I feel it is even more important to actually read the books and other materials you acquire. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just having them on a shelf is enough. In an emergency, you might not have the luxury of time to sift through your book collection to look for instructions or advice.
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Earlier this week, I saw a post on Facebook alleging that many defense instructors tend to over-emphasize situational awareness (SA), that SA needs to be taken as part of a bigger picture, rather than being a single entity by itself. The analogy used was making a sandwich, where SA might be one ingredient but you can’t overlook the bread and other fixings.
Here’s my take on it.
No, situational awareness isn’t THE thing, but it is definitely A thing, and maybe one of the most important things in the self-defense world. It is a skill (perhaps mindset is a better word) that just about everyone can practice and improve upon, regardless of strength, agility, dexterity, or motor skills. The “muscles” involved can be stretched and exercised with zero investment in equipment or gear. The easiest confrontation to win is the one you can avoid altogether.
I absolutely agree that it shouldn’t be the only tool in your defense arsenal, but it for damn sure is the one you should be using the most.
Pay attention to the world around you. For all the ugliness we see in the media and online, it’s actually a pretty beautiful place. You just need to open your eyes to see it.
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For this week’s hike, we took the day off from the garage work and headed for a semi-local park. It was a nice walk, and a nice break from climbing up and down ladders.
Survival Tip – Social Media & Info Gathering
I’ll be the first to admit that social media often seems like a dumpster fire, even on good days, but it can be useful. Let’s use Facebook as an example.
If you do a little searching, you’re likely to find one or more groups on Facebook that are set up to be for your local area. Many of them are for buying and selling, sort of like an online version of flea markets or rummage sales. But there are also numerous groups that are just for locals to network.
Even if you never plan to post anything, join as many of these local groups as you can. They are great sources of information. For example, in just the last few days there have been a few posts in some of my local groups about road closures, both current as well as ones that are planned in the immediate future. This information could be vital if I needed to evacuate the area quickly, or even just get to the other side of the county in a hurry. I take a little time each week to scroll through the posts in these groups and see if there’s anything I might want or need to know.
Another thing to search for on Facebook is to see if there is a local “scanner page” for your area. These are becoming more and more common. The way they work is an individual or small group of people get together to monitor local emergency scanner broadcasts, then post to the page the calls that they hear. Everything from vehicle accidents to burglaries, shootings to lost kids, and so much more get posted to the page, pretty much as it happens. Frequently people will share additional information in the comments on those posts, such as eyewitness accounts. Many of these pages expand beyond just emergencies and become sort of a central source for all kinds of information, from lost dogs to business closures.
Facebook can be an absolute time black hole, but if you’re careful, there’s plenty of good info to had, as long as you know where to look.
Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide
For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for both Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide magazines. Here are the covers for the current issues that are available in stores right now.
You can find them just about anywhere magazines are sold, including:
Walmart
Sam's Club
Costco
Publix
Walgreens
Rite Aid
CVS
Tractor Supply
Fleet Farm
Barnes & Noble
Subscriptions to both titles are available here.
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?
I am always just an email away - jim@survivalweekly.com.