The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 46

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. I have a ton of stuff I’m hoping to wrap up before the end of the year, but I’m not certain I’ll get to all of it. My prime writing time, meaning when I seem to hit my creative peak, is in the evening. But one of our holiday traditions is to watch at least one Christmas-themed movie or show every night from Thanksgiving to Christmas. My wife works during the day, so evening is when we watch those films. Almost all of my December deadlines are self-imposed, so that’s a plus. That said, some degree of discipline is necessary for a freelance writer, so we’ll see how this plays out.

It's getting pretty darn cold out lately, which is to be expected given that it’s December. We were hitting single digit wind chills over the weekend. As a result, we’ve been cutting our morning dog walks a little short. One of our doggos is getting old and she doesn’t tolerate bitter cold very well. We did pick up a fleece-lined coat for her last year and she seems to like it. But, we try to keep the walks shorter when it’s stupid cold out.

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Prepper Tip -- Remember field trips in grade school? We usually had to pair up with a buddy. While we saw that as just a convenient way to hang out with our best friend, the intention behind it was to provide a measure of safety. If you were with someone else, you’d naturally watch out for one another.

The buddy system works for grown-ups, too. Case in point – I recently learned that a fellow author I used to hang out with online a bit passed away. We lost touch maybe 15 years ago. No real reason for it, just drifted apart like often happens with online friends. A family member called the police because she hadn’t heard from him in a while, and they did a welfare check. No answer at his apartment, but neighbors reported that his vehicle hadn’t moved in several weeks. Turns out he’d died about six weeks prior to being discovered.

This isn’t exactly uncommon. We hear tragic stories like that all the time, unfortunately.

It might sound juvenile, but consider setting up a buddy system with a trusted and reliable friend. Check in with each other at least every few days. This need not be anything elaborate. Just a simple text is fine. Just a quick message to make sure you’re both still on the green side of the grass.

Make a plan with one another for how to handle unanswered texts/calls and commit to it, just in case.

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One of my recent articles for GAT Daily is on conserving resources. Whether you’re out in the field on a trek or sheltering in place at home due to a crisis, you have to be conscious of what you have available to you and make the best use of it.

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For those who have already purchased the Real World Prepping Wall Calendar, all online bonus content is now live.

For those who haven't picked one up yet, here's where you can get them. If you’re planning to get some as gifts, I’d get the order in soon. They take a few days to print and shipping can be a little slow. If you to purchase 10 or more for your family/group, shoot me a message to discuss bulk pricing.

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Holiday Wish List – Prepper Edition

Here’s the deal. I’m not going to scour the interwebz looking for sales. Instead, I’m going to give you a list of cool stuff that I wholeheartedly recommend for preppers and prep-minded folks. If you can find it on sale, all the better.

Stocking Stuffers

Fox 40 Whistle

Streamlight Nano

Books

Becoming Bulletproof by Evy Poumpouras

Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide (2nd edition) by Jim Cobb

The Urban Prepper’s Guide by Jim Cobb

Extreme Wilderness Survival by Craig Caudill

Build the Perfect Survival Kit by John McCann

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley

Edge of Collapse series by Kyla Stone

Victoria Emerson series by John Gilstrap

Knives

Swiss Army Hiker - https://www.dlttrading.com/swiss-army-hiker

Bark River Mountain Man (5 or 8) - https://www.dlttrading.com/bark-river-mountain-man

White River M1 Backpacker Pro - https://www.dlttrading.com/white-river-m1-backpacker-pro-black-blade-green-orange-textured-g-10

Buck 110 Folding Hunter - https://www.dlttrading.com/buck-110-folding-hunter

Gear

Sawyer MINI Water Filter

EDC Waxed Canvas Travel Tray from PNWBUSHCRAFT - https://www.pnwbushcraft.com/collections/rugged-outdoor-gear-by-pnw-bushcraft/products/edc-waxed-canvas-travel-tray-for-your-gear-and-edc-2-0

Nature Reliance Fire Card - https://naturereliance.org/collections/gear/products/fire-card-survival-tool

Spark Survival Fire Tool - https://naturereliance.org/collections/gear/products/spark-survival-and-fire-tool

Exotac fireROD XL - https://www.dlttrading.com/exotac-firerod-xl-orange

Packs/Bags

Tuff Possum Gear Shackleton EDC Satchel - https://tuffpossumgear.com/product/shackleton-edc-satchel/

Bum Bag Bundle - https://www.blueridgeoverlandgear.com/products/bum-bag-bundle

Tuff Possum Gear Belt Pouch - https://tuffpossumgear.com/product/belt-pouch/

KY Handcrafted Enhanced Communications Pouch - https://kyhandcrafted.com/products/ecp-enhanced-communications-pouch

KY Handcrafted Pack Pouch - https://kyhandcrafted.com/products/pack-pocket

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I was reminded today of something my friend Andy Truong posted on Facebook a few years ago. “Everything we say at funerals we should be saying at birthday parties. We leave so much love unspoken.”

As I did when it was first posted, I’m issuing to you a challenge. We each have people in our lives who have made a difference to us, who were a positive influence in some way. Between now and the end of the year, make a point to reach out to as many of those people as possible and tell them you appreciate them.

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The new episode of How to Survive 2025 dropped this week. This time around, we’re talking about doomscrolling and what you can do about it. This is the YouTube link, but you should be able to find this episode anywhere you normally get your podcasts.

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For our hike this week, we had a bit of a mix up. I had a certain nature trail in mind, one that circled a small lake, and that’s where we decided to go. But I had the location mixed up with an entirely different trail. By the time we realized it, we were almost there so we decided to just run with it. We ended up at Lake La Grange just a bit outside Whitewater, Wisconsin.

Survival Tip – Paper Road Maps

How many of you have one or more paper maps in your vehicle? When was the last time you navigated a trip using one? The ability to navigate using a road map could prove important if you’re evacuating to an unfamiliar area and GPS isn’t cooperating with you.

Perhaps I’m showing my age a bit, but I can recall several lengthy road trips my wife and I took long before GPS and Google Maps. I don’t mean just navigating to Grandma’s house or something either. I’m talking driving from Wisconsin to Colorado, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, then back home. We didn’t even use AAA for trip planning. Just basic road maps the entire way.

A few tips for those new to paper maps.

1) Pay attention to the scale so you can estimate distance. I never found it necessary to be absolutely precise with this. I was happy with just a ballpark idea of, say, 10 miles vs. 50 miles before the next stop.

2) Look at the legend and find the symbol for rest stops. Look for these along the interstate routes on the map, as they aren’t always signed well in advance.

3) Use small Post-It notes to mark stops or other information. These are easier to see than pen or marker notes on the map. If the Post-Its are fresh, they’ll stick well enough as long as you don’t move them around a lot.

Backwoods Survival Guide Magazine

For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for Backwoods Survival Guide magazine. Here is the cover for the current issue available in stores right now.

You can find Backwoods Survival Guide just about anywhere magazines are sold, including:

• Walmart

• Sam's Club

• Costco

• Publix

• Walgreens

• Rite Aid

• CVS

• Tractor Supply

• Fleet Farm

• Barnes & Noble

Subscriptions are available here.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?

I am always just an email away - jim@survivalweekly.com.