The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 12, Issue 35

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. I hope those of you here in the U.S. had a great Labor Day weekend. On Monday, my wife and I spent a little time exploring our county fair. I spent about 15 years working security there, but haven’t been there at all in the decade since I quit that gig. It was a whole new experience for me visiting as a civilian, so to speak. We had a good time, but we were both ready to head for home once we’d seen most of the fairgrounds.

Being a short work week, I’m really going to have to hustle to get everything on my To Do list completed. Here’s just some of it.

--Edit all content for Backwoods Survival Guide 36, due by Friday.

--Knife review for Tactical Knives, also due by Friday.

--Five or six articles for GAT Daily.

--Knife review for GearJunkie.

--Two articles for Skillset magazine.

--Patreon posts every day.

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This is a great, real-world example why prepping is important. A community near me issued a warning indicating their village water supply has dangerously high levels of nitrites. They’ve instructed residents not to drink the water, nor use it for pets, brushing teeth, or food prep. Basically, anything where the water could be ingested.

Officials have arranged for bottled water distribution, one case of 24 bottles per resident each day until the situation is resolved. To the best of my knowledge, they have not given an ETA for when things will be back to normal.

Nitrites aren’t something that can be handled with run of the mill filters like Brita or even Sawyer. Boiling the water doesn’t help, either. Reverse osmosis is one type of filter that will work in this instance.

Water is a critical resource. Make sure you have some potable water stored, just in case.

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September is National Preparedness Month. Here’s a short write-up I did for GAT Daily outlining some steps for putting together a family emergency plan.

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This is an old joke, but I’ve always liked it. Some of you may not have seen or heard it before. And yes, it is prepper-adjacent.

A southern town is rapidly flooding during a bad storm. A couple of residents take a rowboat over to the church. “Preacher, c’mon! You need to evacuate!”

The preacher replies, “No sir, if I need any help, the Good Lord will take care of me.”

An hour later, the water has flooded most of the main floor of the church. Another group of residents come by in a boat. “Preacher! Get in the boat! We need to get you out of here!”

Again, the preacher replies, “If I need any help, the Lord will take care of me. Y’all get somewhere safe.”

About two hours later, the preacher is clinging to the steeple as water roars all around. A helicopter comes overhead and they drop a ladder. “Preacher! Grab that ladder and let’s get you out of here!”

The preacher shouts back, “If I need any help, the Lord will take care of me!”

Well, in short order, the preacher finds himself standing at the Pearly Gates. He demands an audience with God. He gets right up in His face, wagging a finger under His nose. “You promised to take care of me! You said that as long as I believed in You with my whole heart, You would watch out for me! What happened?”

God replies, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?”

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I have a few copies left of Backwoods Survival Guide 34. $15 each, which includes shipping to any US address. PayPal only, no exceptions. Drop me a message if you’re wanting a copy. These will be gone from stores soon, as the new issue will be dropping in a couple of weeks.

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Local-ish folks, mark your calendars. I’ll be appearing at the Stoughton Public Library (304 S. Fourth Street, Stoughton, WI) on Saturday, October 18, 2PM-3:30PM. I’ll be teaching an Intro to Preparedness class, covering all of the basics. No registration is required.

Additionally, they’ve partnered with Ink Cap Books to offer signed copies of my books. You can order any title(s) you wish through this link. Note – as of this writing, the new 2nd edition of Prepper’s Home Defense is currently showing up at that link, but that one won’t be available anywhere until early next year.

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If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. A better approach is to have other tools as well in the toolbox. Case in point -- pepper spray. Here is a great primer on the subject.

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My father-in-law recently had back surgery. We were visiting them over the weekend, so we had to choose a new-to-us hike location. We ended up at the Fox River Sanctuary in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It isn’t a place I’d go out of my way to revisit. We were unable to find any maps or directions as to where to go from the parking lot, so we just wandered. We eventually found a paved path that took us to a dirt trail. It wasn’t necessarily a bad walk, just not what we were looking for.

Survival Tip – Solo Living Safety Tips

Whether you live alone all the time or you just have the place to yourself for a weekend, there are a few things you might consider adding to your safety/security repertoire.

When you shower, take your phone into the bathroom with you. Put a towel over it on the counter if you’re concerned about privacy. The idea here is that if you slip or fall and need help, your phone won’t be sitting on the other side of the house.

Get to know your neighbors, at least to some degree. You don’t need to invite them over on a regular basis, but you should at least be able to recognize them on sight. Wave and say hi when you see them. Not only do you want to develop a good sense of who lives around you, but hopefully they’ll come check on you if they’ve not seen you for a couple of days.

If your lifestyle and living situation allow for it, consider adding a canine companion to the mix. This isn’t a decision to be made lightly, as it’s a lifetime commitment. But dogs are a tremendous security asset.

Years ago, I watched a movie called Frankie and Johnny, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. Not a bad flick if you like rom-coms with a dramatic edge. A scene that stuck out to me was when Frankie, Pfeiffer’s character who lived alone, was eating in her apartment and began to choke. She managed to dislodge the food using the Heimlich Maneuver on herself. I remember thinking at the time how that would be terrifying. Here’s a good explanation on how to do the Heimlich on yourself.

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

• 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.