The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 34
National Preparedness Month!
Hey folks, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. This is going to be kind of a long one, so you might want to grab a cup of coffee and settle in.
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September is National Preparedness Month. In years past, I shared one prep-related post a day on my Facebook page. This year, we’re doing the same but on our How to Survive 2025 podcast page.
We’re also on Instagram and Twitter/X.
My Patreon subscribers get a sneak peek at each podcast episode several days before they’re released to the public.
You can find all of the available episodes here.
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Prepper Tip -- When you enter a business, such as a restaurant, store, or movie theater, do you habitually make note of the different egress points? Most of them should be clearly marked, even if only as emergency exits. There are also ones you can’t readily see, such as going through the kitchen to a loading dock of some sort or through a stock room to a back entrance to the store. A window could also be an egress point in some cases.
In a crisis, herd mentality can take hold. Many people will automatically head toward the door through which they entered. Others will follow those people instinctively. This can lead to crushing crowds as tons of people try to cram their way through a narrow doorway.
Make it a habit to figure out at least two points of egress. If the worst occurs and you need to evacuate, don’t follow the crowd and end up caught up in that mess. Head toward an exit that’s less busy.
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I’m leading two classes locally this month.
Prepping With Kids
September 12, 2024
6PM-7PM
Matheson Memorial Library
Elkhorn, WI
In this class session, we’ll be focusing on how to take your children into account as you prep and plan for possible disasters. Among the topics we’ll cover:
· How to speak with your children about disasters
· Skills that you can teach them
· Specific supplies to keep on hand
This event is free to attend
Prepping 101
September 26, 2024
4PM-8PM
Matheson Memorial Library
Elkhorn, WI
This is part of a multi-session training event. They are offering Narcan training and then a CPR/AED class, following by my session where we’ll talk about basic preparedness best practices. While all of the training sessions are free, they are requiring registration so that they can plan ahead for necessary supplies. Please register here.
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In honor of National Preparedness Month, here is my updated list of prepper-related reading recommendations, divided by category. The titles in each section are not in any specific order. After posting/sharing this list a few times, I had several people ask me to include a few of my own works, so you’ll find those scattered within as well.
General Preparedness
Practical Self-Reliance by John D. McCann
Be Ready for Anything by Daisy Luther
The Prepper’s Workbook by Scott Williams and Scott Finazzo
The Prepper’s Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr
Build the Perfect Survival Kit by John McCann
Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide (2nd edition) by Jim Cobb
The Urban Prepper’s Guide by Jim Cobb
Bug-Out: Reality vs. Hype by John D McCann
Homesteading
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
Storey’s Basic Country Skills by John and Martha Storey
The Mini Farming Bible by Brett Markham
Creating the Low-Budget Homestead by Steven Gregersen
Curious Compendium of Practical and Obscure Skills
Wild Edibles and Medicinals
Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America
Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants by Christopher Nyerges
Foraging Wild Edibles Plants of North America by Christopher Nyerges
The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer
Medical
The Survival Medicine Handbook by Dr. Joseph Alton and Amy Alton, ARNP
Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease by Dr. Joseph Alton and Amy Alton, ARNP
Prepper’s Natural Medicine by Cat Ellis
Where There is No Doctor
Where There is No Dentist
Security/Defense
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
Left of Bang by Patrick Van Horne and Jason Riley
Suburban Defense by Don Shift
Mindset
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
Wilderness Survival
Extreme Wilderness Survival by Craig Caudill
Stay Alive by John D. McCann
Ultimate Wilderness Gear by Craig Caudill
101 Skills You Need to Survive in the Woods by Kevin Estela
Bushcraft Basics by Leon Pantenburg
Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski
Traditional Bushcraft by Craig Caudill
Magazines
There are a number of prepping or survival related publications on the stand or available by subscription. Some folks like ‘em, some folks don’t. If you’re looking for new reading material, here are titles I like.
Backwoods Survival Guide
RECOIL OFFGRID
Backwoodsman
Self-Reliance
Backwoods Home
Countryside
Fiction
There are tons of disaster, survival, and post-apocalyptic novels out there. Lots of them are great, a whole lot more are ridiculous. Here are a few that I liked and would recommend. It isn’t an exhaustive list of great novels, nor are all of them likely to appeal to everyone. Read the summaries, check reviews, and go from there.
The Survivalist series by Arthur Bradley
Borrowed World series by Franklin Horton
The Rule of Three series by Eric Walters
Brian’s Saga (aka Hatchet series) by Gary Paulsen
Ashfall series by Mike Mullin
The Pulse series by Scott B Williams
One Second After by William Forstchen
Lights Out by David Crawford
Edge of Collapse series by Kyla Stone
Victoria Emerson series by John Gilstrap
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A couple of my reviews hit the GAT Daily blog in the last week.
I’m really enjoying writing for GAT Daily. It’s a great opportunity for me to play around with cool stuff and report my findings, as well as talk about some prepper-centric topics.
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For our hike this week, I wanted to take it easy so we went over to a local nature preserve and did a lazy two miles.
Survival Tip – Teamwork Gone Awry
I have to think that there are more details yet to come with this story. At least I hope so as on the surface, it sounds pretty horrible. A group of 15 coworkers get together for a team building exercise that involves ascending and descending a 14,000-foot mountain. For some reason, one of those hikers was left behind while the remaining 14 people made it back safely. Not only that, but as they descended, they removed belongings that were intended to be trail markers.
As the remaining guy worked his way down, he got lost. He had a bit of a cell signal, so he dropped a pin with his location. His coworkers told him that he was on the wrong path and that he needed to go back up the mountain to find the correct trail. Then, just after he finally got to the correct path, a storm blew in, complete with freezing rain and high winds. He not only got disoriented again, but he also lost his cell signal.
Around 9PM, his coworkers finally reported him missing. This is about 8.5 hours after he started his initial descent. The foul weather hampered rescue efforts, and they finally located him in the morning. The guy said he’d fallen about 20 times and after the last time, he couldn’t get back up. It was just through blind luck that where he ended up he was able to get enough of a cell signal to report his location.
Two things came to mind when I read this story. First, always carry some amount of survival gear with you and know how to use it. Plan to self-rescue if things go awry.
Second, if I were he and my coworkers weren’t being all that helpful in this situation, I’d have called for help from the professionals. And as soon as I got back home, I’d turn in my resignation as there’s no way I’d want to spend another minute around those people.
Again, I understand that we likely don’t have all of the details, but I’m hard-pressed to come up with an understandable and acceptable reason those coworkers left him behind, removed trail markers, and waited nearly nine hours before they notified the authorities.
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 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 are available here.
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?
I am always just an email away - jim@survivalweekly.com.