The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 28
Hey folks, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. There’s an old curse that goes something like, “May you live in interesting times.” It’s been said to be the English translation of a Chinese curse, but that’s believed to be apocryphal. Either way, I think a lot of us feel like we’re living that curse, yeah? As I saw posted on Twitter recently, “I’m tired of living in unprecedented times.”
There’s a lot going on in the United States and around the world, and an awful lot of it is concerning. My best suggestion is to worry most about what is within your control. There isn’t much you can do directly about national or world affairs, other than try to be ready in case things get ugly.
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Prepping Tip – I’m sure most or all of you heard about the computer glitches that were affecting systems all over the world last week. I’ll leave the theorizing about the whys and hows of those outages to others. Let’s talk about how to mitigate the problem at a personal level.
A few years ago, a Windows update caused my computer to crash. Apparently, there was something that didn’t mesh well between the update and HP computer systems, which is what I was running at the time. I had the Blue Screen of Death and no workaround. I ended up losing a ton of data. I can’t stress enough the importance of making sure you backup your computer(s) on a frequent basis. You should also create Restore Points regularly. Had I have done that, I’d have not lost nearly as much data. By the way, it took over a week before they came up with a patch to fix that particular problem. I mean, it was at least a few days before they even acknowledged that the issue was a conflict between Microsoft and HP, as I recall.
One more thing that I’ve done as a result of that ordeal is that I’ve changed the settings on my computer such that any updates will not be installed until three weeks after they’re released. I figure that should give them plenty of time to patch any problems before my computer has to deal with them.
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I just finalized the details on a class I’ll be teaching in September. This is a FREE event. No registration is necessary.
Prepping with Children
Thursday, September 12th
6:00PM – 7:30PM
Matheson Memorial Library
101 N Wisconsin Street
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 you can teach them
Specific supplies to keep on hand
Join us for a great learning session and help keep the kids in your life safe. Please note that this will be an IN PERSON ONLY event. There will be no streaming or other virtual options.
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Quite often after I’ve mentioned a class I’m doing somewhere, I have people ask when I’ll be coming to their area to teach. Here’s the thing. I will travel damn near anywhere to speak about prepping, but I can't afford to just eat the costs. That's simply not viable. As much as I'd love to do this for free, I'm not independently wealthy
Here's how it works. If you can:
1) Find a venue to hold the event (library, park, someone's backyard, whatever).
and
2) Determine a way to reimburse me for travel expenses and lodging, as well as a small speaking fee.
We can set a date and promote the hell out of it. Drop me a email to discuss further if you're interested.
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Craig Caudill’s new book, Traditional Bushcraft, is out now and available from Amazon and other booksellers. I like this one quite a bit. He shows how to complete various projects step-by-step, with great full-color photos. The cool thing is that you’ll learn a ton of skills as you go through the different projects. Great stuff.
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I’ve been enjoying what I’ve seen from a YouTube channel called Outdoor Boys.
What I like is that he’s not promoting anything. There’s no, “Hey, you need to buy this immediately!” In fact, he rarely ever mentions the brands of any of his gear. He’s just out there having the time of his life in the outdoors. I’ve only watched some of his Alaska stuff so far, but it’s pretty good.
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My friend Daisy Luther has a new novel out, her first foray into fiction. The title is The Widow in the Woods and it’s pretty damn good. One thing I love is that the main character isn’t a former SEAL/Ranger/Green Beret who knows 87 different ways to kill with a paper clip. Grace is an older woman, a midwife and herbalist, who lives by herself in a cozy cabin hidden away in the middle of nowhere. When the world came to an end, it didn’t have a huge impact on her day-to-day life. But when trouble comes calling, she isn’t about to roll over and let someone else take what little she has.
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I may have mentioned before that I have a great affinity for blue gear when I’m outdoors. The color doesn’t really blend in with anything, so it’s easy to spot if you drop it or set it down. Blaze orange is great, but it can all but disappear among fall foliage on the ground.
From left to right – Exotac fireROD, Streamlight Wedge, and Kershaw Livewire.
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Our hike over the weekend was a visit to Aztalan State Park outside of Jefferson, Wisconsin. It’s been probably ten years since we were last there. Lots of rolling terrain along with ceremonial and burial mounds.
Survival Tip – Know Your Location
This spins off of something Craig Caudill shared on Facebook recently. Get in the habit of knowing where you are at any given time when you’re away from home. If an accident or other emergency were to occur, it’s important to know where to direct first responders.
If you’re familiar with the area, that’s likely not an issue. You know where the grocery store, Walmart, favorite park, and such are located, right? But if you’re visiting a new to you area, pay attention to signs and landmarks.
“We’re in front of the deli on 7th Street.”
“We’re about two miles down the blue trail from the Nordic trailhead. We just passed trail marker number 5.”
Minutes matter in an emergency and the more precise you can be with your location, the less searching responders will need to do to find you.
Side note – I highly recommend following Craig on social media, especially his Nature Reliance School group on Facebook.
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.