The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 10, Issue 32

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. I know I begin every issue with that sentence, or some variation of it, but please know that I’m sincerely appreciative of you taking the time to read through these installments. Thank you for letting me take up some space in your head from time to time. I’ll do my best not to abuse the privilege.

After the various health issues I’ve had to deal with the last couple of months, you might recall me saying that I was going to slow down a bit, work-wise. I’m happy to report that I’ve held true to that so far. I took a “vacation day” last week and we headed to our favorite beach on Lake Michigan. We try to get there at least once or twice a summer. It is, quite literally, one of my favorite places on the planet. My wife and I just stroll up and down the beach, in and out of the water, looking for cool rocks, sea glass, and nifty driftwood. The sound of the waves hitting the shore is so very peaceful and centering to me.

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Of course, that doesn’t mean I didn’t get any work done in the last week, far from it. We finalized all of the content for Prepper Survival Guide 20, and I think this is one of our best issues yet. You folks will get to see it later this fall. I also wrote several essays for my Patreon subscribers, including answers to a new round of Ask Me Anything.

Up this week will be a couple of articles for Field & Stream, research for a couple of articles for upcoming issues of Backwoods Survival Guide, and hopefully a quick trip to go river tubing with my wife.

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Regular readers know that I often talk about topics that many hardcore survival types overlook. One of those areas is interpersonal communication. I try to always keep a perspective steeped in realism and, let’s face it, the vast majority of disagreements and arguments in our lives, personal and professional, can be attributed to some sort of communication issue.

Sometimes, it’s a simple miscommunication, where the intended message got dropped somewhere along the way. However, quite often it isn’t what is said but how it is said.

Tact refers to phrasing your message in such a way that it is less likely to cause anger or offense to the recipient. And that right there is where this breaks down for entirely too many people, that word “offense.” Many people feel that this is very much an either/or proposition.

Either you’re as blunt as a brick and don’t care in the least how folks feel about what you’re saying. “Your feelings aren’t my responsibility!”

OR

You’re tiptoeing around the truth, for fear that someone will be upset about it.

The reality is that this isn’t as clearly divided as that, not at all. Tact lives in the gray area between those extremes.

Consider this example. A wife asks, “What do you think of this outfit?”

The blunt answer – “I think it makes your ass look like a feed sack filled with rabid raccoons.”

The tactful answer – “Meh, not a fan of it.”

It is absolutely possible to be direct, to not sugarcoat anything, and do it without being a jerk. Honestly, that’s all tact is, really. Some people do it naturally, some people are proud to avoid it, and the rest of us need to work on it, at least to some degree.

A little tact can go a long way. Think about it like this. Tact can help resolve a fight or argument before it happens. This can save time and energy, both of which are often in short supply as it is. This is one of those skill sets that is just as useful in your day-to-day life as it could be in a crisis situation.

While yes, there is absolutely something to be said for being as direct as possible when it comes to emergencies, barking orders that need to be followed immediately and precisely, if that’s how you communicate around the clock to everyone, at some point people are going to start tuning you out, potentially leading to bigger issues in a true disaster.

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I was reminded today that it has been nine years this week when I spent time in Florida filming videos with Panteao Productions. I spent five days with the crew, out in the field and then at a suburban home, doing segments for the Make Ready to Survive series they put together. I also had a very small part in helping guide the content behind the scenes. It was an incredible experience. We had a lot of fun and did some amazing work. You can see all of the videos at Make Ready TV.

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One of the things I do in my down time to relax is putting together LEGO sets. My wife got me hooked on them, as she’s been a LEGO person since she was a little girl. They’re a lot like puzzles, though admittedly with instructions to follow. When I saw this one a while back, I had to snap it up. I loved Robinson Crusoe.

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For our hike this week, it was just my wife and I. For a while now, we’d been taking either the dogs or our granddaughter, but this time it was back to just the two of us. We went to a nearby state forest and did a short hike there. I’m still working on getting my breath back, so to speak, so this one was just a couple of miles. My first “big” goal during my recovery is a 10-mile jaunt we’re planning next month.

Survival Tip – Fall/Winter Plans

Yeah, I know it’s just mid-August. But the leaves will be turning before you know it, so this is when you want to start making your plans for the remainder of the year. I like to make checklists and keep them handy so I don’t forget things. They’re also easy to add things to as I remember them, LOL.

Around my house, here are a few of the things we’re going to be doing to get ready for the colder weather. Some of these won’t be done for at least another month, but it is good to get them on the list now, so they aren’t overlooked later.

·         Continue harvesting the garden until everything is done, then pull everything up for compost and put the gardens to bed.

·         Order and take delivery of firewood. I know that’s hardly being self-reliant, but life had other plans for me over the last few months so I need to play catch up.

·         Drain garden hoses and put them in the garage. Cover spigots.

·         Clean lawnmower after running it dry.

·         Inspect and test run snowblower. Make sure we have fresh fuel for it.

·         Clean gutters thoroughly, including downspouts.

·         Wash all windows inside and out.

·         Unpack all blankets and wash them.

·         Find space in the house for all of the plants that have to come inside for the winter. This is a big chore and can take quite a while for us.

·         Plant spring bulbs.

What are some of the things you’ll be doing over the next month or two in order to get ready for fall and winter?

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

There are plans in the works to offer subscriptions and I’ll be sharing those links as soon as they’re available.

Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?

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