The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 29
Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. Let’s get the big announcement out of the way first.
Prepper Survival Guide magazine has been canceled by the publisher. There will be no more issues printed. We’re still doing Backwoods Survival Guide, though. Any current subscriptions to Prepper Survival Guide are being converted to Backwoods Survival Guide. If the subscriber already has a subscription to Backwoods, it will be extended by the number of issues remaining for their Prepper subscription.
This is sad news, of course, but the fact is that print media is in decline. If a title isn’t selling enough copies to pay the bills, it’s going to get cut. We are working with the publisher to possibly put together an occasional prepper-centric special issue. More on that when I have info to share.
Please know that I deeply appreciate all of the readers who supported Prepper Survival Guide over the years. We’ve had some of the best contributors in the business and I’m damn proud of the magazine we put together.
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Prepper Tip -- Greg Ellifritz is a retired law enforcement officer. He spent 25 years in that profession, 13 of which as a tactical training officer. He’s also been a lead instructor for the Tactical Defense Institute, teaching ground fighting, knife fighting, active shooter, impact weapons, and extreme close quarters shooting classes.
I tell you that so you understand he knows his stuff. He recently shared that for the last 30 years, part of his morning routine has consisted of drawing his weapon five times before leaving the house. He writes, “I put my gun on in the morning and take about a minute to draw my gun five times. That ensures I won't have any issues drawing my gun in the clothes I am wearing that day. It also provides daily practice drawing my weapons.”
This is so basic, yet incredibly important. Many of us carry one or more defense weapons. But how often do we practice drawing the weapon? Doing it multiple times every single day goes far toward developing the muscle memory necessary for success when you’re under pressure.
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One of my readers suggested I remind people that a couple of my books are available on Audible. Honestly, I forget about that myself most of the time, LOL.
Prepper's Long-Term Survival Guide
[Note that the long-term book is the first edition, not the revised second edition.]
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A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by a writer working for NatGeo. Here’s the article. While I might quibble with a few of her quotes from me, as the wording isn’t precisely what I said, overall the article isn’t bad. They do request an email address for full access to the article. If you don’t want to give them your real one, you can probably just make one up.
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Someone in a prep-related Facebook group asked about keeping cash on hand and this was one of the first replies.
“Yes. Because when the shit hits the fan people are going to want cash lol”
While yes, in a nationwide meltdown cash might not be desirable, it’ll do just fine in the vast majority of likely disaster scenarios. As I always say, cash has value right up until it doesn’t.
I’ll never understand the mentality that every possible event is going to be a complete end of the world catastrophe.
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I read something the other day that really resonated with me.
“No one can be held responsible for what they have never been taught.”
This is something that I feel many people struggle to understand. If a person has never been taught something, you can’t rightfully berate them for not knowing it. I had a boss like that, what seems like a lifetime ago. He had decades of experience in the field and seemingly expected everyone else to be on that same level, no matter how new they were. His approach to training was to wait for you to screw something up, then holler at you for making what he felt was a dumb mistake. Yeah, it was about as much fun as it sounds.
As you go through your day, remember that not everyone comes to the table with the same background. Just because you learned something doesn’t mean everyone else you meet has had that same experience.
If anything, the blame for not knowing something lays at the feet of those who should have been teaching it.
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My wife and I took a trip late last week over to Michigan for a couple of days. We visited White River Knife & Tool, a couple of nature preserves, and a few beaches. It was very much a mix of business and pleasure and we had a good time all around. Ended up doing a couple of hikes while we were there, one mostly by accident as we took a wrong turn at a beach trying to get back to the parking lot. Here are a few pics from the trip.
Survival Tip – Unnecessary Risks
The other day, I stumbled on a discussion online about using water from a dehumidifier in an emergency. The assumption is that the person is dealing with a grid down event and has realized that their dehumidifier has a mostly full tank of water inside it. The generally accepted advice in this instance is that the water is perfectly fine for things like toilet flushing or washing clothes, but it shouldn’t be used for consumption due to the potential for mold spores and the like. There are some who suggest a good quality filter can be used to render the water potable.
During the discussion, a few people commented along the lines of, “It’s an emergency, so I’d boil it, drink it, and hope for the best.”
On the one hand, I kind of understand that thought process. But on the other hand, you should be doing everything you possibly can to avoid making your emergency situation worse. Drinking bad water can be worse than drinking no water at all. What can happen is the water makes you sick, causing vomiting and diarrhea, leading to dehydration even quicker.
Desperation rarely leads to sound decisions. Prepping helps to reduce that from happening.
Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide
For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for 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.