Book Review: The Unoffical Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide

• 22 May 2013
• ekim
• 0 responses

Our regular readers will remember that last year we reviewed Creek Stuart’s Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag. Today Creek’s latest book, The Unoffical Hunger Games Wilderness Survival Guide is being released and we were lucky enough to receive a review copy just in time for this review. Like Creek’s other book, this one is also full of useful information (see the page sample to the right). Let’s dive in and see what we have in store this time.

Creek uses details from the Hunger Game book series to illustrate specific preparedness concepts, such as specific situations with individual characters like Katniss or Peeta to relate the skills represented in that fictional scenario with a real world survival or wood craft example. I found this to be a fun and engaging approach for someone who is familiar with the books. This approach may have limited impact for someone who has no knowledge of the characters and why that skill was critical to their survival, or even for someone who only watched the first movie. However, given the title and the suspected audience, I think this has the chance to pull non-preppers in and give them their first exposure to these concepts.

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Tags: Books, Reviews

Blacksmithing as a prepping skill

• 07 May 2013
• ekim
• 2 responses

I’ve always been interested in Blacksmithing, both as a link to past skills and as a possibly useful prepping skill. Early in 2012 I began looking into how I might be able to start learning this craft.

I quickly found ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America. As the organization’s name might imply, most people doing blacksmithing today are doing it as an art or for ornamentation purposes. Through ABANA, I was pointed to our local Utah ABANA chapter, the Bonnevile Forge Council.

This local chapter has meetings on odd numbered months for its members and those interested in learning about the club and blacksmithing. These meetings are often centered around demonstrations of hands on projects. The club members try to make it less intimidating for newcomers who have never heated metal to 2000 degrees before.

I was able to attend the March 2012 meeting and meet many of the club members. I haven’t missed a meeting since. The next meeting for the club will be this coming Saturday in Provo and focuses on teaching forge welding. I hope any of you who are interested will be able to make it out. Please see the meetings link above for details.

If you are not able to make it to the meeting this weekend, the club president is hosting a short class on making flint strikers which will teach several basic blacksmithing skills. This three hour class will take place the evening of Wednesday, May 15, 2013. More information is here.

We recently posted about an all day introductory blacksmithing class taught by the club President and Mark Henderson, both accomplished blacksmiths. I was informed that the class filled up quickly, mainly due to interest from those who heard about the class through this site. I’d like to hear any feedback any attendees have on the class as well as gauge interest in additional introductory classes and other courses of instruction.

Tags: Education, Event, gear, meetup

Survival Mom Radio Network

• 17 Apr 2013
• angela
• 0 responses

If you enjoy listening to preparedness podcasts, be sure to check out the brand new Survival Mom Radio Network.  This network features a dozen women hosts covering a variety of topics including family preparedness, essential oils, homesteading, and canning.   And I’m one of the hosts!  You can listen right on your computer or download the shows to any mp3 player.  The shows are available by browsing the Survival Mom Radio site or on iTunes.  Go check it out–there is a ton of great information being shared!

Introductory Blacksmithing course this month!

• 02 Apr 2013
• ekim
• 0 responses

The Bonneville Forge Council (Utah’s Artist Blacksmith Association of North America group) Is hosting an introductory Blacksmithing course on April 20th. Mark your calendars. More information is below and at BFCSmiths
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Tags: blacksmithing, Community, Education, Make

Utah Prepare Conference

• 24 Mar 2013
• Jayce
• 0 responses

Utah Prepare Conference Logo

It’s that time of year again. And just saying ‘Conference Time’ in Utah doesn’t count, because there is more that one event matching that description next month. The one in question for this post is this years “Utah Prepare Conference & Expo“.

Last year this event was a great success, an informative chance to meet with many of the best preparedness resources in Utah in one place, with a wide selection of classes to attend.  This year the event will be held at the South Towne Expo center making it a bit easier for everybody from the southern area to attend.

This event is put on by the USU Extension office and will be on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Hope to see folks there (look for the people wearing Utah Preppers shirts!)

As an added bonus, use the promo code “prepper” when registering for $2 off each ticket!

Tags: Community, Conference, Events, Food Storage, Gardening, preparedness, Preppers

Honey and Onion Natural Cough Remedy

• 04 Mar 2013
• angela
• 3 responses

Here’s an easy homemade cough remedy that you probably already have the ingredients for.  It’s a honey onion syrup–before you get grossed out, it doesn’t taste like onions when it’s done.  Really.  We’ve been having some coughing and sore throats among the little people lately, and my husband remembered his dad making this for him so we thought we’d give it a try.

What you’ll need:

Raw honey (regular honey would work okay, but the raw honey has enzymes in it that have been cooked out of the processed honey you get at the store)
Onion
Garlic (optional)
Ginger root (optional)

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The Gun Owner’s Guide to Critical Court Cases

• 14 Feb 2013
• David
• 2 responses

It’s the absolute truth that most people who favor tighter gun laws are completely clueless when it comes to guns. When you hear statist politicians and people in the media talking about “assault ammunition,” when they describe an AR-15 as a “high-powered rifle” and can’t tell you what a “barrel shroud” is, they demonstrate their profound ignorance about a subject that matters very much to many Americans.

Many people, both those who support the Second Amendment and those who want to subvert it, are also highly uninformed when it comes to gun laws in the United States. Part of the reason is that, when it comes down to it, the Second Amendment is gun law in this country: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This basic statement has been shaped and chipped away by laws passed on the local, state and federal level. The ability of various jurisdictions to put limits on Americans’ right to keep and bear arms has been guided by some very important case law—cases that should be familiar to all Americans who care about the right to self-protection.

If you know these cases, you can easily counter the arguments of those who want to disarm you. “The right to have a gun is not a civil right.” Wrong: Johnson v. Eisentrager, 1950. “The Second Amendment doesn’t mean you can have a military weapon.” Wrong: U.S. v. Miller, 1939, and D.C. v. Heller, 2008. “The police are supposed to protect us.” Wrong: Warren v. District of Columbia, 1981.

Supporters of the  right to keep and bear arms should be armed with the information needed to counter the ignorance of those who would take away their rights and make this a much more dangerous country. Learn the names and dates, study the cases, and be ready with the facts when you need them.

Please note: unlike our president, I am not a formal constitutional scholar. (I’m also not a smoker or a socialist.) But I’m a firm believer in the Constitution and the right to keep and bear arms, and I think I have my facts straight here. Please let me know in the comments if you think I got anything wrong (or missed any crucial points) in my summaries. (more…)

Tags: court, Firearms, Guns, Rights

Learning from Mormons

• 11 Feb 2013
• Doran Barton
• 0 responses

In the wake of a brutal winter storm that hit New England, this World Magazine article by Marvin Olasky suggests “Mormons are way ahead of us” on the issue of emergency preparedness and then he explains why.

Making Elk Hamburger With Added Beef Fat

• 06 Feb 2013
• angela
• 0 responses

Elk is very lean meat.  If you grind it straight into burger it tends to be very chewy and needs water added when you cook it since there is so little fat in it.  In order to make it cook and taste better, we like to add some beef fat to our elk burger.  There are a couple of different ways you can get fat added to your elk.  The first is to add straight beef fat, and the second is to add fatty ground beef.  We’ll cover both methods and the math involved with them in this post.

What’s that you say?  Math?  Yep.  You know in algebra class when your teacher said you’d use this someday in your real life?  Well, here’s your chance!  (I know some of you are secretly rejoicing.)

Method #1: Elk burger with added beef fat.

You will need: Elk meat, meat grinder, and chunks of beef fat.  We get ours from the local grocery meat department.  We just asked the guy if he could save us some beef fat and we got it for no cost.  You might have to pay a little something, but it shouldn’t be too much. (more…)

4 Questions to Ask When Prioritizing Emergency Preparedness Goals

• 31 Dec 2012
• angela
• 2 responses

photo by john.shultz

Originally posted on my blog last January.

A new year is starting and that means the traditional time of making new goals for yourself. Hopefully you’ll add a few goals to be better prepared this year.

I keep an ongoing list of things I want to learn, do, and purchase for preparedness. I call it the “Big List” and keep it in a notebook in my purse. It keeps me working toward a goal and learning and preparing. But sometimes looking at the “Big List” is daunting. There is a lot on there! And it seems like every time I cross something off the list, I add two more things. How will I ever accomplish it all? And for sure how will I ever purchase it all on our little income?

This could be a cause of great anxiety and even bring on “preparedness panic shut-down” where you decide that rather than tackle that huge list, you’ll just put your rose colored happy glasses back on and do nothing. Because really, there’s no way you can get it all done and it’s causing stress just thinking about it.

Know anybody like that? Yeah, it happens.

So here are 4 questions to ask yourself to make prioritizing your goals easier when your preparedness to-do list seems a bit overwhelming. (more…)

Utah Gun Exchange: A KSL Classifieds Replacement

• 21 Dec 2012
• Connor
• 1 response

After the Newtown shooting last week, many people looked for a way to respond. Companies stopped offering firearms for sale online, and KSL joined them by terminating their firearms section in their online classifieds.

Within hours, a few friends and I launched a new Utah gun classifieds website. Called the Utah Gun Exchange, it aims to fill the void left by KSL’s decision, offering Utahns the ability to privately buy and sell their firearms and firearms-related supplies.

If Americans are to learn any lesson from the atrocity which occurred last week, it’s that more precaution needs to be taken. As we regularly advocate on this website, individuals should be prepared for any scenario, and have the appropriate training and tools necessary should an emergency occur.

Our goal with the Utah Gun Exchange is to encourage exactly this, and enable Utahns to network with one another and obtain the supplies they feel are necessary to protect what’s most important to them.

I hope to see you in the exchange!

Tags: classifieds, Firearms, gun control, ksl, Second Amendment

The Demonization of Preppers: Phil Burns Interview

• 19 Dec 2012
• Jayce
• 0 responses

Utah Preppers author, and CTO of the APN Phil Burns was just interviewed by the Blaze network about the dangerous media turn on preppers based on bits of information around the Connecticut shootings. Go check out his interview, where he sums up nicely the confusion many people are making between the term survivalist vs the term preppers.

Also, Phil will be on the Blaze radio today at 1 MST available via: http://www.theblaze.com/radio/

After that, take the time to review yourself. What are you prepping for? What are you doing to be ready for life in general? Are you effective in your decisions?  Remember, preparing isn’t a knee-jerk reaction, it’s adjusting your lifestyle to be ready for what may come.

Tags: interview, Media, Preppers, Radio