The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases by the editor of the insightful Paratus Familia blog is one of the few books that I grew to like the more I read it.  I’ve consulted it for my daughter’s earache and searched it for remedies for a chronic cough.  The main intent of the book is to provide information about and treatment options for diseases we don’t see very often in our sanitized 21st century world.  However, the book also contains home remedies for symptoms such as dehydration, diarrhea, sore throat, and coughing.  In the appendices they’ve included a helpful shopping list of medical supplies, a conversion chart, and a list of recommended resource books.

One section has been written by a medical doctor, Dr. Grattan Woodson, and is devoted to influenza, a likely culprit in the event of a future pandemic.  Dr. Woodson shares suggestions for avoiding the flu in the first place, flu symptoms, and then how to treat the flu at home.  The information is excellent and helpful with any episode of the flu.

This book is particularly helpful for preppers and the survival minded because it’s written by preppers who understand the dangers of our precarious future, and it covers a wide gamut of diseases as well as everyday symptoms.  I give it a big thumbs up.

You can buy this book at Paratus Familiar Press for $21.94, which includes shipping.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by Antonio Martinez

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to prepare is to read, and if you can find books for free on survival topics, that’s even better.

The book, Dead or Alive: The Choice is Yours – The Definitive Self-Protection Handbook, by Geoff Thompson is one of those books.  It is serialized chapter-by-chapter here at FightTimes Magazine.

Why is this book applicable?  While the subject matter is unpleasant (and not recommended for direct reading by young children) it is crucial that families consider that crime could be on the rise and predators could be increasing in numbers.  Dead or Alive addresses the PREVENTION of violent incidents by using awareness and avoidance techniques.

Thompson begins by discussing Avoidance and Awareness then continues with Attackers and Attack Rituals: Lessons Learned.  Throughout the book he discusses self-defense techniques, and closes with First Aid and Self-Defense and the Law.

The book is not intended to teach us as readers to be professional fighters.  Instead, the author presents valid, and sometimes frightening, material that can be considered in the protection of a lone person or of a family.  As a husband and father myself, my intent is to present the ideas to my family at my discretion and in a way that helps us to be prepared without being afraid.  As with any manual, a reader should take the ideas from the writings and consider what is practical for them.

Many thanks to Geoff Thompson, Paladin Press, and FightTimes.com for making this information available.

© 2012, John A. Heatherly. All rights reserved.

The American Apocalypse is a four-part series by author NOVA (NoVA), outside Washington D.C.   The main character lives in the general area of the city of Fairfax in the first book, and out near (but not in) Winchester in the second, although the author is less specific about the second locale.  The author also has made the odd choice to not use regular names for most characters. The main character is Gardner.  Ninja and Night are two of his friends.

This fiction series follows what happens to one normal, somewhat lazy guy when the American economy collapses. You learn about the early stages from backstory and exposition because it picks up at a point when it’s normal for people to be living in their cars or camping in the woods, and abandoned, vandalized housing developments are not rare.

The story is interesting and held my attention, although the lack of an editor left the first book with irritating punctuation errors and typos.  The characters and the environment they are living in grow and change as the collapse progresses.  There are a variety of personality types throughout the story, and it explores how they might react to the changes that occur. Everything is seen from the point of view of normal people, not commandos or survivalists or anyone with any particularly advance preparation, with the exception of one former Marine. As a side note, you can’t throw a stone in NoVA without finding military, retired or otherwise, so not having any in this story is more than a little unbelievable.

Much of what I find interesting about this series is how mundane most of it is.  For example, the author describes the waves of destruction that overtook a housing development of (formerly) million-dollar mini mansions that is about to be razed to the ground, and efforts by shopkeepers to keep their businesses open.  Unlike other books I’ve read in the genre, roadways are still generally open (depending on local conditions) and people can initially move about fairly freely.  The society that was there before is still clearly visible, particularly in the beginning when they go to a McDonalds that is still open for the free WiFi. That changes as things continue to collapse and the country becomes more third world than first world.

If you are a huge fan of hard-core TEOTWAWKI literature like James Rawles, this might not be your cup of tea. If you’re looking for a more realistic depiction of how an affluent urban area might rapidly fall apart if the economy falls apart, then you’ll probably enjoy this book.  I definitely recommend the series, although perhaps not to anyone who is driven slightly nuts by some random typos and other editorial errors.

The titles of the books in the series are American Apocalypse: The Collapse Begins, American Apocalypse: Wastelands, American Apocalypse III: Migrations, and American Apocalypse IV: Rescue.  There are also two related books, Gardener Summer, set early in the series and fills in some background, and The Chosen.  You can visit the author’s blog, here.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Ray writes from the perspective of a Christian and a guy, naturally, and this book is ideal for men, in particular, who are fairly new to the idea of preparedness.  It’s not that the book doesn’t contain any “advanced” information but because Ray does a very good job of first laying out why it’s important to prepare.  I’ve always said that awareness has to come before action, and this book does a very good job of taking the reader step by step through the complicated series of events that have brought us to the point of feeling the need to buy buckets of wheat and freeze dried food.

Interwoven with sound advice and specific examples of preparedness, Ray shares his own experiences and how he and his wife, Tracye, became hard-core preppers.  Like many of us, their prepper story began with Hurricane Katrina.  Living only two hours from the Gulf Coast, Ray’s tells the story of straggling into Walmart the night before Katrina hit and finding a store stripped of nearly every useful good.  It was nice to know that even those of us with preparedness backgrounds and mindsets can sometimes be caught unaware by a gathering storm.

Survive the Coming Storm continues with specific advice of what foods to store and what has worked well for Ray and his family. One feature that will appeal to most men is the 50+ pages of information and advice about weapons.  Ray has told me that he’s, “a knife guy,” thus Chapter 7: A Few Words About Knives.  Most readers will appreciate his recommendations of specific brands and models of both firearms and knives as well as tips for using and concealing them.

It’s always interesting to read the perspectives and experiences of others because when it comes to survival, no two individuals or families are exactly alike.  A food storage plan that works perfectly for one person might be woefully inadequate or over the top for others.  That’s one of the values of this book.  Ray’s approach to survival is based on everyday products and simple tactics.  It doesn’t leave the reader thinking, “We don’t live like this at all!”

Ray Gano’s Survive the Coming Storm provides a comprehensive response to the questions, “Why should we prepare?” and “What do you think is going to happen in the future?”   It’s foundational to understand the need to prepare and what one should be prepared for.   You’ll find plenty of helpful tips for getting the most out of your food dehydrator and some very creative ideas for foraging for food using Google Maps, which make the book even more helpful.

This book is very readable at 211 pages and can be purchased at Ray’s websiteor on Amazon.

If you would like to hear more from Ray in person, I interviewed him on my Survival Mom Radio Hour, and you can listen to that episode on either of these links:

the-survival-mom-show-12.mp3 (MPEG Layer 3 Audio, 13.5 MB)

the-survival-mom-show-12.wma (Windows Media Audio file, 13.5 MB)

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

This list of gift ideas for the prepper dad in your life is heavy on the gadgets for all the obvious reasons.

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  image by angelanoel

• Classes you know he would like but will never get around to taking, like welding or basic home electrical. Or a couples massage class – to help with all those sore muscles, if the SHTF, of course.
• Books or an e-reader like the Kindle or the new Kindle Fire.  How about some of these titles?
  • Primitive Skills and Crafts
  • When Technology Fails
  • The Ultimate Guide to U.S. Army Survival Skills, Tactics, and Techniques
  • Defending Your Retreat
  • Survive the Coming Storm by Ray Gano
  • …or any of the books on my master list of survival books.
• Digital libraries. Buy a complete series on CD/DVD. Mother Earth Magazine on CD is great, but so are the complete works of his favorite band or a few seasons of a TV show he always wanted to see but never had time to before it was canceled.  If it all falls apart, you’ll need entertainment along with the more practical, mundane things.
• Solar powered gadgets. There is a Survival Survey on this site about this with lots of suggestions.  A solar powered laptop case might be a perfect solution to power failures, and a solar battery charger is easy on the budget.  A solar dynamo radio and flashlight should be in any guy’s bug out bag.
• Tools. Enough said.  These caught the eye of Paranoid Dad.
  • LED Work Light
  • Leatherman multi-tool
  • On Duty – Gas & Water Shut Off Tool
• Mini Projector You can have your own drive-in movie theater on the side of your house.  If you have to bug out, your family can still enjoy movies on something bigger than a 10” screen.
• A paracord bracelet makes a great stocking stuffer.
• Guns, ammo, holsters, other related gear. You’ll probably have to ask him for anything more specific since there is so much available.
• Spy gear such as night vision goggles, laser tripwires, motion detectors and more are available from companies like EyeClops and Wild Planet Spy Gear. They are sold as children’s toys but some can be used tactically as well. (If you buy more than one pair of Night Vision Goggles, you can play hide-n-seek at night.)
  • Night Vision Weapon Sight (Not in my price range, honey!)
• Portable DVD player or mp3 player.  Something like the  Creative Zen Portable Media Player might be just the ticket.
• Camping gear. Did you know they make a sleeping bag big enough for two grownups to sleep together?  They can also be used as two separate sleeping bags.
• Portable air conditioner for those hot weekends out in the garage.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

In typical times, we usually choose our home based on factors like convenience, scenery, affordability, and square footage.  Only recently have families started to think about survival when it comes to location.  Joel Skousen has made a career of helping families relocate to areas that are survival-friendly, and he’s written about this in his book, Strategic Relocation.

I purchased this book earlier this year as part of my own research into safer locations for our family.  We haven’t decided to move quite yet, but when you live in a city of some 3-4 million people, and you’re surrounded by hundreds of miles of desert, well, you start thinking that maybe relocating would be a smart idea, and so began the research.

Strategic Relocation is a hefty, over-sized book of 340 pages.  It can be purchased from Skousen’s website for $35, which is more than I normally pay for a book, but within just a few pages, I realized my money had been well spent.

A well organized book

The book is divided into four sections:

• Selecting a safe country
• North American analysis
• Strategies
• Regional and state ratings

I zeroed in, first, on my own state of Arizona and turned to page 166 to read the analysis.  As a native, I figured I would be able to evaluate whether or not Skousen was accurate in his report or just blowing smoke to sell books.  He correctly advised Phoenicians to live north of the 101 freeway and to avoid southern Arizona due to the high level of drug trafficking and military installations.  I was surprised at the accuracy and up-to-date information.  If his assessment and rating of my state were accurate then, I figured, so was the rest of his information.

The portion of the book in which I spent most of my time was Section Four: Regional and State Ratings.  I wanted to see how my state stacked up to others we had considered.  His ratings are based on numerous factors, including population density, food production, taxes, and gun liberty.  I really appreciated his statement that most people will have to continue living right where they are, and he takes this into consideration, by state.  For example, if you live in a state that has received just one or two stars, in his 5 star rating system, he gives suggestions for making the best of it.

Practical, sensible advice

His advice is down to earth.  He doesn’t try to entice people to make radical or panic-based decisions.  In fact, following a family camping trip in Idaho and Wyoming, I was ready to pack up and move to the forest of my dreams.  But in Chapter 12, he brought me back down to earth with these five questions:

1. How long will it take to be firmly reestablished in a new and safer location before things get worse?
2. Do I have a fallback position, in terms of job, talents, skills, funds, reserves, etc. in the new location?
3. Will there exist a need for my fallback talents in the area I am presently living, or do I have to move to find an area with more potential clients in a crisis?
4. Does my location allow for total self sufficiency, if I have to revert back that far?
5. What will my network be after the move?  How long will it take to build it up?

These questions helped us realize that we weren’t yet ready for the move.  Skousen cites a cautionary example of helping families move just prior to Y2K.  They moved to safe areas, for sure, but within a short time they returned to him, now asking for help in finding a place to live where they could actually earn a living!

In addition to analyzing the survive-ability of each state and offering advice to those who live there, Strategic Relocation also includes tips for economic survival and the author’s view of how future crises will play out.

For those who may be contemplating a lifestyle of an expatriated American, you’ll find assessments for virtually every region and country of the world.  Some in Central America even have programs that offer discounts and other benefits to attract “rich”Americans.

The only downside is…

There is one downside to this book.  Skousen makes no secret of his own personal political leanings, which appear to be conservative with a definite Ron Paul bent.  Some readers may find that off-putting.  He appears to be a so-called “9-11 truther,” evident by his statement regarding the attacks on the Pentgon and World Trade Center, “…our research indicates that this was, in fact, a carefully crafted US operation, using terrorists trained under the false flag of al Qaeda – itself a creation of US and Saudi black operations.”

Now, I have no idea whether or not this is true, but this, and a handful of other views expressed in the book are considered “out there” by most Americans, and it would be a shame if any readers, or potential readers, discarded his advice because of these views.

Strategic Relocation is a valuable resource for just about any survivalist or prepper.  Even if you’re not considering moving, it contains good advice and assessments that may come in handy in the difficult times ahead.

It can be purchased at www.joelskousen.com.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Obviously, I’m a big fan of blogs, but one of their drawbacks is that the information isn’t organized all in a single location.  One must spend hours tracking down information on a given topic and click from link to link in order to gain enough information.  With Food Storage Made Easy Jodi and Julie have created an organized resource that is a logical, offline version of their informative and fun-to-read blog.

The first thing you’ll notice with this e-book is that it looks like it just jumped off the screen from its’ companion blog!  It has the same pink/green color scheme and friendly you-can-do-it tone. The book is designed so that a beginner who knows nothing at all about food storage or emergency preparedness can complete each assignment and be fully prepared in short order.  However, there’s still plenty of ‘meat’ for experienced Survival Moms.  Even though the book is filled with the term,”baby steps,” don’t be misled.  There are tips and ideas for every level of experience.

Food Storage Made Easy is an e-book, meant to be printed out and organized in a 3-ring binder.  Without a doubt, that’s the best way to utilize the book and all the various forms and checklists it includes.    On the second page, the list the materials you will need to create a hard copy of the book:

• Purchase a 1” 3-ring binder with a plastic cover (we recommend pink of course)
• Purchase 1 set of 10 dividers that are numbered 1-10
• Purchase 1 set of 5 dividers that are blank (or buy labels to cover any numbers)

The best way to get the most out of it is to do exactly what the authors tell you to do!  Put your binder together as instructed, open the book to “Babysteps Checklist #1″, and you’re good to go.  There are 26 “Babystep Checklists”, so you’ll be kept quite busy putting together emergency kits as well as food storage.

With the holidays approaching, this e-book would be a welcome gift to a beginner Survival Mom, complete with an attractive binder and dividers.  Preparedness can be so confusing, and Food Storage Made Easy e-book breaks it down into small bits and bites that will make anyone feel successful.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Have you ordered Survivors, the latest book by James Rawles?  I’ll get my copy on Monday and will start reading, but I wanted to open this thread to reader reviews.  If you read the book, please write a short review, and I’ll post it on this thread.  Rawles is a popular writer among survivalists and preppers, and his Survival Blog is the granddaddy of them all!  I’m excited about reading the book and discussing it with all of you right here!

Email your reviews to lisa@thesurvivalmom.com.  You’re welcome to include your blog link and use a screen name, if you wish.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

The Survival Template by John Heatherly is a book that could help any Survival Mom or prepper stay focused on being prepared and ready to meet future hardships and challenges.  It’s not the typical survival book that gives tips for purifying water and surviving on pemmican.  It takes a look at survival from a different point of view.

John’s book sets out a rationale for writing down your survival related goals and plans as a strategy for them to become a reality.  The book is short, only 50 pages long, and he walks the reader through the process of setting goals starting with the next 24 hours and then thinking about what you’d like to accomplish within a month – 30 days from now.  A Survival Mom might list getting the fall garden planted, organizing the food storage pantry, taking a Red Cross class or reading a survival book.  There’s so much to be done, and I often feel overwhelmed by it all.  Putting a list on paper, though, with a deadline, is key.

The next step in The Survival Template is to list what you want to accomplish in 6 months, a year, 2 years, 5 years, and even 10 years from now.  Long range plans can be reached by breaking them into smaller chunks.  If your plan is to live on a homestead 2 years from now, for example, the short term goals that can make that happen might be to get your current house ready to sell, save money more aggressively than ever, begin visiting rural areas that interest you, research livestock and gardening methods, and meet up with other homesteaders.  All those smaller goals, achieved throughout the 2-year span, will likely result in your goal being achieved.

image by luluemon

Additionally, John emphasizes the importance of paying attention to your physical and mental states, setting healthy goals for diet and exercise and taking into account one’s spiritual , internal tools for surviving.  Survival experts emphasize that survival first begins in the brain.

One of the examples he gives of the power of writing goals and believing in them is a note written by kung fu master Bruce Lee.

I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States.  In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor.  Starting 1970 I will achieve world wide fame and from then onward til 1980 I will have in my possession $10,000,000.  I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.

Bruce Lee, 1969

Circumstances and goals change, but the process of writing them down – the thinking and analysis involved, is powerful and many people find that they accomplish their goals just by the power of having them in writing and reading them on a regular basis.

If you believe, as I do, that some very tough times lie ahead of America and our world, then staying in a sidetracked mode isn’t a smart thing to do.  It’s not the Survival Mom thing to do.  The Survival Template can be purchase on Amazon or at www.survivaltemplate.com for about $10.  There’s also a Kindle version for $2.99, although you won’t have the ability to use the worksheets John provides in the book.

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Survive at Sea!

Survive in the Jungle!

Survive on a Desert Island!

This mini-series of books by Claire Llewellyn is called Survival Challenge.  These books can be used as a learning tool for kids without the need for any adult supervision or input. T

image by egroj

The premise is that you, the reader, finds herself in a precarious situation.  Depending on the book you are are cast adrift on the open ocean, lost in the jungle, or lost in the desert, and all you have with you is a backpack with a few useful things inside (They give you a list, complete with pictures). It will be twelve days before help arrives, and there is a different task or set of tasks for each day and they generally build on each other. The book starts with the supply list of readily available items such as binoculars, rope, plastic bags, string, a towel, etc.  and starts with a challenge to find or create shelter

Of course, depending on where you live, some activities are more do-able than others. Realistically, we won’t be doing all of the Survive at Sea! challenges because we don’t have a raft or anywhere to sail it, but for a family near the coast or a lake or pond, this might be a great exercise. Even for our land-locked family, there are activities such as avoiding sunstroke that are good skills to have no matter where you are. Others may need modification.  Around my family’s home, the old-growth Mid-Atlantic woods do not have any trees with giant leaves like the ones used to build a shelter in the Survive in the Jungle! book, but we can still build a shelter appropriate to our area.

This book series is out of print but is still available on half.com from third party sellers. There are both spiral bound (around $3) and hard bound (around $15) copies listed, but they are actually the same thing. It’s just a matter of how the seller chose to list them.  Hopefully this series will help you family make some fun and happy memories while your kids (and you) learn or hone some practical survival skills!  What a fun way to end the summer!

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.