Dressing the Part (Common Sense Gray Man)

All warfare is based on deception ~ Sun Tzu Lots of articles on the gray man concept, in the 8 years I’ve been blogging here I’m quite sure I’ve written an article on the topic but am too lazy to go back and search and quite honestly over the last decade my views have probably …

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Prepping for Others, Not Just Yourself

It’s safe to say I have over a year’s worth of storage food for my family should anything go sideways (tiered storage, various types etc).  I also have a pretty robust water storage supply in addition to a well I just had checked and in a worst case, a river about 3/4 of a mile …

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Tips for the Homestead: Situational Awareness

Recently I was able to assist a higher profile gentleman who believed he had a stalker, and with good reason (there was substantial evidence and threats).  Once I had discussed the details with him my immediate reaction was to ask him to get the local authorities involved, based on my assessment of the situation there …

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I Have a Safe Deposit Box, Should You?

A few days ago I strolled into the local bank, overdraft slip in hand looking for a manager.  I did the same thing last year and will probably do it again next year.  I opened an account at this particular institution for one reason:  Safe Deposit box.  Every year the charge for the box comes …

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Prepper Updates (Week of 20 Jan 2020)

What’s up guys!  Been traveling over the last week and quite honestly couldn’t find the time to sit down and blog, my latest article covers some of it so check it out.  I must say that I flew Southwest for most of the journey but also had a 3 hour flight on United where I …

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Traveling Without Weapons For Personal Protection

I’m sure you’ve noticed the gap in posting over the last week and that’s because I was traveling.  The fact that I was away from the homestead was bad enough, couple that with I was gone for 7 days with a small roller bag / backpack and not a single traditional self defense weapon on …

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When Things Get Primal – Puerto Rico’s Earthquakes

I have often stated that when it comes to preparedness the localized natural disasters which one might face should be prioritized far above any of the low probability, high impact events usually seen on Doomsday Preppers.  Here where I live that equates to wildfire mitigation and planning, it could be flooding or tornadoes in your …

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5 Incorrect Assumptions About Living In The Mountains (That I Made)

It’s coming up on 4 years ago when I walked into my home in suburbia, a vinyl sided 4 bedroom standard home with a patio that you could see 37 other homes from (with 2 community pools and an HOA), and told my wife that we were moving out west.  I had just come back …

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The “Two is One, One is None” Trap (Everyday Carry)

Two is one and one is none – a phrase many live by but that can eat into other capabilities if one isn’t careful.  Redundancy is critical but must be balanced against mobility, especially related to EveryDay Carry (EDC).  Let’s take a real hard look at this from an EDC perspective, given a sample list: …

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4 Preps I Probably Should NOT Have Purchased

Raise your hand if you have a box somewhere full of holsters that you’ll probably never use again, I know I do.  Remember when drop legs were the thing to have, how about one of those 1970’s leather TV Detective types that fit over the shoulders.  *Shudder*  I suppose we all have purchases that we …

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Prepper Updates (Week of 06 JAN 2020)

I wanted to bring back something that I used to do frequently when I first started this blog back in 2012, headline updates.  Back then I did it on a daily basis and I truly don’t think that is necessary here, I think a weekly consolidation of some headlines and a few comments below each …

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Wood Burning Stove: 5 Things I’ve Learned

Here I sit in the mountains typing away with a fire crackling in the wood burning stove, just the sound of the keys getting pecked at and the occasional log popping inside the fire box.   We’ve lived up here over 3 years now and have previously never had a home with a wood burning stove, …

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Vehicle Kit CONCEPTS vs CHECKLISTS

How many of you have seen checklists for bugging out, vehicle packing lists, how to make an amazing casserole just like Grandma used to.  Maybe not the casserole but checklists abound and it’s been a few years so I can’t remember but I’ve probably published some checklists here on this blog.  This evening I wanted …

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Happy New Year (2020): Calm Before the Storm

Greetings to all those who might be reading this, as we move into 2020 the realization that I’ve been working this blog on and off for 8 years comes to mind.  I’ve always been relatively obscure (intentionally) with respect to actual details of my life but I suppose a few tidbits of reflection couldn’t hurt.  …

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Wood Storage Skills

Hello everyone!  It’s been a long time but thought to check in.  Living in the mountains has kept me busy but this time of year it’s all about prep for winter (read: wood storage).  Last winter we burned through 3 cord in our wood stove but I knew I had a few improvements to make. …

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