by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
Far too often children become either frightened and bewildered or left out while adult family members plan and prepare in hopes of securing their future. Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure: A Prepper’s Book for Kids not only encourages children to help but also helps the parents and grandparents alike to emphasis the fun and adventure in prepping!
This uplifting story is written from the perspective of both the somewhat nervous dog, Miller and his owner ,Jake. Jake leads the way with Miller happily along the trail as they prepare for a variety of adventures! Their day-dreaming take them far, but that’s okay because this helps them to better plan for what may lie ahead. From bug spray to water, Jake and Miller are prepared for just about everything. And don’t forget that important can opener! Food is on Miller’s mind a lot!
Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure: A Prepper’s Book for Kids is an easy to read book, short enough for elementary school age children to get through, but it’s also the right length to be a great read-a-loud as a bed time or nap time story. With the artwork and kid empowering impact, we feel pretty sure this might even become a great show-and-tell book for school! How cool is that? Your kids can help inspire others!
The author, Bernie Carr (Author of the national best seller: The Prepper’s Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster
) spent time in this book focusing on things that kids really would consider if they were to set out on an adventure. And even though Jake & Miller may ‘prepare for the worst’ – Jake’s outlook is always enthusiastic and which aids in calming some of his Miller’s fears.
This book can be a good tool to share your lifestyle with the children you’re blessed to have in it…with out scary gas masks and tension. Isn’t that what we want to do with our children anyway? Calm their fears, equip them to be well prepared and all the while, not forget that there is join in this journey!
CLICK HERE – to listen to a recent radio show that Donna Miller had with the author of this book!
Below is the entry for for this giveaway. This is a very Pinteresting Week for our giveaway so be prepared to copy/paste a bit!
Keep checking back each week for another great book review and giveaway! Or… LIKE us on Facebook and get notices there as a new book comes up to win!
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Full Disclosure: We hope someone from our blog is the winner. However, if you did not win, please consider clicking the links above or shopping through the Amazon links below to buy the book(s). With the minor affiliate income we can continue testing, reviewing, sharing and blogging – and we hope – encouraging YOU. Thanks ever so much!
by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Giveaway
Each week, for the next 16 weeks, our sister site (Your Preparation Station) is running a Giveaway Extravaganza – Weekly Book Bonanza! This week they are raffling for a chance to win the First Edition of “The Survival Medicine Handbook“.
We are so thrilled with the excitement from the first week’s giveaway and have selected at random a winner of the book “It’s a Disaster….” already! She has replied in the 48hr time frame and we are sending the book to her this week.
We can’t wait to see what happens with the next giveaway! So we have decided to bring the blog notices about them each week here to the PREPARE Magazine Blog. Just in case readers here would also like to enter. It’s fun and it’s Free!
Week #2 or the Giveaway Extravaganza Weekly Book Bonanza is The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook – First Edition. Keep your Loved Ones Healthy in Every Disaster, from Wildfires to a Complete Societal Collapse.
Joseph Alton, M.D. & Amy Alton A.R.N.P. (aka: Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy of DoomandBloom.net who also happen to be writers for PREPARE and Founding Sponsors) have written this book with the precision of those in the medical field yet in terms any laymen can readily understand. This book covers a vast array of medical needs! It is easy to read and well formatted for finding what you need to learn. Every family should have, at least, a foundation for medical emergencies. This book goes beyond the foundation but lays stable ground work on which to build as well.
It is well laid out to compartmentalize issues as you learn how you might be able to treat them. Sections include: ‘Principles of Medical Preparedness’, ‘Becoming a Medical Resource’,’Hygiene, Sanitation and Environment’, ‘Infections’, ‘Environmental Factors’, ‘Injuries and Reactions’, ‘ Chronic Medical Problems’ and ‘Other Important Medical Issues’ such as nosebleeds, stockpiling medication, etc.
Each section within The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook – First Edition has multiple sub-sections to help you become better equipped to handle the incidents that can occur during disaster. From Cellulitis to Snake bites, Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy address so many things in this 419 page book. Many of the things of which you may not have been aware! The book also includes a Glossary (which can be very helpful to a novice or those unfamiliar with medical terms) and other Medical References.While here is a Second Edition:The Survival Medicine Handbook: A Guide for When Help is Not on the Way the one we are giving away, is the building blocks to address almost every given emergency and should not be overlooked for the newer version.
This Giveaway is for a first edition copy (The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook – First Edition ) which retails on Amazon for about $30.00 before shipping. Wouldn’t it be a great addition to your preparedness library? You bet it would! So enter below.
Come back and Tweet daily to increase your chances of winning too!
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Full Disclosure: We do hope you are a winner. But if you do not win, please consider clicking the links above or shopping through the Amazon links below. Your purchased support of our recommendation is much appreciated and the minor affiliate income we gain helps to keep Your Preparation Station, testing, reviewing, sharing and blogging. Thank you!
by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Guest Bloggers
By Guest Blogger and Featured PREPARE Magazine Author: Snake Blocker
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Four generations ago, many Apache elders from various tribes came together on a night when the full moon bled with the color of blood. They had many disturbing visions and foretold of a time to come. It was foretold from their visions that in the end times, Turtle Island (the earth) would spew back the blood that stained and stench its core. The red moon would shift and the seasons would reverse. Turtle Island (the earth) would swallow up many people and others would die from its falling mountains. The smell of death would over power the smell from the blossoms of flowers. The reign of the land kingdom creatures and sky kingdom creatures would turn on mankind with both violence and disease. The red men from Underworld would unite once again and the ancient ancestors would regain their spirits. The Apache elders foretold of much struggle and loss of land by the Invaders and the Pale Face. The elders spoke of the forth generations being the last to see the vengeance of the One Creator and the final destruction of Turtle Island and all that roamed it. The final signs would be told by the bear, the wolf, the coyote, the frog, the eagle, the hawk, the owl, and the raven. They would warn the Apaches, and speak to them, as they did in the past. The old ways would return, but it would be too late to smoke the peace pipe.
Six tribal leaders (l to r) Little Plume (Piegan), Buckskin Charley (Ute), Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache), Quanah Parker (Comanche), Hollow Horn Bear (Brulé Sioux), and American Horse (Oglala Sioux) on horseback in ceremonial attire. Circa 1900. This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division.
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I have heard many variations of this prophecy over the past twenty years, from both Apache and other Natives. Some recall visions being the same or similar to those of the ancient elders. We are the fourth generation, since the oral stories go back as far as the 1600s. One hundred tribes living one hundred years are considered one generation of the four great Apache Regions. History speaks of at least seventy tribes of Apache bloodline and about thirty tribes being wiped out prior to that count. I receive continuous communication from around North and South America with stories of visions and signs that speak of such things. Below is a common recent communication from a native named Spirit Wolf about his signs and his visions; read without prejudice:
“Since November 2013, we have been hearing some rather strange sounds which we believe are coming from Mother Earth. Usually, no matter the temperature outside, I sleep with the window open. Last month in December, I did notice that the sounds began again, on the full moon. The sounds have a horn type sound to them, and another has a type of a howl tone to it. I had found out those sounds have been heard all over the globe, so I became very interested in finding out what they could be. We have been in this area for 15 years, always sleeping with a window open, even through hurricanes, not once had we heard those sounds. Even a 97 year old elder said she had never heard such a sound. Now if you listen to the scientist, they say it is not coming from earth, sky, or space; the latter two I agree with, however we could actually hear the sound rising up from the ground. Once it is in the air, it seems to surround you and is very hard to tell where it is coming from. I have found two sources that have the same sounds. One is harmonic quakes sounds. A friend asked me why they would deny the fact that earth is making the sounds. I believe they know that Earth is speaking, but don’t want to send people into a panic and cause them to lose control of their prepping needs. Very soon people will have to learn to live as the people once did in order to survive the new life.
In visions for the past two years, I have seen three bears. First, only walking on the road, later they began to come in and turn to elders. They spoke to me; showed me things I believe are to come. I saw death of many people. This bothered me and left me feeling heavy; then I saw those who survived working together as they once did. In one vision, I saw what looked like snow. A bear came and told me it was from a volcano. The bear came in as we prepared things to keep the ash out. The bear turned to me and said we must hurry; the time is close. I was thinking the bear meant to hurry with the task we were doing. I said, “We are almost done,” and the bear put his hand on my shoulder and said, “No, the time is close.” I said the sounds began in November and we have been cutting down trees for fire wood. In one of those trees we cut, was a shape of a bear.
As I said I have listened to recordings of sounds like this–many of them. I studied them closely and what was being said. Some people may think it is UFOs. Some even think they are big foot sounds. However, if they listen carefully to each sound, one can tell it is of the earth! Harmonic quakes, of course, usually come with lava moving. I am still reading about them so at this point it could also simply be moving of the plates. We also heard a sound that was much like a howl. I know what coyotes sound like. This was not like them. I often listen to them. I love the way they sound. It is not a wolf. There are none here. I have traveled to many countries. I have stayed in some foreign places a year–others longer. I have heard the rumble of quakes coming and these sounds are not like that. However, it does fill the air with a scent, as of those from the smell of mold, old roots, or minerals, but it didn’t come from such.”
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Some say there is craziness to such nonsense talk. Some believe something very close to these old stories will come to pass. Some don’t know what to believe. Before you discredit such old Native stories from the past elders, hold fast your tongue and wait and see. For those that hear what I’ve heard from many people around the Americas, and for those that have shared the visions of our great ancestors as I have – I say, “Prepare my friend, prepare!”
__________________
About the author:
Snake Blocker is a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, is an accomplished martial artists and Apache Historian. He has served in the U.S. Navy since June 2001 and did tours in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the featured instructor in several videos and promotes his signature line of survival products and knives. Snake has been featured on Deadliest Warrior “Apaches versus Gladiators” and Doomsday Preppers “In the Hurt Locker”.
He has written a regular series thus far of 10 “Apache Knife Fighting & Battle Tactics” which have appeared in each issue of PREPARE Magazine for the last 8 months with at least two more teaching stories to follow. This series is told in parable/story form to impart a visual representation of a tactic. With words and feelings deeply rooted in the heritage of his ancestors, he carries forth a tradition to inspire others with these and his many other contributions to PREPARE Magazine.
We are grateful for his support and enthusiasm as he helps to encourage others to prepare for the days ahead.
by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
By Guest Blogger: James McDonald
This is a compilation of many options I have found online about increasing your odds for safe water when you don’t have any confidence in the available water supply. Many of the paragraphs below have been discussed with friends I respect but none are FDA approved. My hope is that you are smart enough research more on your own and to be sure you understand the directions before the situation becomes desperate enough to require it.
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DRINKING WATER – BACKGROUND:
How to sterilize water? Simple: You don’t need to ‘sterilize’ water. Sterilization is the destruction of all microorganisms in, on and around an object. What is needed is disinfection (killing of pathogenic disease causing organisms).
Disinfection can be done many ways, including filtration, heat, ozonation, and chemical disinfection.
Despite many stories to the contrary, simply boiling water will disinfect it. At any elevation you’re likely be at the boiling point of water high enough to kill (or denature) anything in the water. You don’t need to boil it for any particular length of time, just get it boiling at a good rolling boil.
Pasteurization removes (kills) disease-causing organisms in water by exposure to heating to 65°C (149°F) for a short period of time. This will free the water from microbes, including E. coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia and the Hepatitis A virus.
A “WAPI” (Water Pasteurization Indicator) contains a heat specific soy wax that helps users determine when water has reached pasteurization temperatures. The WAPI now has the added benefit of a tough stainless steel cable and brass end caps. Both are designed to withstand high heat which means they won’t melt when used over an open flame. This feature makes the WAPI especially valuable when used over an open fire, like camping or in situations where solar cooking is not an option.
Filtration is a good method, you should use a filter that has an absolute rating of 0.2 micron diameter or less (0.1 micron). Personally, I use iodine crystals (Polar Pure™ first, then filter the water).
Chemical disinfection is the use of various chemicals (usually a halide like chlorine or iodine) in the water. It’s usually a quick, economical and effective method.
Purifying water with bleach:
Regular liquid bleach is not stable; it breaks down gradually and eventually becomes just salt water over a period of 2 years. It’s still usable at 1 year but you must use twice as much.
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Purifying water with Calcium Hypochlorite (pool shock):
Calcium hypochlorite will store in dry form nearly indefinitely (10 years), whereas liquid chlorine bleach loses half of its potency after a year (use twice as much for the same effect) and is next to worthless after two years.
By using calcium hypochlorite you can mix your own liquid bleach on an as-needed basis and have it fresh and fully active. (It’s very much like the difference in storage life between whole kernel wheat versus ground flour.)
Calcium Hypochlorite (Pool shock) can be purchased at any Pool supply center and most hardware stores.
Calcium Hypochlorite – purity
A granular (dry powder) “pool shock” product that lists only Calcium Hypochlorite as the active ingredient should be safe to use for water purification. The problem with other varieties is that they include other algaecide or fungicide chemicals that are probably not safe for human consumption. The same goes for using liquid bleach for the same purpose. Do NOT buy bleach with fabric softeners, scents, et cetera. Keep in mind that bleach solutions break down and weaken with time (anticipate a 24 month shelf life), but that dry granular bleach stores indefinitely.
Calcium Hypochlorite – Mixing
In an EXTREMELY well ventilated area, (Hint: OUTSIDE!) add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. Five pounds of dry pool bleach costs about $10.00-15.00. These five pounds will make about 92 gallons of liquid bleach, which will sterilize 706,560 gallons of clear water, or 353,280 gallons of cloudy water.
Granular Calcium Hypochlorite:
Add and dissolve one heaping teaspoon of high-test granular calcium hypochlorite (approximately 1/4 ounce) for each two gallons of water. The mixture will produce a stock chlorine solution of approximately 500 mg/L, since the calcium hypochlorite has available chlorine equal to 70 percent of its weight. To disinfect water, add the chlorine solution in the ratio of one part of chlorine solution to each 100 parts of water to be treated. This is roughly equal to adding 1 pint (16 oz.) of stock chlorine to each 12.5 gallons of water to be disinfected. To remove any objectionable chlorine odor, aerate the water as described below.
The treated water should be mixed thoroughly and allowed to stand, preferably covered, for 30 minutes. The water should have a slight chlorine odor; if not, repeat the dosage and allow the water to stand for an additional 15 minutes. If the treated water has too strong a chlorine taste, it can be made more pleasing by allowing the water to stand exposed to the air for a few hours or by pouring it from one clean container to another several times.
People don’t have a 12.5 gallon container lying around, so if you want to make two gallons of the bleach, one heaping teaspoon of the calcium hypochlorite goes into 2 gallons of water. To make drinkable water, 2.5 tablespoons of this now mixed liquid solution goes into 1 gallon of water. Let stand covered 30 minutes, aerate to taste.
Water treatment process – General
As mentioned previously, water from open sources must always be treated before use. Typical chlorine concentrations will kill bacteria but not all viruses. So I recommend a three step approach to treating water from open sources:
1.) Pre-filtering. This removes particulate matter. Pouring water though the thickness of a couple of t-shirts or tightly-woven bath towels works fine. The water that comes through will still look like tea, but at least you will have removed the crud and larger particles. By pre-filtering, you will also extend the life of your water filter. (You avoid clogging the microscopic pores in the filter media.)
2.) Chlorinating. This can be accomplished by following directions above.
3.) Filtering. I recommend the large Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters. Some filter elements available for Katadyn or British Berkefeld filters can even remove chlorine.
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The snippets above did not include reference to iodine mainly because most all references in research will indicated that the available iodine had short shelf live or detailed storage requirements and comments about the bad after taste. The smell of chlorine (swimming pool smell) is not only a good indicator of minimum concentration but will dissipate off on its own. The memory of swimming pool smell will last longer than the shelf life of the chemical used in a swimming pool chlorine test kit.
_____________________________________________
James McDonald has enjoyed camping and all aspects of the outdoor life. He has an inquisitive attitude about how our frontier for-bearers did it. Having a degree in Engineering may not have given him an answer to all problems but it has given him the patients to dig into things until they make sense. He’s not in a great hurry in his prepping because one of the first survivalist books he ever found was printed in the 1960’s. Some of it had been refined but not much has changed.
PREPARE Magazine Disclaimer: As stated by the guest author, these statements are not meant to be a fail-proof guide nor are they FDA approved methods of water sanitation, but are merely a brief compilation from a variety of internet sources studied and reworded in laymen’s terms. Please proceed, research and use these suggestions at your own risk.
by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Uncategorized
By Guest Blogger: Lee Flynn
The predominant culture often views those who value disaster preparedness as fanatical and irrational. Their predictions may sometimes sound apocalyptic; their preparations, drastic. The idea of an implosion of the national infrastructure and financial system simply strikes some as the stuff of fantasy. An honest look at the numbers, however, reveals that survival planning is actually a wise and prudent endeavor. In fact, academic research, practical business experience and good old common sense corroborate the very real possibility that such national and global dysfunction is real and growing more likely every day. Taking steps to ensure the safety of and provision for a family or community is a reasonable—and advisable—strategy.
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Research
Over 40 years ago, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology predicted a severe resource shortage by 2030. Some scientists agree that the forecast is right on track. Meanwhile, numerous financial experts believe that the international debt bubble fueled by easy credit and inflated currencies will soon burst, leading to an even more intense recession and causing massive social unrest. While many are still bullish on the stock market, more sober-minded analysts see stocks soon losing over half their value. The increasing income gap and swelling national debt create an even more dangerous economic environment.
Economist Martin Feldstein, one-time Chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, believes that the current responses of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors are short-term fixes that will lead to higher inflation and higher interest rates in the future. Beyond that, artificially low rates relieve the pressure on the president and Congress to address the fiscal deficit. Although the Fed had previously held to a two-percent ceiling on inflation, Feldstein notes in the Wall Street Journal, it is now allowing that the limit will be exceeded. What can this mean for the financial and social future?
Higher inflation leads to, of course, higher prices. It bears noting that many news outlets will broadcast the “core inflation rate” that excludes food and energy from its factors. The reason behind this is that variables other than money supply (e.g. weather and geology) will affect the prices of these commodities. Yet these necessities are nonetheless subject to monetary policies, and are fundamental to survival should hard times come in the wake of economic meltdown. For this reason—and others—the importance of building a comprehensive survival kit in advance cannot be overstated. Should scarcity and desperation hit American shores, those with the foresight to store and courage to defend will fare better than others.
A survival kit adequate to a future financial implosion will be more than what might be found in a backpacker magazine. Stockpiling dried foods, for example, is preferable to cans and jars in that these foods use less space. Storing one gallon of water per day for each person and pet in the household is essential for survival. A two-week supply of food and water should be saved at a minimum. Commercially bottled water is likely the safest option for storage. In addition, thorough preparation will account for the storage of a gasoline reserve. Whether for an emergency generator or for extended travel, gasoline should be stored below 70 degrees in appropriate fuel cans—the larger the better—and supplemented with additives that preserve potency and slow evaporation.
Protection of supplies and loved ones during times of desperation and social unrest is crucial. For an all-purpose firearm, the 9mm handgun is widely acknowledged as effective and easy to use. Consequently, no survival kit is complete without lots of 9mm ammo. Unfortunately, recent years have seen unprecedented ammunition purchases by government agencies and anxious gun owners, so time should not be wasted in obtaining a significant cache. Without sufficient protection, the hard work of acquiring and storing supplies becomes futile.
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BIO: Lee Flynn is from the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, UT. Through small local workshops and articles, Lee trains and teaches others on home preparation, food storage techniques, wilderness survival and self-reliance. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah, Lee moved to the Salt Lake Valley where he now lives with his wife and daughter.
Far too often children become either frightened and bewildered or left out while adult family members plan and prepare in hopes of securing their future. Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure: A Prepper’s Book for Kids not only encourages children to help but also helps the parents and grandparents alike to emphasis the fun and adventure in prepping!
