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The Preparedness Mindset

by PREPARE | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Guest Bloggers

Do you have The Preparedness Mindset?

Maybe you’ve had people say something like this to you:

“You just think everybody is out to get you.”

“You’re all a bunch of camo-wearing kooks.”

“My faith will save me, I don’t need to prepare like that.”

Regardless of where you are on your preparedness journey, you’ve probably heard phrases like these. I’ve had people look at me askance and use phrases like the above, but I don’t hold it against them. Most of the time, their reaction and fear are a product of bad media influences combined with a lack of knowledge about what the “Preparedness Mindset” is.

Just what do I mean by “Preparedness Mindset”? I mean the attitude towards preparation, in its most elemental form, towards any situation that might occur. There are certain ways in which everyone, or nearly everyone, prepares. Fire safety is a great example. I don’t know the last time I was in a building or home which didn’t have a smoke-detector installed. You also see fire extinguishers prominently located and plainly marked in public buildings. By having a fire extinguisher or smoke detector, no one is saying “This building is definitely going to burn down” but they are acknowledging that there is at least the chance that it could, and should it catch fire, that the occupants will have a better chance of survival than they would have without it. In fact, this preparedness mindset towards fire is such that states and municipalities have fire codes for buildings and would charge the owners with negligence if they disobeyed those mandated preparations. There are other good examples: seat belts/airbags in cars, guard rails on curvy roads, and putting down drop-cloths while painting a room; all of these things are merely an acknowledgement that “bad things could happen” and we want to eliminate or mitigate the severity of those bad things when they do happen. We don’t want to put our head in the sand and ignore what might happen just because it sounds unpleasant.

In our family, our view on preparedness as a mindset is just really nothing more than taking that attitude and purposefully applying it to every situation in our lives. When we see a situation where there could be a problem if something unexpected happens, we put safeguards around it by planning and figuring out alternatives. The specific safeguards and the degree to which we institute them for ourselves is up to our own budget, knowledge, and understanding of the problem, but ultimately, the underlying reason we prepare is because we live in a sinful, broken world.

Speaking of this sinful, broken world, where does faith fit into our preparedness? Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” We believe that our help comes from the Lord, first and foremost. But at the same time, we know that we live in this world, not unlike Esther or Joshua, who called upon God and called upon their people to take action along with them. Likewise, we do not sit idly by, but we take steps forward as we trust God to supply all our needs. The reality is that faith & preparation are not on opposite ends of the spectrum. You would not make it a policy to ride in your car without seat-belts or airbags, and expect your faith to prevent injury in an accident. Faith does not so much stop bad things from happening as it does give us courage, resolve, hope, and answers when those things happen.

The “Preparedness Mindset” is that purposefulness, and overarching principle, which we use in our day-to-day lives to reinforce the knowledge and skills we are preparing with. When I am acting as a firearms and self-defense instructor, I teach and reiterate many times, “Your mind is your primary weapon”. When I train in Krav Maga, it is quite clear that an unarmed man with an unbreakable drive to live is vastly better prepared when pitted against an armed man who is unable or unwilling to use his weapon. That’s where it all has to start from: in the mind. It’s a decision to be made, “I will be prepared!” And just like a professional athlete, the more you exercise that mindset, the more natural it becomes to use it. It is continuously developed, sharpened, and broadened with every repetition.

Exactly how do we gain that mindset, what are these repetitions? One way to develop this mindset is to routinely, regularly cycle through the things you do, and needs you would face under any number of emergency scenarios. When you get up in the morning, you have a certain “ritual” you go through to get yourself ready for the day. Whatever your “ritual” is, as you get yourself together for the day, ask yourself, “How would this change if I had no heat? No running water? No electricity? Or if there was some natural disaster or terrorist event occurring?” and then follow it with “Would what I am doing be necessary or expected?” Run through this exercise for everything you do in a day. Taking a shower, checking email/social media, watering the garden, making dinner, the work you do, how would any of this be affected by these circumstances? Make a list of everything you do each hour, each day, for a week. Run through your list of activities. How many of these would be immediately eliminated by a loss of power (checking email/social media) and how many could just be done differently by using other sources of power besides what you currently use(cooking dinner)? Now apply these questions and scenarios across the board, to every event in life, to everything you do. Come up with more questions of your own and scenarios you could think of.

But also be on guard against falling into the trap of “I’m prepared for X situation.” Fill in the X with whatever you want, be it a home invasion, loss of power, flood, famine, anything. You don’t know what you may encounter or when, so make your preparations applicable across a wide variety of situations. Think it through, plan it, and then (for most people the hardest of all) DO IT. Be a man or woman of action. Buy the item and store it properly, take the survival training class you need, read the preparedness materials to fuel your learning. Whatever it is, DO IT. There are far too many people who are quite comfortable to talk about being prepared, but have no more than tonight’s meal in the pantry.

Preparedness is a journey on a continuum. It is not a list of supplies, or a list of skills, or a destination of its own. Just like exercise, the first time you do it, it may be feeble and awkward. You may end up sore the next day. But the next time you take steps towards preparedness, you build upon your mistakes from before. As you make mistakes, or as you have successes along the way, you will be making your journey with knowledge that you are picking up as you go, and then when you need to put that preparedness into practice, you again will be doing it with the knowledge that you have done it before.

By Tom Kunz

Tom Kunz has been prepping all his adult life, long before it was popular to do so. He is married to the most wonderful woman on earth, and is a homeschooling father of 8, IT security specialist, software developer, mechanical engineer, firearms instructor, conference speaker, pianist, and composer. He specializes in providing security and communications services & support to Christians and missions agencies that work in countries which censor the internet and are openly hostile to the Gospel. His website is: http://SolidRockTechnologies.com/

Primitive Meat Preservation By Smoking

by PREPARE | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Guest Bloggers

Before there was refrigeration, meat was cured by various methods to preserve it for future consumption. When supplies were available, meats were soaked in brine consisting of heavily salted water and could also have included other seasonings to add a variety of flavors. Today, if you were out in the field without conventional supplies you can still preserve meat by drying it using smoke and sun. An emergency scenario might go something like this: you’re lost or abandoned in the woods and you have received a windfall of meat, perhaps from trapping, hunting or by natural circumstances. The quantity is more than you can eat now and you need food for a longer stay or for a journey to civilization. It would be prudent to capitalize on this supply for your situation.

There are several benefits to the smoking process:

It helps to keep away flies and other bugs from the wet meat as it forms an initial thin dry surface.
Smoke chemically inhibits the growth of molds and yeasts on the meat’s surface, thus contributing

to its preservation.

It also imparts taste and varies with intensity based on length of exposure. Various hardwoods

such as hickory, apple and maple are preferred for smoking meats. Conifers are not

recommended.
Associated with smoke is heat and the heat is the main element of preservation because it removes moisture from the meat thus removing the foundation for bacterial growth. The smoke and drying times will vary based on the humidity and temperature of the local climate. Some folks will smoke the meat for 2 to 6 hours and then let the sun dry it out for 2-3 days, but you can keep a low smoldering fire for the whole process. Although moist pliable meat is preferred for consumption, the drier and stiffer piece will last longer. In regard to types of meat, red meat tends to last the longest; fish on the other hand has a very short shelf-life.

A traditional primitive smoking method is to make a 6 foot tripod with horizontal cross-bars tied 4 feet off the ground. Additional sticks can be placed upon these cross-bars in order to hang additional meat. This approach can be expanded to handle a larger volume of meat. Meat strips should be no thicker than 1/4 inch and approximately 1 inch wide although lengths of meat may vary. Just hang the pieces over the horizontal sticks without touching each other to allow for better smoke coverage. A small smoldering fire from dry wood works best, and the cooler and slower the process, the better because you want to dry the meat without cooking it. If you have a tarp, you can wrap the tripod stand like a teepee thus capturing the smoke, but you can also use bark or leafy branches to create an enclosure as well. You don’t need to have an enclosure but it is more difficult to focus the smoke to be effective.

Preserving meat takes time but the rewards can be great. As usual, I always encourage folks to try it now so that you will be prepared when a real emergency happens.

By: Ken Youngquist

Ken Youngquist is the creator of Survivaltek, a website dedicated to teaching the ways and means to survive. From his youth, Ken was captivated by primitive living skills, and in his adulthood was intrigued by the television Series MacGyver. The result has been the study and practice of survival skills and the desire to pass on the mantle of preparedness to others. You can visit and learn more at: Survivaltek.com.

How to Make Your Own Essential Oils for Preparedness

by PREPARE | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Many people who are in preparedness look for alternative health remedies and solutions. Often, people consider herbs, supplements, and essential oils for their health care. A great skill you might want to consider is How to Make Your Own Essential Oils for Preparedness.

Essential oils are homeopathic ways to help mental issues, fatigue, stress, or even physical conditions. Essential oils are extracts from certain plants or fruits that are distilled and placed in a container. Packaged essential oils are highly potent and very concentrated. Below are basic instructions on how to extract, distill, and cultivate your own essential oils.

Buy a Distiller

The first important item you will need to make your own essential oils is to purchase a distiller. Distillers cost a few hundred dollars, so make sure the one you choose is durable and will do the job well. Distillers have several components to consider. The heater is important to properly steam and heat the plants so that you can extract the oils. The holding tank will decide how much water you will be able to use. Smaller holding tanks will mean less steam. The condenser collects the steamed mixture. The condenser collects the steam and holds it for cooling. In closing, the separator is used to separate the water from the oil.

Decide what plant you would like to use. You can also buy the harvested plants or you can choose to grow them yourself. Some expensive essential oils are only available from other countries such as France. Africa is also a host of several essential oil plants. Make sure to research which essential oil is most useful for the illness that you need to alleviate.

When you receive the plant, you need to dry the plant for the distiller. Drying the plant will dry some of the oil, but it will yield a higher extract product. Drying is a slow process and it should never be done via sunlight. Sunlight can damage the oils and render the plant useless. The distill process should be done immediately after drying is complete.

Add the water to your distiller, and pack the plant material in the container. You don’t need to cut or break the plants since the distiller will extract from whole plant material. You can pack the plant matter thickly to make sure you receive enough extract.

Boil the water so that steam starts to form. Keep an eye on the distiller to make sure it does not overflow. It is also important to make sure that the water does not run out. The heat without the water can break your distiller.

You can optionally filter the solutions. By pouring the solution through a cloth fabric, you can catch some of the small imperfections and contaminates that can cause allergies. It will also remove dirt from the solution making it more pure.

Store the oil in a container. The container for essential oils should be dark glass or stainless steel. Never use clear glass or your product can spoil more quickly. The essential oils should be kept in a cool, dark place away from contaminates. Most essential oils have an approximate shelf life of 2 years.

The remaining part of the distillation process that is not the oil is the hydrosol. It contains some of the oil and fragrance material that also has therapeutic effects. You can use the water for other uses such as bath water or a light scent. For others, they prefer not to keep the hydrosol and it is thrown away.

There are even MORE great resources for Preparedness available to PREPARE Premium Members.

* Disclosure: Link to the distiller is an Amazon Associate Link.

Common Bartering Mistakes That You Need to Avoid

by PREPARE | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Guest Bloggers

We have all made mistakes that we regret. But what matters is that we learn from them and ensure that they are never repeated again. This approach applies to bartering as well. However, the repercussions of making a mistake in this sector can affect an investor pretty badly. Therefore, you must ensure that you avoid such errors at all costs. Listed below are some things that you must NOT do at any point of this business.

Bartering with Retail Stores

The success of your bartering heavily relies on the individual you are negotiating with. Therefore, you must ensure that you choose the most suitable person. Do not try to barter with retail stores since they always offer non-negotiable prices. This will not help since bartering is all about flexible price tags. Thus, you must try out your luck amongst street vendors and small convenient stores.

Guessing the Value of the Item

There is nothing worse than being uninformed about your own product. In order to exchange the item, you need to know it like the back of your hand. For instance, before you purchase gold for bartering purposes, you need to learn all about the metal. Research about the market price, target audience and alternative options. This will enable you to become more confident during the bartering and thereby will make you look more credible.

Looking for More than What Your Came for

When bartering with another person, do not keep negotiating even after you get a reasonable deal. If you think that the price is appropriate for the item, then take the deal immediately. If you keep pushing the seller to lower the price, you might tip them off and ruin the entire deal.

Using Anger/Force as a Business Tactic

You cannot threaten/force someone to buy your item or accept your price if they are not interested. This is both unethical and illegal. Despite what you may think, your personality can influence the bargain to a great extent. Politely welcoming the customers with a smile and thanking them for their time can make a positive impact on the customer.

Using Help from a Local

When you barter in unfamiliar destinations, do not use the help of locals. Although an extra hand wouldn’t hurt, these people can be agents working for commissions. Thus, they might steer you to stores that are beneficial to them instead of taking you to stores that might benefit you. Therefore, if a local offers to help you out, politely decline their help and handle your business on your own.

Bartering All Alone

There is nothing wrong with dragging a friend along – especially if it is your first time. This will enable you to play the good cop/bad cop. This will give you the opportunity to make a wise and sensible decision. Moreover, a friend can voice his/her opinions on the matter and thereby prevent you from making an impulse purchase.

These mistakes can affect the productiveness of the battering more than you can imagine. By avoiding these potential pitfalls, you can make your barter a successful and profitable one.

The Zika Virus, Natural Mosquito Repellents & Bite Remedies

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog, Guest Bloggers

The Zika Virus, Natural Mosquito Repellent & Bite Remedies

Mosquitoes and Mankind

Click by 3/21/2016 for this FREE Digital Issue!

Guest Blog Post by: PREPARE Magazine Author – Snake Blocker of Blocker Academy

Mosquitoes, they are not going away. You either live in an area where mosquitoes live like kings and queens in humid environments, or you have visited a place such as this. These mosquitoes, like vampires, suck! An old Apache legend states they were not indigenous to the Turtle Island (the Americas) until the last Great Bear died and reincarnated into millions of mosquitoes that when combined, formed the shape of the Sacred Great Bear. The Great Bear was killed by a disrespectful Apache youth, so in revenge, the next season the bear formed massive swarms of mosquitoes to suck the life blood out of the entire tribe, bite by bite.

So what do we do without playing around with chemicals? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind (or in this article). Mosquitoes usually like non-locals over locals, just like I like an occasional Asian or Mexican dish. They also tend to prefer excessive-fat people over lean-fit people.

Recommendations for repelling mosquitoes:

Cover up any and all exposed skin
Rub cinnamon oil on your skin and drink cinnamon tea and/or eat ground cinnamon
Rub lemon grass oil on your skin and/or spray it on your clothes
Drink vanilla mixed with olive oil
Eat Garlic and/or rub garlic on your clothes

Recommendations for mosquito bites to prevent and minimize itching:

Rub tea tree oil on all exposed areas where itching is occurring
Bathe in water mixed with lavender oil (warm water) and/or rub on affected areas
Place spit and urine (hopefully your own) on affected areas to give some temporary comfort, if nothing else is available
Rub peppermint oil on affected areas
Place paste of baking soda mixed with a little purified water on affected area to draw out the irritants

Remember, thousands of people die each year from mosquitoes as they can transmit disease and cause many illnesses, which can be fatal to unfit people and fit people alike. When things go from bad to worst with climate changes and worse case scenarios, mosquitoes will increase in number and deadliness.

Be prepared my friend, be prepared!

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE to Subscribe by 3/21/16 to receive this FREE Digital Issue! After 3/21/16 – Only Premium Members have Access to Previous Issues so CLICK IMAGE BELOW.

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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 hosts “Snake Blocker Survival” on Preparedness Radio Network.

The Preparedness Mindset

Popular Questions

How can I develop a preparedness mindset in my daily life?

What role does faith play in the preparedness mindset?

Why is it important to recognize the need for a preparedness mindset?

What are some practical steps to implement a preparedness mindset?

Primitive Meat Preservation By Smoking

How to Make Your Own Essential Oils for Preparedness

Popular Questions

What are the steps to make essential oils at home for preparedness?

How can I choose the right plants for making essential oils for my preparedness kit?

What type of distiller should I buy for making essential oils at home?

How should I store my homemade essential oils for long-term use?