Author: Gaye Levy

If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is that survivalist preppers know how to cook tasty meals from the ingredients in their pantry and garden. Because of that, I put out a call for pantry recipes that could be cobbled together using five ingredients or less. I asked and you came. In a break from our usual prepper fare, today I share with you a compilation of your recipes. What follows is a booklet that includes those recipes along with a hat tip to each submitter. How cool is that?

This is a cookbook for you to keep, to print, and to share. Enjoy!

As prepper’s it is easy to focus on being prepared to defend what is ours when situations get dire following a disruptive event. The reality, however, is that dangerous situations are a part of everyday life. This includes visits to the local ATM, a drive down a busy freeway, or any seemingly mundane situation that involves waiting in a crowded line.

It is important to recognize that avoiding deadly situations should be the rule and not the exception. Watch Your Back: How to Avoid the Most Dangerous Moments in Daily Life, by Roger Eckstine, will prepare you for both everyday dangers and those that are more extreme.

It is hard to believe that a little over a year ago I decided to pull up stakes and search for the perfect survival retreat. More than a retreat, I wanted to find a forever home. It has been quite the journey and now that I am within days of fully moving into my new home, it is time to come clean on the how-to’s of moving, prepper-style.

Learn where I landed as well as some first-hand tips to help overcome the challenges of relocation.

We need water for drinking, cooking, bathing, cleaning, and overall hygiene. Without good water, we will suffer and could even die. That said, a struggle for many is not how to source water but rather how to make bad water good. After all, the last thing we want to find a source of water, use it, and end up married to the toilet god or worse.

Over the years, I have learned to trust Lifestraw products for their ease of use and portability.Learn how and why the LifeStraw Mission is the perfect water purifier for those times when portability, affordability, and ease of use are important.

Learn how and why the LifeStraw Mission is the perfect water purifier for those times when portability, affordability, and ease of use are important. Plus enter the giveaway to win one for free.

Linking survival and preparedness with essential oils may seem odd but the more you use them, the more you recognize their value in preparing for times when traditional first aid and wellness solutions may be difficult to come by.

For years, the Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy has been the definitive source of information about essential oils. Recently updated, read an exclusive interview with the author, Valerie Worwood, and learn what she recommends as a budget-friend “Basic Care Kit”. Plus, enter the giveaway to win a copy of her newly updated book for free!

Prepping and being a survivalist prepper is hard work. Learn to stay motivated during those times when you are burned out, stressed and it all seems futile.

One of the cornerstones of being prepared is to identify items that multitask and to embrace their use during normal times. Doing so not only saves money but also saves storage space and eliminates having to choose which product or item to use for what. A good example is the common Mason jar. Another is the flour sack dishtowel.

Here are 25 ways a flour sack dishtowel can be used around the home. Can you think of others?

Deborah Moore’s new book, EMPulse, is a story of what happens to a woman after her world is turned upside down following a catastrophic EMP. Enjoy an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the eBook version for free. There will be 10 winners!

A preparedness test will help you assess how well you are doing in meeting your prepping goals. Take the test and download a free preparedness manual.

Becoming medically prepared can be one of the most difficult aspects of prepping. First, there is the unpredictable nature of medical emergencies themselves. Then there is the prospect of inadequate medical training coupled with the lack of supplies and medicine.

Even during normal times, doing the right thing medically can have dire consequences. Something you may not have considered is the need for patient advocacy, both now and in the future when the prospect of getting good proper medical care is not likely. Dr. Joe Alton is back again with an all-new and all-important article of medical preparedness.

Essential oils are tools that preppers of all ages can use to their advantage to maintain health and wellness. Today’s book is a book written with moms in mind but that is just the beginning. The Smart Mom’s Guide to Essential Oils has information on the twenty-five of the most useful and commonly available essential oils. Plus, it is chock full of recipes of all types, including a robust section on using essential oils in DIY products for the home and for personal care.

In addition to an interview with the author, three copies of the print book are up for grabs in a giveaway.

I was recently interviewed by Todd Todd Sepulveda, the editor of The Pepper Website. He has a new website, The Prepper Website Podcast, and today he is featuring an interview with both me and my BFF, George Ure, who many of you know from Urban Survival.

We are both honored and thrilled and to celebrate, a copy of our eBook, “11 Steps to Living a Strategic Life: A Guide to Survival During Uncertain Times” will be available on Amazon for free between April 5 and April 9.

What is this book about? Strategic Living, of course!

Living in the desert has taught me not to take water for granted. Unlike the Pacific Northwest, I am not footsteps away from streams, ponds, or a vast sea just waiting for me to collect and purify for personal use.

In a continuing effort to educate our readers on the finer aspects of self-sufficiency, I have invited Dan Chiras to share his best strategies and tips for creating a rain catchment system that works. Learn what you need to know about building a rainwater catchment system.

This Choetech Emergency Flashlight includes a power bank to charge your mobile devices. It is also rechargeable and has a built-in seat belt cutter and window breaker. It is value priced at only $7.99 but you can enter the giveaway to win one for free. There will be five winners.

Survive in Style: The Prepper’s Guide to Living Comfortably During Disasters is a handbook for accomplishing self-sufficiency in the areas of water, energy, food, transportation, economics and just about anything else you can think of. In this newest Prepper Book Festival title, enjoy an interview with author Dan Chiras and enter to win a copy for free. There will be three winners.

Mint is a prolific garden herb with many useful healing qualities. Learn to grow, harvest, preserve and use various types of mint for wellness purposes. This is the second in-depth article in the series on healing herbs you can grow yourself.

Canning is a blessing and a curse. For seasoned canners, preserving the local bounty not only saves money but is a relaxing and stress-free experience. These same canners giddily prepare fully cooked meals in jars, to be opened and reheated at a moment’s notice.

And everyone else? They suffer a fear of the canning process, botulism, and of blowing themselves up along with their kitchen. Don’t let this canning curse prevent you from learning and benefiting from this important skill. With The Prepper’s Canning Guide, my good friend Daisy Luther teaches you how to can without fear! Enter the giveaway to win a copy for free. There will be three winners!

If there is one piece of gear that is universal in any bug out bag or survival kit, it is a knife. Simply put, in situations of self-reliance, there is no shortage of work to be done with a knife. Having the right knife is simply a must.

One company that is doing their best to put out a lineup of quality knives is Wiebe Knives. In this review, learn about the Wiebe line of specialty knives plus enter to win a set of two knives in a giveaway. There will be two winners.

Living and breathing preparedness is hard work and so, when the day is done, it is nice to kick back and think about something else. It is for that reason that a few months back, I personally took a break from survival fiction and immersed myself in popular fiction and adult coloring instead.

A few weeks ago that changed. A new crop of really excellent books crossed my desk, and I was once again hooked. One of those books was the novel, Without, by E.E. Borton. It gives me please to introduce his work to you as I share an exclusive interview and offer up three print copies of his in a book festival giveaway.

Whether you are planning to survive disasters or simply want to be self-sufficient and less dependent on outside resources, raising your own meat animals is a smart choice. That said, raising farm animals can be tough for those who live in urban areas, small homes or apartments, or under the rule of restrictive homeowners associations. If that sounds like you, consider raising meat rabbits. Rabbits make it possible to produce your own meat without raising an eyebrow!

If you have a garage, a basement, a porch, a backyard or even a small corner of a living room, you can raise meat rabbits and produce quite a bit of meat for you and your family. Sound interesting? In this article find detailed information about selecting healthy rabbits, breeding, housing options, butchering, and more.

There are times when nothing but a print book will do. In addition, it has been my experience that retention of the written word is far greater when the printed word is just that, printed on paper and not in a digital format.

With that in mind, learn how to get a print copy of the ARE YOU READY guide for free.

It is not often that I become indecisive but earlier in the week, as I was deciding how to lead this latest book festival, I just couldn’t decide. There were too many good books, each delivering value to preppers in their own unique way. Ultimately, the winner was a book by Ron Melchiore, someone many of you may recognize as a periodic guest contributor here on Backdoor Survival. Ron and his wife, Johanna, have lived a good portion of their life together off-grid in what most of us would call the remote wilderness.

In spite of his isolation, Ron is quite sociable and remarkably witty eloquent as he shares his journey in his book Off Grid and Free: My Path to the Wilderness. This is a book about sustainable living, starting in the seventies and come full circle to today. Read the interview with Ron and enter to win a copy of his book for free. There will be three winners.

Harnessing the sun to boil water and cook food is a dream come true for anyone but especially so for preppers and self-sufficiency types who want to reduce their dependence on the electrical grid and traditional sources of cooking fuel. The SolSource Solar Cooker does just that; it harnesses the sun and effortlessly becomes an all-in-one cooker, stove, and grill. Not only that, it is fun to use (actually a blast to use!) and the prepared food is super-delicious.

In this review, I will explain how the SolSource works, from installation through cleanup. In addition, One Earth Designs is giving a complete SolSource Solar Cooker bundle to one lucky ready. This is a $569 value. How cool is that?

Prepper Book Festival #14 includes the latest books to teach you how to be better prepared, more self-sufficient, and better informed. Twelve books are included, featuring everything from a comprehensive, 16-month program to achieve self-sufficiency, to personal safety, canning, essential oils, and more. Not to be left out are titles in the survival fiction genre. Be sure to keep an eye peeled for author interviews and a weekly giveaway to win free copies of one of these fantastic new books!

Dental equipment and dental exams are not often written about within the context of long-term survival. This is surprising because our mouths are a portal into our body. Oral bacteria and decay can quickly move throughout our system using saliva as a carrier. The result is sickness and a compromised immune system.

In this article from our Survival Medic Series, Dr. Joe Alton explains what procedures and supplies we need to know about when dealing with dental health. Learn how to perform a dental exam and about the tools and equipment you need resolve dental emergencies, Plus, enter the giveaway to win a Survival Dental Kit valued at $199.

What is Comfrey? How do you grow it? What is it used for? Comfrey is a healing herb that grows almost everywhere. Learn about planting, growing, and harvesting comfrey, along with instructions for making a poultice, infusion and more.

It is no secret that prepper-types use the Great Depression as an example of what can and will happen when the stuff hits the fan. We do this because the possibility of a national or even a global economic collapse is something we prepare for.

Learning about life during the Great Depression has its value and the lessons we can learn will go a long way in helping us formulate our own plan for survival under such dire economic circumstances. That being said, life in the 21st century is much different than it was during the thirties. This makes it important to toss some modern realism into the mix. Here are both reasons and facts why a second Great Depression will be different the next time around.

At one time or another, every prepper on the planet has asked themselves whether they have taken things too far. Has their passion for preparedness gone too far? Has it taken over daily life in such a way that every trip to the store involves scouting out that perfect something for when the poop hits the fan? How do you determine whether being prepared is an addiction, an obsession, a chore, or simply smart living?

Has prepping become a monkey on your back?

When you think about being out in the woods, what do you envision as a staple meal? Do you see yourself sitting by the fire roasting some fresh venison on a spit? Maybe you live in an area with a great deal of waterfowl, and you can see yourself enjoying some roasted duck? What you imagine in your mind is probably in large part dictated by the environment you live in. Wherever you live, one food that should be on your list of wild food is freshly caught fish.

In this article, you will learn the basics of cooking, cleaning, and cooking fish in a survival situation.

When disaster strikes, a lot of things happen. There are people fleeing the area, people rushing into the area to help, people in shock who can’t figure out what to do, people who jump into action right away — and the list goes on. Everybody is different, and everybody reacts differently when put in a disaster situation.

Learning how to prepare for a disaster is an important thing to do, even if you don’t think it will happen to you. Some people may be born preppers, meaning they are constantly doing what they can to get ready for a disaster. Some people believe that nothing bad will happen to them, so they don’t bother. Here are some of the most common types of people during disaster situations and what you should know about them when preparing for or dealing with a tough and possibly dangerous situation.