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Author: Jodie Weston

Jodie considers herself to be an 'optimistic prepper'. Though she is a strong believer in preparing for the worst, Jodie wants nothing more than to help her neighbors, near and far to avoid these scenarios.

Prepping came about to Jodie through permaculture farming and embracing a simple, frugal lifestyle. Though she cannot claim the title of living from the land entirely, she thoroughly enjoys eating the fruits of her labor, when they come from her back yard!
Vehicular Terror: The Easiest Blueprint To Create Mayhem

Vehicular Terror: The Easiest Blueprint To Create Mayhem

Note: This is an article first published by BDS in 2017 but it is worth revisiting.  In these days of smartphone distractions, you’re seeing more and more people oblivious to…

FoodSaver Canning: A Fast and Easy Food Preservation Method

FoodSaver Canning: A Fast and Easy Food Preservation Method

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a Backdoor Survival reader asking my opinion on a device she had seen being promoted to preppers.  It was basically a…

How to Disinfect and Sterilize Medical Instruments in a Survival Situation

How to Disinfect and Sterilize Medical Instruments in a Survival Situation

Do you know how to disinfect and sterilize medical instruments? In a survival situation, knowing when and how to do this will be a crucial skill when performing emergency medical procedures on wounds, whether in the field or at home. This is important information and the difference between sterile and clean may surprise you.

How to Seal Food in Mylar Bags

How to Seal Food in Mylar Bags

One of the very first things I learned to do when I started to prep was seal food in Mylar bags.  As simple as this sounds, you would not believe…

How To Store Seeds for the Long Term

How To Store Seeds for the Long Term

Whether or not you currently have a food garden, practical wisdom says you should stash away some heirloom seeds for the long term. If the time ever came when food…

14 Bread Machine Tips

14 Bread Machine Tips

Make fresh, wholesome bread in an automatic bread machine, commonly referred to as an ABM. 14 proven tips for bread machine users. No apologies needed – bread machines make great bread!

Hurricane Harvey vs Hurricane Katrina: History Repeated?

Hurricane Harvey vs Hurricane Katrina: History Repeated?

These two massive storms might be the most expensive to recover from in American history. Hurricane Katrina saw damage worth roughly $100 billion and she holds the top spot of…

Cold Frame vs Greenhouse Structures Compared

Cold Frame vs Greenhouse Structures Compared

Gardening often requires the use of a cold frame or a greenhouse, even in warmer climate. A good way to think of the difference between a greenhouse and a cold…

How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water

How to Use Pool Shock to Purify Water

There is much confusion surrounding the use of pool shock to purify water. In this article, the steps are broken down in an easy to understand manner.

Are You Pandemic Prepared? How to Prepare for Pandemic and Survive, Too

Are You Pandemic Prepared? How to Prepare for Pandemic and Survive, Too

It seems like every time we turn around there is some deadly disease in the news. In recent years, there has been Ebola and the Avian influence A (H7N9) virus….

8 Best Essential Oils for Disinfecting and Cleaning

8 Best Essential Oils for Disinfecting and Cleaning

Essential oils offer more than just a pleasant smell. You are probably used to using them for relaxing massages, but, did you know that they can be used as a…

Learn How to Shelter in Place

Learn How to Shelter in Place

Just a little of 10 years ago, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the Seattle area. I was at work and SurvivalHusband was at our house in Bellevue. Right before the earthquake hit, my little dog ran up to him and jumped in his arms. Then it hit.
Following that event, I learned-up about post earthquake safety and of course, a couple of weeks ago I wrote about being prepared for an earthquake. One of the lessons I learned after the 2001 quake was that if you are safe, stay put. Your very best chance of survival is to remain in your home or your office or even the shopping mall if that is where you happen to be.

FEMA defines Shelter-in-Place as the process of staying where you are and taking shelter, rather than trying to evacuate. Here are some guidelines from FEMA’s Ready America website.

20 Steps: The Ultimate Prepper Guide

20 Steps: The Ultimate Prepper Guide

When it comes to being a prepper, it is easy to throw your hands up in frustration and become overwhelmed. Here are 20 steps you can take now.. It really does not have to be that difficult and although you need a bug-out-bag and get home bag, you do not need to prepare to live a solitary life in the woods (unless, of course, you want to). Lets be practical and become a common sense prepper. Here are 20 steps you can can take now.

DIY Antiviral Sanitizing Spray: When Hand Sanitizer is Not Enough

DIY Antiviral Sanitizing Spray: When Hand Sanitizer is Not Enough

Although news of Ebola has been dominating the headlines, there is currently another nasty outbreak circulating the United States. Since August, enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has caused clusters of respiratory disease…

20 Items to Kick Start Your Long Term Food Storage Plan

20 Items to Kick Start Your Long Term Food Storage Plan

No matter how many times I write about food, there is always something new to consider or a new and different way to present the same old information in a more useful manner. With that in mind, today I would like to share a method for getting started with your food storage program in an easy, step by step, and cost effective manner.

To be truthful, my initial goal with this article was to respond to readers who were just getting started and wanted a shopping list of things to buy for their food storage pantry. I also wanted to compile a checklist that more experienced preppers could use to compare what they had to what they needed. My goal can pretty much be summed up by saying that I wanted to write about getting started with food storage the easy way. No frills, no fluff – just a common sense list of food items to get you started.

The Prepper’s Guide to Aquaponics: Urban and Soil-less Food for When SHTF

The Prepper’s Guide to Aquaponics: Urban and Soil-less Food for When SHTF

Aquaponics is the combination of two food growing methods to make a more sustainable and independent system that has many benefits for a prepper. Hydroponics, or growing plants without soil…