Preparedness Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Moving on: A small town can be a haven during a depression

By Claire Wolfe Website Exclusive • September, 2010 One day last summer, I departed Last-Chance Gulch and the high desert, a U-Haul trailer bobbing behind. I aimed for my beloved Pacific Northwest where a friend had...

Survival storeroom

By David Eddings Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 This story begins in the mid-nineties when the Y2K threat was in the news. Several members of my family thought it would be prudent if we started stocking...

The 7 core areas of preparedness

By Patrice Lewis Issue #133 • January/February, 2012 As I write this article, it's early September. And September, as you may or may not know, is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

Use solar landscape lights for emergencies

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 Solar-powered landscape lights in dark room. Note different light patterns and brightness. People own all kinds of household items that can be used to make life easier during...

Avoiding heat illness

By Dr. Gary F. Arnet Drink early and often to avoid dehydration. The body normally needs two to three quarts of water per day, but this can increase to...

Bugging out in place

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #163 • January/February, 2017 Some emergency situations require quick evacuation. You barely have time to grab your bug-out bag, gather the family, and run out the door. Most of us are ready...

Battery-Powered Tools are Changing

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., C.E.M. April/May/June, 2019 Battery-powered tool technology is now undergoing some rapid changes in both the power of the tool motors and the batteries supplying the added power. For many years most battery-powered...

Frostbite — Don’t flirt with this sneaky danger

By Tom and Joanne O’Toole Issue #96 • November/December, 2005 Frostbite can be defined, in its most severe stage, as when your fingers and toes freeze and have to be cut off because of gangrene. Wow,...

Dollar Store to the Rescue

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E. Summer 2019, Self-Reliance I have talked with emergency responders who have traveled all over the country to volunteer their rescue efforts at disasters like the recent flooding in Texas. While much...

Preparing for civil unrest

By Claire Wolfe Issue #118 • July/August, 2009 The most remarkable thing about civil unrest is that there hasn't been more of it. Politicians are making a hash of this country and much of the rest of...

Medical kits for self-reliant families

By Jackie Clay Issue #60 • November/December, 1999 There may be a time, as close as tomorrow, when your loved ones need medication or medical treatment and there is no drug store open or doctor available....

Power Up

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P. E., C.E.M. Spring, 2019 During any emergency or related power outage, the most important electronic device you need to keep operating is your cell phone, at least as long as cellular...

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

By Don Lewis Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019 The year was 1834, a year that didn’t really stand out as all that particularly important in American history. But like any other year, it had its share...

Start your food storage on $10 a week

By Alan T. Hagan Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 If Old Mother Hubbard had had a food storage program before she went to her cupboard her poor dog would have gotten his bone. Given the fact...

Bartering for bad times

By John Silveira Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 Bartering may not be a part of your life, right now, but if there's a deepening of the recession, or it becomes a depression, or we enter a...

Preparing for a Temporary Catastrophe

By Dave Duffy Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 November's Superstorm Sandy on the Northeastern coast of the United States was our most recent grand reminder that society is fragile, most people are not ready to take...