In a survival situation, personal protection can be just as important as supplies of food and water. After all, your stores aren’t worth much if they are taken from you. Under many circumstances, a quality guard dog is worth even more than a firearm. And when you are not under attack, these dogs still go to work, protecting your livestock, patrolling your property and discouraging nosy passersby.

Every survival prepper should sit up and pay attention to the tiny home movement. These little dwellings are a physical representation of the survivalist philosophy: they consume minuscule amounts of energy, save on water, are generally inexpensive and, most importantly, they force you to let go of your attachment to stuff. There simply isn’t room for more than you need.

Emergencies happen when you least expect them, but they don’t always have to be stressful situations. Have you ever been stranded on the side of the road? If you haven’t, you’ll be glad you came across these ideas before it’s too late. No one has time for a vehicle breakdown and no one certainly anticipates it to happen.

It’s always debatable on what you should carry in your bug out bag. It could also depend on your geographic location on how to prepare for the worst. For instance, on the west coast you might consider earthquake kits and in other colder climate areas, maybe have a survival kit that will get you through being stranded in cold weather or hypothermic conditions. There are tons of articles showing what preppers consider to be necessary in order to survive at least the crucial 72 hour period after a disaster. The first few items that should come to mind are food, water, first aid kits and shelter. This is our take on the 19 most essential items we think should be in your bag before anything else.

Most people have the dream of being able to earn money conveniently and not deal with morning commutes, concrete jungles and over-populated cities. Working from your residence gives you the opportunity to live in remote areas but still make revenue. The advancement of cell phone data towers and satellite connectivity allows you take advantage of being self-sustained using the internet without leaving your front door. Being a prepper, most can’t afford to have two locations (home + bug out property). Supporting yourself makes it possible to make your home your bug out property – away from the population centers.

PVC has a variety of uses included moving potable water, waste water and chemicals for heating and cooling. PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) pipes are flexible and durable enough that it allows people to construct or repurpose them in a variety of ways outside of carrying fluids. The best thing is that PVC material is relatively cheap so with a few tools and some patience you can construct something usable for your gear. Be sure to paint the PVC to help protect it from the sun if you plan on using it outdoors. Here’s a great compilation of several examples on how people are utilizing PVC to organize or aid in storing their outdoor gear. Pretty nifty stuff!

Everyone’s bug out bags are different. Each of us has a hierarchy of importance on the items that are thrown in our bag for when times get tough. There is no right or wrong way to pack your bag as long as it contains the essentials. However it’s always cool to see what other people are thinking and pull ideas from others. There may be something you never thought of and feel it’s a great candidate to include in yours. There are several infographics floating around the web, so we decided to compile a few for your viewing pleasure.

My wife and I just got back from a trip where we stayed in a hotel several nights and I noticed all the freebies that come along with your hotel stay. While, I know that you ultimately pay for those things, people do tend to leave these items behind instead of thinking of how they could be utilized for future purposes. While most of these items don’t come in huge quantities, every little bit helps especially if you travel a lot. So technically these aren’t freebies since you most likely pay for them anyway, but most folks don’t think of all the possibilities they leave behind when they close their hotel door for the last time.

Part of prepping for a disaster may sometimes involve learning skills that may not be applicable until you face a survival or disaster scenario. Some of these skills can still be helpful in every day life especially if they are medical-related skill sets. There are a wide variety of medical skills you can learn, sometimes free or at a low cost to you. If you take advantage of those medical training courses and resources available to you, the medical issues that may arise in a disaster may be easier to handle.

There are a few medical kit items that we will cover that may seem like common sense to you, but it never hurts to touch on them to make sure everyone understands their importance or to jog some memories. While some of these items may seem unimportant to you, each one has a use that could save your life, so keep an open mind! Most of these can be found at Walmart, Target or your local pharmacy.