While barbecuing is fun and delicious, smoking meat is an art. Some would say that smoking is “real barbecuing”. You take, generally, tougher, fattier pieces of meat and cook them slowly over four, six or even twelve hours. The fat slowly renders out as the meat becomes tender and juicy. The smoke penetrates the meat, giving it a rich aroma and flavor. Smoked meat is juicer, more tender and far more flavorful than regular barbecue.

Chickens are a must for every survival prepper. They eat nearly anything, come home to their coop every night, lay eggs faithfully and adapt readily to new surroundings. With little input from you they will continuously produce both eggs and meat for the family. All they ask is a perch to sleep on at night and some sort of box or basket in which to lay their eggs. Depending on where you live, they may need to be confined in order to protect them from predators (or to protect tender garden seedlings from chicken scratching!).

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.

You may just be wanting a small cabin made from pallets with no running water or power sources for off grid living – or you may just want to do a few small things to help reduce your utility bills every month. Either way, you can get reduce your power and water consumption really cheap with just a little out of the box thinking.

When it comes to survival or regular every day living, clean water is the key to it all. In a survival situation it can be extremely tempting to take a drink of the first pool of water we see, but we all know that is probably a recipe for disaster. A water filtration device is absolutely necessary, but with so many on the market, how do you know which one to buy? In this article I will compare and contrast three very popular personal water filtration devices and you can decide which one to purchase for your survival needs.

Thanks to Sarma Custom Made I was able to review their EDC bag – the Torba-Mini. We all need a small EDC (every day carry) pack to throw in our cars with vital essentials for basic survival. It may be first aid kits, self defense mechanisms, water filters and food. Whatever the contents, this EDC pack will handle it. I’ll start with that it’s custom made by hand. Every part of the bag is made with quality materials starting with the Cordura fabric.

I had the opportunity to review a very cool larger 60L pack by Eagle Creek. It’s the Systems Go 60L Duffel Pack which is really versatile because you can use it as a backpack or a duffel bag by just rearranging the shoulder straps. The Systems Go line also allows you to use the “cube” Pack-It System which helps organize all of your belongings into separate compartments.

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.