In 1799, a twelve-year-old boy named Conrad Reed pulled a heavy yellow rock out of Little Meadow Creek in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. He brought it home. His family thought it looked nice, so they used it as a doorstop. For three years, a seventeen-pound gold nugget sat on their floor holding a door open. […]

The post If You Live in THIS State, You Probably Have Gold in Your Backyard appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

A trench shovel is not glamorous. It does not have a battery, an app, or a multi-tool attachment. What it does have is a narrow blade, a strong handle, and the ability to dig exactly the kind of hole that keeps you alive, concealed, or dry when it matters. If you have not thought seriously […]

The post Best Trench Shovel for Preppers: What to Look For and 3 Top Picks appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

For about forty years, the United States and the Soviet Union spent an absurd amount of money preparing for the end of the world. Both sides built bunkers, stockpiled supplies, trained civilians, and developed survival protocols that most people today have completely forgotten about. But here’s the thing – the scenarios they were preparing for […]

The post 7 Cold War Secrets that Will Keep You Alive When SHTF appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

Most of what keeps people alive when things go wrong cannot be downloaded. It cannot be streamed. It cannot be accessed when the power is out, the cell towers are down, or the internet is gone. Real life skills live in the hands, the memory, and on the printed page. That is why the right […]

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I first ran into this idea while reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. There’s a scene where the characters are deep in hostile territory, cut off from supply, and they end up improvising black powder using what they have on hand. One of the details that sticks is the use of…. urine. It sounds strange […]

The post How to Make “Cowboy Black Powder” at Home appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

Hollywood gets a lot wrong about survival. The hero always finds food in the first place he looks, the fire starts on the first try, and the wound that would kill a real person in three days is forgotten by the next scene. But that does not mean survival movies are worthless to a prepper. […]

The post 20 Best Survival Movies You Should Watch (And What to Learn From Each) appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2003 with one job: to keep Americans safe. It was born out of the worst attack on U.S. soil in modern history, built from 22 different federal agencies stitched together into one massive bureaucracy, and handed a budget that now exceeds $60 billion a year. That’s your […]

The post 6 Signs that Homeland Security Is Failing appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

The grid goes down more often than the power company wants you to know. In February 2021, nearly 4.5 million Texas households lost power in the middle of a winter storm, some for more than a week. Hurricane seasons routinely knock out electricity for days or weeks across the Gulf Coast and Atlantic seaboard. Aging […]

The post Off Grid Solar System – The Prepper’s Complete Power Independence Guide appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

LEGAL NOTICE: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently and vary by municipality as well as state. Always verify current laws in your specific jurisdiction before carrying any item, and consult a licensed attorney for guidance specific to your situation. Most people have no idea […]

The post Everyday Carry Laws In All US States. Know Your Rights! appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

Most people think of overnight oats as a meal prep trend for gym-goers with perfectly organized refrigerators. That is missing the bigger picture. Strip away the Instagram aesthetics and what you have is one of the most practical, high-nutrition, no-cook foods you can build into a survival food system, one that requires nothing more than […]

The post High Protein Overnight Oats: The Preppers’ No-Cook Survival Breakfast appeared first on Ask a Prepper.