Cryptocurrency or Precious Metals: No Need to Choose

1 Reply

With the recent meteoric rise in the price of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, preppers have been wondering whether to jump on the bandwagon with crypto, or stay the course with more traditional precious metals.  Even long term precious metals champions in the liberty community such as “Ranting” Andy Hoffman and Bix Weir have been heard recently abandoning silver advocacy positions they have professed for years.

Let’s keep in mind cryptocurrency isn’t new.  Bitcoin has been around for roughly five years.  Why the sudden swing upwards in price, while precious metals have remained relatively flat?  No one can be completely sure.  From a prepper point of view, there are definitely some advantages and disadvantages that should be considered before buying into the craze.

Continue reading →

Prepper Resolution #10: Get Some Training

1 Reply

As preppers, we tend to focus primarily on gear and storage.  While there’s nothing wrong with either of those, and both are absolutely necessary, the third vital leg of the “Prepper Three Legged Stool” is skills.  What you have stored internally in your mind & muscle memory, or at least available on quick recall, is equally as important as the first two legs.  We’re going to go beyond just acquiring skills though – this post is going to urge actually taking some formal training, not just teaching yourself or learning through watching YouTube plus trial & error.

Continue reading →

Pink Eye

Medical Basics: Is it “Pink Eye”?

Leave a reply

Many parents have received that dreaded phone call from a school nurse, teacher, or daycare provider requesting their child be picked up immediately from school due to probable “pink eye”?  Though “pink eye” is layperson terminology, it has become synonymous in people’s minds as a highly contagious eye infection. But is this true?  This article will review a variety of causes of a pink eye, the differences in presentation of each,  appropriate treatment depending on cause, and the likelihood of transmission to another person.

Continue reading →

Balanced Prepper Wealth Pie Chart

Prepper Resolution #9: Rebalance & Protect Your Wealth

Leave a reply

It’s that time of year again – Christmas is over, the first hints of warmer & longer days have arrived, and the dreaded April 15th tax deadline starts to loom closer.  Before we’re totally focused on going outside and making preparations for the spring garden, now’s a good time to reflect on balanced prepping, specifically in terms of wealth distribution.  It’s often the case that due to price fluctuations, life changes, or overallocation due to specific concerns, even a seasoned prepper’s distribution of wealth can become unbalanced & less diversified.

Continue reading →

Prepper Resolution #8: Use a VPN

1 Reply

What is a VPN?

A VPN, which stands for virtual private network, is an encrypted network between one or many machines (clients) and a server.  It is “virtual” in the sense that it is not a direct physical or WiFi based network.  The machines securely connect over an internet connection and define an entirely new set of internal IP addresses by which they communicate.  This provides a private network which cannot be snooped on, even by the client’s internet service provider (ISP).  It is one of the best network security mechanisms available.

Continue reading →

Medical Basics: Do I Need an Antibiotic?

Leave a reply

Please remember: the information presented on this website is intended for educational purposes and is not meant to replace a visit to a qualified healthcare provider.

Every day in my medical practice (usually multiple times), I see patients that request an antibiotic medication for the treatment of their symptoms. Most cases of infection seen by medical providers, do NOT require antibiotics for treatment.   During a disaster situation, when medical care may not be readily available, it is important to use your preps wisely; therefore, in this post, we will review several basic indicators of infection, likely causes, and possible treatments.

Penicilin molecule

Penicillin core structure, where “R” is the variable group

Antibiotics kill bacteria (and some spirochetes), but not viruses. Except for some well known bacterial infections such as “strep throat”, “ear infections”, bacterial conjunctivitis (most people call this “pink eye”), urinary tract infections (UTI), tuberculosis (Tb), an infected cut, “food poisoning”, some STDs (chlamydia/gonorrhea) and certain types of pneumonia, many other common ailments are not bacterial. Most common infections experienced by adults and children are VIRAL.

There are several viral medications on the market that are focused on certain viral infections, examples include HIV, Hepatitis C, Influenza type A & B only (“the flu”), Herpes, and Shingles. Still, the treatments for these ailments don’t always “kill” the virus. Anti-viral medications generally control the quantity of virus present in the body by preventing the virus from multiplying, while the body’s immune system attacks the virus, or enhance the body’s immune system response in order to fight the virus.

Continue reading →