Data privacy is a concern to many preppers, and some even take measures — like traveling with a burner phone or laptop — to prevent border authorities from rummaging through their devices when traveling internationally. In recent years, some have even referred to the US border as a “constitution-free zone” because citizens returning home, such
Hollow-handled “Rambo” knives are one of those common purchases people pick up on the cheap. Maybe they saw some positive reviews on Amazon and thought to themselves, “it’s only $10, so even if it’s not great and doesn’t last, no biggie.” But those knives are dangerous and shouldn’t even be used as a “beater” or
Like everyone else on the internet, I am by turns inspired and terrified by the viral videos of the amazingly agile robots from Boston Dynamics and MIT. I share these clips with my kids, hoping to inspire one of them to pursue a career in STEM, and while we’re watching them I ask, in a
A new paper published in the journal Environmental Research Letters maps the flow of food (both domestically produced and imported) between US counties, identifying nine “core counties for the US food supply” that are the most critical nodes in our food distribution network. The authors write that “a disruption to any of these counties may
Summary: We’re blogging more often (what would you like us to cover?) and removed Disqus for on-site comments (you’ll now have an account directly with TP). Since launching, The Prepared has focused on deep, detailed articles around topics like gear reviews, survival skills, beginner checklists, and emergency scenario guides. We spend time testing products, interviewing
The California blackouts are not a temporary thing — PG&E is claiming these unprecedented power outages, which leave millions without power for days at a time, will be the new normal for the next decade. That’s the bad news. The one bit of good news we can offer is that it doesn’t take a ton
It’s like something out of a movie: Korea deploys snipers and drones to its borders to stop the infected from entering and spreading a disease that alarmed scientists estimate will wipe out fully one quarter of the global population… of pigs. African swine fever is threatening the world’s protein supply, in what the World Organization
Our staff comes across a lot of novel and potentially great products during the course of the week. If readers like this (let us know!), we’ll periodically share these quick roundups on the blog. If you see something cool that you think should be included, drop it in the comments and we’ll consider it for
PG&E warns it could cut power to more than 2 million people beginning Saturday night, LA Times. “Pacific Gas & Electric said Friday that it would probably begin cutting off power to 850,000 Northern California customers — more than 2 million people — on Saturday night as historic winds returned to the region. It would
Helle of Norway is best known for traditional Scandinavian-style bushcraft knives, but the Helle Utvaer is an attempt to offer a more American-centric, “tactical” knife design while still keeping finished product fundamentally Scandinavian in build and functionality. The result is a gorgeous design by Danish knifemaker Jesper Voxnaes that, as the only full-tang knife in
Solar + storage to survive disasters, PV Magazine. “A research note by Roth Capital Partners predicts the residential storage market in the United States to grow more quickly than expected. This prediction is founded just as much in disaster mitigation as it in economic viability.” Lithium will fuel the clean energy boom. This company may
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is in the opening phase of a very large, planned blackout in Northern California. This will affect some 800,000 customers, and already some 500,000 are without power today. This affects not just homes but stores, schools, and even hospitals will lose power for anywhere from 24 hours up to a
If you’ve spent any amount of time shopping for survival products then you’ve come across premium materials like titanium, Dyneema, silnylon, carbon fiber, and the like. These are low-weight, high-strength materials developed for industries like racing or aircraft manufacturing that, in recent decades, have found their way out onto trails and mountain peaks as gear
After recently analyzing over 2,200 miles of municipal pipes and plumbing, Portland city officials have concluded that a large earthquake will knock out water for almost 1 million people in a 225 square mile region for two weeks or longer — not just homes and businesses, but fire stations, hospitals, and other critical first responder
“Civil War 2.0” is a topic that comes up with depressing regularity in my social media feeds, both because it’s a real concern in some quarters and because it’s a source of sweet sweet clickbait traffic for mainstream media outlets. I have read most of the clickbait and some of the serious work on this
