Best Prepper Resources and Recommendations

Written by Pat Henry on The Prepper Journal.

Since I started the Prepper Journal I have always believed that everyone benefits from as much information, discussion and sometimes debate as possible. No single person has all of the answers, but I think collectively great ideas come to the surface. I have my own opinions on practically everything out there but I won’t say that I know everything. I have also had my mind changed on more than one occasion by the thoughts and theories I have read elsewhere on the subjects we discuss about prepping and survival.

To that end I wanted to share some of the best prepper resources I have come across in my preparedness journey with the readers of the Prepper Journal. I think that so many of these sites, prepper gear ideas and even books are valuable to everyone and I believe anything that I use, read or recommend is worth sharing with the rest of the world.

This post will be my ideas on some of the best prepper resources and recommendations in the following categories.

• Best Prepper Gear that can save your life
• Best Prepper Books that can give you information when the grid goes down
• Best Prepper Blogs that can teach you various subjects in the field of prepping and survival

These are just my current opinions and like I mentioned above are all subject to change. Some of these items are listed on my Prepper Essentials page and other links can be found on my Prepper Resources page as well. These two pages will always be links in the navigation bar at the top for future reference.

Best Prepper Gear

The best prepper gear is what you have available to you. In most cases that would be your EDC gear. The best gear in the world is worthless if it is packed away in your attic and you are stuck on some business trip hundreds of miles away from home.

Fenix 170 Lumens Flashlight – Great for using on your keychain or as backup to a larger light.	Spyderco Tenacious – Great folder that you can carry with you almost anywhere.	Leatherman Wave – Thousands of uses and small enough to always have on you.
Leatherman Squirt – This is the Leatherman Wave’s smaller brother and I do mean smaller. This is on my key-chain and is for times when I can’t really wear my big Leatherman on my belt or throw it in a bag.	Bandana – No, they aren’t only for blowing your nose, they can be used as a bandage or to filter water to remove large particles.	Fenix PD22 – Another flashlight? Yes, this goes in my pocket and when I don’t have my keys, this is always with me. 512 Lumens!
Casio Pathfinder – Great watch that includes several features that could aid in survival or at least make a trip into the woods better.	Lighter – You should have some way to make fire using something like this Zippo or even a regular Bic lighter.

Best Bug Out Bag Items:

When you have to get out of dodge, there are some basic preparations you should already have packed and ready to go. These are great prepping items for your bug out bag.

Water Bottle: Stainless – You need a way to carry water in your Bug Out Bag, but you don’t have to go the stainless steel route. The benefit of this is that you can boil this canister over a fire if your water is suspect.	Water Bottle: Plastic – This is what I used to carry daily but still take this backpacking instead of the stainless. It is a pretty good bit lighter and quieter.	Nalgene 48-Ounce Bladder – This bladder is a great companion to your water filtration system by allowing you to fill an additional reservoir.
Sawyer Mini Water Filter – It only weighs 2 ounces so if you are looking to lighten your backpack, this is the water filter for you. 100,000 gallon capacity.	ENO Rain Fly – Great lightweight option for shelter over your head. Instead of packing a tent, you can just string a rain fly between two trees.	Emergency Rations – There are a lot of options for bug out bag food, but these emergency rations stand up to years baking in the trunk of your car.
ESS Recon 3 Sleeping Bag – Lightweight and fairly compact. These bags are rated down to 23 degrees.	Adventure Medical Kits Bivvy – Last ditch survival or a shelter in a pinch. This emergency bivvy is lightweight but could save you from exposure.	Mountain House Freeze Dried Chili Mac – No, they aren’t the healthiest option, but they are very filling, lightweight and only require hot water and a spoon. These are my go-to Backpacking meals for simplicity.
Fire starter – Matches can get wet and lighters can run out of fuel. It will take a long time of making fires before this old style method doesn’t work. It is a great backup.	Jetboil Flash – There are lighter options out there, but this unit is simple and mostly self-contained. Perfect for quickly heating up water for coffee or Freeze dried food.	Gerber LMF II – Folders are great for around town, but if I am walking out the door never to come back, I want a serious knife. The Gerber LMF II is great and reasonably priced.

Best Prepping Books and Reference Material

Survival Manuals – Great introduction to the concepts of survival.  The first book I read was the SAS survival guide and that really opened up a lot of areas for me. I quickly found How to Survive the End of the World as we know it when I got more into Prepping.

Homesteading and Self-Reliance – If we do find ourselves on the other side of oblivion, these books below are great resources you can use to start feeding yourself again.

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Natural Remedies/ First Aid – Natural Remedies are available for thousands of ailments that we take prescription medicine for now and most can be found within a short walk away from your home. When the grid goes down, you will want to ensure you have reference material like this to make your own medicine.

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Tactical Methods / Strategies / Security – Unfortunately, I believe that security will be a major part of any life after a grid-down event. Knowing the skills you need to keep yourself alive and practicing them often will be very necessary if you want to survive.

Best Prepper Blogs

These are in no particular order.

1. SHTF Plan – Mac Slavo runs this blog that is a great read everyday for a ton of new information. Most of the content is current events based around Economic issues, government tyranny or anything that preppers need to be warned about.  This is on my daily read list
2. Prepper Website – Todd Sepulveda runs this amazing resource of links to a myriad of prepping sites and content. Prepper Website is the Drudge Report of Prepping and if you could only have one place to go for information, the Prepper Website will have something interesting every day.
3. Survival Sherpa – Run by another Todd. Todd Walker used to be Daniel Boone in another life. His site offers so much information on how to live and create items naturally. Full of great instructive posts and ideas.
4. ITS Tactical – More on the military side of prepping, ITS Tactical is run by Bryan Black and is always full of detailed posts with beautiful images clearly explaining a ton of concepts that could come in handy to anyone from the lowly prepper to backpacker. ITS Tactical frequently features articles from Special Forces veterans.
5. Ready Nutrition – Tess Pennington always has a somewhat eclectic offering of information on her site. She covers everything from prepping to self-sufficiency to awareness of health issues. She also has at least two books out, The Prepper’s Blueprint and The Prepper’s Cookbook.
6. The Survival Mom – Lisa Bedford is the Queen of Prepping Women. (I really hope that doesn’t land me in hot water.) who first came to my attention many years back. I actually gave my oldest daughter a copy of Lisa’s book, The Survival Mom because I thought Lisa could relate to my daughter in ways better than me. Fortunately I was right and  my daughter has since discussed prepping with me frequently. Lisa’s site is full of resources for preppers, even men too.
7. Organic Prepper – Daisy Luther runs the Organic Prepper. Along with being a successful writer herself of two books: The Pantry Primer – How to build a one year food supply and her latest, The Organic Canner, Daisy writes about Preparedness, Healthy, saving money and resisting tyranny in all forms.
8. Gray Wolf Survival  – Gray Wolf Survival is another great resource for Preppers. Scott Kelly doesn’t post articles every day but when he does, his posts are incredibly detailed and packed with information. Check out his site.
9. Survival Blog – The originator, not the imitator. Survival Blog was the first prepping blog I started reading and I still check in every day. James Wesley Rawles started Survival blog and relies on content from readers who submit articles for his contests that give away valuable prizes every couple of months. If you have any question on prepping, self-sufficiency, firearms or homesteading, Survival Blog will likely have the answers buried in its massive index.
10. Backdoor Survival -Gaye Levy is another woman who ceaselessly writes on subjects important to preppers. Gaye writes about a lot of different topics, holds frequent book reviews and interviews major authors in the Prepper Genre as well as shares homeopathic health remedies.

These are by no means all of the sites that provide great information out here. There are literally hundreds of prepping resources and you can find more links on the sites below:

• Top Prepper Sites
• The Best Prepper Sites
• Survival Top 50

I hope this list of prepper resources helps you on your preparedness journey.

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