SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

DIY Sawyer Gravity Filter for a Bucket

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Remember the days of drinking water through a garden hose in the middle of summer? Well – not all water is safe to drink.

The Sawyer water filter is awesome! It is simple to operate, reliable, and is a great value. The biggest drawback of the Sawyer is using it with multiple people. It can be done but you’re either all sucking on the same straw or using a lot of time and energy filling small bags or bottles with dirty water and squeezing through the filter. I figured there had to be a better way to use this great filter.

However, you can easily adapt the Sawyer for bucket use. Once a hole is drilled in the supply bucket the components are assembled (instructions included) – and then the Sawyer is attached. That’s it.

Here is one of my most recent trials:

#1: Started with a bucket and threw in a bunch of dirt and added a couple gallons of water.

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#2: Used a towel as a pre-filter to remove the larger particles.

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#3: Towel caught a lot of crap. A finer pre-filter for capturing more of the larger particles would be suggested (coffee filters good for this).

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#4: Below is the water ready to go through the Sawyer.

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#5: Filtering operation in progress.

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#6: Close up of the stream of filtered water exiting the filter.

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#7:  This is what the non-filtered water looked like sitting in the bucket.

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#8: Filtered water is crystal clear.

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I was pretty happy with the results. I was interested in seeing how well the water flowed from the bucket through the Sawyer as well as what the water would look like afterward. I was not surprised that the water looked crystal clear after all that is what is supposed to happen. The flow rate was excellent at around 5-6 gallons an hour.

I drank the entire glass of filtered water and found it had no off-taste and tasted like….well…..water. Granted this test was dealing really with only sediment and suspended particles in water. I have no way of knowing about potential pathogens or bacteria but I am still alive so I consider the test a success.

Remember, a solid water plan involves, storage, purification, and resupply. There are also some “just in time” solutions like the WaterBob bathtub water holder that can give you an extra 100 gallons if you have a few minutes notice to fill it. For all these ideas and more on water preparedness, check out this guide on water security.

Survival Supplies at the Dollar Store

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Dollar Store Survival Supplies and Gear In today’s economy every dollar counts. Many people out there are trying to stretch every dollar, while at the same time store additional supplies as part of their preparedness planning.  You may not think of a Dollar Tree or similar store as a place to buy survival supplies, but let me tell you, you would be surprised. Dollar stores offer an economical method of obtaining some needed supplies. I go to my local dollar store about every 2-3 months and check out what they have. For folks that can’t make it to the dollar stores, or prefer to have things shipped directly to their houses Amazon has also gotten very cheap (although dollar stores will almost always be cheaper on certain things if you can get there). If you fall into this category, I included links to many of the products below on Amazon.
Here we go:
  • Stocking up on toothpaste is very easy at the dollar store. They even have a “Sensitivity” type that would cost you several dollars somewhere else.
  • Floss is also available with many different types stocked.
  • Tooth brushes galore!!!! You can get a years – maybe 5 years supply – of brushes for your whole family for just a few dollars.
  • Above is a decent selection of cold medicines and band aids – CHEAP!!!!
  • Hydrogen Peroxide and Rubbing Alcohol. Worth checking to see if they have any saline solution.
  • Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer and wet wipes – important items to assist in keeping germs to a minimum.
  • Lot’s of medical ointments and cremes for all kinds of problems – some you especially do not want to be dealing with after TSHTF.
  • Very inexpensive pain killers – great for the first aid kit.
  • You can even pick up a few flashlights while at the dollar store. They sell batteries too.
  • Do you have a young child in your group? Don’t let them feel left out – get them a backpack and have them help carry a few of their supplies. These are not very durable – but carrying a stuffed animal and a small blanket they would be just fine.
In this post I have shown many items related to sanitation and first aid – but there is so much more. Go by your local dollar store and see for yourself. It is amazing how many supplies you can get for $20-$25.00.

How To Get Off the Grid Water with A Ram Pump

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Off Grid Water with A Ram Pump

When I was a little girl we used to go visit my great-grandfather, Harry, on his farm in Trout Valley.  We would carry buckets from the fresh water spring that bubbled out of the base of the bluff to the house for drinking and cooking.

My grandmother Marge however, would tell us of a time, when she was a young girl, on the farm when the boom of the ram water pump would lull her to sleep. A time when there was no need to carry water and the spring was fenced off from the cows. Remember – if clean water is not available, use a water filter to protect against pathogens and other contaminants.

Hydraulic ram water pumps have been used for at least two hundred years to deliver water to homes, farms and even small towns bordered by small creeks or rivers.

In 1879, The People’s Cyclopedia included the hydraulic ram among the 55 most important inventions in the history of mankind. It defined the hydraulic ram as: “A simple and conveniently applied mechanism by which the weight of falling water can be made available for raising a portion of itself to a considerable height.

Generally, you need at least two feet of falling water to operate a ram pump. Most creeks and small rivers you would have access to on the homestead do not have a natural two foot drop.  The spring on Harry’s farm gently meandered down to feed a larger creek.

When Harry was a young, successful farmer however, he created a two foot drop by building up the small stream of water with rocks and mortar which created a natural pool at the base in which to sit the ram pump. Metal water lines ran a continuous stream of water to the summer kitchen of the house and to the stock tank that overflowed and created its own stream back to the stream below the pump. There was always ample water for the house, stock, and to irrigate crops if need be.

A quick and fairly easy way to create a pond/waterfall that I have used is to fall a fairly large tree across the creek and cut a V in it with a chainsaw. Instant waterfall! Silt and rocks will build up behind the log and the V focuses the water into one spot where you can put your ram pump. Or if you don’t want to pump water, just create an area where you can dip water, bathe, wash clothes, etc. the force of the water will carve out a small pond that will usually stay open even in traditional Minnesota winters. And on a hot summer day, it is a little piece of heaven to sit on the log, dangle your feet in the water and watch the kids play in the pond, jump across the V in the log and just laugh and play in the sunshine and clear water.

A solar water pump is an option if you don’t have the drop to create a narrow falls and have more money and a significant amount of sun. Any time you can get the water closer to the house, stock and garden, life becomes so much easier! This is the same principle as any electric pump, except that the power is supplied by the sun. If you pump the water into 50 gallon rain barrels and water the individual plants at their roots the water will last a lot longer than traditional overhead watering.

For more information about ram and solar pumps, a good site to access is: http://www.theramcompany.com/index.html. There are also plans on the net to make your own ram pump.

If you have water on your land, it probably slopes.  Thoughtful placement of your garden, stock pens and home can make water access as simple as a gravity feed. Create a “mouth” in the creek of PVC or some such attached to inexpensive plastic water line and you have instant water! At least until it freezes. :)

And then there is snow… also known as poor man’s fertilizer. It too can be thawed to create water for cooking, dishes and even bathing. Just so you know, the ratio is about 10 inches of snow to 1 inch of water—that is a lot of melted snow. But you do what you gotta do J and just be grateful that you have the heat to melt it with!

Water is a critical piece of the self-sufficient equation. If you haven’t thoroughly organized your water security plan, it’s time to do so now.

This post was originally published at ModernSurvivalOnline.com.

4 Main Components of a Solar PV System

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The first thing to remember is that solar is not cheap! The power itself is free and sustainable, but getting there costs money. You can spend as much as you want chasing a bigger system. I didn’t go whole hog on mine – I mainly wanted to power a few appliances and recharge my rechargeable batteries.

I have a couple of systems set up in different locations, as well as the ability to set up portable arrays. My main array consists of:

I have a problem with this system: I really hate to cut trees, since you can’t replace them in your lifetime. So my system doesn’t get full sun all day. It gets about two-thirds of what it could get, but that meets my anticipated needs. It will power a small freezer, a portable ice maker, a 110v chain saw, and many other items like that.

I have a secondary array at a nearby building that isn’t used to its full potential, but it serves as a backup system.

It consists of:

  • 1- 85 watt panel, and
  • 2 – 50 watt folding panels that run to another charge regulator/controller and
  • only 2 – 12v deep cycle batteries.
  • This then runs to another 2,000 watt inverter that is actually a backup in case of a failure of my primary unit.

The panels on this array can plug into the main array using polarized two-way plugs. That makes it modular, so I can add power to the main system as needed.

At my pond I have a shelter house on which I mounted:

I can plug in a 400 watt inverter to the 12v system and power most small appliances that I might have there.

Last but not least, I have several smaller panel setups that are extremely portable and powerful. They can provide 12v power just about anywhere that has sun exposure.

Here’s how to build a DIY solar power system, starting with the basic components you need:

1. Solar Panels

First you have the solar panel. This is what generates electricity from sunlight or even artificial light. They come in many sizes, types, prices, and wattages. Power coming from the cell to charge a battery needs a diode in the circuit. Without one, the battery can discharge back through the panel when there’s no power coming in, since the current will flow backward.

Think of it as a one-way valve. Some panels, like the Volkswagen units, have the diode built in. Otherwise it’s built into the charge regulator/controller, if your system uses one.

2. Charge Controllers

Second, if you’re putting together a larger array of permanently mounted panels, you’ll need a charge regulator/controller. It controls the charge rate from the solar panels so you don’t overcook your batteries. These also come in various sizes, types, and prices.

The key thing to remember is that the wattage here must be larger than the total wattage of your panels. I made the mistake more than once – thinking my system would stay a certain size, then having to buy a larger controller once I expanded it. So buy big in the beginning, and you won’t have to buy again later.

3. Batteries

Third, the batteries. The best batteries to use are the deep cycle batteries commonly used in golf carts. But they’re very pricey, heavy, and not easy to find in some places. They usually have to be special-ordered in rural areas like where I live. So I opted for the biggest marine-type deep cycle batteries instead. Though not cheap either by any means, you get what you pay for.

You now have a system that produces and stores 12v power. There are two things you can do with it in this form: hook up an inverter to change the power to 110 volts, or use it as-is at 12 volts.

One update worth knowing if you’re building a system today: lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries have become the standard recommendation for off-grid solar in the years since this setup was built. They cost more upfront than lead-acid deep-cycle or marine batteries, but they’re lighter, handle far more charge cycles, and tolerate deeper discharge without damage – which often makes them cheaper over the system’s full lifetime. The lead-acid deep-cycle and marine batteries described above still work fine and remain the cheaper upfront option, but if you’re starting from scratch, it’s worth pricing out LiFePO4 before you commit.

4. Inverters

If you’re using an inverter, here are some things to consider. They come in various sizes, types, and of course, prices. In the most common types, there’s pure sine wave and modified sine wave.

Pure sine wave is more expensive, but modified sine wave is fine for most normal use. If you want a technical explanation of what that means, you can Google it. But simply put, some sensitive electronics require pure sine wave, whereas most will work fine on modified sine wave.

Inverters are rated by wattage, and they’ll show two different numbers. One is the normal usage wattage, and the other is the surge wattage. Some appliances use a bit more power as they start, but level out at a lower wattage as they run. That’s what the surge rating is about.

It’s important to understand how much wattage you’ll need to run the appliance you want to use. There’s a plug-in device called a “Kill A Watt” that runs about $30. Plug it into the wall, then plug your appliance into it, and it’ll tell you exactly how much electricity that appliance uses. It can be an eye-opener in some cases!

Almost all inverters have overload protection and low voltage protection. They’ll auto shut off, sometimes with a small alarm, when over or under loaded.

Buying a quality name brand here is important. I got stung a couple of times with cheap off-brand units that were rated higher than they actually worked. You usually get what you pay for here as well.

What Size DIY Solar Power System Do You Need?

I started out very small and worked up. There are those who power a whole house with their setup, but that’s very expensive and complicated. Plus the upkeep isn’t cheap. A smaller system will serve most emergency needs.

I have noticed the Amish in my area use solar power to run their cash registers at their small stores. They also have little outside phone buildings with solar power to charge the batteries for the fiber optics used in the phone lines. These are all single, small solar panels.

Is Solar Power Worth It To You?

As I mentioned in the beginning, this stuff isn’t cheap. I built it up over a long period of time, so the cost became more affordable. I started very small: a couple of Volkswagen solar cells, a plastic battery box with a built-in 12v lighter socket and external terminals, and of course a deep cycle battery. I added a splitter to that setup, which let me plug in multiple lighter sockets for panels or for power out.

I will post in the future some do’s and don’ts, as well as some tips for use. There’s much to know about solar, but it isn’t as complicated as most people might think – not for the smaller setups like mine.

6 Of My Favorite Prepper, Survival, and Post Apocalyptic Movies

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I enjoy apocalyptic movies.

This does not mean that I hope for the world to end or I am overly obsesses with preparedness. Some people like comedies. Some like horror flicks. I like disaster movies.

Here are a few of my favorites:

One of the reason I like watching some of these movies is motivation. Yes – I know they are movies and not realistic. However when I watch these shows like Jericho I think about what preps would be needed to survive the situations presented in the movie.

Take one of my favorites – Signs. This is certainly a creepy movie. It is about an alien invasion. A father, son, and fathers brother end up getting stuck in a house while the aliens arrive. The movie is quite unlike any alien invasion movie I have every seen.

Anyways, while watching the movie I consider how I would react should little green men surround my house. Hopefully they wouldn’t have ray guns.

The 5 Best Firearms for Home Defense

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Mossberg Maverick 88 home defense shotgun for preppers

In a crisis situation it may become necessary to defend your home and property from marauders who don’t have good intentions. For many older folks, especially women, firearms are often strange objects that are feared and looked down upon. For others, especially those with military experience or who grew up hunting, firearms aren’t something to get stressed about.

Choosing the best home defense firearms for preppers is a genuinely controversial subject, and strong opinions on all sides can lead to a lot of confusion. See my take on the best single-gun option for more on that debate.

Here are a few thoughts before we dive in:

Top Home Defense Firearms for Preppers

Here’s my updated Top 5 list of home defense firearms for preppers to look at, purchase, train with, practice some more — and then have at the ready stored safely in your home:

357 Magnum revolver, a reliable home defense firearm for preppers

1. A .357/.38 Revolver With Exposed Hammer

Simple to operate, and when loaded with .38 Special ammunition the recoil stays very low. Trigger pull can get heavy on the double-action pull. With an exposed hammer, you can cock the hammer back and fire with a much lighter single-action trigger pull instead.

Glock 17 9mm pistol for preppers home defense

2. Glock 17 9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol

Seventeen rounds of 9mm in the magazine, with operation similar to a revolver at heart: rack the slide to chamber the first round, and every trigger pull after that fires until the magazine runs dry.

Those with weaker hands or wrists may struggle to rack the slide, and a weak grip can cause the pistol to malfunction. If neither is a problem for you, the Glock 17 remains an excellent choice — it’s changed little since this list was first written, aside from minor generational updates.

Ruger 10/22 rimfire carbine for preppers home defense and hunting

3. Ruger 10/22 .22LR Carbine

For many this seems like a strange choice. “A .22LR?” you might ask. Absolutely, I’ll tell you why: more people are killed every year in the United States by the .22LR rimfire than by all other calibers combined. It’s not an ideal defensive caliber, but it offers real benefits — little recoil, low noise, limited penetration, and low cost. The Ruger 10/22 stays cheap and remains one of the most reliable carbines you can buy.

Ruger SR22 22LR pistol for preppers home defense

4. A Compact .22LR Pistol (Ruger SR22 or Taurus TX22)

Update: Ruger discontinued the SR22 in early 2026. As far as the .22LR itself — see the note above on the 10/22. The SR22 was a reliable, inexpensive semi-auto .22 that many on a budget or limited by health issues found to be a solid choice, and used units are still findable through dealers and distributors while stock lasts.

If you’re shopping new, the Taurus TX22 has become the standout replacement in this category: a similar price point, a threaded barrel option, and a strong reputation for reliability. As with the SR22, a tactical light can be mounted on the front rail to help in the dark. Worth remembering either way: the .22LR isn’t by far the best defensive round, but it’s a genuinely usable one for shooters on a budget or with limited hand strength.

Mossberg Maverick 88 12 gauge pump shotgun for preppers home defense

5. A 12 Gauge Pump Shotgun

The 12 gauge shotgun is often looked at as the king of home defense thanks to its raw power. It’s also remarkably versatile — plenty of different loads can go in the same shotgun depending on your purpose. The Mossberg Maverick 88 pictured here remains in production and is still one of the most affordable, reliable pump guns on the market, typically running in the low-to-mid $300s new as of 2026.

Why not #1? It depends on your firearm experience and health. The 12 gauge can deliver violent recoil, and running the pump action takes a decent amount of strength. Depending on your overall health and ability, it can be either a great choice or not the right fit.

If you’re not experienced with firearms, do your best to try out a few guns at a shooting range — many ranges have rental guns available, and the added cost to test-fire your choice before buying is well worth it.

Once you’ve made a purchase, sign up for a training session at the range. Having someone walk you through all the safety aspects of using the firearm, as well as how to shoot it, is critical. It’s also good to have the range officer walk you through cleaning and lubrication.