Survival Sunday is a personal note and a round-up of the week’s news and resources for folks who are interested in being prepared. This curated collection of information is only available to email and Patreon subscribers.
Have a great week
ahead!
Daisy
A PERSONAL NOTE
Hello, friends! I hope you've been having a great week!
Today, I'm writing to you from a delightful, cozy cabin in Saluda, North Carolina. My temporary office is a screen porch over a babbling creek, and my co-workers are a friendly albeit somewhat noisy crow, and unseen troops of forest creatures. This little Airbnb is my DREAM home, and one day, I'd love to live in a place like this.
Why am I here, tucked away in the woods? Because I had the privilege to attend Prepper Camp! Prepper Camp is an awesome shindig at a campground in
the tiny mountain town of Saluda. It's one of the nicest events I've attended, filled with awesome people who are friendly and honest. Lose something? Somebody will track you down to give it back to you. Need a chair? Somebody will offer you theirs.
I cannot say enough great things about the other attendees I met. I didn't encounter one single person the whole weekend who made me think, "Huh, what a jerk." Y'all, seriously. Preppers are awesome.
But mingling isn't the only perk of prepper camp. There were loads of vendors selling things that you only see on obscure websites. It was nice to be able to see and touch the gear, and watch it in action. In some cases you could even try out a sample before making your purchase.
But wait! Just like the old Ginsu knife commercial, there's MORE! Probably the crowning achievement of Rick Austin and Survivor Jane, who put on the event, is the
collection of survival and preparedness experts who gathered there to deliver hour-long classes on a variety of topics.
Two of my favorite classes were Psychological Warfare from Hakim Isler and Avoiding Abduction from Sara Hathaway. I took a total of 11 classes in two days and took something valuable away from every one of them. No matter what your skill level is, at Prepper Camp, there's something for everybody.
A real highlight
for me was meeting some of my readers and getting to talk with you. For those of you who spotted me and said hi, I really mean it - it was SO AWESOME to meet you, and you made a great weekend even better.
I came with two wonderful women - one of whom I went to Croatia with four years ago to take an urban survival course with Selco - she became one of my dearest friends and we've talked nearly every day since. They helped me limp along in an immobilizer boot, so I could still attend despite my ankle injury. There's no way in the world I could've come to the event without their help. (I'm leaving their names and faces out of this for their privacy.) I LOVE THESE LADIES!
And I also want to thank my good friend Brian Duff from Mind4Survival (check out his podcast and website here). He and his business associate let me camp out in their vendor tent for part of the day and steal their chairs so I could get off my feet, and there's no way I could've hung in there without their help. I also got to hang out with Aden Tate, our writer, and see loads of adorable baby pictures. He sold some of our physical books, and I got to sign some, too! Aden also taught a really popular class at the event and he's the NICEST person you could ever
meet.
It all just reminded me how much we need community and networks. If you ever get the chance to attend an event like this, DO IT. You will find so many people freely giving of their knowledge, and you'll meet so many others from different walks of life who are on the same path as you.
Truly - it has been a fantastic weekend.
Today I'm
sitting back from Day 3 of the event because I have to use some restraint with this injury. But it's been an unforgettable weekend, and I sincerely hope to go again next year when I'm a lot more mobile.
Daisy Luther’s unsettling new work of short fiction takes you into a near-future world that seems all too likely.
When the American banking system collapsed, a new federal digital currency was quickly rolled out to save the country. But soon, it became all too clear that what had felt like a rescue was actually a hostage situation – one that affected every American.
In a world of strict digital control, algorithms, new rules, and a mandatory app called Good Citizen, was it possible to reclaim your personal freedom? How did our nation fall so far, so fast, into technocratic authoritarianism?
Camille Willis records her observations in a journal as a warning for ensuing generations. She answers the question that future historians are bound to ask. "How did Americans go from being the free-est country on earth to this dark place?"
This cautionary tale will make you feel uncomfortable about the path our country is on. Maybe it’s not too late to change course.
Beta readers called it "unsettling" and said it left them "chilled." Praised for its realism, this story shows us one way that the nation we love could fall. It’s a quick, 44-page read that will leave you staggered by the possibilities when technology is used as a tool for subjugation.
