Surviving the elements, especially in low temperatures, is a challenge. Discover key lessons for beating the cold from what happened in three inspiring winter survival stories. 

They can be used in a wide variety of ways in different survival situations. Discover nine ways lightweight emergency blankets can come in handy and potentially save your life. 

Today is a day when many play lighthearted pranks on one another. I'm not much into making a fool of people, even on April Fool's Day.  However, there is one prankster out there who doesn't wait for one day of the year, and who always takes the prank too far. I'm talking about that "prankstress" - Mother Nature. And, when she gets up her tricks, it can often be with unexpected and devastating effects. Let's explore her dangerous mischief and how to avoid being made a fool of by Mother Nature. DON'T FOOL AROUNDMOTHER NATURE DOESN'T   Every emergency or...

With major winter storms and arctic blasts crossing the nation, it seems a good time to learn from some brutal seasonal weather events that plagued our forefathers. Harsh winters threatened pioneers with countless dangers-cold, illness, starvation. Surviving on the frontier depended on preparedness and treating winter as a formidable obstacle. For many people today, the biggest challenge of winter is setting aside enough time to scrape snow and ice off cars or reducing skyrocketing heating bills. However, history teaches us that you and your family should be prepared for a winter crisis. Whether you live in a warmer climate or...

As fall marches on, we can sense winter rapidly approaching. Harvest has gone from full swing to slowly fading. For many folks, this signals the time to get those fall chores done to prepare for winter. Clean the gutters. Put the boat and other summer toys away. We call this "winterizing." Well, the same goes for us living the preparedness lifestyle. Today, we thought we'd share a checklist we created to help you make most of the time left in fall to properly prepare for winter. WINTER IS COMING, ARE YOU PREPARED?  Every time the seasons start to change, it's...

$1.1 trillion. It's a figure you won't hear coming out of the mouths of politicians this election season. Sure, you might hear them talk about our national debt, which is at a staggering $19.4 trillion and counting. Or a shutdown. Preparing for the coming storm But $1.1 trillion is nothing to balk at - it represents the damages from 196 major weather disasters since 1980. This is what I call a "natural disaster debt." I'm sure the figure would be much higher if it included earthquakes. Even higher still if it included weather disasters that caused damages less than a...

Imagine for a moment how shocking this would be. 1816: The Year Without A Summer You wake up in July expecting a steamy Saturday afternoon relaxing in the backyard. The grill is fired up, the kids are ready to do cannonballs in the pool and yet, instead of hot weather, snow is falling. Seems impossible, doesn't it? What I just described sounds like something from Rod Serling's show, The Twilight Zone. Two hundred years ago, this scenario took place in our country. One major geological event in a remote part of the world that most people at the time never...

3 Preparedness Lessons I Learned from Snow Storms If you've been following the news lately, what was once a mild winter has turned into a string of storms spread across the country.   I could repeat the scary facts and figures or dwell on the damage caused, but that's not why I'm writing you today. I've learned better than that - there's a better way to react and I encourage you to follow my lead.   You see, every year, when the first winter storm hits the headlines, I'm reminded of everything I've learned about preparedness and why I founded...