— A NEW PUBLICATION ON SELF-RELIANCE

Practical preparedness, security, and homesteading — for people serious about self-reliance.

Most preparedness writing is either fearmongering, gear-fetishising, or written for people who already know what they're doing. We're none of those things. We're a calm, evidence-led publication for the person who's just decided self-reliance matters — and wants to learn it from people who've actually done it.

— THE FIVE PILLARS

Five subjects, covered seriously.

Authority sites earn their authority by going deep, not wide. We've committed to five subjects we believe matter most for the kind of self-reliance worth building. Each is a permanent department of the publication, with a comprehensive guide and ongoing reporting.

— SECURITY

Personal & property security

Threat assessment, home hardening, situational awareness, family planning, and self-defence — written by a former close-protection professional.

Read the guide →
— OFF-GRID

Off-grid living

Solar, water, power, waste, heat. The honest version of going off-grid — what it costs, what it takes, what to do first, and what to skip.

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— HOMESTEADING

Homesteading at any scale

Self-sufficiency from a balcony to a smallholding. Vegetables, soil, chickens, aquaponics, water — written by a contributor with twenty years on the ground.

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— FOOD

Food security & storage

The pantry, mid-term stores, and long-term provisioning. Pressure canning, water-bath canning, dehydration, fermentation — every safety-critical claim cited and reviewed.

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— MINDSET

Preparedness mindset & skills

Skills over gear. Plans before purchases. The thinking, planning, and practising that makes preparedness real rather than theatrical.

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— LATEST FROM THE PUBLICATION

Recent reporting.

— SECURITY

Threat assessment for your home and property

The first skill in any serious approach to home security isn't a product, a system, or a policy. It's the ability to look at your own house and answer one question honestly: what would I actually do, if someone tried to come through that door right now?

By the Editorial Desk · 7 min read ·

— FOOD

Building a 30-day pantry: the supermarket-only method

A 30-day pantry — enough food, stored properly, to feed your household for a month without leaving the house — is the single most useful preparedness foundation most people can build. And you can build it from your local supermarket, in roughly four shopping trips, without ever buying a freeze-dried meal.

By the Editorial Desk · 7 min read ·

— ABOUT

Why this exists, and who it's for.

Survival & Prepping is for people early in their journey toward self-reliance — and the rest of us who've been at it long enough to know how much we still don't know.

We were founded by a former South African urban counterinsurgency operator and bodyguard — what we used to call COIN ops — now homesteading off-grid on nine hectares. Our contributors have spent decades doing the work the field talks about. We don't write for the audience that already has a generator, three months of stored food, and a security plan. We write for the person who has none of those things and is trying to figure out where to start — and we treat them like an adult.

We'll cover what's worth knowing, cite our sources where it matters, and stay out of the politics. The world is uncertain enough without a publication adding to it.

Read more about us →