Prepping Academy

Prepping on a Budget: What I Would Buy First With Just $500 If you had to start your preparedness journey over with just $500, what would you buy first? In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , preparedness expert Forrest Garvin breaks down the essential survival supplies every prepper should prioritize on a limited budget. From emergency water storage and food supplies to first aid, back...

Why Every Prepper Should Attend a Preparedness Expo | Survival Shows & Events Have you ever attended a preparedness expo or survival show? In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , host Forrest Garvin explains why every prepper should attend at least one preparedness event each year. Whether you're new to prepping or an experienced survivalist, prepper expos, homesteading festival...

Send us Fan Mail Why PrepperNet Is Different | The Power of Community in Emergency Preparedness What makes PrepperNet different from other prepper communities? In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , host Forrest Garvin explains why building real-world relationships is one of the most important parts of emergency preparedness. Founded in 2014, PrepperNet was created to connect prepared p...

Send us Fan Mail 10 Things Every Family Should Do Before 2027 | Emergency Preparedness Checklist Is your family prepared for 2027? In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin shares 10 essential emergency preparedness steps every family should complete by year's end. Whether you're new to prepping or an experienced prepper, this practical preparedness checklist will...

Send us Fan Mail 10 Skills More Valuable Than Stockpiling More Gear One of the biggest misconceptions in preparedness is that the person with the most gear wins. Gear has its place, but when an emergency happens, knowledge, training, and practical preparedness skills can be far more valuable than another gadget sitting on a shelf. In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin sh...

Send us Fan Mail Home Security for Normal Families: Practical Upgrades That Work Home security doesn't require turning your house into a fortress or spending thousands of dollars on expensive equipment. Some of the most effective ways to protect your home and family are surprisingly simple. In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin breaks down practical home security st...

Send us Fan Mail Is the next financial crisis closer than most people realize? In this episode, Forrest Garvin discusses the warning signs he's watching, the lessons learned from previous financial downturns, and what preppers should be doing right now to strengthen their financial preparedness. From inflation and rising national debt to banking concerns, market volatility, and global economi...

Send us Fan Mail National Preparedness Month: Why Most People Still Aren’t Ready September is National Preparedness Month , but despite years of warnings about hurricanes, power outages, winter storms, cyberattacks, supply chain disruptions, and other emergencies, millions of Americans are still unprepared. In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin looks at why so many peopl...

Send us Fan Mail Building a MAG: Finding Good People Before You Need Them Building a Mutual Assistance Group (MAG) is one of the most important—and often overlooked—parts of preparedness. Food, water, gear, and supplies are important, but no one can do everything alone. In this episode, Forrest Garvin explains why building relationships before a disaster is far more valuable than trying to find he...

Send us Fan Mail Is your personal information already on the dark web? In this episode, Forrest Garvin explains what the dark web is, how stolen email addresses, passwords, phone numbers, and personal information end up there, and what you can do to protect yourself. You'll learn how data breaches happen, warning signs that your information may have been exposed, and practical steps to improv...

Send us Fan Mail What Threats to Communications Systems Should We Prep For? On this episode of the Prepping Academy Podcast, Grid Down Comms Up takes on a listener question. A PrepperNet member asked me, "What communications threats should we prep for?" I realized this was a great topic for a podcast. All of us like new gear. New prepping toys provide excitement and inspiration. New toys...

Send us Fan Mail The world is changing faster than ever, and the biggest risks aren't always the ones making headlines. In this episode, Forrest Garvin shares the five threats he's watching most closely right now and explains why every family should be paying attention. From economic uncertainty and cyber attacks to power grid vulnerabilities, natural disasters, and growing geopolitical...

Send us Fan Mail Choosing Land for Preparedness in 2026: The Biggest Mistakes Most People Make Thinking about buying rural land for preparedness? Don’t sign the paperwork until you hear this. In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin explains how choosing survival property has changed in 2026 and why many of the old rules no longer apply. From water availability and soil qua...

Send us Fan Mail Bug In vs. Bug Out: Which Survival Strategy Actually Works? Should you stay home during a crisis or grab your bug-out bag and leave? The answer isn’t as simple as most people think. In this episode of The Prepping Academy Podcast , Forrest Garvin cuts through the myths surrounding bugging in and bugging out. You’ll learn why Hollywood and social media have given many people unreal...

Send us Fan Mail Area Study Map Training | The Prepping Academy Podcast Most people know almost nothing about the area they live in. In this episode of The Prepping Academy, Forrest Garvin explains how Area Study Map Training helps preppers, homesteaders, and families understand their local area, identify threats, locate resources, and build real preparedness plans using modern mapping and intelli...

Send us Fan Mail From Overwhelmed to Prepared | The Prepping Academy Podcast Millions of people know they should prepare… but most never start because they feel overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world? In this episode of The Prepping Academy, Forrest Garvin breaks down how to move from fear and confusion to confidence and preparedness using practical steps, mindset shifts, faith...

Send us Fan Mail Join Grid Down Comms Up for another episode of The Prepping Academy. Today, JJS, founder of AmRRON (American Redoubt Radio Operators Network), joins us for an update on AmRRON's annual grid-down exercise, T-REX. A national exercise where radio operators take to the airwaves for a three-day event tracking a fictional scenario, moving welfare traffic, and pressure-testing our c...

Send us Fan Mail AI, will it bring about the apocalypse, or just change the world? AI is making headlines daily. It is changing how we create online content, make web pages, buy products, receive medical care, invest in the stock market, etc. Will this tech bring about the end of the world if left unchecked? Will it just make early adopters wealthy? Forrest and Patrick dive into this cutting-edge...

Send us Fan Mail Skynet Is Here — Your Every Move Is Being Tracked Forrest and Patrick join forces to dive into the current privacy issues facing the globe. AI, age verification, new vehicles, and big data are all working together to make privacy a thing of the past. Forrest offers some great tips for maintaining privacy in an ever-changing world. This is a rapidly evolving situation that will req...

Send us Fan Mail What Will SHTF Really Be Like the First Year Forrest and Patrick join forces to discuss what the first year of a national grid-down situation might be like. The EMP Commission states that 90% of the population wouldn't make it through the first year. How would you survive the first year of chaos? Are your plans prepper fiction, or a real plan to survive and begin rebuilding a...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Forrest Garvin joins the Church Dads Podcast for a powerful conversation about biblical preparedness, Christian leadership, family legacy, entrepreneurship, and living intentionally in uncertain times. Forrest shares his personal journey of faith, how preparedness aligns with scripture, and why fathers today should take seriously the responsibility to prot...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss one of the most important preparedness topics facing families today — food security in today’s economy. With rising grocery prices, inflation, supply chain disruptions, economic uncertainty, and increasing concerns about the stability of the food system, more Americans are asking serious questions about how to protect and provide for their families long...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive deep into the world of solar cooking with the new My Solar Oven — a family-owned, veteran-owned, Made in the USA solar oven designed for preparedness, off-grid living, homesteading, emergency cooking, camping, and self-reliance. If you have ever wondered how solar ovens work, what foods you can cook with solar power, or why thousands of preparedness-minded...

Send us Fan Mail Our critical infrastructure faces multiple threats from physical security, cyber security, rust, and corporate profit over resilience. In this episode of Grid Down Comms Up, we discuss some of the threats our communications systems face to better understand how they might fail and how we can plan for those failures. Grid Down Comms Up takes listeners for a brief peek behind the fr...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Prepping Academy Podcast, Forrest Garvin breaks down one of the most important—and overlooked—steps you can take to protect your digital life: Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Most people rely solely on passwords, but they get stolen every day through data breaches, phishing, and simple attacks. This episode explains how 2FA works, why it’s so effective, and...