Survival & Prepper Periodicals

This is a review of the five most popular preparedness / survival magazines at your local newsstand.  I did not include any of the more gun-centric magazines such as Guns & Ammo that strictly adhere to the subject of shooting.  All of the magazines reviewed will have some element of firearms related training and gear, but they all have a stronger element of survival / preparedness.

Click on the photos of the magazine covers to go to their websites.

American Survival Guide:

American Survival Guide is published monthly.  They have a fair balance of articles on gear, clothing, tools, firearms, fitness, survival hacks, how-to’s, decision making, survival skills, and mindset.  Occasionally they may discuss the fantasy underground doomsday bunker that would make NORAD envious, but most of the content is intended for, and is within the physical and financial capabilities of the hard-working common person.  American Survival Guide is published monthly and with a newsstand price of $8.99 US it is a great value for the amount of quality content that you receive.

OffGrid:

OffGrid is a sister magazine to Recoil (discussed next).  It is a high-end magazine with lots of cool photos and slick articles about prepping and survival.  The magazine primarily focuses on cool gear.  It will make you want to go out and spend a lot of money on stuff.  Each issue features an article on some type of major disaster and what kinds of gear and toys that you will need to survive it.  I enjoy the magazine, but most of the time it skips mindset and skillsets, and jump right to assets (hardware).  Still, it’s entertaining and you will always see something new and intriguing.  OffGrid is published every other month (opposite of its sister publication, Recoil) with a newsstand price of $8.99 US per issue.

Recoil:

Recoil is a high-end magazine with lots of cool and sexy photos of gear and equipment… the Vogue of the gun/survival magazine genre.  Lots of ballistic eye candy.  My wife refers to Recoil as “gun porn”.   There is a lot of useful information, but most of the gear and equipment  reviewed is expensive and reserved for the very wealthy, or special police and military units with carte blanche to buy what ever they want.  There are good articles on serious survival fitness without the fluff found in many fitness magazines.  I really look forward to picking up every other month, however it isn’t the most cost-effective magazine in terms of useful prepper / survival information compared to the high price tag of $8.99 US per issue.  Recoil is published every other month (opposite of its sister publication, OffGrid).

Survivor’s Edge:

Spoiler: This is the best preparedness/survival magazine for the money.

Survivor’s Edge is published four times a year.  It is, in my opinion, one of the best preparedness / survival magazines. Unlike some of the more gun-centric publications, Survivor’s Edge primarily focuses on surviving natural and man-made catastrophes rather than reviewing firearms.   There are always articles on self-defense, but the emphasis is on attitude and mindset, training and skill-sets, and finally hardware.  Any mention of weapons is relative to the specific to the article, which is unlike many magazine articles that appear to be more of an advertisement for a specific brand and model of firearm, knife, less-lethal tool, etc.  While there are lots of gun magazines, this isn’t one of them.  Rather, this magazine will help you acquire the gear and training to handle all manner of emergencies, especially the ones that may not require you shooting your way out of.  It has a newsstand price of $9.95 US per issue, but definitely worth it.

SWAT:

I have always enjoyed SWAT (Survival Weapons And Tactics) magazine.  While the magazine is primarily focused on firearms, and the training and gear that it takes to run them, there are always great articles on attitude and mindset, wilderness and urban survival, survival gear and training, and less-lethal self-defense.  While there are plenty of reviews of the latest and greatest rifles, pistols, & shotguns, there are usually articles about a great firearms from days gone by (Vietnam War, Korean War, WWII, WWI, etc.).  Besides featuring articles on sexy and expensive firearms, they also review more budget friendly firearms, but they aren’t afraid to let you know if they are junk and why.  SWAT is issued monthly and sells at the newsstand for $6.99 US per issue.