July 2013 – Shepherd School

The Featured Website of the Month for July 2013 is Shepherd School.  David does a great job of presenting a wide range of content to the preparedness community.  After reading the answers to the questions of the month, make sure you visit his site – Shepherd School.

Summarize the focus and purpose of your website. – The Shepherd School website both documents my journey to stop talking and start doing what is needed to better prepare my family for disaster as well as to share what I learn with others.

What made you decide to start a website? – The site started as an advertising vehicle for my gun classes, but has evolved over the years to be more about DIY prepping.

How long have you run your website? – About 10 years, but I think the specific tngun domain is 8 years old. But I did not start sharing my preparedness side until mid 2010.

How much time do you spend dedicated to your website? – More than I want to admit – my wife is quite jealous of it some days.  I have a full time job so that takes precedence, but at least 30 hours a week.

What is one thing you really like about your website? – That is allows me to have a voice in the prepping community and show that you don’t have to have a lot of money to become more prepared.

What is one thing that you want to change about your website? – My spelling and grammar, sometimes I get in such a hurry to share information that I don’t always reread what I write.

Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows. – I am an open book, I learned while working in the prison systems that secrets can get you into trouble, so rather than share something I don’t know, I am more likely to give too much information.  i.e. I cannot run for elected office as some of my Marine Corps buddies took pictures of me running naked through Turkey on a dare.

Other than your site, what is your favorite non-preparedness websites to visit? – I have a lot of sites bookmarked to visit everyday, but I like the wide variety of information (and the fact that it is culled for the best articles of the day) on this one.

Do you have anything (projects, special posts, redesign) in store for the future of your website? – LOTS, as I get ideas I put them in a workbook and give them a date, when I hit 3 articles a day until 2016 I went back and started scheduling 5 a week.  But we just bought 15 acres in the country and plan on doing a lot of homesteading projects as we build our mini-farm and gun range.  Once that is completed expect a lot more shooting videos.

What were the three books you last read? (Be honest) – The 47 Samurai by Stephen hunter, The Warrior’s Path by La’mour, and The Hand Sculpted House by Smiley.  I am reading Atlas Shrugged and a book on chainmail construction techniques right now.

What would you like to say to readers at the Prepper Website? –  If a lifestyle of preparedness is not enriching your life and making life easier then you are doing it wrong.  Preparedness is about balance – partly spreading out times of plenty for times of lean, but also building and maintaining relationships because no man can do it all himself.  That and bookmark my website www.tngun.com.