Category: Tennessee Homestead Lifestyle

Tennessee’s Worst Roads to Drive on During a Disaster

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Tennessee, Tennessee Homestead Lifestyle, Tennessee Safety, Tennessee's Worst Roads, Tennessee’ Survival PreppersLeave a comment

Tennessee’s Worst Roads to Drive on During a Disaster (And How to Survive Them)
By: A Well-Traveled Survivalist

When you’ve spent decades chasing storms, crawling through flash-flooded passes, and navigating highways turned to chaos, you learn one thing fast: the road is rarely your friend in a disaster. Especially in Tennessee.

Now, I’ve driven all over this country—rockslides in Colorado, hurricanes in Florida, ice storms in Maine—but Tennessee? It’s got its own flavor of trouble. The combination of winding mountain passes, crumbling infrastructure, sudden weather shifts, and bottlenecked urban sprawl makes it one of the trickiest states to navigate during a crisis. Whether you’re escaping a tornado, dodging wildfires, or trying to outrun the first signs of societal collapse, understanding the roads—and how to outsmart them—might just be what keeps you alive.

Tennessee’s Most Dangerous Roads During a Disaster

Let’s get specific. If you’re in Tennessee and the grid goes dark or a twister touches down, avoid these roads like the plague:

  1. I-24 Through Monteagle Mountain
    A steep, fog-prone stretch with frequent rockslides and sudden weather shifts. During a disaster, this becomes a deathtrap.
  2. I-40 Through Downtown Nashville
    Gridlocked in the best of times. In a crisis? It’s a parking lot with panicked drivers and no clear escape route.
  3. US-129 (Tail of the Dragon)
    318 curves in 11 miles—thrilling on a Sunday ride, deadly when you’re trying to flee with a vehicle full of supplies.
  4. I-75 Through Chattanooga
    Prone to major pileups and susceptible to flash flooding. Bridges and underpasses can trap you like a rat.
  5. SR-64 Through Franklin County
    Low visibility, poor maintenance, and sharp elevation changes. When every second counts, this road turns into a gauntlet.
  6. I-440 Loop in Nashville
    Short, poorly designed, and overloaded. A minor fender bender can stall traffic for hours, especially during an emergency.
  7. State Route 68 Through Tellico Plains
    Narrow, winding, and prone to fallen trees. In rural areas like this, you’re on your own.
  8. US-70S Through Murfreesboro
    Suburban chaos with high traffic density. Once panic sets in, forget about getting anywhere fast.
  9. I-81 in Northeast Tennessee
    Notorious for black ice and bad weather. Add in a panicked population and you’ve got a dangerous mix.
  10. SR-111 Near Cookeville
    Steep gradients and limited guardrails. Night driving here is hazardous—don’t even try it during a blackout.

15 Survival Driving Skills That Could Save Your Life

Now, let’s say you’re caught in a disaster scenario. Roads are jammed, GPS is fried, and cell towers are down. Here’s what you need to know to survive:

  1. Situational Awareness
    Scan far ahead for brake lights, smoke, or roadblocks. Keep your head on a swivel—danger rarely comes from just one direction.
  2. Off-Road Maneuvering
    Know how to take your vehicle off pavement. Even a two-wheel drive can manage a field or ditch if you pick your line carefully.
  3. Engine Braking
    Use your gears to control speed downhill—especially in the Appalachians. Burn out your brakes and you’re a rolling coffin.
  4. Navigating Without GPS
    Keep a physical map. Learn to read topography so you can identify passes, rivers, and high ground.
  5. Controlled Skidding
    Practice steering into a skid. Whether it’s rain, ice, or gravel, knowing how to recover might save your life.
  6. Driving Blackout
    Learn to drive with your lights off using only your night vision in low-profile getaways. Don’t do it often, but know it.
  7. Vehicle Field Repair
    From changing a tire to bypassing a starter relay, basic vehicle mechanics can get you out of a jam.
  8. Fuel Rationing Techniques
    Feather the gas, coast downhill, and limit idling. In a crisis, every drop matters.
  9. Using the Shoulder and Median
    These are legal gray zones during a crisis. Use them wisely—but avoid getting stuck in a soft shoulder.
  10. Barricade Breaching
    Keep a tow strap, winch, or even bolt cutters. Sometimes survival means clearing your own way.
  11. Convoy Driving
    In numbers there is safety—but it takes coordination. Establish signals, routes, and fallback points.
  12. Escape Route Planning
    Always have two exits: your main route and a backup. Practice both.
  13. Water Crossing Techniques
    Know your vehicle’s clearance. Never cross fast-moving water—six inches can sweep you off the road.
  14. Defensive Driving
    Aggression gets people killed. Keep space, stay calm, and anticipate others’ panic.
  15. Silent Starts and Idles
    Know how to shut down accessories and keep a low profile. Sometimes, quiet is your best ally.

3 DIY Survival Driving Hacks When You Run Out of Gas

Now for the brutal truth—eventually, you’re going to run out of fuel. Whether it’s panic-buying or supply chain collapse, it’s coming. But don’t throw in the towel just yet. Here are three DIY survival driving hacks that might buy you critical miles:

1. Ethanol Siphoning from Outdoor Equipment
Gas cans dry up fast—but lawnmowers, ATVs, boats, and even chainsaws often contain small amounts of fuel. It may be ethanol-blended, but it’ll burn in most engines if you’re desperate.

  • Tip: Use clear tubing and gravity to siphon safely. Avoid ingesting vapors.

2. Emergency Biofuel Additives
In certain engines, you can extend your gas with high-proof alcohol (like Everclear). It’s not ideal and not recommended long-term, but it can get you to the next stop.

  • Warning: Only for fuel-injected systems designed to tolerate ethanol blends. This is a last-resort move.

3. Human-Powered Flat Tow
If you’re completely out of fuel but not out of manpower, use tow straps and a bike, ATV, or even another person on foot to pull your vehicle downhill or out of the kill zone.

  • Pro Tip: Lighten the load, remove excess gear, and use neutral gear. It won’t be fast—but it might save your life.

Final Thoughts

I’ve survived by being prepared, staying calm, and adapting fast. That’s what driving through a disaster demands. Roads in Tennessee are beautiful but brutal. The mountains don’t care. The floods don’t care. Panic sure as hell doesn’t care.

So next time you’re driving down I-24 and the skies go green, ask yourself:
Do I know my vehicle?
Do I know this road?
Do I know how to get out alive?

Because if you don’t, it might be time to learn.

Tennessee Homestead Lifestyle: A Rant from a Fed-Up Homesteader

On By The.Daily.ChristianIn Tennessee, Tennessee Homestead Lifestyle, Tennessee’ Survival PreppersLeave a comment

I tell you what, if one more city slicker rolls up my gravel drive asking if I “relax out here and drink herbal tea,” I might just go full possum-crazy on ‘em. This ain’t no Bed & Breakfast with chickens for decoration. This is a working homestead in Tennessee — land that sweats, bleeds, and gives back only what you wring out of it with busted knuckles and dawn-to-dark labor.

People think homesteading is cute until they’re waist-deep in goat crap at 5 a.m. trying to unjam a milker because the doe decided today’s the day she’s gonna kick like a two-stroke engine. This life ain’t for the faint-hearted, lazy, or Instagram filters. This is grit, firewood, sweat, and skill. And if you don’t have those, Tennessee will chew you up and spit you out next to the rusted lawnmowers.

Let me break it down for you folks who think this is some whimsical “back to the land” fairy tale. If you want to live the homestead lifestyle in Tennessee and not get run off by mold, wild hogs, weather tantrums, and your own damn ignorance, you’d better sharpen up the following 15 homesteading skills. Memorize them like gospel, because out here, they’re the difference between thriving and begging your cousin in Nashville to let you crash on their couch.

15 Homestead Skills You’d Best Learn (Or Quit Pretending You’re a Homesteader)

  1. Basic Carpentry – You’ll fix everything from the chicken coop to your own roof. Can’t swing a hammer? Go back to Target.
  2. Canning and Preserving – If you don’t know how to can tomatoes, pressure can beans, or make pickles that won’t botulize you, you ain’t eating come January.
  3. Animal Husbandry – Goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs. Know how to breed ‘em, feed ‘em, and treat ‘em when they get foot rot or coccidiosis. Don’t just Google it after they drop dead.
  4. Butchering – Yes, you need to know how to turn your animals into food. Respectfully. Humanely. Efficiently. If you cry too much to do it, buy your meat at Walmart and leave us alone.
  5. Seed Saving – Ain’t no guarantee that the feed store will have heirlooms when the next supply chain fiasco hits. Learn to save, dry, and store your seeds.
  6. Composting – If you’re tossing kitchen scraps in the trash, you’re wasting gold. Compost feeds your soil and your future crops. Learn the green/brown balance or enjoy your slimy, stinking pile.
  7. Basic Veterinary Care – Out here, the vet ain’t 15 minutes away. Learn to pull a calf, stitch up a wound, and treat worms yourself.
  8. Chainsaw Operation and Maintenance – You’ll be clearing trees, cutting wood, and maybe building a cabin with it. Dull chains and bad fuel mixes will ruin your day and your saw.
  9. Cooking from Scratch – If you need a box to bake a biscuit, don’t come out here. You should be able to whip up a meal from what’s in your pantry and garden.
  10. Foraging – Learn your local wild edibles and medicinals. Chickweed, plantain, morels, wild garlic. This land offers more than you realize, but not if you’re too blind to see it.
  11. Basic Plumbing – Gravity-fed water, rain catchment, septic systems — you’ll be your own maintenance guy or gal. And guess what? Pipe bursts don’t wait ‘til it’s convenient.
  12. Electrical Know-how – Solar panels, generators, battery banks — off-grid power takes brains and patience. Don’t blow yourself up.
  13. Tanning Hides – If you hunt or raise livestock for meat, don’t waste the hides. Learn how to tan them and make use of everything the animal gives.
  14. Firewood Management – Cut, split, season, stack. Know what wood burns hot and what smokes like a wet rag. Heating your home is a year-round job.
  15. Weather Reading – The weather man don’t live in your valley. You’ll learn to read the sky, smell the air, and feel when the storm’s coming.

Now, once you’ve got those skills (and don’t lie, you don’t), let’s talk DIY Homestead Hacks. Tennessee weather will swing from biblical droughts to soggy floods in a week, so these three hacks might just save your bacon.

3 DIY Homestead Hacks Every Tennessean Should Use

1. Gravity-Fed Rainwater System Using IBC Totes
Everyone acts shocked when their well pump dies or power goes out. You fool. You need backup water. Set up an elevated IBC tote system with first-flush diverters. Hook ’em to your gutters. Rain falls, tote fills, gravity does the rest. Add a Berkey-style filter at the end if you’re drinking it. Simple. Cheap. Life-saving.

2. Solar Dehydrator Made from Old Windows and a Box Fan
Tennessee humidity is a beast, but the sun’s generous. Build a solar dehydrator using reclaimed wood, black paint, an old fan (solar if you can rig it), and some screen shelves. Dehydrate your herbs, fruits, jerky — even fish. Stop wasting your freezer space and power on what the sun can handle.

3. Heated Chicken Waterer with a Concrete Block and a Lightbulb
Come winter, the chickens’ water freezes faster than you can say “eggbound.” Place a cinder block upside down, put an incandescent bulb inside (protected from pecking and moisture), and set your metal waterer on top. Boom — no frozen water and no $80 Amazon heater.

You still here? Still think this is a lifestyle for “simplicity” and “slowing down”? Lord help you. This life is about intentional hardship. The kind that feeds your soul while it breaks your back. Ain’t nothing simple about rising before daylight, bleeding in your garden, and praying your sow don’t miscarry in the cold snap. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Tennessee homesteading isn’t for soft hands or soft minds. It’s for folks with backbone, blistered palms, and a deep, unshakable love of land. It’s not rustic charm. It’s war — against decay, dependency, and modern stupidity. And every day you win a little ground, grow a little food, teach your kid to hold a hammer instead of a tablet — that’s a victory worth the scars.

So if you’re still dreaming of this life, put your boots on. Pick up a shovel. Get dirty. Get tired. Get smart. And for heaven’s sake, stop asking if I “name my chickens like pets.” Their names are Breakfast, Dinner, and Soup.

Now get off my porch. I’ve got beans to stake and a fence to mend before sundown.