Guest Article: A Listening Pause, ShepherdFarmerGeek

It’s time for a listening pause and then some evaluation and possible adjustments. As the roller coaster of our national life clanks its way to the apex for the sudden wild ride to the bottom, we can see events unfolding now that will prove to be the beginnings of multiple crises. Which wheel falls off first will not be as important as the fact that there will soon be several overlapping issues. Time To Evaluate and Adjust Now is not the time to be congratulating ourselves on our level of preparedness, but the time to make sure that we have: …




Letter Re: Irma – After Action Report

HJL, As Alfred E. Neuman say’s, “What? Me worry?” I live in North Central Florida, so usually by the time a hurricane reaches us, it’s dwindled in strength. Having read Mr. Rawl’s blog for many years, I do prepare. Oddly, this time around, employers let most of the employees leave work Friday, even though the event wasn’t expected until sometime on Saturday. It ended up being later. Guess hurricanes work on their own schedule. Friday, I went to Walmart to do some last minute stock ups. Tarps were gone. Water was gone. Camp stoves were gone. Batteries were still in …




The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. We’ll start today off with a story sure to send the current crop of snowflakes and progressives straight into an apoplectic fit – The Texas Tattoo! Texas “Looter” Tattoo In the French Caribbean, fear and looting grip the island in the wake of recent hurricanes. Chaos reigns in the streets and the strong take what they want. Politicians cry for armed European soldiers to come to their aid. Meanwhile, Texans have their …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – September 20, 2017

On September 20th, 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sear route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. He initially spent time searching the South American coast for a strait, but was unable to find one. He crushed a mutiny executing one of his captains and leaving another ashore. Eventually, over a year after he set sail, he discovered what he had been seeking. The Strait of Magellan, as it became known, is located at the southern tip of South America.




Without This, All Your Preps and Training Are For Naught, by M.P. in Ohio

The Answer Is Good Health Instead of teasing you by giving you the answer in the third paragraph, here is what you need for your preps and training to be meaningful; it is good health. So before you think you’ve already read similar articles, please read on. I think you’ll find this different. Your health during SHTF scenarios is more important than: 1) All your training, 2) All your stored goods, and 3) Your bug out location I understand we can’t all be in perfect health, but you owe it to yourself to be as healthy as possible. I’m not …




Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in Raufoss ammunition.  (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals The annual Summit Colorado Precious Metals conference ends today. This three-day conference usually generates some great interview  videos.  I’ll try to post some links, soon. o  o  o Gold retreats ahead of US Fed …




JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on Firewood Stacking. (See the Instructional Videos section.) Books: It is that time of year again: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2018: The Official Red Book o o o Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love   Movies and Television: The Hope: The Rebirth of Israel. This a is quite well done documentary, now available on DVD, or free download for Amazon Prime members. o o o The …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – September 19, 2017

On September 19th, 1778, the Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States. While the budget may have passed, the states responded poorly to the call for taxes to fund the government, and the government resorted to printing paper money to cover debts. In effect, the first budget was a failure, due in large part to the states not responding to the demands of Congress and the depreciation of fiat paper money. Are we talking about 1778 or 2017 here? Also on this date in 1796, George Washington addressed the nation in his farewell address as president. On …




A Strange New Language With Old Words Used in Strange New Ways, by Old Bobbert

I’m writing about a strange new language and its effect on others. We are told that a SurvivalBlog contest entry essay that is a “how to do it type” topic will get extra recognition in the judging. This is my best effort at writing an essay that is truly a “how to do it”. It’s on the topic of how we preppers can easily regain our lost positions within our families and communities, positions that were lost, or perhaps that we threw away thoughtlessly, back when we first began to think and speak in this new language that we have …




SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on the court order following the Gary Hunt trial  (See the Eastern Oregon section.) Idaho First up: Stargazers eye the nation’s first dark sky reserve in Idaho. Yep, that is a big dark patch. (You can click to zoom in.) You’ve gotta love such low population density!  (A hat tip to Peter S. for the link.) o o o …




The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Of note today  is the survival shotgun. this looks like a handy tool. Survival Shotgun Reader W.W. sent in this video reviewing the Chiappa X-Caliber Survival Shotgun. This is basically the old M6 survival shotgun, but instead of a .410 and .22 barrel, you get a 12 ga and .22 barrel. Then they add a series of pistol adapters which are drop in barrel bushings that will allow the shotgun to fire …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself anti-Fascism. My own belief, more than once set afloat from this spot, is that it will take us, soon or late, into the stormy waters of Fascism. To be sure, that Fascism is not likely to be identical with the kinds on tap in Germany, Italy and Russia; indeed, it is very apt to come in under the name of anti-Fascism.” – H.L. Mencken (1938)