Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – September 06, 2017

September 6th, 1757 is the birthday of Marquis de Lafayette (often known simply as Lafayette), a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was a close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. George Washington met him through his connections in the Free Masons and was impressed with him. After he offered to serve without pay, Congress commissioned him as a Major General and he was an integral part of the battle at Brandywine. He also endured the hardships with George Washington when encamped at Valley Forge.




Preventing Failure to Communicate- Part 2, by JMD

We’re continuing to evaluate how to prevent a failure to communicate in the event that our normal, electronic communications equipment are not available to us. Yesterday, we looked as some definitions and began defining our own communications requirements. With that in mind, let’s move forward. Options Now that you’ve (hopefully) thought a little bit about what your communications requirements might be, let’s take a look at some possible options for the various elements. Sender/Recipient As I mentioned earlier, the best starting point for figuring out a communications strategy is by making a list of everyone it will need to support. …




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 the Dollar Downturn. (See the Forex section.) Precious Metals: Gold Advances 2.5% on Week, Silver Surges 4.5% o  o  o Gold Breakout & Upside Price Targets   Stocks: Next, at Seeking Alpha, there is this: September 2017 Stock Considerations o  o  o At CNBC: Dow …




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 the fiction anthology book Forged in Blood. It was edited and co-authored by  SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large, Michael Z. Williamson. Books (Forged In Blood): Forged in Blood. This is an anthology of military short stories. Some of the  stories are directly or indirectly related to Michael Z. Williamson’s Freehold series. It was just released on September 5th. It features all-new stories by Michael Z. Williamson, Larry Correia, Tom Kratman, Tony Daniel, Micahel Massa, Peter Grant, John F. Holmes, …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – September 05, 2017

On September 5, 1774, fed up with the meddling of the crown and being mostly independent-minded, our nation’s founding fathers met together in the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, laying the foundation of what would become the world’s greatest nation. o o o From Pat Cascio, SurvivalBlog’s Senior Product Review Editor: It is with the heaviest of sad hearts, that I have to report the passing of a true Warrior over the weekend. Eugene Sockut in Israel fought the good fight, until the end. As you may know, Gene and I had been friends for 25 years, and he was …




Preventing Failure to Communicate- Part 1, by JMD

Communications failure can be prevented, though it may not be in the form we’re expecting. Ever since the earliest cavemen grunted at each other and painted pictures on their cave walls, humans have been communicating in one form or another. Communications are critical to any multi-person activity. Many people consider having radios and other electronic communications devices a core part of living a prepared lifestyle. Virtually every survival- and preparedness-related forum or blog has one or more sections dedicated to this. Things like shortwave radio communications, protecting your radios from EMP, powering your radios in a grid-down scenario, et cetera. …




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 C&S Saddlery, in Idaho. Idaho (C&S Saddlery) I recently met a custom leatherworker from Bayview, Idaho who does excellent work at very reasonable prices. His name is Clay Ensley. Along with his wife Shelley, he operates C&S Saddlery. Clay has 30 years of experience as a commercial leatherworker. His main line is traditional Old West style holsters, …




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 the Bundy Trials. An Explanation of the Bundy Trials Federal prosecutors have a terrible record of convictions in the trials related to the Bundy conflicts. So far, after three trials, only two defendants have been convicted (and those convictions were on only a few of the charges thrown against them) Why is the Federal Government’s record so bad? This article sent in by DMS has some pretty …







Preparedness Notes for Monday – September 04, 2017

September 4, 1862 is the fateful day that General Lee invaded the North with 50,000 troops. Historians will banter back and forth about the real reasons for the civil war, but we will probably never fully understand. It is my personal belief that General Lee was gambling on a quick offensive because the South did not have the resources for a prolonged war. Whatever the case was, President Abraham Lincoln trampled the Constitution and created the foundation for the “Big Brother” government we have today.




Skeleton Optics, by Pat Cascio

The Skeleton Optics sun glasses just might be the best sun glasses of its kind. They are sold by US Tactical Supply, and what a product they are! US Tactical Supply is the premiere provider of quality tactical accessories, serving military, law enforcement, first responders, and the public. Your mission matters. US Tactical Supply I’m not going to pretend I understand all the technical specs on the Skeleton Optics sun glasses, but I’ll lay out the specs as best I can in this article. Regular readers will know that the nice folks at US Tactical Supply in Albany, OR simply …




Recipe of the Week: Brunswick Stew, by R.R.

Ingredients: 1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb) Chicken, cut up 2 qts water 1 onion, chopped 2 cups cubed cooked ham 3 potatoes, diced 2 (16 oz) cans tomatoes, cut up 1 (10 oz) package frozen lima beans, partially thawed. 1 (10 oz) package frozen whole kernel corn, partially thawed 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp seasoned salt 1 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp. pepper Directions: In a slow cooking pot, combine chicken with water, onion, ham, and potatoes. Cook covered on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is done. Lift chicken out of pot and remove meat from …




Review of MVT Combat Rifle Skills Class, by T.B.

JWR & HJL, Below is my review of the MVT Combat Rifle Skills that was held at MVT Romney. As with the Defensive Concealed Handgun class that I attended in early 2017, I was greatly encouraged and motivated by the class. Again, thank you both for what you do! Past Experience I attended the Defensive Concealed Handgun class at MVT Romney in 2017. I greatly benefited from the well thought-out, deliberate, and detailed training I received at that class. One of the attendees of that class had attended the Combat Rifle Skills that had been held earlier in 2017. He …




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 the noteworthy bear market prediction of veteran market advisor Milton Berg. (See the Stocks section.) Precious Metals: Gold Reset To $10,000/oz Coming “By January 1, 2018” – Rickards o  o  o Cartel Sold 9% of Remaining Gold Supply for 2017 in One Minute   Stocks …