Month: October 2017

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – October 19, 2017

October 19th is the birthday of three notables– the late Alexander Zeisal “Zus” Bielski (born 1912), investor Jim Rogers (born 1942), and James Howard Kunstler (born 1948). Kunstler is well known to SurvivalBlog readers as the author of the novel World Made by Hand and the nonfiction book The Long Emergency. A fictionalized portrayal of Zus Bielski is seen in the movie Defiance. This movie was loosely based on the excellent book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec. o o o October 19th also marks the anniversary of Operation Gatling; the “Green Leader” raid in which Rhodesia attacked ZIPRA …


Do We Have Your Full Attention Yet?- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

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Let me get your attention by sharing this fact: “Life expectancy is going up everywhere except in the U.S.” This opening statement is supposed to be the “grabber” and should make the reader want to read the entire article. Okay! Here we go with your bad news of the day in two parts. The first part is short, simple, and terrifying. It’s the one liner in quotes above. And the second part is worse yet. This part says that the life expectancy news today will be worse tomorrow, and every American is subject to the same bad news. However, there …


Letter: E-85 and Generators

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Hugh, I didn’t have any luck searching for this on your website. May be something you consider for a future article. How well/poorly do portable generators function using “ethanol gas” (E-10 ‘the normal mix”, and E-15 [or higher] which various lobbies seem to want to foist on us)? How about going all the way to E-85 if you can’t obtain/forage/swap for “the good stuff”? Even with stabilizers, the ethanol is very hygroscopic so goes bad fast, but what about a post-hurricane/tornado/etc. scenario where it hasn’t had to sit long in the tank? I got to thinking in the post-Maria coverage …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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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”. Kids smart watches are something that you may want to be careful of this Christmas shopping season. Owned by Debt Understanding debt and economic slavery is probably one of the most important preps that you can make. It’s not that all debt is bad, but you have to understand that the debtor is slave to the lender. That works whether the debt is for the latest iPhone, a new car, or even …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – October 18, 2017

The mass media-driven Congressional gun control juggernaut seems to be slowing. It is noteworthy that the horribly vague and unconstitutional H.R. 3999 appears to now be stuck at just 25 co-sponsors—but it is frightening to see that 12 of them are Republicans. Hopefully the bill will die in committee. Please keep up the pressure, folks. This fight is far from over! Please contact your Congressional Representative repeatedly (by phone and e-mail) and insist that he or she oppose ALL civilian disarmament legislation. There are now a half dozen bills pending in Congress. SurvivalBlog reader Kevin A. sent me this summary …


Reload Your Own Ammo, If You Want To Be A Good Shot!, by Steve Collins

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Common Sense and Facts About Shooting Common sense tells us that if you want to be a good shooter, you need to shoot often. Facts tell us, though, that our wallets won’t allow us to shoot as often as we want or need to. While resorting to the .22 caliber firearms is often cited as an acceptable alternative, at some point you need to shoot your primary gun. The answer to buying factory ammo is to reload your own. I started reloading in 1984 when I got my first Colt 1911 .45 auto. Shortly thereafter I received a Smith & …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 Urbanization. (See the Troubling Trends section, near the end of this column.) Stocks: Bloomberg reports: Old Wall Street Is Losing the Battle Beneath the Surface of ETFs Commodities: Next, Nick Cunningham opines: Chinese EV Boom Could Crash Oil Prices   Economy and Finance: On to …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on 80% complete SIG P320 trigger groups. (See the Gear section, near the end of this column.) Books: Claire Wolfe reports: The sale is on at Paladin Press. Presently the discount is 55% off their entire book inventory. (The company is shutting its doors at the end of the year. Even deeper discounts are promised, as their inventory dwindles.) o o o Store This, Not That!: The Quick and Easy Food Storage Guide o o o Grant. This …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – October 17, 2017

On this day in 1835, Texans approve a resolution to create the Texas Rangers– a corps of armed and mounted lawmen designed to “range and guard the frontier between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers”. After winning their revolutionary war with Mexico the following year, Texans decided to keep the Rangers, both to defend against Indian and Mexican raiders and to serve as the principal law enforcement authority along the sparsely populated Texan frontier. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 73 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for …


After Action Report On Hurricane Irma, by Florida Dave

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The Prep Prepping Our prepping to deal with Hurricane Irma was done in a series of steps based on the probability of a strike affecting my area. I wrote about this in a previous article posted on SuvivalBlog. My preps for a Hurricane started two weeks prior when I notice a storm taking a track towards Cuba and local meteorologists saying, “We need to watch this one.” I had recently completed a quick inventory and tested the generator, lanterns, and camping stove. So my two week prior check was done, or so I thought. Pre-Labor Day Preliminary Prepping On the …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 relocation of U.S. Optics to The American Redoubt. (See the Montana section of this column.) Idaho Jury finds Jonathan Renfro, man accused of killing police sergeant, guilty of first degree murder o o o Neighbors furious after F&G officer kills ‘pet’ deer Montana (U.S. Optics) In addition to a plethora of gun makers, the Redoubt region …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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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. Today the focus is on GPS receivers. Another Senseless GPS Mishap Our friend Commander Zero over at the great Notes From The Bunker blog had a link to a familiar story:  Yet another motorist stranded because of their foolish faith in GPS technology:  The Latest: Couple who survived six days in Utah. JWR’s Comment: [[[Sarcasm on]]] How many times does this have to happen before Congress finally takes action and bans the evil assault …