Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – December 13, 2017

December 13th is the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York. Also, after spending nine months on the run, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was capture on December 13, 2003. During his 24 years in office, Saddam’s secret police, charged with protecting his power, terrorized the public, ignoring the human rights of the nation’s citizens. While many of his people faced poverty, he lived in incredible luxury, building more than 20 lavish palaces throughout the country. It was fitting that, in the end, he was hiding in nothing more than a hole in the ground covered by plywood. o o o Now …




Survivalism, Prepping, and OPSEC: An Alternative View, by Todd

The topic of OPSEC (operations security) comes up all the time on SurvivalBlog, and I wholeheartedly agree that it is an important topic for all of us. But I believe it is an important topic with potentially more than one right answer, depending on your particular situation and mindset. Standard OPSEC Based On Secrecy The standard answer to OPSEC on SurvivalBlog (and just about everywhere else) is based on secrecy and the general concept of keeping your preps, your location, your networks, and sometimes even your survivalist mentality all to yourself, or at the very least known to as few …




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 Great Britain’s voter-mandated exit from the European Union (commonly called Brexit). Precious Metals: Precious Metals Outlook 2018 – Platinum to outperform palladium Stock Market: When it comes to 2018 investing, ‘boring’ is better, portfolio manager says (Has auto-start video.)




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 Victorinox Swiss Army knives. Books: Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery o o o The Winter Survival Handbook: 157 Winter Tips and Tricks o o o The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition) Movies: Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Edition. JWR’s Comment: The recent remake pales in comparison. Charlton Heston’s performance as the leading man is great, and so is the film-making. o o o The Last …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – December 12, 2017

On December 12, 1989, the Queen of Mean was sentenced to four years in prison, 750 hours of community service, and a $7.1 million tax fraud fine in New York. Leona Helmsley, nicknamed the “Queen of Mean” by the press, became the object of loathing and disgust when she quipped that “only the little people pay taxes.” Helmsley died in August 2007 at age 87. She famously left $12 million to her dog, Trouble.




Start Now, While You Can, Because You Can, by Old Bobbert

These short published blog articles, these pieces of myself, of ourselves, concerning preparedness, survivalism, self awareness, and personal readiness are created to help the reader to start taking action and learn to fight ignorance and greed. From my side of these entries, I do not promote myself as an expert; I’m just another concerned guy who wants to help others and perhaps showcase my personal opinions. Not even a little of the real me has ever shown completely through these prepper pages, these pieces of our lives,. Prepper Achievement Judged Moving on, there’s a well justified question begging to be …




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 realtor Todd Savage, who was profiled in the recent American Redoubt article series. Region-Wide (Todd Savage) The huge Southern California wildfires had been raging for so many days that the local fire crew were at the point of exhaustion. So late last week the call for help went out, and fire departments from throughout the western United …




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”. President Trump’s immigration policies get yet another boost due to yet another NYC bomber yesterday. Another NYC Bomber Chain migration led to yet another person entering the U.S. who has acted upon wishes of harm. The suicide bomber accidentally set off his device at the wrong moment at the nation’s busiest bus terminal. He had strapped the device inside his pants with Velcro and zip ties, but it went off in a …










Kershaw Knives, Fraxion, by Pat Cascio

Today’s knife under review is called the “Fraxion” and is from Kershaw Knives in my home state of Oregon. Kershaw Knives has come a long, long way in a very short period of time, and is a leader in the cutlery field. Kershaw Knives It was just back in 1974 when Pete Kershaw left another major knife company in Oregon that he started Kershaw Knives. His products were, and still are, a big hit with the knife-loving public. Just a few short years after starting Kershaw Knives, Pete Kershaw sold out to the KAI Corporation from Japan, and they continue …




Recipe of the Week: Chicken Olé, by G.T.

Ingredients: 12 tortillas, cut into 6 or 8 pieces each 4 cups of coarsely chopped cooked chicken or turkey 1 (10 3/4 oz) can of condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (10 3/4 oz) can of condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 (7 oz) can of green chili salsa 1 cup dairy sour cream 1 Tbsp grated onion 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese Directions: Lightly grease the sides and bottom of a Crockpot. In separate bowl, mix together undiluted soups, salsa, sour cream, and onion. Inside Crockpot, arrange alternating layers of tortillas, chicken, and soup mixture. Cover and cook …




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 economist–and dedicated survivalist–Brandon Smith. Precious Metals: Dollar rise pushes gold toward biggest weekly fall since May o  o  o James Howard Kunstler: BTC is Gold’s Proxy in Sounding Fiat Alarm Stock Markets: Dow posts first 8-quarter win streak in 20 years. (Has auto-start video.)