Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – July 18, 2018

I just heard that Mama Liberty (Susan Callaway) has passed away. She was a great champion of the individual liberty movement. Susan kindly handled mail forwarding for JWR and SurvivalBlog for several years, from a P.O. Box in Newcastle, Wyoming. She refused to take anything more than reimbursement for her costs. That was just her way of doing things. Acts of kindness like those typified her life, and how she lived it. She was a fine lady, and we are all diminished by her passing. Please pray for the members of her family. o o o We are coming up …




What is Survival?- Part 2, by MuddyKid

We are discussing the meaning of survival. In particular, we were looking at providing long-terms resources when we are no longer able to purchase items and considering food specifically at this point in the article series. We have taken a look at gardening and are now talking about wild edibles. We just left off with wild carrots that are considered a weed in my area and seem to be everywhere. Exploring New Species of Plants Then I thought, “What other types of edible plants are around that I do not know about?” I slowly began picking a new species of …




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 Gold Summer Doldrums. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals (Gold Summer Doldrums): Typically, the spot and futures price of gold go into doldrums, every summer.  But this summer gold is particularly weak–at least when priced in Dollars. The other precious metals have mostly …




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 storage cabinets. (See the Gear and Grub section.) Books: Patriotas (The Spanish translation of JWR’s novel Patriots.) o  o  o The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in Healthy Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain o  o  o The Complete Visual Guide to Building a House o  o  o Light Infantry Tactics: For Small Teams   Movies: Breach. Here is a description: “Inspired by the true story of the greatest security breach in U.S. intelligence history, this …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let’s make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there’s no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person’s property to give it to another to whom it does not belong – in effect, legalized theft. ” – Walter E. Williams




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – July 17, 2018

July 17th, 1889 was the birthdate of Erle Stanley Gardner. He was an American lawyer and author. Though best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces, as well as a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico. The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray and Robert Parr. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing …




What is Survival?- Part 1, by MuddyKid

We are all interested in survival, and we read this site often to understand ways to survive. But, have we ever stopped to ask the question, what is survival? A Complex Question I think that is a complex question, because survival means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Survival always has different contexts or scenarios. For the purpose of this article, I want to challenge what the idea of survival is. I plan to do this through experiences and examples that I have personally participated in. Legibility I am beginning this with a framework of …




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 impact of wolves in The American Redoubt. There are wolf article links in all sections. Region-Wide Radio Free Redoubt: 2018-07-07 Steve McLaughlin and Apex Wolf Issue o o o From the gauche perspective of Northwest Public Broadcasting: Today’s Northwest Wolves Have Roots In Coastal Rainforests And Rocky Mountains




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”. Assault Revolver? Assault Revolver This is the kind of article that SurvivalBlog normally doesn’t cover. It’s a sad story about a shootout between a bad guy and a cop where the bad guy is killed and the officer injured. There’s really nothing extraordinary here about the story. The cops show up in a crime ridden neighborhood, confront five individuals who just left a nightclub and the gunfight ensues almost immediately. So why …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Pace yourself in your reading. A little bit every day really adds up. If you read during sporadic reading jags, the fits and starts will not get you anywhere close to the amount of reading you will need to do. It is far better to walk a mile a day than to run five miles every other month. Make time for reading, and make a daily habit of it, even if it is a relatively small daily habit.” – Pastor Douglas Wilson




Preparedness Notes for Monday – July 16, 2018

July 16th is the anniversary of the first successful atomic bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1945. Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb by the Allies were established as early as 1939. In 1940 the federal government granted a total of $6,000 for research, but in early 1942, with the United States at war, the limits on spending were removed. The total cost was in excess of $2 billion. Germany was also feared to be working on a bomb as was Japan, though neither of those nations could bring the resources to bear in time before their …




Kershaw “Method” Folder, by Pat Cascio

Kershaw knives has been coming out with a lot of new folders lately. Many of these can be considered a Gentleman’s folder, and the new Method is one under review today. A Gentleman’s Folding Knife I’ve been called a lot of things in my life. On several occasions, I’ve even been called a Gentleman, believe it or not. However, that’s another story, or another chapter in my life. Under review this time around, is what I consider a Gentleman’s folding knife, one that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to pull out and clean your finger nails with at the office or …







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 global grain markets. (See the Commodities section.)   Precious and Industrial Metals: To begin, there is this over at Gold-Eagle: Gold / Silver / Copper Prices – Weekly Outlook o o o BASE METALS FORUM: US-China trade war a major cause for concern for …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Our freedom of choice in a competitive society rests on the fact that, if one person refuses to satisfy our wishes, we can turn to another. But if we face a monopolist we are at his absolute mercy. And an authority directing the whole economic system of the country would be the most powerful monopolist conceivable…it would have complete power to decide what we are to be given and on what terms. It would not only decide what commodities and services were to be available and in what quantities; it would be able to direct their distributions between persons to …