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”. There is a new threat from a parasitic disease that is spreading across America. Matt Bracken Matt Bracken has posted a video that details the government civil war that is going on right now in the United States. It’s pretty certain that if Trump had not won the election, there would be no Mueller investigation, Manafort conviction or any of this other political nonsense. These men may have committed crimes, but without …







Preparedness Notes for Friday – August 24, 2018

On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the known world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. This could conceivably be the beginning of the dark middle ages.




Guest Post: Wasp Control that Works, by Patrice Lewis

A few days ago I put up a post about the horrifically bad wasp year we’re having. Outdoor activities had to be suspended except before dawn or after dark because of how many stinging insects were swarming the area. We’re not alone — everyone we know is experiencing similar issues. Recently Don was in a hardware store, and he noticed they had shelves and shelves of wasp traps for people desperate to control them.




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 future collector cars–that is, current production models that are likely to become collectible. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)   Precious Metals: Video: Gold Speculators Are Least Bullish In Years o o o Over at Kitco: First Digital Gold, Now Silver To Be Added To Blockchain …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“All the people constitute the militia – according to the Founding Fathers. Therefore every able-bodied man has a duty under the Constitution to become part of the ‘well-regulated’ militia, specifically to understand and perform well with the individual weapon currently issued to the regular establishment …. Thus one who has not qualified himself with the M16 may not be considered to be a responsible citizen.” – Col. Jeff Cooper




Preparedness Notes for Thursday – August 23, 2018

August 23rd is the anniversary of the declaration of the independent state of “Franklin” in Eastern Tennessee by the settlers there in 1784. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress rejected it, so the state of Franklin never became a reality. o o o There are still plenty of openings in round 78 of theSurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.. If you like to see your article published and have an opportunity to win these fantastic prizes, get your article written and sent in to us. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 78 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …




Ten Years After, by JPK

It seems like yesterday, but it’s been ten years since we started on this wild journey of at first just prepping and then and now homesteading! (While it’s sad, I think I still have some canned food dated 2008. Yikes!) Actually if I really think about it, we did actually start in baby steps while we had concerns about Y2K. But the real path was not there, for us. The Light Bulb Went On After Patriots We believe the light bulb went on after reading James Wesley, Rawles’ Patriots Surviving the Coming Collapse (the expanded edition). We stopped and re-evaluated …




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”. Oops, it seems Russia has a lost nuclear powered missile? The IRS and Taxpayer Information Reader DSV sent in this detailing how the IRS still lacks protections for sensitive taxpayer information. In this day and age of hardened data and government as well as private hackers, you would think that an institution that mandates every citizen have a profile would at least offer modern protection for that data. You would be wrong. …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – August 22, 2018

August 22nd, 1992 was the second day of the Incident at Ruby Ridge. FBI sharpshooter Lon Horiuchi wounded Randy Weaver, wounded Kevin Harris, and murdered Weaver’s wife, Vicki. It should be noted that in 1994, after being acquitted by a federal court, Weaver filed a federal civil rights case against the FBI and U.S. Marshals stemming from the siege. In 1995 the government settled Weaver’s case for $3.1 million. It is commonly thought that had the Weaver family stayed with the trial, the award would have been the full $200 million. In true FBI style, Lon Horiuchi was not prosecuted …




Guest Post: Why Gold Should Be Accumulated At These Levels

Here are a few reasons why gold should be accumulated at these levels: 1. Rising Interest Rates Although gold rose significantly from 2001 to 2011, it was not really the ideal conditions. There were many reasons for conditions not being ideal, such as: rising stock markets and major commodities like oil (more markets rising means more competition for investment). However, now I would like to focus on only interest rates. The direction of interest rates is normally indicative of a type of economic condition that exist. During the period from 2001 to 2011 interest rates were falling, and this was …




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 Rare Coins. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)   Forex and Precious Metals: Robert Shapiro: Dollar/Yuan And US Treasuries/Gold o o o “Tyler Durden” at Zero Hedge: Russia Buys Over 800,000 Ounces Of Gold In July After Dumping US Treasuries o o o Turkey lira crisis …




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 a gun vault that can be disassembled, when you move. (See the Gear section.) Books: Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking o  o  o How to Win Friends & Influence People. This perennial bestseller written by Dale Carnegie still resonates in truth after nine decades. (It was first published in 1936.) Anyone who works in sales or marketing should definitely read this book. o  …