Preparedness Notes for Thursday – September 20, 2018

On this day in 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. He searched the Río de la Plata, a large estuary south of Brazil, for a way through but failed to find one. He then continued south along the coast of Patagonia. On October 21, he finally discovered …




Making A Living As A Reseller- Part 3, by BIF

For those of you wanting to make the move towards self-sufficiency in a career, or for those who are just looking for extra income, I am writing about buying and selling as a source of income. I think with a little practice, anyone can learn to make money by reselling things. So far, I’ve provided some background information and given some insight into pawn shops as well as ways to acquire inventory with no money or very little. Stihl Concrete Saw and Wheeled Carriage (continued) Let’s continue to look at an example of one ways I made money reselling through …




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”. The High Cost of Socialism Reader H.L. sent in this article showing that under the guidance of Maduro’s socialism, over 40% of Venezuelan business have closed. Maduro imposed a mandatory wage increase of nearly 60 fold, making it almost impossible for these businesses to survive. Adding insult to injury, Maduro has also imposed price controls so that the business cannot increase their prices to accomodate the wage increases or account for runaway …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – September 19, 2018

On September 19th, 1778, the Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States. While the budget may have passed, the states responded poorly to the call for taxes to fund the government, and the government resorted to printing paper money to cover debts. In effect, the first budget was a failure, due in large part to the states not responding to the demands of Congress and the depreciation of fiat paper money. Are we talking about 1778 or 2018 here? o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 78 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction …




Making A Living As A Reseller- Part 2, by BIF

For those of you wanting to make the move towards self-sufficiency in a career, or for those who are just looking for extra income, I am writing about buying and selling as a source of income. I think with a little practice, anyone can learn to make money by reselling things. So far, I’ve provided some background on reselling from a theory perspective and information on my experience reselling, too. Now let’s get started with details. Let’s compare your efforts buying and selling to that traditional institution, the pawn shop. The Pawn Shop Over the years, I have spent a …




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 precious metals. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals (Rare Precious Metals): World’s Five Most Expensive Precious Metals o o o The Most “Precious” Precious Metals in the World o o o One company that sells very rare metals in semi-coin form (disk ingots) …




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 Ammunition Storage. (See the Gear section.) Books: Fall and Winter Gardening: 25 Organic Vegetables to Plant and Grow for Late Season Food o  o  o Recommended by reader A.D.: The Complete Yacht Security Handbook: For skippers and crew o  o  o Recommended by reader “Captain Nemo”: Bardin & Marsee Waterproof Bible – KJV   Movies & Television: 1984. This is the 1986 remake of the classic George Orwell story, starring John Hurt. It is “…set in a …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If we refuse to forgive, we have stepped into dangerous waters. First, refusing to forgive is to put ourselves in the place of God, as though vengeance were our prerogative, not his. Second, unforgiveness says God’s wrath is insufficient. For the unbeliever, we are saying that an eternity in hell is not enough; they need our slap in the face or cold shoulder to “even the scales” of justice. For the believer, we are saying that Christ’s humiliation and death are not enough. In other words, we shake our fists at God and say, “Your standards may have been satisfied, …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – September 18, 2018

The 18th of September is Chilean Independence Day. On this day, in 1810, Chile declared independence from Spain. o o o Bill Ruger, Jr. passed away. JWR’s Comment: Unlike his father, Bill Jr. did not try to appease the Democrats in Congress. It was under Bill Jr.’s leadership of the company that Ruger again began selling 20 and 30 round magazines to the general public. He was a good man, who will be missed. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 78 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes …




Making a Living as a Reseller- Part 1, by BIF

JWR is a proponent, with good reason, of living at your retreat and living your preps. He has also pointed out from time to time that it can be a challenge to obtain a job in the American Redoubt. They are available, but sometimes a job require special skills or a willingness to take a step down in your salary or career path. One thing he suggests is finding a way to make a living that is compatible with your lifestyle and available at your retreat location, whether it is in the American Redoubt or not. Buying and Selling As …




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 trike flying videos made in the Redoubt region by SurvivalBlog reader TTABS. He is an amazingly skilled pilot who often flies his Experimental class trike–imagine a powered hang glider–at nap-of-the-Earth profiles. (See the Idaho section.)   Idaho (Trike Flying Videos) A recent video from trike flyer TTABs: A Flight Through History to Salmon Idaho. “This is …




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”. FNS-40 Reader DSV sent in this article that details the problems some police departments are having with the FN FNS-40 service pistol. Apparently, the weapons are occasionally discharging on their own with no shooter input. Several officers have been hurt by weapons that have discharged while still in their holsters and a few others have been hurt by other situations. At his time, no incident has been reported where the weapon discharges …