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 world’s public schools are at it yet again. A Surprising Poll Like many others, I have always assumed that conservative strongholds like Texas have suffered from the migration of leftist/progressive loonies from California or the east coast. The thinking was that these people moving in from the coasts were bringing their liberal values with them as they sought employment opportunities. It was quite surprising to me to learn that that assumption …







Preparedness Notes for Saturday – November 10, 2018

November 10th is remembered in the United States as the “birthday” of the U.S. Marine Corps. Coincidentally, the 10th is also the birthday of the late Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, born in 1919, died December 23, 2013. He didn’t design a lot of different guns, but one of his few designs was the prototype for what turned out to be the world’s most widely produced assault rifles. Once an iconic symbol of international communism, the AK’s curved magazine profile has in more recent years become just a symbol of citizens being well-armed.




Guest Post: Silver, The S&P and Sanity, by Gary Christenson

Silver prices peaked in 2011. The descent has been long and tedious. Perhaps silver prices made an important low on September 11, 2018, like they did on November 21, 2001 at $4.01. That long-term low was twenty cents below the price on September 11, 2001, the day the twin towers fell at free-fall acceleration, which marked the beginning of the silver bull market that launched prices upward by factor of 12. The S&P 500 Index has risen for over 9 years, from a low of 666 to a high of 2,940. It sits in late October at about 2,641. Massive …




Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready! …




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 an interesting video today on disguises. AGI From one of our advertisers: Banned on YouTube?! Yes! AGI just received notice from YouTube that our Reloading A-Z Course sampler video has been Banned! Can you believe it?! This video was just excerpts from the actual course. Apparently because it teaches how-to reloading, they decided that it could no longer be posted on YouTube. Again, this wasn’t the whole course it was …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: and Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did …




Preparedness Notes for Friday – November 09, 2018

November 9th/10th, 1938 was the night of the “Kristallnacht” arson and mass vandalism attacks in Germany. Be forewarned, folks: Once a group in any society has been singled out, they can be systematically attacked. Someday it may be “Constitutionalists” who are targeted. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today features another entry for Round 79 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A …




States’ Rights Versus Federalism, by F.B.

I don’t want civil war (CW). I’m no expert on what CW2 would look like. It won’t look like CW1 with a fairly clean bifurcation of states. It could be as ugly as Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Civil war is ugly, filled with death, hardship, and loss. Civil War 2 is Coming In CW2, I will suffer greatly. My family will suffer greatly, and the values and beliefs that I hold will suffer greatly. Have no illusions, we will all lose in this war. But it is still coming. Why do I believe this? Civil wars is coming because I’m …




Letter: Carpenter Bees and Boring Beetles

Hugh, My husband and I have purchased a log cabin, which we are moving into in a few months. This cabin is located in SW North Carolina, and the property is surrounded by a national forest. We are dealing with carpenter bees and boring beetles. My husband has been looking into all sorts of ways to deal with these wood-damaging insects. He just bought hypodermic syringes from the local farm store to put liquid borate in them for injecting into the holes we can see. We need a permanent solution, if there is such a thing, to keep them at …




Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news 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 investing in Semi-Numismatic Gold Coins. (See the Precious Metals section.)   Precious Metals (Semi-Numismatic Gold Coins): There is an opportunity that presently exists, while spot prices are low and numismatic prices are also low: buying semi-numismatic pre-1933 U.S. gold coins. These are generally coins …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from chess the greatest maxim in life – that even when everything seems to be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the solutions to our problems.” – Benjamin Franklin




Preparedness Notes for Thursday – November 08, 2018

On this day in 1939, Hitler was giving a speech on the anniversary of his Beer Hall Putsch which was his first grab for power and had ended in his arrest and the virtual annihilation of his National Socialist Party. He had been regaling his followers with his vision of the Fatherland’s future and was addressing the Old Guard party members, those who had been loyal to him since the earliest days of its inception. Just 12 minutes after he finished his speech, a bomb exploded. Seven people were killed and 63 were wounded. Sadly Hitler had already left the …




Following Jesus Through the Storm: Defeating Despair, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Just yesterday I read of someone comparing our situation to following a guide and dim lantern in the dark. (Unfortunately I’ve lost the source link.) Two Components There are two basic components upon which we will expound. These follow: Confidence in the Guide. This confidence involves believing that He knows us, knows the dangers, and knows the way through. Further, it is believing that He has the power to protect us against what is in the dark. Overcoming our fear of the dark and what it conceals. We don’t know what lurks in the dark. We can’t control what’s in …




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”. Food takes center stage with a couple of entries including a quote from The Woodpile Report today on hunger Antifa Opinion Reporter Tucker Carlson had a self-described Antifa group congregated outside of what they claimed was his home chanting “We know where you sleep at night!” The group claims Carlson is a racist and that his policies are responsible for the death of thousands of people. This same group has harassed Ted …