Preparedness Notes for Saturday – May 05, 2018

May 5th is the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by alcoholism, but his writing is admired and still surprisingly popular today. (Alas, Babylon is still in print, after more than 50 years!) As an homage to Pat Frank, one of the settings in JWR’s novel Expatriates is Mt. Dora, Florida, which was fictionalized by Pat Frank as Fort Repose in Alas, Babylon. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 76 …




Guess What? We Grow Up, by The Autistic Prepper

It was good to read about dealing with autistic children and their special needs in survival situations, and I’d like to thank Grey Woman for her article. There have been articles about the elderly, the physically handicapped, those with dementia, but we on the autistic spectrum have been largely ignored. Our differences are too bizarre for most people to understand. Adult With Autism; We Grow Up Let me introduce myself. I’m an adult with autism, and I’m also a fervent SurvivalBlog reader and occasional contributor. I also like to watch water going down a drain, insist that my egg be …




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”. Barter wins again today in Socialist ravaged Venezuela. As the economy has tanked the cost of a haircut has radically changed. Aircraft Incidents China is reportedly increasing their lazing of American military flights near a U.S. Military base in Africa. High power lasers are being aimed at U.S. aircraft flying over the east African country of Djibouti, aimed from the Chinese base in Doraleh resulting in eye injuries for two American pilots. …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” Jerimiah 32:17-19 (KJV)




Preparedness Notes for Friday – May 04, 2018

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others. Also on this day in 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho, creating what the world believed would be peace at last in the Middle East. Of course, the Palestinians then, as now, threw away the peace agreement and resumed hostilities towards Israel. o o o Valley Food Storage has started to sell 25-year shelf-life ammunition using the …




Guest Post: Unmasking the Liberal Agenda of Death, by Enola Gay

When I was growing up, my parents owned a store in the tiny town that shared our zip code. Dad sold guns, ammo, tack, grain, used furniture and whatever else happened to come in to the “Horse Trader”. He also sold hunting and fishing licenses and was the town’s only UPS drop. Although the Horse Trader filled a niche in the local economy, perhaps its greatest contribution was that of a meeting place. Every small town, especially isolated mountain towns, need a place for people to come together. It is in these meeting places that lives are shared and burdens …




Letter: Gun Violence

Hugh, There is unacceptable gun violence in our country. Pro gun versus anti gun citizens and groups go head to head and fight over gun control. I believe we should all be working together to figure out what the real causes of this violence is, working as a team to erase mass shootings and gun crime. These occurrences make all Americans look bad. We are all to blame– gun owners as well as those who are fighting to end the right for citizens to protect themselves and exercise their constitutional rights. Maybe there should be a nationwide policy through which …




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 recent Bitcoin bounce in trading value. Precious Metals: Egypt: Billionaire girds for stock-market crash by investing half his net worth in gold. o o o Andrew Hecht: Silver – What A Difference A Week Makes Stocks: Market correction of 30-40% could be coming soon, …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In the 301-450 cubic inch class Burman in the Marquette-Buick also cut the 10-mile record from 7:57.1 to 7:56.45, and established a record for 15 miles at 11:46.4. Another demonstration of place was made by Hearne in the Benz in the Helmet race, in which his 10 miles in 7:13, average 83.14 miles per hour. The G&J Trophy race attracted a field of eleven cars which included Burman and Louis Chevrolet in Marquette-Buicks, Pearce and Heineman in Falcars, Fox in a Pope-Hartford, Harroun and Dawson in Marmons, Moore and Davis in Great Westerns, Miller a Warren-Detroit, and Cook in a …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday – May 03, 2018

3 May, 1952 The birthday of Pastor Chuck Baldwin. He has done yeoman service in promoting the American Redoubt movement. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 76 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 Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value), …




Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.

None of us want to unknowingly share personal information, but it’s happening everyday if you browse the web, use email, or have a mobile phone. You could decide “I’m going off the grid!”. That’s great if you can, but it’s not practical for 99% of us. The Breadcrumbs So, how might you go about reducing the breadcrumbs produced by your digital life? ProtonMail First, consider using ProtonMail for your personal email. There are no ads and no tracking. A basic account is free. I paid for the Plus account, since I wanted more features. I access ProtonMail on my iPhone …




Letter Re: Normalcy Bias

Hugh, According to Wikipedia, “The normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a belief people hold when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster and its possible effects, because people believe that things will always function the way things normally have functioned.” It may refer to a disaster, but surely it has a cousin that causes people not to see or consider a “sea change” in technology and its impact on life and politics. Impact of Computers on Life Consider how people viewed the impact of computers on life, say 30 years ago. Few …




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”. Another Gun Maker Bites the Dust According to this article sent in by reader H.L., another company has caved to the SJWs on the left. Vista Outdoor, Inc (owner of Savage Arms and Stevens) has announced that they are seeking to divest themselves of the Arms manufacturing business. They supply a large percentage of outdoor recreational equipment (like bicycle helmets and CamelBak systems) to retailers such as Walmart and REI. In March, …