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 “JWR”.  Today, we focus on the recent ASUS Software Update Hack. A 21st Century Preparedness Reading List D.B. recommended this article over at Zero Hedge: Pre-Reading for War in America. This is from the introduction to his reading list: “…I have been doing some reading, specifically about the backside of the curve for Pax Americana, and I thought I would share with you my list: Pre-Reading for War in America.  I have tried to order …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 27, 2019

March 27th is the birthday of the late Robert W. Ford (born 1923, died 20 September 2013). He was an amazing man who had a remarkable life. His book, Wind Between The Worlds (an account of experiences in Tibet, captivity by the communist Chinese, and his fight against brainwashing), is highly recommended. It is available for free download. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 81 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 …




It is Time to Build Several ARs, by D.B.

I believe that it is time to build several AR-15s. There are many reasons why. These include: You will soon need them. Prices are down, due to the Trump Slump in firearms sales. A reasonable cost for an AR equates to $600 today.  This is definitely a “low point” in pricing and hence the ideal time to buy or build. Your family is not building them, so you should. The government doesn’t want you to build them. (Read: The threat of upcoming legislation.) It will help you to better understand how the firearm runs. Building your own is just fun. …




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 the Cobra RX Adder crossbow. (See the Gear & Grub section.) Books: The book Resistance to Tyranny: A Primer just jumped into Amazon’s top-150 selling books list. That is very unusual for a book that has already been in print for nine years. The renewed interest in this title says a lot about the direction that our country is headed. o  o  o The Top 100 Classic Radio Shows. With this book as reference, you’ll be equipped to …




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 SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we focus on the impact of recent floods on grain prices and the  implications for poultry and other livestock producers.   Precious Metals: Will The Historic Imbalance In Gold Stocks To Gold Price Resolve? o  o  o BMO: Gold, Platinum ETF Holdings Rise In 2019   Economy …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 26, 2019

Today is a sad day for American liberty. Following a directive by allegedly “pro-gun” President Donald J. Trump that he handed down to the BATFE, part of of our freedom died. As of today, bumpfire stocks stocks are now formally banned. They all just became re-classified as contraband “machineguns” — a felony to possess.  Contravening a long-standing tradition in American jurisprudence, with this ban ruling there is NO grandfather clause. Nor is there any compensation offered for a Federal “taking”. And because of the Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA ’86), there is no $200 …




Phase Three of the Internet Censorship War

Back in October of 2017, I wrote this article: Internet Censorship is Now Rampant — It is High Time to Bookmark Your Alternatives.  That was back in what I now refer to as Phase One of the Internet censorship war. I didn’t know it then, but that was back when the censorship campaign was still fairly mild and relatively subtle. Then, in early August of 2018, Alex Jones was systematically banned by more than 10 social media services and sites. Eventually, even Twitter jumped on the “Ban Alex” Band Wagon. When the Alex Jones mass banning was reported in the …




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. We’ve written a lot about holsters in SurvivalBlog, over the years.  But today, I’d like to mention makers of holsters and scabbards in the American Redoubt. Region-Wide Reader Bart S. sent us a link to a piece in the New York Times: A Lighter Matthew Barney Goes Back to School, and Back Home. “The artist dances with wolves, and hunters, in his new …




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 “JWR”.  Today, we focus on censorship. Google Makes Greenpeace Co-Founder Vanish The Ministry of Truth is hard at work: Google makes Greenpeace co-founder ‘vanish’. (Thanks to DSV for the link.) The Evolution of Body Armor Our own Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson penned this for the Baen Books web site: The Evolution of Body Armor.  Here is a snippet from his fascinating article: “Moving into the 1990s, though, materials science improved again. We finally …







Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 25, 2019

This is the birthday of English film director David Lean. He was born in Croydon, England in 1908, and died in 1991. He is best known for his films Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Doctor Zhivago. National Medal of Honor day is officially observed on March 25th of each year. On March 25 1944 RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade survived a jump from a burning Lancaster bomber from 18,000 feet over Germany without a parachute. His fall was broken by pine trees and soft snow, and he suffered only a sprained leg. He died on …




CRKT/Ruger AR Cleaning Tool, by Pat Cascio

I do a lot of AR-15 shooting these days, either testing guns for articles, or just for my own shooting pleasure. One thing that I don’t especially enjoy, and never have, is AR cleaning. Because they use a gas tube rather than a gas piston, they require frequent cleaning. And they aren’t one of the easiest rifles to clean. Today, we’re looking at the AR cleaning tool, from CRKT and Ruger. Several years ago, Ruger commissioned CRKT to produce some cutlery for them – under the Ruger name, and it has been a great relationship. The first time I handled …




Recipe of the Week: Avalanche Lily’s Scratch Chocolate Cake

Avalanche Lily’s Scratch Chocolate Cake This is a standard, time-proven American recipe. It is a favorite in our family. Ingredients 2 Cups white flour (sifting the flour is optional) 1 Cup Cocoa Powder 2 tsp Baking Soda 2 Cups Granulated Sugar 2 Eggs 2 Cups Hot Water 2 Rounded TBSPs of Butter   Directions Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly mix all ingredients into a batter Oil (or lard) coat the interior of a 8″x16″ glass baking dish. Pour batter evenly into the baking dish Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Decorating and serving Suggestions Allow cake to cool 20 minutes …