Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 20, 2019

20 August is the birthday of former Congressman Ron Paul (born 1935). Dr. Paul is to be commended for fighting the good fight for many years. — August 20th, 1866 was the day that President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 84  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 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. …




Build the Plan vs. Test the Plan – Part 1, by T.R.

(Editor’s Note: This Part 1 of a five-part article series.) My goal in this article is to detail how to “build the plan” versus “test the plan” for bugout, while having fun. We regularly read SurvivalBlog and enjoy it immensely. We’ve also read and studied a lot of great books including Lights Out and Patriots. However, a few years ago we realized our learning curve was too slow for the fast-moving risk profile of a civil society becoming more frazzled (coupled with having moved to a hurricane-prone state after my husband’s retirement). We brainstormed how to compress the time required …




SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on an odd ATV accident. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Sheriff’s Office: Missing Athol man spent days pinned to tree after ATV crash prior to being located. He was pinned just 300 yards from his home. o o o Home Invasion Leads to …




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”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at possible Federal body armor restrictions. Senator Schumer Wants Body Armor Restrictions Several readers sent this: Senator Chuck Schumer Now Wants to Regulate the Sale of Body Armor, Too. JWR’s Comments:  …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Intellectual freedom is essential — freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship.” – Andrei Sakharov




Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 19, 2019

August 19th is the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906-1971). Farnsworth was an American inventor who is best known for his image pickup device that formed the basis for the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Among his many other inventions was the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, a small nuclear fusion device that remains a viable source of neutrons. At his death, he held over 300 patents, mostly in radio and television. — Thirty years ago, on August 19, 1989, Hungarian border guards allowed East German citizens to cross freely into Austria for the first time. This was the beginning …




Fivejoy Compact Shovel, by Pat Cascio

I’m not quite sure where the name for this compact folding shovel came from – but its called the “Fivejoy” for some reason – I’m sure there’s something behind the name. There are a lot of compact folding shovels out there on the market, and many are absolute pieces of junk – not worth having in an emergency, even if they were free. I’ve tested a lot of folding shovels over the years – and I mean a lot. There are some poorly made copies of the tri-fold military shovel, and they look good, but are junk. There are some …




Letter: COMPSEC Warning on Windows 10 Updates

Dear Editor: I used to have respect for Kim Komando, but after reading her article about the recent Windows 10 update, I have moved her to my “don’t trust” list. Let me explain: For my own COMPSEC I only connect to the internet wifi while I am actively using it and even then I monitor the data and CPU usage in real time using task manager. That way I know which program(s) are active. About 10 days ago, I detected the Windows 10 update in progress. It eventually took Four Hours of machine time (6X the usual time) and ate …




Recipe of the Week: Pete’s Garden Pasta Sauce

Reader Pete S. kindly sent us his recipe for a summer garden pasta sauce. Pete says:  “I like a lot of garlic, but you might want to tone down the garlic and garlic pepper, if you aren’t garlic fans.” Ingredients 1 pound pasta — preferably small diameter tubular pasta, but larger diameter or spaghetti can be substituted 1 cup sliced yellow summer squash 1-1/4 cup sliced zucchini squash 3/4 cup sliced green onions 1 cup julienned bell peppers (green or yellow) 1 cup julienned sweet red pepper 1/4 cup butter 4 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thinly (depending …




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 look at investing in reloading components. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: At Zero Hedge: “Everything Has Changed” – Gold Is At An All-Time High In 73 Countries o  o  o Gold, Silver Up Amid Risk Aversion Worldwide Economy & Finance: Audio from Wolf Richter:  …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 18, 2019

August 18th is the birthday of Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer, soldier, politician and public administrator that is best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. An interesting side note is the Girandoni Air Rifle carried by Lewis during that expedition. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 84  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System …




When Kids are Old Enough to Prepare, Part 2, by M.K.

(Continued from Part 1. This part concludes the article.) Teach By Reading and Watching Books My youngest son loves to read. My oldest will do it when he has to. One way I get them both on board with reading is by finding them books to read that keep them engaged and that is often with a book about the outdoors. As we all know, books can be both entertaining and educational. The best way to teach your kids through books is to find ones that are both! I know that Bear Grylls is a polarizing personality in the survival …




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”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the ongoing Hong Kong protests. Hong Kong Protests: It’s Now a Revolution By way of Whatfinger.com, comes this: In Hong Kong, It’s Now a Revolution. The article begins: “Defying stern …