Month: November 2019

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 19, 2019

In an unprecedented move, Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat traveled to Jerusalem on November 19th, 1977, to seek a permanent peace settlement with Israel after decades of conflict. Despite heavy criticism from Egypt’s regional allies, Sadat continued, eventually reaching a peace agreement with Israel at the Camp David accords in Maryland. While Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace prize for their efforts, the peace accord was not admired by the Arabs, eventually leading to Sadat’s assassination. Despite this, the Egyptian-Israeli peace continues today. — Today, I’m posting a feature article by my lovely wife, Avalanche Lily.


Our Winter Indoor Greenhouse Room, by Avalanche Lily

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I was recently asked for any advice that I could give concerning growing foods indoors. Growing anything indoors or outdoors is always an experiment, because there are so many variables to contend with.  In essence: Indoors: humidity, light, and nutrition. Outside: sunspots (or lack thereof), temperature, cloud cover, rain, drought, storms, bugs, soil nutrition, et cetera. Let me preface that I have no claim at all in thinking that I’m an expert. I’m not. I am no expert at all, nor am I an expert in any subject. I am a “by the seat of your pants” kinda girl.  I …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 the death of Jessi Combs.   (See the Eastern Oregon section.) Idaho Faithful Observations: From 9/11 ashes arose Christian emergency group.  JWR’s Note: I learned that the newspaper had a typo in the contact e-mail address fro the north Idaho representative. His correct …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 18, 2019

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On this day in 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their Jonestown agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. This incredibly tragic occurrence introduce the term “…drink the Kool-Aid” into our parlance, since poison-laced punch was the vehicle behind most of the deaths. This serves as a stark warning and reminder to those in the prepping/survivalist community who would join with like-minded friends under the leadership of a charismatic leader. Always know who you are following! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …


EMP Shield, by Pat Cascio

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First off, let me state that I’m no expert in anything, just a serious student, who is always learning. I’ve spent a lot of time researching the effects of an EMP attack on our electrical grid. One thing that I’ve learned is that there doesn’t seem to be any one source that agrees with others on just what exactly will happen when there is an EMP strike. No one seems to know how long there will be an electrical outage — will it be weeks, months, years, or longer? Some people in this field state that it might be a …


Recipe of the Week: R.R.’s Iced Pumpkin Cake Bars

Reader R.R.. kindly sent us this recipe for iced pumpkin cake bars with a cream cheese icing. Cake Bar Ingredients 4 large eggs, warmed to room temperature 1-2/3 cups granulated white sugar 1 cup of vegetable oil 16 ounces (one can) of solid-pack cooked pumpkin 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons of baking powder 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of baking soda Icing Ingredients 6 ounces of cream cheese, softened 2 cups powdered sugar 1/4 cup butter, room temperature softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk Cake Bar Making Directions Pre-heat oven to 350° …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the market for deactivated guns, in England. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Revisiting the Dow to Gold Ratio o  o  o Bank Behind World’s Largest Money Laundering Scandal Offered Russians Gold Bars To Hide Their Fortune Economy & Finance: Reader A.K. mentioned this, over at MarketWatch: The …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 17, 2019

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On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. They differed from the Constitution in that they emphasized the primacy of the states. This brings to mind the dangers of convening a Constitutional Convention, because the last time this happened the Articles of Confederation were thrown out and totally replaced by the Constitution. Do you honestly believe that our politicians today could craft a document that so thoroughly protects the rights of the individual as they did then? — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog …


Outdoor Survival: Of Belts and Tins, by Randy in S.C.

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M1 Garand cartridge belts and Altoids tins are a match made in prepper’s heaven. You may already have some of these vintage items gathering dust. If not, they are easy to find. Together they can be a literal lifesaver, more capable than smaller survival kits and far less bulky than the typical bugout bag. The M1 cartridge belt is an adjustable canvas belt with 10 snap-closure pockets, each measuring approximately 3 ¾” x 2 ¾” x 1”. It was standard issue from about 1910 until the full adoption of the M14 rifle in the late 1950s. The belt was originally …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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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 illegal immigration statistics. Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers Reader DSV mentioned this, over at Phramacist Ben‘s site: Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers Yale University …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 16, 2019

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November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. JWR’s novel Survivors …


Brewing My Own Kombucha, by S.C.

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Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea. Commercially, it is found in the refrigerated section with other prepared teas. It is loaded with live probiotics, so it has many health benefits. It tastes like fizzy vinegar, which takes a little getting used to. The fermentation process converts most of the sugar and caffeine. However, the caffeine sensitive may have to drink it only early in the day. Caveat: Kombucha has a minor amount of alcohol; less than 0.5% if it is sold commercially, and 0.2% to 0.8% (other estimates say 1-3%) if made at home. I mention this so that those …