Year: 2019

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 2, 2019

August 2nd was the birthday of Peter O’Toole (1932–2013). When his name is mentioned, Lawrence of Arabia immediately comes to mind. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first 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. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 …


Predictors of Urban Riot Behavior, by E.M.

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Many behavioral psychologists and sociologists have a saying: The best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior. When politicians, particularly those on the Left, refer to “civil unrest,” they are referring to what the man on the street calls a riot. Civil unrest is simply a “politically correct” or a “Liberal-friendly” euphemism for a riot. Survival web sites also frequently mention the need for preparing for “civil unrest,” particularly in urban areas. While not civil unrest, as such, the identical behavior involved in civil unrest was seen in the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and every American …


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. 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 autographed books. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold and Silver Shine During the Race to Debase o  o  o The view from India: ‘Gold will be the best asset class to invest in 2019’ Economy & Finance: At Zero Hedge: …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 1, 2019

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August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291, which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2014, Switzerland has been free and independent for 723 years. Having a well-armed populace has assured that. — August 1st is also remembered as the election day in 1946 that sparked the Battle of Athens, Tennessee, when returning World War II veterans took up arms to oust a corrupt local government that was rigging an election. — Today is also the birthday of Lt. Colonel William B. Travis (born 1809, died March 8, 1836, …


Rounding-Out Your Baofeng UV-5Rs

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Final implementation of the dual-band UV-5R importation and sales ban (previously detailed in SurvivalBlog) is now just one month away. I’m confident that the majority of SurvivalBlog readers in the U.S. were cognizant of this and have stocked up on these radios, in quantity. But now I must ask: Are you ready to operate them, practically, long-term? This will surely require a few spares and accessories. The good news is that the accessories fully interchange, and most of them are quite inexpensive. By the way, this runs contrary to a SurvivalBlog aphorism: “Life is cheap, but the accessories will kill …


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 the death of newspapers. The Truth About Gun Buy Back Programs A brief video with some sage observations from Colion Noir: The Truth About Gun Buy Back Programs New EMPShield …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 31, 2019

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July 31st, 1921, was the birthday of Army Air Corps veteran David Thatcher, one of the Doolittle Raiders. Thatcher was the tail gunner in the rear of the Mitchell B-25 medium bomber christened the Ruptured Duck, the seventh of 16 planes. Returning from the raid, the bomber crashed into the sea from low fuel and the crewmen survived, in no small part to Thatcher’s heroic efforts. The five airmen washed ashore and were given aid by Chinese fishermen who found them. Thatcher bound their wounds and being the only crewman able to walk, joined with armed guerrillas to carry the …


Some IFAK Facts, Part 2 by MtnDoc in Washington

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Pressure points are areas where major arteries are closer to the surface of the skin than normal and utypically over hard/boney areas of the anatomy. Pressure points are areas of the body where arteries come close enough to the surface for pressure points to work. They are common areas where pulses are felt as well. You can practice locating them by feeling for the pulse on friends or family members, using your index and middle fingers together. I will be discussing the easiest points to identify and have labelled their general location …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books and movies that have any tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food as and food storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. This week the focus is on Red Cross Training. (See the Commo Data and Training Web Pages section.) Books: The classic book series by Dave Gingery: Build Your …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 30, 2019

Today marks the birthday of author Reginald Bretnor. He was born Alfred Reginald Kahn on July 30, 1911, in Vladivostok. He died on July 22, 1992 in Medford, Oregon. In addition to penning many witty science fiction novels and short stories in his characteristic style, he also wrote nonfiction articles for Mel Tappan’s P.S. Letter — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 83  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 …


Some IFAK Facts, Part 1 by MtnDoc in Washington

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Introductory Disclaimer: This article is about medical first aid care and should only be used in emergency situation. Apply them at your own risk. There is no substitute for hands-on training. — I am writing today to touch on a topic that I have seen some discussion in regards to related equipment but not the requisite training. I have heard it many places including on this page that without training, any equipment is useless. I would heartily agree with this sentiment. I would argue that this is particularly true when it comes to medical equipment, and especially with first aid …


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 custom bicycle makers in the American Redoubt. (See the Idaho, Montana, Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Wyoming sections.)  But first, a bit about the crossover from podcasting to broadcasting. Region-Wide A number of conservative podcasts are now being aired by AM and …