Year: 2019

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 26, 2019

On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviet citizens died immediately. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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 …


Budget Prepper Guns, by Pete Thorsen

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Preppers can have many reasons to own and many uses for firearms. Hunting would likely be one of the top reasons to own. Security could be a valid reason, for sure. A means to dispatch livestock might be another reason. And just for fun would still be a very valid reason. There are certainly plenty of firearm options. Firearms have been made for hundreds of years with countless variations. Well cared-for firearms can last for several generations. Personally I have shot guns that were fully functional even though they were hundred and fifty years old. Many guns have been passed …


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 various way to make money in reselling retail tangibles–everything from Legos, to sports cars, to whiskey. (See the Tangibles Investing section at the end of this column.)   Precious Metals: Gold: Is $1280 A Floor Or A Sponge? o  o  o Silver Shortages are …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 25, 2019

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Today is the birthday of physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). He was known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission as well as for the development of Marconi’s Law and a radio telegraph system. He is often considered the inventor of radio. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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 …


Coping Without Fresh Meat, by S.A.

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Introductory Note: This article is not a recipe submission. It’s a feature article about how to cope without abundant fresh meat. It’s first-hand, based on a lifetime of experiences, all tried and tested over the years. I’ve divided it into three parts. Please read through to the end. Needless to say, “Your Mileage May Vary” and please eat sensibly and pay attention to calories, sufficient protein and fat and carbohydrates intake. Likewise, do not ignore adequate vitamin and mineral requirements (RDAs). I’m not a doctor, and no medical advice is implied. – S.A. PART 1 WHEN MEAT IS SCARCE Who …


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”.  Today, we focus on the burning of Notre Dame cathedral. SurvivalBlog Classifieds: Sumus Mortes First up, I should mention that as of April 30th, we are shutting down the Classified Ads section that we had established, as a test. Even though we quickly revised this section to make the ads mostly free, there wasn’t sufficient participation.  Note that we will still have relatively inexpensive text ad space available in the blog. The …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 24, 2019

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This is the day that the Armenian Genocide began, in 1915. Ottoman (Turk) Muslims slaughtered 1.5 million of their Christian neighbors, intellectuals, and community leaders. The Ottoman government proceeded with multiple phases to round up men in mass executions and drive women and children into the desert on death marches. They also lead the general Muslim citizens to participate in brutal periodic massacres within their communities signaled with the blow of a bugle in a Manchurian candidate-type of manner. It is one of the first modern genocides and serves as a warning for us today.  There are chilling accounts contained …


Challenge & Password for The Prepared Family, by A. Jackson

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One of the best ways to improve your preparedness skills is by adapting military skills to preparedness uses. Today we’re adapting the U.S. Army Common Task of ‘Challenge & Password’ to the needs of the survivalist. Scenario Consider the following scenario: About six weeks ago it finally happened, the currency collapsed and since then the security situation has rapidly deteriorated. Crime has begun to run rampant as the populace grows more and more desperate to fill their and their family’s bellies. At some point most of the local police force realized that their entire paycheck couldn’t even buy their family …


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. This week the focus is on the new movie The Highwaymen. (See the Movies section.) Books: This book was recommended by Wendy McElroy: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser. The New York Times Book Review described it: “An absorbing new biography [that] deserves recognition as an essential text…. For anyone who has drifted into thinking of Wilder’s ‘Little House’ books as relics of a distant and irrelevant past, reading Prairie Fires will provide a lasting cure…. Meanwhile, …


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 discontinued Browning stainless steel guns. (See the Tangibles Investing section at the end of this column.)   Precious Metals: Gold To Peak At $1,400 On Risk Aversion By Year-End — Capital Economics o  o  o Gold Price Forecast: Gold Lower Even As …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“What’s the use of fleeing to the United States if MS-13 murderers can simply follow in the victims’ wake? As someone noted on Twitter, ‘If America is to be a place of asylum then there has to be a way to discriminate between those who flee danger and those who are the danger. The border is the only place for that to happen.’ Walls will eventually be understood as places where information can be intelligently applied. They can make it difficult for any high-ranking Third World official to move themselves, their money, or their families to the West unless specially …


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 23, 2019

Andrew Rowan, born April 23, 1857 (died 1943) became one of the Spanish-American War’s most famous heroes because of a surprisingly popular essay written by Elbert Hubbard entitled “Message to Garcia”, detailing Rowan’s heroic acts as a liaison obtaining military intelligence. Rowan later wrote How I Carried the Message to Garcia. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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 …


Spices for Long Term Storage, by Upper Midwesterner

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This isn’t going to be just another food storage article. For excellent advice on that subject, start by exploring  the SurvivalBlog archives and the LDS web site. But there’s a related topic that I felt was worthy of discussion. It wasn’t that long ago that .22 rimfire ammo disappeared from shelves, and conversations about PMAGs in stock sounded pretty similar to claims about Yeti and the Loch Ness Monster – utterances viewed by most listeners with great skepticism. We live in a ‘just in time’-supplied world, where almost anything can quickly affect the price – or the availability – of …