Month: January 2020

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 17, 2020

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On this day in 1994 the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people. — On Jan. 17, 1920 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, establishing Prohibition. By one account, 286 distilleries, 992 breweries, and more than 300,000 bars and saloons were closed. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 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 …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 4, by JM

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(Continued from Part 4.) Sleeping Once you’ve got your shelter set up you’ll probably want to get some sleep. You need to start with ensuring you’re as insulated from the cold ground as possible. Earlier I mentioned that if there’s snow on the ground that can actually help insulate you, since snow is mostly air. Another trick is to place leaves or pine boughs down before you lay down your tent’s ground cloth/footprint to add another layer of insulation. Next you’re going to want some kind of sleeping pad to increase your comfort and add even more insulation. Companies like …


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 astounding auction price of the recent record-breaking auction of the Bullitt Mustang Fastback. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Owners of Orlando gold coin company get prison time for defrauding customers out of $9 million o  o  o Demand For Gold Coins and Bars At Perth Mint …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 16, 2020

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The Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16th, 2003. STS-107 would explode on re-entry 15 days later, killing all seven of the crew members on board. SurvivalBlog salutes all seven crewmembers: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William McCool (pictured), Mission Specialist David Brown, Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist Michael Anderson, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon. — Blog readers who live in Washington are reminded that there is a gun rights rally scheduled in Olympia on Friday (January 17, 2020.) Please be there! See the GOAL web site, for details. SurvivalBlog Writing …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 3, by JM

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(Continued from Part 2.) Now you need to think about keeping your core warm, which is critical since that’s what your hypothalamus will focus on keeping warm if you start to get cold. No big surprise – start with merino wool or polypropylene long underwear top, then either a shirt, a turtleneck, a sweater/fleece or a combination, depending on conditions. I have an old Pendleton wool shirt that I received as a gift years ago that I absolutely love, and for sweaters/fleece I like the ones that have zippers in front so I can unzip to cool down. If I …


Announcing the New SurvivalBlog 2005-2019 Archive USB!

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Thanks for your patience, folks… The SurvivalBlog 2005-2019 Archive on a waterproof/EMP-resistant 16 GB USB stick is now available for pre-ordering. In addition to adding the most recent year of the blog and all of the previous content, there is now more than 3,500 pages of new bonus content that has never been posted in SurvivalBlog! This new bonus material includes: Encyclopedia of Farm Knowledge (1,739 pages, in Three Volumes!) Civilization During The Middle Ages Nut Tree Growing and Pruning 7,000 Words Often Mispronounced Sports and Pastimes for Young & Old The Guardians of The Columbia The Science of Everyday …


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 New Zealand’s Gun Confiscation Failure.  But first, a brief book review. Freehold Resistance — A Great Read! Ads most SurvivalBlog readerts know, Michael Z. Williamson is our volunteer Editor At …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 15, 2020

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Today is the birthday of television and movie actor Lloyd Bridges (1913-1998), who starred in the series Sea Hunt. He was a good actor, but his liberal politics were bothersome. A reader mentioned just one example that illustrated his politics:  Lloyd Bridges had a ranch in in Markleeville, California, in Alpine County. “He wanted an outbuilding built and friends of mine there were hired to erect it. They showed up in standard issue F150 pickup trucks, each with a Model 1894 Winchester or scoped bolt action hunting rifle in gun racks behind the driver. Bridges demanded they take the guns …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 2, by JM

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(Continued from Part 1.) Clothing Protecting ourselves from all of the ways Mother Nature can impact us in the winter starts by wearing clothing. Clothing helps us retain our body heat, protects us from the sun, keeps us dry and allows us to carry our environment with us (yay for pockets!), so selecting and taking care of the right clothing is critical in a winter environment. As everyone knows, layering is the best approach for dressing for cold weather – you have multiple layers of clothing that you can put on and take off as you heat up or cool …


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–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on the 1961 movie The Guns of Navarone. (See the Movies section.) Books: KJV Study Bible, …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“…we must be persuaded not only that as he once formed the world, so he sustains it by his boundless power, governs it by his wisdom, preserves it by his goodness, in particular, rules the human race with justice and Judgment, bears with them in mercy, shields them by his protection; but also that not a particle of light, or wisdom, or justice, or power, or rectitude, or genuine truth, will anywhere be found, which does not flow from him, and of which he is not the cause; in this way we must learn to expect and ask all things …


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 14, 2020

On January 14th, 1784, the Continental Congress ratified the Second Treaty of Paris, ending the War for Independence. In the document, which was known as the Second Treaty of Paris (because the Treaty of Paris was also the name of the agreement that had ended the Seven Years’ War in 1763), Britain officially agreed to recognize the independence of its 13 former colonies as the new United States of America. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First …


Cold Weather Considerations – Part 1, by JM

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(Note: This Part 1 of a six-part series.) If you live in the northern hemisphere then it’s that time of the year when things are getting cold and, depending on how far north you live, covered in white stuff. Around Thanksgiving I start planning my various winter outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, skiing and snowshoeing trips, and I thought it would be a good time to review some considerations for surviving and operating in winter conditions. Why would anyone want to be outside in the cold and snow? Because in a post-disaster scenario you may not have a choice, …