A Prepping Reality Check – Part 3, by Mama Bear

(Continued from Part 2.) Communication Communication methods must be well thought out, ahead of time. Most communication methods that are mentioned on the blogs/literature involve electronics such as ham radios, CB radios, walkie-talkies, portable radios, etc. All of these require some source of power. As discussed earlier, computers are very fragile and should not be depended on for communications. What power source does your communications technology use? Do you have backups? If using rechargeable batteries, how many times can they be recharged before they die? Are your communication methods subject to eavesdropping? (HINT: the answer is yes.) How will you …




Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach. The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 6, 2020

March 6th was the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., born in 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5. Cooper had his exploits well documented in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff, and in the well-done film of the same name. Cooper died at age 77 from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, October 4, 2004. Coincidentally, this is also the birthday of Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937), a Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman in space (aboard Vostok 6). She was born in Maslennikovo, USSR. — …




A Prepping Reality Check – Part 2, by Mama Bear

(Continued from Part 1.) Now that you have decided on a physical location that provides the best probability of survival for you and your family, let’s look at the next stage. Food Production Do you plant a garden each year? If not, why not? When you plant your garden each year, where does your seed come from? If you are ordering seed each year from a catalog or internet or purchasing seed at a local store, how are you going to plant your garden when that is not available? If you are raising hybrid or GMO varieties, how will you …




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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at a new tangibles investing niche: used oxygen concentrators. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold price muted as Bank of Canada follows Fed with 50-basis-point cut o  o  o Steven Cochran (our Precious Metals Correspondent) sent this: Listen to how precious-metals sellers psychologically manipulate elderly conservatives o  o  o …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 5, 2020

March 5th, 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Massacre. (March 5, 1770.) It was one of the key precipitating events for our War of Independence. This is also the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student: N.C. Wyeth. — Some anxious folks have written to check on the status of their recent SurvivalBlog archive USB stick orders. Rest assured: We did not take orders for more than …




A Prepping Reality Check – Part 1, by Mama Bear

(How-To Think, Plan and Make Decisions in Preparation for When the SHTF) Let’s have a reality check for all preppers, survivalists, and conspiracy theorists. How serious are you about being ready for TEOTWAWKI? I read many articles on the blogs about guns, food storage, politics, etc. But one thing that I read very lttle of is anything on the issue of decision making, attitude, commitment and how to think about surviving the coming TEOTWAWKI. All the guns and food storage in the world will be of no benefit to you or your family unless accompanied by decision making, priorities, 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 some more panic buying news. Costco Panic Buying in Southern California Video: Costco Panic Buying Takes Hold in Southern California, as Shoppers Talk of Coronavirus People in Japan are Panic-Buying …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 4, 2020

On March 4, 1902, the American Automobile Association (AAA) was founded in Chicago. — Do you want a really remote retreat? Here is a new SurvivalRealty listing in Alaska: Riverfront cabin on 80 acres. It is accessible only by aircraft, or a 150-mile boat ride. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off …




Church Pandemic Preparedness, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Editor’s Introductory Note: Here at SurvivalBlog, over the years, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of good doctrine, when finding a church home. We’ve also delved into discussing the role of local churches in dispensing charity. And we’ve discussed home-churching. And more recently, we’ve discussed the need for organizing and training armed security for churches. But today, we present a new wrinkle: How to keep a church group meeting regularly in times of pandemic, while at teh same time minimizing the risk of communicating diseases. Please prayerfully consider what ShepherdFarmerGeek has to say. If you then feel convicted to …




JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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 Oxygen Concentrators. (See the Gear & Grub section.) Books: Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, …