Month: April 2020

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

55

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 how solar superstorms are projected to affect the national power grids. All 50 States Have Declared Disasters Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: All 50 states under disaster declaration …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 15, 2020

14

On April 15th, 1912, the “unsinkable” Titanic sank. 1,517 people lost their lives on the maiden voyage. As research into the incident has progressed over the last 100 years, it seems as if, one way or another, the ship was just going to sink. Impact with an iceberg, raging coal fires in the fuel supply, wrong turns, locked-up binoculars, weak rivets, too few lifeboats, and more. Perhaps this whole incident was really the result of man’s hubris. — With commerce returning to most of the western states on May 1st, I’ve decided re-open Elk Creek Company, as of the first …


Prepping and Survival as a Mindset, by F.B.

30

People — being people — have all kinds of reactions to “prepping.” Some get it. Some think they get it. And some consider themselves too sophisticated to “prep” because that implies the system will fracture; so to them preppers are “extremists of doom.” I’m not a prepper; I’m just a Dad responsible for a family. And once you wrap your mind around that, you’re already down that slippery slope of being a “prepper.” Prepping Begins in the Brain I have life insurance, like any middle class salary man. I pay for it every month. I don’t think I’ll die in …


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  reloading equipment and reloading reference books. (See the Books section and the Gear & Grub …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 14, 2020

4

Today marks the birthday of actor Adrien Brody (born 1973). He played the lead role in The Pianist. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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 the purchase price of any of their other models. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value), …


Caffeine for TEOTWAWKI, by N.E.S.

58

I will be addressing both coffee and tea options that work for us around our homestead. I will start with coffee. I am certainly no coffee connoisseur; I am just a homestead wife trying to make some decent coffee for my hubby. We are not sophisticated in that we try to detect certain acidity, aromas etc. My hubby just wants coffee that he enjoys drinking. I am in no way affiliated with any of the vendor suggestions that I comment about here. Rather, I’m just listing the things that through the research that I have done through this journey. I …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

45

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 mass media coverage of the American Redoubt movement.  (See the Region-Wide section.) Region-Wide CoVID-19: Time to Relocate? o o o America’s ‘survivalists’ feel vindication as they lock down for coronavirus epidemic — with ‘beans, bullets and Band-Aids’. A pericope: “While some, like …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 13, 2020

6

April 13, 1743 The birthday of Thomas Jefferson. (He died on July 4, 1826.) — A reminder: Patrice Lewis of the great Rural Revolution blog has launched a sale of her complete Country Living Series collection of 52 homesteading and practical skills e-booklets for download or on CD. I highly recommend her writings. — Today we present another product review by our venerable Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.


Zero Tolerance 0640, by Pat Cascio

13

To those many readers who have requested, once again, some high-end folding knives, here’s one that is quite unique. Its not all that easy getting our hands on high-end folding knives because, well…they are very expensive and always in-demand. Today we’re taking a close look at the Zero Tolerance Model 0640 and it’s a winner in every respect. As I’ve said numerous times, you can buy a knife for $5, or one for several hundred dollars, but don’t expect the less expensive knife to stand up like a quality knife. There are some really nice knives on the market, that …


Recipe of the Week: GritsinMontana’s Dirty Rice

2

Reader GritsinMontana kindly sent us her recipe for Dirty Rice. Ingredients 1 pound meat (ground beef, chicken, or sausage) 1/2 pound chicken livers (traditional but optional) 1 cup white rice 1.5 cups chicken broth 1 large onion, finely chopped 1-2 bell peppers, finely chopped 3-4 stalks celery, finely chopped A bit of butter or olive oil Thyme, dried or fresh One Bayleaf. (Remove after cooking.) Garlic, 2-3 cloves, minced Salt, 2-3 teaspoons And these three peppers, to taste: White pepper (start with 1 tsp)  Black pepper (start with 1 tsp)  Red pepper (start with 1/2 tsp)  Directions Wash your hands! …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

46

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, I speculate on how more PV-equipped vans will soon hit the market, for use as Bug-Out Vehicles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: This is some now slightly dated but still incisive analysis: Violent Price Divergences Between Real Physical Precious Metal and Futures Prices o  o  o Currency Is Being Created …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

13

“If you all come out now, a bunch of you are going to get sick. If you hold off until May 1, even more of you are going to get sick, and we’ll be in the worst economic depression the world has ever known due to a complete lack of engaging in economy. If you all hide until September, you’re still going to get sick, and at the worst time of year for it–October-December, just like the flu and other colds. More people will die on top of everyone who’s starving to death because we will have literally no economy …