Year: 2020

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 24, 2020

October 24th is the anniversary of the firing squad execution of Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling, in 1945. His ignominious place in history was to have his surname become a noun. “Quisling” is now a moniker synonymous with treason and alliance with an invading army. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy …


How to Make Wooden Mason Jar Crates – Part 1, by St. Funogas

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If you’re an average prepper, you no doubt have enough mason jars to sink a small yacht if they were all filled with pickles and tomato sauce and snuck aboard. And if you’ve done a lot of canning, you’ve probably thought there has to be a better way to manage all the jars than those cardboard boxes they come in. I’ve found that homemade wooden crates work great for me and may work for you as well. What I really like about these crates is that you can store empties in them as well as full jars, then stack the …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

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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:

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“Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 23, 2020

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On October 23rd, 2002, around 50 Chechen rebels stormed a Moscow theater, taking 700 hostages during a popular musical. After 57 hours, during which two hostages were killed, Soviet Special Forces pumped a powerful narcotic gas into the theater knocking the terrorists and hostages unconscious before breaking in through the walls and roof. When the dust settled, most of the rebels and 120 hostages were dead–many of them killed by the gas. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 91 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …


Low-Tech Off-Grid Living, by Ani

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I’m writing this article early in the morning during a power failure. I’ve only lived in this house for six months but this is not the first power failure I’ve experienced here. Previously I house-sat in this town and experienced a long duration power failure complete with four days or so of no cell service either. I got on my phone and looked up the outage map and realized that my town and a couple of adjacent towns have a significant outage, definitely due to the high winds of last night. The electric utility will begin mobilizing the line crews …


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 coming divergence in rural versus urban real estate prices. (See: The Work From Home Transformation section and the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: U.S. stimulus to trigger rally: Gold price to surge to $2,200 by year-end – ANZ o  o  o The Piper is Calling: A Sea of …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“It is not certain that with this aid alone [possession of arms], they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will, and direct the national force; and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned, in spite of the legions which surround it.” – James Madison


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 22, 2020

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This is the birthday of painter and book illustrator N.C. Wyeth (1882–1945). This is also the birthday of actor Jeff Goldblum (born 1952), who had unforgettable roles in Buckaroo Banzai and in the Jurassic Park and Independence Day films. — I just noticed that Amazon.com has updated their ordering page for my latest book (The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide) to read: “Usually ships within 1 to 2 months.”  Sooooo… They apparently blew through their entire inventory in two days. (I just love Book Bomb days!) I really doubt that Simon & Schuster is going to want to do Amazon any …


Sign Language as a Survival Skill, by B.R.

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When I see and read all manner of survival books, magazines, online articles, I’ve noticed a major issue important to me that is never talked about at all, for the most part. What is this issue? In any survival situation how do the healthy, hale members of any society or culture communicate treat and work with our handicapped people/family members? For this article, I will concentrate on the deaf/hard-of-hearing citizens of our own country. As a being profoundly deaf man since the age of four, I have experienced numerous good and bad situations throughout my life. Sometimes the situations were …


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 a legal challenge to 80% receivers. Another 1876-Style Presidential Election? Some food for thought: Americans worry about 2020 being another 2000, but the real worry is another 1876. California Sues Feds …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 21, 2020

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Today is the birthday of the late R.J. Rummel. October 21, 1932 – March 2, 2014. He was was professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii. He spent his career assembling data on collective violence and war with a view toward helping their resolution or elimination. Rummel coined the term democide for murder by government (compare genocide), and his research suggests that six times as many people died of democide during the 20th century than in all that century’s wars combined. He is best known as the author of:  Death by Government: A History of Mass Murder …


Range Estimation and Windage with Mil Reticles – Part 2, by N.E.

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Windage Ranging distance is pretty straightforward with practice. It also becomes fairly easy to calculate your elevation adjustment in relation your data-card or ballistics app. How long-range shooting becomes an art is trying to calculate the wind. I am going to be straight with you and say reading the wind is an art that can only be learned over time. Calculating wind becomes easier with specific calibers (high BC), the use wind meters, and lots of practice. But, calculating the wind is not nearly as straight forward as ranging distance. There are …