Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 3, 2020

October 3rd is the anniversary of the Mogadishu, Somalia raid. The 18 Americans killed were: MSG Gary Gordon, 1st SFOD-D SFC Randy Shughart, 1st SFOD-D SSG Daniel Busch, 1st SFOD-D SFC Earl Fillmore, 1st SFOD-D MSG Timothy Martin, 1st SFOD-D CPL Jamie Smith, 3/75 Ranger SPC James Cavaco, 3/75 Ranger SGT Casey Joyce, 3/75 Ranger PFC Richard Kowaleski, 3/75 Ranger SGT Dominic Pilla, 3/75 Ranger SGT Lorenzo Ruis, 3/75 Ranger SSG William Cleveland, Jr. 160th SOAR SSG Thomas Field, 160th SOAR CW4 Raymond Frank, 160th SOAR CW3 Clifton Wolcott, 160th SOAR CW2 Donovan Briley, 160th SOAR SGT Cornell Houston, 10th …




Be Ready For Infrastructure Collapse – Part 2, by J330

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) — I also want to leave you with one example of the scenario that I fear the most happening in my localized area. Let’s just say that there was a 7.0 or higher earthquake on the New Madrid Faultline. (I am in an adjacent state that would be affected, per the research by experts.) I ask readers to ponder the following situation: Powerlines are down in the majority of 3-4 states. Underground power lines could be disrupted. Substations could be damaged. Supposing that parts vendors have enough inventory ready to go, are …




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:

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 2, 2020

Today marks the birthday of Mohandes Gandhi (1869–1948). Ben Kingsley did a great job of portraying him in the award-winning movie Gandhi. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 91 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 of their one, two, …




Be Ready For Infrastructure Collapse – Part 1, by J330

I feel a pressing need to share with you some things I have learned about the industry in which I am employed. I am very blessed to have grown up on a working farm in a close-knit rural community in the south. I come from a long line of vegetable gardeners, lunchroom ladies and short-order cooks, and the main order of business has always been to get food on the table and all that this entails. I still live on the same 100-acre property that I grew up on. We grow chickens, pigs, cattle, hay and vegetables. We have abundant …




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 electric cars and car battery metals. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: No Reason To Believe Metals Volatility Is Over o  o  o Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Continue to Be Very Volatile Economy, Budgets, & Finance: 39 States Don’t Have Enough Money To Pay Their Bills o  …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 1, 2020

Happy birthday to singer and actress Julie Andrews (born 1935.) Her name is always associated with The Sound of Music. — Naturally Cozy (one of our loyal writing contest prize donors) and Privy Paper will have a booth at the Panhandle Preparedness Expo this weekend at the Bonner County Fairgrounds in Sandpoint, Idaho. (Oct. 3-4, 2020.)  North Idaho Heat will unofficially be there too, if anyone wants to talk stoves. — Congratulations to the prize winners in Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog Nonfiction Writing Contest!  Round 91 began today. Please share your knowledge and experience by writing an article and …




Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced: Round 90

We’ve completed the judging for Round 90 of the bi-monthly SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It was difficult to judge this particular round because there were so many great articles.  So many, in fact, that I wish that we had five available “top three” prize spots.  I’ve sufficed by awarding an unprecedented 13 Honorable Mention prizes. The Prize Winners fro Round 90 are: First Prize: First Prize is awarded to 2A Advocate, for his article Finishing an 80% AR Lower Receiver. It was posted in three parts on September 18-19-20, 2020. Links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The photovoltaic …




JWR’s 20 “S” Strategy for Tangible Investments

I was recently asked to reiterate my philosophy on parlaying wealth into tangibles.  I emphasize tangibles in many of my writings because we need to be ready for times of inflation. Yes, inflation is coming.  With multi-trillion dollar bailouts, monetization of the national debt, and chronic Federal over-spending, mass inflation is inevitable. I must also state that I do not believe in heavily investing or any long-term investment in any “asset” that is just a piece of paper, a string of digits on a hard drive, or other abstractions that are mere promises. Promises and kind words don’t shelter and …




September 2020 in Precious Metals, by Stephen Cochran

From Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins: Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. Gold ended August on a down note, logging the first monthly loss in six months. December gold futures lost 3.7% in August, while spot gold lost 4.4%. Silver parted ways with gold in August, riding its rally by ending the month 18% higher on the COMEX, and 15% higher in the spot market. What Did Gold Do in September? Gold …




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 another bear spray fail. Another Fatal Bear Attack in Alaska: Bear Spray Fail In The Anchorage Daily News: Wildlife officials kill 4 bears as they investigate fatal mauling near Hope.  …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 30, 2020

On this day in 1938, the Treaty of Munich was signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Daladier, and Chamberlain. This treaty forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to Germany. The bumbling Neville Chamberlain returned to England from the treaty signing ceremony, promising “Peace in our time.” But that didn’t last long… — For anyone who reads Polish, a new Polish-language edition of my book How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It (JAK PRZEŻYĆ KONIEC ŚWIATA) is being released today (September 30, 2020). This media company is brilliantly named Kompania Mediowa. They are located in Warsaw. The founding of …