Year: 2020

Composting Your Black Gold – Part 2, by Hobbit Farmer

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) After your pile is built you wait. The microbes do the work. One helpful tool in this part of the process is a compost thermometer that will probe temperatures 18”-24” into the pile. The internal temperature tells you what is going on inside the pile so you know when to turn the pile. We will only be turning the pile once. As you can see this pile is cooking at around 140 degrees, which means my microbes are in turbo mode. You probably don’t want it much hotter than this. The lower …


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 some important items for your medic bag that you might have overlooked.  (See the Gear & …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 15, 2020

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On this day in 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division landed on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans, but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection …


Composting Your Black Gold – Part 1, by Hobbit Farmer

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Composting: Microbes, Black Gold, and Growing the Best Food A search of the SurvivalBlog archives will uncover pages and pages of articles mentioning compost and its value in gardening. However, if there was a startup composting guide I missed it. If you are an experienced composter hopefully you can still learn from this article, but everything here will be geared toward someone just starting out. Be warned I don’t use a sophisticated “fast” method. I work with God’s design, and let the microbes do the work. Well-balanced compost takes time–8-to-12 months with this method. This means you need to start …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 the conflagration in Malden, Washington.. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Archery hunters attacked by grizzly bear in Idaho. JWR’s Comment: In bear country, I recommend carrying both pepper spray and lead spray! o  o  o Over at Redoubt News: Todd Engel Update …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 14, 2020

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Today is the birthday of James Wilson, a lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1742 – 1798). This is also the birthday of actor Clayton Moore (1914–1999). His name is almost synonymous with Lone Ranger. — We are pleased to present another product review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio, as today’s feature article.


Work Sharp Bench Stone, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve been around knives all my life – ever since owning my first one, at about age 5 or 6. So I know a little bit about cutlery. Over the past 28 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to test hundreds of new knife designs — and perhaps more than a thousand new designs. I’ve lost count. It’s exciting to get new knife designs to test and write about – no doubt about that. And, just when I think I’ve seen it all, when it comes to cutlery, someone comes out with a new design, or new locking mechanism, or new …


Recipe of the Week: Roast Leg of Venison

The following recipe for Roast Leg of Venison is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the many bonus items included in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This special 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. The 14th Edition sold out quickly, so place a reminder in your calendar, if you want one. Ingredients Leg of …


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 an anticipated price swing in vintage Rolex wristwatches. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Gold Price Forecast: Gold Targets $1700 In September.  JWR’s Comment:  Take advantage of this dip. And note that there is still an opportunity to advantageously ratio trade some of your gold into silver and/or platinum. …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Democrats have become the party of socialism, open borders, sanctuary cities, the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), underfunding the military, abortion on demand, infanticide, environmental extremism, gun confiscation, higher taxes, radical identity politics, suppression of free speech and religious expression, and among some Democratic members of Congress, undisguised anti-Semitism. They’re also the party of intolerance, smears, lies, character assassination, besmirchment, and fake Russian dossiers.” – Sean Hannity


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — September 13, 2020

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September 13th, 1951 was the birthday of President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 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, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate …


Hurricane Preparedness–Floridian Style, by R.L.

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Florida. The name conjures images to people from around the globe. Sure, most people imagine the beautiful beaches, Disney, NASA, the Daytona 500 and others, but one cannot think of the State of Florida and not think hurricanes. Hurricanes are not concerns for Florida residents only, no way, as we have witnessed many of the most destructive hurricanes in the United States impacting states such as Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, Texas, even New York State! The reality is that a major hurricane (Category 3 or above) is going to wreak havoc and devastation anywhere the storm impacts. This …