Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 20, 2020

On December 20th, 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 92 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 Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course …




Weatherproofing My Medic Bag – Part 2, by Skyrat

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) An Aside:  Please, take note of the last photo in Part 1 of this article. See how one end has a dark clippy thing, and I affixed the lanyard loop to the other end? Well, should you desire to recreate my own experience on your own, please, please, please do NOT simply open the package of your shiny new razor knife, and then drop it into your medic kit. It turns out that, when I was doing some chore or another in my well-lighted, warm, very own basement, I learned that the …







The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — December 19, 2020

December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (born 1852, died May 9, 1931), who was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. I’m related to him, by marriage, on my paternal side. — On Dec 19, 1776, Thomas Paine published “American Crisis”. “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is …




Weatherproofing My Medic Bag – Part 1, by Skyrat

Being a “prepare for bad things” sort of fellow, you might not be surprised to learn that I follow not just SurvivalBlog, but also several other blogs, oriented toward Bad Times, and how they might manifest themselves. Folks who have given this topic any sort of lengthy thought realize that “Bad Times” may come in what we might consider several “flavors”. Of course, there is the Nuclear Armageddon/Zombie Apocalypse sort of Bad Times. On the other hand, more likely is the potential for much more localized Bad Times. For example, there is the “Motorcyclist dumped his bike in front of …




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:

“Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed. I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God. Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him. Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou? Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 18, 2020

Today is the birthday of Jørgen Haagen Schmith (born December 18, 1910, died October 15, 1944). He was better known under the codename Citron and was a famous Danish resistance fighter in occupied Denmark. His biographical sketch at Wikipedia describes his death, after he was tracked down by the Nazis: “German soldiers arrived at the house to arrest or kill Schmith. He fought for hours against an overwhelming force of enemy troops killing 11 and wounded scores of others before the house was set on fire and he was shot attempting to escape the flames.” His exploits were dramatized in …




Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Rain Gauge – Once you fall in love with those metric grams, go ahead and toss that $1.95 plastic rain gauge which has an error factor of +/- 92%, and switch to a five-gallon bucket so you can weigh the precipitation instead. Use your Sharpie to write the grams-to-inches conversion number right on the bucket so you can record rainfall in hundredths of inches such as 1.89”. This rainfall info will help you to more accurately calculate how much you receive each month, which months are the dry months, and how large of …




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 Texas Corporate Relocation. (See the Companies Bound For Texas section.) Precious Metals: Lyn Alden: Gold Price Forecast 2021: On a Bullish Track o  o  o Billionaire Investor Thomas Kaplan says gold prices to move ‘way past’ all-time highs Economy & Finance: Deloitte: Weekly global economic update. Here is a …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that the issues of this election are the maintenance of peace and prosperity. The line has been used, “We’ve never had it so good… As for the peace that we would preserve, I wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 17, 2020

December 17th, 1905, was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002. — I encourage any SurvivalBlog readers with friends or relatives who live in Georgia to phone them and exhort them to VOTE in the January 5th U.S. Senate runoff election. Maintaining Republican control of the Senate will be crucial in the next eight years! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 92 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …




Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) Chain Saw – I shouldn’t mention this one for fear of revealing just how far my LOMR has progressed but next to the bar-oil cap of your chainsaw write “OIL” and “GAS” next to the gas cap. Once I reach Stage 4 LOMR I’ll no doubt be running the saw with bar oil and gas in the wrong tanks instead of catching my mistake like I do now, dumping them out, going to the house for a fresh cup of coffee, and then returning to try to get it right the second or third time. If …