Month: April 2021

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 30, 2021

Camerone Day is celebrated on April 30th every year — the French Foreign Legion’s most important holiday. Today is also the birthday of sci-fi novelist Larry Niven (born April 30, 1938). Along with Jerry Pournelle, he co-authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer. April 30th is also the birthday of Ed Yourdon, who was born in 1944. — New listing through Survival Realty Brokerage Services: A manufactured home on 18 acres in Sabine Parish, Louisiana. Has a four-acre pond, shop, and more. $179,500. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 94 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …


The Innate Value of an Apple Tree – Part 2, by Northwoods Prepper

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Developing a pest-reduction process is better when understanding your enemy. For example, the Apple Tree Maggot can be found in the lower 48, while the San Jose Scale is limited to California. Use the internet to evaluate what insects are in your area. Traps are often multispecies and can significantly reduce infestation. There is a great article on Rural Sprout (https://www.ruralsprout.com/apple-tree-problems/) regarding apple tree problems with pictures identifying insect infestation and the damage they can do to apple trees. One last thing to say about infestation and insects and that is it …


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 global inflation concerns. Precious Metals: It’s just zeros and ones at the end of the day’ – David Garofalo on why gold is better than bitcoin o  o  o Price pressure on gold and silver as bond yields on the rise Economy & Finance: Flexport: Trans-Pacific deteriorating, brace for …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 29, 2021

This is the birthday of actor Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), often remembered for his starring roles in Last of the Mohicians and in Lincoln. — Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson has a new sci-fi anthology that will be released by Baen Books on May 4th: Freehold Defiance. I’ve started reading my advance copy, and it is great! The book is already available for pre-order directly from Baen, and will be available from all major online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores on May 4th. I’d of course prefer that you order your copies from Books-A-Million (BAM), so that we can starve the …


The Innate Value of an Apple Tree – Part 1, by Northwoods Prepper

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther As an ardent survivalist, arborist, and aficionado of the apple tree, you can see why this is one of my favorite quotes. The apple tree may be one of the most valuable survival tools you can have if you own land. The only downside to apple trees is they take advanced planning and you will have to wait several years or more, depending upon tree type, before you have fruit. The plus side is that you can have …


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 COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Reactions and Deaths. Report Begins on COVID “Vaccine” Adverse Reactions and Deaths SurvivalBlog reader D.S.V. sent us the link to where US CDC has posted a web …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing …


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 28, 2021

April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive Finn designed (or co-designed) an amazing array of weapons including the L-35 Lahti pistol, the Suomi M-31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 LMG, the famous Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, and even the 20 ItK 40 — a 20 mm dual anti-aircraft cannon. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 94 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 …


Salvaging Beeswax, by The Novice

The subtitle for this article is: Of Mice, Bees, Squirrels, and Beeswax Of Mice “. . . Mousie, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best-laid schemes of Mice and Men, Go oft awry, And leave us naught but grief and pain, For promised joy!” (Excerpt from “To a Mouse, On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785″ by Robert Burns, anglicized and updated by the Novice) Of Bees Near my home is a large hollow tree that for many years has been the home to a large colony of bees. Each …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippet

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — First, and foremost is an incredible global radio listening map, sent to us by H.L.: Radio Garden. H.L describes it: “The green dots on this Google Earth map represent radio stations all over the world. Click on any one of the dots and you will immediately hear that station with very good reception.” JWR’s Comment: I also found this fascinating. …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 27, 2021

On this day in 1789, the crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific. — Take note that I’ve moved the posting day for our weekly Snippets column from Tuesdays to Wednesdays. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present an article that is not eligible for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The author is my #1 Son, Jonathan Edwards Rawles. He operates the real estate advertising site SurvivalRealty.com and is a partner of Survival Realty Brokerage Services.


Review: 80% Arms Easy Jig 3, by Jonathan E. Rawles

I was given an 80% build kit from 80 Percent Arms just a few week before Joe “Non-Absolute” Biden announced new rules that will seek to put companies like 80 Percent Arms out of business. So, I offer this review, and encourage you to take advantage of the rules as they now stand, and support them and other companies that support our God-given rights to manufacture our own tools and weapons. With the Biden/Harris Regime poised to issue rules requiring an FFL to buy or sell “ghost guns” such as bananas and partially-eaten Poptarts, now may be an excellent time …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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, nows on the arrest of two alleged wolf poachers.  (See the Montana section.) Idaho Over at Redoubt News, there is this piece written by Shari Dovale that includes some details that I’ve not yet seen verified: Idaho Swamp Trying To Unseat Another Conservative. o  o  …