Month: May 2021

Reusing Can Canning Jar Lids, by St. Funogas

One of the entertaining but frustrating things about the internet is how much incorrect info is out there, and how often that same wrong information gets recycled on hundreds of web sites, often verbatim. So, let’s put one of them to rest once and for all: reusing canning lids. It would never cross your mind to do an internet search, “Do peaches taste better when they’re hard or after they soften up?” Obviously, it’s very simple to test it yourself by trying one of each and drawing your own conclusions instead of relying on the opinions of others. The same …


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 focus on a couple of news stories from Canada. China’s Social Credit Scoring in Canada First up is this, over at The Sunday Guardian: China’s social credit program creeps into Canada. (A …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 5, 2021

May 5th is the birthday of Adrian Carton de Wiart, known as Britain’s “Unstoppable Soldier.”  This eccentric Belgian-born soldier served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunneled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. This is also the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel (Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by …


Cash and Your Credit Score: Often Forgotten Preps, by Dave S.

In this article, I’m going to extol and often forgotten, but top-tier prep. I like to read a lot of self-reliant and prepping blogs and articles, as we all likely do. Toward the beginning of my self-reliant venture, these articles and blogs were critical in my education. I am in no way an expert in this field, but I am comfortable enough that a lot of this information for me now is review, and it is always good to review the basics. I love reading articles and blogs simply for the fact that there is usually more than one way …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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 S.L. in Idaho wrote to mention: “I have had great success with a coddling moth trap. Use a ½ gallon plastic milk container – on the side opposite the handle cut a “smile” on the upper corner edge to create an entrance for the moths. Mix 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup dark molasses, 1/8 tsp ammonia and 6 …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 4 2021

Release Day!  Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson has a new sci-fi anthology in his Freehold series that will be released today by Baen Books: Freehold Defiance. I’ve started reading my advance copy, and it is great! It should now be available from all major online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores. I’d of course prefer that you order your copies from Books-A-Million (BAM), so that we can starve the Amazon beast. — On May 4, 1415, reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. The death of Hus inspired the later Hussite revolution in Bohemia. …


Speed Up Your AR-15 Lower Builds, by R.F.

A Parts Organizer Helps You Several Ways I find it a bit of a challenge keeping all of the thirty-plus AR-15 lower receiver parts organized when building a lower. The lower parts kits (LPKs) arrive packaged in many different ways. It’s a treat to have them come nicely blister packed or tray packed if you’re lucky enough get it that way or were willing to pay extra. But it is far more typical to have them arrive in one or more plastic poly bags packed in a larger bag or even in a blister pack like the example shown, from …


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, we focus on railroad transport in the American Redoubt region: passenger, freight, and even scenic excursion trains. Idaho Construction continues in Idaho’s busiest track confluence: Second rail bridge at Sandpoint. o  o  o Lakeside Idaho City Is America’s Hottest Housing Market in New WSJ/Realtor.com Index …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In particular, the State has arrogated to itself a compulsory monopoly over police and military services, the provision of law, judicial decision-making, the mint and the power to create money, unused land (“the public domain”), streets and highways, rivers and coastal waters, and the means of delivering mail…the State relies on control of the levers of propaganda to persuade its subjects to obey or even exalt their rulers.” –  Murray N. Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty



Kimber Micro 9, by Pat Cascio

Many of us, when we were kids, at Christmastime, or on our birthdays, would always look for the biggest present, and open that one first – because we all knew that, the bigger the present, the better the present. Well, I don’t know about other folks, but I’ve learned, as I grew older that, some of the best gifts came in small packages. My first Christmas, with my lovely wife, Mary, in 1979, found us without jobs – no income – and a tiny foot-tall artificial Christmas Tree. And, we agreed that we would only spend $25 on each other’s …


Recipe of the Week: Joe’s Big Batch Chili

The following chili recipe comes to us from SurvivalBlog reader Joe T. Joes says: “This recipe is for making a large quantity of chili to store in the freezer for future use. You will need one large 4 gallon kettle or two 2-gallon kettles.” Ingredients 5 pounds of dry beans 6 pounds of lean ground beef 3 pounds of sausage 4 quarts of tomatoes/salsa 3 quarts of water 40 garlic cloves 7 tsp of cumin 7 bell peppers 7 small onions 17 Tbl chili powder 1, 6 oz can of tomato paste 10 Tbl brown sugar 10 beef bullion cubes …


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 how copper is leading a commodities boom and general price inflation. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: Palladium Tops Record $3,000 Amid EV-Demand Surge, Supply Chain Pressure o  o  o Tom C. sent a link to a fascinating video interview: Why has silver price not yet spiked from demand, …