Month: August 2021

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 2, 2021

August 2nd was the birthday of Peter O’Toole (1932–2013). When his name is mentioned, Lawrence of Arabia immediately comes to mind. But one of my favorites was his 1971 film titled Murphy’s War. That has some very memorable seaplane flying scenes. — I’ve recently added eight guns, over at Elk Creek Company. And I have several more new acquisitions to add soon, including several stainless steel Ruger Old Army percussion revolvers. Take a look. Keep in mind that we now take payments both in pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage, or in Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) at a multiplier that changes often, …


Writing Contest Winners Announced: Round 95

We’ve completed the judging for Round 95 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prize winners are: First Prize: First prize is awarded to S.B. for An Electric Car for TEOTWAWKI? (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) published on June 3-4-5, 2021. He will receive the following prizes: 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 (a $1,095 value), A course …


CRKT Ripsnort, by Pat Cascio

I like knives, all kinds of knives, big or small, or everything in the middle…even “ugly” knives are a sight to behold if you ask me. However, I’m not sure where the CRKT Ripsnort comes into the play. To be sure, it is a big knife – well, mostly big…and some would say its an ugly knife – I’m not sure where this fits into my idea of ugly – maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I’ve been covering CRKT products since their second year in business, and one thing for certain is, they produce a wide variety of knives …


Recipe of the Week: Plain Soft Custard

The following recipe for Plain Soft Custard is from The New Butterick Cookbook, published in 1924, It is now in the public domain. A custard is a mixture of cooked egg and milk, flavored. Starchy material is sometimes used to replace part of the eggs. Custards are classified according to the method used in cooking them; those cooked over hot water and stirred throughout the cooking process are known as soft or stirred custards-erroneously, as boiled custards; those set in hot water and cooked in the oven (oven-poaching) are firm or baked custards. The firmness of a custard depends on …


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 investing in military surplus rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Silver Price Forecast: Back into the Teens? o  o  o Inflation climbs higher, but gold closes sharply lower. Economy & Finance: On Friday, the U.S. Senate advanced the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill with a 66-28 vote. JWR’s Comment: …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“’Runner’s World‘, like many magazines, has become a print chatroom for disenfranchised women, minorities, and men so feminized they are practically lactating. Every article portrays runners as victims of oppression, racism, and sexism thanks to white guys like me. You may be sporting $250 running shoes while sipping $10 lattes and talking on your $1000 smart phone all financed with student loans, but you are still a victim of evil capitalism. The woke movement infecting America is more dangerous than the CCP virus because rather than being aerosolized in respiratory secretions, it is spread by thought. Social justice authors could …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 1, 2021

August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291, which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2021, Switzerland has been free and independent for 730 years. Having a well-armed populace has assured that. Today is also the anniversary of the general uprising against the German occupation, in Warsaw, in 1944. Like the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto uprising in April of 1943, it was doomed to failure. The uprising was eventually crushed, with massive civilian casualties. There was no support provided by the Allies. The advancing Soviet Red Army–just a few …


Live Not by Lies – Part 2, by Born Free

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Please forgive me for quoting Solzhenitsyn extensively. But I have not found more clarity anywhere, which really means I haven’t done enough research to seek out other dissidents in history. This man did nothing more, as a Russian soldier, than correspond with a friend who happened to be a soldier for “the other side”. That was it. That was his great sin that landed him in a prison camp! His private correspondence (think e-mail, text, Internet posts) was nothing more than criticism of how “the state” was handling things – and the …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. …