Day: October 16, 2021

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 16, 2021

On October 16th, 1859 was the second day of abolitionist John Brown’s raid against the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. Although the raid failed, it inflamed sectional tensions and raised the stakes for the 1860 presidential election. Brown’s raid helped make any further accommodation between North and South nearly impossible and thus became an important impetus of the Civil War. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 97 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …


A Flashlight, A Book, and A Knife, by The Novice

I would like to pass along some nutty discoveries for your amusement and edification. A Flashlight The IKEA Ljusa hand crank flashlight looks like a gaudy pepper grinder. IKEA originally marketed it as a child’s toy. Why would a prepper be interested in something like this? The Ljusa is interesting because of the source of its power. The hand crank does not charge a traditional battery. It charges a capacitor instead. This characteristic gives the flashlight a virtually indefinite shelf life, since it has no batteries to degrade over time. I first became interested in the Ljusa a couple 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.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in this column, in …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah. I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn: Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the …