Month: November 2021

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Even in …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 19, 2021

On this day in 1863, U.S. President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, at the dedication service for the National Cemetery in Pennsylvania. — Less than two weeks left!  Get your entries in for Round 97 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.


The Curse of The Cult of Kanban

In 2007, I began warning SurvivalBlog readers about global over-reliance on Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management. This system — also called lean inventory management or kanban — was first developed by Toyota in Japan, in the 1950s. There, with largely internal chains of supply that were all clustered around the major cities on Japan’s largest island, Honshu, the kanban system worked with wonderful efficiency. Kanban soon branched out to the other three primary islands: Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Manufacturers were able to cut costs by keeping their parts inventory small, and placing frequent orders to their supplying wholesalers and component parts …


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 the strengthening U.S. Dollar. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.) Precious Metals: Gold gains as inflation worries offset strong dollar. o  o  o Gold Is Back in Vogue With Bulls Loving Faster Inflation Again. Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo article: “While bullion is often bought as a …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“These observations bring out the fact that, whenever liberty is regarded merely as the power to do something which it is desired to do, the tyrant need only base himself on the desires of the masses to suppress the liberties cherished by a few. But can anyone fail to see that the very concrete problem here posed is the problem of the sation of satisfactions, and not the problem of liberty at all? How, then, has it come about that we have drifted away from what we were discussing? This is the very definition of liberty which we allowed as …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 18, 2021

On this day in 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones led hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. This incredibly tragic occurrence introduced the term “…drink the Kool-Aid” into our parlance, since poison-laced punch was the vehicle behind most of the deaths. This serves as a stark warning and reminder to anyone who would join with like-minded friends under the leadership of a charismatic leader. Always know who you are following! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 97 of …


Food Shortages – The Hype and The Reality – Part 2, by SaraSue

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) In Part I, we discussed a bit about where the real food shortages are and some solutions. The primary advice was: buy in bulk if possible, buy single ingredient whole foods, identify alternative food sources, cook from scratch, grow your own, and avoid processed foods wherever possible. It’s pretty straightforward stuff, right? Then why is the “prepping community” “stacking it to the rafters” if there’s plenty of food? What’s going on underneath the surface? What’s not so obvious, generally? Why are people, seemingly, panicking about access to food? Conspiracy Theories Let’s get …


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 wars and rumors of wars. Would America Survive a Second Civil War? Some serious food for thought and grounds for further research:  Would America survive a civil war? Here is an …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 17, 2021

On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. They differed from the Constitution in that they emphasized the primacy of the states. This brings to mind the dangers of convening a new Constitutional Convention, because the last time this happened the Articles of Confederation were thrown out and totally replaced by the Constitution. Do you honestly believe that our politicians today could craft a document that so thoroughly protects the rights of the individual as they did then?  Beware the risks of a “runaway convention”! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present …


Food Shortages – The Hype and The Reality – Part 1, by SaraSue

If you watch YouTube videos, alternative media, and even mainstream media, there is a tremendous amount of hype about food shortages. A common phrase among Preppers is “stack it to the rafters”. I can imagine the amount of stress this puts on families who don’t have a lot of extra cash. I was there once, so I have deep compassion for those worried about food security, not to mention gasoline and heating cost concerns — the basics. I’ll give a few tips to address that in this article. But first, are there really food shortages in the United States of …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, 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. Avalanche Lily insisted that I post this: Colorado’s Democrat Governor Signs Executive Order To Turn Away UNVACCINATED From Hospitals. o  o  o I heard from the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) that the Preventing Gun Violence Through Financial Intelligence Act (House Bill 5764/Senate Bill 3117) was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate. It “aims to would …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 16, 2021

November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. My novel Survivors …


Antibiotic Synergism: More Bang for Your Bug, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Introductory Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this is not professional medical advice for treating any medical condition. Improperly using antibiotics – too much or too little – could lead to illness, injury or death. Do the research and draw your own conclusions – the information in this article will help you get started. Don’t resort to using privately purchased antibiotics as long as professional medical care is available. — WHAT IS SYNERGY? Synergy is “the interaction or cooperation of two or more …substances… to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.” Why you …