Month: November 2021

Establishing a Community Corner, by Mark C.

Introduction In this essay, I’m recommending a concept. I hope to see some feedback in the blog’s Snippets column, in the next couple of weeks. In a nutshell, I’m suggesting establishing small town Community Cornera — Community-Minded Meeting Places and Event Centers. DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and seek legal advice for all businesses before pursuing anything spelled out below. As a Redoubter, I am relocating to a small town with little more than a few restaurants, a gas station, and a coffee shop.  I noticed a small prime location corner suite available for lease. My mind has gone …


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 America’s new physical tungsten investors. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: The result of the November 2-3 Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting may be a genuine move toward tapering their bond purchases. (Versus their incessant jawboning, to date.) This could push up interest rates and hence …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 4, 2021

On this day in 1979, student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini sent shock waves across America when they stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The radical Islamic fundamentalists took 90 hostages. The students were enraged that the deposed Shah had been allowed to enter the U.S. to seek medical attention. Just a few days later, the provincial leader of Iran resigned and the Ayatollah Khomeini took full control of the country. Two weeks later, all non-U.S personnel, as well as female and minority Americans, began to be released. The remaining 52 hostages were held for 14 months until the election …


Hardening Your Stick-Built Home, by Jeff G.

Imagine the world is full of looters, in the end of times as we know it, it will be. When grid power goes down everyone else food from the urban and suburban areas find food. You are prepared aren’t you? You have done everything right. You have food stored for you and your family, you have guns, ammo, seeds, batteries, etc. The closer you are to an urban area the sooner it will happen. Even if you are in a remote area west of the Missouri River they will probably find you. No matter how many safeguards you have in …


Covid Authoritarians Are The Cause Of America’s Problems, Not The Unvaccinated, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note:  Because I’m back on the road, I’m posting this article in place of my usual Odds ‘n Sods column. This article was authored by Brandon Smith, the Editor of Alt-Matket.us. It is re-posted with permission. I recommend bookmarking his site, and checking it often. – JWR — It’s an odd dynamic – One would think that if the covid vaccines were a generally benevolent program that actually “followed the science” then there would be no need to pile drive the public with an endless barrage of vax propaganda. After all, if science and morality are on the …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 3, 2021

November 3, 1903 was the birthday of Walker Evans, the American photographer best known for his portrayal of America during the Great Depression. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 97 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 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 …


Serious Silver Stacking – Part 2, by East Sierra Sage

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) On the federal Holiday in the first week of this October, I was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in my truck getting “totaled” by my Insurer. My truck was 13 years old, I bought it brand new for an unbelievably great price. I had put 229,959 miles on it. In fact, I was taking it to the 330,000 mile oil change when the wreck occurred. My insurer gave me just $9,000 for that total loss I was pleasantly surprised by this sum. I am going to replace this truck with …


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. Tonya sent this instructional video link: Building a Smokeless Burn Barrel. o  o  o Mike in Alaska pointed me to this fascinating read: Exclusive Front-Line Report: Modern Trench Warfare in Eastern Ukraine. o  o  o ‘Doesn’t happen every day’: Bear climbs tree, bites Wisconsin deer hunter in the back. Reader Tom R. sent this: “To your comment about HF signals being …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 2, 2021

On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a declaration of intent to establish a Jewish homeland, known as the Balfour Declaration. While Arab hostilities and the outbreak of World War II delayed the desired outcome, the Nation of Israel was eventually re-established in 1948. The pen & ink of Jerusalem circa 1839 was drawn by the late Barbara M. Rawles. — Because I’m back on the road, I didn’t have the time to assemble a News From The American Redoubt column for today. My apologies. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round …


Serious Silver Stacking – Part 1, by East Sierra Sage

How I learned to save my money and make it grow without the oversight of a Bank, Credit Union, or other Financial Institutions. And how to insulate yourself from inflation, domestic financial stagnation, and an eventual economic depression or financial and equities collapse! I never looked at money from a long-term perspective until the end of my military career when I realized that I should have done better with saving my money for when I was older. I can say that I put three kids through college and helped them out whenever they needed it, but as for my wife …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 1, 2021

November 1st, 1923, is the birthday of science fiction writer Gordon R. Dickson (pictured at a sci-fi convention.)  He was born in 1923, died January 31, 2001.) Many of his novels and short stories, such as Wolf and Iron, have survivalist themes. — November 1st is also the birthday of economist Martin A. Armstrong. For many years he was a prisoner of conscience, in part because he refused to turn over his proprietary trading algorithms to Federal prosecutors. After seven years in prison without a trial, the longest Federal incarceration for contempt in American history, Armstrong was finally put on …