Year: 2021


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 26, 2021

August 26, 526, is the official anniversary of the invention of toilet paper by the Chinese. We celebrate this, though not because of its convenience. In fact, it has many shortcomings, some which are described within the articles and letters of SurvivalBlog. Our celebration of it is primarily because we now have an official metric of just how hard core of a prepper you are as well as a metric for just how economically unstable your country is. — August 26, 1946 was the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” — Today we present a guest article by Jack …


Review of Joe Dolio’s Tactical Wisdom, by Jack Lawson

Editor’s Introductory Note: This review was authored by Jack Lawson, author of the two-volume The Civil Defense Manual. Rarely does a book or series of books catch my attention like the Tactical Wisdom series. It could have been authored by my alter ego. The author, Joe Dolio, has created what I consider a must-read companion to my  Civil Defense Manual. His book “Tactical Wisdom TW-01 Baseline Training Manual” has almost every procedure in it that my book has… presented in a concise and superb manner. He also has a great writing style. The man clearly must be a genius, if …


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 the flooding in Middle Tennessee. ‘Preppers’ Quietly Stock Up for the ‘Perfect Storm’ Over at The Epoch Times: ‘Preppers’ Quietly Stock Up for the ‘Perfect Storm’. People Crushed to Death Outside …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 25, 2021

August 25th is a birthday shared by humorist Bret Harte (pictured, born 1836), novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938), and the late American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933). Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others. McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …


A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) BUILDING THE BOX Again, if money isn’t a big concern, I’d recommend using a full sheet of plywood and corrugated polycarbonate greenhouse panels. This will not only give you a larger water heater, but be lighter and easier to move as well. I constructed a double-coiled version using a free recycled, double-paned sliding patio door which, on sunny days, supplies more hot water than I can use. The construction method will be the same regardless of which size you choose to make. For the full-sheet-of-plywood version, use two treated 2 x 4 …


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. — We’ll start out with some troubling news: DHS Secret Terror Watchlist With Nearly 2 MILLION People On It Exposed Online With NO PASSWORD. o  o  o H.L. spotted this news: Black vultures are eating cows alive. Now some farmers can legally shoot the protected birds. o  o  o Tim J. suggested this, over at American Partisan: Ivermectin Treatment Protocols. …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 24, 2021

On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the known world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. This could conceivably be the beginning of the dark middle ages. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …


A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 1, by St. Funogas

If you had to list ten things that would be most missed in a post-TEOTWAWKI world, opening a tap and having free-flowing hot water whenever you want it would have to be near the top of the list for a lot of us. In this article I’ll present an inexpensive solar water heater (SWH) which has gotta be the most efficient for the cost. I use this on my homestead almost six months of the year and in a non-freeze situation such as a greenhouse, this could be used year-round. Even with minimal skills and hand tools, you can build …


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 Yellowstone’s busiest month ever. (See the Wyoming section.) Idaho Totely Fire burning near Plummer burning 650 acres, 15% contained. [JWR’s Comment: This is the same fire that Patrice Lewis described in her blog. And, as I mentioned on Thursday, Patrice has established …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 23, 2021

August 23rd is the anniversary of the declaration of the independent state of “Franklin” in Eastern Tennessee by the settlers there in 1784. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress rejected it, so the state of Franklin never became a reality. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 96 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 …


Ruger 9mm MAX-9 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

The folks at Ruger don’t introduce a lot of new firearms each year, but when they do release a new model, it is almost always a winner. And as usual with Ruger firearms, they are almost always in demand by the gun-buying public. I think a lot of people were caught off-guard with the release of the new Ruger Max-9, 9mm pistol. But we shouldn’t have been. The trend for the few years has been sub-compact or micro-sized 9mm pistols, especially designed for concealed carry with two-column magazines–providing a lot of ammo. Anyone who knows Ruger handguns  knows that when …