Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 20, 2021

On December 20th, 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. — I heard that Ready Made Resources (one of our most loyal advertisers ) is running a special on Photonis Echo Spec AN/PVS-14 Unfimed white phosphor night vision monocular/weapon sights. Get one at the sale price. — Don’t forget that Palmetto State Armory (PSA) will be ending their AR-15 Days of Christmas Sale soon. This is their biggest sale of the year, with some amazing prices on complete AR uppers, other AR build …




Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Plus 9mm, by Pat Cascio

Smith & Wesson has come out with yet another version of their popular Shield 9mm handgun. My first impression, when I read the press release, was a lack of enthusiasm. I thought to myself: “Just another variation.” So, I wasn’t all that fast to jump on this handgun, as I’ve already owned the original, the improved 2.0 version, and the Custom Shop version. Hands down, the S&W Custom Shop version was the absolute best out of the three models. Somehow, at some point, it got away from me. Then again, I’m a habitual gun trader because I don’t have the …




Recipe of the Week: Mel’s Mexican Casserole

Mel kindly sent us the following recipe: Mel’s Mexican Casserole. (Or some of his friends call it, Mexican Lasagna.) Mel describes the recipe: “My wife says it is one her favorite meals, I make when I have time to cook. She will ask for it every couple of weeks. I modify it back and forth and to taste and heat, and I have tried it with ground chicken; it is very adaptable. I also try to use low sodium products for my ingredients — your choice.”   Ingredients 1 lb Ground Beef or other meat 1 pkg of Taco Seasoning …




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 a potential crisis in Eurozone Credit Derivatives. (See the Derivatives section.) Precious Metals: ‘The Collapse Is Coming…Buy Physical Gold’ – Robert Kiyosaki o  o  o At MarketScreener: Gold price 2022: what analysts expect. Economy & Finance: At Zero Hedge: Fed Doubles Pace Of Taper, Now Expects Three Rate Hikes In …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 19, 2021

December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (born 1852, died May 9, 1931), who was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. I’m related to him, by marriage.  One of my great-aunts married his brother. – JWR — On Dec 19, 1776, Thomas Paine published “American Crisis”. Here is an excerpt: “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and …




Progress on My Farm – Part 2, by Animal House

My son put the greenhouse kit together after the spring rains ended. It was quite an effort but he did a good job and added extra reinforcement to withstand strong winds. That year we learned a lot more about starting seeds and transplanting them into the ground. As fall began, we got some portable propane heaters, which were connected to small propane tanks. Those worked well until we had a three-day ice storm when we couldn’t leave the farm to refill the propane tanks. After speaking with my son, I decided to order a sawmill at the end of the …




JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/1KNgh1L1TZ Meme Text: Joe Biden Has Ordered An FTC Investigation Into Oil Companies To Determine How They Inflated Gasoline Prices Just Like Jussie Smollet, Someone Needs To Send Joe Biden a Mirror, So He Can See The Perpetrator   News Link: Biden and Democrats resort to blaming business greed for inflation.




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the …




Preparedness Notes for Satuday — December 18, 2021

December 18th is the birthday of Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788). He wrote more than 1,700 hymns. Today is also the birthday of Jørgen Haagen Schmith (born December 18, 1910, died October 15, 1944). He was better known under the codename Citron and was a famous Danish resistance fighter in occupied Denmark. His biographical sketch at Wikipedia describes his death, after he was tracked down by the Nazis: “German soldiers arrived at the house to arrest or kill Schmith. He fought for hours against an overwhelming force of enemy troops killing 11 and wounded scores of …




Progress on My Farm – Part 1, by Animal House

The following is an overview of our farm progress at the end of 2021. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a widow and grandmother of retirement age. Eight years ago I bought a country property in the mid-south 300 miles from a large metropolitan area and two-hours away from a large city and one hour away from a small city with a hospital and medical specialists. The closest town has two gas stations, a pharmacy, a medical family practice, and two grocery stores, some fast food places, and a few other family-owned businesses. The property had …




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:

“And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother’s brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 17, 2021

December 17th, 1905, was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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 …