Year: 2021


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 21, 2021

July 21st is the birthday of Ernest Hemingway. He was born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. He committed suicide in July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho, after being diagnosed with haemochromatosis, and after electroshock treatments failed to lift him from chronic alcoholic depression. He had a sad personal life but was a great writer. — As I’m sure most of you readers know, I sell antique guns, through Elk Creek Company — my home-based mailorder business. Per Federal law, these guns do not require an FFL, and are also exempt from paperwork under most state laws. But occasionally, I …


The Tao of Cordage – Part 2 , by J.M.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Paracord As I’ve mentioned several times, 550 paracord is the granddaddy of prepper cordage. Virtually every survival-related blog, forum, book and other information source has recommendations to include 550 paracord in your preps. 550 paracord was originally developed to use as lines on parachutes, so it’s strong and stretches a lot (up to 30%) to absorb the shock of the parachute deploying. From a survival perspective, it’s a kernmantle style, so you can extract the internal strands and use those for fishing line, sewing thread, etc. and still use the external sheath …


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. Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson wrote: “My passenger was using an iPhone (I call them “spiPhones”) to navigate this weekend. The phone’s navigation system said: ‘Turn right at the red car.’ It was gathering enough private information in real-time to know what color a car ahead of us was. If that doesn’t bother you, then you’re oblivious.” o  o  o …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 20, 2021

Today is the birthday of novelist Cormac McCarthy (born, 1933.) He is the author of the survivalist novel The Road, which later became a popular movie with the same title. On July 20th, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, spoke these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. Armstrong later recounted that he had meant to say:  “…step for …


The Tao of Cordage – Part 1 , by J.M.

If you ask anyone involved in preparedness ‘what are five things I should always include in my kit?’, the one item that is guaranteed to appear near the top in every list is ‘cordage’, or more specifically, parachute cord {“paracord”). The idea of including cordage as part of your survival preps and everyday carry kits makes a lot of sense, as it has dozens of uses in survival situations, including: Making a shelter Making a splint Make a sling Fishing line Restraining someone Making traps Attaching gear Making repairs Raising and lowering things Grip wrapping Climbing Bundling Pulling/towing These are …


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 the drought and worsening fire conditions in the American Redoubt states. Region-Wide The latest on fires burning across the Inland Northwest and more top stories on Krem 2 News at Noon. o  o  o Wildfires torch through 10 Western states. o  o  …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 19, 2021

July 19th is coincidentally the birthday of handgun designers Samuel Colt (pictured, born 1814) and Gaston Glock (born 1929). On July 19, 1799: The Rosetta Stone was found by a French soldier serving under Napoleon. — All of the orders for the recent batch of 250 SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks should be mailed out by July 23rd, 2021. Please wait until a few days after that to contact us, if your’s hasn’t arrived. Thanks for your patience. — Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.


Choosing (or Assembling) Your IFAK, by Pat Cascio

IFAK stands for Individual First Aid Kit. It has been a staple in the US Military for quite some time now. I’ve always had an interest in first-aid, to the point I became a Paramedic many years ago. I got tired of that job in short order, especially when you had to carry a person down a 3- or 4-storey walk-up. There is no better way to get a bad back than doing that several times per day. Still, I loved the medical aspects of the work. I then went to work for a doctor who I knew for many …


Recipe of the Week: Joe’s Large Batch Spaghetti Sauce

The following recipe for Large Batch Spaghetti Sauce is from SurvivalBlog reader Joe T. This recipe is for making a large quantity of sauce to store in the freezer for future use. You will need one large 4 gallon kettle or two 2 gallon kettles. Ingredients Italian sausage, 4 lb Hamburger, 4 lb 7, 24 oz Classico pasta sauce or 5 quarts homemade pasta sauce 4, 32 oz home-cooked stewed tomato 20 diced garlic cloves 4 tsp Oregano 4 tsp Cilantro 8 TBL diced Rosemary 4 TBL diced Thyme 4 TBL salt 4 diced onion 4 to 10 TBL sugar …


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 thin silver market. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Can Reddit’s silver ‘apes’ beat the market?  JWR’s Comments: In a market this thin, yes, the Reddit crowd could indeed trigger a large market rally and a lot of short covering!  What do I mean by “thin”?  A thin …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 18, 2021

July 18th, 1954 is the birthdate of Ricky Skaggs, an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 95 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 …