Year: 2021

The Here and Now, by Mark M.

Like many of you, I’ve read many articles on what to do when the SHTF or TEOTWAWKI. With the fear being put out by the media and politicians regarding Covid, many people who had never heard of prepping, survivalists, or even the acronym SHTF, are now getting quickly up to date. For all the articles out there, once you sort the wheat from the chaff, there are usually some great pieces of advice regarding what to do when the SHTF, what to include in prepping, building a bugout plan, etc. But, what about the here and now? The time before …


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 surging inflation figures. (See the Inflation Watch section.) Precious Metals: Silver jumped 4.4% yesterday, to $22.59 per Troy ounce. Gold was up 1.86% to $1807.60 per Troy ounce. This makes the silver-to-gold price ratio now back to near 80-to-1.  So this is a good time to ratio trade out …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 16, 2021

December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug use and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures. — 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: …


Hands-On Self-Sufficient Living in Florida, by Bonnie R.

Introduction I have lived in Southwest Florida for my entire life. My dad is a Florida-raised, University of Florida graduate. My mother spent half her childhood in Indiana and the other half in Naples, Florida. Before my siblings and I were born, my parents started a semi-successful beekeeping business that has been going strong for thirty years. Now, I say “semi-successful” because when you’re running a beekeeping business you rely mostly on nature; and nature is something that is depleting with every passing year. However, they built this business well enough that they were able to homeschool and raise seven …


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, more conjecture on a nascent 21st Century U.S. civil war. Tim Pool Talks Civil War Some food for thought from pundit Tim Pool: NYT Article Warns Civil War Is Close As Media Claims …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 15, 2021

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia. We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud. — The 15th of December, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In …


Can You Survive Without Meat When The SHTF?, by Ken Gallender

I’d like to start this article with saying that I am not a tree hugger. I love meat, eggs, cheese and fish. I’m not trying to convince anyone to quit hunting and fishing. I have been an outdoorsman my entire life. I drive and use 4×4 trucks and ATVs every week. I just want to impart what has profoundly changed my life. I have given a lot of thought to how we would survive and provide the protein requirements for my family if suddenly we were faced with the prospect of having no supermarket or source of meat and dairy …


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. — Dozens of tornados touched down in five states including Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. These did tremendous damage and may have claimed more than 100 lives–mostly in Kentucky. Please keep the survivors in your prayers.  Here are some trustworthy places to make donations: Samaritan’s Purse and, Kentucky Southern Baptist Convention. o  o  o A …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“…The Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn’t say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a ‘compelling interest’ in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances.” – Harry Browne


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 14, 2021

Today is the birthday of Air Force General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, who died September 27, 1993. December 14th is also the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013). Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name – Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg. — The last day!  By popular demand, I extended the month-long Patton’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company. It will now end tonight. Get your order in by 1700 hrs, Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 14th.  With our unique …


The Handyman’s Tool Pouch, by John M.

Over the decades, I became a seasoned (older) person having built, renovated a few homes, rebuilt a score of autos, maintained survival retreats, watercraft, motorcycles, and so forth. These all at some point require specific tools, be it just a screwdriver, or a Crescent wrench. Chances are, working at a building site, or other situation you will have most tools that you need, but there is that unplanned event that requires a special tool. When I was younger, my goal was to have tools, lots of tools, and soon discovered the need for storage and a large tool chest on …


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 wolf trapping in Idaho. (See the Idaho section.) Region-Wide From Montana’s Billings Gazette newspaper: For sale: God, guns and separatism in the American Redoubt. This has typical 21st Century liberal journalistic bias, but at least they reported the details correctly. For the …