Year: 2021

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 Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 21, 2021

The last day! The Jeff Cooper’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company ends at 6PM, Eastern Time, tonight!  The sale began on May 10th (Cooper’s birthday.) This is the time to round out your collection of pre-1899 Federally-exempt guns!  I’ve reduced the prices on more than half of my pre-1899 gun inventory, and all of my replica percussion-fired revolvers. — May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a …


On Irish Democracy – Part 1, by Born Free

Ah yes, there’s a little Irish in me.  I had forgotten about my heritage until one of my offspring did a 23&Me genetic test and after looking at the test results asked “Who’s Irish?”  She is the only one in the family with tons of reddish blonde naturally curly hair paired with blue eyes. That question triggered memories, history, and I shared the information that would have been forgotten.  My father’s mother’s family hails from the hills of Tennessee, the Appalachians.  My father insisted that they were Scots-Irish and at one time he traced the American family tree back to …


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 prospects for the Swiss Franc. (See the Cryptos and Forex section.) Precious Metals: First up, for today: Gold surges to 4.5-month high on safe-haven demand. o  o  o John Rubino: Charts For A Crazy World: Inflation And Other Screw-ups Economy & Finance: Charles Hugh Smith: Inflation or Deflation? o  …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 20, 2021

May 20th, 1942 The birthday of Carlos Hathcock (died February 23, 1999.) He was a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. — Our Jeff Cooper’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company ends tomorrow!  The sale began on May 10th (Cooper’s birthday) and ends on May 21st, so order soon. This is the time to round out your collection of pre-1899 Federally-exempt guns!  I’ve reduced the prices on more than half of our pre-1899 gun inventory, and all of replica percussion-fired revolvers. — Happy birthday to my old pal, Brad C. SurvivalBlog …


Improving Heavy Clay Soil and Maximizing Potato Production, by Tunnel Rabbit

This video: How to Make Inexpensive Garden Container Mix: Organic Fertilizer, Lime, Peat Moss, Compost & Dirt shows us the proportions of the basic materials discussed that can be used to make an ideal soil, but it is only a starting point when working with clay.  Last year I was able to incorporate heavy clay as an unmeasured part, using similar methods demonstrated in the video.  The proportion used is unknown as it was my first attempt, and the goal was to produce as much usable soil with the least amount of manure. Ordinary topsoil was used in the video, …


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 increased risk of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and even X-Class solar flares during solar minimum periods. Newsweek Outs the SigRed Infrastructure First up, the integrity of a large multi-layer …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 19, 2021

On May 19, 1796, the first game law was approved in the United States. The law created penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian Territory. Modern American fish and game laws make “living off the land” nearly impossible, outside of Alaska. — Today we present a guest article from a blog reader that is too short to be included in the judging for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 94 of the contest ends in just 12 days (on May 31st), so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that …


My Recent Emigration to Israel, by Yorrie in Jerusalem

Some background: As a student during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and as a tourist, I’ve been in Israel for four years over the course of six decades. I made Aliya (migrated back to my ancestral homeland) a week ago. Aliya is the Hebrew word for “To go up.” I arrived just as missiles were fired towards Jerusalem. Israel’s two international airports subsequently closed (entirely or partially) due to incoming missiles and unpredictability of future missile attacks. As I’m writing this, I can hear sirens coming from the direction of the eastern part of the city. It has been that way for 60 out …


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. — Well, it is now official: The ATF has started the Comment Period for their proposed rulemaking that would greatly expand the definition of “firearm”. It is 115 pages of vague confusion that is NOT an act of congress. Rather, it is pure bureaucratic fiat. Please post a polite comment on these absurdly daft draft rules. If they become “law” …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I say that the Second Amendment doesn’t allow for exceptions – or else it would have read that the right “to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless Congress chooses otherwise.” And because there are no exceptions, I disagree with my fellow panelists who say the existing gun laws should be enforced. Those laws are unconstitutional [and] wrong – because they put you at a disadvantage to armed criminals, to whom the laws are no inconvenience.” – Harry Browne


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 18, 2021

May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel Baird Wesson (of Smith and Wesson fame). — On May 18th, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, causing a massive avalanche and killing 57 people. Ash from the volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota. Seismic activity at Mount St. Helens, which is 96 miles south of Seattle, began on March 16. A 4.2-magnitude tremor was recorded four days later and then, on March 23-24, there were 174 different recorded tremors. The first eruption occurred on March 27, when a 250-foot wide vent opened up on top of the mountain. …