Year: 2021

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 7, 2021

On May 7, 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England. This was the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 94 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 one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 …


Review: Cambridge University Press KJV Large Print Bible, by The Novice

I have heard it said that preppers should stockpile beans, bullets, band-aids, and Bibles. Beans, bullets and band-aids are easy to understand: in a disaster, we may need something to eat, something to defend ourselves with, and something to provide for our own medical care. But why Bibles? In Mark 8:36, Jesus said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” The best stockpile of tools and supplies, even when well utilized in the most effective possible manner, cannot prevent someone from being eternally lost. In 2 Timothy 3:15, …


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 prospects for physical silver. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Arkansas Ends Sales Taxes On Gold and Silver; Additional States May Soon Follow o  o  o The silver price is breaking out and could drag a reluctant gold market with it – Saxo Bank. A brief excerpt: …




Reusing Can Canning Jar Lids, by St. Funogas

One of the entertaining but frustrating things about the internet is how much incorrect info is out there, and how often that same wrong information gets recycled on hundreds of web sites, often verbatim. So, let’s put one of them to rest once and for all: reusing canning lids. It would never cross your mind to do an internet search, “Do peaches taste better when they’re hard or after they soften up?” Obviously, it’s very simple to test it yourself by trying one of each and drawing your own conclusions instead of relying on the opinions of others. The same …


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 focus on a couple of news stories from Canada. China’s Social Credit Scoring in Canada First up is this, over at The Sunday Guardian: China’s social credit program creeps into Canada. (A …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 5, 2021

May 5th is the birthday of Adrian Carton de Wiart, known as Britain’s “Unstoppable Soldier.”  This eccentric Belgian-born soldier served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunneled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. This is also the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel (Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by …


Cash and Your Credit Score: Often Forgotten Preps, by Dave S.

In this article, I’m going to extol and often forgotten, but top-tier prep. I like to read a lot of self-reliant and prepping blogs and articles, as we all likely do. Toward the beginning of my self-reliant venture, these articles and blogs were critical in my education. I am in no way an expert in this field, but I am comfortable enough that a lot of this information for me now is review, and it is always good to review the basics. I love reading articles and blogs simply for the fact that there is usually more than one way …


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 S.L. in Idaho wrote to mention: “I have had great success with a coddling moth trap. Use a ½ gallon plastic milk container – on the side opposite the handle cut a “smile” on the upper corner edge to create an entrance for the moths. Mix 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup dark molasses, 1/8 tsp ammonia and 6 …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 4 2021

Release Day!  Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson has a new sci-fi anthology in his Freehold series that will be released today by Baen Books: Freehold Defiance. I’ve started reading my advance copy, and it is great! It should now be available from all major online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores. I’d of course prefer that you order your copies from Books-A-Million (BAM), so that we can starve the Amazon beast. — On May 4, 1415, reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. The death of Hus inspired the later Hussite revolution in Bohemia. …


Speed Up Your AR-15 Lower Builds, by R.F.

A Parts Organizer Helps You Several Ways I find it a bit of a challenge keeping all of the thirty-plus AR-15 lower receiver parts organized when building a lower. The lower parts kits (LPKs) arrive packaged in many different ways. It’s a treat to have them come nicely blister packed or tray packed if you’re lucky enough get it that way or were willing to pay extra. But it is far more typical to have them arrive in one or more plastic poly bags packed in a larger bag or even in a blister pack like the example shown, from …


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 railroad transport in the American Redoubt region: passenger, freight, and even scenic excursion trains. Idaho Construction continues in Idaho’s busiest track confluence: Second rail bridge at Sandpoint. o  o  o Lakeside Idaho City Is America’s Hottest Housing Market in New WSJ/Realtor.com Index …