Year: 2021

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 5, 2021

This is the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student: N.C. Wyeth. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 93 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 …


The Long Range Game – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit

Clearly, the proposed Federal “Universal Background Checks” legislation is going to make it a hassle, if not eventually ‘heck’ to privately acquire post-1898 guns. If they cannot outright remove the Second Amendment, they will create a maze of hurtles to harass us, making it difficult to legally own. In the event that it would be smarter to keep the ‘safe queens’ safe, safe from ‘color of law’ or opportunistic of styled confiscation, pre-1899 antique rifles and handguns might be a part of the arsenal. These are not considered “firearms” by the BATF, and require no paperwork, and can even shipped …


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 looming threat of a Federal Universal Background Checks law. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: The bond worm has turned: Sharp price declines in gold, silver amid firmer USDX, rising bond yields o  o  o Sprott: Historic Washout in Bond Market Clearly Impacts Precious Metals Economy & Finance: …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 4, 2021

On March 4, 1628, King Charles I of England granted a royal charter to Massachusetts Bay Colony. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 93 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 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for …


Gear Review: A Recoil Pad and Some Earplugs, by The Novice

In the past, I have written a little about my father’s .30-06. It is a well used Remington 742, manufactured before 1967. It has been my primary deer rifle for many years. If I remember right, Patrick F. McManus once wrote about previously-hiked-trails becoming gradually longer and steeper, packs becoming heavier, the ground becoming harder to sleep on, and autumn evenings becoming colder. I believe that he attributed these changes to the earth shifting on its axis. Or perhaps they are due to global warming, or even COVID-19. As Mr. McManus mentioned in his story, there is at least one …


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 confiscatory expansions to Canada’s black rifle ban. To Arms! Three Universal Background Check Bills The good folks at The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) just warned: “The tyrants just unloaded THREE …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 3, 2021

Today is the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell. It is also the birthday of actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005. And this is the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. (He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012.) His guitar work was phenomenal. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 93 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists …


Con Te Partiro: Closing Our Comments Section

It is with regret that we’ve decided to close our Comments sections.  It is Con Te Partiro. The existing comments will still be available in the SurvivalBlog archives, but no new comments can be added. We reached this decision after some prayer and serious deliberation. We concluded that because the spamming and trolling were getting out of hand that the Comments had become a “No-Win Scenario.” It had become a huge time sink and the source of a lot of anxiety. It was very difficult to maintain editorial neutrality, particularly on controversial topics. So, in the absence of Comments, we …


Understanding the Liberal Thought Process, by Edward

Disclaimer: I’m not a psychologist, just a guy with an interest in human motivations. This essay gives my opinions based on observations and amateur research. Your experiences will differ, and you may disagree. To begin, two terms require definition for purposes of this essay. • Virtue is defined herein as a liberal’s moral belief held with such certainty that pressuring society toward greater Virtue justifies any means. The term “Virtue” here is very different from what most consider virtuous. Rather, this type of Virtue represents the epitome of the phrase, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” • …


Recommendations of the Week:

Here are our Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers.  Many of these come from our readers. We try to emphasize small companies that make hand-crafted goods, here in the United States and in Canada. In January, 2021 we quit the Amazon Associates program because of Amazon’s censorship. So we are no longer placing any new links to products via Amazon.com. Please shop with our paid (banner) advertisers first. If they don’t have what you need, then take a look at SurvivalBlog’s many Affiliate Advertisers. This week the focus is on the store …