Year: 2021

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 4, 2021

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On this day in 1789, George Washington became the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. This was repeated again on this same day in 1792. Because of the way the early American voting procedure worked, the electors cast two votes with no distinction for president or vice president. Washington was chosen by all of the electors and is considered to have been unanimously elected. Of the others on the ballots, Adams had the most votes and thus became the vice president. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 93 of …


Gear Review: Permanent Metal Match, by The Novice

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The ability to start a fire is foundational for survival. For quite a while now, my primary fire-starting method has been a ferrocerium rod igniting cotton balls dabbed with petroleum jelly. My secondary method has been waterproof matches. I have been searching for a durable and reliable tool/process to be my tertiary fire-starting method. I wrote a little about this search in an article published on SurvivalBlog on January 10, 2021. This article is an update about the next stage in that search process. For Christmas this year, my wife gave me a permanent metal match. These are also known …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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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 recent FBI shoutout in Florida. Two FBI Agents Die in Florida Shootout Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site is this odd news: Two FBI agents killed and three …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 3, 2021

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This is the birthday of writer James Michener (1907–1997), known for his very well-researched epic novels, such as Centennial. And this is also the birthday of painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978.) — 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 …


TEOTWAWKI Clothes-Washing System, by St. Funogas

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One thing we take for granted in this day and age is the ability to throw our clothes into a machine, forget about ‘em for an hour, then come back have them all nice and clean. When I was born, my military family was so poor my mother washed diapers for two babies in the bathtub. Not only was it hard on her knees but also on her petite hands as she wrung out all those diapers before hanging them on the line. The day my dad made third class he borrowed a crow (third-class insignia) and wore it home. …


Recommendations of the Week:

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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, in the United States and 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. Books: We recently became an affiliate of www.BooksAMillion.com (BAM). We’d …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 2, 2021

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February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905), died – March 6, 1982) She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While I sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), I admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 93 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at …


Writing Contest Winners Announced: Round 92

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We’ve completed the judging for Round 92 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prize-winning authors are: First Prize: First Prize is awarded to Steve A. for: Simple Heat Treating for a High Carbon Steel Knife Blade — posted in two parts on January 19th and 20th, 2021.  Links:  (Part 1)  (Part 2) He will receive: 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 …


Biden Our Time: Surviving Four Years of Leftist-Democrat Domination

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I’ll begin this essay with a headline over at the left-leaning Quartz news outlet: Biden has a $1.9 trillion economic recovery plan—and a path to achieve it. In some ways, Biden is a lot like Trump. He is willing to vastly expand the debt burden of future generations, in exchange for short-term benefit. Beware. This may just be the beginning of a lot more over-spending. Former Senator Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20, 2021. Alongside him was the new Vice President, former California Senator Kamala Harris. Comrade Harris has a far left-wing voting history in the Senate. It …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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, a news story about increasing eagle populations. (See the Wyoming section.) Idaho Idaho Senate Republicans introduce new resolution to cancel Gov. Little’s public health order. JWR’s Comments:  The Old Guard in Boise is trying to brand this as a “power grab”, but what is really …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Observe your cat. It is difficult to surprise him. Why? Naturally, his superior hearing is part of the answer, but not all of it. He moves well, using his senses fully. He is not preoccupied with irrelevancies. He’s not thinking about his job or his image or his income tax. He is putting first things first, principally his physical security. Do likewise.” – Col. Jeff Cooper


Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 1, 2021

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Today, we recognize the birthday of Christian economist Dr. Gary North. (Born, 1942.) North is a prolific writer on Christian Reconstruction and economics topics. We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. — Today we present another product review by our illustrious Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.


Mossberg MC2c, by Pat Cascio

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Believe it or not, Mossberg hasn’t made a handgun in about a hundred years. Of course, they are known for their shotguns and rifles, but not for their handguns. Some time ago, I did a review on their MC1sc 9mm handgun, and it is one sweet little shooter in 9mm. It comes with a flat bottom magazine that holds 6-rounds as well as an extended mag that holds 7-rounds, and I much preferred the extended mag for a better grip on the gun. Mossberg promised another 9mm was coming, and it was about a year before I saw the first …