Month: January 2022

Recipe of the Week: Layered Taco Dip

The following recipe for Layered Taco Dip variants is from reader S.A. S.A.’s Introduction: We know the phrase “Beans, Bandaids, and Bullets.” While I love beans, in fact, almost any bean except for kidney beans, and can eat them everyday, some people can’t or don’t want to.  A nice alternative to a bowl of beans is Layered Taco Dip. This easy recipe has many, many variations, and is well-loved in Texas and perhaps other places, as well. It can be served as an appetizer, main dish (if you include plenty of protein), or a side dish. I prefer Frito Lay …


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 strong U.S. Mint gold sales. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: U.S. Mint sees strongest gold coin sales in 12 years, sells 1.25 million ounces in 2021. o  o o What To Expect In 2022 From The Precious Metals Sector. Economy & Finance: Ford Posts 7 Percent Fall in …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 9, 2022

January 9, 1943 was the birthday of gunsmith Paris Theodore, developer of the ASP modifications to the S&W M39 pistol. January 9, 1890 birthday of Karel Capek, a Czech writer who wrote the play “R.U.R.” and coined the word “robot”. On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. — Today we present a guest article by author Joe Dolio.


You Need to Train, by Joe Dolio

I think that the biggest gap and blind spot that we have in preparedness circles is training. A quick look at social media will confirm this. You’ll find discussions and photos of all the latest whiz-bang gadgetry we buy, photos of our food stockpiles, photos of guns and ammo, but not a lot of discussion on the training we do. Now, I‘m not really a fan of discussing anything on social media, which I’ll get into in a second, but most people narrative their lives on it, and the lack of discussion is proof that training isn’t happening for most. …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/C0S0j_wvAZ Meme Text: Alaska: 26″ Snow, Then 2″ Ice, Then Another 8″ Snow: “A Fair Bit of Snow, So Far, This Winter” New York City: 8″ Snow: “This is Snowmageddon” News Links:  Capitol region’s 1st major snowstorm of winter closes schools, halts flights, public transportation. Atlanta ‘snowpocalypse’ mocked after 2 inches of snow strands thousands. After spending hours trapped, drivers prepare to sleep in cars on I-95.


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 8, 2022

January 8, 1783: Connecticut became the first state to pass a copyright statute. It was entitled “Act for the Encouragement of Literature and Genius” and was enacted with the help of Dr. Noah Webster. On this day, in 1835, the U.S. National Debt reached zero for the first and only time. — Good news!  The waterproof/EMP-resistant 2005–2021 SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick is now orderable.  Deliveries will begin in mid-February.  It has even more bonus content than last year’s. In fact, this stick is so packed that the contents just barely fit on a 16 Gigabyte stick.  These sticks sell out …


Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 3, by J.B.H.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Despite the unclear science, there are several other things that I think one can do of practical value in this environment. This is very important, since, as previously noted, coronavirus may have always been a bigger issue than the flu that everyone has been talking about for decades. And it may continue to be a bigger issue. First, stay flexible and keep a close eye on the vaccine situation. Watch the current vaccines. Look for new vaccines. Collect what data you can including data from personal friends on their safety and effectiveness. …


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:

“I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 7, 2022

January 7th, 1963, was the birthday of Senator Rand Paul. Happy 59th birthday, Rand! And also the birthday of Cresson Kearny (born 1914, died December 18, 2003.) This is also the birthday of Bent Faurschou-Hviid, known as The Flame (born 1921, died October 18, 1944). The Flame was a red-haired Danish resistance fighter in the Holger Danske Group during World War II. His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron. — 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: The photovoltaic …


Actionable Information on COVID 19 – Part 2, by J.B.H.

(Continued from Part 1.) The Viral Distribution of Influenza-Like Illnesses This subject has received little attention in the press that I have seen. I started thinking about this in response to various comments and memes talking about the lack of influenza cases in the last year. Many noted that in most years you have 10s of millions of flu cases estimated/recorded but this past year nearly none. Many viewed this as evidence that the COVID pandemic was nonsense, and perhaps they are right. However I went in different direction in my mind that I saw no one else going. What …


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 King Dollar. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.) Precious Metals: Yesterday (Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022) morning, spot silver was down 4.66%, gold was down 1.08%, and platinum was down 2.75%.  Dips like these are good buying opportunities. o  o  o U.S. Mint sees strongest gold coin …