Month: July 2022

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 13, 2022

On this day in 1787, Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance structuring settlement of the Northwest Territory and creating a policy for the addition of new states to the nation. The members of Congress knew that if their new confederation were to survive intact, it had to resolve the states’ competing claims to western territory. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 101 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, …


First Year of My “Self-Sufficient” Farm – Part 1, by SaraSue

Whewboy! What a year this has been. It feels like just yesterday that I got the keys. I can confidently say that I haven’t worked this hard since I had four babies, in quick succession, to care for. And even then, I don’t think I worked this hard. I did finally “crash and burn” recently and was sick as a dog for over two weeks and had to call for help just to keep animals alive. I think it’s interesting and helpful to take the time to review the year and make decisions about how things should go moving forward. …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — First up, there is this, over at Live Science: Never-before-seen microbes locked in glacier ice could spark a wave of new pandemics if released. o  o  o Just as I suspected: Disinfo Governance Board is Back: ‘White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse’. o  o  o John sent this comment: …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 12, 2022

On July 12, 1865, George Washington Carver, was born. He was a scientist whose numerous discoveries helped to improve agriculture in the South. He died on Jan. 5, 1943. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 101 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 …


Providing Pictorial Gear Manuals for Your Group, by R.H.

Introduction The generator sputtered one more time, the noise only slightly louder than the un-Christian commentary coming from my mouth. The quarterly test-run for my generator checkout was not going well. I have a Robin 11 HP generator that provides electrical backup for critical circuits in my house through a transfer switch and separate Circuit Breaker box. I can place the generator outside my garage, connect the cable from the generator to the junction box in the garage, start the generator, change the source isolation transfer switch in the basement circuit breaker box and start turning on the breakers to …


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 some more grizzly bear problems. (See the Idaho and Montana sections.) Idaho 44-year-old man drowns in Elmore County after trying to save dog. o  o  o Bear breaks into car near Schweitzer Mountain. o  o  o Grizzly bear attacks a pig north …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 11, 2022

July 11th is the birthday of John Quincy Adams. He was born in 1767 and died in 1848. Not to be confused with his father – John Adams – the younger Adams also served as a diplomat, congressman, and as president. — A new property listing at SurvivalRealty in Athol, Idaho: Homestead in North Idaho. — Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.


SIG M17 9mm Pistol, by Pat Cascio

Several years back, I reviewed several of the SIG-Sauer P320 handguns, and loved them all. To be sure, SIG -Sauer produces some of the finest handguns around. My one and only complaint is the price of magazines – seems to me that at times, SIG might be in the business of selling magazines as their main product, instead of firearms – they are expensive! Today we’re looking at the official full-size handgun of the US military forces. It is designated the M17. That replaced the Beretta M9, in service. SIG also produces the more compact M18. However, today we’re looking …


Recipe of the Week: Berries Du Jour Cobbler

The following Berries Du Jour Cobbler recipe is from reader D.R.. This recipe can be made with any sort of berries that are seasonally available — alone, or in combination: Ingredients 6 to 8 cups of berries (fresh, frozen, or rehydrated.) 2 Tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice 1/2 Cup plus 4 tablespoons of sugar, divided 3 Tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 Cups all-purpose baking flour 1 1/2 Teaspoons baking powder 6 Tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into slices 3/4 Cup of heavy whipping cream Directions Preheat your oven to 350 F. Combine your choice of berries and lemon juice in a medium bowl.  …


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 regulation, and its costs. Precious Metals: Zimbabwe to sell gold coins amid inflation. o  o  o Saudi Arabia Considers Joining ‘BRICS’ Coalition as They Mull Return to Gold Standard. o  o  o Gold is ‘undeservedly’ cheap relative to equities as inflation sticks around – Felder Report. o  o  o …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 10, 2022

July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just John Wyndham for his pen name.) He was born in 1903 and died March 11, 1969. Harris was a good friend of fellow novelist Samuel Youd (1922-2012), who wrote under several pen names, including John Christopher. Both men were famous for writing what are often called “cozy catastrophies”. Several of Wyndham’s novels and short stories have been adapted to film, with varying degrees of success. One of the best of these was a parallel …


The Bidenized Silver Market

In this brief essay, I will outline what has happened to the U.S, silver market, since the Bidenistas came to power: A Wacky World, a Wacky Ratio President Joe Biden and his co-conspirators in the U.S. Treasury and in the Federal Reserve banking cartel have embarked on a path of destruction for the U.S. Dollar. By extending artificially-low interest rates, they have propped up equities markets. But currency inflation is now on the march. The markets and general economy have entered a twilight zone of gross monetary and market manipulation and speculative excess. These excesses have also extended into the …