Month: August 2022

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 6, 2022

On 6 August 2011, a U.S. CH-47D Chinook military helicopter operating with the call sign Extortion 17 (spoken “one-seven”) was shot down while transporting an Immediate Reaction Force attempting to reinforce a Joint Special Operations Command unit of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the Tangi Valley in Maidan Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. The resulting crash killed all 38 people on board – 25 US Navy SEALs, one pilot and two crewmen of the United States Army Reserve, one pilot and one crewman of the United States Army National Guard, seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces, and …


Fire Preparedness and Firefighting – Part 2, by Always Learning

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) We did the usual pre-fire prep as soon as we heard the fire broke out, putting all the patio cushions in the house, closing drapes / blinds etc. We have lightweight patio furniture that we stacked up. For folks that cannot do that and do have a pool or stock tank, throw the patio furniture in there is our suggestion. We turned all the interior and exterior house lights on and unlocked all doors and disconnected the garage doors from the electric mechanism so every door could be opened easily. I am …


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:

“And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 5, 2022

On 5 August, 1923, Hinderikus (“Henk”) Lucas Visser was born in Groningen, Holland. A veteran of the Dutch resistance during World War II, he was later involved in the CETME rifle project, the HK G3 rifle program, and several of Eugene Stoner’s projects, most notably the Stoner 63A1. He also did weapons design and tooling development for Mauser and Oerlikon. He was an ardent gun collector, whose collection formed the core of what became the Rijksmuseum gun collection in The Netherlands. (Pictured.) August 5th is also the sad anniversary of the Mann Gulch Fire in Montana that took the lives …


Fire Preparedness and Firefighting – Part 1, by Always Learning

Our community was hit by a major wildfire a few years ago. The fire was purportedly started by utility power lines arcing during high winds in the late afternoon, at the same time as another fire started nearby. Firefighters had initially responded to the other fire, which delayed their response to this one. Firefighting was further hampered because our community’s water comes from a huge tank above it; this tank was drained dry during the first hours of the fire, so once that tank was empty, there was no more water available to the firefighters. Once the water was gone …


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, more about the looming threat of a magazine ban in the United States. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Is Silver A Better Investment Than Gold Right Now? o  o  o A video interview: Gold does well during inflation, recession: Is gold or real estate a better investment? – Jeff Clark. …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 4, 2022

On August 4th, 1944, 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family were captured by the Nazi Gestapo. The Franks had taken shelter in a small space in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse along with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man. They were aided by Christian friends who brought them food and supplies. Her diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the Nazi death camps. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 102 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes …


Food As Currency, by SwampFox

The following is intended as an intellectual exercise. Our nation has been the victim of the slide toward globalism over the last couple of decades. We still retain our independent Dollar, but for how long? The European Union has a unified currency that is a model for the rest of the world. There have been attempts at an Asian currency as well as a North American currency, which was briefly titled the “Amero” and even heralded by a short-lived government website, back around 2007-2008. But there is one thing that unites all humans – the need to eat. My thoughts …


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 the threat posed by the inevitable repeat of a Carrington Event scale solar storm. FEMA Report: 4 to 10 Years Without Electricity After Major Solar Storm FEMA Warning: 10 Years …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 3, 2022

On August 3rd, 1914, Germany and France both declared war on each other, formally beginning the First World War. — We have revised our rules for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Writers are now eligible to win any of the top three prizes once every six months. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 102 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. …


Keep Flashlights Running In All Situations – Part 2, by J. Smith

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Battery Alternatives When one acquires one or more of these flashlights, how do we keep them running if the batteries are not available at the local store or there is not power during a blackout to run a battery charger? Over time I have come to appreciate four types of batteries or cells to power my flashlights and buy them accordingly. AA lithium or rechargeable NIMH, CR123 primary cells, 18650 rechargeable lithium ion and cells or batteries that are built into the light and charge by USB or magnetically. These cells can …


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. — “Wolverines!” As evidenced by the photo topping this column, the Ukrainians are still putting up a spirited resistance to the invading Russian army. But sadly, both troop numbers and time are not on their side. We can assume that the Russians will maintain their resolve, even when continuing to take huge troop and …