Year: 2022

Consider Health Sharing Programs, by Harvey Griffin

Regular visitors to SurvivalBlog no doubt share the desire for greater independence and are assisted by the virtues of frugality and common sense. Like many of you, I search for alternative products and services that fit my budget, lifestyle, and values. One line item that proved difficult to match my requirements but was a necessary evil for years was health insurance. I have a family with young children and as much as I admire pioneers and the old ways of doing things, I could not responsibly choose to forgo coverage altogether. Thankfully about six years ago I researched Christian health …


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. — In a shooting range video, attempting to recreate the 80% hit accuracy at 15 to 20 yards in 15 seconds of the Indiana Impromptu Mall Defender: The Eli Drill. (Elijah Dickens is pictured above.) I’ve read that he was armed with a compact Springfield Hellcat 9mm pistol. He demonstrated commendable speed and accuracy, …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I regard free speech as a prerequisite to a civilized society, because freedom of speech means that you can have combat with words. That’s what it means. It doesn’t mean that people can happily and gently exchange opinions. It means that we can engage in combat with words, in the battleground of ideas. And the reason that that’s acceptable, and why it’s acceptable that people’s feelings get hurt during that combat, is that the combat of ideas is far preferable to actual combat” – Jordan Peterson, Maps of Meaning, 2017


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 26, 2022

On July 26th, 1931, a swarm of grasshoppers descended on crops throughout the American heartland, devastating millions of acres. Already in the midst of a bad drought, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota suffered tremendously. The swarms were said to be so thick that they blocked out the sun and one could shovel the grasshoppers with a scoop. While America has not seen infestations on such a scale since then, North Africa and parts of the Middle East continue to experience them. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …


Lessons Learned: A Burst Pipe, by Kim F.

Thursday afternoon, I realized the full significance of the noise I heard running through my pipes. It wasn’t a dripping faucet somewhere, there was a leak under my slab. I live in hurricane country. I’ve had an abundance of experience with the aftermath of these storms in my more than half a century of life. You could say I’ve been prepping since I was 8 years old. In all that time, I’ve never lost water. Power, yes. Hot water, yes. I’ve never even experienced a “boil water” alert, except when I was volunteering for disaster relief in other communities. But …


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 cover a spate of Buffalo gorings, at Yellowstone park. (See the Wyoming section.) Idaho Two pilots die after firefighting helicopter crashes into Salmon River. and, Gov. Little orders flags to fly at half-staff for two fallen firefighters. and, Moose Fire near Salmon now burning …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 25, 2022

On this day in 1797 Horatio Nelson lost more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt on Tenerife (Spain). — An update on the Indiana mall shooting: Police: Armed bystander shot and killed Greenwood Park Mall shooter in just 15 seconds. JWR’s Comment: That young man, under stress, hit the bad guy 8 times out of 10, at a distance of 40 yards. I doubt that most of the “qualified” police officers could do what Elisjsha Dicken did. Great shooting! I predict two things:  1.) Elisjsha Dicken will be the recipient of numerous guns given …


Extra Capacity Pistol Magazines, by Pat Cascio

As we all know, not only the FedGov, but many state governments are attempting to limit magazine capacities to no more than 10 rounds. And even my state of Oregon will probably get it done this year, since we have a Democrat-controlled house, senate, and governor’s seat. That has already happened in neighboring Washington. So, I keep telling everyone who will listen, to get more magazines – NOW! Some folks say: “Oh, I have five spare magazines for my gun…” Sorry, that’s not going to be enough! At the Federal level, H.R. 1808 — which includes a ban on any …


Recipe of the Week: Rick’s Peanut Brittle

The following Peanut Brittle recipe is from SurvivalBlog reader Rick in Germany. Rick says: “I’ve made this twice and I will never buy this in the store ever again.” Ingredients 2 cups of sugar 1 cup of corn syrup (I use rice syrup to avoid GMOs). 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. 1 cup of water. 1 teaspoon of baking soda. 1 teaspoon of salt. 1 tablespoon of butter. 2 cups of roasted peanuts.  I use salted roasted peanuts Required Gear A large sauce pan. Cookie sheet measuring at least 9”x13”, with a lip on all four sides.  You’ll want one …


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 rising interest rates. Precious Metals: Video interview: The Fed will ‘abandon’ tightening, causing gold to soar higher – Rich Checkan. o  o  o Goldcore: When Rock Begins to Beat Paper. Economy & Finance: Europe’s central bank backs larger-than-expected rate hike. JWR’s Comments: I can foresee that the European Union …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 24, 2022

A decade has passed, so quickly… The late Jerry Ahern passed away on this day, July 24th, in 2012. His survivalist novels created an entire genre. — 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 three-day course (a …


Zone 3 Vegetable Gardening, by HollyBerry

My husband and I have been residing in the north woods of Maine for 17 years now. The USDA map shows that we are Zone 3b but we are situated in a low pocket that is Zone 3. Keeping a gardening/homesteading journal is the best advice I can give. You might think you will remember what types of plants did well last year and when that 1st frost was but in reality…. Gardening is very humbling. One sneaky frost or good hail storm can destroy weeks or months of hard work. Never take the weather for granted. Keep track of …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: To share this, you can find it here: https://www.kapwing.com/videos/62d99e20194b9d008fa5325c Meme Text: Up Until August 24th, We’ll Still Be 80% Free After That, Ol’ Creepy-Sniffy Joe Wants Us To Be 0% Free So, I’m Stocking Up On Plenty of Freedom News Link: https://www.80-lower.com/80-lower-blog/80lowercom-statement-regarding-atf-rule-2021r05f-definition-of-frame-or-receiver-and-identification-of-firearms/