Year: 2022

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 looming threat of full-capacity magazine bans. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Emerging market central banks represent new demand for gold as they de-dollarize – Société Générale. o  o  o The Month Of June: A Gold Price Swoon. Economy & Finance: Global leaders warn of economic dangers …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.” – Alexander Hamilton


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — June 2, 2022

On June 2, 1774, Parliament renewed the Quartering Act, allowing British military to stay in private homes if necessary, completing the Coercive Acts. The Quartering Act, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Boston Port Act, were known as the Coercive Acts. These Acts were Parliament’s way of asserting their control over the colonists after the Boston Tea Party and were one of the main motivations for the 3rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. But …


Writing Contest Prizes Announced — Round 100

We’ve completed the judging for Round 100 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Yes, we’ve now been running this contest in successive two-month long rounds since October, 2005. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 began yesterday. The Round 100 prize winners are… First Prize Winner: First prize goes to Steve A. for Lathe-Cutting Screw Threads – Part 1 and Part 2 which was posted on May 3 &4, 2022. He will receive: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on …


Has Healthcare Collapsed in the United States?, by SaraSue

First, let me say that these are my observations based on my experience the past two years. When the “pandemic” hit, the people I knew in the Healthcare industry seemed to overreact to the perceived threat. Some of those people were doctors and nurses. Most had no desire to see an alternative point of view and stuck to the “party line” of wherever they worked. They were adamant and strident in their points of view and communication. There was an air of superiority and certainly a total lack of recognizing that the patient was a customer – someone whose stated …


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 mass media’s biased view of survivalism. Inside a Prepper Convention Over at U.S. News & World Reports, an AP piece written by Christopher Sparta of The Tampa Bay Times: …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — June 1, 2022

On June 1st, 1942, seven months after the extermination of prisoners began, the Warsaw underground newspaper The Liberty Brigade, made the public announcement of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland. The story came from a young man, Emanuel Ringelblum, who had escaped the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as they were thrown out of the gas vans. The West then knew the horrific truth about the slaughter of Jews. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the first entry for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction …


Prepping with Healing Herbs, by Bonnie Blue

I was fortunate enough to be largely raised by my grandmother, who was a Great Depression-era bride. Even before Victory Gardens came along, her generation knew you had to take care of your family’s food needs and be self-sustaining. She was a strong farm and ranch wife, with the tenderness to let my little hands help her from as far back as I can remember. It would have been much easier for her to do it herself, but she knew it was important information to pass on. Those early lessons were largely centered around gardening and canning the fruits of …


May 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in May? May was an extremely volatile month for most assets, and gold was no exception. Inflation fears and Fed reactions (or inaction) to fighting it dominated market sentiment, with investors fleeing stocks and bonds, but moving to cash instead of gold. Gold started the month by crashing by $48 to $1,863 an ounce. It would see five more extreme daily losses …


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. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — Reader H.L. sent us this: N.J. shuts Appalachian Trail shelter after bear slashes tent. This article begins: “A black bear tried to claw its way into a tent in Stokes State Forest on Wednesday night, which prompted the park service to announce that it was closing the Brink Road shelter to hikers. Brink Road, a …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 31, 2022

May 31, 1930 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood. On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. The avalanche moved downhill at a speed estimated at 175 to 210 mph. with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic meters of ice, mud, and rock. The avalanche traveled nearly 11 miles, burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca in up to 300 feet of rock and debris. It is estimated that this earthquake and avalanche killed more than 67,000 Peruvians. It is the deadliest …


Nootropics and Mushrooms for Survival, by Robert R.

I’m writing about the benefits of nootropics and how they can be used to enhance health, reduce the effects of stress, and even help to mitigate and treat anxiety, depression and PTSD.  A nootropic is a substance, natural or synthetic, which enhances memory and cognitive functions.  Some of this article also assumes that the government has collapsed and there is no longer any legal system or laws.  I have tried a number of things to help with my own PTSD and ADD issues and learned about many nootropics and supplements that can help in a variety of circumstances. Imagine for …


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 a cougar attack in Eastern Washington. (See the Central & Eastern Washington section.) Region-Wide New tool assesses wildfire risk for Inland Northwest homes. o  o  o Lennar, one of the nation’s leading homebuilders, announced plans to establish a new market serving the …