Year: 2022

Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 14, 2022

On this day in 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd State. — I just noticed that we are now down to less than 35 of the SurvivalBlog Archive 2005-2021 archive USB sticks. The first batch was 1,000 sticks, and the second one was 600. This may be the final batch that we’ll have available until January of 2023. So order yours, soon! — Today we present another review article that was written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.


Rocky Winter Boots, by Pat Cascio

If your hands and feet get cold, the rest of your body isn’t far behind. This is a fact! Going back to my high school days, I attended a private Lutheran High School, and it was about 13-miles from where I lived – that is a long, long distance in a big city (Chicago) to travel. On a good day, it would take me about an hour and a half to get to school, and home at the end of the day, on the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) bus. As most big-city dwellers will know, buses usually make a stop …


Recipe of the Week: Lean Beef Goulash

The following recipe for Lean Beef Goulash was kindly sent by SurvivalBlog reader C.K.. She says: “I use lean beef, to keep this from tasting like some old-time greasy goulash.” Ingredients 1 to 1.25 pounds Ground Beef (93% lean — or even more lean) 1-1/2 cups minced onions 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1 can (15 ounces) of tomato sauce 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) of diced tomatoes 1-1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (or less, if on a low-salt diet.) 1 bay leaf 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni …


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 hear war drums and take a look at the precious metals market. Precious Metals: It is noteworthy that the spot price of silver was $22.50 per Troy ounce on February 4th. When I checked over the weekend, it was at $23.57. I expect a jump at the opening bell in the …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 13, 2022

Today is the birthday of General Chuck Yeager (born, 1923), the first man to break the sound barrier. He passed away in 2020. February 13th is also the birthday of Robert Charles R.C. Sproul (born 1939, died December 14, 2017), a well-respected American Calvinist theologian. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 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 …


Fade to Gray: Files and Documents – Part 3, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Document Tools Being able to store sensitive files and minimizing the chances of someone finding them is useful, but you still need to be able to view and edit the files in a secure and private manner without leaving details on what files you’ve worked on and what they contain all over your system (or the Internet). Many of the commercially available document and file editing tools such as Microsoft Office store a lot of information on what files you’ve worked on and potentially what’s stored inside them (for your own good, …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 12, 2022

February 12th is the birthday of theologian and journalist Cotton Mather (1663–1728). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 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 $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of …


Fade to Gray: Files and Documents – Part 2, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 1.) Hidden Rooms and Secret Passages VeraCrypt has an extremely useful feature called a ‘hidden volume’, which is what we’ll be using to hide and protect sensitive files. As I mentioned earlier, a volume is basically a chunk of storage (file) that Windows mounts and assigns a drive letter to. What VeraCrypt does is allows you to create a big encrypted file and mount that as a virtual storage volume – ‘virtual’ in this case just means that the volume doesn’t correspond to a unique physical storage device, since the file can be moved anywhere and still …


Letter Re: Dragon’s Breath

Dear Editor, I’m writing you concerning a recent article advocating the use of homemade imitation “Dragons Breath” 12 gauge rounds.  This practice is both physically dangerous and legally problematic.  Gun writers and attorneys have warned against this sort of thing in the past. Point 1:  Things that increase the flammability of rounds inside domestic structures are a pretty bad idea.  Carpet and modern furnishings often contain chemicals that burn more easily than natural fibers.  A self-defense scenario could easily involve a call to the fire department after that.  In a rural area with lengthy response times, that could result in …


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 God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 11, 2022

February 11th is the birthday of the late Burt Blumert (born February 11, 1929 in New York City, died March 30, 2009). He was the president of the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California, co-founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, and the publisher of LewRockwell.com. He once owned Camino Coin Company. Dr. Ron Paul also once owned the same company. Blumert is pictured on the left, in the photo above. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …