Month: January 2023

Career Change to a Durable Trade, by A Grateful Mechanic

I get great enjoyment from reading the perspectives and implementing the ideas in SurvivalBlog. This is a wonderful space to be able to share operating experience and ideas for making our futures brighter and better. An article by Mr. Rawles dated October 12, 2009 references career paths that are recession-proof: What Recovery? Find yourself a Recoveryless Job. In the article, he made reference to difficult, dirty, and dangerous jobs. I recall reading that article and it made an impact on me and my life. Six years ago, I embarked on a journey to find a new career that would offer …


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 again mention the remote Magruder Corridor. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho The Corridor: Driving the Only Road in 3.5 Million Acres of Wilderness. o  o  o Crews Rescue Dog Stuck After Chasing Squirrel Up Tree: ‘Definitely Not a Cat’. o  o  o Idaho School …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 23, 2023

January 23, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) — pictured — and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. This is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” will ensure that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns that are Browning designs. — Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.


Details on the New SurvivalBlog Archive USB Sticks

The new batch of SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks is selling very rapidly! I’ve had some folks write to ask about what is included in the new 2005-2022 SurvivalBlog Archive stick. There certainly is a lot! These sticks of course have everything that has ever been posted in SurvivalBlog, dating back to its launch in August, 2005, and up to December 31, 2022. In my humble opinion, these feature articles, product reviews, columns, and quotations just by themselves are worth the price of the archive stick. But then there is also a veritable mountain of carefully curated bonus material from the …


Thyrm Pyrovault Lighter Armor, by Thomas Christianson

Thyrm Pyrovault Lighter Armor encloses a Zippo lighter insert in a sturdy waterproof polymer case. In addition to making the insert waterproof, the case slows fuel evaporation from classic liquid-fuel inserts, so that the time between fillings can be measured in weeks rather than in days. The case can be opened and the insert operated with one hand. It greatly enhances the usefulness of the Zippo lighter insert. At the time of this writing, the Pyrovault Lighter Armor was available from Thyrm for $29.99. The Backstory On October 10, 2021, SurvivalBlog published my article about using a sleeve cut from …


Recipe of the Week: Food Storage Pantry Chicken Pot Pie

The following very simple recipe for Food Storage Pantry Chicken Pot Pie is from SurvivalBlog readar D.M.: Ingredients 1 cup Bisquick Biscuit Mix 1 can (1 cup) Canned Cooked Chicken (or fresh, or frozen chicken meat, but must be pre-cooked) 1 can (or 1-2/3 cups fresh or frozen) Canned Mixed Vegetables 1 Can (10.75 -ounce) Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup 1+ Cup Water (or equal amounts of water and milk) Directions Pre-Heat your oven to 400°F. Mix vegetables, chicken, and soup in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. In a mixing bowl, stir together the biscuit mix and water with …


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. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at China’s burgeoning gold stockpile. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Jeff Clark: 2023 Gold Price Prediction, Trends, and Five-Year Forecast. o  o  o China’s public gold holdings now over 2,000 tons after another huge purchase in December. o  o  o Mike recommended this Radio Contra podcast: Precious Metals, Goldbacks, Voluntary Currencies, …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 22, 2023

On January 22, 1998, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, a socialist-Luddite terrorist who killed three people and injured 22 in 16 attacks between 1979 and 1995, was sentenced to four terms of life in prison without parole.  Born and raised in Illinois, Kaczynski lived the last few years before his arrest in Montana, living in a very small cabin.  To this day, very small cabins are still jokingly called “Unabomber Cabins”. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 5, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) Food Shortages Right now, at this moment, we are facing a global food shortage thanks to wars, and floods and droughts. Farmers in the Netherlands are recognized as the most efficient farmers in Europe, if not the world. And yet their own government is in the process of forcibly seizing as many as 3000 farms and euthanizing the livestock because their “Nitrogen Minister” has deemed their farms to be emitting to much nitrogen. The government claims that this is necessary if they are going to meet their 2030 emissions goals. Goals that …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 21, 2023

On January 21, 1525, the Swiss Anabaptist Movement began when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.  This movement led to great consternation in the Catholic church, persecution, and the eventual dislocation of many Anabaptist dissidents, including the followers of Jakob Ammann  — the “Amish.” — Also on this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 4, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 3.) The Real Energy Crisis Energy is the lifeblood of progress and industrialization. We don’t refer to countries as Second World or Third Worldworld anymore, that’s not politically correct. Now we call them “emerging markets.” And for them to “emerge” from Third World, or Second World status to take their place at the “big boys” table internationally takes energy. “Developing Nations” need energy to develop – pretty simple. And not just energy, but a stable supply of relatively cheap energy. The more they develop, the more energy they need to continue to develop. We may have hit …