Month: January 2023

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both 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 the Odds ‘n …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 20, 2023

Thirty years ago today, January 20th, 1993, was the day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Reserve Captain. Not coincidentally, that was also the day that Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. I resigned because I detested the idea of having Clinton as my Commander in Chief. With ten years in service, my contractual obligation had expired. And, because I was living in a remote area in north-central Idaho, I was no longer drilling with a USAR troop program unit. The nearest Intelligence Corps Army Reserve or National Guard units were 360 miles away, near …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 3, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 2.) On the other side of the world….kind of….depending on how you look at it, China continues to make aggressive moves toward Taiwan. Much like Russia with the Donbas region, their claim is repatriation, not invasion. President Biden has stated on more than one occasion that we will put troops on the ground to help the people of Taiwan, although every time he says it, the white house tries to walk it back after the fact. You’d almost think that they are confused over what their course of action would be. But that might just be their …


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 report on Janet Yellen speaking the “D” word: Default. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Posted last Friday: With gold ending the week above $1,900, analysts turn their focus to $2,000. o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: How Cheap are the Mining Shares? The Barron’s Gold Mining Index Tells All. A key quote:  …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 19, 2023

Today is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. This book was re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.  JWR considers it a “must” for the bookshelf of every well-prepared family. — Some great news!  The new 2005-2022 SurvivalBlog Archive sticks are now available for pre-ordering.  This year there were so many bonus books that the contents simply couldn’t fit on a 16-gigabyte stick.  So this year it is on a 32 GB stick, which also allows plenty of …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 2, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 1.) While we’re on the subject of interest rates, lets explore low interest rates. I’ve mentioned that the government, through the Fed, has kept them artificially low since about 2008. Now, the general thought was that low interest rates would stimulate the economy. Low interest rates mean that you can buy that bigger house, or new car. It also means that businesses can expand because the risk on a loan is lower. It means that new businesses can start up because people can more easily qualify for a loan, and their payments are relatively low, so its …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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, an updated look at some underground and earth-sheltered houses, around the world. Inside ‘Underground House Plan B’ Over at Pinterest: Inside ‘Underground House Plan B,’ a socially distanced, survivalist… Eastern …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The doctrine of the lesser magistrates is rooted in the historical, biblical, doctrine of interposition. Interposition is that calling of God which causes one to step into the gap – willingly placing oneself between the oppressor and the intended victim. Interposition is demonstrated when someone or some group interposes or positions themselves between and oppressor and the intended victim. This can be done verbally or physically.” – Matthew J. Trewhella, The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates, 2013.


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 18, 2023

On January 18, 1788, the first English settlers arrived in Australia’s Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. The group moved north eight days later and settled at Port Jackson. January 18, 1813 was the birthday of Joseph Glidden, who invented barbed wire. Actor Kevin Costner was born on this day in 1955. — 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 power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 1, by The Lone Canadian

“My wife calls me a pessimist. I claim I’m a realist. Chances are, I’m just an a** with an attitude problem.” That’s my tag line on one of the sites that I belong to. Now, you may take offense at my wording, but if you knew me, you’d have to agree that the sentiment is pretty accurate. I’m writing this in the final few days of 2022, and I’ve had to go back and examine that tag line. I’ve had to question whether I am a pessimist, or am I simply well-informed when it comes to current events, and honest …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: 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. — Slingshot and archery design genius Joerg Sprave is at it again, with a second generation of commercially available repeating crossbows. In this video, he demonstrates a full-auto crossbow prototype, powered by a Makita battery drill motor: Archery Extreme: Ode to Joy. It bears mentioning that Sprave’s video channel now has an astounding …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 17, 2023

Acting for Hawaiian sugar interests and their American allies, a committee led by Sanford Ballard Dole deposed Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani on January 17, 1893 and installed a provisional government with Dole as president. — This is the anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. This small battle was the turning point of the American Revolution in the South. In it, the best battlefield tactician America produced, the backwoodsman Daniel Morgan, decisively and utterly defeated the most arrogant, bloody and successful field grade officer in the British Army, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. The battle set in motion the chain of …