Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 1, 2023

On February 1st, we recognize the birthday of the late Dr. Gary North, in 1942. North was a prolific writer on economics and Christian Reconstruction. He passed away just less than a year ago, on February 24, 2022.  His more than 50 published books are a lasting legacy. He also assembled a large free online library of books by other godly writers, through his Institute For Christian Economics (ICE). Those free books, totaling 38,000 pages, are all still available online. They are a great resource for homeschoolers and economics students. — We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space …




Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced — Round 104

We’ve completed the judging for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prize-winning writers are: First Prize First Prize goes to A Grateful Mechanic, for Career Change to a Durable Trade. (Posted on January 24, 2023.) He will receive the following prizes: 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), Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried …




Preparedness: Now What? – Part 1, by O.C.

Upfront, I should say I am a few months away from 70 years old. I was raised in New Jersey. Even though I spent 26 years in the US Air Force and the Montana Air National Guard, I was not prepared for anything out of the ordinary. My journey to prepping really began on September 11, 2001. At that time, I was working as a defense contractor in Crystal City, Virginia, just down the road from the Pentagon. Meanwhile, my wife was a civil servant working inside the Pentagon building. In my cube-ville we were no radios or televisions allowed. …




January 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

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 January? Gold kicked the current rally into overdrive in January. Starting the year at $1,829 an ounce, spot gold closed at $1,923 an ounce on January 30th. It began the year hitting a six-month high near $1,850 early on January 3rd before easing, only to claim that level the next day. Prices marched higher during the second week in January, to …




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. — A video from blog reader A.K.: Build your own Portable Poultry Coop! o  o  o Reader C.B. sent this:  A Concerning Winter Storm Is Coming… o  o  o New Yorkers Moving to Florida in Record Numbers. “More people from New York moved to Florida in 2022 than any year in history, according …