Month: March 2023

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 some gains for precious metals in Dollar terms, and the Silicon Valley Bank crash. Precious Metals: Reported on Friday: Price gains in gold, silver on short covering, friendly outside markets. And at the opening bell in Asia this morning, both gold and silver rose even more. o  o  o Kansas Bill Would …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 9, 2023

On this day in 1862 during the American Civil War, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimack) battled in the harbor at Hampton Roads, Virginia, marking the beginning of a new era of naval warfare. Today is the birthday of writer John McPhee (b. 1931), a master of creative nonfiction. One of McPhee’s most widely read books is Coming into the Country, which eloquently describes the Alaskan wilderness. March 9th is the birthday of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man to ever travel in space. He was born in 1934 and died in the crash of a MiG-15-UTI fighter …


‘Aging Out’ of Prepping: I Think Not!, by The Wild Hare

There was recently a request for a SurvivalBlog article on “aging out” of being an active prepper. The article request mentioned: “Things that sounded so doable 20 years ago are no longer possible for us. Looking at TEOTWAWKI from closer to 80 than 50 is a whole different kettle of fish.” (SurvivalBlog, February 23, 2023.) I’d never heard the term ‘aging out’ until JWR thoughtfully lit me up like a Christmas Tree in suggesting this as a writing contest topic. I’ll take the bait, because what this 78-year-old prepper has heard is the relentlessly ticking clock getting louder each year …


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. In today’s column, some further details on the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment. Ohio Train Derailment: Separating Fact From Fiction H.L. sent this, from The New York Times: Ohio Train Derailment: …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 8, 2023

March 8th is the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told in his last book, Hell, I was there! A Proto-Redoubter, Keith spent the second half of his life on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. (Keith was born in 1899 and died February 12, 1984.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …


Homeschooling Nuts and Bolts – Part 2, by R.B., EdD.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) CURRICULUM—OH MY! This is a truly scary word for beginning homeschoolers, and it really doesn’t need to be. You are the one who gets to decide what is taught. And you need to do that before you look for instructional materials. That means you should know what you’re aiming at. And you DO know, don’t you? Certainly your list at every level should include: 1. Reading and vocabulary. Instruction in reading can begin very early with some children, while others have to wait for reading readiness to develop. That’s absolutely OK. You …


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. — First up, over at The Burning Platform: South Africa has collapsed, here’s why. JWR’s Comments:  For many years, I’ve written about “slow slide” scenarios. This is one that is now playing out for the whole world to see. When I traveled with my family to South Africa five years ago, I got …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 7, 2023

On March 7, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. March 7, 1707 was the birthday of Stephen Hopkins, (Governor of Rhode Island) one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. And March 7, 1944 was the birthday of Townes Van Zandt, a gifted Texan singer/songwriter. (He died in 1997.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 105 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, …


Homeschooling Nuts and Bolts – Part 1, by R.B., EdD.

It is common knowledge that American public education is a failure. We have known for years that our students do not measure up to students in other countries, even very poor ones. For decades we have seen national test scores sink, and employers are constantly telling us they cannot hire workers with basic skills. But most parents still believe their local school is excellent and their children are getting a good education. The schools tell us how good, caring, and professional they are. They have mottos that ooze care and concern that every child should reach his/her potential in every …


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, news about several pieces of legislation now pending in the Idaho state legislature. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Bills on guns, militias and immigration introduced in committee. o  o  o Drag performance bill heads to House floor. o  o  o Idaho lawmakers introduce bill to …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 6, 2023

Today is the birthday of Georg Johann Luger (March 6, 1849 – December 22, 1923). He was the Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol and the now ubiquitous 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.  Because there are now hundreds of other 9mm pistol designs, the “Luger” name is no longer printed on most 9x19mm ammunition boxes. March 6th was also the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., born in 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5. Cooper had his exploits well documented in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff, and …