Month: June 2023

The Editors’ Quote Of The Day:

“Pride is a person having too high an opinion of himself. Pride is the first sin that ever entered into the universe, and the last sin that is rooted out. Pride is the worst sin. It is the most secret of all sins. There is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. Alas, how much pride the best have in their hearts! Pride is God’s most stubborn enemy! There is no sin so much like the devil as pride. It is a secret and subtle sin and appears in a great many shapes which are …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — June 26, 2023

On June 26, 1483, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, began his reign as Richard III after usurping power from his nephew, Edward V. — June 26th is also the birthday of Marine Corps Lt. General Chesty Puller (born 1898, died October 11, 1971). Perhaps America’s finest-ever maverick officer, Puller was part of what I call the Even Greater Generation. — My #1 Son mentioned this new listing for some retreat-worthy improved land, north of Coeur d’Alene: Private North Idaho Retreat. — Today’s feature article was written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We are in need of articles …


Invicta 29178 Automatic Watch, by Thomas Christianson

I have previously written about the value of being able to tell time in a grid-down situation. Although there are many practical benefits to being able to tell time, the ones I most value are the less tangable emotional and psychological benefits. In the midst of a chaotic situation, timekeeping contributes to emotional well-being by helping to maintain orientation. This emotional benefit is so significant that interrogators often try to deprive their subjects of this support by restricting their access to timekeeping devices and cues. I recently purchased an Invicta 29178 Automatic Watch. I like automatic watches because they don’t …


Recipe of the Week: Fruit Shrub

The following recipe for Fruit Shrub is from SurvivalBlog reader Mr. Alaska.  She writes: “A ‘shrub’ is an old-fashioned drink that made great sense before water was reliably potable. This was safer and refreshing because it incorporated vinegar.  You might find the idea odd — drink vinegar? But in the right proportions, with fruit and sweetener, the vinegar adds the kind of tang that people like from quinine or tonic water – without the bitterness, and with some salubrious gastrointestinal tract benefits, too. You can drink this straight or add a bit to water or a clear alcohol or wine, …


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. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, some more coverage of Blackrock. Precious Metals: The spot price of silver dropped to $22.70 per Troy ounce on Friday evening (June 23, 2023.) This brings the silver-to-gold ratio back above 85.1-to-1. Ratio traders should take heed. o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Forecast – This Could Be the Last Opportunity to Buy Gold Below …


Avalanche Lily’s Quote of the Day:

AVL’s Note: This week, I re-read Farmer Boy to remind myself of the natural wild edible plants that they ate in the late 1800s.  I read the last two pages of the story and they hit me like a ton of bricks and brought me to tears, for so many reasons.  For background, Almanzo’s father has just been asked by Mr. Paddock the Wheelwright if Mr. Wilder would apprentice his son, Almanzo, to him to be a wheelwright. Here is the conversation between Mother, Father, and nine-year-old Almanzo that evening at their dinner table: “Paddock makes good money,” said Father. …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — June 25, 2023

June 25, 1530, the Augsburg Confession, 28 articles that constitute the basic confession of the Lutheran churches, was presented at the Diet of Augsburg to the emperor Charles V. — And on June 25th, 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The Battle of Little Bighorn – also called Custer’s Last Stand – marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. While complicated, …


Bardin & Marsee Waterproof Bible, by Thomas Christianson

Field gear is often subject to a wide variety of weather conditions. Like the Persian mounted couriers made famous by Herodotus, field gear may face snow, rain, heat, and gloom of night among other challenges. Wildly varying weather conditions can be a special challenge to books in general, and Bibles in particular. That is what makes the Bardin & Marsee Waterproof Bible so interesting for outdoors-folk who carry a Bible as a part of their gear. The Waterproof Bible is printed on a synthetic paper made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers. You can read it in a rainstorm or …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Hunter Biden Gets Three Little Slaps on the Wrist for “Misdemeanors”… But Matthew Hoover Could Get Up to 45 Years in Prison for Selling Drawings of a Lightning Link? News Links: Hunter Biden expected to plead guilty to tax-related misdemeanor crimes as part of a plea agreement. Hunter Biden’s Plea Reveals DOJ Has Double Standard On Gun Charges. Two men, one from Clay County, convicted for transferring machinegun conversion devices. Note From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — June 24, 2023

June 24th the birthday of rifle-toting abolitionist pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kansas that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles. Wikipedia states: “Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power …


Cows and Chickens and Goats, Oh My!, by Elli O.

In this article, I compare different livestock – Start-up costs, Continuation costs, Profits, and Contradictions. I was not raised on a farm but when we purchased 20 acres I knew that we needed to put the land to good use. Thankfully, I have a husband who is almost as adventurous as I am so we jumped into the farm and homesteading life with both feet. God was gracious and we landed well- not very gracefully but we are surviving and even thriving in most areas! This article will compare the different animals that we have tried to raise on our …


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:

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — June 23, 2023

On this day in 1314 began the Battle of Bannockburn, a decisive engagement in Scottish history whereby the Scots defeated the English, regained their independence, and established Robert the Bruce as Robert I. — We have run out of articles to post for the Round 107 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. So if you have one that you’ve been writing, then please complete it and send it in. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.