Month: November 2023


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 8, 2023

Ten years ago today, November 8th, 2013, the Philippines endured what many consider its worst natural disaster when the country was struck by Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded to strike land. Pictured in the city of Tacloban, after the typhoon struck. — On November 8, 1656, English astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley, the first to calculate the orbit of Halley’s Comet, was born in Greenwich, Kent, England. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 109 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The …


Building a Retreat Kit, by Mark C.

Anyone who has seriously considered preparation for TEOTWAWKI knows that the ultimate preparation is to have a well-outfitted retreat located in a remote location. Unless you are rich and you can purchase one with all the trimmings or you’ve been working on it for several years already—you’re feeling significant apprehension as current events imply time is short and you are unprepared. Now, if you are the diligent one who built a well-stocked retreat, but find that over time civilization has overtaken the area; this is also for you. Finally, if you have your retreat, it has not been encroached on …


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 snippet from Mark B.: “I’ve mentioned before about Costco selliing Kirkland canned roast beef.  It is pre-cooked, so you could eat it right out of the can, if’n you wanted to.  Has some sodium phosphates. If you purchased it only for rainy days, (which seem more and more likely lately)  you …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 7, 2023

On November 7, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge connecting the Olympic Peninsula with Tacoma, Washington, broke up in a wind of about 42 miles (67 km) per hour.  The footage of the collapse became iconic. — November 7th is the anniversary of the death of actor Steve McQueen (born March 24, 1930, died November 7, 1980) — Mark Dice’s new nonfiction book The War on Conservatives was released today. Look for it at your favorite online bookseller. (Note: Given the leftist politics and the cutthroat business practices of Amazon.com, I prefer shopping through Books-A-Million.) — We are seeking entries for …


Transformative Tech: The AR, The Glock, and The Smartphone

In this brief essay, I’ll be discussing three relatively new technologies that have been nearly as transformative to modern society as Gutenberg’s 1448 invention of the movable type printing press. The AR The Armalite Rifle (AR) family of selective fire and semi-auto rifles, pistols, and shotguns have become ubiquitous in the early 21st Century. They have been produced for the U.S. civilian market since 1959. There are an estimated two million new ARs produced each year for private use by American families. There are now roughly 20 million in residential closets and gun safes. Many of those ARs have changed …


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 focus on a Mountain Lion close call.  (See the Idaho section.) Region-Wide How does El Niño affect the Northwest? o  o  o Video Forecast: Current Winter 2023-2024 Prediction For the Inland Northwest: Overall WARMER & DRY! o  o  o U.S. drafts plan to bring …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 6, 2023

On Novermber 6, 1888, Benjamin Harrison of the Republican Party was elected U.S. president by an electoral majority despite losing the popular vote by more than 90,000 to his Democratic opponent, Grover Cleveland. — Today in 1977, the Toccoa Falls Dam in Georgia gave way and 39 people died in the resulting flood. The dam was an earthen dam constructed across a canyon in 1887 and had a 55-acre lake that was 180 feet deep. The dam had recently been inspected and approved, but in the early morning hours, it gave way. Water flooded down the canyon at speeds approaching …


Springfield Armory Echelon Pistol, by Pat Cascio

If memory serves me correctly, I purchased my first Glock in 1987. This was an early-production Glock 17 – the only handgun model that Glock had yet produced, back then. It was a 17-shot 9mm pistol and the frame was made out of “plastic” – today we call it “polymer” instead. I felt sure that the gun wouldn’t last, after a lot of shooting. I was wrong! Since owning that first Glock, I’ve probably owned almost every model they produced over the years, and I still own more Glocks than any one person should…guess I’m a Glock-a-holic. A long, long …


Recipe of the Week:  Huckleberry Oatmeal

The following recipe for Huckleberry Oatmeal is from SurvivalBlog reader L.K.. She says that huckleberries are best, but substituting blueberries will suffice: Ingredients Huckleberries (fresh or frozen). The second choice is Blueberries. Old Fashioned rolled oats. (Don’t use instant oats or steel-cut oats) Butter Milk Water Brown sugar Cinnamon Allspice Salt Vanilla extract Cream or whole milk. Directions Briefly toast the oats in butter until fragrant. This adds to the flavor. Add water and stir! Keep stirring throughout the cooking time. Smush the blueberries with the back of a spoon, as you stir. The more berries you smush up, the …


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, we look at lumber prices. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: Buy Gold Now Or Wait? o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Stocks Lagging. Economy & Finance: From Bloomberg: Fed Signals Yield Rise Reduces Need to Hike, But Door Still Open. o  o  o The fuse on America’s debt bomb just got shorter. o  o  …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I think, then, that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything that ever before existed in the world; our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I seek in vain for an expression that will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it; the old words despotism and tyranny are inappropriate: the thing itself is new, and since I cannot name, I must attempt to define it. I seek to trace the novel features under which despotism may appear in the world. The first thing that strikes …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 5, 2023

On this day, King James learned about the Gunpowder Plot. Hence we have Guy Fawkes Day, celebrated with fireworks. Remember, remember the Fifth of November Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot.” — Also on this day, 300 Santee Sioux were sentenced to hang. — On November 5th, 2009 Army Major Nidal Hassan killed 13 people at Fort Hood. He shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he opened fire. But predictably, the mainstream media cited “no known motive” for the terror attack. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 109 …