Month: December 2023

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, we look at police radios switching to encryption. Police Radio Traffic is Increasingly Encrypted The Wildly Popular Police Scanner Goes Silent for Many. Here is an excerpt: “Denver, …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of a higher obligation. … To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means.” – Thomas Jefferson, from a letter to John B. Colvin, September 20, 1810


Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 27, 2023

On December 27, 1943, the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst sank in the Barents Sea, under the guns and torpedoes of a British battle group led by the Duke Of York. — On December 27, 1571, German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered three major laws of planetary motion, was born. — On December 27, 1932, the internal passport system, previously denounced by Vladimir Lenin as one of the worst stigmas of tsarist backwardness and despotism, was reinstated in the Soviet Union by Joseph Stalin. — On this day in 1979, in an attempt to stabilize the turbulent political situation in Afghanistan, the …


Homesteading Cautionary Tales – Part 1, by Mrs. Alaska

People believe scams of all sorts, so I guess that I should not be surprised by the naivete of people who buy remote land in Alaska without first setting foot in the state, much less the particular site. Even if the location is a legitimate plot, not set in a mucky bog or on an eroding river bank, the challenges of this sort of life deserves more research… and introspection … than some people give it. Below are two, recent cautionary tales of people – one from New York and the other from California – whose dreams of living in …


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. — Reader C.B. mentioned this, published by the leftist USA Today: Will humans cut down trees that have been alive for thousands of years? New rules say no.  JWR’s Comments:  Throwing in mention and photos of 2,000-year-old trees is just a sympathy-inducing tactic. Those trees have long been protected.  The new rules will …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 26, 2023

December 26, 1791 was the birthday of English mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage, who is credited with having conceived the first automatic digital computer. — On December 26th, 1776, after crossing the Delaware River, Washington led his men against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans, significantly boosting their flagging morale. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are …


Some Experience With Nuts, by Mr. Zipph

Nuts can serve as an important supplement to your diet. Most nuts have a significant amount of nutritional value, including protein, fat, carbohydrates, and various vitamins and minerals. In a grid-down situation, knowing how to harvest and process nuts could be of tremendous value. When I recently relocated to my new home, I was fortunate enough to discover that I had both black walnut and shagbark hickory trees on my property. I also have many oak trees and maple trees. As I have recently focused on improving my foraging skills and have read several books on the topic to improve …


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, a special look at touring destinations in the region. I often have consulting clients from the eastern United States ask me “What is it like”?” questions. You really need to come and see for yourself.  Schedule a lengthy trip! – JWR (The photo above was …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Political freedom includes in it every other blessing. All the pleasures of riches, science, virtue, and even religion itself derive their value from liberty alone. No wonder therefore wise and prudent legislators have in all ages been held in such great veneration; and no wonder too those illustrious souls who have employed their pens and sacrificed their lives in defense of liberty have met with such universal applause. Their reputations, like some majestic river which enlarges and widens as it approaches its parent ocean, shall become greater and greater through every age and outlive the ruins of the world itself.” …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 25, 2023

To those who are celebrating the Advent of our Lord and Savior, our little team at SurvivalBlog wishes you a peaceful and meaningful Christmas. For those who choose to celebrate our Lord through the biblical feasts, stay safe out there during this holiday season. Our prayer is that each and every one of you enjoy the family time. Be safe on the roads. — Today’s feature article is a review written by SurivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We are seeking entries for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $850,000 worth of prizes have been …


TOPS Fieldcraft 154 Stainless Fixed Blade Knife, by Thomas Christianson

BLUF The TOPS Fieldcraft 154 Stainless fixed blade knife is a rugged tool for use in the field or around the yard. It has a 4.75 inch, full-tang, Scandi-grind blade made of 154CM stainless steel. With a price of $295 at the time of this writing, it is not cheap in terms of either price or quality. It has earned a place among my gear as my go-to camping knife. Background A little more than a year ago, I tested the TOPS Mini Scandi Folder 4. The resulting review was later published in SurvivalBlog. I liked the Mini Scandi Folder …


Recipe of the Week: Baked Peanut Butter Apple Oatmeal

The following recipe for Baked Peanut Butter Apple Oatmeal is from SurvivalBlog reader M.M..  She writes: “This is a great ‘throw together’ recipe that uses what you have on hand. The key here is to be flexible. If you do not have a fresh apple, dried would work or even apple sauce. While I did not use nutmeg in this batch, that would make a nice addition, as would some raisins. Or you can swap pecans for walnuts, if that’s what’s in your pantry. You can even substitute part or all of the brown sugar with some maple syrup or …


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 the risk of a recession or an economic depression, in 2024. Precious Metals: The gold-to-platinum ratio continues to further escape reality. When I last checked (Thursday, December 21, 2023), with spot gold at $2,057.80 and spot platinum at $982.90, the ratio stood at 2.093-to-1.  Historically, platinum has sold at a premium above …