Year: 2023

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 …


Worth Reversal, by 3AD Scout

Being a serious preparedness-minded individual, I often look at venues that offer used or previously owned items for sale. These venues could be flea markets, thrift stores, antique stores, yard or garage sales, auctions, or online sites like Craigslist. It never ceases to amaze me the items that are offered for sale at these venues. When I go to these venues, I have prepping in mind and am looking for items to help make me and my family better prepared. Often, I have to wade through piles of, in my opinion, useless junk. What is useless junk in my book? …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Sam Bankman Fried Was Found Guilty of All Seven Fraud Charges His List of Political Contributions Will Be Kept in a Very Safe Place, Right Alongside Jeffrey Epstein’s Client List  News Links: Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty On All Seven Charges In Criminal Trial. Sam Bankman-Fried was No. 2 top donor to Democrats, only behind Soros. SBF’s “dirty money”. SBF and His Inner Circle Allegedly Made More Than 300 Illegal Political Donations. The Mysterious Problem With Sam Bankman-Fried’s Political Donations. How former crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried and friends quietly donated to political groups …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 4, 2023

On November 4, 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. — On November 4, 1924, American politician Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state (Wyoming). — November 4th is the birthday of Medal of Honor recipient John Basilone. He was born in 1916 in Buffalo, New York. — On this day in 1979, student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini sent shock waves across America when they stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The radical Islamic fundamentalists took 90 hostages. The students were enraged that the deposed …


Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 2, by M.M.

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.) #6   12-volt deep cycle batteries and at least two battery charges. (I prefer the 2-,6-, and 10-Amp chargers. I do have a 50-amp charger, but it is hard on a battery. The slower the charge, the better the life expectancy of the battery). These are extremely important and are actually my #2 priority item only after fuel. Get several if they are available. You can build a light system for your property using 12-volt lights or buy an inverter that switches to A/C  use. For outside lighting go to an RV/off-road store …


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 …