Preparedness Notes for Monday — October 9, 2023

October 9, 1936, the Boulder Dam (later called Hoover Dam), on the Arizona-Nevada border, began generating electricity for such areas as Los Angeles, which celebrated with a parade. — On October 9, 1000, Leif Ericson discovers “Vinland” (possibly at what was later named L’Anse aux Meadows, Canada) reputedly becoming first European to reach North America. — A fairly detailed update: Israel at War: Day 2 // The FAI Wire. And here is a word of caution about the circumstances of the Hamas invasion: This was allowed to happen.  Note: Avalanche Lily, who has studied both Biblical and modern Hebrew confirmed …




L.L. Bean Wool Cresta Hiking Socks, by Thomas Christianson

Transportation is a wonderful thing. Whether flying a jet aircraft or bumping along in an oxcart on a dirt trail, it is great when someone or something else is expending the energy to carry us and our stuff where we want to go. There are some times and some places where transportation is just not available. At those times and in those places, we are dependent upon our own two feet. In those types of situations, good boots and good socks may be the difference between getting where we need to go and not getting anywhere at all. Foot problems …




Recipe of the Week: Honey Mustard Chicken

The following recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken is from SurvivalBlog reader J.P.V.. Ingredients 6 bone-in chicken thighs Sauce: 4 Tbsp butter or ghee, melted 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup yellow mustard 1 tsp salt 1 tsp curry powder Directions Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken in baking dish.  Stir all sauce ingredients together until well-mixed. Pour sauce over top of chicken. Bake 30-40 minutes until chicken is done. SERVING Great served with rice and steamed veggies and sauce drizzled over all. — Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe …




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, a recap of last week’s market rout in precious metals. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Gold and silver both bounced back on Friday, following a rout for most of last week. On Friday afternoon, spot gold had recovered to $1,846.10 per Troy ounce (up .81%).  Meanwhile, spot silver had jumed back up to …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday — October 8, 2023

On October 8, 1918, Corporal Alvin York single-handedly captured 132 Germans and killed another 25 during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of World War I. — October 8th is the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. Orlin Grabbe. (Born, 1947, died March 15, 2008.) — As I’m sure you’ve already read, starting with a massive barrage of 5,000 Katyusha 122mm rockets coming from the Gaza Strip on the morning of Saturday, October 7th, war has broken out on both the southwestern and northern borders of Israel. This was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. More than 200 people were …




KA-BAR Dozier Folding Hunter KA4062-BRK, by Thomas Christianson

Every once in a while I run across a product that looks like an exceptionally good value. The KA4062-BRK fell into this category. It is manufactured by an iconic American company of good materials at an excellent price. I decided to purchase a sample to review. Overview Like many American firms, KA-BAR offers some foreign-made items in their product line. The Taiwanese-made Dozier Folding Hunter model KA4062-BRK is one of them. The knife has a razor-sharp, 3-inch blade made of AUS 8A stainless steel, that folds into an easily-gripped Zytex handle. With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $34.16 and widely …




JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: The FBI Has Created A New “MAGA Terrorist Group” Category It Is So Good To Know That The FBI Is Still Unbiased and Apolitical News Links: Donald Trump Followers Targeted by FBI as 2024 Election Nears Is the FBI turning Trump supporters into terrorist targets? FBI Targets Trump Voters As Domestic Terrorists Ahead Of 2024 Election. Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — October 7, 2023

On this day in 1949, a constitution went into effect in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany that formed the country of East Germany, which existed alongside West Germany until 1990, when the two Germanys reunited. On Octrober 7, 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York City to frame resolutions of “rights and grievances” of the American colonies. The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement taking place on 7 October, 1571 in which a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic maritime states arranged by Pope Pius V and led by Spanish admiral Don …




Caged Retail Stores: A Sign of Deeper Societal Degeneracy

In this essay, I will be quite brief and to-the-point: The recent waves of large-scale shoplifting, flash mobs, store lootings, and “street takeovers” in America’s cities illustrate a profound change in American society. I can see that it will only be in retrospect that historians will recognize this turning point for America. This is the stage where the basic Social Contract — characterized by civility and trust in retail commerce — has been severed. I found these two articles indicative: Target to partner with Homeland Security to battle organized retail theft — company expects to lose over $1 billion due …




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:

“And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 6, 2023

October 6th, 1960: The American adventure film Spartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas, had its world premiere; it won several Academy Awards, including best supporting actor for Peter Ustinov. 50 years ago today in 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, which suffered heavy casualties, but Israeli forces successfully fought back, and the war eventually ended inconclusively. Today is also the birthday of science fiction author David Brin (born, 1950.) He wrote The Postman, which was very loosely the foundation of a same-titled movie starring Kevin Costner. And October 6 …