Month: January 2024

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: The FBI Has Had All The Videos From The Hard Drives on Epstein’s Island Since August, 2019… Still No New Indictments After Maxwell. So… Why Is Washington, D.C. as Quiet as a Graveyard? News Links: 2019: FBI raids Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island. 2021: FBI agents used a saw to open a safe in Jeffrey Epstein’s Manhattan mansion that held hard drives and diamonds. 2022: Ghislaine Maxwell Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Conspiring With Jeffrey Epstein To Sexually Abuse Minors. 2022: Ghislaine Maxwell conviction: Will others be charged? Will she flip? …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 20, 2024

On January 20, 1778 British explorer James Cook landed at Waimea, on Kauai island, becoming the first European to visit Hawaii. — On January 20, 1981 the Iran hostage crisis ended when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini released  American hostages were released by the Iranian government, following 444 days of captivity, to be reunited with their families. Not coincidentally, Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President, the same day. — January 20th, 1993, Bill Clinton was first sworn in as President. That was the day that I resigned my commission as a U.S. Army Captain. I did so, because my service obligation …


Haying By Hand, by H.F.K.

One of the challenges of keeping domestic animals is providing them with forage during the winter months, or year-round if you live on a small lot. We started keeping sheep in a cold climate on a small lot as a way to feed our family when we were paying off student loans and a mortgage at a high interest rate. Haying by hand was a way to make use of previously unproductive spots on our land (and other people’s land), because a person with a scythe can work in places that would be lethal by tractor. Believe it or not, …


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:

“Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 19, 2024

On January 19, 1978, the last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany left VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America would continue until 2003. — And on January 19, 1746, “Bonnie Prince Charlie“, Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Jacobite army occupied Stirling, Scotland. — This is also is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficiency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (This book was re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.) — January 19th is the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. — SurvivalBlog Writing …


Easy Home Cheese Making, by Tractorguy

Some of our biggest concerns at a Bug Out Location (BOL) will be food and food storage. Dairy products are an important part of a balanced diet, but they are the most difficult to store, both short and long-term. Our ancestors stored milk over the long-term by turning it into cheese, and you can too. It is not difficult. We’ll explore a couple of different simple homemade cheeses and how to make them. Cheese is simply the solid part of milk that is separated out and dried. Cheeses fall basically into two groups – soft and hard. Soft cheeses, such …


Updated: Opportunity to Live on a Secure Kansas Family Farm/BOL

Late last year a consulting client asked me to help him find potential members for a retreat group membership at his family farm/bug-out location (BOL) . That opportunity is still open and his family prays to be able to find a like-minded family soon. Please read the entire post as the retreat owners have opened up their search to include many more families and that may potentially include your family to have a safe place to retreat. After much prayer, the farm owner has decided again to open up his request concentrating on families who are able to move to …


How to Prepare to Counter Sovereign Cryptocurrencies

Today, in place of my regular Friday column on Economics and Investing,  I’d like to address an important monetary issue. This article expands on a piece that I posted in SurvivalBlog back in July, 2022. — During the recent COVID pandemic, multinational corporations stayed open for business via the Internet, and grew larger. People cocooned at home, watched movies on Netflix, and ordered many of their household supplies via Amazon.com. But meanwhile, millions of small “Mom & Pop” businesses that dealt face-to-face with customers were forcibly shuttered and ruined, during the protracted lockdowns. When viewing national and world affairs, always …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 18, 2024

On January 18, 1943, at the height of the Second World War,  the United States banned the sale of presliced bread. The move was intended to cut down any ancillary charges, following the recent increase in the cost of flour — thus lessening or preventing increases in the retail price of bread. — The German Empire, forged as a result of diplomacy rather than an outpouring of popular nationalist feeling, was founded on January 18, 1871 in the aftermath of three successful wars by the North German state of Prussia. — January 18th 1813 was the birthday Joseph Glidden, who …


Our Practical Uses of Amateur Radio – Part 2, by Mr. & Mrs. Alaska

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) For my husband’s volunteer work with Civil Air Patrol, joint service MARS (military association radio system) and SHARES (a program of homeland security), we have quite a bit of copper wiring strung high in the birch and spruce trees of our property, as well as a large log periodic antenna attached about 70 feet up the metal power tower he built at the highest part of our land to hold the wind turbine, solar panels, and satellite dish. Our location has several advantages for HF radio use.  Obviously, we have no HOA …


Details on The 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog Archive USB Sticks

The new batch of 32-gigabyte waterproof SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks is pre-selling very rapidly!  Many readers are ordering 2, 3, or 4 sticks. I’ve had some folks write to ask about what is included in the new 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. There certainly is a lot! These sticks of course have everything that has ever been posted in SurvivalBlog, dating back to its launch in August, 2005, and up to December 31, 2023. In my humble opinion, these feature articles, product reviews, columns, and quotations just by themselves are worth the price of the archive stick. But then there …


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 some predicted risks in 2024, and personal threat remediation steps taken by some billionaires. Billionaires Prepping for Doomsday Over at Daisy Luther’s The Organic Prepper …