Month: March 2024

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 31, 2024

On March 31, 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa in Japan, ending that country’s period of seclusion. — Lyman Cornelius “L.C.” Smith was born March 31, 1850. Lyman Smith was the namesake of the famous L.C. Smith Shotgun. Smith later went on to found the Smith-Premier Typewriter Company, which would later become Smith-Corona Typewriter Company. Smith Corona or the SCM Corporation is a US typewriter and calculator company. Lyman Cornelius Smith passed away on November 5, 1910. — March 31 is also the birthday of the late economist Dr. Walter E. Williams, PhD., who was born …


Home Security for the Gun-Deprived, by R.J.

When your temporary or semi-permanent home has to be away from true-home, you want to be secure there as well. This review is based on experiences and plans my family and I had when living and working (and for many years with young children) in not-the-most-salubrious-parts of the planet. These places also didn’t allow foreigners to own firesticks whether long- or hand-guns; a couple of countries grudgingly allowed private possession of shotguns but only for citizens, not transients, even if the transient was going to be there for years at a time. As a consequence, the Lady of the House …


March 2024 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, presented by Gainesville Coins. Each month we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. We cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in March? Boy, did anyone see this coming? I actually lost count of how many record highs gold hit this month. Gold futures and spot gold both started the month with new all-time highs. $2,095 an ounce for futures, $2,083 for spot. Futures ended the month $143 higher at $2,238 an ounce, and spot gold gained $150 after finishing …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Climate Change is Real. Real Socialists Promoting Their Lies, To Change The Political Climate. Notes From JWR: Special thanks to SurvivalBlog reader D.R. for the meme text. 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 I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.



Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 30, 2024

On March 30, 1867, William H. Seward, secretary of state under U.S. President Andrew Johnson, signed the Alaska Purchase, a treaty ceding Russian North America to the United States for a price—$7.2 million—that amounted to about two cents per acre. — On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and District of Columbia police officer Thomas K. Delahanty. Agent McCarthy took a bullet protecting Reagan. McCarthy was not wearing a bullet-proof vest. He …


The Smaller Things, by A. Midwester

To give you a little background, for most of my life I lived in an urban environment, everything I needed was just a short walk or drive away. It could have been a few 2x4s and screws for one of my many projects, a new tool when I needed it, or anything else like it. If it wasn’t available locally, I could easily order it online and expect it, almost without failure, within a day or two. It’s truly amazing what society has developed in terms of convenience. But it’s also scary to consider what would happen if that convenience …


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 Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 29, 2024

On March  24, 1974, farmers drilling a well near Xi’an, China, penetrated a subterranean chamber that led to the discovery of the terra-cotta army: 8,000 life-size terra-cotta soldiers and horses in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. — Today is the birthday of the gifted electronic and orchestral musician Vangelis. (Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, …


Coping With a Spring Snowstorm, by Hollyberry

Here in Maine we had been experiencing a mild winter and heading into spring warmer temperatures than normal. The ground was bare, little plants were poking their heads up and the birds were singing. Most people took the plows off of their truck and dreams of gardening early were running through our heads. Well, there is an old saying: Man plans and God laughs.  That came true. On March 20th into the 21st, we received about 9-10 inches of heavy, wet snow. Then the temperatures plummeted to teens with below-zero wind chills. Okay, this is spring in Maine and these …


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 some new taxes and proposed taxes. (See the Taxes section.) Precious Metals: The spot and futures prices of gold and silver kept up great strength this week. As of Thursday evening (March 28, 2024), here is a snapshot of the spot market: Gold: $2,247.30 USD per Troy ounce — up $42.00 (1.88%) …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 28, 2024

  On March 28th, 1942, the British army and navy raided St. Nazaire, in Operation Chariot. An obsolete British destroyer HMS Campbeltown, rigged with explosives and flying German flags, rammed the gates of German-occupied St. Nazaire port in France, and was time-fuse detonated. This killed 360 Germans and disabled the dry dock for the duration of the war. — On March 28th, 845, a 5,000-man-strong fleet of Danish Vikings invaded Frankish lands. They only retreated after besieging Paris and securing a ransom from the Frankish King Charles the Bald. This was part of a series of devastating raids begun by …


Barbering at Home, by SwampFox

Stereotypes are not a good thing. You know the “survivalist” or “mountain man” look that you see on television –long beard, unkempt hair, and generally rough clothing. While outdoor work and lack of supplies can lead to this condition, I believe it is possible to weather the hard times with good hygiene and style. When I was young, haircuts were usually done at home. Occasionally, I would go with my father to a barbershop, but that did not happen very often. Mostly, haircuts were done with a pair of scissors, and my father did a very good job with it. …