Month: April 2024

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 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 26, 2024

On April 26, 1785, John James Audubon, an American ornithologist who became well known for his drawings and paintings of North American birds, was born in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue, West Indies (now Haiti). — On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …


Weapons of Mass Deception – Part 4, by R.G.

(Continued from Part 3.  This concludes the article.) King David and the Threshing Floor– “But the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying You have shed much blood and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My name…” (1Ch 22:8) King David ordered a census to be taken against God’s desires. So, Jehovah sent a plague upon Israel for three days that killed many Israelis. The plague was halted by God at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. To honor Jehovah for stopping the plague, David bought the threshing floor and built an altar there. …


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 rising mortgage interest rates. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Just as I predicted, there has been some profit-taking in the gold and silver markets.  As of Thursday afternoon, spot gold was around $2,345 and silver was around $27.65 per Troy ounce.  But the markets won’t be fooled. I expect strong …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 25, 2024

On April 125, 1959, in one of the largest civil engineering feats ever undertaken, the St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened, linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. — Today is the birthday of physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). He was known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission as well as for the development of Marconi’s Law and a radio telegraph system. He is often considered the inventor of radio. — Going, going… We are now down to just 15 of the waterproof 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks. I’ve reduced the price on those remaining sticks …


Weapons of Mass Deception – Part 3, by R.G.

(Continued from Part 2.) Weapons of Mass Destruction – “…Their flesh shall rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall rot in their sockets. And their tongue shall rot in their mouths” (Zec 14:12) It is well known that Israel has nuclear weapons and capabilities to deliver them to Iran. Israel has never signed the Non-Proliferation treaties and has developed the “Samson Option.” This option will be used as a last resort to destroy all their surrounding enemies if Israel felt their very existence was threatened. Iran has been working on nuclear research for many years and …


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, a Ukranian source document on anti-drone tactics. PDF: Ukranian Military Anti-Drone Tactics Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson sent us this public domain document, to house on the SurvivalBlog …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 24, 2024

On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into Earth orbit. Unhindered by the impurities and distortions of Earth’s atmosphere, the 2.4 meter (7.9 feet) aperture telescope has delivered some of the most spectacular images of the far reaches of the Universe. April 24th is the birthday of Carolyn Cole (born 1961), a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. This is also the day that the Armenian Genocide began, in 1915. Ottoman (Turk) Muslims slaughtered 1.5 million of their Christian neighbors, intellectuals, and community leaders. The Ottoman government proceeded with multiple phases to round up …


Weapons of Mass Deception – Part 2, by R.G.

(Continued from Part 2.) Important Biblical End-Time Trends Involving Israel and Iran “And He spoke a parable to them: Behold the fig-tree and all the trees. Now when they sprout leaves, seeing it you will know that summer is now near. So also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” (Luke 21:29-31) I wrote a recent article in SurvivalBlog concerning key trends that will trigger the Final Days from a Biblical viewpoint. Several of these are specific to Israel and Iran. As described in Matthew 24, a key condition to knowing these Trends …


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. — A Special Request From JWR: I’d like to ask a favor: I’m hoping that there is a SurvivalBlog reader who has a spare full carton of 25 (or perhaps two cartons) of the LONG USPS  “Game and Puzzle” Large Priority Mail boxes.  (See photo, above.) For my Elk Creek Company mailorder biz, …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 23, 2024

On April 23, 1936, singer-songwriter Roy Orbison, known for his soaring voice and for his carefully crafted ballads of loneliness and heartache, was born in Vernon, Texas. — The oldest US public institution, Boston Latin School, was founded on April 23, 1635. — “Shane”, directed by George Stevens and based on the 1949 novel by Jack Schaefer, starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur premiered on April 23, 1949. — There are several interesting new retreat property listings over at SurvivalRealty.com. These include: Your Own Private Idaho – Clark Fork. 221 Off-Grid Acres in Western North Carolina. Engineered Lakefront Homestead – …