Day: May 1, 2024

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 1, 2024

On May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building in New York City officially opened. For four decades it was the tallest building in the world, and it is considered a U.S. landmark. — On May 1, 2004, The European Union was enlarged to include the new member states of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia — Today we present a product review and field test by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We are in need of entries for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  More than $875,000 worth of prizes …


NightBuddy 230° LED Headlamp, by Thomas Christianson

The NightBuddy 230° LED headlamp uses an LED lightbar that bends around the forehead at the front of the lamp. This provides an even flood of illumination that is excellent for working outdoors in the dark. It is reliable, lightweight, compact, rechargeable, water-resistant, and easy to use. Battery life is somewhat less than advertised. I must also admit to being somewhat disgruntled by the fact that it is made in China. I feel that NightBuddy Customer Support was not 100% forthright when I inquired about its place of manufacture. The NightBuddy cost $34.95 from www.nightbuddy.com at the time of this …


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. — An American came back from Europe with a $143,000 phone bill after failing to set up international roaming. o  o  o Reader J.R.G. wrote: “I read the recent review by Mr. Christianson. I own the same knife model that was reviewed.  I was attracted to it by its leaf-bladed resemblance to the …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Summing up: Correctly interpreted, the simple economic model specifically predicts that people will be less selfish as voters than as consumers. Indeed, like diners at an all-you-can-eat buffet, we should expect voters to “stuff themselves” with moral rectitude. Once again, analogies between voting and shopping are deeply misleading.” – Bryan Caplan, The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies