Month: September 2024

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 the raging bull gold market. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: With spot gold hitting another all-time high of $2,693.00 per Troy ounce on Thursday morning, it now appears that the U.S. COMEX short traders are near capitulation. (Meanwhile, spot silver hit $32.61.)  When the shorts finally give up their weekly see-saw …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 26, 2024

September 26, 1655, at the height of the Great Plague of London, 7,165 people died throughout the previous week.  The familiar cry in the street was “Bring Out Your Dead”, as the death carts circulated through the city. On September 26, 1396, Ottoman Sultan Bajezid I ordered the beheading hundreds of Crusaders after the Battle of Nicopolis. And on September 26, 1908 an ad for the Edison Phonograph first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First …


Prepper Group Training: Indigenous Guerrilla Teams – Part 1, by Bulldog

I would like to begin my topic by examining two concepts. I feel both ideas illustrate the hearts and souls of many men and women within today’s prepper and survivalist communities. The first one is an analogy. Its origins have most been often attributed to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. Lt. Col. Grossman’s premise was that all people can be placed into one of three groups; “sheep, sheepdogs, or wolves.”


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 “interesting” U.S. military deployments. Alaska Troops Deploy to Remote Shemya Island Alaska troops deploy to remote Shemya Island, less than 300 miles from Russia. JWR’s …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 25, 2024

On September 25, 1890, Sequoia National Park was established by US President Benjamin Harrison. This was California’s first national park and the country’s second. — On September 25, 1989, archaeologists opened the Titus of Rhine grave in Amsterdam. JWR’s Comment: Apparently it is no longer considered grave desecration if archaeologists do it… — On September 25th, 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. — Today we feature a lengthy response to a comment to a writing contest entry. We are seeking entries for Round …


A Response to a Question on .45 LC in .410, by Tunnel Rabbit

If, in desperate times we need to take risks that would in normal times be unacceptable and possibly extra legal with the extraordinary circumstances.  Examining the limits of the risks that we would consider to be acceptable would be an individual’s judgment call.  Some of the contents of one of my recent articles is predicated on the situation when and where we might be faced with in a future dystopian world where we would be forced to hunt in order to supplement our limited food source to avoid starvation.  Some of the methods involving firearms are not now, or should …


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. — Amid Growing Violence, More Churches Turn to Faith-Based Security Groups. o  o  o SurvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Mike Williamson sent us a link to some valid criticism of a prepper ad, over at  X/Twitter. JWR’s Comments: The rust on that saw shows that it isn’t used often, or well cared for.  And seeing him …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 24, 2024

On September 24, 1529, Sultan Suleiman and his Ottoman troops arrived in Vienna, beginning a whole series of smaller sieges in the region, culminating with the Turk’s failed Second Siege, in 1683. — Today’s feature article is a short guest post by former congressman Dr. Ron Paul, selected by JWR. It is reposted with permission. — We are seeking entries for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll …


The First Steps Toward a Liberty Platform, by Ron Paul

Last weekend several hundred of us gathered in Washington, DC, at the Ron Paul Institute conference to again proclaim our dedication to the cause of liberty and our opposition to constant US government assaults on that liberty. Our collaborators included old friends like Judge Andrew Napolitano, who explained that the Bill of Rights was not added to the Constitution to grant Americans liberties, but to recognize liberties already existing for all persons – regardless of nationality – by virtue of their humanity. That is why the US government was purposely or unwittingly in the wrong when it tried to argue …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, we focus on another bear attack in Glacier National Park. (See the Montana section.) Region-Wide The AmRRON Amateur Radio Network is Streaming Live on Sunday Nights on the Internet. o  o  o The Pacific Northwest is Among The Best U.S. Metros for Job Growth in …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 23, 2024

On September 23, 1779 John Paul Jones aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard defeated the British frigate HMS Serepis and became the first well-known naval hero of the United States.  He answered a call to surrender from his English counterpart with the famous quotation, “I have not yet begun to fight!” — We are running a 3-week-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Until October 11th, 2024, all of our Pietta brand blackpowder revolvers and all of our M1891 Argentine Mauser rifles have their prices deeply discounted.  Take a look! — Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear …