Day: December 16, 2024

Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 16, 2024

On December 16, 1497, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama became the first European to sail along Africa’s East Coast. He named it Natal. — The Romanian Revolution began on December 16th, 1989. No less than 1,066 civilians died in the successful attempt to overthrow the dictatorial President Nicolae Ceaușescu. — December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though …


MyTopo Waterproof Topographical Maps, by Thomas Christianson

Have you ever tried to read a map in the rain? Or a map that got wet when a canoe tipped over? Or a map that accidentally got dropped in creek that you were crossing? If you have, you know that water and maps are not on very friendly terms with each other. MyTopo Waterproof Topographical Maps offer outdoorsmen a more weather-resistant navigational aid than traditional paper maps. MyTopo maps are waterproof, frostproof, and stand up to repeated folding better than traditional paper maps. They are available in the newest post-2009 USGS quads, the classic pre-2009 USGS quads, game management …


Simple Farm Cheese Recipe

Reader Brian H. wrote to ask me about how I make the Farm Cheese that I’ve mentioned a few times in the Editors’ Prepping Progress column. I don’t claim any special cheesemaking knowledge.  The following Simple Farm Cheese recipe that I’ve used many times comes from “The Cheese Queen”, Ricki Carroll, in her excellent book “Home Cheesemaking”, pages 104-105: Ingredients 2 gallons of milk 1 packet of Direct set mesophilic starter or 4 ounces of prepared mesophilic starter 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet (or 1/2 rennet tablet) diluted in 1/2 cup of cool  unchlorinater water. 1 Tablespoon of cheese salt. Cheese …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: How Americans Heat Their Homes. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit and Maps.com.) JWR’s Comments:  In the Midwest, natural gas is popular in urban areas, and propane in rural areas. Despite the advent of electric heat pumps, propane is gaining in popularity in the southeast and Texas, where higher electricity rates and power outages have made many residents reconsider their home heating options.  The extended grid power failure in Texas in February, 2021 was a wakeup call for people who rely on electricity for home heating and cooking. The supply of natural gas was also partly disrupted, but propane users …