Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 19, 2024

On August 19, 1561, Mary Queen of Scots arrived in Leith, Scotland to assume the throne after spending 13 years in France. — On August 19, 2020: Apple became the first US company to be valued at $2 trillion, just two years after it reached $1 trillion valuation. — UPDATE:  SOLD OUT — We have sold out of a batch of 10 antique Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Model 1896/11 rifles. We had them here at the ranch for just a week. An importer kindly hand-picked all antique (1898 or earlier) ones for me. There were only 10 antique ones out of about …


Log Home Repair, by Thomas Christianson

One of the major drawbacks of owning a log home is the amount of maintenance that such homes require. Logs decay if they are not properly maintained. To keep a log home from decaying, a log home owner must constantly inspect, stain, and repair the logs. My wife, “Kari”, and I have lived in a log home for the past 11 years. The home was built about 36 years ago. Kari and I have worked hard to maintain the home, but not all of the previous owners were as diligent as we are. At least one previous owner neglected to …


Recipe of the Week: R.J.’s Canned Meat Patties

The following recipe for Canned Meat Patties is from SurvivalBlog reader R.J.  It works well in combination with other storage foods. Ingredients Canned chicken, salmon, or almost any type of canned meat or seafood will suffice. Bread crumbs, or cornmeal, or ground-up crackers Eggs (fresh, or you can use reconstituted powdered eggs.) Directions Combine canned meat, bread crumbs, and eggs in a mixing bowl. Combine it all together thoroughly and start making individual patties of desired size. Pour a bit of cooking oil into a pan and turn heat on to medium-high, be sure to let the oil heat up …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic shows Stand Your Ground (aka “Castle Doctrine”) Laws and legal precedents in the United States. Note that this data ironically comes from The Giffords Center, a rabidly anti-gun legislative pressure group. This map shows how out-of-touch the gun grabbers are with the majority of Americans and our long-standing legal traditions. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit and Statista.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.         — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Oh Napolean Bonaparte, You’re the cause of my woe Since my bonny light horseman to the wars he did go Broken hearted I wander, broken hearted I remain Since my bonny light horseman in the wars he was slain When Bonny commanded his armies to stand And proudly to his banners all gaily and grand He leveled his cannons right over the plain Andy my bonny lgith horseman in the wars he was slain And if I was a small bird and had wings and could fly I would fly over the salt sea where my true love does lie …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 18, 2024

On August 18, 1872, Aaron Montgomery Ward issued the first “catalog” for his mail-order business, it was one sheet listing 163 available items. — August 18th is the birthday of Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator who was best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. — 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 Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the …


Observations on an Attempted Assassination, by R.G.

What a world we live in when we are given evidence that we cannot believe our government institutions. This assassination attempt keeps getting crazier and crazier. This is proof before our eyes that we are currently living in a world of disinformation and subterfuge. In the days of Kennedy and Reagan, the alphabet agencies could get away with something like this. But with smartphones and social media of today, it becomes infinitely harder to attempt an assassination and then get away with it. I am a retired quality assurance manager who in my past life specialized in determining what went …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: These Are The People Who Characterize J.D. Vance as “Weird” News Link:  JD Vance Blames His ‘Weird’ Label On ’24-Year-Old Social Media Interns’. Notes From JWR: 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.  


The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 17, 2024

On August 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille struck the US coastline and killed 259 people (mainly in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.) — On August 17, 1859, the first air mail (in a balloon) took off from Lafayette, Indiana. — 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 Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be …


Growing and Preparing Dried Beans – Part 2, by A.F.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) When the time to cook arrives, the first step is to sort through the beans and remove any detritus or shriveled beans. In commercial products, it isn’t uncommon to find small rocks that were collected by the combine at harvest mixed in with the beans. Your next step is deciding if you are going to pre-soak or not. I tend to pre-soak dried peas but skip the pre-soak for beans. In both cases, I prefer cooking in a crock pot over using a pot on the stovetop. The common belief is that …


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 the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 16, 2024

On August 16, 1777, American militiamen led by General Stark defeated British forces at the Battle of Bennington, during the American War of Independence. The battle was fought at Walloomsac, New York, ten miles northwest of Bennington, Vermont. — On August 16th, 1841, President John Tyler vetoed a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States. In response, angry supporters of the bank gathered outside the White House and burned an effigy of Tyler. — We are pleased to announce that the kind folks at MobileSecSolutions.com are donating two new prizes that will be part of …


Growing and Preparing Dried Beans – Part 1, by A.F.

Do you remember your first assigned chore from childhood? Starting at age four, I was tasked with walking up the ridge to my grandparent’s home every Monday around five o’clock to bring home our portion of the week’s pinto beans. To my knowledge, my grandmother fixed pintos every Monday from the late 1940s through the late 1990s. On Sunday evening she would spill out the dry beans on her kitchen table, then “look them” for stones or debris then sweep them into a large bowl to soak overnight. On Monday morning the beans were rinsed, moved into a large pot, …