Year: 2024

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our 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. — Jordan Peterson Flees “Totalitarian Hellhole” Canada For U.S. Due To Censorship, Taxes. The  article begins: “There were a number of celebrities claiming they’d move to Canada if President Trump was re-elected, but now there’s one Canadian who’s doing the opposite. World famous psychologist Jordan Peterson has said Canada is turning into a “totalitarian …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 17, 2024

On December 17th, 1718, France, Britain and Austria declared war on Spain. (War of the Quadruple Alliance 1718–1720.) — December 17th, 1905, was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 116 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 …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit

Remember that 1983 movie, A Christmas Story? It beautifully recreated a classic scene that captured the wonder and magic of Christmas, the anticipation and excitement of Santa’s arrival and the delivery of that Red Rider BB gun. In my case, the rifle most recently delivered by Santa was not a Red Rider BB gun, but something just as wonderful, yet better suited to an old man who is beginning to reminisce, something that is perfectly suited for the old man, but you could not know that until you had it in your hands. To my surprise, the fit and finish, …


A Book Review for the Children in Your Lives — A New Prepper Pete Series

Dear Readers, I want to bring to your attention an illustrated survival book series for your children.  These would make great Christmas/Hannukkah/Birthday presents. The series is called Prepper Pete and Friends and is written by Kermit Jones, Jr.  Ten years ago he started the series and published four books.  After a long hiatus Mr. Jones is adding more books to the series. The first four original books in the series were: “Prepper Pete Prepares, An Introduction to Prepping For Kids” “Prepper Pete’s Twelve Days of Prepper Christmas” “Survivalist Sam Stocks Up, The Four B’s of Prepping”, “Prepper Pete’s A Gun …


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 Bureau Of Land Management (BLM) control of western lands.   (See the Region Wide section.) Region-Wide An update: In August, Utah and 12 other states filed a suit, challenging BLM control over western lands:  ‘Without merit’: Feds respond to Utah’s public land lawsuit. …



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 …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 15, 2024

December 15, 1929: Swiss pilot and photographer Walter Mittelholzer was the first man to fly over Mount Kilimanjaro. — December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia. We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud. — December 15, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to …


Staying Sane and Happy in Isolation, by M.J.E.

When an October snowstorm brought down leaf-covered tree branches all over the city and onto the power lines, we were without electricity for nearly two weeks, and took in our friends who had neither a wood burning fireplace nor gas appliances. During the pandemic, lockdowns found people all over the world sheltering in their homes in isolation. In the dead of winter, with feet of snow on the ground, getting out of an isolated cabin can be not only dangerous, but sometimes impossible. Since we all prep, we have food and water and heat, our people are fed and the …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty It Was Because He Did The Right Thing It Was Not “By Reason of Fabulous Hair” News Link: Jury finds Daniel Penny not guilty in subway chokehold death of homeless man. 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.