Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 19, 2024

Today, April 19th, is a genuine Red Letter Day. April 19th is the original Patriot Day which marks the multiple anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. Today also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in 1943, the BATF’s costly raid on the Branch Davidian Church in Waco, the gun turret explosion on the USS Iowa in 1989, the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013, and very sadly also the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. April 19th is also the birthday of novelist Ralph …


Our Black Swan Event – Part 1, by E.R.

The Black Swan is the metaphor often used when describing an unlikely event, that comes as a major surprise, having a catastrophic effect. Which Risks Do We Attempt to Mitigate? The news headlines in March, 2024 were rife with dire ‘official’ warnings of coming cyber attacks on water systems, echoing pronouncements previously made by that billionaires club and UN partner, The World Economic Forum, as the next big threat to follow the coronavirus. Was this yet more fear-mongering propaganda, or are they actually planning something? Also in the news, that hard-left urban center Toronto is contemplating the introduction of a …


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 investing aspect of the upcoming demise of gun-buying privacy in the United States. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Precious metals were up again Thursday evening (Friday morning, in Asia), on news of an Israeli retaliatory missile strike on Iran: Gold $2,421.40 up $25.10 (1.04%) Silver $28.87 up $0.35 (1.23%) …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 18, 2024

On April 18, 1775, British troops marched out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere (pictured) and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen. The Doolittle Tokyo Raid was launched on April 18, 1942. April 18th is the birthday of pastor and former Washington Representative Matt Shea. (Born 1974). On April 18th, 1906, the San Francisco earthquake struck northern California, …


An Elderly Prepper Moves On, by L.T.

My husband and I started following the writings of Jim Rawles many years ago and his advice helped us find our ideal location in the Missouri Ozarks. Then, unexpectedly, my husband passed away and now Jonathan Rawles’ SurvivalRealty website is helping me sell my homestead. The tapestry of life. My husband and I loved the challenge of creating a sustainable lifestyle, a productive homestead, and learning the rural life.  We took a piece of rather rough land and created a beautiful place. Not finished when he passed, but I’m not sure it would ever be finished, that was the enjoyable …


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, an estimate on full capacity magazine ownership. 700 Million+ Full Capacity Mags in Private Hands Reader H.L. sent us this:  Americans Own 700 Million+ Mags With Greater Than …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 17, 2024

On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 command module—carrying James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., and John L. Swigert, Jr.—entered Earth‘s atmosphere and splashed down, ending one of the most tense chapters in space history; four days earlier an oxygen tank had exploded, threatening the lives of the three astronauts. — On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Due to the Cuba/Soviet intelligence network as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, which was …


Reviving The Moribund 10th Amendment

One of the greatest strengths of our system of government is our Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments limit the power of the government. Though it is not perfect, this system has kept government in check, in several key spheres. The 10th Amendment is succinct, yet powerful.  It reads: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Sadly, the 10th Amendment has been degraded in the past 50 years by power-hungry statists. The American people are now over-taxed and …


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. — U.S. Navy Mocked for Photo of Commander With Rifle Scope Mounted Backwards. JWR’s Comments:  Perhaps the Navy should stick to their time-proven M14 deck rifles with iron sights. Thankfully, our potential opponents have much bigger guns and missiles to worry about, and the Navy handles those with deadly competency. o  o  o …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 16, 2024

April 16, 1746: Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil: Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeat the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart. The Jacobite Rising — which began a year before — was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. April 16th is the birthday of two notable novelists– the late J. Neil Schulman (pictured) and Samuel Youd. Agorist-Libertarian activist J. Neil Schulman (born April 16, 1953, died 2019) was best known as author of the novel Alongside Night. The late Samuel Youd (born …


Upcoming ATF Rule Will Ban Most Private Gun Sales

The ATF’s new re-definition of “Engaged in the Business” of selling firearms is expected to go into effect on or about May 15th. The ATF’s Final Rulemaking was announced on April 8, 2024.  Ignoring the weight of public comment, and ignoring logic, this new set of rules (see text at the ATF website) could make advertising and selling just one gun at a profit without a FFL a felony criminal offense.  Even worse, it shifts the burden of proof from the government to individuals. In effect, you will be assumed to be guilty unless you can prove that you made …


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 of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, an examination of the much-publicized  “Idaho ISIS” case. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho FBI arrests Idaho 18-year-old for ‘violent plot’ to attack churches on behalf of ISIS, Justice Department says. (A hat tip to reader C.B. for the link.) Charging documents are here. This article …