Year: 2024

Ghillie Kettle Maverick, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front If you want to boil enough water to make a cup or more of tea or other hot beverage as quickly and efficiently as possible using a handful of twigs, pine cones, or other dry biomass, a Ghillie Kettle may be the ideal tool for the job. It can have your water boiling in about 3 minutes or so. That gives almost-microwave-like preparation times in the field for just-add-boiling-water food and beverage options. Ghillie Kettles are handmade in the UK and come in three sizes. The Maverick can boil up to 2 cups of water …


Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Bread

The following simple recipe for Peanut Butter Bread is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 new bonus books included in the new 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. Ingredients 1/2 cupful peanut butter 3-1/2 cupfuls bread flour 1/2 cupful sugar 3 teaspoonfuls baking-powder 1 cupful milk 1 egg 1/2 teaspoonful salt Directions Cream the peanut butter and sugar. Add the egg, well beaten. Mix and sift the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk. Beat the entire mixture well …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 18, 2024

February 18, 1848 was the birthday of Louis Comfort Tiffany—an American designer internationally recognized as one of the greatest proponents of Art Nouveau, particularly in the art of glassmaking. February 18th, 1898 was the birthday of Enzo Ferrari, the car manufacturer who invented the Ferrari. Today is the birthday of astronaut Theodore Cordy “Ted” Freeman (February 18, 1930 – October 31, 1964.)  He was killed in a birdstrike flying accident, while flying a T-38 Talon jet trainer. He was the first casualty of NASA’s manned space program. — We need more entries for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …


Retreat Owner Profile: Dr. and Mrs. Epsilon

Editor’s Introductory Note:  It has been several years since we’ve posted any retreat owner profiles. Here is one that illustrates what can be accomplished when someone consistently plans and prepares, over the  course of several years.  It has just been added to our Profiles page, as Profile #24. – JWR — Present home/retreat: 14-year-old stucco one-story home on 18 fenced arable acres with plentiful irrigation rights and a perennial stream in Western Colorado; 3,600 square-foot house; heated by solar, propane furnace, and 2 wood stoves; fenced 25-tree orchard and 150-vine vineyard plus two gardens; 5 outbuildings; 2 miles from nearest …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: If the Woke Believe That There are “Hundreds” of Genders Then Why Do They Use The LGBTQ Acronym With a “B” in It, for “Bisexual”? Article Link: How are there ‘hundreds’ of genders? 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:

“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 17, 2024

On February 17th, 1864, the Confederate submarine Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy ship when it successfully attacked the USS Housatonic in the waters off Charleston, South Carolina. The submarine was named after its chief financial backer, Horace L. Hunley. The wreckage of H.L. Hunley  (pictured) was discovered in 1995, and raised on August 8, 2000.  The remains of the crew were buried on April 17, 2004 at Charlestons’ Magnolia Cemetery, following a ceremony parade attended by tens of thousands. February 17th, 1844 was the birthday of Aaron Montgomery Ward, founder of the mail-order business Montgomery Ward. …


Lessons Learned from the Alabama Ice Storm, by H.J.

Some Recent History In June 2022, we sold our house and moved to a 38-foot long 5th wheel camper. After the Christmas 2022 cold snap, my wife gave me the riot act. We had to be out of the camper by December 2023. We found a house; we liked and bought it. It is not the ideal prepping spot, but it is a town to live in. In September 2023, we started moving into the house. We were surprised how much stuff we had in the camper. For reference, we also had three storage units full of stuff. To date, …


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 ‘n …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. In …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 16, 2024

On February 16, 1959, after defeating the forces of dictator General Fulgencio Batista, Fidel Castro became premier of Cuba and transformed the island country into the Western Hemisphere’s first communist state.  This began five decades of repression, economic stagnation, and largely self-imposed poverty for the island nation.  In the photo above, Castro is pictured in 1978. He died on November 25, 2016, a decade after handing power to his brother Raul. February 16th is the birthday of Edgar John Bergen, (1903-1978) an American actor, comedian, and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Charlie McCarthy …


A Water System Adventure – Part 2, by E.R.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) I used 30 amp Anderson Power Pole connectors with 12 AWG (American Wire Gauge) stranded ‘zip cord’ for the connections. I did this so that replacing any potentially failed components would be quick and easy. Do however note that 12 AWG wire, while versatile, is considered slightly large for a pump that might use only 8 amps, intermittently. The inlet of the Shurflo RV pump was connected from the outlet of the storage tote using a fitting which adapted the IBC outlet to a garden hose thread. The outlet of the RV …


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, a further examination of Mainland China’s economic trouble. (See the Mainland China Economy Update section.) Precious Metals: Online Auction Features Hoard of 1,700 Morgan Silver Dollars from Single-Owner Collection. o  o  o Silver Demand Expected to Hit Second-Highest Level on Record in 2024. o  o  o At Gold-Eagle.com: Central Bank Gold Buying in 2023 Topped …