Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Friday — June 21, 2024

On this day in 1788, the US Constitution came into effect when New Hampshire was the 9th state to ratify it. — June 21st is the birthday of Rex Applegate (June 21, 1914 – July 14, 1998), author of Kill or Be Killed. He was a friend and mentor of SurvivalBlog’s Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio. — All of the percussion revolvers in our Elk Creek Company inventory are now on sale.  No paperwork is required. These can be mailed right to your door, in most states.  Cartridge conversion cylinders are available for many models. This sale ends on …


Weather the Storm with Backup Power – Part 2, by E.R.

(Continued from Part 1.) Charging Overview At a high level, the stages of charging a battery include: bulk, absorption, and float. On batteries that have been discharged deeply, there is also an equalization charge required. Bulk charging demands high current. Absorption charging requires less current but a slightly elevated voltage. Float is your trickle charge which has low current at about one volt above the stasis voltage of a charged battery. As covered in a recent SurvivalBlog article, the charge levels of flooded batteries can be determined accurately using a hydrometer. Each cell should have an equal level of charge. …


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, another look at the U.S. Nickel 5-cent piece. (See the Precious and Base Metals section.) Precious and Base Metals: RBI moves 1 lakh kg of gold from UK back to India, the first such move of this quantum since 1991.  JWR’s Comments:  That is 100 tons of gold!  Perhaps this is more evidence that the …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day

“To live his life in his own way, to call his house his castle, to enjoy the fruits of his own labour, to educate his children as his conscience directs, to save for their prosperity after his death — these are wishes deeply ingrained in civilised man. Their realization is almost as necessary to our virtues as to our happiness. From their total frustration disastrous results both moral and psychological might follow.” – C.S. Lewis


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — June 20, 2024

On June 20, 1840, American inventor Samuel F.B. Morse patented his telegraph. — Today marks the Summer Solstice, here in the Northern Hemisphere. — On June 20, 1867, US President Andrew Johnson announced the Alaska Purchase. — On June 20, 1921, there was 11.5″  of rainfall the town of Circle, Montana (a state record.) — June 20th is the birthday of Audie L. Murphy. He was born in 1925. He died in a plane crash on May 28, 1971. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …


Weather the Storm with Backup Power – Part 1, by E.R

This adventure begins with a windstorm after which it took crews days to repair the severely damaged power lines. At that time we had been using a pair of old end-of-life batteries rescued from a Cummins diesel pickup truck connected to a conventional marine battery charger as our backup power. We waited all day as our freezer continued operations, powered by these old batteries. Towards dusk, I finally dragged out the generator to power the rest. Surely, there was a better way. That summer, I finally made it a priority to get solar panels installed up on the roof and …


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, we look at ancient wheat. Genetic Treasure: Historic Wheat Collection Reader C.B. spotted this: Finding hidden genetic treasure: Study uncovers untapped diversity in historic wheat collection. The article …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — June 19, 2024

On June 19, 1991, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar surrendered to police. — June 19, 1778: Continental Army troops finally left their winter encampment at Valley Forge. — June 19, 1834 was the birthday of Charles Haddon (C.H.) Spurgeon, who died on 31 January, 1892. He was a British Particular Baptist preacher. — On June 19, 1914, the Hillcrest Mine Disaster: An explosion at Hillcrest mine, Alberta, killed 189 men in Canada’s worst mining disaster. — On June 19, 1917, the British Royal Family, which had strong German ties since George I, renounced its German names and titles and adopted …


D-Words: Countering American Decadence

It is abundantly clear that we are living in a decadent society.  Though I may sound like a dystopian taxonomist, I’ll add some more “Ds” to the list, to encapsulate America in the early 21st Century: Degenerate Disaffected Democratic (founded as a Republic, but now we hear that it is “our Democracy.”) Despotic Demagogic Depressed/Depressing Debased (especially our currency) Deluded/Delusional Defrauded Decrepit Disenfranchised (our votes are now either not counted or ignored) Despicable Disillusioned Drifting Devaluation (of human life) Dissident Divergent Decomposing/Decomposed Disagreeable Dastardly Dissolute Depleted Distorted Deplorable (a term that is misapplied by statists to describe honorable, traditional people) …


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. — I’ll start today’s column with a video about our kind of guy, serving as a representative, in Washington, DC.: Off the Grid with Thomas Massie. o  o  o A Practical Tip From JWR:  To avoid confusion with your family’s pairs of mud boots, use a quick blast of spray paint on the …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — June 18, 2024

On June 18, 1682, English-born Quaker William Penn founded Philadelphia, in the Pennsylvania Colony. — On June 18, 1767 English sea captain Samuel Wallis sighted Tahiti. He is considered the first European to reach the island. — June 18th is birthday of Pastor Douglas Wilson. Born in 1953, he is the pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho and a prodigious author of books and articles on Reformed theology. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at …


Extending The Life of Flooded Lead Acid Batteries, by Tunnel Rabbit

The following described method is for those of us with more time than money. But this may be an increasingly valuable skill in a prolonged austere environment. Note that this pertains only to 12 VDC flooded lead acid batteries, including semi-sealed or “maintenance-free” batteries. This will be a succinct tutorial. This is an old-school method, a technique of a bygone era. It is nothing new, but old school and time-tested. I have more than 40 years of experience in the automotive world. I’ve known about this since the early 1980s. My success rate is now at 70 percent, yet how …


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, the emphasis is on some recent bear news. Region-Wide: Grizzly Bear Recovery Zones and Estimated Range. o  o  o This writer obviously didn’t solicit any opposing opinions: Wildlife Activists Urge Continued Grizzly Bear Protections. Idaho: Island Park man shoots grizzly in defense-of-life. o  o  o …