Year: 2024

Short Season Gardening, by Tunnel Rabbit

I am known for my many articles about radio communication, but my secret passion is gardening. My mother grew up barefoot in a dirt floor log cabin built by my Grandfather on his 100-acre farm he worked with a team of horses that fed a family of 10 during the Great Depression. I am half hillbilly/farm boy as that is how I grew up in the country on a small ranch, and 100 percent American as my father’s side represents how the other part of America lived. I wish I had more time for gardening. But I strive to be …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: That Face You Make — When You Are Told That In The Past Two Years Under Biden… …The Number of Military-Age Illegals Entering The Country Was Six Times The Manpower of the Active U.S. Army News Links: U.S. Military Manpower.  (Estimated: 453,551 in the Active Army) Arizona sheriff: Border crossings are by primarily ‘military-aged men’. Alarming Rise in Military-Aged Chinese Men Entering US Illegally, Border Patrol Union Chief Warns. 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 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. And these things give …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 11, 2024

On May 11, 1910, Montana’s Glacier National Park was established. On May 11, 1068, Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London. And on May 11, 1949, Israel was admitted into the United Nations. — I just put all of my knife and bayonet inventory on sale, at Elk Creek Company. This sale ends on Friday,  May 17th, so order soon! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists …


Shelving: Storage Projects – Part 2, by A.F.

Back to building cabinets. A cabinet is only a box built from materials the same width having smooth parallel sides. For wall hung units, the depth is usually around 12 inches. If you subtract for the thickness of face frame material (approximately ¾ inch) then the plywood panels can all be cut at 11-1/4 inches. You can make them which ever width you want, but an advantage of this size is that each full sheet of plywood can yield four sections eight feet long. If you are brand new to woodworking, keep in mind that a saw blade eats somewhere …


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:

“O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 10, 2024

On May 19, 1960, the US atomic submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe, code-named Operation Sandblast, following the same track as the first circumnavigation led by Ferdinand Magellan. Triton was then under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach. On May 10, 1972, Top Gun Graduate Randall “Duke” Cunningham and his backseater Wally “Irish” Driscoll shot down three MiGs in a dogfight and became the first Ace of the Vietnam War. He later commanded the Top Gun school when they came to make the first movie. His Vice Commander was John McCain. May 10th …


Shelving: Storage Projects – Part 1, by A.F.

We never have enough storage, do we? Be it a lack of dry coverage for equipment and gardening tools or pantries that are packed so full that first in first out rotation becomes a full contact sport. I enjoy working with my hands and trying to solve problems. In this two-part article, I hope to share some insights, ideas and projects that have helped us with storage for food, preserving supplies, and household items along our self-reliance journey. When we purchased our home, the property included a 24-foot by 30-foot dirt floor metal building, a derelict house, and the most …


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 continuing bull markets in physical gold and silver. Precious Metals: The editors of The New York Times have apparently awakened and are now smelling the coffee: China Is Buying Gold Like There’s No Tomorrow. o  o  o The silver-to-gold ratio is shifting again. As of Wednesday, it took 84.19 ounces of …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 9, 2024

On May 9, 1754, the first cartoon was published in America depicting a divided snake with the motto: “Join or Die”. It was published by Benjamin Franklin, the publisher of the Pennsylvania Gazette. — On May 9th, 1945, Herman Goering– commander in chief of the Luftwaffe, president of the Reichstag, head of the Gestapo, prime minister of Prussia, and Hitler’s designated successor– was taken prisoner by the U.S. Seventh Army in Bavaria. Goering, who was addicted to painkillers due to a wound, was instrumental in creating concentration camps for political enemies. It was Goering who ordered the purging of German …


Low Tech Unconventional Radio Techniques, by Tunnel Rabbit

The following examples illustrate low-tech and unconventional uses of radio that are widely available. I am an unaccomplished civilian with no training on any of these topics and have little formal education of any kind. I am self-taught using the resources available in military manuals and on the Internet. Avoiding RDF and Attacks by Drones: Remote TX Since preppers are not militarily significant targets, it is unlikely scarce resources would be used to locate our low-power transmissions. That said, because drone technology is rapidly progressing and drones are now ubiquitous on the battlefield, we might anticipate that future drone swarms …


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 the planned Highland Rim developments. Highland Rim Project in Kentucky and Tennessee This biased article ran in a collegiate newspaper, back in February: Highland Rim …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The importance of this article will scarcely be doubted by any persons, who have duly reflected upon the subject. The militia is the natural defence of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the enormous expenses, with which they are attended, and the facile means, which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the government, or trample upon the rights of the people. The right …