Year: 2024

Preserving Chicken Eggs, by Mrs. Alaska

Egg laying is partially predicated on the season. Our hens, of various breeds, are always most prolific layers in the summer months. In the autumn, when they molt (shed their feathers and grow new ones) they do not lay at all for 6 to 8 weeks. During the cold winter months in Alaska, they shiver in the chilly coop, laying maybe half as often as in the summer. It is only in March, when we have 12 hours of daylight, that they venture out into the snow and start to lay regularly again. Therefore, I learned various ways to save …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Remember: In The Gospels of Mark and Luke, a Demon-Possessed Man Referred to Himself With The Plural Pronouns “We”, “Us”, and “Legion” News Link: University of Oregon: Understanding Pronouns 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:

“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 20, 2024

On April 20, 1902, Pierre and Marie Curie isolated the radioactive compound radium chloride. On April 20th, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, creating the worst known offshore oil spill. April 20th is also the day that we remember the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy, where two students stormed into a suburban high school in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, at lunchtime with guns and explosives, killing 13 and wounding dozens …


Our Black Swan Event – Part 2, by E.R.

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.) The Black Swan Has Landed Following the arrival of guests, we found ourselves using more water than we should have. When one is dependent on rainwater, one simply cannot afford luxuries like taking a bath every single day – that is the simple reality. And the young children, they certainly did need their baths at the end of each day. One morning, 10 days later – we had our Black Swan event – two inches of rainfall in less than one hour! Our 250 gallon water collection tote overflowed in short order. …


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:

“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an …


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 …