Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 8, 2024

It looks like there will be some big traffic jams and perhaps gasoline shortages for a few days in the solar eclipse path of totality, particularly in areas like Burlington, Vermont, where they are expecting clear skies. — The recent destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge inspired the selection of today’s Quote of the Day.  Sadly, the last two verses of our national anthem are only rarely quoted or publicly sung. — April 8th is the birthday of the late Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia. (Born, 1919, died November 20, 2007.) April 8th is also the anniversary of …


Yankee Thunder Purple Pigeon Hooks, by Thomas Christianson

“What are purple pigeon hooks? Are they used to hook purple pigeons? Where do purple pigeons live anyway? Why would someone want to hook them?” Actually, purple pigeon hooks are not hooks designed to catch purple pigeons. They are hooks used to attach clay pigeons to a horizontal support. The hooks are molded from a purple-colored polymer. Attaching clay pigeons to a support transforms them into excellent stationary reactive targets. I recently had the opportunity to test Yankee Thunder Purple Pigeon Hooks on the improvised range behind my pole barn. I was surprised by how much my accuracy began to …


Opportunity to Live on a Secure Family Farm for Americans or From Select Countries

Introductory note from JWR: I just received this update letter: “I wanted to write to the readers of SurvivalBlog about the search for a family to live on our family farm.  The opportunity is still open. We have one nearby family who answered an earlier post who is being considered to join us if our farm is ever activated as a bug out location. We are open to consider another family for a bug out location OR a family to someday move over here joining our family through marriage to our son.  Distance does not matter to us, but quality …


Recipe of the Week: Whole Wheat/ Flax Bread

The following recipe for Cathy’s Whole Wheat/ Flax Bread is courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader “Sis”. She notes: “This can be made by hand, mixing and kneeling by hand, mixed in mixer with dough hooks or the easiest ever, in an automatic bread maker, use the ‘Whole Wheat’ setting.” Note: You can grind up the flaxseed in a blender or coffee grinder or even with a mortar and pestle. JWR Adds: Doctors warn against consuming Flax Seed-based food products for anyone on blood thinners or statin drugs. For a 1-1/2 pound loaf:          Ingredients 1/3 cup flaxseed (ground). …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic depicts state minimum wages, in Dollars, as of January 1, 2024.  One way of looking at this is as a measure of government intrusiveness in free enterprise. (Map graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.       — Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes, …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 7, 2024

Despite some expected cloud cover over much of the path of totality, there is great anticipation for tomorrow’s total solar eclipse. Be careful to protect your eyes, and be careful on the roads. Carry extra fuel and a Get Home Bag. It is also wise to travel well-armed where it is legal, also carrying body armor and trauma first aid gear. Long queues of cars stuck in traffic might be an inviting target for some sort of terrorist attack. Be prepared to shoot back!  Mark my words: I have no doubt that there are sleeper cells of foreign terrorists in …


Dark Age 2.0: Melee Weapons – Part 4, by Dr. Joseph

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Swords and Machetes Swords are iconic weapons, typically owned by the wealthier in history due to the cost of making them. Swords are one of the few weapons to be personalized and given names, such as Excalibur, the magical sword of King Arthur. Today one can order hand-crafted swords, some with jewels and works of art, that may cost upwards of US $10,000, or much more. Swords are collector’s items, and once one starts, a passion, if not fanaticism, develops to get another, then another. This mania should be resisted by the …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: Watching The Eclipse Will Be Easy Driving Back Home Will Be Much More Difficult News Links: 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:

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 6, 2024

April 6, 1652: Cape Colony, the first European settlement in South Africa, was established by Dutch East India Company under Jan van Riebeeck. Today is the birthday of novelist Vince Flynn. (Born April 6, 1966, died June 19, 2013.) His death at age 47 was a loss to the literary world. This is also the birthday of famous American author and newsreel/radio journalist Lowell Thomas. On April 6, 1199, Mortally wounded in battle, Richard I (“the Lionheart”) died at Châlus in the Duchy of Aquitaine. On April 6, 1980, 3M began selling Post-it Notes in U.S. stores; the small pieces …


Dark Age 2.0: Melee Weapons – Part 3, by Dr. Joseph

(Continued from Part 2.) I will return to the question of swords below, but to make the discussion more systematic, let us outline some criteria for melee weapon choice. Some points are: (1) Availability and accessibility, one should have access to the weapons, and be able to acquire backups in case of breakage, or extra people in one’s team, even if this means improvisation, or making them first hand. (2) Versatility: the weapon should be able to cover the bases, so that a bladed weapon should be ideally suitable for both stabbing and slashing/chopping, and even a stick should still …


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 …



Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 5, 2024

April 5th, 1588 was the birthday of English philosopher and political theorist Thomas Hobbes, best known for his publications on individual security and the social contract. Today is also the birthday of Baron Arisaka Nariakira (April 5, 1852 – January 12, 1915) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. The inventor of the Arisaka Rifle, he is regarded as one of the leading arms designers in Japanese history, alongside Kijiro Nambu. On this day in 1614, Pocahontas married John Rolfe which ensured peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several year — I see that …