Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 2, 2024

On September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London began at 2 A.M. on Pudding Lane. It is estimated that 80% of London was destroyed in the fire. Some 13,200 homes were destroyed, along with St. Paul’s Cathedral (which had stood for 500 years), and 84 out of London’s 109 parish churches. Thatched roofs had been formally banned since the Great Fire of Southwark in 1212, but that roofing method was still widely used in defiance of the ban up until the Great Fire of London. — September 2, 1969 was the day that the first American automatic teller machine …


1791 Gunleather Premium Rifle Sling, by Thomas Christianson

The 1791 Gunleather Premium Rifle Sling is a nicer-than-average, leather, two-point rifle sling. It is expertly handcrafted in the USA of American heavy native steerhide with a slip-resistant suede backing. The workmanship is excellent, with outstanding cutting, stitching, and finishing work. Full Disclosure: 1791 Gunleather is an affiliate advertiser of SurvivalBlog. SurvivalBlog will receive a small commission if you use our link to order. The sling cost $54.99 at the time of this writing from 1791gunleather.com. That is surprisingly affordable for a high-quality, handcrafted, American-made product. SurvivalBlog readers who use the discount code “survival10”, will receive an additional 10% off …


Recipe of the Week:  Roasted Yellow Summer Squash

The following simple recipe for Roasted Yellow Summer Squash is from SurvivalBlog reader Carol in Delaware . Ingredients Yellow Summer Squash  — either straight or crookneck type. Olive Oil Ground Black Pepper Salt Grated Parmesan Cheese Herbs (optional) Chopped almonds (optional) Directions  Slice squash into rounds (or quarter-rounds if the squash is huge.) Coat them in olive oil, by tossing. Add salt, to taste. Add pepper, to taste. Place the squash in a single layer on a lipped baking sheet. Top with Parmesan cheese. Roast in a preheated oven for 12-to-14 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Move the …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic is a map that shows the 116 U.S. counties that are more populous than the entire state of Wyoming. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail 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.



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — September 1, 2024

On September 1, 1752, Pennsylvania’s new State House bell (known today as the Liberty Bell) arrived in Philadelphia from Whitechapel Foundry in London, England. September 1, 1807: Aaron Burr was acquitted of the treason charge of plotting to set up an empire. His trial has been called The Trial of The Century. September is National Preparedness Month. And September is also Kilted to Kick Cancer Month. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  …


Building a Versatile AR, by Bulldog

Living the prepper lifestyle for many decades has fas its perks…well, sort of! It typically means there are mounds of extra supplies, boxes of spare parts, jars of both home and commercially canned foods, dry-canned foods, buckets of grain and beans in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, and shelving anywhere it can possibly be built. Yeah, I’ve probably left out a few things, but you get the idea. It also generally means you are often versed and proficient in tasks the average person has never even considered. This of course can be a hindrance when you and your wife are …


August, 2024 in Precious Metals, by Everett Millman

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and silver’s performance and examine the factors that affect the metal prices. WHAT DID GOLD AND SILVER DO IN AUGUST? The precious metals enjoyed another month of modest gains in August. The results would have been more impressive if not for a sharp sell-off on the last trading day of the month. Spot gold began the month around $2,450 per troy ounce and finished at $2,502/oz. Silver prices opened August below $28.50/oz and …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: In My PC’s Calendar, I Tried Deleting The 2020s, To Start Over… But It Didn’t Work! 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:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 31, 2024

On August 31, 1889, the Second International Electrical Congress adoped the Joule as a unit of energy (after James Prescott Joule), the Watt as a unit of power (after James Watt) and the Quadrant as a unit of electrical inductance. (The Quadrant was later renamed the Henry.)  Pictured is Scottish engineer, chemist, and inventor James Watt. — On August 31, 1745 in the Jacobite Rising: Bonnie Prince Charlie reached Blair Castle, Scotland. — August 31, 1422, Henry VI became King of England at the age of 9 months. — August 31st, 1992 is the day that Randy Weaver surrendered to …


Carry Trade Trap: Why The Fed Has Waited So Long To Cut Rates, by Brandon Smith

Editor’s Introductory Note: This article was written by Alt-Market.us Editor Brandon Smith and originally published by the Birch Gold Group. It is reposted with permission. — In 2022 there was considerable debate among alternative economists what the Federal Reserve was likely to do in the face of rising stagflation. There were people who argued that the Fed would capitulate to stock market demands, stop raising interest rates and return to Quantitative Easing (QE). These analysts operated on the assumption that the central bank wants to save the US economy from substantial deflationary crisis and that they will happily print money …


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:

“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 30, 2024

On August 30, 1146, European leaders outlawed the crossbow, with the stated intent of ending war for all time. (Pictured is a 16th-Century German Crossbow.)  Here is a quote from an article titled: The Crossbow – A Medieval Doomsday Device: “For much of the Middle Ages, the crossbow was considered to be one of the most destabilizing weapons in existence, not unlike today’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.” In the 12th Century, the crossbow was considered by many to be a weapon of mass destruction. Not only was it was remarkably accurate and deadly at vast distances, but shockingly, the …