Year: 2024

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 22, 2024

On February 22, 1847,  U.S. General Zachary Taylor led troops against a Mexican force commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista. February 22, 1857 was the birthday of Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist who was the first to broadcast and receive radio waves and helped to invent radar technology On this day in 1943, Sophie Scholl was executed by beheading for organizing the White Rose group–a student resistance to the Hitler regime. She had been convicted of high treason, after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU) with …


Homebrewing Benefits for a Prepper – Part 1, by Joseph R.

I’m a young man who considers himself a prepper. I love to pore over survival manuals and guides, stock up on resources, and prepare for an apocalypse. It grants me peace of mind in a crazy world. One day while reading a book on self-reliance, I came across a recipe for brewing amber American ale. I thought it would be a fun and simple thing to try, and when finished I could store some for an emergency and give some away to family and neighbors, potentially earning goodwill. When I did a bit of research however, I ended up going …


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, a further look at artificial intelligence (AI). AI and the New Kind of Propaganda Over at Off-Guardian: AI and the new kind of propaganda. Here is a pericope: …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 21, 2024

On February 21, 1947, Edwin Land (pictured) presented his Polaroid photo product, the world’s first instant photos, in New York City. On February 21, 1972, Richard Nixon became the first US President to visit China, normalizing relations between the countries in a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing. On February 21, 1995, American businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. It was the first of his many aviation records. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 111 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing …


Why I Bought a Pluggable Hybrid EV Car, by R.G.

I live in the high desert in the Southwest on a 20 acre homestead within a small farm/ranch community of 200 hardy souls. My homestead includes all the typical accouterments of a homestead including wells, septic, gardens, greenhouse, tractor, barn, and animals. I recently installed a 8,000 watt off-grid solar system. A good-sized county seat town is 20 miles away with WalMart, drug stores, grocery stores, local hardware store, courthouse, and regional hospital within that 20 mile range. An extra five road miles gets me to a Costco and big-box hardware stores. A major city is 100 miles away with …


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. — Avalanche Lily tracked this down: Sweden’s New War/Terrorism Emergency Preparedness Brochure, in English. o  o  o Reader Thomas M. wrote to ask: “Mr. Rawles, do you have a recommendation for a tablet that one can use for viewing the materials on the SurvivalBlog archives [waterproof USB sticks] that are put out every …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 20, 2024

On February 20, 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., the oldest of seven astronauts selected by NASA for Project Mercury spaceflight training (and later a U.S. senator), became on this day in 1962 the first American to orbit Earth, doing so three times. — On February 20, 1902, Ansel Adams, the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century, was born in San Francisco. — Today is also the birthday of novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson (1926–2013). He wrote many sci-fi television scripts. His novella I Am Legend later was adapted into three different movies over the course of five decades, …


Caveat Emptor – “Let the Buyer Beware”, by Steve M.

As you make prepping related purchases, bear in mind that there are transactional risks that should be considered and mitigated. Two recent incidents have served as a reminder that business practices have changed, for the worse in my experience. Business accountability that we once took for granted, can no longer be assumed. A common saying of old was “the customer is always right”, but I’m afraid that Biblical principles are increasingly ignored and negative societal trends have permeated the business world, changing the focus away from a customer-first. Let me first summarize two recent transactions. I am of course withholding …


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 of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, another look at an Idaho videoblogging family. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho An update from the North Idaho vlogging Souza family: We Finally Finished It! Now Comes the FUN Part – Building Our Own Home. o  o  o This made international news: Idaho teen, 19, …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 19, 2024

On February 19, 1942, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. — Several readers mentioned this news: Most lethal sniper in Marine Corps history, Chuck Mawhinney, dead at 75. — On February 19, 1878, Thomas Edison patented the phonograph. — A reminder: SurvivalRealty.com is running a February Book Bundle Giveaway.  By signing up to receive his weekly e-newsletter, you’ll be entered to win this drawing for four great books. This special promotion ends at midnight, tonight, February 19, 2024. — Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog …


Ghillie Kettle Maverick, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front If you want to boil enough water to make a cup or more of tea or other hot beverage as quickly and efficiently as possible using a handful of twigs, pine cones, or other dry biomass, a Ghillie Kettle may be the ideal tool for the job. It can have your water boiling in about 3 minutes or so. That gives almost-microwave-like preparation times in the field for just-add-boiling-water food and beverage options. Ghillie Kettles are handmade in the UK and come in three sizes. The Maverick can boil up to 2 cups of water …


Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Bread

The following simple recipe for Peanut Butter Bread is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 new bonus books included in the new 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. Ingredients 1/2 cupful peanut butter 3-1/2 cupfuls bread flour 1/2 cupful sugar 3 teaspoonfuls baking-powder 1 cupful milk 1 egg 1/2 teaspoonful salt Directions Cream the peanut butter and sugar. Add the egg, well beaten. Mix and sift the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk. Beat the entire mixture well …