Day: February 28, 2025

Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 28, 2025

Today is the birthday of William Ewart Fairbairn  (28 February 1885 – 20 June 1960).  He was a British soldier and police officer. He developed hand-to-hand combat methods for the Shanghai Police during the interwar period, as well as for the Allied special forces during World War II. He created his own fighting system known as Defendu. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting techniques and the development of the famed Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife (pictured.) — Some sad news: Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, wife found dead in Santa Fe home. Those in the prepper community will of course remember Hackman best …


The Wit and Wisdom of Ol’ Remus

The legendary blogger and social commentator “Ol’ Remus” of the Yer Ol’ Woodpile Report passed away in July, 2020.  His wife had passed away just a few weeks earlier. Now that nearly five years have elapsed, I think that it is high time to post a proper acknowledgment and requiem. This is especially for the benefit of SurvivalBlog’s newcomers, who may not have heard of him. “Ol’ Remus” was of course a nom de plume.  Among other things, he was preparedness-minded.  On that topic, he had these terse and oft-quoted words: “Stay away from crowds.”  With operational security (OPSEC) in …


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, some interesting news of a planned Fort Knox audit. America needs to return to genuine money! Precious Metals: We’ve been promised an audit of the Fort Knox gold depository by the DOGE Boys and Senator Rand Paul. JWR’s Comments:  I suggest that they bring a drill motor to check the cores of several gold ingots …