Year: 2025

Maven S.2 12-27x56mm Spotting Scope, by Thomas Christianson

With a bright, crisp, and crystal-clear field-of-view; lightweight; highly intuitive zoom and focus rings; an unbeatable warranty; and easily packable contours; the Maven S.2 12-27X56mm Spotting Scope is an outstanding optic for field, range, or home use. It has an Abbe-Koenig prism, fluorite glass, and it is waterproof and fog-proof. It is made from Japanese components that are assembled in San Diego, California,. The scopes then undergo quality control in Lander, Wyoming. The S.2 was priced at $1,050 at the time of this writing. (Full Disclosure: Maven is an affiliate advertiser of SurvivalBlog.com. SurvivalBlog earns a modest commission on the …


Recipe of the Week: Pasta and Beans

The following recipe for Pasta and Beans (Pasta Fagioli) is from SurvivalBlog reader Callie B. Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 teaspoons dried parsley 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or less, to taste) Salt (to taste) 1 (14.5-ounce) canned chicken broth (or equivalent volume of fresh or frozen broth) 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce ½ cup of a small dry pasta such as ditalini, ditali, acini di pepe, small shell pasta, tubettini, orzo, or the old …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic was suggested by Avalanche Lily: Map of U.S. Gun Ownership Rates. (This map is courtesy of Visual Capitalist.) The thumbnail below is click-expandable.           JWR’s Comments: Take note that this data comes from the anti-gun website The Trace.  So I suspect that the figures are all skewed low.  When they are polled in telephone surveys, I assume that many gun owners hang up, or are reluctant to report their gun ownership. You can see how strongly the American Redoubt region ranks. If Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington were separate states, then their rates of …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“…what I can say is that there is an alignment with all those who are willing to fight against socialism at the international level. All those who want to fight against socialism at the international level are my allies. Because the enemy is socialism, the enemy is statism, the enemy is collectivism. And all those who are willing to fight that fight, we are all together. Later we will discuss the emerging order, whether it will be more or less liberal, whether it will resemble classical liberalism or minarchism or anarcho-capitalism, but that is a second order discussion.” – Javier …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 12, 2025

The Brazilian city Belem (the entrance gate to the Amazon River) was founded by Captain Major Francisco Branco on January 12, 1616. The photo of Belem above is courtesy of The Drinking Traveler. — John Hancock was born on January 12, 1737. He was the first and certainly the most prominent signer of the Declaration of Independence. — The British-Zulu War began on January 12, 1879.  British troops, under Lieutenant General Frederic Augustus, invaded Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal. — Today is the birthday of Edmund Burke. (Born 1729, died 9 July 1797.) — Reader M.B. mentioned …


Thoughts on Farming – Part 6, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 5. This concludes the article.) The number of hours required to complete an agricultural task has been in decline for over 100 years. This is one of the key concepts that you need to understand in order to have the best chance of surviving the future as these efficiency increases also are across many industries. Time is not spread out evenly on a farm which is a problem from a labor perspective. There are many times in the life cycle of a grain farm where there is nothing to do, but wait especially with dryland (non-irrigated) farming …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: News Report: Justin Trudeau is Depressed After His Ouster From Canadian Leadership But He Can Earn The Praise Of The Citizenry, If He Volunteers To Be “MAID Of Honor” News Links: Trudeau Gives Up, Gets Emotional After Resignation As Canada PM Canadians speak on Trudeau’s resignation as prime minister Medical assistance in dying: Overview 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 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 11, 2025

Today is the birthday of the late Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby, who was born in 1918. He was the most decorated hero of the Norwegian resistance under the German occupation. Sønsteby was the leader of “The Oslo Gang” sabotage and assassination team that was directed by the Norwegian government in exile. They were trained and equipped by the British SOE. He died on May 10, 2012.  Sønsteby’s autobiography, titled Report From #24 is fascinating reading.  It was the basis of Nr. 24 — a fairly historically correct movie that was released in 2024. — Today is birthday of big game …


Thoughts on Farming – Part 5, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 4.) The Economics of Farming I often hear statistics that farmers receive 15 percent of a food dollar. That statistic really needs some examination in comparing it to previous generations. Back in 2016, we sold wheat in the $3.80 range and we were fortunate in that the official statistic for wheat for our area is $3.20 a bushel. I will be generous and use our $3.80 a bushel number: At that number, a pound of wheat is a little over 6 cents. Wheat is commonly used in bread, so an example that I often think about is …


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 — January 10, 2025

On January 10, 49 BC, Julius Caesar defied the Roman Senate and crossed the Rubicon, uttering “alea iacta est” (the die is cast), signaling the start of civil war and his appointment as Roman dictator for life. — January 10, 1776: The “Common Sense” pamphlet by Thomas Paine was first published, advocating American independence. — January 10, 1920: Following the inflationary  First World War, silver reached a record $1.37 an ounce on the open market. — A Special Note From JWR: Please pray for everyone in the path of the Southern California wildfires! It was not just millionaire movie stars …


Thoughts on Farming – Part 4, by Single Farmer

(Continued from Part 3.) The Future of Farming The smallest of agricultural tools demonstrates the largest of problems in farming today. Small funnels are often thought of as almost disposable, but this one and its sticker saying the price survived all of these decades to become a component in this discussion. The funnel is from 1977 when my dad was young long before I was born. It was 59 cents. A comparable funnel today is around 5 dollars. Let us call it almost a ten to one ratio because you have in many states to add sales tax. Corn prices …


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 examine the prospect of new tariffs, starting in 2025. Precious Metals: From BullionVault: Volatility Hits Gold and Silver Prices on ‘Tweak’ to Trump’s Trade Tariffs. o  o  o Reuters reported on Tuesday: Gold pares gains as dollar rebounds following US jobs data. Here is a key quote: “Uncertainty surrounding the tariff policy in the …