Year: 2025

Temporary Emergency Roofing, by A.F.

As we drove home from church this morning, signs of damage from hurricanes Debby and Helene were still abundant though the storms are now more that six months behind us. Since Debby, I have been watching for signs of repairs at a home where one corner took a tree strike that busted the roof wide open. Within the past week it appears someone has at last replaced the lightweight basic blue tarp with a heavier option, although the new one is only secured with roofing nails every 4-5 feet around the perimeter. Many of the remaining tarps are reaching the …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR, based on an idea suggested by SurvivalBlog reader C.B.: Meme Text: So, Do You Prefer Open Carry… …Or Concealed Carry? News Links: As of February 2025, there are 29 states that allow for carrying without a permit. Reps. Mann, Hudson Introduce Bill to Expand Concealed Carry Permits. Shall-Issue States — 2025. 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 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 3, 2025

On May 3, 1621, after confessing to corruption, Lord Chancellor of England Francis Bacon was sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower of London, a £40,000 fine, and banishment from court, Parliament, and public office. — May 3rd, 1952 was the birthday of Pastor Chuck Baldwin. He has done yeoman service in promoting the American Redoubt movement. — Today’s feature article was too short to be included in the judging for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 ends on May 31st, so …


Old School Commo: EE-8 Field Phones, by Tunnel Rabbit

Because I know how easy it is to use a USB SDR Dongle (a poor man’s spectrum analyzer) to find radio transmissions, and how drones might be used to DF signals, I’d rather use hard wire field phones whenever possible, and certainly on those occasions when, or if a drone might be in my remote area. Using low-powered transceivers and directional antennas can be effective in most situations.  But in extreme situations, I would use a field phone if at all possible, and to conduct daily communications with LP/OPs, and with neighbors. Field phones are part of my commo plan …


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:

“And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 2, 2025

On May 2, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. She was beheaded following a four-day show trial. — May 2, 1924: President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the ancient lava fields in Idaho as Craters of the Moon National Monument, in order to “preserve the unusual and weird volcanic formations.” — On May 2nd, 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced that high-accuarcy GPS would be made available to the public; the satellite signals had previously been degraded for nonmilitary use. — And on May 2nd, 1803, the United States purchased …


Life With Propane Freezers and Refrigerators

Via an e-mail from reader Richard T., I recently had a special request to write an article.  His request: “From a 1975 The Mother Earth News magazine, I found an obscure reference to the Crosley “Icy Ball” refrigerator and a search found it mentioned in a SurvivalBlog article from 2009. I followed the link in the article which led me on to research it some more. Using “Crosley Icy Ball refrigerator” as a search phrase in Youtube I found several short videos on it. I then discovered this was not a lost technology but this is how RV and propane …


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 look at the threat of Bitcoin Wrench Attacks. (See the Forex and Cryptos section.) Precious Metals: Reuters: JP Morgan sees gold prices crossing $4,000/oz by Q2 2026. o o o Will gold hit $4,000 per ounce in 2025? Experts weigh in. o  o  o Jan Nieuwenhuijs, at Gold-Eagle.com: Can Gold Reach $16,000? o o …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 1, 2025

May 1, 1328: The Wars of Scottish Independence ended with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – the Kingdom of England recognized the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state. — On May 1, 1776, Adam Weishaupt founded the secret society of the Illuminati. — May 1st was the birthday of Pastor Archie Mitchell — a man whose civilian life was torn by both World War 2 and the Vietnam War. — May 1st is the birthday of the late Joel Rosenberg, a Canadian-born novelist and gun rights advocate (born 1954, died June 2, 2011). He is not to be confused with …


Texas Property Tax Protest Season – The Month of Discontent, by Joel Ho

Editor’s Introduction: Property tax bills are skyrocketing nationwide. With inflation, bare land values are up, house construction costs are up, and house prices are up. Even if property tax rates remain the same, the relative tax burden on individual landowners and homeowners is increasing.  Many Americans are trapped in a quandary: They see residential real estate as one of their only viable hedges against relentless inflation. But as their home prices escalate, so do their taxes. Together, the combined stresses of higher interest rates (with consequently higher monthly mortgage payments) and higher property taxes are making home buying unaffordable for …


April, 2025 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 affected the metal prices. WHAT DID GOLD AND SILVER DO IN APRIL? The prices of gold and silver diverged from one another during April. Their price ratio (GSR) is still at a five-year high above 100:1. Both metals started the month off slowly. After two uneventful days, on Thursday, April 3rd gold slid 0.8% and silver tumbled $2.07 lower (-6.1%). Friday, April 4th was an …


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, we look at a recent widespread grid power failure. A Huge Southern Europe Power Outage Reader F.J. was the first of several readers to mention this in the …