Letter: Gun Violence

Hugh, There is unacceptable gun violence in our country. Pro gun versus anti gun citizens and groups go head to head and fight over gun control. I believe we should all be working together to figure out what the real causes of this violence is, working as a team to erase mass shootings and gun crime. These occurrences make all Americans look bad. We are all to blame– gun owners as well as those who are fighting to end the right for citizens to protect themselves and exercise their constitutional rights. Maybe there should be a nationwide policy through which …


Reducing the Breadcrumbs Produced By Your Digital Life, by P.L.

None of us want to unknowingly share personal information, but it’s happening everyday if you browse the web, use email, or have a mobile phone. You could decide “I’m going off the grid!”. That’s great if you can, but it’s not practical for 99% of us. The Breadcrumbs So, how might you go about reducing the breadcrumbs produced by your digital life? ProtonMail First, consider using ProtonMail for your personal email. There are no ads and no tracking. A basic account is free. I paid for the Plus account, since I wanted more features. I access ProtonMail on my iPhone …


Letter Re: Normalcy Bias

Hugh, According to Wikipedia, “The normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a belief people hold when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster and its possible effects, because people believe that things will always function the way things normally have functioned.” It may refer to a disaster, but surely it has a cousin that causes people not to see or consider a “sea change” in technology and its impact on life and politics. Impact of Computers on Life Consider how people viewed the impact of computers on life, say 30 years ago. Few …


Staying Hidden Online, by Z.M.

We’re being monitored, online. That’s nothing new though. We all know that. In a world that increasingly grows to rely upon technology, and where your individual data points can mean big money for some advertiser somewhere, it should come as no surprise that just about everything that we do online has been recorded and stored on some server somewhere. I’ve grown quite alarmed over this the past few years, but I have never really known where to even start. I just thought “Incognito” mode on Chrome was enough to hide me from all that was happening. I was wrong. After …



An Unsung Prepper, by J.M.

During the early summer of 1963 as a small child growing up in Chicagoland, I was fascinated when one day as a construction crew showed up at our suburban home. Right outside the kitchen wall a huge digger began to tear up the ground right next to our house. I watched for hours out of the kitchen window as the hole grew larger and deeper. Over the next couple of days I watched as plastic sheeting, wood forms, and plumbing was put into place. What I remember most though, were the cement trucks coming in and pouring yard after yard …


Letter Re: The Slippery Slope: Proposed ATF Rule Redefining “Machinegun”

I very much enjoyed the write-up you provided on the proposed rule-making. The more people that are aware of the issues and comment the better our chance of getting the issues addressed. I had a couple of additional issues that I thought I would share. The proposed rule does not properly account for the monetary losses of each individual currently in possession of a “Bump Stock”. Not only is an individual losing the initial money spent on purchase and shipping of the product, they are now being placed under the additional burden of having to purchase a new stock to …


Guest Post: How The Globalism Con Game Leads To A ‘New World Order’, by Brandon Smith

When globalists speak publicly about a “new world order” they are speaking about something very specific and rather sacred in their little cult of elitism. It is not simply the notion that civilization shifts or changes abruptly on its own; rather, it is their name for a directed and engineered vision — a world built according to their rules, not a world that evolved naturally according to necessity. There are other names for this engineered vision, including the “global economic reset,” or the more general and innocuous term “globalism,” but the intention is the same. The ultimate goal of the …


The Simple Things, by The Watchman

So you think you have this prepping thing pretty much down pat by now? Or are you new to this world of prepping? You have your water filters, generators, fuel, guns, ammo, food stores, medical supplies, a bug out vehicle, and heating elements. You have researched, taken courses, practiced drills and you have completed a mock bug out. If you said “yes” to any of this small list, you are already off to a good start. But sometimes we overlook the simple things we need in order to get by day to day. List of Essential Things One of the …


Letter: Flying Commercial Airlines With a Weapon

JWR, Hugh, and SurvivalBlog Readers, As an avid proponent and practitioner of concealed carry, I responded with mixed emotions when my wife informed me that her latest business trip would require us to travel to one of the most progressive-liberal enclaves in the state of Florida: South Beach, Miami, second home of the Kardashians. Unable to procure a last-minute and long-term kennel to board our dogs for an extended road trip, flying was the only choice. The airline provided by her company for our trip: the NRA-bashing Delta Airlines. Unable to remember the last time I was without my concealed …


Preparing for Chaos, Theory and Application- Part 2, by DF

In part 1 of this two-part article, I wrote about the theory behind the reason for preparing for chaos and provided and overview of the laws of supply and demand. Then, I moved from theory into practical matters. I began with alternative feed for chickens, as chickens are a means for sustaining us when the SHTF and our transportation system is not delivering feed, chicks, or supplies to our stores. We have looked at crabapples and how to provide them with various insects. Now, let’s look at sunflowers to use as chicken feed. Sunflowers/Sunflower Seeds One of my neighbors grew …


Preparing for Chaos, Theory and Application- Part 1, by DF

Many people view the possibility of economic/societal disruption and collapse as science fiction, suitable as entertainment in dystopian novels or movies. I view it as actual science, not fiction and am preparing for the ensuing chaos and necessities to get past it. Well-proven theories in the areas of nonlinear systems and economics can help us partially understand what can happen, how we can prepare and respond, and even what is not possible to predict. My first section on “theory” is quite abstract. It looks at some of the basic principles of chaos theory to describe the mechanisms of economic/societal collapse. …


Recipe of the Week: Waldorf Salad, by L.H.

This “old-fashioned” salad (my recipe card for it is circa 1979) has seemingly fallen out of favor, and I don’t know why. It’s yummy and unique, and fairly simple to throw together. It will be perfect alongside your next grilled chicken dinner. Ingredients: 3 apples (your favorite variety), peeled, trimmed, and cubed into bite-sizes 3 stalks celery, diced 1/2 c. pecans, coarsely chopped 2 tsp. lemon juice 1/2 c. mayonnaise 2 tsp. sugar dash of salt


Creating Your Own Secure Messages – Part 2, by DaytonPrepper1

Yesterday we talked about how to create and use a One Time Pad. Today we will talk about another way of encoding messages. I am sure I am not creating anything new with this method, but I have not seen it before nor do I have a name for it. My working name is Word Grid Substitution. Description of the Method The heart of this method is a 25,000 word grid. The current word grid is 10×2500. I take the message to be encoded and search for the first word from a random spot in the list. When the word …


Creating Your Own Secure Messages– Part 1, by DaytonPrepper1

I am an experienced programmer with a lot of time spent in Excel everyday for my paying job. East Sierra Sage’s article on Cipher Security got me thinking again about One Time Pads and other secure message techniques. I really enjoy automating things with Excel’s powerful formulas and macros. So I set off to create a tool for a One Time Pad spreadsheet that would create the One Time Pads and also encode and decode the messages being sent. How to Use a One Time Pad (OTP) You will need a Shift Chart and an OTP Chart as the basic …