Letter Re: Digital Currency Weapons and Intel Tools

Hello, I have recently been doing a bit of research for my Payroll and Accounting class, and part of that led me to a 2007 Kansas law that allowed employers to select the form of payment to employees. These include things you might expect, like cash, direct deposit, checks, and more interestingly for me payroll debit cards. The payroll debit cards led to further research I thought worth sharing and somewhat related. To be clear, I fully support a laissez-faire approach to private business, but the digital trend may be worth looking at. First, governments around the world are keenly …


Recipe of the Week: Knockwurst With Hot German Potato Salad

Ingredients: 4 large potatoes 1 onion, sliced 1 tsp salt Water 4 slices of bacon, diced 2 Tbsp flour 2 Tbsp sugar 1 tsp dry mustard 1 tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper ¼ cup vinegar ½ tsp celery seeds 4 knockwurst links 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley Directions: Peel and slice potatoes. Combine with onion in slow cooking pot, then sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and cover with water. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours, or on high for 2 to 3 hours. Remove from pot, drain thorougly and return to the pot. Cook the bacon …



Mindset of Financial Preparedness: The Color Code, by L.F. in Texas

We live in a world where almost everything happens rapidly and often by remote. Books and movies are downloaded from the Internet for instant entertainment. We travel freely and quickly around the world. Things like automatic dishwashers and laundry machines aren’t even remarkable anymore. And everywhere we go, in person or online, we are enticed to spend money freely, without thought of tomorrow. Being a prepper, however, means that we are thinking ahead to what might happen tomorrow, or next month or year, and getting ready for those possibilities. How does that affect our financial strategies? Colonel Jeff Cooper was …


Prepping and Moving, by S.F.

As many of you probably did, we started prepping before we really thought about moving. In the process we procured a lot of provisions that we felt would serve us well in some sort of catastrophe. It’s certainly true that skills are important but so too are food, medical supplies, guns, and a myriad of other necessities– necessities that take up space and are heavy, if not individually then certainly in aggregate. A number of years back I came to the conclusion that God was leading me to serve as a pastor. A couple years passed before I was in …


Letter Re: Sanitation Issues

Good morning, Hugh, Many homes are equipped with septic tanks to perform as a holding tank for waste, allowing waste decomposition to occur. Reduction of solid waste through bacterial action works, but is a slow process and often incomplete. Additionally, a large number of chemicals we regularly introduce into our septic tanks, such as common soap, dishwashingj and clothes detergents, bleach, commercial toilet cleaning solutions, et cetera, are toxic to the bacteria performing the job of decomposition. Septic tanks are one part of the equation; the other being the leach field. Leach fields are the fluid distribution pipes running from …


June in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, by Steven Cochran of Gainseville Coins where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. What Did Gold Do in June? Gold started the month at $1,212.70 an ounce and ended June at $1,321.70 an ounce, for a gain of $109.00. The worst payroll report in years and the Brexit vote were the main factors in favor of gold. Silver was the big winner in June. It handily beat gold, …


Letter Re: California’s New Gun Laws

Sir, There is a responsive action that should be brought up. Along with the “move”, “boycott” or “transfer arms out of state” options, add “Defy” to the list. There has to be enforcement of the new laws. As a combat veteran, I would never surrender any of my personal pieces due to state or federal “laws”. Fleeing only means you relocate to smaller and smaller areas, until you have nowhere else to run. Hold your ground. Make them work for it. Don’t cave, and force those fools to flinch. – M.S.


Guest Article: SHTF Intelligence – Getting Started- Part 1, by Samuel Culper

This is the first article in a series about using intelligence for preparedness. I’m starting from square zero in order to introduce a new crop of Americans to the concept of using intelligence, to prove that there’s a need for intelligence and to get readers quickly up to speed on how to incorporate it into their security planning. After getting caught up to speed, if you’d like to read more in-depth and put theory into practice, a book entitled SHTF Intelligence will show you the way forward. You can find a small homework exercise here. Why do I need intelligence? …


Letter Re: Dry Canning

Hello Hugh and Sarah, Do you sterilize your jars before using when dry canning? Do you boil or use dry heat (oven)? Wonderful articles! I’m converting. I’ve had too many reservations about the mylar bags. Have done a lot with them but some don’t seem to pull a vacuum. It makes me question whether they are truly sealed. In fact, I wonder about whether I should repackage everything in jars. Yikes. We’re talking a 300-400 half gallon bags. – P.B. HJL Comments: We don’t use water bath canning as a general rule so we don’t worry too much about sterilization. …


Recipe of the Week: Beef and Potatoes

Ingredients: 2 lbs lean ground beef 1 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper ¼ cup finely chopped onion 1 can condensed tomato soup 5 to 6 medium potatoes 1 cup light cream Directions: In a large skillet brown the beef, breaking up large chunks with a fork. Pour off excess fat. In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, onion, and undiluted soup. Peel and slice potatoes. In a slow-cooking pot, arrange alternate layers of potatoes and meat (with the potatoes on the bottom). Pour the soup mixture over, then cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. Turn …


Two Letters Re: Toilet Wipes

HJL, How about the eBay Bidet. It not only rhymes, it completely solves your bum washing problem. You install it on your toilet in 20 minutes. I found out about this using a process of elimination. – M. o o o Hi Hugh, This idea may have already been mentioned, but I connected a kitchen sink dish spray hose and nozzle to my toilet water supply as a homemade bidet using a pipe tee, 1/2-inch valves, and some reducing adapters. It takes a little experimenting to know how far to crack open the valve to keep from spraying water everywhere. …


Sew and Grow, Save and Recycle Your Way Into Preparedness – Part 2, by S.T.

Minimum Quantities Needed You will need the minimum quantities that are listed below. However, you can start on your path to reusable products with lower quantities and can continue to add additional quantities each and every week as you produce additional quantities of final product. Washable feminine hygiene products- 50- 8” for each female in the home 25- 12” for each female in the home Washable toilet paper- 50 for each male in the home 100 for each female in the home Washable dish towels- 20 each Washable napkins- 21 for each person in the house Washable aprons 2 for …


Sew and Grow, Save and Recycle Your Way Into Preparedness – Part 1, by S.T.

As a society, we all rely upon a vast amount of manufactured products every day from canning jars and lids to dishes to pots and pans to toothpaste and dental floss. This list goes on and on. However, we can not forget that gasoline and diesel fuel and electricity are the most important manufactured items. Without these there will no longer be any other mass produced manufactured items made or delivered to a store near you. Every disposable item that you can now replace with reusable items will put you well ahead of the sheeple, save you money, and make …


The Costs and Benefits of Hunting, by J.B.

I’m a lifelong hunter that has gone from being a kid taken to a hunting club by his father, as an introduction to hunting back in the mid-70’s, to being a self-sufficient property owner, who can hunt year round for the non-game species (hogs) if need be. I’ll be the first to say that hunting for self-sufficiency in today’s world, particularly in the Eastern U.S., would be a short-lived venture during a TEOTWAWKI situation. The reason being is that there would very likely be a mass migration of people from the major metropolitan areas out in the rural areas looking …