A Red State Manifesto: Two Americas in 2025 – Part 2, by Jonathan Rawles

(Continued from Part 1.) Political Migration: Origins of the Big Sort In 2008, demographers Bill Bishop and Robert G. Cushing put a name to a trend that had been going on in America since the 1960s with their book The Big Sort. The authors’ contention is that Americans are sorting themselves geographically and that as a consequence, all areas are becoming more politically polarized. In their model, people do not necessarily move for explicitly political reasons, but based on lifestyle and cultural choices, which tend to correlate with political outlooks. As they describe it: “People who move to Portland want …


A Red State Manifesto: Two Americas in 2025 – Part 1, by Jonathan Rawles

The Landscape In 2025, the divide between red states and blue states has not gone away, but only become more distinct. The decisive results of the 2024 election saw all the swing states shift significantly toward the Republican candidate, and even typically “purple” metros like Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston voted for Trump. This victory has further cemented the idea of Red America as a distinct entity, directly opposed to what is happening in Blue America. It’s a clear cultural and political divide cutting across the country. The electoral map makes this abundantly clear: The core of America is firmly …


Prepper Envy, by 3AD Scout

What is Prepper Envy? Prepper envy is when one Prepper looks at the preps of another Prepper and becomes jealous. Just looking at the comment sections of a Prepper YouTube channel or in Prepper blogs with comment sections will establish this phenomenon. Prepper Envy can become a psychological roadblock that prevents people from being better prepared. Do you have Prepper Envy? What can be done to overcome this self-imposed artificial hurdle to becoming better prepared? We all start with one step Regardless of the motivation to prepare, all Preppers, regardless of our demographics, started by taking some type of initial …


Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 3, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Location, location, location So you assemble enough barter goods to open a small general store, where, when and how do you trade these goods? Living in a rural area with lots of Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite families, many of whom own and operate their own small businesses now each one of these small businesses is a potential location for commerce or barter. There is value in forming business relationships now and maintaining those relationships in a post-SHTF world. Being a familiar and trusted neighbor before the SHTF will put you in a …


Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1.) Service with a smile Besides hard goods for barter, I have several “services” that I can provide. The key to being able to provide these services is to have the required tools and supplies on hand. Although I have several types of saws, I know that many people still have a rusty hand saw hanging up in their garage. Perhaps it was their grandfather’s but it has not been used since the cordless tool craze started. Those saws may need cleaning (rust taken off), sharpening, and perhaps even teeth resetting. Cleaning up the rust means sandpaper …


Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

One of my survival planning assumptions is that regardless of my stored goods and planning, “Murphy” will appear with the proverbial monkey wrench in hand. At some point, my food stores will wear thin and, something will break along with its spares. Amazon and the local Acme hardware will long be a thing of the past. What is a Prepper to do? Well, like everything we do for our future survival, we ponder, plan and prepare for those contingencies. Bartering is probably about as old as the Earth’s soil. Even with all our economic advances through the centuries, bartering is …


Trump’s Second Term: Some Hopes and Fears

January 20, 2025 was a pivotal day in American political history. President Donald J. Trump (DJT) was ushered into office on a very cold day that necessitated an indoor ceremony inside the Capitol rotunda, beneath the Apotheosis painting. He vowed to “dismantle government bureaucracy.” On that day, many of the Deep State inhabitants of the District of Criminals gave DJT a cold reception. A few Democrat Governors have even promised to actively resist DJT’s planned reforms. So has the leftist ACLU. Just as he promised, DJT signed more than 100 executive orders (EOs) in the first 28 hours of his …


A Prepper’s Carpentry Toolkit – Part 2, by A.F.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) In the upper-right corner of the essential tools photo there is a stack of quick grip clamps. In particular, these are Irwin brand heavy-duty models in maximum working lengths between six and twenty-four inches. A couple of these models have head release slides that allow the user to quickly convert the tool from a clamp into a spreader. When it comes to pulling tightly cut framing into position, aligning materials until they can be fastened or holding the end of a long timber while working alone, these clamps can do it. I …


A Prepper’s Carpentry Toolkit – Part 1, by A.F.

About once a quarter I look at the list of ideas the editors collected for potential article topics in hopes that there is an area where I might be able to contribute to the community. For over a year I have noted the construction projects and realistic hand tools suggestions and wondered what approach I could take to share my experience(s). For context, I have spent most of my life in either the building or engineering workforces and currently have my own small general contracting business. The source material for this article came about with the recognition that I had …


Practical Utility: A Braced 9mm AR Pistol, by Francis, the Semi-Prepper

Editor’s Introductory Note:  I am belatedly posting the following article that was submitted to SurvivalBlog back in August of 2021. I held off running it because at the time the owners of arm-braced pistols were in legal limbo.  But as of January 15, 2025, the BATF has finally conceded to the Fifth Circuit Court’s November 8, 2023 nationwide injunction of not enforcing their on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again ban on arm-braced pistols.  That was reinforced by an Eighth Circuit Court decision in August, 2024 that called the ATF’s ban “arbitrary and capricious.” — I refer to myself as a …


Gas Checks for .357 Magnum Cast Bullet Loads, by Steve A.

The .357 Magnum revolver cartridge is a favorite with many people for hunting and self-defense. It is a proven performer with a great balance of power and controllability. It is available in handy mid-size revolvers. It is a great trail gun cartridge and easy to reload. I use it as a sidearm to keep on my person when rifle hunting or walking around my property. It is hard to go wrong choosing a .357 Magnum revolver from any of the major manufacturers. Both single-action and double-action revolvers are readily available. The Ruger Blackhawk series of single actions are extremely reliable. …


Year Four Review of My Farm – Part 2, by SaraSue

There is a lot to be thankful for! The Infrastructure After several years of working on the Farm, repairing and replacing this and that, there was one last repair that had to be done.  Well, there are a few, but they aren’t on the critical list.  I was able to have the HVAC system replaced so that the farm house stayed warm when needed, and cool when needed.  A huge blessing.  I had an invisible fence installed around the farm to keep the LGDs home; and “the farm truck”, which is just my little car, needed a lot of maintenance …


Year Four Review of My Farm – Part 1, by SaraSue

The new year has begun, and while it was a struggle to manage the farm and family matters last year, I’m feeling good about where things are now.  I had too many animals on the farm of various types, fences that didn’t hold, and learned a lot about the animals’ different needs.  I culled, sold, gave away, and downsized in a big way in some areas and upsized in others.  I was running as fast as I could and that led to exhaustion.  My “farm dreams” were sore in need of a reality check.  But, the good news is, I …


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 …


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 …