Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 5, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.) Food Shortages Right now, at this moment, we are facing a global food shortage thanks to wars, and floods and droughts. Farmers in the Netherlands are recognized as the most efficient farmers in Europe, if not the world. And yet their own government is in the process of forcibly seizing as many as 3000 farms and euthanizing the livestock because their “Nitrogen Minister” has deemed their farms to be emitting to much nitrogen. The government claims that this is necessary if they are going to meet their 2030 emissions goals. Goals that …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 4, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 3.) The Real Energy Crisis Energy is the lifeblood of progress and industrialization. We don’t refer to countries as Second World or Third Worldworld anymore, that’s not politically correct. Now we call them “emerging markets.” And for them to “emerge” from Third World, or Second World status to take their place at the “big boys” table internationally takes energy. “Developing Nations” need energy to develop – pretty simple. And not just energy, but a stable supply of relatively cheap energy. The more they develop, the more energy they need to continue to develop. We may have hit …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 3, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 2.) On the other side of the world….kind of….depending on how you look at it, China continues to make aggressive moves toward Taiwan. Much like Russia with the Donbas region, their claim is repatriation, not invasion. President Biden has stated on more than one occasion that we will put troops on the ground to help the people of Taiwan, although every time he says it, the white house tries to walk it back after the fact. You’d almost think that they are confused over what their course of action would be. But that might just be their …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 2, by The Lone Canadian

(Continued from Part 1.) While we’re on the subject of interest rates, lets explore low interest rates. I’ve mentioned that the government, through the Fed, has kept them artificially low since about 2008. Now, the general thought was that low interest rates would stimulate the economy. Low interest rates mean that you can buy that bigger house, or new car. It also means that businesses can expand because the risk on a loan is lower. It means that new businesses can start up because people can more easily qualify for a loan, and their payments are relatively low, so its …


Pessimist or a Realist? Our Present Situation – Part 1, by The Lone Canadian

“My wife calls me a pessimist. I claim I’m a realist. Chances are, I’m just an a** with an attitude problem.” That’s my tag line on one of the sites that I belong to. Now, you may take offense at my wording, but if you knew me, you’d have to agree that the sentiment is pretty accurate. I’m writing this in the final few days of 2022, and I’ve had to go back and examine that tag line. I’ve had to question whether I am a pessimist, or am I simply well-informed when it comes to current events, and honest …


Portable Power Systems: Providing Remote Energy, by K.R.

As we moved onto our current rural retreat some years ago, one of our first steps was to install a set of grid-tied solar panels, very similar to the system described in the Survival Blog article by St. Funogas on September 10 and September 11, 2022. Similar to the author of that essay, we figured that we would use that system, along with isolated single panels for single applications, until we goft up the nerve to build a full-scale off-grid solar system. However, since that time new products have come out and my thinking has shifted. There is a new …


Beginning Bees on a Budget, by St. Funogas

“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with the spices of a million flowers.” Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine It’s January and getting close to time to get your bees ordered for anyone wanting to try their hand at beekeeping this year. Most bee suppliers have begun taking orders for bees and they typically sell out by late March so now is the time to start looking more seriously into whether or not you want to want to give beekeeping a shot. Many people want to get into beekeeping until …


Challenges of Living in a Small Home, by Hollyberry

I have always lived in a small space (apartment/mobile home/cabin) since leaving mom and dad’s nest many years ago. Small living is not for everyone. Being in a small living area, with pets and personal belongings, it can get crowded quickly. My husband jokingly says that we live homicidally close! I find that organization is important, as is letting stuff go when no longer needed or used. If you save everything because you may need it one day, then you can quickly run out of space. Clutter can take over quickly if not kept in check. We try to keep …


My Approach to a Semi-Auto Scout Rifle – Part 1, by Swampfox

This article describes my personal approach to setting up and testing a semi-auto scout rifle. The “scout rifle” is a concept that has been around since the 1980s. First proposed by Colonel Jeff Cooper, it has become popular among outdoorsmen and survival-oriented folks as a “do-it-all” kind of rifle. Each person’s idea of a scout rifle can vary, with the purposes of self-defense and being able to take wild game common to your living area. The original scout rifle concept has a very specific set of features. Cooper’s favorite caliber was, of course, the 308 Winchester / 7.62×51. He allowed …


A DIY Masonry Outdoor Cook Stove, by K.R.

During our harsh winter weather, I look for projects that increase our preparedness, but that can be accomplished in the warmth of my garage; preferably with a minimum of cost. This winter, my wife and I were reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of our preparations. We were inspired by the SurvivalBlog articles that have implored us all to examine and test our preps. We considered how we would do our cooking in a grid-down situation during summer, when cooking on our inside wood stove would be impractical. We already have (a few) gas-fueled camp stoves; but what about that day …


Navigating the Real Estate Price Dilemma, by Jonathan Rawles

One of the largest obstacles to relocation is the high prices of land and homes in desirable retreat areas. With mortgage rates rising, but prices still high, affordability is taking another hit. As a brief example, a recent search on Zillow for homes in Boundary County, Idaho with the criteria of 2,000 square feet and 20 acres returned only four results, starting with a rustic off-grid cabin at $850,000. There are many factors playing into this, including a limited supply, high demand, and a skewed market. Rural areas hold only 20% of current housing supply and 10% of new builds. …


A Get Home Bag Alternative, by Rick S.

Anyone who leaves home should bring a Get Home bag with them. We regularly hear of incidents in which people leave home expecting a 30-minute jaunt in their climate-controlled vehicle only to find themselves in a grim, hours-long ordeal without even a bottle of water to tide them over. In some instances the individuals could simply pull over to the side of the road and walk home, but they are wearing high-heeled shoes and have no coat: after all, they had no intention of doing any walking nor did they expect to be out of their warm vehicle any longer …


Hiding and Tracking – Part 4, by J.M.D.

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.) Tracking As I alluded to earlier, becoming an expert tracker requires a lifetime of practice and experience, but there are a number of things that you can do to begin developing and improving your ability to track people: Improved Endurance – The further away your target gets, the harder it will become to track them, and if they’re in better shape than you they’ll be able to quickly increase the gap between you. You need to be able to move long distances at a reasonable pace if you want to be able …


Hiding and Tracking – Part 3, by J.M.D.

(Continued from Part 2.) Weather The weather can have a significant impact on both the trackers as well as the trackees. A clear sunny day can make it easier to follow someone visually and detect signs of their passage, while rain, snow, fog or mist can reduce visibility and require trackers to close the distance or move slower to locate sign. At the same time, snow on the ground will leave obvious footprints and is one of the easiest conditions in which to track someone, unless it’s snowing hard enough or blowing snow that fills in or covers tracks. Rain …


Hiding and Tracking – Part 2, by J.M.D.

(Continued from Part 1.) A somewhat more obscure but still possible method of tracking is by following an electronic signal. If you’re using any type of transmitting device such as a radio or cell phone, a tracker could potentially locate you by detecting that signal. There have been a number of good articles on SurvivalBlog.com on radio frequency direction finding and locating, so I’m not going to go into detail here. Someone could also plant a dedicated tracking device on you or your vehicle and use that to track your location, but the tracker would obviously need the right equipment …