Building a Simple One-Tube Radio Kit – Part 1, by Mike in Alaska

Introductory Disclaimer: I have not been paid for writing this article, and I own the radio being reviewed. Scenario: The world has gone mad, it is now TEOTWAWKI and it’s just not a pretty picture folks. And if that wasn’t bad enough, what with the power grid being down, looters and such, and some bozo declaring martial law effectively shutting down all radio, internet, and anything capable of receiving any information except what “THEY” want you to hear … hard to imagine? If you can find a holocaust survivor, or anyone who lived during WWII ask them if that sounds …


America’s Poison Melting Pot and the Luxury of Tolerance, by Brandon Smith

Modern western culture is an absolute anomaly in the history of human civilization. If one studies the principles and doctrines of nearly every other society and empire around the world, you will not find one that allows mass immigration of foreigners with contrary ideologies. You will not find one that allows foreigners to migrate without strict assimilation and loyalty. From the Arab states, to China, South Korea, and Japan (until recently), to India and beyond, every culture maintains a sense of cultural supremacy. There is an absolute expectation that newcomers will adapt to political policies, belief systems, social norms, etc. …


Small Scale PV Power For TEOTWAWKI, by Mike in Alaska

When it all hits the fan and the grid is gone for whatever reason, be it EMP, all out nuclear exchange, a hurricane, or possibly a tornado, snow knocking down trees, or as we say up here in the interior of Alaska the four reasons power goes out: it’s either too hot, too cold, too wet, or the dawgs pee on the phone pole, and when that happens, we are now all equally being given a ride back in time … a time of no lights to just switch on, no medical life sustaining devices, and now it’s “game-on”, folks. …


Practical Preparedness Suggestions – Part 2, by R.J.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) 5. Self Defense This segment references reading, training and situational awareness that will be difficult for some people. Use what you can. Learn how to profile people and your surroundings. It happens in many forms, constantly. There are predators who don’t care about how nice you are. (Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”) They will take advantage of the graces and courtesies that we usually employ to soften or de-escalate a problem. Learn what and how those predators think. Trust me, you …


Practical Preparedness Suggestions – Part 1, by R.J.

This article is a compilation of practical preparedness tips, insights, and lessons learned. It starts with what I call inner resources, or mindset and moves toward the hard, practical items. I offer a rather broad field of experience, including military/industrial electrical work, Christian hospitality in organized retreat settings, hospice/end of life care, and some alternative power experience. I’ll close the article with a Christian exhortation as we head into this Christmas season. Mindset You can break the preparedness mindset down into: homesteading, military, social, domestic categories, etc; or synthesize it into one grand holistic prepster/survivalist perspective. Just don’t flunk the …


Update: Critical Capabilities for Retreat Defense: “Move, Shoot, and Communicate”

JWR’s Introductory Note: This is an update to an article that I wrote for SurvivalBlog in December, 2005. It is part of a series of SurvivalBlog 20th Anniversary update re-posts, in recognition of the fact that the majority of readers did not join us until recent years. — As an Army officer, I learned that in order to be effective, any army must have three key abilities: To move, shoot, and communicate. Take away any one of them, and you are ineffective. But if you get all three right, and you can absolutely devastate an opponent–even one that has superior …


Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System: A Fragile House of Cards

JWR’s Introductory Note: This is an update to an article that I wrote for SurvivalBlog in February, 2007. It is part of a series of SurvivalBlog 20th Anniversary update re-posts, in recognition of the fact that the majority of readers did not join us until recent years. — When I give lectures or do radio interviews, I’m often asked for examples when I mention that “we live in a fragile society.” Here is one prime example: kanban. The kanban or “just in time” inventory control system was developed in Japan, and became popular in America starting in the 1970s. It …


Is Global Technocracy Inevitable Or Dangerously Delusional?, by Brandon Smith

The bewildering truth behind human technological enslavement is that it is impossible without the voluntary participation of the intended slaves. People must welcome technocracy into their lives in order for it to succeed. The populace has to believe, blindly, that they cannot live without it, or that authoritarianism by algorithmic consensus is “inevitable.” For example, the average person living in a first world economy voluntarily carries a cell phone everywhere they go at all times without fail. To be without it, in their minds, is to be naked, at risk, unprepared and disconnected from civilization. I grew up in the …


Update: Oil and Lubricant Storage in Retreat Planning

JWR’s Introductory Note: The following is an update and expansion to a post that I made in SurvivalBlog back in November, 2005. It is part of a series of SurvivalBlog 20th Anniversary re-posts, in recognition of the fact that the majority of readers did not join us until recent years. — Many letters and e-mails I’ve received over the years have mentioned motor oil and chainsaw fuel mixing oil.  That reminded me about a subject that I’ve meant to address on the blog: the key considerations of oil and lubricant storage.  It is important to think through all of your …


Experience with a Mouse-Proof Cellar, by Pescadores

This article is about my experience using a shipping container as a mouse-proof cellar. A couple of important notes up front – shipping containers are not designed to have a load-bearing roof. I discovered that quickly while attempting to put a dirt cover over the top of the container. With a small load of dirt on top, the roof of the metal container began to bow. I shoveled the dirt back off of there, and revised my plan as explained below. So don’t do that. Also, it is essential that the container be installed above the groundwater table to prevent …


The Dirty Side of Homesteading, by Patrice Lewis

Too often, homesteading articles, blogs, websites, and videos (including this one – guilty!) show only the successful side of homesteading. The abundant harvest, the completed projects, the fresh eggs and baby chicks and overflowing milk, the healthy livestock … by golly, this lifestyle must be easy-peasy, right? Yes and no. Of course things go right. And of course things go wrong. But what is seldom shown is the nitty-gritty day-to-day dirty side of homesteading, including the daily chores that must be done for the comfort and welfare of animals. For that reason, I thought I’d show you something I do …


The Foreign Worker Scam Exposes Trump’s Economic Achilles Heel, by Brandon Smith

If you really want to counter the chaos grifters of the political left in the US, then you have to be willing to offer a coherent and consistent plan which dissolves the chaos they thrive on. Planning eases instability. Consistency defeats confusion. Clarity squashes disorder. The public needs to see a comprehensive list of standards, actions and goals and they don’t like it when their leaders suddenly derail the train. When it comes to economics, vision is meaningless. Every idiot out there has an economic “vision”, very few people have any idea how to get from Point A to Point …


Experimentally Reloading Aluminum Case .45 ACP, by Aging Plinker

In the past if anyone had asked me if it were possible to reload aluminum-case autoloading pistol rounds I would have said no. Is it possible? Yes and no is my answer now. It’s not a good idea though, in my opinion. In the milder seasons of the year we do a lot of pistol shooting. Recently, at a spot that at least three generations of shooters use I noticed a pile of spent aluminum .45 ACP cases. I knew the ammunition existed but had never seen any for sale in this area. Examining one, I noticed that it had …


Bullet Drop: It’s About Time, by Mr. Wobbet

This article gives another perspective on understanding ballistics charts. Introduction I am not much of a hunter. Over the past five years going up to my in-law’s place, I’ve taken about a dozen shots at the feral pigs that root up sections of their land. I have zero hits on running pigs. If you line up a handful of soda cans filled with water at 25 yards, I can go town on those. But with the pigs out at 200 yards, I am about useless, even when the neighbor has lent me his really nice hunting rifle. A few weeks …


Dakota Power Bank and PV Panel – Part 2, by Mike in Alaska

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The Dakota Lithium Power Bank can supply up to 2,400 watts by itself and can supply you with 4,800 peak AC when needed. This is according to their user’s manual that comes with the unit. That 4,800 watts is a rating given when a second power bank unit is set up in parallel with the first unit. The bank came with the necessary connector to link it with a second bank, and I am planning to buy a second unit to add to the setup I have now.