Preparedness Notes for Saturday — December 14, 2024

On December 14, 1542, Princess Mary Stuart succeeded her father James V to become Queen Mary I of Scotland, at just six days old. — December 14, 1702:  The famed forty-seven Ronin (leaderless samurai), under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenges the death of their master in Japan. — December 14th is the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013). Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name– Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg. — This is also the birthday of Air Force …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 13, 2024

On December 13, 1266, rebels that were holed up inside Kenilworth Castle surrendered after 172 days to Henry III, ending one of the longest sieges in medieval English history. Here is an excerpt from a piece at English-heritage.org: “In the mid 1260s England was divided by civil war. Henry III, who had been on the throne since 1216, was at loggerheads with some of his leading nobles, who wanted to reform how the king governed. Their leader was the king’s brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who defeated the king’s forces at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and …




Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, a year-end look at the gold markets. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Market speculators did their best to push down the prices of gold and silver this week, but they failed. Spot gold seems quite resiliently holding above $2,690, and silver above $30.75, per Troy ounce.  I’m repeating my assertion that $30.50 is the …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 12, 2024

December 12, 1914: The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was down 24.39%. — December 12, 1953: Chuck Yeager reached Mach 2.43 in a Bell X-1A rocket plane. — And on December 12, 2019, the British General Election was won by Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in a landslide win with 80-seat majority. The Scottish National Party also won 48 of 59 seats in Scotland. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power …




The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, a link to a Tucker Carlson interview with Sergey Lavrov. Tucker Carlson: Russian F.M. Sergey Lavrov Speaks Mark was the first of several readers to mention this: Exclusive: …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 11, 2024

On December 11, 1913, DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” was recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum. — December 11, 1978: Six masked men bound 10 employees at Lufthansa cargo area at NYC Kennedy Airport and made off with $5.8 Lillion USD in cash and jewelry. All of the participants and some associates were later killed on order of the alleged organized crime mastermind. The loot was never recovered. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power …




SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — Peter in Washington wrote: “A reminder that HB 2118 takes effect on July 1, 2025 in Washington State.  Here is the key part of the bill, Section 1 (3) from the final language: No dealer may sell or otherwise transfer, or expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her …







Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 10, 2024

On December 10, 1907, Rudyard Kipling received the Nobel prize for literature, the first English-language writer to do so. — On December 10, 1869, while still a territory, Wyoming became the first state to grant women the right to vote. — And on this day in 1942, my great uncle Lt. Robert I. Kinsella was killed when his B-24 bomber (part of the 90th Bombardment Group, Heavy, 320th Bomber Squadron), flying from the Iron Range Airfield in Northern Queensland, Australia went down in the South Pacific. — Gerber Gear (maker of knives and multi-tools  and one of our affiliate advertisers) …




Should We Get Ready For a NFA Amnesty?

For the past several weeks, President Trump has been very busy naming his cabinet appointments.  One that is still uncertain is his choice to become the new BATFE Director. The current director, Steven Dettelbach, is a clueless anti-gun buffoon who can’t give congressmen a straight answer.  Many American gun owners are hopeful that DJT will appoint 07/02 FFL holder, gun designer, and pro-gun pundit Brandon Herrera as the new Director.  If that happens, it will surely inspire some boisterous celebration. In addition to his vows to slash the ATF’s budget and operations, Herrera has also promised to begin a series …




SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, more Greater Idaho movement news.  (See the Region-Wide section.) Region-Wide Greater Idaho Asks for Support from Incoming Trump Administration. o  o  o Wyoming and Montana Republicans vow to challenge Biden decision to block coal mining in area. Idaho Idaho abortion trafficking law partly revived by US …