Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 11, 2024

October 11, 1923, under the Weimar government, the value of the hyperinflated German Mark fell to 10 billion per British Pound and 4 billion per US Dollar. — Today is the 74th birthday of novelist William R. Forstchen (born, 1950.) He is best known for his survivalist novel One Second After. — The last day! The big sale at Elk Creek Company ends tonight!  We’ve been running a 3-week-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Today, October 11th, 2024, is the last day for sale pricing on all of our blackpowder revolvers, all of our M1891 Argentine Mauser rifles, and all …


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, we look at higher mortgage interest rates. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: JPMorgan: Gold Getting a Boost from the “Debasement Trade”. o  o  o Frank Holmes: Gold SWOT: Hungary has raised its gold reserves, citing the precious metal’s role as a haven.  JWR’s Comment: Part of the recent slip in the U.S. gold price …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.” – John Adams


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 10, 2024

On October 10, 1902, Tom Horn‘s murder trial began. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to death. He was hanged in 1903. — Today is the birthday of composer Giuseppe Verdi. (Born 1813, died 1901.) — On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific when the Gamboa dike was demolished with dynamite charges. — The big sale at Elk Creek Company ends tomorrow!  We have been running a 3-week-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Until October 11th, 2024, all of our blackpowder revolvers, all of our M1891 Argentine Mauser rifles, and all of …


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, we look at gradually increasing interest in homeschooling by families in the United States. Homeschooling Increases Across the US, Post-Pandemic Over at The Christian Post: Homeschooling continues to …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 9, 2024

On October 9, 768, Charlemagne and his brother Carloman I were crowned Kings of The Franks. — On October 9, 1000, Leif Ericson discovered “Vinland” (possibly at what was later named L’Anse aux Meadows, Canada) reputedly becoming the first European to reach North America. — And on October 9, 1865, the first US underground pipeline for carrying oil was laid in Pennsylvania. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 115 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide …


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. — SurvivalBlog Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this, from X/Twitter:  Generator Disparity: How dare this man continue to live his life? o  o  o Several readers sent us this: Farmers Turn Agricultural Drones into Lifelines in Hurricane Helene Aftermath. o  o  o Martin Armstong: CDC Changes Child Developmental Milestone Guidelines. (A hat tip to …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 8, 2024

On October 8, 1690 in the Siege of Belgrade, Ottoman troops captured Belgrade. — October 8,1860, the first telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco was activated. — And October 8th is the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. Orlin Grabbe. (Born, 1947, died March 15, 2008.) — Oral arguments are scheduled to begin today before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Vanderstock “Frames and Receivers” case. Please pray that the court affirmatively and decisively defends our long-standing right to make our own guns without government intrusiveness and “Mother May I?” paperwork nonsense! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today …


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, JWR’s #1 Son discusses Idaho’s upcoming Proposition 1 vote. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Posted at Redoubt News: Prop 1, A Return To The Good Old Days??? Jonathan Rawles. o  o  o Friday dust storm causes 60 car pileup on US 95. o  o  o …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — October 7, 2024

October 7, 1571: The Battle of Lepanto. The Holy League of southern European nations formed by Pope Pius V destroyed an Ottoman fleet, off the coast of Western Greece. — And on October 7, 1765, the Stamp Act Congress (First Congress of the American Colonies) convened in New York City to devise a unified protest against new British taxation. — We are running a 3-week-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Until October 11th, 2024, all of our blackpowder revolvers, all of our M1891 Argentine Mauser rifles, and all of our sporters have their prices deeply discounted.  Take a look! — …


Recipe of the Week: Greek-Style Lentil Soup

The following recipe for Greek-Style Lentil Soup is from SurvivalBlog reader H.N.. She says:  “This is a good recipe for using your stored lentils. Because of the beef broth, this isn’t a veggie recipe, but you can just use water, instead.” Ingredients 2 Cups lentils, dried 4 Cups cold water 1 Cup onion, chopped (or freeze-dried onion bits) 1 clove garlic, crushed 4 Cups beef broth 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 Cup celery, chopped (or freeze-dried celery chunks) 2 Cups tomatoes, stewed 1 whole bay leaf 1 Cup carrots, chopped (or dried carrot slices) 3 Tblsp parsley, Chopped (or freeze-dried …


SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic: 4.5% of U.S. counties contain more than 50% of the population. As shown, the 142 most populous counties contain 165,858,193 people. The remaining 3,001 counties contain 165,591,088 people. (Source: 2020 U.S. Census) Note that the mapmaker’s methodology appears to have been simply based on the ranking of county populations versus the national average.  It was not based on “population per square mile” but rather the population per county. Hence some geographically large counties such as in Arizona and southeastern California appear more heavily populated. – JWR (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) The thumbnail below is click-expandable.       — …