Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 9, 2023

January 9, 1943 was the birthday of gunsmith Paris Theodore, developer of the ASP modifications to the S&W M39 pistol. January 9, 1890 was the birthday of Karel Capek, a Czech writer who wrote the science fiction play R.U.R. (Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti, or in English: Rossum’s Universal Robots). He coined the word “robot”. On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine published his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. — I just heard that SurvivalRealty.com has a new property listing in Costa Rica. I see that it has some very interesting features and substantial …


Recipe of the Week: Navy Bean Crockpot Soup

The following recipe for west coast navy bean crockpot soup is from SurvivalBlog reader J.J.. This is a slowed-cooked crock pot recipe. J.J. writes: “I was able to acquire this recipe from a navy cook decades ago and it’s a keeper. I have never had a navy bean soup that could top this recipe. The aroma will drive you crazy but it’s worth the wait. The dill relish is truly the secret ingredient. If needed, you can add extra water to replace any that has evaporated. Be advised not to use any ham that has water added in, ham bone …


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. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the rising price of gold. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Gold price rallies to six-month high on safe-haven buying. o  o  o Will Gold Return to All-time Highs in 2023? o  o  o Silver Price 2023 Outlook: Will Silver Underperform Gold in 2023? Economy & Finance: Forget recession — …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 8, 2023

January 8th, 1931 was the birthday of the late Algis Budrys (he died on June 9th, 2008). He was the Lithuanian-American science fiction author who wrote the classic survivalist novel Some Will Not Die. — Today’s feature article is a guest post by a Rawles family member. — We are still seeking entries for Round 104 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 7, 2023

On January 7, 1785 a manned balloon crossed the English Channel for the first time. French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard took about 2.5 hours to fly from Dover to Guînes, France. Blanchard was a pioneer in hydrogen balloon design. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 104 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 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 6, 2023

On January 6th 2021, protesting supporters of then-President Donald Trump entered the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. They were protesting the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. At last report, several of the protestors were still being held without bail in the D.C. jail, two years after the event. This is an apparent violation of the U.S. Constitution’s “speedy trial” provision. — To celebrate 15 years in business, Seed for Security is running an exceptional sale. They are offering their Colossal Security Pack, at 25% off. This combination pack is a total of over 5 pounds …


A Special Appeal: The Ten Cent Challenge

I hope that you get at least 10 cents worth of knowledge, entertainment, and motivation each day from SurvivalBlog. It has been posted with fresh content daily, since 2005. In all these years I’ve only missed posting on a few days — most notably in the week after my first wife passed away. I do my best to mention the Ten Cent Challenge editorially only once each year. Unlike PBS, we don’t run agonizingly endless pledge drives. But we do depend on voluntary subscriptions to pay the blog’s bills. These expenses include: paying our staff writers, the local ISP monthly …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

In place of my usual news items and commentary on economics and the markets, I have some annual housekeeping to do: My Annual Financial/Investing/Foreign Interests Disclosures: By Federal law, I am obliged to make the following annual public disclosures. For the record: I am presently the sole author of SurvivalBlog’s Economics & Investing For Preppers column. I am not a paid investment counselor or adviser. Please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers. My paid consulting is primarily on preparedness, relocation, retreat property development, and related topics–not on investing, per se. SurvivalBlog is a private information service and not a …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Dying was nothing and he had no picture of it nor fear of it in his mind. But living was a field of grain blowing in the wind on the side of a hill. Living was a hawk in the sky. Living was an earthen jar of water in the dust of the threshing with the grain flailed out and the chaff blowing. Living was a horse between your legs and a carbine under one leg and a hill and a valley and the hills beyond.” – Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 5, 2023

On January 5th, 2005 The solar system’s largest known dwarf planet was discovered. The discovery of Eris ultimately led to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgrading Pluto, which has roughly the same size, to a dwarf planet. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 104 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 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at expected lower grain crop yields, because of the jump in fertilizer prices. Soaring Fertilizer Prices: Millions More Undernourished Reader C.B. sent us this disturbing news: Soaring fertilizer prices could see …