The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 3, 2024

August 3, 1900: Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founded in Akron, Ohio, by Harvey Firestone. — On August 3, 1963, Warner Bros. Records released a single of Allan Sherman’s novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)”, set to music of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from his 1876 opera “La Gioconda”. — August 3, 1914, Germany and France both declared war on each other, formally beginning the First World War. — On August 3, 1829, Gioachino Rossini‘s last and greatest opera “Guillaume Tell” (William Tell) premieres at Salle Le Peletier in Paris. — Today’s feature article …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass at the …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 2, 2024

On August 2nd, 1973, American Graffiti, directed by George Lucas and starring Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland. — August 2, 1909, the Army Air Corps was formed as Army took first delivery from the Wright Brothers. — August 2nd was the birthday of Peter O’Toole (1932–2013). When his name is mentioned, Lawrence of Arabia immediately comes to mind. But one of my favorites was his 1971 film titled Murphy’s War. That film had some very memorable seaplane flying scenes. — August 2, 1972: Gold hit a record $70 per Troy ounce in …


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 the decline of the Canadian Standard of Living. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Those dastardly COMEX Silver Shorts have been up to their mischief again, pushing down the price of silver contracts. When I checked on Thursday morning, spot silver was at $28.75, while spot gold was at $2,460.10 …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 1, 2024

I’m pleased to announce that a new prize has been added to the First Prize package, for the SurvivalBlog writing contest. The good folks at HSM Ammunition in Stevensville, Montana are now providing a $250 gift certificate, starting with this latest writing contest round that begins today (Round 114.)  The certificate can be used for any of their products. If you haven’t tried their ammo, take a look at their website and check out their broad line of top-quality newly-manufactured cartridges.  They even make mild “Cowboy” loads that are suitable for antique revolvers. — August 1st is celebrated as Swiss …


Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced: Round 113

We’ve completed the judging for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  Round 113 began on June 1, 2024, and ended on July 31, 2024. (The contest runs in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 113 are: First Prize First Prize goes to A.F., for: Stocking Up: OTC Medications Part 1 and Part 2. It was posted on July 9 &10, 2024. He will receive the following prizes: 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 …


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 examine the new threat of de-orbiting space debris. The Deadly Era of Space Junk Tam suggested this piece, over at Scientific American: A New, Deadly Era of Space …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 31, 2024

The first ascent of K2 was made by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio on July 31, 1954. — And on July 31, 1958, the Anti-Chinese uprising began in Tibet. — Today’s feature article is a guest piece by fellow blogger Mrs. Alaska. Because it will also be posted to her blog, it will not be part of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. We are now seeking entries for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking …


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. — An astute video essay from The Patriot Nurse: How To Prepare For Civil War. o  o  o How a Perfect Storm Sent Church Insurance Rates Skyrocketing. o  o  o An inspiring essay: The Value of an Aged Human Being. o  o  o



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 30, 2024

On July 30, 1419: First defenestration of Prague: anti-Catholic Hussites, followers of executed reformer Jan Hus, stormed Prague town hall and threw the judge, mayor, and several city council members out the windows. They died in the fall or were killed by the crowd outside. — July 30, 1869: The Charles, considered the world’s first “oil tanker”, departs from the United States headed for Europe with a bulk capacity of 7,000 barrels of oil. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: …