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. — We’ll start out with this at USA Today, sent by reader H.L.: What part of the US has the most disasters? See a county-by-county breakdown. o  o  o Reader J.M. in Montana wrote: “I am passing on to you some information that I learned in nursing school (a long time ago) that …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 24, 2023

Today is the birthday of Tamara K., Editrix of the long-running and very entertaining View From The Porch blog.  Happy Birthday, Slick! January 24th is also the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. — Some good news!  After a delay to work out some glitches, we now have the credit card merchant account set up at Elk Creek Company. There, we now take 10 Cent Challenge subscriptions via credit card, without having to …


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 of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we again mention the remote Magruder Corridor. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho The Corridor: Driving the Only Road in 3.5 Million Acres of Wilderness. o  o  o Crews Rescue Dog Stuck After Chasing Squirrel Up Tree: ‘Definitely Not a Cat’. o  o  o Idaho School …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 23, 2023

January 23, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) — pictured — and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. This is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” will ensure that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns that are Browning designs. — Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.


Details on the New SurvivalBlog Archive USB Sticks

The new batch of SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks is selling very rapidly! I’ve had some folks write to ask about what is included in the new 2005-2022 SurvivalBlog Archive stick. There certainly is a lot! These sticks of course have everything that has ever been posted in SurvivalBlog, dating back to its launch in August, 2005, and up to December 31, 2022. In my humble opinion, these feature articles, product reviews, columns, and quotations just by themselves are worth the price of the archive stick. But then there is also a veritable mountain of carefully curated bonus material from the …


Recipe of the Week: Food Storage Pantry Chicken Pot Pie

The following very simple recipe for Food Storage Pantry Chicken Pot Pie is from SurvivalBlog readar D.M.: Ingredients 1 cup Bisquick Biscuit Mix 1 can (1 cup) Canned Cooked Chicken (or fresh, or frozen chicken meat, but must be pre-cooked) 1 can (or 1-2/3 cups fresh or frozen) Canned Mixed Vegetables 1 Can (10.75 -ounce) Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup 1+ Cup Water (or equal amounts of water and milk) Directions Pre-Heat your oven to 400°F. Mix vegetables, chicken, and soup in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. In a mixing bowl, stir together the biscuit mix and water with …


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. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at China’s burgeoning gold stockpile. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Jeff Clark: 2023 Gold Price Prediction, Trends, and Five-Year Forecast. o  o  o China’s public gold holdings now over 2,000 tons after another huge purchase in December. o  o  o Mike recommended this Radio Contra podcast: Precious Metals, Goldbacks, Voluntary Currencies, …



Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 22, 2023

On January 22, 1998, Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, a socialist-Luddite terrorist who killed three people and injured 22 in 16 attacks between 1979 and 1995, was sentenced to four terms of life in prison without parole.  Born and raised in Illinois, Kaczynski lived the last few years before his arrest in Montana, living in a very small cabin.  To this day, very small cabins are still jokingly called “Unabomber Cabins”. — 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 …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 21, 2023

On January 21, 1525, the Swiss Anabaptist Movement began when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.  This movement led to great consternation in the Catholic church, persecution, and the eventual dislocation of many Anabaptist dissidents, including the followers of Jakob Ammann  — the “Amish.” — Also on this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry …


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 ‘n …