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:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 12, 2024

On July 12, 1191, during the Third Crusade, the city of Acre (modern-day Akko, Israel) surrendered to English King Richard I the Lionheart and the Crusaders after a siege of nearly two years. Pictured is one of Akko’s “Crusader” tunnels. — Today is the last day!!!  Because of a change in direction at Trident Media Group (my partner publisher) my novel Land Of Promise is going out of print in trade paperback. The last day of the sale (and of Amazon Print on Demand ordering capability) will be today, Friday, July 12, 2024. Thereafter, it may only be available as …


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, another examination of silver pricing. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: You may have noticed that after a recent excursion into the $29.50 per Troy ounce range, the price of spot silver has bounced back.  Early this week, it was very close to $31 per Troy ounce. And on Thursday morning (July 10, 2024) …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 11, 2024

On July 11, 1804, Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel. — July 11th is the birthday of John Quincy Adams. — Just one more day!!!  Because of a change in direction at Trident Media Group (my partner publisher) my novel Land Of Promise will go out of print in trade paperback by Amazon.com. It is still priced at just $11.99 per copy. The last day of the sale (and of Amazon Print on Demand ordering capability) will be tomorrow, Friday, July 12, 2024. Thereafter, it …


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 a new cybersecuity threat. Biggest Password Leak Ever: 10 Billion Credentials SurvivalBlog reader C.B. sent the link to this article at Mashable: This is likely …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 10, 2024

On July 10, 1913, the world’s official highest recorded temperature was recorded at Greenland Ranch (now known as Furnace Creek Ranch), Death Valley, California at 134°F (56.7 °C) — July 10, 1553, Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, proclaimed Queen of England, succeeding Edward VI, who had proclaimed his half-sisters illegitimate. She reigned for just nine days. — July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just John Wyndham for his pen name.) He we was born in 1903 and …


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 today with a note that Mike in Alaska sent, with the photo above: “Today I modified the power connectors for my SDR rig using all Anderson power pole connectors and built a BNC cable for the AX1 antenna for 20-meter and 17-meter use. The radio works great for digital applications. …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 9, 2024

Today is the anniversary of three famous battles: On July 9, 1386, in the Battle of Sempach: the pike-armed militias of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated the Habsburg army of Duke Leopold III of Austria. — On July 8, 1401, the Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroyed Baghdad, killing 20,000 people. — On July 9th, 1755: Battle of the Wilderness. This was also known as the Battle of The Monongahela. — 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: The photovoltaic power specialists at …


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, the emphasis is on firearms and ammunition companies in the American Redoubt. Idaho Some sad news, from Sandpoint, on July 4th: Army Surplus destroyed in fire. This was the iconic store that was the inspiration for “Grogan’s War Surplus” in the humorous books written by …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 8, 2024

On July 8, 1283, the Battle of Malta occurred during the War of the Sicilian Vespers.  From the Infogalactic wiki: “The War of the Sicilian Vespers, also shortened to the War of the Vespers, was a conflict waged by several medieval European kingdoms over control of Sicily from 1282 to 1302. The war, which started with the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, was fought over competing dynastic claims to the throne of Sicily and grew to involve the Crown of Aragon, Angevin Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of France, and the papacy.” — Just four more days! Because of a change …