The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 28, 2022

January 28, 1855 was the birthday of William Seward Burroughs, who invented the adding machine. January 28th is also the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him – The Dozier Drill. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 98 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, …


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 Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at lithium, a key metallic element required for battery production. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: You may have noticed that gold, sliver, and most of the cryptos were pushed down this week. I suspect that a lot of small investors who had long options had to raise cash, to …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 27, 2022

Today is the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. January 27, 1880 — Patent No. 223,898 was granted to Thomas A. Edison for “an electric lamp for giving light by incandescence.” Today is also the birthday of singer-songwriter Kate Wolf. (Born 1942, died December 10, 1986.) Her untimely death at age 44 cut short an amazing career and robbed America of a great songwriting talent. — UPDATE:  The first batch of 1,000 SurvivalBlog Waterproof 2005-2021 Archive USB sticks have now all been mailed!  Mailings of …


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 vaccine mandate pushback. A Russian “Countdown” for Ukraine Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: U.S. sends tactical security teams to Ukraine embassy after Moscow warns ‘countdown’ is underway. All …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 26, 2022

January 26th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Established in 1941 Auschwitz was a complex of three large camps and 40 smaller camps used for slave labor, unethical medical experiments, and monstrous killing grounds where prisoners were gassed and cremated. As the Soviets headed for Auschwitz, the German Gestapo began a murder spree and began destroying the facility in an attempt to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the Soviets arrived, they encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors along with storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of dresses, …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: 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. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — First up, this important analysis: Ukraine: Setting the Stage, and, 23 Jan Ukraine Update: The Clock is Ticking. o  o  o SaraSue sent us this update: “We’ve had unusual weather here in Tennessee, according to the Locals.  Recently, three snowstorms left quite a bit of snow on my property.  Compared to Idaho, it wasn’t crippling, …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 25, 2022

Today is the birthday of celebrated Scottish poet Robert “Bobby” Burns. He was born on January 25, 1759. — A quick update on the latest edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick:  455 orders have already been mailed. The remainder of the first batch of 1,000 sticks should be in the mail by early February. Since the first batch sold out so quickly, we’ve already ordered another 600 sticks, and we are taking backorders. Mailings from that second batch should begin in the third week of February. Thanks for your patience. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for …


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, a special edition of this column, with a round-up of home architects, retreat security specialists, land finders, and real estate agents that specialize in retreat properties in the American Redoubt. Please note that many of the companies and individuals mentioned are current or former SurvivalBlog …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 24, 2022

Today is the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the long-running and very entertaining View From The Porch blog. 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. — Today we present another review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.  


Beretta M9A1, by Pat Cascio

I don’t know about other people, but I’ve always been resistant to change or controversy in my life. As I grow older, rapidly approaching my 70th year on this earth, I find I’m more resistant to change than ever. I don’t enjoy getting into a controversy over things. I believe a lot of controversy stems from our opinions on things. Many people simply don’t understand what an opinion is, either. Quite simply, an opinion is just that – an “opinion” and it is based on what we believe. I don’t think an opinion is right or wrong, it’s just one …