Writing Contest Prize Winners Announced: Round 97

We’ve completed the judging for Round 97 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prize winners are: First Prize: Anthony B., for Progressive Reloading for Beginners, posted on November 24, 2021. His prizes will include: 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 used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, …


November 2021 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. What Did Gold Do in November? November ended up being a battle to keep gold prices above $1,850. Bulls managed to run a rally above $1,850 for seven straight sessions in mid-November, but gold bears started selling into every rally for the rest of the month. The bears, assisted by Fed boss Jerome Powell, succeeded in dragging prices lower to end the month at $1,776 an …


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. — JWR Observes: The recent panic over the Omicron Wu Flu variant now has world leaders threatening to lock down the citizenries of many nations. It will start with travel bans. Then back to masking and public gathering restrictions.The CDC’s own published figures: A 99.997% survival rate for people ages 0 to 19, 99.98% for people …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 30, 2021

Satirical novelist Jonathan Swift was born on November 30th, 1667. — We are seeking one or two more prize donors for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It is a great way to promote your business. If you have a product or service that would appeal to SurvivalBlog readers and you are willing to commit to providing a prize with a value of at least $200 for at least three contest rounds (six months), then please contact us. Thanks!  


The Incredible Disappearing Retreat in the Woods (Update)

Today I’m providing an update and expansion to an article that I posted back in early 2009. This is something that I first shared with a few of my consulting clients. It is an approach at rural retreat construction that can make a rural retreat of 10 acres or more essentially “disappear”. House SitEs and Road Building If there is a thick screen of trees or tall brush between the public road and potential building sites at your undeveloped country retreat parcel, then your property might have a good candidate for a “hidden retreat house”. This is accomplished by making …


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 cover Missoula, Montana’s most recent resident grizzly bear sow. (See the Montana section.) Idaho Chronic wasting disease found in two deer in Idaho. o  o  o Idaho Supreme Court consolidates redistricting map lawsuits. o  o  o I stumbled into this vlog: Living Right Debt …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — November 29, 2021

This is the birthday of writer Clive Staples (“C.S.”) Lewis, who was born in 1898 and died on 22 November 1963. — Our George Patton’s Birthday sale is continuing, at Elk Creek Company. Be sure to check out the reduced prices on all of our pre-1899 antique cartridge guns, percussion replicas, percussion conversion cylinders, bayonets, and knives. The sale ends on Saturday, December 11th, 2021. — Several of our advertisers are running Cyber Monday sales. Here is just one example: GunMag Warehouse is selling Lancer L5 AR-15 223/5.56 30-Round Advanced Warfighter magazines for just $11.99 each! — Today, another review, …


Recipe of the Week: White Meat Chicken Planks

The following recipe for White Meat Chicken Planks is from SurvivalBlog reader John M.. He writes: “Over the years I have developed a recipe that has amazed people who I have served this to, it is a taste (is a wow recipe) and crust very similar to KFC at a fraction of the cost. The cold chicken leftovers are even better. Some people question using 2 cups of Frank’s hot sauce, but it’s not even noticeable in the finished planks.  I prefer to prepare this on an outside grill due to the oil splatter.” Ingredients 4 to 6 chicken breasts …


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 the Red Friday stock market crash on Friday, November 26th. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Why Governments Hate Gold. o  o  o Big flotilla of illegal gold miners splits up in Brazil. Economy & Finance: At Zero Hedge: ‘Red Friday’ – Stocks Suffer Worst ‘Black Friday’ …




PEGs: The Parallel Economy for Traditionalist Americans

As our nation spirals out of control with “woke” socialist politics and normalization of perversion, there has been a natural and rational backlash by conservatives who want no part of this. Generally, the economic side of this divergence has been dubbed The Parallel Economy. Thusfar, this is a small, nascent movement. But as inflation increases, I predict that it will grow much more popular. And eventually, once a sovereign cryptocurrency is announced, the Parallel Economy may divorce itself almost entirely from The System. (Or as some call it, The Beast System.) What I propose is that informal Parallel Economy Groups …