Readying Yourself for Inflationary Times

As a boy, I can remember my grandfather, Ernest E. Rawles, saying to me: “If you consistently save ten percent of what you earn, then you’ll never go to The Poor House.” That was great advice, coming from someone who had lived through the truly traumatic deflationary Great Depression of the 1930s. But today, we can see the looming threat of another economic depression, and this one will most likely be a traumatic inflationary depression. And this one may last even longer than a decade. In an inflationary depression, even millions of dollars in “savings” in cash (that is: greenbacks …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 8, 2021

Today is the 76th anniversary of V-E Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day. May 8th is the birthday of missionary and U.S. military intelligence officer John Birch. (Born, 1918, died August 25, 1945.) He is considered by many to be the first American casualty of the Cold War. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 94 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, this could be worth …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 7, 2021

On May 7, 1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in England. This was the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 94 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, 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 …


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 prospects for physical silver. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Arkansas Ends Sales Taxes On Gold and Silver; Additional States May Soon Follow o  o  o The silver price is breaking out and could drag a reluctant gold market with it – Saxo Bank. A brief excerpt: …




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 focus on a couple of news stories from Canada. China’s Social Credit Scoring in Canada First up is this, over at The Sunday Guardian: China’s social credit program creeps into Canada. (A …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 5, 2021

May 5th is the birthday of Adrian Carton de Wiart, known as Britain’s “Unstoppable Soldier.”  This eccentric Belgian-born soldier served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived two plane crashes; tunneled out of a prisoner-of-war camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. This is also the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel (Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: 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 S.L. in Idaho wrote to mention: “I have had great success with a coddling moth trap. Use a ½ gallon plastic milk container – on the side opposite the handle cut a “smile” on the upper corner edge to create an entrance for the moths. Mix 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup dark molasses, 1/8 tsp ammonia and 6 …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 4 2021

Release Day!  Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson has a new sci-fi anthology in his Freehold series that will be released today by Baen Books: Freehold Defiance. I’ve started reading my advance copy, and it is great! It should now be available from all major online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores. I’d of course prefer that you order your copies from Books-A-Million (BAM), so that we can starve the Amazon beast. — On May 4, 1415, reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. The death of Hus inspired the later Hussite revolution in Bohemia. …