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, we look at the end of Dollar Dominance. Precious Metals: A clear-pitched bell rang at 9:25 AM Eastern Time on Monday morning, when we saw these numbers posted: Gold: $4,111.40 Silver: $52.00 And by Thursday evening (Friday morning in Asia), we saw these even more astounding numbers, marking two more all-time highs: Gold: $4,358.20 Silver: …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 16, 2025

On October 16, 1846, dentist William T. G. Morton demonstrated the effectiveness of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic. — October 16, 1923: John Harwood patented the self-winding watch in Switzerland. — Mark your calendar for December 29, 2025 to pre-order your 20th Anniversary Edition SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks. – JWR — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: 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), …


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. At the top of today’s column, another dire warning on Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI and Human Extinction Tom Christianson sent us this, in the WSJ:  A ‘Godfather of AI’ Remains Concerned …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 15, 2025

On October 15, 1764, Edward Gibbon observed a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome. This inspired him to begin work on writing The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. — Herbert W. McBride, the author of A Rifleman Went To War, was born in Waterloo, Indiana October 15, 1873. He died in Indianapolis of a heart attack on March 17, 1933, shortly after finishing writing A Rifleman Went To War. — On October 15, 1529, Ottoman armies under Suleiman ended their siege of Vienna and turned back to Belgrade. — …


SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our 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. — Reader N.G. suggested this piece at Recoil: Tom Fuller: How an End-of-Times Mindset Changed the Long-Range Game. o  o  o Reader H.L. sent this, from Popular Mechanics: Archaeologists Accidentally Discovered the Oldest Gun Ever Found in America. o  o  o Canadian Food Inspection Agency Kills Flock Of Rare Healthy Sheep, Destroys Innocent Shepherd’s …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 14, 2025

October 14, 1834: In Philadelphia, Whigs and Democrats staged a gun, stone, and brick battle for control of a Moyamensing Township election, resulting in one death, several injuries, and the burning of a block of buildings. — On October 14,1899, Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill departed to South Africa, toting a Broomhandle Mauser pistol. His goal was to report on the Second Boer War. He was later taken prisoner of war, but escaped. He recounted his exploits in an autobiography titled My Early Life. — The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the …


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: A Qatar flag over Idaho?  (See the Idaho section.) Idaho From Newsweek: Qatar is Getting an Air Force Facility in Idaho: What to Know. An article excerpt: “The Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho is a prominent one for interoperational aspirations between the United …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“The powers of the legislature are defined and limited; and that those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten, the constitution is written. To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing, if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained? The distinction between a government with limited and unlimited powers is abolished, if those limits do not confine the persons on whom they are imposed, and if acts prohibited and acts allowed, are of equal obligation. It is a proposition too plain to be contested, that …


Preparedness Notes for Monday — October 13, 2025

On October 13, 1775, the Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier. — Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925. She was the UK’s first female Prime Minister. She died in 2013. — On October 13, 1972, A flight chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes Mountains of Argentina, and the wreckage was not located for more than two months; the incident garnered international attention, especially after it was revealed that the survivors had resorted to cannibalism.  


Recipe of the Week:

Reader K.N. sent us her recipes for Black Bean Brownies and White Bean Blond Brownies. She writes: “I use: 1 box dark chocolate brownie mix, 1 can low-sodium black beans, rinsed, drained, pureed/creamed til smooth. Add 1 small egg, 1/3 cup of any oil, 1/3 cup water, dash of vanilla. Pour mix into greased baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 Degrees. Let cool completely before cutting into squares. If adventurous, substitute a spoonful of peanut butter for the oil, or add some crushed peppermint candy cane. You can use a variation of this recipe to also make Blond …



The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“You can take all the guns in America and put them in a pile on the Mall in Washington DC, and those guns will stay there and will eventually rust and decay. Not one gun will crawl out of that pile and shoot or harm anyone. It takes a human being, and a human heart bent on evil, to pick up a gun, load it, and pull the trigger. The problem we have in this country is sin. We have a government that has taken God out of society.” – Franklin Graham