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 surging inflation figures. (See the Inflation Watch section.) Precious Metals: Silver jumped 4.4% yesterday, to $22.59 per Troy ounce. Gold was up 1.86% to $1807.60 per Troy ounce. This makes the silver-to-gold price ratio now back to near 80-to-1.  So this is a good time to ratio trade out …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 16, 2021

December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Impostor, Minority Report, Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly, Next, and The Adjustment Bureau. Though he had a troubled personal life (with drug use and several failed marriages), his captivating books certainly had a knack for envisioning potential futures. — 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 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, more conjecture on a nascent 21st Century U.S. civil war. Tim Pool Talks Civil War Some food for thought from pundit Tim Pool: NYT Article Warns Civil War Is Close As Media Claims …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 15, 2021

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia. We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud. — The 15th of December, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In …


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. — Dozens of tornados touched down in five states including Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. These did tremendous damage and may have claimed more than 100 lives–mostly in Kentucky. Please keep the survivors in your prayers.  Here are some trustworthy places to make donations: Samaritan’s Purse and, Kentucky Southern Baptist Convention. o  o  o A …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“…The Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn’t say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a ‘compelling interest’ in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances.” – Harry Browne


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 14, 2021

Today is the birthday of Air Force General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, who died September 27, 1993. December 14th is also the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013). Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name – Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg. — The last day!  By popular demand, I extended the month-long Patton’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company. It will now end tonight. Get your order in by 1700 hrs, Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 14th.  With our unique …


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 focus on wolf trapping in Idaho. (See the Idaho section.) Region-Wide From Montana’s Billings Gazette newspaper: For sale: God, guns and separatism in the American Redoubt. This has typical 21st Century liberal journalistic bias, but at least they reported the details correctly. For the …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 13, 2021

December 13th is the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York. Infogalactic had this summary: “He was one of the most decorated soldiers of the United States Army in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 35 machine guns, killing at least 28 German soldiers, and capturing 132 others. This action occurred during the United States-led portion of the broader Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France to breach the Hindenburg line and make the opposing German forces surrender.” — Today we present another review written by our Field Gear Editor, Pat …


Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Nut Balls

The following recipe for Peanut Butter Nut Balls is from reader Cathy N.   She notes: “This is the recipe much as it was given to me. But I have added my own minor changes.” Ingredients 1 Box Powdered Sugar (1#) 1-1/2 C Flaked Coconut !-1/2 C Crushed Graham Crackers  1-1/2 C Chopped Pecans or Peanuts 1C Melted butter 12 oz Jar Crunchy Peanut Butter 1 tsp Vanilla Extract Directions Mix all together and form into 1” balls Melt 2 packages of semi-sweet chocolate morsels with 3 Tbsp shortening in a double boiler. Dip balls in chocolate, and then chill. Chef’s …


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, more news on the Evergrande default. (See the Economy, Finance, & Taxes section.) Precious Metals: Gold has been ‘shockingly stable’: It’s a long-term play as U.S. dollar rolls over, says Jeffrey Gundlach. o  o  o U.S. Treasury Refuses to Answer Questions about Disposition of Its Own Gold. (Thanks to Randy for the link.) …