Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 21, 2020

In 1986, Lake Nyos in Cameroon erupted with an estimated billion cubic yards of carbon dioxide gas. The gas had apparently been accumulating in the crater lake, held down by the weight of the water. When it finally erupted, the gas cloud smothered and killed every living animal, including insects, in its path until it dissipated. Outsiders learned of the disaster when they approached the villages and found animal and human bodies on the ground. The best estimate is that 1,700 people and thousands of cattle died. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of …




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 galloping prices for AR-15 lower receivers. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Long time reader and contributor H.L. sent this news: “Credit Suisse just raised their gold target price to $2,600.  Looming higher taxes (especially if the Dems sweep the elections), US monetary policy (not good), debt, …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 20, 2020

20 August 1935 was the birthday of former Congressman Ron Paul. Dr. Paul is to be commended for fighting the good fight for many years. — August 20th, 1866 is also the day that President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any 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 Antifa Threat Spirals. The Antifa Threat Spiral Takes a Turn Matt Bracken, over at American Partisan: ABR SIT-REP 2: ANTIFA/BLM/REVCOM TACTICS ARE EVOLVING AND ESCALATING. JWR’s Comment:  I warned SurvivalBlog …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers, “just men who will rule in the fear of God.” The preservation of government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty; if the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 19, 2020

August 19th is the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906-1971). Farnsworth was an American inventor who is best known for his image pickup device that formed the basis for the fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Among his many other inventions was the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, a small nuclear fusion device that remains a viable source of neutrons. At his death, he held over 300 patents, mostly in radio and television. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A gift certificate …




JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books, and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how-to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on guitarist and singer Molly Tuttle. (See the Music section.) Books: The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I took a train from Berlin to Vienna on a certain date, close to the first of April, 1933. The train was empty. The same train the next day was overcrowded, was stopped at the frontier, the people had to get out, and everybody was interrogated by the Nazis. This just goes to show that if you want to succeed in this world you don’t have to be much cleverer than other people, you just have to be one day earlier.” – Leo Szilard, a Jewish Hungarian physicist and father of nuclear physics, as quoted in The Making of the …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 18, 2020

August 18th is the birthday of Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer, soldier, politician and public administrator that is best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. — I have travel planned for the month of September — in part to gather inventory. Therefore, I will be temporarily putting Elk Creek Company on hiatus. So if you’d like to place an order, then please get your order in by  August 26th. Thanks! SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: …




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 the dramatic rescue of a drowning man, on the Snake River. (See the Idaho section.) Idaho Mountain Home family helps save the life of a man drowning in the Snake River. The article begins: “The day started as a typical day for …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Middle class America is no less violent than any other people. They seem passive because they’re results oriented. They rise not out of blood frenzy but to solve the otherwise insoluble. Their methods of choice are good will, cooperation, forbearance, negotiation and finally, appeasement, roughly in that order. Only when these fail to end the abuse do they revert to blowback. And they do so irretrievably. Once the course is set and the outcome defined, doubt is put aside. The middle class is known, condemned actually, for carrying out violence with the efficiency of an industrial project where bloody destruction …




Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 17, 2020

While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory on August 17th, 1896, George Carmack reportedly spotted nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparked the last great gold rush in the American West  — the Klondike Rush. His two companions later agreed that Skookum, Jim–Carmack’s brother-in-law, actually made the discovery. — An interesting listing at my #1 Son’s SurvivalRealty.com spin-off of SurvivalBlog: Remote Solar Cabin on 5 acres in Colville, Washington. — Today we present another product review written by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.




Recipe of the Week: Apple Rice Pudding

The following recipe for Apple Rice Pudding is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book will be one of the many bonus items included in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This special 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. Ingredients 1 cup rice 2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large apples …




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 gold and silver markets. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Bank of America: Silver Could Hit $50 “In The Near Term” o  o  o Why The Gold & Bitcoin Surge Is Just Starting: “Real Yields Will Be Negative Until The Financial System Collapses” o  o  o Hub …