Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 31, 2020

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Congratulations to the Citizens of the UK! Brexit will take effect at midnight tonight. It was originally scheduled for March of 2019. But there were, ahem, delays. I’m glad to see that you are finally getting out of Burger King. Next up: How and when do you get your guns back? — And, speaking of England: On January 31, 1606, Guy Fawkes was scheduled for execution for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against parliament and King James. As he was being marched up the steps to his gallows, he fell and broke his neck and died, thus depriving his …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 wide-reaching economic implications of the Coronavirus outbreak in China. Precious Metals: News of the spread of the Wuhan Pneumonia virus put a scare into the industrial side of the precious metals market — with silver, platinum, and palladium all turning down. If the outbreak gets any worse, then …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“How could I improve on what we’ve done so far? Well, I would rather we didn’t give Fallujah back. There’s a few things I think we need to stand up to. I think we can’t just ignore terrorism, we cant just turn our back on it and expect it to go away. I mean, somebody around here seems to think if you treat them nice they’ll like you and they’ll leave you alone, but that’s not the case. But our guys are in good shape, we’re ready to go any time. Matter of fact, call me back, I’m ready to …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 30, 2020

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January 30th is the birthday of historian Barbara Tuchman (born 1912, died February 6, 1989). She wrote some very engaging history books. January 30th is also the anniversary of the 1945 Great Raid on Cabanatuan Prison Camp where US Army Rangers and Filipino Guerrillas liberated Allied prisoners. The book Rescue At Los Baños, by historian and bestselling author Bruce Henderson is fascinating reading. And the movie The Great Raid was loosely based on this raid’s history. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of …


Letter: Clarifications on N95 Masks

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Dear Editor: There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings about N95 masks.  I have quoted some information from CDC, NIOSH, OSHA, and the FDA to help clear some of the confusion. The main issue I hear is that “only medical rated (by the FDA) N95 masks should be used to protect oneself against Coronavirus  and other flu.”  This is not necessarily true.  The “95” part of the N95 stands for the percentage of particulate matter that the mask will filter out.  The size of the test media is .03 micron.  At .03 micron an N95 mask is more than …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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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 how NYPD police officers are using facial recognition. Demand for “Prepper Properties” is Soaring Demand For “Prepper Properties” Is Soaring As More People Seek Refuge From The Nightmare That Is …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 29, 2020

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Today is the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809.) And speaking of Toms, this is the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun. — A special note on our waterproof 2005-2019 archive USB sticks: We discovered a formatting glitch on the first batch that were mailed out. So… We are mailing free replacements (properly formatted) for all of those customers. You may keep the old sticks–free of charge–and erase their contents, to be able to use those sticks for whatever …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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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 the  recently-released The Bridge on the River Kwai BluRay. (See the Movies section.) Books: Leadership Strategy …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 28, 2020

January 28th is the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him – The Dozier Drill. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from veteran-owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course …


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 population estimates.   (See the Idaho section.) Region-Wide: Reader M.K. spotted this wire service article that mentions the American Redoubt movement and real estate agent Todd Savage: Survivalists who fear a looming, urban catastrophe are swapping city life for a fresh start …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 27, 2020

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January 27th is commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today is the birthday of singer-songwriter Kate Wolf. (Born 1942, died December 10, 1986.)  Her untimely death of leukemia at age 44 cut short an amazing career and robbed America of a great songwriting talent. This is also the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. — Seed for Security, LLC is having a special sale: Their Colossal Security Pack is 15% off. This pack is a total of seven pounds of vegetable, grain, and herb seeds. …


Recipe of the Week: Chicken-Rice Casserole

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This week’s recipe is for a Chicken-Rice Casserole. It is a recipe excerpted from the scarce book Nine Hundred Successful Recipes, by Lulu Thompson Silvernail. This book, from my own book collection, was published in 1923. A recent change in U.S. copyright law now puts most pre-1925 books in the public domain. Lulu Thompson Silvernail’s emphasis in this book was recipes that included hard red winter wheat flour. This entire recipe book is just part of the extensive bonus content that is included in this year’s SurvivalBlog archive waterproof USB stick. Note: The USB sticks are now in stock. They …