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 market for deactivated guns, in England. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Revisiting the Dow to Gold Ratio o  o  o Bank Behind World’s Largest Money Laundering Scandal Offered Russians Gold Bars To Hide Their Fortune Economy & Finance: Reader A.K. mentioned this, over at MarketWatch: The …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 17, 2019

On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. They differed from the Constitution in that they emphasized the primacy of the states. This brings to mind the dangers of convening a Constitutional Convention, because the last time this happened the Articles of Confederation were thrown out and totally replaced by the Constitution. Do you honestly believe that our politicians today could craft a document that so thoroughly protects the rights of the individual as they did then? — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog …




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 illegal immigration statistics. Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers Reader DSV mentioned this, over at Phramacist Ben‘s site: Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers Yale University …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 16, 2019

November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. JWR’s novel Survivors …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 15, 2019

Today is birthday of David Stirling. (15 November 1915  – 4 November 1990.)  He was a Scottish officer in the British Army, mountaineer, and the founder of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. — On this day, Charles Dickens published the final installment of A Tale of Two Cities in Dickens’ circular.




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 investing in silver. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Jim Wyckoff: Gold, silver slip to 3-month lows at chart-based sellers emboldened. JWR’s Comment:  Buy on dips like these! o  o  o Commander Zero of the great Notes From The Bunker blog had this terse but pointed commentary:  Silver. …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“My Creed:  I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon—if I can. I seek opportunity—not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 14, 2019

On November 14th, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano erupted in Colombia, killing more than 20,000 as nearby towns are buried in mud, ice and lava. Scientist studying the volcano believed an eruption was imminent and had recommended an evacuation of the area which was largely ignored, resulting in the high number of casualties. — Today, we present another product review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.  This is one of the unusual weeks where we have two articles written by him. — Some uncivil words were used in a string of off-topic comments, on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I …




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 blackouts in the socialist dictatorship of Venezuela. Demographics History & Predictions Over at Unz Review: Top 25 Cool Demographics Facts. The tables and maps are fascinating. Radio Free Redoubt: Our …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 13, 2019

Here is a Hong Kong protest update, courtesy of our Editor-at-Large, Michael Z. Williamson, quoting his friend Marc Adkins, who in turn was quoting a local friend “on the ground”, in the city: “Hong Kong Chinese University (HKCU) is under Siege by the Hong Kong Police Force. The reason behind this is if they managed to take over HKCU, they will have access to Hong Kong Internet Exchange (HKIX), which is located within HKCU. The HKIX serves as a hub to 99% messages that [are] sent and received through Internet within Hong Kong. If HKCU is fallen, every Hong Kongers’ …




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 a simple way to split kindling, as recommended by Cody, aka Wranglerstar. (See the Instructional …