Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready! …




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”.  Today, we focus on the announced retrial of Tommy Robinson. Photobucket Web Site Compromised by Malware SuvrvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson, sent this warning: “Photobucket has been having ongoing issues with service and security. Quite a few of the “featured” photos link to dangerous malware that can damage your files. Today, I got hit with an annual charge, only three months after my previous annual charge. Clicking the FAQ button immediately started …




Preparedness Notes for Friday – March 8, 2019

March 8th is the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told in his last book, Hell, I was there!  A Proto-Redoubter, Keith spent the second half of his life on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. (Keith was born in 1899 and died February 12, 1984.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 81 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 …




Time and Planning, Pt. 1, by 3ADscout

Have you ever considered the influences that time has on your preparedness efforts or will have upon your survival post-TEOTWAWKI? When we take an in-depth look at time, we will realize that time is one of our greatest preparedness resources. This article will discuss ways to use our time wisely now so that we can save even more time in a post-TEOTWAWKI world. We all have a finite supply of time, just 24 hours a day, no more. We can’t buy more time regardless of our income. We all only have seven days a week. There are however, a few …




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. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today’s focus is on Recycling. (See the Commodities section.) Precious Metals: Gold Price Goes ‘Thunk’…And ‘Tis A Good Healthy Thing o o o From H.L.: The Arms Race Between Gold Counterfeiters and Bullion Testers Is Heating Up. JWR’s Comment:  This is yet another reason that I prefer buying …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday – March 7, 2019

March 7, 1944 was the birthday of Townes Van Zandt, a gifted Texan singer/songwriter. (He died in 1997.) March 7, 1707 was the birthday of Stephen Hopkins, (Governor of Rhode Island) one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. March 7, 1925 was the birthday of Rene Gagnon, a U.S. Marine, who was seen in the famous photographs of the Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. (He died in 1979.) — Today we present a short but heavily-illustrated guest article by reader P.R., titled Observations on City Life in Brazil. It was too short to meet the 1,500-word minimum …




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”.  Today, we focus on Canada’s Risk Database. Humanity Development Library Reader David K. wrote to mention: “I found this while researching food crops for my pigs. It looks like it’s a great resource!”:  Humanity Development Library. Canada’s Risk Database Reader C.H. sent this: Police in Canada Are Tracking People’s ‘Negative’ Behavior In a ‘Risk’ Database. Here is a snippet: “Information about people believed to be ‘at risk’ of becoming criminals or victims …







Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 6, 2019

March 6th was the birthday of Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper Jr., born in 1927 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. This U.S. Air Force pilot and astronaut was aboard Mercury 9 and Gemini 5. Cooper had his exploits well documented in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff, and in the well-done film of the same name. Cooper died at age 77 from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, October 4, 2004. Coincidentally, this is also the birthday of Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937), a Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman in space, aboard Vostok 6. She was born in Maslennikovo, USSR. — …




JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on the documentary film titled Calvinist. (See the Movies section.) Books: Battlefield America: The War On The American People, by John W. Whitehead. o  o  o Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War o  o  o Brown’s Skin and Minor Surgery: A Text Movies: Reader Bruce D. recommended this documentary: Calvinist. Bruce wrote:  “I just watched a great documentary on the recent resurgence of Reformed Theology amongst young adults. It’s streaming on Amazon and I’m sure …




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. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today’s focus is on $100 Bills. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Only The Fed Could Kill Gold Now – Analyst o o o Do you like nuggets? Here is a great collection of photos, sent to us by reader H.L.: The most gigantic gold finds …




The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“INDECISION, n. The chief element of success; “for whereas,” saith Sir Thomas Brewbold, “there is but one way to do nothing and divers way to do something, whereof, to a surety, only one is the right way, it followeth that he who from indecision standeth still hath not so many chances of going astray as he who pusheth forwards” –a most clear and satisfactory exposition on the matter. “Your prompt decision to attack,” said Genera Grant on a certain occasion to General Gordon Granger, “was admirable; you had but five minutes to make up your mind in.” “Yes, sir,” answered …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – March 5, 2019

We are sad to report the death of actor Luke Perry, on Monday, following a massive stroke a few days earlier. He starred in the quasi-survivalist television series titled Jeremiah. Season 2 of the series is available free for Amazon Prime members. For Season 1, you have to pay. On Hulu, both Season 1 and Season 2 are included with a Hulu subscription. Here’s a description of the series from IMDB: “In a post-apocalyptic future, a deadly virus has wiped out most of humanity. The only ones who survived, were those who hadn’t yet reached puberty. Now, a decade has …




SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on railroads, rail bikes, and rails-to-trails in the American Redoubt.  The region has a rich history of railroads.  Many  “branch ” (Class III) railroads were and still are used to haul grain, ore, logs, and lumber. (A hat tip to reader JML, who sent me the initial link that piqued my interest in rail biking and rails to …