Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 22, 2020

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May 22, 1859 is the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later. After medical school, Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. …


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 examine the trend of pandemic era “sight unseen” house buying. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: I recommend watching a fascinating video interview with Egon Von Greyerz: Spiking Food Prices Kick Off Inflationary Endgame. He calls the current unemployment rate “catastrophic.”  He warms of eventual hyperinflation. And at the 19 …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting any thing by it; nay, that absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for purposes and objects merely personal, such as, a thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families, or partisans. These, and a variety of motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 21, 2020

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May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device (pictured) — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic “trench broom.” — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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 …


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 rising interest in homeschooling. Coastal Oregon Preppers React to Pandemic First up, over at MIT Technology Review: They were waiting for the Big One. Then coronavirus arrived. Senator Blumenthal Reintroduces …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 20, 2020

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May 20th, 1942 was the birthday of Carlos Hathcock (died February 23, 1999), a United States Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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 their other models. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used …


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 guitar music. (See the Music section.) Books: I haven’t yet read this new book, but …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“In the end, what is really needed is a fundamental rethinking of the notion that the state rather than private markets must monopolize the provision of justice and security. This is the fatal conceit. No power granted to the state goes unabused. This power, among all possible powers, might be the most important one to take away from the state. ” – Llewellyn “Lew” H. Rockwell, Jr., Founder and chairman of the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama


Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 19, 2020

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On May 19, 1796, the first game law was approved in the United States. The law created penalties for hunting or destroying game within Indian Territory. Modern American fish and game laws make “living off the land” nearly impossible, outside of Alaska. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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 their …


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 the proposed shift in the border between Oregon and Idaho.  (See the Region-Wide section.) Region-Wide ‘Move Oregon’s Border’ petition gets OK in Union County. Here is an excerpt from the article: “The Move Oregon’s Border group would reduce Oregon to only 17 …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — May 18, 2020

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Today is the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. — May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel B. Wesson (of Smith and Wesson fame). — I just heard that improvisational comedian Fred Willard has passed away, at 86. He will be missed. SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 88 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 …


Recipe of the Week: Corned Beef Hash

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The following simple recipe for Corned Beef Hash ties in with my recent recommendation to buy some canned corned beef, before the upcoming price increases. This recipe comes 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 bonus items in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. Ingredients 2 cups chopped …


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 continuing surge in American gun sales. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: Silver price to outperform gold in Q2 – Orchid Research o  o  o Gold and U.S. equities de-couple with stocks selling off, and gold moving higher o  o  o The Chartist crowd is making Bull …