Planning Your Escape – Part 4, by JMD

(Continued from Part 3.) Some Kit In my previous article I talked quite a bit about the kit I take on the road, but there are a few items that are a lot more relevant to a long Return To Base (RTB) journey that I’d like to focus on. Keep in mind that if you’re flying you’ll be a lot more limited in what you can take, and I’m not recommending that you’ll want or need everything on this list – do your route planning and figure out what makes the most sense for your plans. If you can’t bring …


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 direction of the housing market in 2020. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: First up today, over at Zero Hedge: Serbia, Slovakia Join Sudden Eastern European Gold Repatriation Push. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.) o  o  o Gary Christenson: Gold and the Lender of Last …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“By the side of these religious men I discern others whose looks are turned to the earth more than to Heaven; they are the partisans of liberty, not only as the source of the noblest virtues, but more especially as the root of all solid advantages; and they sincerely desire to extend its sway, and to impart its blessings to mankind. It is natural that they should hasten to invoke the assistance of religion, for they must know that liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith; but they have seen religion in the ranks of their adversaries, …


Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 5, 2019

Today is the birthday of film-maker Walt Disney. (1901–1966) — On December 5th, 1964, the first Medal of Honor awarded to a serviceman for action in Vietnam was presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York. Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He …


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 a claimed Jeep copycat. UK Bridge Terrorists Had Been Released Linked over at the great Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Fellow Terrorist of London Bridge Attack Also Released Early, Also Plotted Attack. …



Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 4, 2019

December 4th is the birthday of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, (born 1912) an AVG “Flying Tiger” volunteer pilot for the Chinese Nationalist government, WWII Marine Corps aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient. (He died January 11, 1988.) A proto-Redoubter, Pappy Boyington was born in Couer d’Alene, Idaho and was raised in Spokane, Washington. — 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 …


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 the Tintin books and movie. Books: Now considered politically incorrect, these cartoon format book were …



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 3, 2019

Today is the birthday of actor Brendan Fraser (born, 1968.) He often plays “fish out of water” roles. Preppers of course remember him from Blast From The Past. — 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 Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or …


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 a major Wyoming interstate freeway closure. (See the Wyoming section.) Idaho Idaho school district buys rifles, will warn visitors building is ‘armed’. The article begins: “The Garden Valley School District is arming itself and a handful of staff members with guns in …



Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 2, 2019

On December 2nd, 1823, what became known as the Monroe Doctrine was declared by President James Monroe to Congress outlining a foreign policy initiative that forbade European interference in the American hemisphere but also asserted U.S. neutrality in regard to future European conflicts. — Michael Z. Williamson (our Editor At Large) is a prolific science fiction writer and anthologist. His latest anthology, Freehold: Resistance, will be released tomorrow, December 3, 2019. It will be available both in paperback and Kindle formats. I’m confident that it will be greatly enjoyed by sci-fi fans as well as by anyone interested in resistance …


Writing Contest Winners Announced — Round 85

We’ve announced the winners of Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The top three prize winners will share more than $12,000 worth of prizes. The winners are… First Prize Winner: First prize goes to M.B. for his four-part article Black Powder for Self-Reliance, which was posted on October, 8th, 9th,10th, and 11th, 2019. He will receive: 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 Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or …


Recipe of the Week: R.J.’s Turkey Tetrazzini

What will you do with that leftover turkey from that big Thanksgiving bird?  Reader R.J. says: Make Turkey Tetrazzini. Ingredients 1/2 lb. egg noodles, cooked Olive oil (for oiling your baking dish) 7 Tbs. unsalted butter 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 shallots, minced 1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced 3 cups chicken broth 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. freshly ground white pepper 3 cups of shredded cooked turkey leftovers 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 cup bread crumbs, preferably fresh 2 green onions, chopped Directions Cook the noodles first, drain them, and set them aside. Pre-heat an oven to 450°F. Oil a …