Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 18, 2023

On this day in 1865, by proclamation of the U.S. Secretary of State, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing slavery, officially entered into force, having been ratified by the requisite states on December 6.  As a footnote, the slaves in Texas only belatedly got the word of their liberation in the middle of the following June — in 1866. Hence, the origin of the annual “Juneteenth” celebrations — recently enshrined as a Federal holiday. — On December 18, 1737, famed Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari died in Cremona. A rare Stradivarius violin sold for near-record $15.3 million, in 2022. …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of …


Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 17, 2023

December 17th, 1905, was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002. — And speaking of Finns, on December 17, 1939, Finnish runner Taisto Mäki ran 10,000 meters in less than 30 minutes for the first time in recorded history. He broke his previous record by running the distance in 29 minutes 52 seconds. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for …


JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR, based on meme text suggested by reader S.F.: Meme Text: Surround yourself with a blanket of fond memories, but beware that it may be set on fire by your local leftists. News Links: Monuments Are Only the Start of Radical Left’s War on Western Values. Left hellbent on destroying mom-and-dad families. Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were …


Preparedness Notes for Saturday — December 16, 2023

The famed Boston Tea Party took place on December 16th, 1773. — December 16th, 1928, was the birthday of Philip K. Dick, who died on March 2, 1982. He penned a remarkable number of sci-fi novels and novellas that have been adapted into movies. — The Romanian Revolution began on December 16th, 1989. No less than 1,066 civilians died in the successful attempt to overthrow the dictatorial President Nicolae Ceaușescu. — This new 550-acre listing at SurvivaReallty.com looks amazingly versatile: Longhollow Acres – A Rural Refuge near Burkesville, Kentucky. — Today’s feature article is a guest post, by my #1 …


SurvivalBlog’s Annual Disclaimers, Provisos, and Public Notices

Just doing my annual duty… SurvivalBlog, a private information service, is obliged to post some disclaimers and provisos, annually. These notices are current as of December 16, 2023 and remain in force unless later specifically revoked or modified by the Editor. Advertising and Reviews Per FTC File No. P034520: SurvivalBlog accepts cash-paid advertising. We also have affiliate advertising  relationships. To the best of my knowledge, as of the date of this posting, none of our advertisers that sell the products mentioned in this blog have solicited SurvivalBlog or our staff to write any reviews or endorsements, nor have they provided …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, 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 your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n …


The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an …


Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 15, 2023

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. (The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia.) We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud. — The Hunkpapa Lakota chief Sitting Bull was killed by Native American policemen who, with others, were attempting to arrest him near the Grand River in South Dakota. — The 15th of December, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in …


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. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at some rumored ammunition price increases. (See the Tangibles Investing section.) Precious Metals: The big swings in the precious metals markets are continuing. After hitting an all-time last week, spot gold took a dive back into the high $1,980s range, on profit-taking. When I checked on Wednesday morning, spot gold had recovered to …



Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 14, 2023

One of the greatest figures in the history of polar exploration was Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who left Norway for Antarctica in June 1910 and on this day in 1911 became the first person to reach the South Pole. — This large property listing on SurvivalRealty.com with five natural gas wells caught my eye: 587 SE Kentucky Acres – Defensible – Ridges and Streams, Spectacular Views. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  …


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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. In today’s column, we further examine the risk of solar flares and extreme solar storms. A Timely Update, Thursday PM: MAJOR X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: The sun just unleashed the strongest solar …