Preparedness Notes for Saturday – February 2, 2019

Great news!  South Dakota’s newly-elected Republican Governor Kristi Noem just signed a permitless Constitutional Carry bill into law! The news report states:  “There are currently 12 states that allow permit-less carry: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Vermont. That number will rise to at least 13 with South Dakota, and could further increase to include Texas, Oklahoma, and Iowa, all three of which are witnessing efforts to repeal permit requirements in their respective states.”  Freedom is on the march! — February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna …




Preparedness Notes for Friday – February 1, 2019

February 1st is the anniversary of the secession of Texas from the United States in 1861. A State Convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28th, 1861 and on February 1st, by a vote of 166-8, adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. It’s important to note that not all Texans favored this act and the state Governor, Sam Houston, while being loyal to the union, refused offers from President Lincoln to keep him in office and was subsequently deposed as governor. We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday – January 31, 2019

On January 31, 1606, Guy Fawkes was executed for his part in the Gunpowder Plot against parliament and King James. Also on this day in 1872, American author Pearl Zane Grey was born. He was best know for his popular adventure western novels, including Riders of the Purple Sage, which was his best-selling book. o  o  o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present the final entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – January 30, 2019

This year’s new 2005-2018 edition of our waterproof archive USB stick has been selling rapidly. This new edition has a lot more bonus books than before, one more year of the blog posts, and it is now housed on a 16 GB stick. Last year’s was an 8 GB stick. That leaves you 7 GB of free space on the stick to store scans of your personal documents, any of your favorite reference PDFs, et cetera. When I last checked, we had already sold 700 sticks and just 300 were still available. Don’t miss out!  Order one for yourself, and …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – January 29, 2019

Today is the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809.) And speaking of Toms, today is also the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest The following is another entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday – January 27, 2019

Today is the birthday of singer-songwriter Kate Wolf (born 1942, died December 10, 1986.)  Her untimely death at age 44 of leukemia cut short an amazing career and deprived America of a great songwriting talent. This is also the birthday of the late Helen Chenoweth (born, 1938, died October 2, 2006). She was a controversial Republican congresswoman from Orofino, Idaho. January 27th is also commemorated at International Holocaust Remembrance Day. o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday – January 26, 2019

January 26th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army. Established in 1941, Auschwitz was composed of a group of three large camps and 40 smaller camps used for slave labor, unethical medical experiments, and monstrous killing grounds where prisoners were gassed and cremated. As the Soviets headed for Auschwitz, the German Gestapo began a murder spree and began destroying the facility in an attempt to hide the evidence of their crimes. When the Soviets arrived, they encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors along with storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands …







Preparedness Notes for Thursday – January 24, 2019

January 24th is the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation. Today is also the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the excellent View From The Porch blog.




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – January 23, 2019

January 23, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun. This is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental birthday will ensure that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns that are Browning designs.




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – January 22, 2019

Congratulations to Michael Cargill (the owner of Central Texas Gun Works) for his success in this lawsuit: District Court Fines Austin, TX, $9,000 for Refusing Carry of Handguns at City Hall. Cargill is an upstanding, liberty-minded gentleman. He also runs one of the few gun stores in the country that accepts Bitcoin, in payment. Oh, and he sells Ghostgunner milling machines and 80% receiver blanks. He is quite a guy! — On January 22 , 1944 Allied forces began their successful landing at Anzio, Italy.




Preparedness Notes for Monday – January 21, 2019

Good news!  The greatly-expanded SurvivalBlog 2005-2018 Archive Waterproof USB stick is now available for ordering. Since there is so much more bonus material in this year’s edition, we had to switch to offering a 16 GB stick!  If sales made last year are any gauge, we can expect the limited production run of this year’s archive to sell out in just a couple of months.  Order yours today. — As a former Army SIGINT officer, this article caught my attention: President Trump pays tribute to Americans killed in Syrian suicide bombing as their bodies arrive back in US.  I really …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday – January 20, 2019

Today is the birthday of Congressman Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 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 three day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday – January 19, 2019

January 19th is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (This book re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.) o o o SurvivalBlog Writing Contest This has been another entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A $3000 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 …