Note from JWR:

A reminder that the deadline for entries for Round 4 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is May 31, 2006. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. There haven’t been may entries yet for this round, so your chances of being judged the winner are better in this round. Please e-mail me your entries, and I will post them.




Note from JWR:

My sincere thanks to those of you that have kindly subscribed for $3 per month as part of the 10 Cent Challenge. To eke out a living as a full time blogger, I need at least another 200 subscribers. If you find what you read here has some value, please do your bit. BTW, if you already have a PayPal account, subscribing takes less than a minute. By clicking on the PayPal button above, you can automatically bill your credit card or PayPal balance for a monthly charge of $3.00. Many Thanks!







From the Deep Archives: JWR’s Comments on Silver and Gold

Note: I posted the following to the Usenet newsgroup “misc.survivalism” on July 17. 1997, in response to an ongoing thread about gold and silver. OBTW, at the time, gold was selling for around $320 per ounce, and silver was around $4.25 per ounce. [LOTS deleted] RE: > Gold coins frequently are only some part gold – in actuality an >alloy comprised of MOSTLY gold, but not always.  Different gold coins have >different gold contents and it’s not always clear what percent.  For >instance, did you know that the US RARELY minted a .999 pure gold coin? >That’s why Kruggerands [sic] …




Note from JWR:

The first letter posted today is a thought-provoking piece directed toward fellow Christians, but the issues that it raises might be of interest to those of you that are of other faiths and even those who are not religious. I often stress charity in my writings. As a Christian, I consider charity my duty, and I feel strongly convicted to have extra food and gardening seed on hand to dispense as charity in the event of a disaster. Even for those of you that are not religious, I still recommend the practice, since it demonstrates kindness, and kindness builds trust …




Note from JWR:

We’re having some difficulties getting our continuous loop scrolling ad bar to work with Internet Explorer. 🙁 So unless you have Firefox, Safari, or Netscape, our ads may "disappear" until we get things straightened out. (Needless to say, I’ll be crediting all of our advertisers for some free days.) We may revert to non-scrolling ads for a while. Thanks for your patience.)







Note From JWR:

My heartfelt thanks to all of the folks that have sent “10 Cent Challenge” contributions. The steadily expanding base of subscribers will allow me to quit my “day job” at the end of March. (Deo volente.) I will then have the time to cover topics in greater depth. SurvivalBlog subscriptions are voluntary. All that we ask is ten cents a day–but only if you feel convicted to do so. If what you read here is not worth ten cents a day to you, or if you are on a tight budget, then you can pass. And for those of you …




Note from JWR:

Today we welcome two new advertisers: First, a gentlemen in Colorado, who is selling the most elaborate underground retreat house that I have ever seen. Even if you aren’t currently looking for real estate, be sure to look at his web pages. You are bound to learn a lot about retreat architecture! Something tells me that given the “niche” readership of SurvivalBlog that this property will not be on the market long! OBTW, unless you are a serious potential buyer, please do not pester the owner with questions! Second, Bear Basin Outfitters, one of the nations’ premier optics dealers. I …




Note from JWR:

Thanks for all of the recent 10 Cent Challenge contributions. At this juncture I should mention that starting Saturday I will be foregoing my corporate salary and benefits to take up writing SurvivalBlog, full time. (Read: Big leap of faith.) I don’t want to drone on and on and on like some dreaded PBS telethon about this. The bottom line: If you find some value in what you read here, then please consider subscribing for 10 cents a day. Thanks!




Note from JWR:

  Tomorrow will be my last day as a salaried technical writer. Henceforth, I will be blogging and freelance writing full time. I’d appreciate your prayers for God’s guidance and providence. I am hopeful that SurvivalBlog will continue to gain readership and advertisers. This will require greater public awareness that this blog exists. Please help spread the word about SurvivalBlog by adding one of our banners to your e-mail footer. Thanks!




Note from JWR:

As previously mentioned, I will be writing SurvivalBlog full time, starting April 7th. Quitting my “day job” is a huge leap of faith. To make a living at this, I will need far more 10 Cent Challenge contributors. I don’t intend to place “guilt trip” on anyone, nor do I want to sound like a beggar, but ponder the fact that less that 2% of the folks that read SurvivalBlog weekly have ponied up 10 cents a day. All that I ask is that if find what you read here valuable, then please pitch in. Thanks! Today we present the …




Note from JWR:

Wow!  We just surpassed 10 million hits since SurvivalBlog was launched eight months ago! Of course it’s not as important as unique visits, but even that count is exploding: More than 322,000  unique visits!  Thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a success. Please continue to spread the word. I will be writing SurvivalBlog full time, starting April 7th. To make a living at this, I will need to find more advertisers. I’d greatly appreciate your help:  If you know of a potential advertiser, please call or e-mail them, and ask them to get a banner ad at SurvivalBlog.  They cost as …




Note from JWR:

I’m not much of a trickster, so I won’t subject you to any April Fool’s Day prank posts. And the winner is…  The winner of Round 3 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is K.A.D., for his article titled: “Defending Your Home: An Outline of Security for Troubled Times”  The author will be mailed a four day &qout;gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. Thanks to the contest sponsor, we will be repeating the contest, with the same valuable prize. The deadline for entries for Round 4 is May 31, 2006. For this latest round of the contest, special judging consideration …




Note from JWR:

Tomorrow we will announce the winner of Round 3 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest, and award a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. Thanks to the generosity of Front Sight’s Director, Naish Piazza, we will be running Round 4 of the contest, with the same valuable prize. (Worth as much as $2,000 if you were paying cash for a course.) The deadline for entries for Round 4 is May 31, 2006. Speaking of Front Sight, the 26 episode weekly reality TV series entitled, Front Sight Challenge will be aired soon on The Outdoor Channel. Check your satellite …