Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 17, 2022

February 17th, 1844 was the birthday of Aaron Montgomery Ward, founder of the mail-order business Montgomery Ward. On this day in 1838, hundreds of Voortrekkers traveling along the Blaukraans River in the Natal region were massacred by Zulus. This tragedy became known as the Weneen Massacre. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 16, 2022

February 16th is the birthday of Edgar John Bergen, (1903-1978) an American actor, comedian, and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. He is also the father of actress Candice Bergen. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 15, 2022

February 15th 1809: Birthday of Cyrus Hall McCormick, the inventor of a mechanical reaper. Gun developer Richard “Dick” Casull was born on February 15, 1931. Casull passed away peacefully at home on May 6, 2018 after a long battle with cancer. Dick Casull is most famous for his design of the .454 Casull revolver, along with many other handgun and rifle designs. He held 17 firearm patents. Today, I’d also like to wish Mike Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large) a Happy Birthday! — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …




Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 14, 2022

On this day in 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd State. — I just noticed that we are now down to less than 35 of the SurvivalBlog Archive 2005-2021 archive USB sticks. The first batch was 1,000 sticks, and the second one was 600. This may be the final batch that we’ll have available until January of 2023. So order yours, soon! — Today we present another review article that was written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 13, 2022

Today is the birthday of General Chuck Yeager (born, 1923), the first man to break the sound barrier. He passed away in 2020. February 13th is also the birthday of Robert Charles R.C. Sproul (born 1939, died December 14, 2017), a well-respected American Calvinist theologian. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite …




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 12, 2022

February 12th is the birthday of theologian and journalist Cotton Mather (1663–1728). — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 11, 2022

February 11th is the birthday of the late Burt Blumert (born February 11, 1929 in New York City, died March 30, 2009). He was the president of the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California, co-founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, and the publisher of LewRockwell.com. He once owned Camino Coin Company. Dr. Ron Paul also once owned the same company. Blumert is pictured on the left, in the photo above. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 10, 2022

February 10th is the birthday of Zvi Zvika Greengold (born 1952), a Centurion tank commander who was one of Israel’s most notable heroes of the Yom Kippur War. He was awarded the country’s highest military honor, the Medal of Valor. — Today we present a review that was co-authored by our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson and Jessica Schlenker. (Each wrote sections and they were combined.) — We are still in need of entries for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 99 ends …




Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 9, 2022

February 9th is the birthday of Major George Charles Nonte Jr. (Born 1926, died June 30, 1978.)  After his retirement in 1964, as an Ordnance Corps Major, he became a well-known firearms writer. He also served as an expert witness on firearms for criminal trials. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite …




Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 8, 2022

February 8th, 1828 was the birthday of Jules Verne, the French writer who wrote From the Earth to the Moon. He is considered the father of science fiction. On February 8th, 1963 the Kennedy administration issued an order prohibiting travel to Cuba and banned financial transactions and commerce with Cuba, by U.S. citizens. — I just noticed that we are now down to less than 100 of the second batch of SurvivalBlog 2005-2021 Archive USB sticks.  There were 600 in that batch. There probably won’t be another  batch, this year. Going, going… — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another …




Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 7, 2022

On this day in 1775 in London, Benjamin Franklin published “An Imaginary Speech” in defense of American courage. The speech was intended to counter an unnamed officer’s comments to Parliament that the British need not fear the colonial rebels, because “Americans are unequal to the People of this Country [Britain] in Devotion to Women, and in courage and worse than all, they are religious.” Franklin’s response included his usual wit and acuity. February 7th, 1867, is also the birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder (died February 10, 1957). SurvivalBlog highly recommends the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as well as her biography. …




Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 6, 2022

President Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6th, 1911. — Today we present a guest article by Brandon Smith of the Alt-Market.us blog. We highly recommend all of his writings. — We are in great need of articles for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 99 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.




Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 5, 2022

Today is the birthday of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916). According to Infogalactic: “He was an American-British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hair-curling irons, a mousetrap, and steam pumps. Maxim claimed to invented the lightbulb.” Coincidentally born the same day of the same year was John Boyd Dunlop, the Scottish inventor who invented pneumatic rubber tires. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The …




Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 4, 2022

On February 4th, 1824 — J. W. Goodrich introduced the first rubber galoshes. Also on this day in 1789, George Washington became the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. This was repeated again on this same day in 1792. Because of the way the early American voting procedure worked, the electors cast two votes with no distinction for president or vice president. Washington was chosen by all of the electors and is considered to have been unanimously elected. Of the others on the ballots, Adams had the most votes and thus became the vice …




Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 3, 2022

Today is the birthday of painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978.) This is also the birthday of writer James Michener (1907–1997), known for his very well-researched epic novels, such as Centennial. — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, …