Category: SurvivalBlog

What? SurvivalBlog Has a FaceBook Page?

Anyone who has been a follower of SurvivalBlog for any time understands the distaste that the editors have for Facebook and other forms of social media. We make no secret of the fact that we know the primary purpose of these sites is to produce a viable database that can be mined for marketing purposes (and ofttimes other nefarious reasons). We have long stayed away from these OPSEC nightmares and have encouraged our readers to do likewise. However, we have watched these social media sites become giants in the communications industry, and it became obvious to us that we had …


Information For Those Receiving Security Warnings When Visiting SurvivalBlog:

SurvivalBlog has enabled an SSL certificate on the domain “SurvivalBlog.com”. The Certificate was issued by COMODO RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA and has these fingerprints: SHA-256 – 00:EE:D5:A4:2F:FE:45:2B:10:1E:33:FE:94:AE:7C:6F:44:AF:58:6D:BF:12:22:B2:88:4D:0A:7B:B0:83:C7:FE SHA1 – 1B:64:54:33:C5:C1:D9:8A:26:EE:B5:06:91:5E:71:09:9F:8E:62:70 There are a few reasons that warnings may be issued: Because of the way that WordPress works, there tends to be “Mixed Content” on each page, The server our hosting provider currently uses is an older server that uses some deprecated methods of encryption, Some older browsers don’t recognize COMODO as a valid SSL issuer. If you are receiving a warning on your browser, you can usually temporarily …


Annual Reminder: The Ten Cent Challenge

I only post one reminder each year about Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions, and this is it. Unlike the whining leftist hand-wringers at PBS, I don’t do endless pledge drives. I depend on my readers to help pay the bills to keep SurvivalBlog up and running. Our web hosting on a dedicated server costs $650 per month, and our local ISP bill is $135 per month. We also have a salaried Managing Editor, a paid Product Review Editor, and other expenses including liability insurance, phone bills, computer hardware, software, accounting, subscriptions, writing contest Honorable Mention prizes, and so forth. My appeal …


Important Provisos For SurvivalBlog Readers

(Please Read This!) SurvivalBlog, a private information service, is obliged to post some disclaimers and provisos, annually. These notices are current as of January 1, 2016 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. 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 me any free or reduced-price gear in exchange …


Seeking Input on Nigeria and on Drafting the Ilemi Constitution

I’m sure that many SurvivalBlog readers have now read my novel Land of Promise, which set up my Counter-Caliphate Chronicles novel series. (Reviews on Amazon.com are greatly appreciated.) The first novel included some details on the founding of the fictional Ilemi Republic, in East Africa. I’m now drafting the second novel in the series, titled Piece of Resistance. Although part of this book will be set in The Ilemi Republic, it primarily describes a war of resistance in Nigeria, in the 2040s. (Fourth Generation warfare against a totalitarian Islamic government.) If any SurvivalBlog readers have recent experience in Nigeria, then …


The Myth of The Gun Show Loophole: The Statist Perversion of Our Language Continues

I’ve mentioned this before in SurvivalBlog, but recent events make this worth repeating: The statist gun grabbers drone on and on about a “gun show loophole” as if it were some ground truth, just like saying a phrase like “humans are mortal.” But just what is this “loophole” they are talking about? It is in fact perfectly legal commerce between private citizens of the same state. This is not a “loophole”. Rather, it is merely the exercise of free trade in used household goods between sovereign citizens within their own states. Gun shows are a time-honored tradition in free exercise …


Fighting Words: An Open Letter to Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.

The New York Times just published the newspaper’s first front page editorial in 95 years. It urged America’s legislators to outlaw civilian ownership of semiautomatic battle rifles. This editorial twisted words to castigate our militia arms as follows: ” These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection.” The editor went on to urge: ” Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective …


Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog Writing Contest – Winners Announced!

First Prize goes to TLS for “An Alternative to Calcium Hypochlorite” which was posted on November 21st. he will receive the following prizes: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint …


Letter Re: SurvivalBlog E-Mail List

Hi, I am curious if you have a sign up for the SurvivalBlog to come to my e-mail? Thank you, – S. JWR Responds: For the privacy of our readers, we keep NO lists! So that you don’t miss out on new posts, I recommend that you make SurvivalBlog your web browser’s home page, since SurvivalBlog is updated daily, without fail. HJL adds: You can also use your web browser or other RSS feed reader by pointing it to our RSS feed and adding it to your bookmarks.


Judging for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog Writing Contest — Winners Announced!

Our staff has completed the judging for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes are awarded as follows: First Prize goes to Iowa Farm Boy for Traversing the Hinterlands – (Part 1, Part 2, & Part 3.) Second Prize goes to A.J. for Learning How to Grow Food in the American Redoubt. Third Prize goes to Redoubting Thomas for The 20% Solution. And Honorable Mention prizes ($30 Amazon.com gift cards) go to these nine fine articles: The Aging Prepper, by R.H. MultipleFamilies on Your Retreat, by Farmer Brown Buildinga Simple Multiband Antenna That Works, by The Consultant …


New Prizes For Round 61 And Beyond

We are pleased to announce that three new prizes have been added to the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest prize packages, starting with Round 61. (Which begins today, October 1st, 2015..) These prizes are: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case–a $1,700 value. (Added to the First Prize package.) Note that this prize is just their “starter”-size mobile off-grid power system. They build them all the way up to 3,000 watts! A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from …


Announcing JWR’s Latest Novel: Land of Promise

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve completed writing and editing my latest novel, titled Land of Promise. It will be released on December 1st, 2015 as an e-book, in trade paperback, and as an audiobook. This is the first volume of a planned five novel series, called the Counter-Caliphate Chronicles. The series begins 35 years in the future, and describes a timeline different from that in my Patriots novel series. These novels will have some science fiction elements, but you will find them as grounded in reality as my previous books. (There will be plenty of practical and tactical tips!) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Over at The Prepper Journal: Migrant Crisis Validates Golden Horde Theory Fears o o o T. sent this BBC news story: US driver shot from police helicopter o o o Some great reading over at Thoughts from Frank and Fern: A Collage of Comments o o o Mac L. Sent this from The Wall Street Journal: Russia Expands Military Presence in Syria, Satellite Photos Show. (Note: A WSJ subscription is required.) o o o K.T. sent this bit of bad news: X Products Can Cannon Ruled to be an NFA Item When Assembled


Letters Re: Cold Steel’s SurvivalBlog Voyager Knife

JWR, Just a note to thank you for the input on the new knife design: WOW!— I’m pretty cheap on knives but was recently chastised by a client and retired police officer to always conceal carry (we were at a police qualifying range so “thought” I didn’t need to there) and have a large folding knife in my pocket—ALWAYS! He was very adamant, which woke me up in a good way. So seeing the JWR knife with all the key features that I felt were excellent, I ordered this knife to meet the retired officer’s recommendations; I’m very impressed!! – …


SurvivalBlog’s 10th Anniversary!

This month marks the 10th anniversary of SurvivalBlog. The blog was propitiously launched just a few weeks before the well-remembered Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Since August of 2005 we’ve only missed a few days of daily posting. (Those were immediately following the untimely death of my first wife.) The blog’s archives of articles and letters are now amazingly deep, and we’ve kept them all fully accessible to everyone, free of charge. The blog now has more than 320,000 unique visitors per week, and has logged nearly 76 million unique visits. My sincere thanks to our many loyal readers, …