The Year of the Snakes: 2025 Possibilities, by SwampFox

[Image Credit: A still from the 1959 Stanley Kramer/United Artists film On The Beach.]

Blame it on a Chinese buffet restaurant. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the “Year of the Snake.” It seems appropriate, as a number of insidious things are coming together. Will 2025 be a year of treachery and disaster? Will the economy collapse? I am not a prophet, but I can put together some interesting recent facts.

Most obviously, 2024 is an election year. Whatever your hopes about the upcoming election, I can almost guarantee that Trump will not be re-elected. The last election was rigged, so this one will be too. With all the charges being filed against Trump, I believe it is more likely that he will see the inside of a prison cell than the Oval Office. That means a second-term Democrat figurehead, and an administration with nothing to lose. Bad news! But they must wait until they have “won” the election. As controlled as the American media is, nobody will believe that a Herbert Hoover-equivalent president remains in office after an economic crisis. The powers-that-be will do everything they can this year to keep the house of cards standing, and every item in the national outhouse polished to a shine. My prediction is that for the next eight or nine months, we have a limited window of opportunity where we can expect relative stability.‘Continue reading“The Year of the Snakes: 2025 Possibilities, by SwampFox”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today, some driving tour videos that will give folks an appreciation of just how light the population density is, in most of The American Redoubt.

Pictured above is Salmon, Idaho, sometime before 1950.

Region-Wide

On May 21st, there will be an advisory vote in Crook County, Oregon on the Greater Idaho proposal.

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2014 Road Trip – US 93 through Idaho and Montana.

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Best Drive in the USA: Beartooth Highway – Montana/Wyoming Travel Documentary.

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US Highway 20 – driving from Bend, Oregon to Boise, Idaho – spectacular U.S. Route 20.

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THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP: Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains to Glacier National Park.

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Driving across Eastern Montana on Highway 212 – one of the most remote areas in the U.S.

Idaho

Ghost Towns and More — Episode 24 | Idaho City, Idaho.

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North Central Idaho Timewarp Drive. The route follows the Clearwater River, and then up to Grangeville Idaho, and down to Riggins. (Note: This is more pleasant to watch when you set the YouTube player to 1/4 speed.

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Riding Idaho’s DEADLIEST Motorcycle Trail — Part 1.

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Riding the Tour of Idaho.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 29, 2024

On April 29, 1770, British explorer James Cook made his first landing in Australia, at Botany Bay.

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This is the birthday of actor Daniel Day-Lewis (born 1957), often remembered for his starring roles in Last of the Mohicians and in Lincoln.

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Today’s feature article is a review written by  SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

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Gone!  We are now out of stock of the waterproof 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks. There may be just 10 that we held in reserve for replacements that will be offered for sale in a few days, but otherwise there won’t be any more until late January 2025, when the next edition should become available. There will be no more produced this year!

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We are in need of entries for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 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.

L.T. Wright Large Northern Hunter, by Thomas Christianson

Inspired by the traditional Canadian Belt Knife, the L.T. Wright Large Northern Hunter is a versatile, effective, well-balanced, and attractive example of the knife-maker’s art. It is well suited to either chopping carrots in the kitchen or skinning a deer in the field. As such, it will effectively serve both a man of the field like Esau while hunting or a homebody like Jacob while making pottage (Genesis 25:27).

The sturdy 3.87-inch high-saber-grind blade is made of 1/8 inch thick AEB-L stainless steel and comes razor sharp. The nicely rounded Micarta handle fits the hand extremely well. With a price from ltwrightknives.com at the time of this writing of $171 including the sheath, the knife represents a good value for a high-quality, American made knife.Continue reading“L.T. Wright Large Northern Hunter, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:  Simple Mac and Cheese Supreme

The following recipe for Simple Mac & Cheese Supreme is from SurvivalBlog reader G.E.. He recommends this as a recipe for camping and backpacking. This recipe can be doubled or tripled, if you have a large enough pot.

Ingredients
  • 1 Box of store-bought Macaroni & Cheese. (Such as Velveeta, Kraft, or Annie’s.)
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup of Dehydrated Vegetables
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup of dried beef bits, or real bacon bits, or shredded mild jerky,  or a retort packet of tuna or salmon.
  • A small shaker with a snap closure filled with your favorite seasoning — such as Cajun Spices, Curry Powder, Chili powder, or Taco Seasoning.
  • A canteen or Nalgene bottle of filtered water or any other source of safe, potable water.
Directions
  1. Place all the ingredients into a pot and add water to nearly cover it.
  2. Bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer it, stirring frequently until all ingredients have cooked through.
  3. Add more water — only as needed.
  4. Judiciously flavor with your seasoning of choice and stir that in thoroughly before serving.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic shows Population Density, By Country (in the UK and US, it is shown by state).  The map graphic courtesy of Reddit.

The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.

 

 

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Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 28, 2024

On April 28, 1945, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, “Il Duce,” who had become unpopular even among his fellow Fascists, was captured while trying to flee Italy. He was executed, and then his corpse was ignominiously dragged through the streets. Then it was put on public display before a jeering crowd in front of an Esso gas station in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto, hanging head-down. Alongside Mussolini were the bodies of his mistress Claretta Petacci, and several members of his Fascist cabinet — also executed.

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April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive Finn designed (or co-designed) an amazing array of weapons including the L-35 Lahti pistol, the Suomi M-31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 LMG, the famous Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, and even the 20 ItK 40 (a 20 mm dual anti-aircraft cannon.)

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Please pray for the families in Nebraska and Iowa who lost lives and property in the recent tornados.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. 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 $2,000.
  2. 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),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 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.

Crisis is Normal, by SwampFox

A few years ago, there was a show on cable television called Doomsday Preppers. I saw a few episodes of it a long time after release, and a basic episode usually focused on one or two families and their retreat setups and the scenarios they were preparing for. As expected, the show was mostly composed of stereotypes and odd or eccentric examples, not to mention the obvious glaring OPSEC issues for anybody who would dare to appear on television. But one aspect seemed true-to-life: Each family the producers interviewed seemed to be preparing for something specific. They would say, “I’m preparing for an EMP” or, “I’m preparing for economic and social collapse.” Every example was related to the expectation of a specific large-scale crisis. Perhaps the smallest example was a person preparing to escape from a volcanic eruption.

Maybe it is shocking to say this, but I believe that real life is different from television! I am unsure of the extent to which television and novels have influenced people’s expectations, but I am sure these forms of entertainment have had an effect. They have certainly introduced the concept of “preppers” to a new generation. What is the purpose of a prepared lifestyle? What threats are likely? Can you overcome those threats? How do you prepare for more than one thing at a time?Continue reading“Crisis is Normal, by SwampFox”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Joe Biden Says It Best:

Happy Cinco De Baño!

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 to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

And having an high priest over the house of God;

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” – Hebrews 10:1-22 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 27, 2024

On April 27, 1865, the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history occurred when the overloaded steamship SS Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, killing some 1,800 people, many of whom were former Union POWs returning home from the Civil War.

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On this day in 1789, the crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. 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 $2,000.
  2. 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),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 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.

Snow Removal Considerations, by Hubbyberry

Somewhere around twenty one years ago my wife asked me if we could move from New Jersey to Maine. My first thought was, “Trout, perch, moose, deer, bear and striped bass. “What’s not to like?” I could have done some further thinking before I said, “yes,” but hey, once I committed, we went on a roll. Nine months later we were living here.

Our first Maine home was in a little town in Piscataquis county, in a neighborhood. The driveway was fifty feet long, with the garage six feet from the house. One of new neighbors suggested getting a walk behind snow blower, but to be certain that we bought one with enough horsepower to really throw the snow.

We ended up with a Husquavarna with an enormous engine and a huge auger. While at the time it may have seemed overkill, it most certainly threw snow. We lived in the neighborhood for about four years and decided to move to a much rural setting.

As fate would have it, we found a hunting camp on a tertiary road which met our needs. A one hundred fifty foot drive way and lot would need snow removal so after some searching we purchased a John Deere 1050, turbocharged, 4 wheel drive tractor, circa early 1980’s. The purchase of an Agro-Trend 2000 rear mounted snow blower competed the system. While this rig definitely moved snow, it was very costly. Thirteen thousand for the tractor and another twenty two hundred for the snow blower set us back some. The addition of tire chains, plus several five gallon jugs of diesel fuel, anti gel/anti algae added a few more hundred dollars to the cost.Continue reading“Snow Removal Considerations, by Hubbyberry”

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 Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

This past week I was quite busy packing orders and writing catalog descriptions for Elk Creek Company. There are more than a dozen new gun listings.  I also did about 2.5 hours of rototilling in the main garden, I hauled another load of alfalfa from our “local” supplier (a one-hour drive each way), and I slaughtered a couple of roosters. Just keeping busy. Now, on to  Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”