SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column: Some more threats in cyberspace. (Pictured is a data center in Prineville, Oregon.)
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“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause.” – Theodore Roosevelt
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Today is the 90th birthday of singer and actress Julie Andrews. She was born on October 1st, 1935. Her name will always be remembered for The Sound of Music.
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On October 1, 1942, the Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, the first US jet, made its maiden flight.
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The final day! Our big inventory reduction sale at Elk Creek Company — with nearly all of our guns, knives, bayonets, magazines, et cetera deeply discounted — ends at midnight tonight, Eastern Time. Get your order in today!
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest: Round 121 Begins
Today, we present the first entry for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. But first, we are posting the results of the judging for Round 120.
Every bespoke SIEGE buckle goes through an hours-long artisanal process resulting in a belt unlike anything else, with blazing fast performance and looks and comfort to match.
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 $350 value),
HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
Preparedness author Jennifer Rader is offering a $200 purchase credit for any of her eight published food storage and medical preparedness books, including the Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café series, the Armageddon Pharmacy series, and the Medicine Surrounds Us series.
Second Prize Winner:
Second Prize goes to goes to J.M. for Text Comms in a Post-Disaster World. (See: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.) It was posted September 22-26, 2025. He will receive:
A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
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 gun purchasing privacy!
Third Prize Winner:
Third Prize goes to Iowa Dave, for Maximizing Prepping Storage Space. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) It was posted September 9-10, 2025. He will receive:
A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
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.
A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
Honorable Mention Prizes
The writers of the Round 120 Honorable Mention articles will each receive a transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun, or any knife or bayonet. (Even though Elk Creek Company will be going on hiatus starting October 10, 20205, you can still use your purchase credits. Just e-mail me and let me know what merchandise you’d like to apply your credit to. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns in most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!
There were 12 Honorable Mention prize-winning articles in Round 120. They are:
Round 121 begins today and runs for two months, so please get busy writing and e-mail us your entry soon. More than $970,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. 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. Thanks, – JWR
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Until my retirement in the summer of 2021, I had never grown anything but weeds, which evidently, I’m pretty good at. However, growing anything else was hit and miss, mostly miss. During my working life my wife and I spent a lot of time in Asia. One of the commonly used vegetables often sliced thin, breaded, and deep fried on tempura platters is kabocha squash, also called Japanese pumpkin. Kabocha is a winter squash with a creamy texture. It’s used in many Asian cuisines.
We could not bring home seeds but here we found that we could purchase them online or at some garden shops. To our surprise, we found that it was easy to grow. My family home is less than a hundred miles from Yellowstone National Park. With the relatively short growing season in this area there are many food plants that are difficult to grow. So, we really had not expected the results that we got. This is our second year of planting the squash-like pumpkin.
Both years the seeds were sprouted in our laundry room in April and then planted just before the first of May when the forecast gave little danger of frost. I did water both plants at least once a day, sometimes twice per day when it got hot. We had to leave for a week in early June, to my surprise they were still alive when we returned. However, they definitely needed watering.Continue reading“Growing Kabocha Squash, by Rookie Gardener”
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Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.
“During his press conference, Mr. Anandasangaree erroneously told the public the buyback program is “voluntary.” The minister responsible for public safety ought to know, however, that it would be a criminal offence to own a prohibited firearm after the government’s amnesty period ends on Oct. 30, and that anyone found in possession of a prohibited firearm could be found guilty of an indictable offence and face a prison sentence of up to five years.”
JWR’s Comments: A government cannot “buy back” something that it never owned. Canada needs a new conservative government that recognizes the individual right to own guns and carry guns.
o o o
A web search led me to some useful insights for Bugout Vehicle planning: I’ve Spent Over 300 Nights Camping in My Truck. This Is My Packing List. JWR’s Comment: You should have contingency plans for a variety of situations. This includes being ready to camp out of your car for several days, or perhaps even weeks.
“When a place gets crowded enough to require IDs, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.” – Sci-Fi Novelist Robert A. Heinlein
On September 30, 1791, the National Constituent Assembly in Paris was dissolved. Parisians hailed Maximilien Robespierre (pictured) and Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve as “Incorruptible patriots.” Three years later, at age 36, Robespierre was guillotined. Proscribed, pursued, and persecuted, Jérôme Pétion committed suicide that same year.
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On this day in 1938, the Treaty of Munich was signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Daladier, and Chamberlain. This treaty forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to Germany.
Just one day left! Our big inventory reduction sale at Elk Creek Company — with nearly all of our items reduced — is nearing its end. The sale will end tomorrow night at midnight. (Wednesday, October 1, 2025.) Get your order in soon!
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Today’s feature article is some precious metals market analysis by our friend Hub Moolman, in South Africa.
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We are now seeking entries for Round 121 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $960,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 121 brgins October 1st and will end on November 30th, 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.
After major interest rate turnarounds (bottoms), silver is usually the big winner. The reason is clearly explained here. What it comes down to is simply that interest rates reflect the value that the market places on money.
When interest rates are high, the market places a high value on money. When interest rates are low, the market places a low value on money. Silver is the best form of money historically, so expect it to outperform during periods of high interest rates.
Seeing that silver is the most undervalued due to the effects of the debt-based monetary system, it will outperform even gold by multiples as the two metals find fair value during this interest rate reset (higher interest rates for years to come).
There have been a number of interest turnarounds, or interest rate bottoms, that prove that which is stated above. After the 1941 low in interest rates, silver outperformed gold and the stock market for at least a decade after:
The same happened after 1971; however, the 1971 bottom was not as important as the 1941 bottom.
However, in 2020 interest rates made their most important bottom to date, since it was the all-time low and what could possibly be described as the end of a mega cycle. This will also translate in a similar manner for silver. Silver’s outperformance is likely to be even more pronounced this time.
In other words, this could flip to the extent where silver is way overvalued when this cycle has run its course.
We are about halfway in this decade after the mega interest rate bottom, and silver is now really starting to pull away:
Given that this cycle is likely to end closer to a Gold/Silver ratio bottom, and we are now still closer to a top, silver still has much higher to go. This is reflected in one of the many charts that I track on my premium gold and silver blog:
Silver will get back in the channel and reach the top border of the channel as a minimum (more info here).
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JWR Adds: For more of this kind of analysis, Hub Moolman offers a Premium Service as well as a Silver Fractal Analysis Report that provides more insight regarding the gold and silver markets.
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. In this week’s column, a glimpse at remote Idaho ranch life. (See the Idaho section.)
Idaho
This remote ranch with gravity-fed spring water at SurvivalRealty.com caught my eye: Very Private Western Ranch.
“I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.” – Thomas Jefferson
September 29th, 1668, the English expedition to Hudson Bay led by Médard Chouart Des Groseilliers of France arrived at Nemiscau River aboard the Nonsuch. This was the genesis of the Hudson Bay Company. The company soon developed wealth and influence that rivaled nation-states. In June of 2025, (357 years later), the company declared bankruptcy.
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September 29th, 1881, was the birthday of economist Ludwig von Mises. (He died October 10, 1973.)
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September 29th,1915: The first transcontinental radio telephone message is sent by the U.S. Navy radio station at Arlington, Virginia, to the naval radio station at Mare Island, San Francisco.
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Just two days left in the big sale at Elk Creek Company. Take note that I recently did some inventorying down in JASBORR and found that I had squirreled away far too many extended pistol magazines. So I’ve added some 30-round Glock 9mm, Glock .45 ACP, and SIG 9mm magazines to the Elk Creek Company Accessories Department. I’m selling all of those magazines at bargain prices. Take a look!
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Take heed: In Asian Monday morning trading (Sunday evening, September 28th, here in the States) gold again hit $3,799 USD per Troy ounce. And more importantly, silver broke out to $46.79 USD. That brought the silver-to-gold ratio down to 81.19-to-1. I predict that silver will soon set an all-time high, and the silver-to-gold ratio will drop to around 55-to-1. Plan accordingly.
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Today’s feature article is a product review by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.
When the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025, it eliminated the $200 tax on silencers. This change will become effective on January 1, 2026.
Many SurvivalBlog readers may want to purchase their first silencer now that the tax has been eliminated. I decided to go ahead with a silencer purchase before the big day so that I could describe what that process looks like for first-time silencer buyers.
I contacted Dead Air Silencers to see if they would be willing to provide the silencer while I would pay the tax and the SOT/FFL transfer fee. They were kind enough to agree to this proposal.
First Steps
I began by selecting the RXD22Ti as my first silencer. I then went to the “Find a Dealer” section of the Dead Air website and entered my ZIP code. This brought up a list of gun shops in my area that have an SOT/FFL and that partner with Dead Air Silencers. I selected the shop nearest me and arranged for my silencer to be sent there for transfer.
Not too many days later, I received an email from Dead Air Silencers indicating that my silencer had shipped. They also provided me with a tracking number. Six days later, I received an email from the gun shop indicating that the silencer had arrived, and that I could stop by to set up my profile.
Not long afterward, I went to the gun shop during my lunch hour. They directed me to a Silencer Shop Kiosk, where I entered my email address and selected a password.
The following recipe for Sweet Potato Chowder is from SurvivalBlog reader R.S..
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon ground sage
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup chopped carrots
3 cups chopped sweet potato, about 1 inch in size
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken stock
⅓ cup cream (or substitute half-and-half or coconut cream)
2 cups chopped tuscan kale
4 ounces pancetta, diced, for topping
3 tablespoons roasted salted pepitas, for topping
Directions
Heat a large pot over medium-low heat and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess grease.
Keep the pot on medium-low heat and add the butter. Stir in the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and sage. Stir in the fresh nutmeg. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots and sweet potato, tossing everything to combine.
Pour in the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce it to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Cover and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes cubes soften.
Stir in the cream (or cream substitute)
Taste the soup and season it with additional salt or pepper if needed, but remember you will be adding the salty pancetta on top.
Just a few minutes before serving, stir in the kale.
SERVING
I prefer to serve this soup almost immediately, but you can simmer the soup for another 10 minutes or so to soften it. Serve with the pancetta and pepitas for topping.
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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!
Today’s graphic: Non-Hispanic White Population in Each US Congressional District. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)
The thumbnail below is click-expandable.
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Please send your graphics or graphics links to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.
