Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the impact of high hay prices and subsequently smaller cattle herds. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold, silver see price declines at greenback surges.

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Keith Weiner, at Gold-Eagle.com: Did Argentina Just De-Dollarize?

Economy & Finance:

Our own Tom Christianson mentioned this, published by The Washington Post: Seven doomsday scenarios if the U.S. crashes through the debt ceiling.

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A Tweet from commentator Mike Cernovich, pointedly illustrates how America’s middle class is being destroyed by inflation:

“I made $10 an hour as a part timer worker in Home Depot-style store. $12.50 on weekends. This was 1990s in a small town. [Adjusted for inflation, this] would be $19 an hour today and $24 on weekends. I checked and [the] same job TODAY is $12.50 an hour.”

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Paul Craig Roberts: The Economic Front: Recession and De-dollarization.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I don’t want to really scare you, but it was alarming how many people I talked to who are highly placed people in AI who have retreats that are sort of ‘bug out’ houses, to which they could flee if it all hits the fan.” – James Barrat, the author of Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 18, 2023

May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel Baird Wesson (of Smith and Wesson fame).

On May 18th, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted, causing a massive avalanche and killing 57 people. Ash from the volcanic eruption fell as far away as Minnesota.

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A couple of new listings at SurvivalRealty.com  — one in Washington, and one in Oregon:

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 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 $2000.
  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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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 courses normally cost $795.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. 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. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. 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 $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 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.

Proper Load Securement: An Essential Safety Skill, by Swampfox

Our preparedness lifestyle often requires us to haul things. Bulk supplies, fuel, farm equipment, and heavy vehicles are just a few examples. I have a background in construction, industry, and transportation. I have been trained in load securement techniques that conform to OSHA and DOT standards, and I apply them in my personal life. Load securement is not only for the workplace. Why? I want to avoid the consequences of doing a job improperly.

In my previous career in the poultry industry, employees had to follow a lot of rules. We had a saying: “Rules exist because somebody did something stupid and got hurt.” I know that for people experienced in industry, having the safety guy looking over your shoulder and critiquing your work is not a fun experience. You want to get the job done and get on with your day. Sometimes a shortcut works, sometimes it gets you hurt. When society is running well and there is an ambulance and a hospital close by, perhaps taking a risk now and then might not cost you much. But what happens when those services are unavailable? Planning for crisis events in the future should involve planning to be more careful than you are now.

Let me start with the consequences of improper load securement. The lowest level is missing your stuff. My father lost a roll of garden wire off his truck, one afternoon. A simple thing. But before he could turn around, somebody who had seen it drop had stopped and stolen it. That cost about $50. There have been multiple times as a commercial driver where I have nearly hit lost cargo on the highway. Often, I see refrigerators! That kind of hazard is really unsettling, not to mention wasteful. Even used appliances can cost several hundred dollars. Sure, there may be more at the store right now, but maybe not in the future. Or maybe there won’t be the money to pay for it. Load securement simply prevents loss.Continue reading“Proper Load Securement: An Essential Safety Skill, by Swampfox”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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, we look at the imminent rockslide threat to Brienz, Switzerland.

Steinschlag: Swiss Village Under Threat of Huge Rockslide

‘It is a question of a few days or a couple of weeks before the side of the mountain will fall’: Rocks and debris come crashing down and threaten to completely collapse and destroy Swiss village. (Our thanks to F.J. for the link.)

The Last Electronics Store in the United States

A video tour of an amazing store that verges on being a museum: The last electronics store in the United States. A Side Note From JWR:  I should mention that if you watch closely, you’ll see that they zoom past some big Grass Valley Group (GVG) video switchers, just after the 6-minute mark. Back in the late 1990s, I wrote technical manuals for GVG. And by the way, it was a GVG switcher panel that was used as the prop for the control panel for the Death Star’s main weapon, in some of the Star Wars films.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“All warfare is based on deception. A skilled general must be master of the complementary arts of simulation and dissimulation; while creating shapes to confuse and delude the enemy he conceals his true dispositions and ultimate intent. When capable he feigns incapacity; when near he makes it appear that he is far away; when far away; that he is near. Moving as intangibly as a ghost in the starlight, he is obscure, inaudible. His primary target is the mind of the opposing commander; the victorious situation, a product of his creative imagination. Attacking the mind of the enemy is an indispensable preliminary to battle.” – Sun Tzu

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 17, 2023

On this day in 1769, George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. He brought a package of non-importation resolutions, drafted by George Mason, before the Virginia House of Burgesses. This initiated a chain of events that led to Britain’s House of Lords demanding that men involved in the extra-legal Massachusetts convention of towns be tried in England. Britain’s plan backfired and created an American identity where before there had been none.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 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 $2000.
  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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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 courses normally cost $795.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. 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. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 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.

For Love of a Troy Bilt Horse, by MZee

During my life, I have had plenty of experience with horses of the four-legged variety, acquired mostly while raising horse-loving daughters. Generally speaking, I found them to be expensive, messy, occasionally dangerous, and by the way did I mention expensive? My daughters have grown up so we no longer have horses on the property but the experience gained from this time may prove valuable should society or our infrastructure deteriorate.

I have chosen to write today about a horse of a different color namely red Troy Bilt Horse rototillers which have become an interesting part of my life in recent years. Food production and distribution issues have developed in ways that I had never expected to see here in the US. Having lived overseas in places where these problems are commonplace, I have learned of the value of local and personal food production in the form of a garden. A decade ago, I started developing a 1/10th acre garden next to our newly built rural home. The land was originally a productive field but after the construction process the soil was more compacted construction debris than fertile. So began my quest to build it into a decent garden. As a kid, my father had a small backyard garden that we turned and prepared using a shovel and rake. Back then I remember seeing ads for Troy Bilt Horse rototillers with pictures of beautiful turned soft soil that begged to be planted in.Continue reading“For Love of a Troy Bilt Horse, by MZee”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This 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.

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Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson was the first of several folks to mention this: Bear and bulletproof travel trailer is ready for the roughest stuff.

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Canada’s Gun Confiscation Program in First Phase.

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NASA: We’d Have a 30-Minute Warning Before a Killer Solar Storm Hits Earth.

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End of a love affair: AM radio is being removed from many cars. (A hat tip to D.S.V., for the link.)

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Tam, at the long-running and never boring View From The Porch blog pointed me to this thought-provoking essay: To the Graduating Class of 2023…  The essay begins:

“I can’t help but feel like a chapter in the evolution of social media is drawing to a close.

Now, surely some of this feeling is a product of my changing perspective. I got my first social media account when I was 19 years old and signed up for MySpace in college; I turn 41 later this month, and it’d be foolish to pretend that more than two decades of maturation hasn’t altered my relationship with social media.

Still, there’s no denying that something has shifted.

Between the haphazard-yet-thorough disassembly of Twitter at the hands of Elon Musk, the driftless and flailing “metaverse” obsessions of Facebook, and the can’t-put-my-finger-on-it-but-something’s-not-right-here vibe of Instagram these days, it’s hard not to feel like we’re at the end of an era. Social media will evolve and persist, but the monoculture days of everyone hanging out in the same few places are winding down.

Like many, I feel a pang of loss for these spaces, spaces from which I’ve taken a lot in the past two decades.

But I’m not here to throw a funeral.

Instead, I view this as a sort of graduation.

Some of us are leaving, headed for new and hopefully exciting places. Others will hang around town for a while, clinging to a moment we’re not quite ready to admit has passed. Things may be better or worse; all we can be sure of is that they’ll be different.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” –  Thomas Paine

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 16, 2023

Today is the birthday of clarinetist, saxophonist, and bandleader Woody Herman.  (Born 1913, died Oct. 29, 1987.)

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On May 16, 1997, Zaire’s president, Mobutu Sese Seko, ended 32 years of dictatorial rule, giving control of the country to rebel forces.

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Black Ovis (one of our affiliate advertisers) is running a 25% off Memorial Day sale on Mystery Ranch packs!  This sale ends on the 18th, so order soon.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 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 $2000.
  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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. 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 courses normally cost $795.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. 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.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. 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. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 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.

A Retreat for Aging Preppers, by Barbara H.

Addressing the problems facing aging preppers.

Start early!

Our initial problem was two-fold: Finding sustainable land while still trapped until I was retirement-eligible. Two years before retirement, we began our search for viable land approximately 100 miles from any major city. Our initial search was for about 20 acres, a nearby small town, and off of well-traveled roads. The land had to have a water source with a full-year-running creek.

Remember moving to an unknown rural community places you at a disadvantage of finding appropriate skilled help and unscrupulous persons who will overcharge you based on your lack of knowledge.

After locating a property, we purchased the acreage. About two-thirds of the property was clear-cut for pine lumber some 4 to 5 years earlier, which left an overgrown mess of brambles, briars, and debris The costs of clearing the land was substantial and we had not really budgeted for the costs. Not having any farming background was a disadvantage.

If you are in the market for land, do not assume that the low cost of the acreage is better than a more expensive acreage that is already cleared and usable.Continue reading“A Retreat for Aging Preppers, by Barbara H.”

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 of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on Idaho’s population growth.   (See the Idaho section.)

Idaho

Idaho leads the U.S. in child population growth. The kid demographic has shrunk in most states. An excerpt:

“The number of adults in Idaho grew by 16 percent since 2017.

Boise is getting a lot of new residents from California, and northern Idaho is seeing more movers from Northern California, Washington and Utah. “It might be for ideological reasons, people looking for a more conservative lifestyle,” Vos said. He added that some people have left Boise as it has grown more crowded.

Throughout Idaho, housing prices have risen rapidly.”

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U of I begins construction on the nation’s largest research dairy.

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Lori Vallow convicted on all counts including first degree murder.

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University of Idaho is awarding posthumous degrees to four slain students.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — May 15, 2023

On May 15,1859, Physical chemist Pierre Curie, co-winner of the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, (along with his wife, Marie Curie), was born in Paris.

Today is also the birthday of Evelyn Ernest Owen (15 May 1915 – 1 April 1949) He was an Australian who developed the Owen submachine gun which was used by the Australian Army in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

On May 15th, 1942, gasoline rationing began in 17 Eastern states as an attempt to help the American war effort during World War II.

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