On June 3rd, 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto claimed Florida for Spain. And one year later, June 3, 1540, he crossed the Appalachian Mountains. He was the first European to do so.
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On June 3, 1781, Jack Jouett rode to warn Thomas Jefferson of British attack.
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June 3rd can also be considered the “birthday” of the U.S. Army. (It was established by Congress on June 3rd, 1784.)
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Today’s feature article is a review by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.
The Minuteman “K” Rocket Stove is an outstanding biomass-fueled stove for grid-down situations or for recreational use. The stove is easy to light and easy to feed. It is easy to remove excess ash from the stove while it is in active use. And the stove provides highly effective heat output that is suitable for use with full-sized cookware.
The stove cost $289.95 at the time of this writing at Minutemanstove.com, including 2 one-pound bags of Maya Stick fatwood fire starter tinder.
If you live in an area that is rich in sticks, twigs, and similar biomass, the “K” stove may provide an excellent grid-down cooking solution.Continue reading“Minuteman “K” Rocket Stove, by Thomas Christianson”
The following recipe for Bayou Nut Trail Mix is from SurvivalBlog reader Paul in Louisiana.
Store in an airtight container.
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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 shows the highest recorded temperature for each state.
(Graphic courtesy of Reddit, using NOAA data.)
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.
“Every subject has a right to be secure from all unreasonable searches, and seizures, of his person, his houses, his papers, and all his possessions. All warrants, therefore, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation; and if the order in the warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places, or to arrest one or more suspected persons, or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure: and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases, and with the formalities prescribed by the laws.” – John Adams, Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, Article 14, 1780
June 2, 1857, James Gibbs of Virginia patented the chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine.
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On June 2, 1774, Parliament renewed the Quartering Act, allowing British military to stay in private homes if necessary, completing the Coercive Acts. The Quartering Act, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Boston Port Act, were known as the Coercive Acts. These Acts were Parliament’s way of asserting their control over the colonists after the Boston Tea Party and were one of the main motivations for the 3rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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Today’s feature article is too short to qualify for the judging in the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. We are seeking entries for Round 113 of the writing contest. More than $900,000 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 113 ends on July 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.
We’ve completed the judging for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 112 began on April 1, 2024, and ended on May 31, 2024. (The contest runs in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 112 are:
First Prize goes to R.B., for Tree Planting and Care, posted on May 21, 2024. He will receive the following prizes:
Second Prize goes to Dr. Joseph, for Dark Age 2.0: Melee Weapons – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4, posted on April 4-7, 2024. See: He will receive the following prizes:
Third Prize goes to Tunnel Rabbit for Reconsidering Rule .308 – Part 1 and Part 2, posted on May 14-15, 2024. He will receive the following prizes:
Each Honorable Mention Prize winner has been awarded a transferable and accruable $100 FRN purchase credit toward the purchase of any antique or percussion replica gun from Elk Creek Company.
Honorable Mention Prizes go to the writers of these 10 articles:
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More than $900,000 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 113 is now underway and will end on July 31, 2024.
Please 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.
Editor’s Introductory Note: This guest article was selected by JWR. It was first published at the Sheepdog Church Security website. It is reposted with permission.
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Let me start this article by saying that “I like the police”. No, that’s not strong enough – “I love the police”. On a couple of occasions, I worked as a consultant to help one of our local police departments and sheriffs’ departments work more efficiently together. I was extremely impressed with the professionalism of the officers on these projects. And, contrary to what the news would have you believe, these officers showed a high level of compassion for individuals in the community.
However, faith-based safety teams and houses of worship cannot depend on their local police department if there is an active shooter event. Police officers can’t be everywhere, all the time, immediately when you might need them. The issue is “time” – typically the police are not on-site when an active shooting event occurs.
I write this article after reviewing yet another set of proposed practices that houses of worship could use when faced with an active shooting event. In this specific case, the recommendations were based on the “Tree of Life Synagogue” attack. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the recommendations were incomplete and perhaps naive. The author of the article presented information following the typical run, hide, fight model. However, the author really wasn’t being proactive about the fight portion – fighting for your life and the lives of people you love.Continue reading“On Police and Faith Based Safety Teams, by Robert E. Downing “
A meme created by JWR, in 2023:
Meme Text:
First, It Was Pride Day
Then, It Was Pride Week
Now, It Is Pride Month
First, They Demanded Tolerance
Then, They Demanded Acceptance
Now, They Demand Participation
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.
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” – Ephesians 5:15-33 (KJV)
On June 1, 1831, the British naval officer and explorer James Clark Ross discovered the locale of the North Magnetic Pole. This is the varying location between Canada and Siberia where the Earth’s magnetic field points directly downwards.
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Today we present the first entry for Round 113 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
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More than $900,000 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 113 ends on July 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.
As the collapse occurs, slowly or suddenly, friends and family will need to be provided housing at a retreat location. Most retreats are not large enough to adequately house all the family and close friends that you’ll want to help with security and food production. They can park their recreational vehicle (RV) on your property, or perhaps locate a large storage shed that is converted into a small cabin. In either case, in all but the southeastern United States, these shelters will need a wood stove installed.
This discussion focuses on installing a wood stove in an RV as that is the most challenging. The same techniques can be used in a small cabin. In an off-grid setting, wood stoves are essential and most of our lives will revolve around it as a means to heat, to cook, and to preserve food. I have decades of experience with wood stoves of many kinds and have built my own. I am by no means an expert, but a jack of all trades who has built homes and just about everything else. Even if the instructions are incomplete, the principles needed for a successful installation are provided.Continue reading“How to Install a Woodstove in an RV or Small Cabin, by Tunnel Rabbit”
Editor’s Introductory Note: Steven Cochran is transitioning to a new job, writing for an investment company. Starting next month, this column will be authored entirely by Everett Millman, who is also employed by Gainesville Coins.
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Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and examine the factors that affected gold prices.
The gold price opened the month hovering around the $2,300 level, taking a breather after notching record-high prices in mid-April.
Beginning in earnest on May 8th, both gold and silver resumed the blistering rally the two precious metals have been on in 2024. Prices rose almost continuously over the next two weeks. Gold jumped $35 per ounce on May 15th and surged another $38.50 higher on the 17th.
May 20th saw spot gold hit a new all-time high of $2,425 per troy oz. Meanwhile silver breached the $32 per oz level for the first time in 11 years.
A combination of profit-taking and normal market correction pushed the gold price back down almost 4% lower, trading back below $2,350/oz in the final week of May. Over the same period, silver saw a deeper pullback of about 6% to the psychologically important $30 support line before rebounding to close the month above $31/oz.Continue reading“May 2024 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran & Everett Millman”
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!
I kept quite busy, early this week: Hauling black soil (1+ year-old rotted down manure) to our main garden, rototilling, cutting up a couple of surplus telephone poles to fence post length, and dragging them with our UATV to a pile for future use, packing and mailing out 15 Elk Creek Company orders, and working with our livestock. One day was dedicated to delivering two cow-calf pairs from our herd to their new owners. The next day, I came down with a head cold. At first, I thought it was just a reaction to Alfalfa dust — since I had moved a 1.5-ton pile of compressed bales, the day before. But by that afternoon, I knew it was a bad cold. So I started in on zinc lozenges, 6 grams of Vitamin C, and elderberry gummies, immediately. By Thursday, I was felling better.
Now, Lily’s report…
“For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.” – Jeremiah 30:8-20 (KJV)
