The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.” –  P.J. O’Rourke

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — May 11, 2025

On May 11, 1310, Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake in France after being declared heretics.

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May 11, 1752:  The first US fire insurance policy was issued, in Philadelphia.

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Just One Day Left! The special 10-day sale on all the Elk Creek Company percussion gun inventory ends tomorrow night. Most of these are revolvers for which cartridge conversion cylinders are readily available. This includes a group of five minty Ruger Old Army revolvers that I’ve not yet photographed. Many of those are “Pre-Warning” vintage.  We also have special pricing on all of our blackpowder hunting rifles. Most of those are .50 caliber rifles in the quite practical Hawken configuration. Take a look at our Percussion category. 

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Today, with permission, we are re-posting a recent piece from the excellent Rural Revolution blog. The blog’s Editrix is Patrice Lewis. You may recognize her name from her novels, or from her nonfiction book “The Simplicity Primer: 365 Ideas for Making Life more Livable“, or from her many columns written in her 17 years with WorldNetDaily.

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We are in need of entries for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. 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.

Field Fencing: Subdividing the Pasture, by Patrice Lewis

Editor’s Introductory Note:  This article is a guest post by our long-time friend and fellow blogger, Patrice Lewis. After first living in Oregon (from 1992 to 2003), Don and Patrice Lewis bought a ranch south of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and genuinely pursued a self-sufficient lifestyle. After their lovely homeschooled daughters both reached the “up and out” age, they moved again. This time it was to an undisclosed location elsewhere in North Idaho, ostensibly to slow down and lead a more sedate life. But, as irrepressible gardeners and dairy cattle ranchers, they’ve found themselves busier than ever. I highly recommend bookmarking the Rural Revolution blog, and delving through its extensive archives, which date back to 2009. – JWR

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A task we’ve been wanting to accomplish since getting the cows is to subdivide the larger pasture. With fairly small acreage compared to our last place, it’s important that we don’t let anything get overgrazed, and having subdivided pastures allows us to rotate the animals frequently.

With that in mind, we gathered everything we needed. Thankfully, we weren’t faced with anything nearly as complex and difficult as fencing in the sacrifice pasture. In fact, we could bring all the heavy items (T-posts, roll of [woven wire field] fencing, T-post pounders, etc.) in the bucket of the tractor. We unloaded everything and got ready to run a string.Continue reading“Field Fencing: Subdividing the Pasture, by Patrice Lewis”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week: 

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

Dr. Stephen Hawking’s Visit to Epstein’s Island Has Prompted The Creation Of A New Legal Term: Nerdacious Moral Derpitude

Some Related Links:

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:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” – Romans 10:1-9 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 10, 2025

On May 10, 1765, per the British Longitude Act, clockmaker John Harrison was awarded  £10,000 for the invention of a practical naval longitude clock.  Latitude calculations had been made for hundreds of years with sextants, but the Longitude Problem was finally solved only by Harrison’s invention of a precision clock that could keep accurate time for many months. This ushered in the era of relatively precise modern maritime navigation.

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May 10th is the birthday of the late Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006).

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May 10th is also the birthday of the late Janis Pinups (born 1925, died 15 June 2007). He was one of the last of the active Forest Brothers anti-communist resistance fighters. He came out of hiding, after five decades, to obtain a Latvian passport in 1994, after the collapse of eastern European communism. (He was never issued any communist government identity papers and by necessity lived as a nonexistent ghost during the entire Soviet occupation of Latvia.) The history of the Forest Brothers movement certainly deserves more recognition.

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Today’s feature article is a guest piece by global affairs analyst Brandon Smith, the publisher of the highly-recommended Alt-Market.us blog.

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We are in need of a few more entries to have a full roster for Round 118 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. 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.

The Trump Administration’s Biggest Wins And Biggest Fails So Far, by Brandon Smith

Back in 2016 I predicted a resounding win for Donald Trump in his election campaign against Hillary Clinton despite a chorus of voices telling me I was crazy. The argument from skeptics was that the establishment would never allow Trump into office. My position on the event was relatively straightforward – The conservative populist movement was far too strong to deny and the globalists might not see a Trump White House as a total loss if they could control it from behind the scenes, or sabotage it with a national crisis.

By 2020, Trump was in the midst of the astroturf BLM riots and a fabricated pandemic crisis over a virus with a 99.8% survival rate. By November, the election was effectively rigged in favor of Joe Biden. It’s not just the shady mail in ballot voters (millions of them magically disappeared by the 2024 election), it was also the establishment media’s censorship of vital news stories that could have turned public opinion against Democrats along with social media censorship of conservative dissent. All of these factors together gave Biden a win.Continue reading“The Trump Administration’s Biggest Wins And Biggest Fails So Far, by Brandon Smith”

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:

With some recent fair weather, we got a lot of work done around the ranch this past week. We did a lot of rototilling and firewood cutting, splitting and stacking. I charged the battery on our summer-season runabout car, which had been in storage. I reactivated the seasonal waterline to our orchard. I also pulled four 100-foot rubber garden hoses from storage, and put them to use, irrigating.

I helped an ailing neighbor several times with wood stacking and running some errands, in town.

Sales have been brisk at Elk Creek Company. I had to make two trips to the post office to mail out order boxes. Part of this could be attributable to our current sale pricing. But generally, folks see inflation coming, so they want to put some of their savings into something tangible. And it might as well be guns that can be anonymously passed on to children, grandchildren, or even nieces and nephews who live in other states.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.” – Jeremiah 4:20-30 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 9, 2025

On May 9, 1904, the steam locomotive City of Truro (pictured) became the first steam engine to exceed 100 mph. From the InfoGalactic Wiki:  “…a British 4-4-0 steam locomotive built in 1903 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon Works to a design by George Jackson Churchward. City of Truro was timed at 8.8 seconds between two quarter-mile posts whilst hauling the “Ocean Mails” special from Plymouth to London Paddington on 9 May 1904. This timing was recorded from the train by Charles Rous-Marten, who wrote for The Railway Magazine and other journals. If exact, this time would correspond to a speed of 102.3 mph (164.6 km/h); but Rous-Marten’s stopwatch read in multiples of 1⁄5 second, so the next possible longer time it could register was 9 seconds, corresponding to exactly 100 mph.”

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May 9th, 1768: John Hancock paid duties on 25 pipes of wine. This was only one-fourth of his ship’s carrying capacity. British officials accused him of unloading the rest during the night to avoid paying duties on the entire cargo.

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We are continuing our special 10-day sale on all of the Elk Creek Company percussion gun inventory.  Most of these are revolvers for which cartridge conversion cylinders are readily available. This includes a group of five minty Ruger Old Army revolvers that I’ve not yet photographed. Many of those are “Pre-Warning” vintage.  We also have special pricing on all of our blackpowder hunting rifles. Most of those are .50 caliber rifles in the quite practical Hawken configuration. Take a look at our Percussion category. The sale ends on Monday, so order soon.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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 TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  4. 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:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 3Vgear.com is providing an ultimate bug-out bag bundle that includes their 3-day Paratus Bag, a Posse EDC Sling Pack, and a Velox II Tactical Backpack. This prize package has a $289 retail 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. 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 $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. 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.

Post-SHTF Lighting: Portable Power Stations – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.  This concludes the article.)

HOW TO POWER LIGHTS USING A PPS

Now let’s take a look at various ways to power lamps, lights, and flashlights.

1. Rechargeable Lights

There are lots of options with rechargeable lighting so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find something that appeals to you.

Here are some things to look for when buying rechargeable lights. These features will be listed on the box or in the product description if shopping online.

Battery capacity – The higher the better. The larger the battery capacity, the longer it can provide light without needing to be recharged. The capacity is usually listed in milliamp hours and abbreviated mAh. The mAh can range anywhere from 1,500 on the low end to 10,000+ on the high end. For those who prefer working with amp hours, Ah can be determined by dividing the mAh by 1,000. A 1,500 mAh capacity = 1.5 Ah. In comparison, the deep-cycle 12-volt battery I use for various projects has a 123 Ah capacity. As mentioned, rechargeable lamps and lights having a USB port can be used as mini power bank. Their battery capacity can be used to determine how long various USB devices can run, or whether or not it can be used for things like charging cellular phones.Continue reading“Post-SHTF Lighting: Portable Power Stations – Part 3, by St. Funogas”

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. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at Tariff Arbitrage in Tangibles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Despite the best efforts of the short-sellers, the precious metals bull market now seems to have been confirmed. The rise in gold now appears unstoppable. Meanwhile, the Silver Shorts are still pulling the weekly shenanigans, almost every Friday. But given the chronic physical silver shortage caused by the mining deficit, the shorts cannot keep up their suppression of the silver market much longer.  My advice: Hold on tight to your physical silver, and continue to buy more, on any dip days.  And, ratio trading out of gold (into silver) whenever the ratio is in the 100-to-1 range still makes perfect sense. Ratio trading out of gold and into some platinum would also be wise, especially if there is a specific threat of a regional war, or a world war. If India and Pakistan transition to full-scale war, or China invades Taiwan, or Russia invades Poland or the Baltic States, then I expect the price of platinum to nearly triple. – JWR

o  o  o

Facing Facts: Silver Demand in Solar Photovoltaics to Leapfrog in the Next Five Years. (LBMA)

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Goldman Sachs Reiterates “Structurally Bullish” View on Gold, Silver Set to Play Second Fiddle.

o  o  o

Missourians could soon pay with gold & silver after lawmakers approve odd bill.

Economy & Finance:

Deloitte Releases 2025 Financial Services Industry Predictions Report.

o  o  o

Morningstar: May 2025 US Stock Market Outlook: Eye of the Hurricane.

o  o  o

Contrarian Outlook: This 11% Dividend is Backed by the Steadiest NAV We’ll Ever See.

o  o  o

Japan – A Contrarian Bet?

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: The Import Armageddon Narrative Looks Overblown.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The second item in the liberal creed, after self-righteousness, is unaccountability. Liberals have invented whole college majors–psychology, sociology, women’s studies–to prove that nothing is anybody’s fault. No one is fond of taking responsibility for his actions, but consider how much you’d have to hate free will to come up with a political platform that advocates killing unborn babies but not convicted murderers. A callous pragmatist might favor abortion and capital punishment. A devout Christian would sanction neither. But it takes years of therapy to arrive at the liberal view.” –  P.J. O’Rourke, Give War a Chance

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 8, 2025

Today is the 80th anniversary of VE Day, otherwise known as Victory in Europe Day, in 1945. World War II ended in Europe after Germany signed an unconditional surrender. The Brits have several days of celebrations planned.

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This is also the birthday of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 118 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 $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $350 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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 TOUGHGRID.com (a $287 value).
  3. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  4. 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:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 3Vgear.com is providing an ultimate bug-out bag bundle that includes their 3-day Paratus Bag, a Posse EDC Sling Pack, and a Velox II Tactical Backpack. This prize package has a $289 retail 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. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 118 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. 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.

 

 

Post-SHTF Lighting: Portable Power Stations – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.)

DETERMINING HOW LONG A PPS CAN SUPPLY POWER

To determine how long a fully-charged PPS will last, three things must be considered:

1.) The wattage of the device being powered

2.) How long you need it to run for, and

3.) The wattage capacity of the PPS battery.

As previously mentioned, to simplify the math some of the battery rules are ignored such as maximum drawdown percentage of a battery and the energy loss when inverting from 12 Volts DC to 120 Volts AC.

Appliance Wattage – Nearly every 120 VAC electric device has the wattage stamped on the bottom or labeled elsewhere. An average LED light bulb in your home uses 6 watts. A typical box fan is 100 watts, a coffee-bean grinder 130 watts, a soldering pen 350 watts, a food processor 400 watts, a blender 600 watts, and a rice cooker uses 700 watts. The higher the wattage, the more electricity the device uses and the faster that it will draw down the battery.

Run Time – A device may have a high wattage but won’t drain the battery much if it’s only for a short period of time. Things like coffee grinders, food processors, and blenders won’t draw the battery down significantly since they’re only on for a few minutes each time that they’re used. Ditto for things such as a drill press or a jigsaw doing a small job. A 700-watt rice cooker on the other hand, is on for 30 minutes at a time and will be a significant drain on the battery. And the heavy resistive loadof  a 1,500-watt space heater will drain it in no time.Continue reading“Post-SHTF Lighting: Portable Power Stations – Part 2, by St. Funogas”