Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 16, 2025

On April 16, 73 AD, the Masada fortress fell to the Romans after several months of siege, ending the Jewish Revolt.  From the InfoGalactic Wiki:

“The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 72 to 73 CE on and around a hilltop in present-day Israel. The siege is known to history via a single source, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish rebel leader captured by the Romans, in whose service he became a historian. According to Josephus the long siege by the troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels and resident Jewish families of the Masada fortress.”

—

April 16, 1746: In the continuation of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the Battle of Culloden, the last battle on British soil. Royalist troops under the Duke of Cumberland defeated the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart.

—

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 $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. 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 $250 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. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  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 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.

Avoiding the Worst Case Scenario – Part 1, by M.B.

Author’s Introductory Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Although there are references to the legal system in this essay, no part of this essay should not be construed as legal advice. This essay is for informational purposes only.

INTRODUCTION

On April 11, 1986, near Miami, Florida, eight Federal Bureau of Investigation agents engaged in a four-minute gunfight against two suspected bank and armored car robbers. The shootout took place in front of a home in a residential neighborhood.

When it was over, two FBI agents—Special Agent Ben Grogan and Special Agent Jerry Dove—were dead. Five agents were wounded—three seriously. Only one agent escaped injury. Both bank robbers were dead. Bank robber WM fired only a single shot during the gunfight, then was shot in the face and knocked out with a very serious wound early in the shootout. Amazingly, he regained consciousness almost immediately and evidently crawled out of the window of their stolen Chevrolet Monte Carlo and made it to Dove and Grogan’s car in an attempt to escape.

The second robber, MP—who along with his partner, will not be named here—carried the fight to the FBI single-handedly, despite receiving a mortal wound from a bullet fired by Jerry Dove as he exited the Monte Carlo. MP ignored bullet after bullet that struck him and must have seemed unstoppable. After shooting seven agents with a .223 Remington Ruger Mini-14, MP also made his way to Dove and Grogan’s car. He was attempting to start the vehicle when Special Agent Edmundo Mireles—his left arm nearly destroyed by a .223 bullet—approached the vehicle and emptied his revolver into the two robbers, finally stopping them and ending the fight.

For the FBI team that had been attempting for months to stop the two robbers, this was a worst-case scenario. The two bad guys had been a mystery, beyond their crimes—which included robberies and murder. Both criminals were Army veterans who trained constantly with their weapons, firing 750-1,500 rounds per week. They either purchased the ammo or stole it from people shooting on public land—people they ambushed, robbed, and murdered for their guns, ammo, and vehicles. Neither MP nor WM had a criminal record on the day they died. The agents attempting the felony car stop had no way of knowing the situation they were entering.Continue reading“Avoiding the Worst Case Scenario – Part 1, by M.B.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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.

—

Glock May Be Discontinuing .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .45 GAP Pistols

o  o  o

Three Decades Wiped from Life Expectancy of Covid-Vaxxed.

o  o  o

Randy in S.C. mentioned this article: We moved to a farm in rural Maine because we thought homesteading would save us money. It didn’t.  Randy’s Comment:  “This is exactly what my parents discovered, in the 1970s.”

o  o  o

The latest video from our favorite sailboat vlogging Finns, now wintering in Greenland: Our Boat Froze In, So Now We Ride This.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The Constitution … is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary which they may twist and shape into any form they please. – Thomas Jefferson, from a letter to Judge Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 15, 2025

The Battle of Rain was fought on April 15, 1632. Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus defeated Count Tilly of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years’ War.

—

Today is guitarist Roy Clark‘s birthday. He was born April 15, 1933.

—

On April 15th, 1912, the “unsinkable” Titanic sank. 1,517 people lost their lives on that maiden voyage. As research into the incident has progressed over the last 100 years, it seems as if, one way or another, the ship was just going to sink. Impact with an iceberg, raging coal fires in the fuel supply, wrong turns, locked-up binoculars, weak rivets, too few lifeboats, and more. Perhaps this whole incident was really the result of man’s hubris.

—

Today is the 22nd Blogiversary of Commander Zero’s Notes From The Bunker blog.

—

Today, as many Americans are filing their 2024  income tax forms and the first of four 2025 Estimated Tax forms, it is apropos to post the following feature article.  Note that it is running as a guest piece because it is too short for inclusion in 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 Illegitimate 16th and 17th Amendments, by M.A.

The 16th and 17th amendments failed ratification for a number of reasons which include lack of ratification by several states, several states that changed the wording of the amendment and sent back an amendment that was different from that which congress sent forth, and one oddity: Ohio. Ohio was not admitted into the union until the 1950s since they never sent their formal acceptance of statehood until then; it seems somehow the paperwork was lost in the process and never sent to Congress. Therefore, it was not possible for Ohio to vote since it was actually still a territory at the time.

I have two original volumes of documentation that neither the 16th or 17th amendments were lawfully ratified in accordance with Article 5 of the Constitution, published under the title The Law That Never Was. When these volumes were presented to Congress then Senator Orrin Hatch tried to buy the copyright to them, and was refused. He then had the Department of Justice harass and eventually arrest the surviving author and subjected him to severe punishment and the “issue” was subsequently buried. The Federal Reserve Act was promulgated and forced into being by the same people who foisted the 16th and 17th Amendments upon us. Look at the damage this cancer has done to our nation!

The two authors, both of whom I’ve met,  Red Beckman and Bill Benson were very meticulous in their work to uncover the truth. I had originally bought their two books (Volume 1 and Volume 2) back in the late 1990s and as I recall paid $35 for them. Unfortunately, a former associate of mine borrowed them, and never returned them.  He passed away and I never got my books back. I found a set on eBay and bought them, paying $2,500 for the pair.

The authors had two thousand copies of the two volumes printed.  Copies were sent to members of congress, the president, and the Supreme Court justices. Very few copies of the books remain today and when they do surface they are horrendously overpriced, though their true value is pricelessContinue reading“The Illegitimate 16th and 17th Amendments, by M.A.”

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, news about Idaho’s Vaccine Freedom Law.  (See the Idaho section.)

Idaho

Idaho Governor Signs Bill Banning Businesses, Schools From Requiring Medical Procedures, Including Vaccines. An excerpt:

“Republican Governor Brad Little has signed legislation, the Idaho Medical Freedom Act, that bans businesses and schools from requiring customers, employees, and students to receive vaccines or other medical procedures.

A medical intervention is defined in the legislation as ‘a medical procedure, treatment, device, drug, injection, medication, or medical action taken to diagnose, prevent, or cure a disease or alter the health or biological function of a person.'”

o  o  o

Judge hears arguments on autism diagnosis, DNA evidence, more in University of Idaho murders case.

o  o  o

Boise inmate gets life for cellmate murder; parole possible after 35 years.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The income tax is a twentieth-century socialist experiment that has failed. Before the income tax was imposed on us just 80 years ago, government had no claim to our income. Only sales, excise, and tariff taxes were allowed.” – Alan Keyes

Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 14, 2025

On April 14, 1471, in the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Barnet was fought.  In this battle, Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians and killed the Earl of Warwick.

—

April 14, 1775: The first abolitionist society in US was organized in Philadelphia.

—

On this day in 1865, just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning. Also on April 14, 1865, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward and his family were attacked in his home by Lewis Powell. This was part of the same conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.

—

On April 14, 1828, Noah Webster published An American Dictionary of the English Language; based on the principle that word usage should evolve from the spoken language, the work was hugely influential, though it was initially attacked for its “Americanism.”

—

Today’s feature article is a review written by SurvivalBlog staff writer Tom Christianson.

Makers and Riders Pants, by Thomas Christianson

Two friends and I each recently had the opportunity to test several pair of Makers and Riders Pants. We each tested their “Traveler” softshell jeans and their 3 season “Dispatch Rider” jeans.

We found the Traveler jeans to be extremely comfortable for everyday wear during cool weather. They cost $109 at the time of this writing at www.makersandriders.com .

The Dispatch Rider jeans were outstanding for everyday and field wear during cold weather. They are water resistant and fleece lined. They cost $118 at the time of this writing.

The owner of Makers and Riders got caught up in supply chain issues during Covid. He got so burned out by the stresses involved that he turned his attention to other pursuits. Now he is in the process of liquidating his remaining inventory. So if you are interested in the pants after reading this review, don’t wait too long. Whatever is still available today may be gone tomorrow.Continue reading“Makers and Riders Pants, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Pioneer Skillet Cornbread is from SurvivalBlog reader J.A.. This is intended to be baked in an oven in a cast iron skillet, but you could substitute an uncovered cast iron Dutch Oven.

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 1/2 cups cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 2 1/4 cups milk
  • 6 Tablespoons melted shortening (or bacon grease) for the batter
  • 2 Tablespoons hot shortening (or bacon grease) in your skillet.
Directions
  1. Set your oven to 450 F.
  2. Heat a cast iron skillet in the oven with the shortening or bacon grease while mixing the batter.
  3. While the cast iron skillet heats, combine the flour mixture, wet ingredients, and grease from the pan and mix well.
  4. Pour batter into a sizzling hot skillet with the grease in it, and then bake for 25 minutes at 450 degrees.
Chef’s Notes

The key to a delightful crust on the cornbread is to have the skillet and grease hot before pouring the batter in.

—

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:  Map Showing the Generations of Currently-Seated State Governors in the U.S. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

—

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.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Speculative markets have always been vulnerable to illusion. But seeing the folly in markets provides no clear advantage in forecasting outcomes, because changes in the force of the illusion are difficult to predict.” – Robert J. Shiller

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 13, 2025

On April 13, 1520 Raphael‘s final influential masterpiece “The Transfiguration” was put on display just a week after the artist’s death.

—

April 13, 1743 was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. (He died on July 4, 1826 just a few hours before the death of John Adams.)

—

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 $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. 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 $250 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. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  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 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.

The Repair Teardown – Part 2, by R.T.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

A factor that makes it difficult for the average homeowner to do their own repair jobs is that some manufacturers design their products to be serviced solely by them and not by you. Something to look for in a product before you buy it would be to find out how easy it is to repair. Product reviews are a way of doing that. A very helpful piece of information when viewing a product’s reviews is to look for a notice on the frequency of returns; this can be a more accurate indicator of the value of the item than the customer reviews are. Before I accept a rating of a product by a magazine that does such research into consumer products I check the criteria by which they rate it. Sometimes their criteria reflect a political perspective which can skew their rating.

How about asking an online forum on how to do a repair job? Occasionally I’ve gotten some very good help there, but those forums seem to attract more wannabee comedians than experts. There are endless online videos of stupid household and automotive repair jobs and repair hacks, all of which I consider to be in the category of entertainment and not to be taken seriously. Hacks are not reliable fixes, it is a “kick the can down the road” approach that is a delay that might end up costing more later.

Back when cars had carburetors and sticky bowl floats I used to ride to work with a guy who always had a ball-peen hammer under the front seat so that when the float stuck he’d jump out of the car, usually when we were at a stoplight, to tap the bowl to unstick the float. That was not an ideal “getaway” car!Continue reading“The Repair Teardown – Part 2, by R.T.”