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 Western European Defense Surge.

The European Union’s $11 Trillion Defense Plan

Reader Tim M. sent this: EU slams the door on US in colossal defense plan.

And in related news: EU Commission unveils plan to channel €10 trillion of citizens’ savings into strategic investments. Some key points were buried in this euphemism-laden article:

“Under the Savings and Investments Union, the Commission will address barriers preventing insurers, banks, and pension funds from investing in equity. It will also review the EU’s rules on securitization, ‘focusing on due diligence, transparency, and prudential requirements for banks and insurers, as this will free up resources from banks and allow better support for companies, the Commissioner said.”

JWR’s Comments: Reading between the lines: They now plan to steal bank reserves for their $11  trillion USD defense plan. Whenever you hear a politician talking about an “investment” in a program, beware.  It almost always means dipping into Other People’s Money.  In this case, it is fractional bank reserves, that are nominally there as protection from bank failures and bank runs.

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 26, 2025

On March 26, 1790, the US Congress passed the first Naturalization Act, requiring a two-year residency for arriving immigrant “free white persons” before granting them citizenship. The residency requirement was raised to five years in 1795, and 14 years in 1798. This first Nationality Act produced the new legal category of “aliens ineligible for citizenship.”  The 1913 painting above, “Wall Street, 1790” was by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (1850-1936.)

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On March 26th, 1812 an earthquake now estimated at 7.7 on the Richter scale destroyed 90% of Caracas, Venezuela. It killed an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people.

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We are continuing our big one-week sale at Elk Creek Company. We’ve put all of our pre-1899 Mauser and Carcano sporters as well as all of our Pietta percussion revolvers on sale. This sale will end on Monday, March 31st. Also, take note that I’ve boosted our pre-1965 silver divisor to 24.9 times face value, if you’d like to pay in pre-1965 junk silver.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 117 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.

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More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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.

 

 

 

 

A Disaster Laptop Computer – Part 1, by J.M.

Unless you’re already living completely self-sufficiently and off-grid, when a TEOTWAWKI scenario comes along you’re going to have to quickly adapt your lifestyle and mindset in order to survive long-term. That means bringing all of your preparations to bear, including skills, expertise, information and supplies. While you may have prepared for immediate survival, implementing a major long-term shift in your lifestyle will require an organized approach to keep track of the information, schedules and other activities you’ll need to keep going.

In ‘normal’ times many of us use computers to perform these types of activities, and there’s no reason you can’t continue to leverage those experiences and capabilities in post-disaster scenarios. This article will focus on selecting and configuring a laptop for long-term use after a major disaster has occurred, based on what works best for me. Every person and group is different and there’s no absolute ‘one size fits all’ solution that will work for everyone, but the information should be useful for helping you set up your own system.Continue reading“A Disaster Laptop Computer – Part 1, by J.M.”

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.

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The government of France is issuing a 20-page survival preparedness booklet to every citizen, by mail. JWR’s Comments: This “Votre kit d’urgence” advice is all very basic 72-hour kit stuff, including a recommendation to store flashlights and a whopping 6 liters of water, per person. The booklet’s publication was reportedly prompted by concerns over the war in Ukraine widening into a European regional war, with a risk of invasion.  If the French government was serious about the risk of a Russian invasion, then they’d now be busy handing out their 1 million surplus MAS-36 bolt action rifles, 275,000 surplus MAS-49 semi-auto rifles, 350,000 surplus Modèle 1892 revolvers,  and 100,000 surplus MAT-49 submachineguns — sans un bout de papier, naturellement. Those 1.7 million guns might equip some real maquisards. Somehow, I don’t think that just flashlights and bottled water are going to discourage a Russian invasion.

o  o  o

Canada’s Oldest Retailer, Hudson’s Bay, to Begin Liquidating Most Stores on Monday.

o  o  o

Reader D.S.V. suggested this piece on medical ethics at The Federalist: To Die Alone: Never Forget What The Lockdowners Did To Us.

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Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“You’d have to be very stupid, ill-informed and bigoted not to at least suspect that the global epidemic of autism is related to the untrammelled enthusiasm for repeated mass vaccination of children. I’ve been studying vaccines and vaccine damage longer than most people and it is patently clear that most (if not all) patients alleged to have autism are suffering from brain damage caused by vaccination. Autism, in other words, is a synonym for brain damage and vaccines are the cause of the brain damage. The fact that no one in the medical establishment will even discuss this is proof that it is true. No one will discuss this even as a hypothesis because once accepted as fact the damages will run into trillions of dollars.” – Dr. Vernon Coleman

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 25, 2025

On March 25, 1199, King Richard I (the “Lion Heart”) of England, was wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France. This led to his death on April 6th of the same year.

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March 25, 1305:  Robert the Bruce was crowned Robert I, King of Scots, after killing his rival John Comyn, Lord of Badenoch.

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This is the birthday of English film director David Lean. He was born in Croydon, England in 1908. He died in 1991. He is best known for his award-winning films Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago.

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National Medal of Honor Day is officially observed on March 25th of each year.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 117 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.

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More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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.

Prepping: The Department of Redundancy Department

This essay was inspired by SurvivalBlog reader R.T., who recently sent me a photo of his accumulation of 17 hand-crank kitchen grinders. In bygone years, almost every family owned one of these. But they have gradually been replaced by more fragile electric blenders, electric meat grinders, and food processors. So, most of these sturdy old machines have been unwisely discarded.  I assume that R.T. found most of his at yard sales and at thrift stores. He included the caption:  “One is none and two is one, but seventeen?”

An oft-quoted saying in the prepping community is: ‘One is none and two is one,”  But I’d like to suggest expanding that, to wit:

One is none — because it might fail. So, two is one.

Three will provide for your family in the long term.

Four will provide for your family and for a relative who did not plan ahead.

But Six (or preferably more) will also provide for barter and charity.

Continue reading“Prepping: The Department of Redundancy Department”

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, some news about fake news from fake newspapers. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

This was posted at the left-wing Idaho Capital Sun pseudo-newspaper website: Idaho Senate passes Texas-style immigration bill; ACLU says it will sue if it becomes law.  JWR’s Comments: The “States Newsroom” organization is a Washington, DC and North Carolina-based political pressure group that posts Democrat/socialist propaganda masquerading as state-level news reporting. They created 50 websites with fake newspaper names for all 50 states.  During election seasons, they mail out hardcopy newsprint fake “newspapers”, primarily to voters in states with tight contests. Last summer, for example, they deluged Montana, hoping to keep Democrat Jon Tester in office. (That didn’t work.) Here in the American Redoubt, their fake “newsrooms” include: Oregon Capital Chronicle, Washington State Standard, Idaho Capital Sun, Daily Montanan, and WyoFile.  (According to Wikipedia: “States Newsroom is a U.S. tax-exempt organization that serves as an umbrella organization for state-focused news outlets with progressive editorial outlooks. Launched in 2019, it began as a sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-leaning nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. It grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressive think tank in North Carolina founded by Chris Fitzsimon.”)  Oh, by the way, one of the Hopewell Fund’s sponsors is the globalist Rockefeller Foundation.  If you want the truth, then follow the money. – JWR

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The March SNOTEL snowpack numbers. Most of the American Redoubt has average or above-average numbers.  Central Oregon is far above average.

Idaho

U.S. Highway 95 partially reopens after landslide near Council, Idaho.

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Idaho population grows in 44 Counties, census data reveals trends.

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Chilling new details emerge in Idaho student murder case.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 24, 2025

Today, March 24th, is the anniversary of Operation Varsity in 1945, the largest single-day airborne operation, at a single location. More than 16,000 paratroopers of the American 17th Airborne Division and British 6th Airborne Division participated. In total, over 1,700 planes (C-47, C-46, and C-54) and more than 1,300 gliders (Waco CG-4, Horsa and Hamilcar) were used. The “sky-train”, as it was called, stretched more than 200 miles (322 km) in the sky and took 2 hours and 37 minutes to pass any given point. While considered successful, and meeting all mission objectives, the Rhine crossing resulted in more than 2,500 casualties. (Killed, wounded, captured). The European war would end just more than a month after this action, so it received limited publicity.  This was the last recorded use of gliders in combat.

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I just noticed that Next Level Training (one of our long-time advertisers and writing contest prize donors) is running a sale on their excellent Refined Savage G-Spot Fire Starting Kits. These cleverly fit in the bottom grip “tunnel” of your Glock pistol, so that you’ll never be without a fire-starting kit. What a great way to take advantage of otherwise wasted space!

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I’ve started a big one-week sale at Elk Creek Company. We’ve put all of our pre-1899 Mausers and Carcano sporters as well as all of our Pietta percussion revolvers on sale. This sale will end on Monday, March 31st. Also, take note that I’ve boosted our pre-1965 silver divisor to 24.9 times face value, if you’d like to pay in pre-1965 junk silver.

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

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We are in need of entries for Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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.

Vala Alta Irish Linen Handkerchiefs, by Thomas Christianson

Other than using cotton balls for starting fires, it is generally best to avoid cotton for field use. Cotton fabric tends to attract and retain moisture, at which point it becomes uncomfortable and loses its insulating value. As a result, “cotton kills” has become a common saying regarding wearing cotton in the field.

Although there are not too many situations in which one’s life might depend on the insulating value of their handkerchief, there are many times when one’s comfort is dependent upon that article being dry. Linen handkerchiefs provide a stronger and faster drying alternative to cotton handkerchiefs. As an added bonus, linen is hypo-allergenic and even has mildly antiseptic properties.

Vala Alta manufactures an attractive line of handkerchiefs in the USA using Irish linen. I recently tested a couple of these handkerchiefs: one in the 12 x 12 inch size and the other in the 16 x 16 inch size. I found the 12 x 12 inch handkerchief to be a little undersized for my taste, but the 16 x 16 handkerchief was ideal. It was attractive, strong, and comfortable on my nose.Continue reading“Vala Alta Irish Linen Handkerchiefs, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week:

The following recipe for Potato-SPAM patties is from SurvivalBlog reader Richard T.. He writes: “This is a variation of the Bean-Potato patty recipe that I submitted in the May 9, 2022 SurvivalBlog. The variation is more in the equipment to make it than in the recipe itself. The result is a more dense patty with more surface on the cast iron pan surface to get toasty. The ingredients listed in this version are for a one-person serving.”

Ingredients
  • One small russet potato
  • Half a yellow onion
  • 1 slice of SPAM
  • 1 tablespoon of quick oats
  • Salt
  • Red pepper flakes,
  • Cooking Oil
Directions

“The last two bulleted ingredients are mixed in after all the other ingredients have been put through a small food chopper one time, as pictured. Once mixed it is formed into a patty and kept in the refrigerator (and later frozen) overnight so that oats have time to soak up the moisture that the salt has extracted from the potato. The skillet can be put in a toaster oven at 350 F for 40 minutes, or on the stovetop.”

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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!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

SurvivalBlog reader D.S.V. pointed us to today’s graphic:  Map of America’s Abandoned Railroad Tracks. (Graphic courtesy of the fascinating  Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit website.)

The thumbnail below is click-expandable.

Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

 

 

Or, better yet, open the map directly in Google Maps, for a nice detailed and zoomable view.

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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.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“There is only one kind of freedom and that’s individual liberty. Our lives come from our creator and our liberty comes from our creator. It has nothing to do with government granting it.” – Former Congressman Dr. Ron Paul