Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 3, by 3AD Scout

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

Location, location, location

So you assemble enough barter goods to open a small general store, where, when and how do you trade these goods? Living in a rural area with lots of Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite families, many of whom own and operate their own small businesses now each one of these small businesses is a potential location for commerce or barter. There is value in forming business relationships now and maintaining those relationships in a post-SHTF world. Being a familiar and trusted neighbor before the SHTF will put you in a better position to negotiate post-SHTF. Many people do not grasp that business is about relationships.

Reverting to local trade

Packing a truck up and heading to the local flea market 20 miles away probably will not be a good business plan post-SHTF. Being able to trade within a 5 to 7 mile radius of your home is a good assumption. Humans are said to be “creatures of habit”. If a person goes to ABC grocery store before the SHTF they will try to go after SHTF too. We have all probably traveled through small towns where Main Street consist of a post office, pharmacy, hardware store, tavern and an antique shop. Will “Main Street” still be the center of commerce post-TEOTWAWKI? At some point, it will be.Continue reading“Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 3, by 3AD Scout”

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:

We had a fun week. There has been some beautiful albeit chilly weather. I took Lily and our Younger Daughter ice skating on a nearby lake. Lily will provide the details on that.

I slaughtered four roosters.

I’ve been quite busy packing antique gun orders.  (We are running our biggest sale of the year, at Elk Creek Company.)

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.

And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister:

And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee.

Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister.

And there shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.

Thou shalt build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God:

And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the Lord thy God.

And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God.

Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.”  Deuteronomy 27: 1-10 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 24, 2025

On January 14, 1984, Apple Computer Inc. unveiled the Macintosh personal computer in a Super Bowl television ad directed by Ridley Scott.

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January 24th is the birthday of René Barjavel (born 1911, died November 24, 1985). This prescient French science fiction author wrote several books with survivalist themes, including Ravage, which was titled Ashes, Ashes in its English translation.

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Today is also the birthday of Tamara K., the editor of the long-running View From The Porch blog.

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Sales of the new 2005-2024 SurvivalBlog waterproof archive sticks have been very brisk. There are now less than 60 left on hand!  We expect them to sell out this weekend. For a full list of the included bonus books, see my post from Monday, January, 13th.

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In honor of the birthday of John Moses Browning (January 23rd, 1855), we are running a 10-day sale at Elk Creek Company.  This January sale is always our biggest sale of the year. These discounts range from 10% to 40%. All of our gun and knife inventory has been deeply reduced until January 31st, 2025.  Don’t miss out on these Birthday Week sale prices!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 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 www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 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. 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 $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 $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. 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. Round 116 ends on January 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.

 

Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

(Continued from Part 1.)

Service with a smile

Besides hard goods for barter, I have several “services” that I can provide. The key to being able to provide these services is to have the required tools and supplies on hand. Although I have several types of saws, I know that many people still have a rusty hand saw hanging up in their garage. Perhaps it was their grandfather’s but it has not been used since the cordless tool craze started. Those saws may need cleaning (rust taken off), sharpening, and perhaps even teeth resetting. Cleaning up the rust means sandpaper and stainless steel wool. Sharpening means files and setting saw teeth requires a saw tooth setter. I have not seen a saw tooth-setter offered for sale at a regular retail hardware store. Mostly they are at those venues that sell used goods. There are also multiple saw tooth-setters needed, based on the size of the teeth.

I figure some acetone or other paint stripper will be needed as people who have old two-man saws that have been painted and put up on the walls for decor, come down to be put back in service. The two-man saws have a specialized sharpening jig so I have been looking for those and buying them to add to the “collection”. Another device that has disappeared over the years is a saw vise. These came in different sizes based on the size saw you need to sharpen. Again these are not sold at regular retail hardware stores anymore. Saw sharpening is not that hard but considering that it is one of those skills that most people no longer have, it will be valuable to have the ability to refurbish old saws after TEOTWAWKI.Continue reading“Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 2, by 3AD Scout”

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 the recent spike in propane prices (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

The Next Phase Of Gold’s Bull Market Has Just Begun. JWR’s Comments:  2024 was a great year for gold investors. Spot gold posted a gain of 27.2% in US dollar terms, 37.1% in Swiss Franc (CHF) terms, and 35.6% in terms of Euros.  Given the Federal Reserve’s ongoing expansion of the money supply, it is realistic to expect a 12% or more gain in the spot price of gold (in Dollar terms), in calendar year 2025.

o  o  o

Chinese Gold Demand Showed Seasonal Strength in December.

o  o  o

Silver demand spikes due to solid-state battery tech advancements.

Economy & Finance:

The 10-year Treasury yield is nearing 5% again. Why stock-market investors are freaking out.

o  o  o

Bank of America Braces for Massive Bond Losses as Yields Soar.  An excerpt from the article’s opening lines:

“A sharp rise in rates since the end of the third quarter widened losses on bank securities portfolio and could become an investor issue again when banks start reporting their fourth-quarter results in the next week.

Bank of America has the largest unrealized losses in the banking industry and could be a focus of investor attention.

Barron’s estimates that Bank of America’s paper losses on a portfolio of $568 billion of bonds, mostly U.S. agency mortgage securities, could widen to $111 billion or more, compared with $86 billion at the end of September.

Industrywide, total unrealized losses could top $500 billion, up from $364 billion at the end of the third quarter. These losses involve all banks insured by the FDIC. The total potential losses would still be narrower than the nearly $700 billion at banks at the end of the third quarter of 2022.”

o  o  o

The BBC reported: Madoff fraud victims get $4.3 billion as fund completes payouts.

o  o  o

Macy’s And Kohl’s Announce Closures Of 93 Stores In Total.

o  o  o

Reader H.L. suggested this report at Zero Hedge: L.A. County Inferno Expected To Top $250 Billion In Losses.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 23, 2025

January 23, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), the Auto-5 shotgun (pictured with designer, above), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Browning Machinegun.  Variants of all four of these are still in production, more than a century later.

Today is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” has ensured that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns that are Browning designs. – JWR

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Sales of the new 2005-2024 SurvivalBlog waterproof archive sticks are continuing apace, with more than 950 sold.  There are now less than 65 left on hand. So, get your order in soon. For a full list of the included bonus books, see my post from Monday, January, 13th.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 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 www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 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. 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 $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 $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. 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. Round 116 ends on January 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.

Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 1, by 3AD Scout

One of my survival planning assumptions is that regardless of my stored goods and planning, “Murphy” will appear with the proverbial monkey wrench in hand. At some point, my food stores will wear thin and, something will break along with its spares. Amazon and the local Acme hardware will long be a thing of the past. What is a Prepper to do? Well, like everything we do for our future survival, we ponder, plan and prepare for those contingencies.

Bartering is probably about as old as the Earth’s soil. Even with all our economic advances through the centuries, bartering is still a useful exchange of goods and services. In my opinion, bartering will be our “failsafe” for our prepping shortfalls during The End of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) events. Granted there are other options such as stealing or scavenging (just a polite word for stealing) but those methods will be risky.

As we are thrust back into a majority agrarian world, bartering will serve as a way to trade our “surplus” food for other things we need. Surplus food in the Apocalypse? Yes, surplus food. Think about having a bumper crop of zucchini (like that never happens) along with a great harvest of your other crops. You have dried, canned, or otherwise preserved more than enough food to last you and your family until the next crops come in or perhaps you have run out of canning jars. Whatever the reason, you very well may find yourself with excess fresh food during a post-SHTF harvest. The same may even happen with other foods like eggs, honey, and meat from game or livestock. Bartering or trading will be a great way of turning your surplus food into other useful things you need or want. The following are some topics to consider when stocking items for barter and setting up a system of trade.Continue reading“Preparing For The Post-Apocalyptic Economy – Part 1, by 3AD Scout”

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, a further examination of Avian Influenza.

Bird Flu: 20 Million Dead Chickens in US

Reader C.B. sent this: Bird flu kills 20 million chickens in US, driving egg prices sky-high. JWR Asks:  How many of those 20 million were killed by the virus, and how many were cullls, killed based on the decrees of unelected bureaucrats?

In related news: HHS awards $306 million in Avian Flu monitoring and preparedness funding.

Armed L.A. Residents Patrol Neighborhoods

Armed LA Residents Patrol Neighborhoods In Violation Of Evacuation Orders. JWR’s Comments:  Suddenly (and I suspect just briefly), “open carry” is not being treated as a crime in California’s fire-ravaged region.

o o o

A related video from Armed Attorneys: Shooting Looters: What if your castle is burned down?

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.” – John Marshall Harlan, 1896

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 22, 2025

On January 22, 1506 the first contingent of 150 Swiss Guards arrived at the Vatican. They still quite competently guard it, in the 21st Century.

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On January 22, 1944, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

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Today is the birthday of the late Linda Rawles (“The Memsahib.”)

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We are in great need of entries for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. 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. Round 116 ends on January 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.

Trump’s Second Term: Some Hopes and Fears

January 20, 2025 was a pivotal day in American political history. President Donald J. Trump (DJT) was ushered into office on a very cold day that necessitated an indoor ceremony inside the Capitol rotunda, beneath the Apotheosis painting. He vowed to “dismantle government bureaucracy.” On that day, many of the Deep State inhabitants of the District of Criminals gave DJT a cold reception. A few Democrat Governors have even promised to actively resist DJT’s planned reforms. So has the leftist ACLU.

Just as he promised, DJT signed more than 100 executive orders (EOs) in the first 28 hours of his second term in office.  One of these forthrightly reversed 78 of Joe Biden’s ill-conceived EOs. The general gist of the tally of EOs was toward less government. As described at the White House web page, some of the first batch of executive orders included:

Declaring a Border Invasion
Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Reforming The Federal Hiring Process And Restoring Merit To Government Service
Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing
Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government
Establishing And Implementing The President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency”
America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State
Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats
Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal
Organization of the National Security Council and Subcommittees
Reevaluating And Realigning United States Foreign Aid
Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects
Declaring a National Energy Emergency
Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives
Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture
Restoring The Death Penalty And Protecting Public Safety
Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California
Securing our Borders
Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship
Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program
Unleashing American Energy
Clarifying The Military’s Role In Protecting The Territorial Integrity Of The United States
America First Trade Policy
Memorandum to Resolve the Backlog of Security Clearances for Executive Office of the President Personnel
Declaring A National Emergency At The Southern Border Of The United States
Holding Former Government Officials Accountable For Election Interference And Improper Disclosure Of Sensitive Governmental Information
Restoring Accountability To Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce
Withdrawing The United States From The World Health Organization
Application Of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act To TikTok
Granting Pardons And Commutation Of Sentences For January 6, 2021 Protestors
Putting America First In International Environmental Agreements
Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis
Federal Hiring Freeze
Regulatory Freeze Pending Review
Return to In-Person Work
Ending The Weaponization Of The Federal Government
Restoring Freedom Of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship

The majority of those point to less government and more free enterprise.  But a few — such as the as-yet undefined “Emergency Price Relief” could mean more government through artificially-imposed controls. (I’ve warned about wage and price controls, in SurvivalBlog.)

Most of those EOs will surely be implemented without a fuss.  But a few will require the cooperation of congress to enact enabling legislation, and a few may be delayed or overturned by the Federal courts. In particular, DJT’s promise to end automatic birthplace citizenship will almost surely be challenged.
Continue reading“Trump’s Second Term: Some Hopes and Fears”

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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Reader C.B. recommended this well-reasoned article by prolific gun and preparedness writer Duncan Long (pictured, in a self-portrait from his younger days):  Backpack Fever. JWR’s Comments: This article was written in 1989, but it is still quite relevant. I still hear the same fantasy “survival” plans espoused in e-mails from some of my younger readers. The truth is that anywhere outside of the tropics it takes a big pile of food, tools, clothing, bedding, and more to survive — far more than can be carried in a backpack, or even in a pickup truck. I should also mention that I’ve consistently seen Duncan Long’s books at gun shows since the late 1980s, and I have several of them in my home library.  Sadly, several of those titles went out of print when the publisher Loompanics closed its doors in May of 2006.

o  o  o

New blood type discovered after solving 50-year-old mystery. (Thanks to reader C.B. for the link.)

o  o  o

A Garand Thumb video: How To Evade A Professional Military In The Winter Mountains.

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Reader Bobby G. sent this news: Thieves Break Into California Army Reserve Center, Humvees and Equipment Stolen.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”