The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 43
Hey folks, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. I’m not sure what I did, but I somehow tweaked my right shoulder and the side of my neck. It’s not debilitating, just bothersome. Typing isn’t horrible, but using my mouse isn’t a lot of fun. I’m on about day three with it and it’s slowly improving. Tell you what, gettin’ old ain’t for wimps.
I’ve finished all of the revisions to COUNTDOWN TO PREPAREDNESS. The manuscript isn’t due just yet, so I’m letting it sit for a bit to see if anything else percolates to the surface. As it stands right now, I’ve gone through each page of the book and made changes and updates as needed. I’ve also swapped out several lessons for content I feel is more relevant and current. You can pre-order it here on Amazon. The book will be out in July 2025.
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Mea culpa time. In last week’s newsletter, I said, “I hope I’m wrong, but I feel like it’s a certainty that we’ll see some violent incidents at the polls, as well as over the next several days.” I didn’t hear much at all about violence at the polls on Election Day. There were maybe two incidents that came across my radar, and both were very minor. As I write this, we’re a week out from the election and I’m not aware of any major happenings anywhere.
I got it wrong, pure and simple, and I’m ‘fessing up to it. Tell you what, though. In this case, I’m glad I wasn’t right.
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Prepper Tip -- Something you might consider adding to your evacuation kits are things like sleep masks and ear plugs. Many people struggle to get decent sleep when they’re away from home. Add in stress and anxiety and those zzzz’s might not be easy to grab.
No matter where you end up evacuating to, it won’t be home. Motels aren’t known for quiet, restful sleep in the best of times. Shacking up with family or friends might involve tight quarters. Let’s not even think about emergency shelters.
Anything you can do to up the odds of getting at least some restful sleep is a good idea. While the approach would certainly be different in a combat environment, in the vast majority of likely scenarios, that won’t be the case.
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It was 13 years ago this week that I signed my first book contract - PREPPER’S HOME DEFENSE. If you count the revised editions separately, I’m up to 13 books with my name on ‘em. Not too shabby. I have at least 4 more books in various stages of completion, though none are slated for publication just yet, and ideas for a few more beyond those.
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How to Survive 2025, the podcast I co-host along with Dacia M. Arnold and Brian Keene, was always intended to be a limited engagement, rather than an ongoing show. That said, we’re planning at least several more weeks of content. You can get caught up on all of the available episodes here.
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Seven books I feel that every preparedness minded person should read.
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
Bug-Out: Reality vs. Hype by John McCann
Ultimate Wilderness Gear by Craig Caudill
Be Ready for Anything by Daisy Luther
Becoming Bulletproof by Evy Poumpouras
Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide (2nd edition) by Jim Cobb (shameless self-promotion)
Note -- these aren't the only books a preparedness minded person should read, but they're a damn good start.
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If you haven’t picked it up yet, you might want to grab the 2024 Gear Guide special before it’s sold out. This issue is packed with reviews and product recommendations in numerous categories, including clothing, knives, first aid, shelters, and more. Feel free to circle the things you want, just like you did when you went through the Sears Christmas catalog back in the day.
You can find it just about anywhere magazines are sold. You can also order it here online.
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I have two 2025 calendars available for purchase.
Real World Prepping has about 130 tips, hints, and suggestions scattered throughout the year to keep you moving forward to being ready for life’s little and not so little curve balls. There’s also a ton of bonus content that can be found through the QR codes that are printed for each month.
Point to Pommel is for my fellow knife nerds. The calendar features knives from:
Bark River
LT Wright
7Forge
Spartan Blades
Buck Knives
Night Watch
White River Knives
TOPS Knives
Kopis Designs
Smith & Sons
Vehement Knives
Dan Tope
If you are interested in a bulk purchase of either calendar, drop me an email [jim@survivalweekly.com] to discuss rates.
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I had a request from one of my readers to share the names of the parks and trails we visit for our weekly hikes. This time around, we went to Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. We had our two-year-old granddaughter with us for the hike, so we didn’t want anything too strenuous.
Survival Tip – Misinformation, Disinformation, & Outright BS
Based on what I’ve been seeing on my social media feeds over the last several days, the election hasn’t halted the stream of nonsense and semi-nonsense that’s being posted with fervor on both sides of the aisle.
Just one example – a few days ago, one of my FB friends posted: “So apparently, this election people can see if you voted & who you voted for. This does not sit well with me.”
Possessing a modicum of common sense as well as some experience researching voter registration information, I explained that with the person’s name and DOB, you could look up IF they voted, but not who they voted for. We went back and forth about this over the course of about an hour, with him insisting I was wrong but apparently refusing to test the theory himself. He finally reluctantly acknowledged that I might be correct, but that the information that was available was still troubling to him.
The thing is, voter registration information is indeed publicly available information and it has been so for quite a long time. It’s nothing new. If I have someone’s name and DOB, I can look up their registration and see their registered home address and a list of elections in which they’ve voted. Not HOW they voted, just if they did so. But this guy on FB had heard otherwise and rather than vet the information, he made a post and got several of his own FB friends riled up about it. Which is exactly how misinformation spreads so quickly on social media.
Sometimes, like in that example, it isn’t maliciousness, it’s just a lack of knowledge coupled with being reactionary. He wasn’t knowingly posting bad information. But there are people out there doing exactly that, all day long. Often, it’s done simply for engagement. They want the clicks, likes, and follows so they post content that’s going to get people all worked up.
Over the last several months leading up to the election, it was rampant on both sides of the political aisle. It seemed like each side was trying to outdo the other in the outlandishness of the claims, and I have to wonder how many people truly believed everything they saw and heard.
With the advent of AI, it’s going to get exponentially worse, given that AI is constantly improving.
Now more than ever, triple-check any information before you believe it to be true, especially if it is something inflammatory or if it just sounds too good/bad to be true.
Backwoods Survival Guide Magazine
For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for Backwoods Survival Guide magazine. Here is the cover for the current issue available in stores right now.
You can find them just about anywhere magazines are sold, including:
Walmart
Sam's Club
Costco
Publix
Walgreens
Rite Aid
CVS
Tractor Supply
Fleet Farm
Barnes & Noble
Subscriptions are available here.
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?
I am always just an email away - jim@survivalweekly.com.