Today is the first anniversary Superstorm Sandy, which caused an estimated $50 Billion in damage and resultant lost productivity. I’m hopeful that Americans learned something about infrastructure fragility from that event, and have been stocking up, teaming up , and training up, accordingly.
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This is the birthday of Vermont Garrison [1], a legendary fighter pilot who fought in three wars: WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He was born in 1915 and died February 14, 1994, in Mountain Home, Idaho.
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It is also the birthday of famed World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin [2] (Born 1921, died January 22, 2003.) Oh, and speaking Clan Mauldin, don’t miss the excellent essay by Bill’s son John Mauldin about monetary policy: A Code Red World
Today we present another entry for Round 49 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. [3] The $8,500+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses [4]. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy. G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225, and I.) VPN tunnel, DigitalSafe and private e-mail annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $265.
Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 [5] Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. C.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials F.) A full set of all 23 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $210 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of [6] Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [7], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises , and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible [8], from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)
Round 49 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail [9] 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.