Round 52 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is now over, and it is a tough one. We are going through the entries right now and hope to have the winners announced by Monday, June 2, 2014. Those of you who submitted articles for the contest but did not get published in round 52 will have your articles automatically entered into Round 53.
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SurvivalBlog has a few improvements this week that will help you navigate and print articles. The old “permalink” has been replaced. Now, the title of the article serves as the “permalink” to bookmark the article URL. If you click on the Title, it will take you to a page with just that one article and both sidebars. You will then notice two links under the post title: “Email this Post” and “Print this Post”. Clicking on “Print this Post” will reformat the article for printing and mark every link in the article followed by a footnote listing the URL of these links. If your eyes, like mine, are telling you that you are older than you feel, you can also play with the font scaling in your browsers “Print Preview” function if the font is too small for you.
You can also email the article link through the “Email this Post” function.
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The SurvivalBlog Amazon Store suffered a few setbacks during the move to the new server, but it is now up and functional. Help support the efforts of this blog by visiting our Amazon Store for your survival and prepping needs. The store is listed under the “Static Pages” in the left sidebar of the blog. You can also see a shortened version of the store under the sidebar link of “Gear Links”.
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Today we present the first entry for Round 53 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ 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),
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
- A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
- A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
- A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
- A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
- Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
- KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
- APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
- TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.
Second Prize:
- A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
- A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
- Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
- The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
- $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
- A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
- A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
- Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
- Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
- Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
- TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
- Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate.
Third Prize:
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- 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,
- Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
- A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
- Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
- Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.
- SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.
Round 53 ends on July 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.