Year: 2014

Recipe of the Week: Beef Strogannoff

How to Make that Meat Go Further People can be very picky eaters, but down the road that may not always be an available luxury. People will also start in a litany of “I don’t eat mustard, or onions, or garlic, or mushrooms, or whatever.” (This is not to be confused with a legitimate food allergy!) Remember, a recipe is a combination of pleasing ingredients that impart delightful flavors and textures. Think about liquid vanilla extract. It smells out-of-this-world, but it tastes like nothing you would want you eat. Sugar must be added to make it edible. The following recipe …


Letter Re: The Little Things, by Claymor

Hello Hugh, In the recent post entitled “The Little Things“, writer Claymor mentions the importance of water and of providing for a means of treating non-potable water. I certainly agree with this, however he goes on to assert “If you’re lucky you’ll die from dehydration before giardia takes claim.” This may not be the case. Every reputable survival school in the country teaches the same thing– if faced with the choice between drinking questionable water and suffering the effects of serious dehydration, you should (almost) always err on the side of drinking the water. The reasons for this are several: …


Letter Re: Generators And Their Proper Implementation During TEOTWAWKI/Disasters

Excellent article about generator usage. I might mention that when using a portable generator there is a better option than running an extension cord to an outlet and then cutting off the main breaker. You can buy a manual transfer switch that will allow you to wire selected circuits in your breaker panel through the transfer switch. After plugging up and starting the generator, you flip breakers on the transfer switch. This transfers the selected circuits to the generator output and isolates them from the main incoming power. These switches are readily available at almost any home improvement store or …


Economics and Investing:

What does $600,000 buy you in Southern California real estate? A look at Pasadena, Arcadia, and Torrance. Some boomers cashing in their housing lottery ticket. o o o Items from The Economatrix: This Is Why Hewlett Packard Just Announced Another 16,000 Job Cuts Why Are Boomers Cashing Out In Droves? Because “Everyone Understands The Market Went Crazy Last Year” Richard Russell – More U.S. Lies As The Public Is Going Broke Video: Peter Schiff: Brace For Impact!


Odds ‘n Sods:

If the grid fails, will you die?. So you think that we will simply revert to the 1800 and move on with life? Try the early middle ages instead. o o o U.S. Media Bias: Three large media outlets reporting on the shooting/stabbing in California, CNN, Boston Herald, and NY Daily News, and not one of them mentions the three stabbings, only the shootings. I have to find out about it in the UK based Daily Mail. – T.P. o o o Physical Limits to Food Security: Water and Climate – J.W. o o o Tampa welcomes “Invasion Force” – …



Notes for Sunday – May 25, 2014:

Today we present another entry for Round 52 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 …


Generators And Their Proper Implementation During TEOTWAWKI/Disasters, by RKM

I want to share useful generator information so that serious and possibly dangerous pitfalls can be avoided and tactical efficiencies can be realized. Outside Only: First, there is an important warning– generators MUST be run and exhausted OUTSIDE! Carbon monoxide can and will kill you with no warning. Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste. Of course there are things you can do to run one inside, but that involves technical issues not covered here. Be careful and plan accordingly! Our emergency implementation: On August 23rd of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi. Fortunately, I was living in …


Letter: .22 Training Ammo Availability

Hello Hugh, Just wanted to offer this information about the availability of .22LR ammo for training purposes for youth under 18. As many readers of the blog are aware, the Appleseed Project is a leader in rifle marksmanship education and telling the story of the history, choices, and sacrifices made by the men and women of the founding generation on April 19th, 1775 (first battle of the Revolutionary War). The value of the knowledge gained, both in practical skill gain using a rifle and in increased knowledge of our shared heritage, cannot be overstated, with the price for a weekend …


Economics and Investing:

Another one bites the dust in 2014. US Regulators Close Small Lender in Ohio. G.G. o o o See No Evil. Inflation is everywhere! – B.B. o o o Items from The Economatrix: U.S. Jobless Claims Jump 26,000 To 326,000 Big Investors Are Betting Against Housing Market The Biggest Economic Threat? Big Companies New-Home Sales Likely Rebounded In April, Economists Forecast


Odds ‘n Sods:

Prepper comms goes mainstream? My New Favorite Social Network Is Ham Radio. – B.C. o o o City plans to attack economic segregation by moving poor into middle-class neighborhoods, richer into poverty spots. No point in fleeing a high crime area when the city will simply be moving the high crime area right back into your formerly “nice” neighborhood. Middle class and upper class flight from the state of New York will simply accelerate… even more. – T.P. o o o A chilling message from the cartels: Billboards with hanging mannequins warning cops to choose ‘silver over lead’ appear in …




Product Review: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer, by HJL – Part 2

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Why It Works I spent quite a bit of time, over the last three years, researching how freeze drying is accomplished. I wanted to know why and how it worked and ultimately, if I could do it at home. Earlier, I alluded to some pretty bad information I had run across, and I think a short primer of what makes freeze drying successful is in order, so that the user can understand just how useful this appliance actually is. It is well understood by any high school student who has taken a physics or physical science course that there are …


Letter Re: Seven Secrets of Medical Prepping

Hugh, I appreciate the concern pharmacist MDS, Pharm.D. has for keeping all of us safe. His comment regarding the danger of expired tetracycline is worth addressing in more detail. According to the respected newsletter, The Medical Letter, Vol. 44, Issue 1142, October 28, 2002, “The only report of human toxicity that may have been caused by chemical or physical degradation of a pharmaceutical product is renal tubular damage that was associated with use of degraded tetracycline…Current tetracycline preparations have been reformulated with different fillers to minimize degradation and are unlikely to have this effect.” This refers to a 1963 incident, …