Month: March 2015

Notes for Friday – March 13, 2015

SurvivalBlog writing contest number 57 only has two weeks left. Make sure you get that article you have been writing finished up and entered! o o o Safecastle is moving to an “Annual Membership” model, but before they do, they want you to know that SurvivalBlog Readers can get the lifetime membership for free. Just enter “SURVIVEFREEMEM” as the coupon code and get the lifetime membership, valued at $49, and lock your benefits in now. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round …


Guest Post: Silver and Gold: Shelter From the Storm, by Gary Christenson

What storm? The stock and bond markets in the US are doing great, the media has sold the strong employment story, and all those nasty wars are far, far away. So the top few percent are doing well and are sheltered from the storm, but what about the rest of us? What storms are pounding us? Currencies are based on debt, and those dollars, yen, and euros are created every day to keep various financial bubbles inflated. Global debt is $200 Trillion and cannot be repaid except with deeply devalued currencies. Central banks are creating currencies, monetizing debt, reducing interest …


Prepping on a Budget, by C.G. – Part 1

For many people, prepping seems like something only people with a good deal of time and/or disposable income can do. Shows like NatGeo’s Doomsday Preppers and, unfortunately, some YouTube channels give the impression that if you don’t have several years of food and enough weapons and ammo to outfit a small militia stored somewhere in a mountain bunker you can’t join the prepper club. Remember that the TV show is, at least partly, scripted, staged, and creatively edited, and some of the more questionable YouTube channels are run by gear/gun snobs. There are, however, ways to prep on a budget. …


Letter Re: Storing Canned Goods in Cat Liter

HJL, Sorry to bother you, but after reading an article that you linked on Survival Blog I just can’t get this off my mind. It was the Doomsday Prepper meals article, and it said that Wayne Martin “stores canned goods in buckets of cat litter to increase the life expectancy of the product”. Is this to keep the cans from rusting as when kept in a damp basement? I can’t find any reference to that on the Internet except where the cat litter is used as a desiccant alongside of the actual food. Any comment on this would be appreciated. …


Economics and Investing:

Greece Passes Law To Plunder Pension Funds. – B.B. o o o America looks Rich. Big Cars, Big Houses, Big Military. We paid for it with BIG Debt: Credit Card Debt, Stud-loan, Mortgage, National Debt! o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Retail Sales in U.S. Unexpectedly Fall for Third Straight Month David Stockman -Why The Dollar Is Rising As The Global Monetary Bubble Craters Q1 GDP Expectations Are Crashing


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mutating H7N9 bird flu may pose pandemic threat, scientists warn Special Note: Down in paragraph 8, is this nugget: “By collecting and sequencing a large number of samples, they found that the H7N9 virus is mutating frequently, acquiring genetic changes that might increase its pandemic potential.” o o o World record? 100 inches of snow may have clobbered Italy in 18 hours, review pending. – P.M. o o o A very neat DIY tactical shovel that would make a great addition to a B.O.B. o o o Mysterious spy cameras collecting data at post offices. – H.L. o o o …



Notes for Thursday – March 12, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with …


Getting Home, by D.K. Vet

Now, I feel relatively secure in my prepping, having been at it for several years. Food, check. Arms and ammo, check. Water, tent, first aid supplies, heating sources, et cetera, check, check, check. All is well and good, as long as I am home or near home and can shelter in place or pack up and move out of Dodge. However, there are several times every year when I am away from home and not just in the next county. We spend time in Florida and go to vet conferences in other states. When we’re somewhere else, we are totally …


Letter Re: Firearms Philosophy

In his book– Tools for Survival– JWR states that he is in the “narrow but deep” firearms camp rather than the “broad range” of firearms camp. I suggest a third alternative: Go for the “narrow but deep” philosophy first with a military style rifle with quality optics and a military style handgun and LOTS of mags and ammo for each (and, arguably, a shotgun). Then, slowly supplement that with other less expensive firearms with less ammo. These firearms should be non-military as, for example, lever action rifles, bolt action hunting rifles, and revolvers, with smaller quantities of ammo. Why? The …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Insect salads, sprouting seeds, dehydrated meats and canned cat food: The meals America’s ‘Doomsday Preppers’ will be eating on the day the world ends revealed . – JBG o o o Illegals to Get Social Security As Soon as 2017 o o o Safecastle has military surplus Beef Patties in stock along with 31-41% off on Mountain House foods. Great sales on Katadyn filters too. Check it out. Safecastle has also stated their intention to become a membership warehouse and are offering SurvivalBlog readers free memberships. o o o Professors: US flag symbolizes racism, should not be displayed on campus. …



Notes for Wednesday – March 11, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ 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, DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with …


Practical Personality Assessment, by M.B. – Part 2

Reasons I’d like to articulate three powerful reasons to become a student of personality types. 1) To Explain Preparedness in a Way that Others Will Accept “A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.” (Prov. 16:23) One of the best reasons to try to discover someone’s personality type is so that you can more effectively communicate with him or her.  We probably all have family members or friends who refuse to listen, despite our best attempts to convince them of the need to prepare.  Sometimes part of this is because of personality differences.  For example, you …