Month: May 2015

Odds ‘n Sods:

I spent a few hours today watching some reruns of “Doomsday Preppers” on Netflix and was struck by a common thread I saw. Granted, television’s job is to garner ratings and this show seems to do that by ridiculing preppers, but the point is valid nonetheless. Physical fitness seems to be a sadly overlooked prep. How Does 1960s High School PE Compare to Today? It Doesn’t. – HJL o o o Sadly, it is true that history often echos itself: The Vatican Against the Jews o o o A good grounding article for your communication preps. – RBS o o …




Digital Security- Part 2, by Dakota

Secure Email (continued) Public key encryption works like this: you have two keys– a public key and a private key. Your public key is just that; it’s something you share with the public. Think of it as more of a padlock though. When someone wants to send you an email, they lock it with this padlock. No one along the way can see what’s inside the email (not even your email provider). When you want to read the email you use your private key just like you would use a literal key to unlock, or rather decrypt, the message. Your …


Letter Re: A Decade of Prepping

Hugh, I absolutely agree with the dedicated wife in what she wrote in ”A Decade of Prepping, Do’s and Dont’s” that women are an integral part of being prepared. Farm women are very hard to find, even for me (a woman) to be friends with. I spent several years living in a city and didn’t understand why I never fit in with my city friends. Then I found a mentor, an older Christian lady who was married to a farmer, who explained to me that I wasn’t wired to be a city girl; I was wired to be a farm …


Economics and Investing:

Global Debt Now At $200 Trillion o o o Student and auto debt fuel credit bubble 2.0: Student loans carry the highest delinquency rate of all debt classes. Student and auto debt up $1.15 trillion in last decade. o o o Here’s how Americans are eating into their savings . – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Moody’s Downgrades Chicago Debt to ‘Junk’ with Negative Outlook Five Reasons Chicago Is in Worse Shape Than Detroit 5 Big Banks Expected to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges – And not much of anything will happen U.S. Retail Sales Disappoint Again …


Odds ‘n Sods:

DHS caught busing in illegal Somalis from Mexican border. – P.M. o o o California senators approve ban on grand jury investigations into police deaths. – H.L. o o o University Launches Insult-Reporting System That Records Offenders’ Social Security Numbers. – B.B. o o o Eeben Barlow Speaks Out: Tactics Used to Destroy Boko Haram. – J.M.



Notes for Thursday – May 14, 2015

With over 30 million turkeys and chickens killed due to Avian Flu and with the disease apparently spreading and driving the cost of meat up, Yoders canned meats are Amish made, high quality, and an excellent way to avoid the whole issue. Get them at Ready Made Resources while they are on sale! o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 58 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 …


Digital Security- Part 1, by Dakota

Before we begin, note that the title is a bit of a misnomer. Digital security is mostly nonexistent. When computers took off, security was never a concern, so they are inherently insecure. I will do my best to help you secure your computer as much as possible. The point isn’t to make your computer invulnerable to attack. That’s impossible. However, just like your survival retreat security, the goal is to make yourself such a hard target that hackers or the government move on to lower hanging fruit. Again, nothing in here will make you immune to the NSA. They have …


Letter Re: Comment on Communications by J. B.

Greetings, Morse code is still encouraged and is definitely a useful skill. He also mentions ARES. In addition, there is another group of emergency communication volunteers, RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service), which is called into action in the case of a major emergency. If interested, I would encourage an Internet search for more information. By and large, his article is very useful. – S.S.



Odds ‘n Sods:

Great news for those traveling to Ohio! Ohio now recognizes all other state CCW licenses. – Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor At Large. o o o Also from Mike Williamson (actually his attorney): “According to the BATFE NFA guy at the NRA annual meeting (I’d like to buy a Z, Pat), a ridiculous number of NFA trusts, presumably built on a sample once shared on Arfcom, all have the same beneficiary. That dude is going to inherit a ridiculous amount of cash and NFA stuff one of these days (the BATFE believes the number is in the thousands for the guns …



Notes for Wednesday – May 13, 2015

May 13 is the birthday of firearms engineer Theodor Koch (born 1905, died 1976). Koch, along with Edmund Heckler and Alex Seidel, salvaged tooling from the bombed-out Mauser factory at Oberndorf, and with it founded Heckler und Koch. o o o Safecastle is having a sale on canned butter, chesses, and Ghee right now. Dairy is a necessity in your pantry, and these real dairy products need no refrigeration. While you are there, check out their Katadyn Pocket filters on sale through May. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 58 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. …