Notes for Monday – August 03, 2015

August 3rd, 1846 was the day that the Donner party found a note warning the emigrants that their expected route through the mountains ahead was nearly impassable. Hastings, an unscrupulous trail guide, had created his own “short cut” route and wasn’t even at the meeting place at Fort Bridger but had left word for the party to continue on. Hastings had claimed easy passage through the rugged Wasatch Mountains, but he had left a note attached to a forked stick for the party explaining that the route was more difficult than he thought. Eventually reduced to cannibalism, only 45 of …




Scot’s Product Review: Work Sharp Guided Sharpening System

It’s probably just me, but when I get a nice, sharp, new knife, my first response is glee at how well it cuts, but then fear creeps into my mind, the fear of dulling it. Making it dull means having to make it sharp again. Will it ever be as sharp as it was new? Sometimes I find myself trying to avoid using it and looking for a box cutter with a disposable blade instead. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a good knife, which led me to confront my fear of sharpening years ago. I’ve learned to …




Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Cold Steel’s Special Forces Shovel

Ever since I was a little tyke, which is going back many decades, I’ve had an interest in anything having to do with the military, especially military gear. When I was a kid, back in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, IL, my friends and I would play “soldier” or “cowboys and Indians” all of the time. These days, if kids are seen pointing toy guns at one another, the police are called. What a shame! I was the envy of most of the kids on my block when I was a kid. I had a genuine U.S. military canteen, complete …




Recipe of the Week: Honey Oatmeal Bread, by C.S.

Ingredients: 1 cup quick-cooking oats 1/3 cup butter 2 cups boiling water ½ cup honey 1 Tablespoon salt 2 pkgs. yeast 2 eggs 6 to 7 cups flour 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 Tablespoon water Additional oats to coat the top of the bread Directions: In a large mixer bowl, combine oats, butter, boiling water, honey, and salt. Cool to warm (105 to 115 degrees). Stir in yeast. Add 2 eggs and 2 ½ cups flour. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto a …




Letter: Every Prepper Needs A Bar!!

Hugh, In all the material I have read over the years, I don’t think I have ever seen info about every prepper needing a bar. It is one of the most important items that you can have. You will need it often, and there are times it will be critical to have one. My bar has many names. My dad called it a cheater bar. My neighbor calls it a digging bar. I call mine a pry bar. Oh, we are talking about a TOOL bar, not the kind where you get juiced. With all the various projects that will …







Odds ‘n Sods:

Using Windows 10? Microsoft Is Watching – C.M. o o o UPDATE: Drone owner disputes shooter’s story; produces video he claims shows flight path – T.P. o o o Garland gunman bought gun through Operation Fast and Furious – D.S. o o o Heading Toward An EMP Catastrophe – B.B. o o o Four Boys in South Carolina Medically Kidnapped When Parents Ask for Second Opinion – D.S.