Year: 2015

Notes for Sunday – November 22, 2015

Today is remembered as the birthday of the late Eugene M. Stoner (born 1922, died April 24, 1997.) He was the designer of the AR-7, AR-10, AR-15, AR-180, the Stoner 63, and several other firearms. (The AR-10 was the basis of the AR-15, which in turn spawned the very widely used M16 and all of its variants including the M4 Carbine). It has been estimated that as many as 3.7 million rifles from the AR-15 family are owned by civilians in the United States, and military production M16 variants well exceeds 8 million rifles. o o o Today, we present …


Our Family’s Journey to Preparing For an Extended Grid Down Event- Part 1, by Old Man

To paraphrase an old saying, prepping is not a destination but a journey, or rather it’s a lifestyle. In this article I would like to share some highlights of our family’s journey to preparing for an extended grid down event, including what we found works and didn’t work for us. Hopefully, this might help some folks avoid the mistakes we made and stir some ideas for others. When I was a youngster, I joined the Boy Scouts. It was there that I was first bit by the prepping bug. I took to the Boy Scouts motto of “Be Prepared” like …


Letter Re: A Solid Solution On Securing Home Defense During A TEOTWAWKI Situation, by B.M.

Good morning, Hugh, I’ve been following the discussion on “indoor concertina wire” and agree wholeheartedly; it’s a poor decision. A recent writer pointed out that concertina wire, barbed wire, and tanglefoot should be secured to posts of some sort; I concur, and would like to elaborate on that topic. When I build fences I install a 4 foot wide hinged walk-through gate that, on closing, latches to a removable post. There is also an 8-foot hinged gate that latches to that same removable post, allowing a 12-foot entry for equipment should it be needed. Depending on the fence, and requirements, …


Economics and Investing:

Caterpillar sales drop for the fourth year in a row because of China: Those good years won’t come back. sent in by RBS o o o Sent in by B.B. – Fed To Hold An “Expedited, Closed” Meeting On Monday “As we are sure to be told: ‘It’s probably nothing!’ “ – Uhh, sure… o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: Auto Loans and Mortgages Push Household Debt to Highest Levels Since 2010 (Bloomberg) Baltic Dry Index Drops to Record Low (Bloomberg) Iron Ore Price Craters (Mining) Lifetime Cost of Refugee Settlement: $55B (Breitbart) Resettling Middle Eastern Refugees Costs Taxpayers …


Odds ‘n Sods:

First we are told they will disrupt the under-sea fiber communications. Now: Suspicious Russian Mission Aimed At Disrupting U.S. Submarine Monitors – D.S. o o o From SurvivalBlog reader A.L. – This is an excellent essay in response to a rabid gun-grabber: “Tap dancing in a minefield blindfolded.” o o o The hacking group “Anonymous” has released a statement claiming ISIS is planning Sunday terror attacks in U.S., worldwide – D.S. o o o SurvivalBlog reader T.L. sent in this little lump of coal: First Amendment under siege: Government should ban speech that offends minorities, millennials say it looks like …



Notes for Saturday – November 21, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. …


An Alternative to Calcium Hypochlorite, by TLS

I have read articles and posts, as well as listened to preppers discuss the use of Calcium Hypochlorite (Cal-Hypo) as a water sanitizer in The-End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It (TEOTWAWKI) situations. I owned a swimming pool business for over 20 years, and during that time I used Cal-Hypo, Sodium Dichloro-S-Trianzinetrione (Dichlor), and Sodium Trichloro-S-Trianzinetrione (Trichlor) extensively in both commercial and residential swimming pools. I also installed and maintained many salt-chlorine generator systems. Every time I read about someone planning to use Cal-Hypo for long-term storage to provide water sanitation in TEOTWAWKI, I cringe. Cal-Hypo has many serious shortcomings. The disadvantages are: Cal-Hypo degrades and …


Three Letters Re: A Solid Solution On Securing Home Defense During A TEOTWAWKI Situation, by B.M.

HJL, I can see some problems. First you must store it and deploy it when things go down. Second, if it is winter, you really don’t want your windows and doors broken. You want to defend them first (maybe both inside and outside). Third, even if you can insure you are safe, you will need to be able to go the other way, perhaps multiple times per day. Fourth, it doesn’t provide security if they decide to firebomb or shoot into your house. Fifth, if there is a fire or something else, you may have to get out fast, but …


Economics and Investing:

They would have you believe that the U.S. economy is recovering and strengthening. Actually, the dollar is strengthening because everyone else is debasing their currency faster than we are; however, it’s all downhill. The Fed Induced Farce. Link sent in by J.Q. o o o The Baltic Dry Shipping Index Just Collapsed To An All-Time Record Low o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: Barclays to Pay $150M More to Regulator in Forex Probe (Reuters) Citrix to Restructure: 1,000 Pink Slips Coming (Triangle Business Journal) Los Angeles and the Crisis of Homelessness (Los Angeles Times) Chinese Paddy Wagons Pick Up …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Evidently your TV now sends ultrasonic messages to your phone, which tell your phone to transmit your information back to the advertiser. Wonder what else this technology could be used for… How TV ads silently ping commands to phones: Sneaky SilverPush code reverse-engineered via Linux News. Link sent in by K.F. o o o These assignments were discovered by accident when the child brought the work home from school. How many more of these indoctrinating assignments are never caught by parents? Public schools, by design, indoctrinate your children with values that you have little or no control over. In fact, …



Notes for Friday – November 20, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 61 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. But first, there’s a word from JWR on establishing your Preparedness Library. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value), A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice …


Establishing Your Preparedness Library, by James Wesley, Rawles

Anyone who is serious about family preparedness recognizes the importance of having hard copy (EMP-proof) references on hand. In addition to the binders of reference articles, recipes, and technical manuals that I often mention in SurvivalBlog, I strongly recommend that you buy some particularly useful published reference books. These books include: First Aid — (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies Strategic Relocation–North American Guide to Safe Places by Joel and Andrew Skousen Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth …


Survival Trapping: The Efficient “Hunter”- Part 2, by J.C.

Basic Sets: Leghold traps have a few basic types of sets. The main one is referred to as a dirt hole set and is by far the most common and popular for this style of trap. A depression slightly larger than the trap is dug out and the trap is set down into it and “bedded”. This means to solidly seat the trap to reduce any movement at all. Most animals will immediately leave the set area, if they feel the trap move as they step on it. Once the trap is bedded, then use the screen to sift fine …