Year: 2015

Notes for Saturday – August 08, 2015

8 August is the birthday of Terry Nation (8 August 1930 – 9 March 1997), who was a Welsh television writer and novelist. Nation wrote two series, Survivors and Blake’s 7, in the 1970s. Survivors was re-made a few years ago. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the …


Announcing the SurvivalBlog Limited Edition XL Voyager Knife!

I’m pleased to announce that after more than a year of development, Cold Steel has released the Limited Edition Rawles Voyager Extra Large (XL) folding knife. This knife was specially made to my own specifications. It features the new Carpenter CTS XHP steel for superior edge holding and corrosion resistance, a half-serrated tanto blade for practical versatility, a black diamond-like coating for low reflectivity, and an olive green Griv-Ex grip that won’t slip and that blends in to natural environments. Each knife comes with a right-hand pocket clip installed and a spare pocket clip for left-handers. It has an ambidextrous …


Our Experience Growing and Storing Our Own Food- Part 3, by Tennessean

Farming Equipment Farming equipment is useful in various functions of gardening, particularly when growing a large garden for a family’s self-sustenance. Mechanical Seeders Two months ago we were on a UT field trip visit to a farm several counties northeast of us. I was extremely impressed with “Farmer Bob”. He demonstrated a Jang Clean Seeder. it actually worked! Two other push hand seeders we have tried have been about as useless as a screen door in a submarine. This gizmo is NOT inexpensive, but it does the job. We bought a fertilizer attachment, a row marker attachment, a rough soil …


Letter Re: A Year’s Supply of Food on a Budget by J. H.

HJL I’d throw in that the rice and beans need to be stored in a ratio of 10 lbs. of rice to 6 lbs. of beans. Together, in that proportion, they provide the essential proteins according to smart people with credentials to whom I am related. Fats and oils are important as PW asserts. Check out Piteba Nut and Seed Oil Expeller Oil press. It is important that you not just buy it and put it on the shelf. There are expendable parts, and the instructions include direction to a video to figure it out. Also, I understand it takes …


Economics and Investing:

The spot prices of silver and gold recently dipped to $14.70 USD and $1,006 USD, respectively. This short-term aberration in long-term market trends can be attributed to both the sag in oil prices and to near panic shifts by European investors into the United States equities following news of the Greek bailout and a possible Euro collapse. I recommend that anyone who sees the need to diversify their portfolio do so NOW. If you wait until October, you may miss the boat. Physical silver is the logical choice. If you already have your beans and bullets squared away, then I …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Social Security Admin Ignores Congress on Gun Rights – G.P. o o o Denver DA Charges Man with Jury Tampering for Handing Out Jury Nullification Flyers – H.L. o o o Looting and violence on the rise in Venezuela supermarkets – G.W. o o o How to shake someone who’s tailing you – G.G. o o o How the way you type can shatter anonymity—even on Tor – G.G.



Notes for Friday – August 07, 2015

7 August 1933 is the birthday of Jerry Pournelle. He, along with Larry Niven, authored the survivalist classic Lucifer’s Hammer. o o o Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day 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 …


Our Experience Growing and Storing Our Own Food- Part 2, by Tennessean

Seed (continued) Winter Squash One needs to give these cultivars a LOT of room, planting on a grid 8’ by 8’ is about right. This year we are growing two winter squash cultivars that keep a long time in a root cellar. Anna Swartz is a C. maxima and Waltham Butternut is a C. moschata and will not cross pollinate (this is why you must have Suzanne Ashworth’s book!), so we will be saving the seed from these. Insects pollinate the cucumber family, and we’ve oodles of all sorts of pollinator insects in East Tennessee, and they fly for many …


Letter Re: Calcium Hypochlorite

I recently bought a 1 lb. bag of DryTec calcium hypchlorite through Amazon. When I repackaged it for long-term storage I noticed there was very little chlorine odor. I made a 1/2 gal. per directions for stock. I poured the stock directly on the tail of a non-colorfast shirt (bright red that already had white spots from a sodium hyphochlorite spill) and left it for hours; it didn’t even lighten the color. I don’t know any other way to test the amount of available chlorine that I have on hand, but I am deeply concerned that a lot of people …



Odds ‘n Sods:

Learning along with Wranglerstar: Punching a Hole In Steel o o o St. Paul shooting leaves a clear lesson. But too late for one young man. – J.C. o o o The Slaughter of Babies – D.S. o o o EMP Trash Can Faraday Cage Testing in Lab – K.S. o o o Policing is Intrinsically Risky – B.B.



Notes for Thursday – August 06, 2015

On August 6, 1945, the United States of America dropped the first Atomic bomb on Japan. The bomb, though small by today’s standards, possessed more power than 20,000 tons of TNT, a destructive force equal to the load of 2,000 B-29s and more than 2,000 times the blast power of what was previously the world’s most devastating bomb. While the effect of the bomb on the outcome of the war is still debated today, one thing is sure–Pandora’s box had been opened. Even today, the fear of a single nuclear bomb in the hands of an unstable government sends chills …


Our Experience Growing and Storing Our Own Food- Part 1, by Tennessean

A recent post commented on how it is next to impossible to grow one’s own food. It’s very hard work, has a difficult and long learning curve, but it can be done. This essay explains how to efficiently grow and store your own food. You can learn from our mistakes. Both my sets of grandparents farmed with a team of mules. We know a couple in a county north of us who farm using with a team of mules; they are able to feed themselves, the mules, and also customers at a farmer’s market. About Me I’m 73 years old …