Month: February 2016

Winter Survival- Part 1, by R.C.

In this three-part series on winter survival, we will examine surviving the winter on foot, in your vehicle, and in your home. We have all seen the videos of the recent storms and how even though the news have been reporting nonstop on the dangers of winter travel, the general public is out in it woefully unprepared. If you are reading this from your warm armchair or desk, I’m probably preaching to the choir. In the past I have been a snowplow operator, a first responder, and an instructor of CPR/First Aid and wilderness first aid in the Intermountain West. …


Letter Re: How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag

Hi Hugh, I just want to quickly reply to the post after having first-hand experience in Europe witnessing the refugee flow. Backpacks and roller bags are what many had for a bag. This was, I believe, owing to the fact that boat, bus, and train travel was extensively used by the Middle East refugees. They planned their travel. They also were overwhelmingly young men, capable of hauling more weight on average. I would have guessed by the very modern attire everyone wore, that their bags contained clothing and toiletries. They were well groomed and clean looking refugees! Charles T suggests …


News From The American Redoubt:

Video: The Oregon state sheriff association press release and Kris Ann Hall’s response to it. It’s pretty obvious that the police are (or at least think they are) federal. – J.A. o o o Eastern Washington ought to secede sooner rather than later. Those that couldn’t foresee this result from the lunatic “gender neutral” laws are ignorant progressives. – T.Z. o o o There are still some slots available for the North Idaho Boomershoot. (April 22-24.) This is a Rite of Spring, Idaho style. You gotta love an event where you legally shoot at explosives. OBTW, bonus points (and a …


Economics and Investing:

It Has Begun! Excerpt: “The process of discovering true value has begun, as indicated by the decline in the S&P, decline in the Shanghai Index, rise in gold stocks, rise in gold, and rise in silver. Expect it to continue.” o o o We normally stay away from “zombies”, but this one is too good to pass up: No Way Out – B.B. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News US Consumers Can’t Save the World Economy (Business Insider) Excerpt: “Consumption-led growth will help the U.S. economy expand by 2–2.5% again this year,” wrote Quinlan. “That’s good but …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Pastor Chuck Baldwin: Why Rand Paul Lost; Why Freedom Is Faltering o o o The Enemy is Here – and our leaders are doing nothing. – SurvivalBlog reader K.F. sent in the link to the counter-jihad site. There are some excellent articles here dispelling the myth that moderate Islam is harmless. o o o Reader B.B. sent in the link to Bearing Arms’ article profiling Polycase’s Ruger ARX ammo which is a polymer/copper composite. It’s a 10-minute video with some standard FBI tests comparing it to proven performers (Speer Gold Dot and Federal HST). If you are looking for a …




Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Gerber Prodigy Tanto Knife

For a lot of years, Gerber knives was a major player in the cutlery field. However, some years back, they fell out of favor with a lot of consumers, and their line-up of knives really shrank quite a bit. Honestly, it’s been at least 15 years or longer since Gerber sent me any knives for articles. I don’t know if it was a change of shifts or powers-that-be, but they stopped sending me knives to write about. That’s okay; there are more than enough knife companies that do send me samples for testing and articles. One of the best fixed …


Times Are Getting Tougher, But Women Can Thrive and Not Just Survive!, by Sarah Latimer

There are hundreds of thousands of women among the SurvivalBlog reader community and their households, and most of us are feeling stressed beyond what has been “normal”. If you’ve been reading SurvivalBlog and watching the news for anytime at all, like me, you’re probably concerned on a macro level about the blatant disrespect of human life, the trampling of our liberty and privacy, the moral decline of society in general and in what the children in schools are being taught, the economic crises around the world, the pressure pot of international conflict on multiple fronts, and more. Then, on a …


Recipe of the Week: Turnip Au Gratin with Greens by OkieRanchWife

A retired co-worker visited the other day and brought two huge feed sacks of his homegrown turnips. I happen to love them and put them into almost any soup or stew or pot roast. I have made turnip and potato mash but wanted to do something a little different. This is a casserole that pairs with just about anything. Use fresh greens though, because canned ones just won’t have the correct texture and flavor. At first this may seem like a not-so-friendly SHTF dish, but most everything in it can be grown in a home garden. Powdered dry milk can …


Letter Re: EMP Question

Hugh, I’ve asked Matt Bracken this question, and he didn’t know. I’ve read all of your EMP-related data, but none of them answer the question of whether batteries, particularly the small D, C, AAA, AA types need to be shielded to protect them from EMP. All authors make much of electronics in devices but never mention separate stores of batteries or the dangers of batteries stored in electronic devices like radios, sights, et cetera. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. – S.D. Hugh Responds: There is much FUD in the online world (and in books) about EMP. Some of it …


Economics and Investing:

Adidas’s $600-a-year subscription for workout clothes is testing the limits of a big shopping trend. Several observations here: Have we really reached a point in society where we have more money than time? Then we have become a slave to money even more so. Back in the day, people valued their money over their time; they typically tried to fix broken things or would innovate with what they had or could find. Find a Popular Mechanics from the 1930’s and see how it’s full of ideas of how to fix or make things. In the process, we were a whole …


Odds ‘n Sods:

By way of Tam at the View From the Porch blog, I heard about a thought-provoking piece in Joe Huffman’s The View From North Central Idaho blog: Culture changing concealed carry o o o ‘Open-carry’ in Texas causing confusion for law enforcement. This law is a legal gymnastics exercise: Not only does it only include handguns, but it also requires a permit. And no carry is allowed at sporting events. JWR’s Comment: Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right, then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere …



Notes for Sunday – February 21, 2016

February 21st is the birthday of Zimbabwe’s President For Life, Comrade Robert Mugabe (born 1924). Despite the 2011 revelations of the apparent murder of at least 640 political opponents, Mugabe was elected again in 2013 to a five year term in office. Mugabe and his ZANU-PF henchmen must be driven out of office and sent to prison, where they belong! February 21st is also the birthday of Group Captain Douglas Bader (born 1910, died 5 September 1982). He was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter ace during the Second World War. He lost his legs in a pre-war flying accident, …