Month: February 2016

Notes for Sunday – February 14, 2016

Today, we present another entry for Round 63 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. …


Keeping Battery Devices Running In An Austere Environment, by Snaketzu

We all have at least a handful of battery-powered devices that can be very handy in an emergency or even a TEOTWAWKI situation. Weapon sights, flashlights, GPS, handheld radio, a tablet loaded with books and PDFs, night vision gear, and possibly even a cell phone are all things that could be very useful. Although everyone must be prepared to do without these devices, depending on the scenario there is no good reason to believe that these items must be discarded after the initial battery charge fails. Counting on scrounging more batteries or a power source to charge with is a …


Letter Re: Making a Last Run

Thank you so much for what you’re doing here. I don’t understand people who say they want to prep but won’t put this website on their daily reading list. In reference to Making a Last Run, at first I was appalled that any prepper would go to the store to stock up on even more food at the last minute. At the time I thought, “Why take away from those who didn’t prepare in advance? Let them get what they can. We already have enough.” Then I read the letter stating that with a 10-year larder it wasn’t necessary for …


Economics and Investing:

Alternate Unemployment Charts 25percent sound good – B.B. o o o The world can’t afford another financial crash – it could destroy capitalism as we know it – S.B. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Four Horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse (Business Insider) Excerpt: “It’s getting impossible to ignore all the risks… We know how leveraged banks are… If they get in trouble, then that money is gone. People have been avoiding thinking about it.” Yellen’s Dilemma: A Downturn with No Easy Response (Reuters) No right answer, and there’s no way out. In my opinion, there were …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Columbus Gyro Restaurant Rampage “Random Attack”: A Somali man named Mohammed comes into a restaurant called “Nazareth” and asks about the religion and national origin of the owner. He is told that the owner is a Christian Arab emigre from Israel. So Mohammed comes back a half hour later with a machete and a murderous rage. These two lines in the CBS news article come as no surprise: “It remained unclear what sparked the attacks. ‘Right now there’s nothing that leads us to believe that this is anything but a random attack’ “ No motive? Random? A real puzzler. …



Special Note

Saturday’s news flash on the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia came as a shock. Given that the leftist U.S. Senate has a long history of “rubber stamp” confirmations of Supreme Court Justice nominees, this is an evil omen. The news of Scalia’s demise is troubling, even if Hitlery Clinton is not elected. The BHO Administration will undoubtedly nominate another ultra-liberal Statist, resulting in a tectonic shift in the composition of the court. (With a 5-to-4 Statist majority, the District of Columbia v. Heller decision would have gone the other way.) In essence, once Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee …


Notes for Saturday – February 13, 2016

Today, February 13th, is the birthday of both Robert Charles R.C. Sproul, Jr.(born 1939), a well-respected American Calvinist theologian, and General Chuck Yeager (born, 1923), the first man to break the sound barrier. o o o I recently received a sample of the new Columbia River Knife & Tool (CRKT) OC3 fixed-blade tactical knife, which was designed by SurvivalBlog’s Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio, in cooperation with Brian Wagner. The overall length in nearly 11 inches, and it is constructed of SK5 steel that is black powder-coated. It has a practical drop point, yet it comes sharpened on BOTH edges, …


Low-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers, by T.Z.

I wouldn’t have much to eat in “What’s for Dinner”, so I’m going to write up my own personal paleo/primal low-carb approach to nutrition, especially as it applies to prepping. The mountain men, hunters, and others rarely had sugar and flour and were healthier. I’m not as active as them, but I’m trying to eat like them. Micro and Macro Nutrients– What Your Body Really Needs The first thing to do is separate nutrients from calories. You need nutrients– vitamins, minerals, protein, and a few other things to keep things running. These, like oil and radiator fluid, are things you …


Letter Re: Making the Last Run

Hugh, One thing I didn’t notice in his post was learning your store layouts. Most stores are pretty much laid out the same way, but they do on occasion move things around. Notice where everything is and make sure you pay attention each time you visit your local grocery store. Bread and milk are not normally placed together, thus you have to go through the whole store to get both. Milk is usually at the back of the store or at least very near the back, so that you have to go all the way through to get a gallon. …


Economics and Investing:

Venezuela’s Collapse Brings ‘Savage Suffering’ – Submitted by P.S. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: Welcome To Obama’s Recovery: Carrier Moving 1400 Jobs To Mexico | Zero Hedge Items from Professor Preponomics: US News How Negative Interest Rates Could Remake the Global Financial System (New York Times) Excerpt: “A decade ago, negative interest rates were a theoretical curiosity that economists would discuss almost as a parlor game. Two years ago, it began showing up as an unconventional step that a few small countries considered. Now, it is the stated policy of some of the most powerful global central banks….” …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Police Discover, Arrest NYC Pistol License Holder Who Stockpiled ‘45,000 Rounds of Ammunition’ – Submitted by G.P. JWR’s Comment: This breathless account made me laugh. The journalist sounded truly horrified at the size of his “arsenal.” Out here in The American Redoubt, that gent would be considered just a typical local with a small gun collection. And some of us might feel pity for him only owning three AR-10 magazines, and hand him a few spare PMAGs, so that he’d have a respectable six or seven available. And anyone who thinks that 45,000 rounds of ammunition is a lot, then …



Notes for Friday – February 12, 2016

The Panic of 2016 is continuing, just as I predicted, with further sharp declines in the equities markets around the world. The push for negative interest rates is continuing. I’m now asked: “Should I buy gold?” My answer: No, buy silver, and if portability is a concern buy some platinum. Presently the ratio between the price of gold and the price of silver is a whopping 78-to-1. That makes the long-term prospects for silver much better than for gold. Meanwhile, the price of platinum is $285 per ounce less than an ounce of gold! So that too is a better …


Making Sense of What You Hear- Part 3, by Hal2000

Shortwave Radio The next most important radio for preppers is a shortwave radio. Shortwave radio is generally defined as the part of the radio spectrum between 3.0 megahertz (Mhz) and 30.0 megahertz (Mhz). This is referred to as High Frequency, or HF spectrum. There are all kinds of transmissions you will hear on shortwave– Ham radio operators, International shortwave broadcasters, military communications, clandestine stations, numbers stations, and a whole lot more. You will also hear many different modes of communications as well. The bulk of what you will hear will be either standard AM broadcasting and SSB or Single Sideband …