Fitness for Success When the SHTF– Part 3 by J.P.M.

The Dead Lift Pulling is probably one of the best movements for overall leg and lower back growth, plain and simple. Dead lifts hit your quads, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, abs, traps, and upper lats. This exercise does require a barbell. Walk to the bar. Stand with your mid-foot under the bar. Don’t touch it with your shins yet. Stand with feet at hip width stance and toes out 15°. Grab the bar, narrow, with hands about shoulder-width apart. Arms should be vertical from the front view, hanging just outside your legs. Bend your knees and keep going until your …




Letter: Home Locks Review From Someone That Breaks Into Homes (Legally) For A Living

HJL, As a long time reader of the blog, I was interested in the note about secure home products. The trick with the rod with the hook to undo an automatic garage door opener I thought was great; I actually tried it yesterday and after a minute I gave up on it and just drilled the lock. When I walked in the garage I looked up and I almost had it hooked another minute I think I would have had it. Here’s the back story; I break into homes for a living. My job is to secure foreclosed homes. The …




Economics and Investing:

Kmart gets into the liquidation business. Why be surprised? The entire company is going bankrupt. Why not take somebody else’s unwanted garbage along for the ride. – RBS o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: You Are Here – I am not a chart expert by any means, but this is worth a quick peek. Negative Rates Are a ‘Dangerous Experiment’, Warns Morgan Stanley Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Regulator: Feds Face Rising Risks for Managing Fannie, Freddie (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “The current situation is unsustainable, Watt said, not only because of the lack of capital at the two …




Odds ‘n Sods:

A neighbor up the valley who is moving a cattle fence line recently complained that he was having trouble pulling steel T-posts by hand. He said that they often got bent when “rocking” them out, and that in rocky soil, they would sometimes have their cross-plates (“wings”) break off. I resisted the urge to laugh, and I introduced him to my old standby: A Red Rooster T-Post Puller Plate. These work remarkably well. I use mine with one of my pair of 48″ Hi-Lift jacks, but these can also be used by attaching a short length of chain to the …




Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.” …




Notes for Friday – February 19, 2016

JRH Enterprises is running a sale on their popular Nightfighter 2 combo. This package includes a High Performance AN/PVS-14 Third Generation Pinnacle autogated night vision device brand new with a real factory 10-year warranty, plus an infrared laser, ACH helmet, helmet mount for the PVS-14, infrared marking beacon, and light interference filter (LIF). There are limited quantities on the size Large helmet. o o o SurvivalBlog would like to welcome two new advertisers to the site: Go Sun has a variety of solar cookers, from small individual sizes to commercial/party sizes, and they not only work well they look cool! …




Fitness for Success When the SHTF– Part 2 by JPM

Practical Fitness. As the title implies, I believe in “practical fitness”. In my opinion, many people make fitness an obsession that takes over an inordinate amount of their day. I’m not saying it should be something like, “Oh, yeah, time to do that again”, only doing it as a once-a-week-drudgery. Dedicated physical exercise should be something we all engage in on a daily basis. But, it should be in the proper context: to prepare and maintain our body to live safe, healthy, active, productive lives. Physical exercise isn’t the focal goal, but its benefits are. It’s for this reason that …




Letter: T.Z. Answers Some Questions on Paleo Prepping

HJL, As to getting rid of accumulations of prepper storage carbs, find some livestock that naturally eats such things. Maybe a local beekeeper could use the sugar over winter. Maybe some chickens can turn it into good eggs or meat. As to storage, I already mentioned good, organic vitamin and mineral supplements and protein powder, which you can put in bug-out bags. If I have fat on me, I’ll be burning that for a while as I’m bugging out or assessing the local area for wild food, barter, or what I’ve stored. Since I’m not hungry all the time, I …




Economics and Investing:

Why OPEC Production Freeze Could Pave The Way For Actual Cuts o o o More indoctrination of our kids. “Ultimate Banking” Monopoly Edition Goes Completely Cashless – L.P. o o o Items from Professor Preponomics: US News Why Negative Interest Rates Will Fail (Mises) Excerpt: “…there is an old adage: you can bring a horse to water but you cannot make him drink! With the world economy sinking into recession, few banks have credit-worthy customers and many banks are having difficulties collecting on existing loans.” Percent of Total Wealth Owned in the United States: Bottom 40% Control -0.9% Meaning Close …




Odds ‘n Sods:

It looks like the Feds hold a grudge for a pretty long time. SurvivalBlog reader B.B. sent in this article outlining the charges that Cliven Bundy and sons Ammon and Ryan have been indicted for Nevada standoff in 2014. Now that the indictments have been handed down for that, the rumors are flying about how many more indictments will be coming. The government doesn’t like to lose a fight, and they are feeling their oats now after Burns, Oregon. o o o Given world events, it is difficult not to see this as “sinister”. South Florida Jewish Community Concerned Over …




Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“All the fiery rhetoric of the Founders was directed at a `tyrant’ who taxed his subjects at a rate of about three percent. Today, we in `the land of the free’ are taxed at about 50 percent when you add federal, state, and local taxes. What kind of government would do this? A dictatorship would. “ – Doug Newman




Notes for Thursday – February 18, 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. …




Fitness for Success When the SHTF– Part 1, by JPM

The ancient Greeks probably were the people with the highest emphasis on physical fitness. In fact, their great athletes were worshipped as gods. Hence, we have the Olympic games. Over the ages, people have always had respect for physical exercise and practiced it. But in modern days, we see a shocking amount of obesity; it is on an unprecedented scale, and it’s not a good thing. Those of us preparing for TEOTWAWKI know that we need equipment. We also know that gear without knowledge or training is useless, so we read manuals and attend classes and courses and so on …




Letter Re: Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Beyond Locks

HJL, Often missed in this sort of door up-armoring process are the hinges. Assuming your door is set on its own rough framing (no sidelights), replace at least two hinge screws on the jamb side in each hinge with 4 1/2″ flathead stardrive heavy screws (through the finished jamb into the rough framing). In other words do the same thing you’re doing to the strike, fastening them deep and strong. This works. When we first moved into our present quarters, I replaced the strike and hinge screws is this manner. About a month later my wife came home to find …




Economics and Investing:

The War On Paper Currency Begins: ECB Votes To “Scrap” 500 Euro Bill – G.G. “Draghi: any ECB action on EU500 note is not about reducing cash. Translation: the ECB action is only about reducing physical cash, some 30% of it to be specific.” o o o Central bankers ‘don’t have a clue’ – Jim Rogers – G.G. o o o When Cash Is Outlawed… Only Outlaws Will Have Cash– Sent in by D.S. o o o Percent of Total Wealth Owned in the United States: Bottom 40% control -0.9% Meaning Close to Half the Country has a Negative Net …