SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Wait till you see the drone footage of Max Velocity Tactical today.
NFA
The latest video from Craig at FPC: Dissecting Dianne Feinstein’s Word Games for “Common Use”.
JWR’s Comment: The “In Common Use” reasoning is spurious when you consider that all Federal firearms regulations starting with NFA ’34 have been unconstitutional. The fact that machineguns are no longer “in common use” is directly attributable to an unconstitutional restriction and tax passed in 1934. So their reasoning is essentially circular! (They WOULD BE “in common use” if they hadn’t banned them!)
Waterproof Bibles
Capt Nemo wanted to remind SurvivalBlog readers of the waterproof bibles that Bardin & Marsee publish. They are a bit pricey, but you can take them camping with you and they will survive inclement weather. If you are planning on missionary work in a jungle, a normal bible will only last about two weeks before they disintegrate. They will make the grade. The only drawback is that they ink will run if it comes in contact with oil and bug spray. When your done with your camping trip, you can leave it on the picnic table, benches or even on the trail for others to find and read.
Purifying Water
If the water coming out of your tap isn’t safe to drink (perhaps due to localized weather or a failure of a well system), you might want to take a look as this quick article submitted by DSV. The article does not go into detail on the purification methods, but it does point you in the right direction. Read about the methods and then determine which ones are right for your situation.
Bellows
Have you ever gotten light headed or perhaps earned yourself a headache from blowing on your tinder as you struggle to light your fire in less-than-perfect conditions? I don’t typically like gadgets, but I also hate blowing on tender. I may have to get one of these Zippo FireFast Bellows just for fun. I wouldn’t stake my life on it and it is wise to maintain your skill at lighting fires (especially in less than ideal conditions). But, hey, why not? Thanks to reader S.M. for the informational video link.
Venezuela’s Desperation
Years ago, Venezuela kicked all of the commercial oil companies out of the country and nationalized all of their resources. Now, the government has made a mess of the economy and they can’t manage the oil production. Venezuela is sitting on one of the most easily accessible oil fields and they have a starving population. In an attempt to get things moving again, they have awarded 14 companies a license to operate several oil fields. I wonder how long it will last this time?
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With a significant percentage of the population unable to adequately feed themselves resulting in widespread weight loss many Venezuelan’s are abandoning their pets. Early on in the food shortage, pets were often in danger of becoming food themselves to starving people. Now, pets that have been protected by the families have been starved to the point where they are barely able to function before the families are abandoning them. Shelters are struggling to keep up and many are closing due to the inability to feed the pets. Sent in by reader H.L.
Drone Footage
Max Velocity Tactical has posted some amazing video footage of one of their training courses on YouTube. The class was a Fly-In Mobile class in September 2018 on Hostile Environment Advanced Tactics (HEAT). The footage is great, the scenery is amazing and it is really good to see these people performing as smoothly as they do in the class. This class was a four day class the footage is from day three.
Exploding Town
Dozens of homes have exploded in Lawrence, Massachusetts and one man has been killed. Officials have blamed the explosions on gas lines that have become over-pressurized, but they are still investigating the cause. In the meantime, gas has been shutdown for the entire region and safety teams are moving from house-to-house to inspect and shut down the meters. Columbia Gas company has determined that they will not turn on the gas until they have determined it is safe to do so. In the meantime, 8,600 homes are without gas. Thank goodness it isn’t winter yet. Thanks to DSV for the link.
Survival Realty
Survival Realty now has a 160 acre homestead on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee listed. This property has prime farming land along with abundant hunting and is capable of helping you attain self-sufficiency. It is covered in about 50% Forrest and has a 1,200 square foot home with a 90 foot deep well.
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Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
Re: Purifying Water
I think a lot about water because we’re in such a dry area. An excellent article I just recently ran into expands on the issue with a lot of detail in a very easy to read form with links within to purifying water also. The title is “Water Purification Tablets: How Do They Work + Best Products Review.” My favorite choice in tablets would be AquaMira Chlorine Dioxide Tablets – with cold water you’ll need 4 hours for cysts, if the water is 21 degrees centigrade (68 degrees F) you’ll need 30 minutes and the shelf life is 3-4 years because each tablet is separately packaged. One tablet per quart of water.
Also excellent is AquaTabs which is choline dioxide tablets, one tablet for 2 quarts of water but the shelf life is 1 year and it’s used by WHO, Nato and the Red Cross among others and it takes 30 minutes. Iodine tastes awful and besides pregnant women and others with thyroid issues should not be taking it.
I’d also have my personal water filter but the above two are my down and dirty, grab your medal WWII style canteen and go too redundancy option.
A comment about boiling water for those who think it’s next to perfect. It requires fuel which you may not have or can’t really be used because of opec. It will not remove minerals, solids, many chemicals (because of molecular weight) or metals. And the time varies with elevation just like canning food does. I’d personally rather go with clarification and purification with a .02 filter – personal or gravity – than the hassle of boiling. YMMV.
Dirty water has to be filtered because it will negate the effectiveness of many purification systems – solar and sodis come to mind – besides the fact that it can mess up your filter medium fast.
What do you do when all you have is muddy water? It’s not all going to be cleared by just letting it set. So, I discovered how to handle that. It was on this site several years ago but hard (for me) to understand but I’ve since discovered a YouTube video which explains how to do it. It’s called “How To Treat Silty River Water With “Alum.”
That’s Aluminum Sulfate and it was used most prominently years ago to crisp pickles. It’s available at …nuts.com…$2.99 a pound, food grade and the cheapest price around.
It will clarify gallons and gallons of water. You make a solution first and then use a small portion of that in your water. Directions are in the video.
Lastly, tapping trees is interesting. I hadn’t gotten around yet getting a tapping set yet but the one linked looks great. Remember, there are 7-8 types of trees that you can tap. You have to be in an area that dips below freezing and then rises above freezing during the day to be most effective. DO NOT forget that this is fine to drink but it is essentially sugar water and has to be refrigerated to stay good. Setting the collection container in snow is good of course.
I have lots of redundancy in water clarification and purification because it’s so dry where I am. I wouldn’t hesitate to use flood waters under certain conditions.
Re Venezuela
Since 2001, Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ has cost $744 million per day. Imagine the good will the United States would gain if it took 10% of that cost and dropped $74 million of food every day on Venezuela from ‘The People of America’.
Remember ‘Good Will’? Remember America?
It would do absolutely no good, because the tyrannical socialist government would seize it.
I live near the retreat property mentioned. My Daughter plays Spring City in her softball league!
This is a beautiful part of the country, the people here are warm, welcoming, and God fearing. The church is such a large part of the local communities, that my daughter’s softball team does not practice on Weds (church day!), and before each game, both teams meet at the pitcher’s mound, hold hands, and offer a prayer for a safe competition and good sportsmanship.
It may not be the redoubt, but this is a part of America, at least what it used to be like.
Re: Bellows A collapsible stainless steel blow tube may not be as powerful as the battery powered bellows, but it can direct the air stream where needed without requiring the user to intake smoke, weighs less, takes up less space, and works if you do. $9.99 from Amazon, less elsewhere https://tinyurl.com/y8lpd2br
You have to be a little careful with it, but the shaft of a bent or otherwise damaged aluminum arrow makes an excellent blow tube for use with a small campfire. Those of us into archery may have several on hand!