Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 2, 2020

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This is the birthday of Émile François Zola, a novelist and essayist. He is most often remembered as the author of “J’accuse” (I Accuse!), his lengthy open letter to president Félix Faure, which accused the French government of anti-semitism.

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A quick update:  I talked with a major storage food vendor and he reported that the entire industry has an order backlog averaging 8 to 12 weeks. They are not guaranteeing delivery dates, because the big food packaging companies are not guaranteeing them any delivery dates!  Likewise, the folks who make and sell water filters are building order huge backlogs. For instance, British Berkefeld reportedly has an order backlog of 9,000 of their large filters. The vendors haven’t seen anything like this since the last few months before the Y2K date rollover.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 88 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. 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. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $100 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 88 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.


14 Comments

  1. Re: 7×57 Mausers

    It was easy to find plenty of 7×57 ammunition for under $20 per box of 20. It really is an outstanding cartridge, superior IHMO to 7.62 NATO. It was the cartridge Boers used to embarrass the Brits by outclassing them with superior marksmanship. And it was the cartridge that embarrassed us in the Spanish-American War, and inspired us to come up the .30-06, and to rip off the Mauser design with the Springfield 03A3.

    https://www.ammofreedom.com/7x57mm-7mm-mauser-ammo-c-270_1506.html?view=all

    This rifle is in unbelievable condition and priced competitively. And it is essentially the same rifle the Boers use in great number against the Brits. It is also similar to two of my own, one of which is chambered in 7.62 Nato, the other 7×57. I keep the pressures below 50,000 psi, or 46,000 cup that they are designed for. I could trust this rifle without doubt. The round count through these actions matters. This one looks almost brand new, and is probably the best example out there.

    https://elkcreekcompany.net/product/m1895-chilean-contract-mauser-7×57-loewe/

    1. Re: 7×57

      Surprises are nice. Just found out my 1895 Chilean Mauser, a ‘short rifle’ or carbine, appears to be identical to those the Borers used, was re-barreled in 1961 with a 7.62 Nato barrel, and is an antique! I never thought to check. The barrel is in amazing condition, and shoots my hand load, a 165 grain Nosler B/T’s with 39.1 grains of IMR 3031 accurately. This load is a duplication of the Navy’s old match load. It’s all there. The serial number prefix is ‘A’ followed by 4 digits. However I had to replace the extractor, clean up the feed ramp, and chamber. This is why I got it cheap in a trade. It is now, not pretty, yet very sweet to handle and shoot. Soft recoil. Buy from a reputable dealer. I would traded it for a couple cases of 5.56.

  3. What we’re seeing, from a prepping standpoint, isn’t a bad thing; the cause for it all stinks, but I suspect a substantial precentage of the Newly Aware will remain Aware. Sheep have always had only two speeds – graze and stampede – and always will, but I’m guessing that sheep herd is shrinking. How much remains to be seen, and a useful barometer will be ammunition and freeze dried food backlogs over time.

  4. Ten years ago These men were killed in Action

    Hauptgefreiten Martin Agustyniak,
    Stabsgefreiten Robert Hartert
    Hauptfeldwebel Nils Bruns

    during the fight of Isa Kehl in Afghanistan

  6. Re: Project FunVax

    The final 9 minutes of the video captures a presentation detailing a proposal for the U.S. military, for several vehicles of delivery that are bio-weapons, that alters the genetics and prevents, or reduces the brain’s ability to develop religious ideas, and making the brain ‘normal’. The stated target is religious “fundamentalists” namely, Muslim extremists in Afghanistan. I’m not necessarily endorsing other portions of the video, however, it may, or may not have some food for thought. Video begins at the portion discussed.

    https://youtu.be/4Os2DgHqljA?t=1418

  7. Since I’ve been home these last couple of weeks, I’ve been cooking quite a bit and eating considerably more than usual. Coupled with the lack of exercise I would normally get at work, I find myself growing fat. At first I thought it was a problem, but now I’m beginning to think it’s a blessing. Think of it, the ultimate in storage food. It’s always with me, no need to store or refrigerate it. Requires no cooking or utensils and certainly no one would try to steal it. Who needs Mountain House? And much like firewood which can warm you as much as 4 times, by eating like a hog now while you can, you can sleep well knowing that when the SHTF, you’ll be ok for at least a couple more weeks than everyone else. Food for thought.

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