Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 1, 2020

August 1st is remembered as the election day in 1946 that sparked the Battle of Athens, Tennessee ^[1], when returning World War II veterans took up arms to oust a corrupt local government that was rigging an election.

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And August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291 ^[2], which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2014, Switzerland has been free and independent for 723 years ^[3]. Having a well-armed populace ^[4] has assured that.

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This is also the birthday of Lt. Colonel William B. Travis (born 1809, died March 8, 1836, at The Alamo ^[5].)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present the first entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest ^[6]. 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 of their one, two, or three-day course ^[7] (a $1,095 value),
3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses ^[8], 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 ^[9]. 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 (a $1,100 value),
5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees ^[10] in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Resources (a $350 value),
6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product ^[11] from Sunflower Ammo,
7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses ^[12].

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 ^[13] Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
3. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
4. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord ^[14] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
5. 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 ^[15] 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 ^[16] 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 ^[17], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
5. A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company ^[18], 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 90 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail ^[19] 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.