Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 15, 2020

On August 15, 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities began building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there.

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News Flash!  Here is a great headline for gun-owning Californians: 9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines. (Thanks to SurvivalBlog reader D.S. for sending that link.)  I strongly recommend that Californians stock up on magazines heavily, in case the California State Assembly finds another way to ban them.  (Most likely with another Sunset Clause.)  Readers in other states should take note: The upcoming high demand from California may exacerbate the current run on magazines. So stock up NOW, while they are still relatively plentiful and inexpensive.

And a special note directed to SurvivalBlog readers in California:  I have a small supply of magazines available, via mailorder or face-to-face delivery in Livermore, California, in the month of September:

• Ruger Factory-made Mini-14 blued steel 20-round magazines,  new in factory clamshell pack. $30 each. SOLD OUT
• Ruger Factory-made Mini-14 blued steel 30-round magazines,  new in factory clamshell pack. $35 each. SOLD OUT
• MagPul Gen 2 black 30-round AR-15//M4 PMAGs, new in wrappers $18 each (16 remaining.)
• Israeli metric FAL 20-round steel magazines VG+ to excellent condition $25 each (12 remaining.)
• Metric FAL 20-round steel magazines from various countries VG+ condition $20 each (6 available.)
• Original Belgian metric FAL 20-round steel magazines VG+ to excellent $35 each (6 available.)
• Original Colt factory made M16 30-round alloy magazines, used.  $16 each (6 available.)
• Original Glock factory Model 17/19 9mm magazines, 33-round. These are “SF” cut, but not ambi-cut. New, but not in wrappers. $38 each SOLD OUT
• Saiga .308 25-round polymer magazines made by Surefire.  (The good ones!) New in wrappers. $38 each (5 available.)

Note that quantities are limited to stock on hand.  I will keep this post updated, as my inventory is depleted. Prices do not include postage. These are NOT listed in my Elk Creek Company store page. First dibs to any folks still trapped in California.

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And just for fun, my buddy Commander Zero (of the great Notes From The Bunker blog, that has been around even longer than SurvivalBlog) posted this: Alexa We Need Guns – Home Automation Setup.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 90 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 of their 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 (a $1,100 value),
5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready 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, 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 (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 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 $150 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 90 ends on September 30th, 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.