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SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

The first four of today’s Snippets come courtesy of reader Animal House:

Heartland Republicans Unite to Defend Meat Against Liberal Attack [1]. GOP rallies around meat industry in response to attack by Colorado’s Jared Polis.

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New Crisis? The Canadian Border May Soon Be Swarming with Illegal Immigrants [2]. “A new spike in the number of families and children crossing the Rio Grande into South Texas over the past several hours is forcing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to request airplanes that will allow the Biden administration to transport migrants to states near the Canadian border for processing,” Miroff reported.

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A Brandon Smith article: The Illegal Immigration Crisis: It’s All About New Covid Lockdowns [3]. What if conservatives were tricked into supporting covid lockdowns as a means to control illegal immigration?

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Wild mint can prevent blood sugar spikes after meals, reports study [4]

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I heard that there is now a GoFundMe legal defense fund [5] campaign for Kristopher J. Ervin, the man behind Auto Key Card [6].

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Our Editor-At-Large Mike Williamson wrote in:

“While traveling:  A WalMart in southern Kentucky today had a just one gun left on the rack:  A kid’s .22 single shot in teal color and no ammo in any caliber or gauge. Customers are limited to a single box per day when they do.”

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On a similar note,  Captain Nemo wrote:

“You are right about owning suppressors in the current climate.  I remember a YT video where someone tried shooting a subsonic .22 through a Twinkie, and surprisingly, it worked as a suppressor!  Maybe shoving a loaf of bread over the AR barrel might suppress it!  First shot would be a throwaway to make the bore, but the next should be good.   Kind of a waste of food, but you could eat most of the evidence, minus the black parts.  I have to test this!

I hope everyone has plenty of airgun ammo!  Just stopped by one of the local dealers, and there’s not a pellet or BB to be had!  Looks like everyone turned to airguns to solve the problem getting ammo.  They did have airguns in stock, but no ammo.  Sitting on 10K worth of .177 pellets bought during the last panic.

Ammo stocks at the dealer: .17 Hornet, 6.8 Western, turkey loads in 20 and 12 gauge, duck loads in 28, 20, 16, 12 3 ½”, 10 gauges.  That’s it!  Mountain House pouches $9.99 ea.  Bought the 6 cans of chicken & rice that they had that were still reasonable.  Very few magazines left, very few parts available.  I had to go on a 200-mile scrounging trip to [find the parts to] finish another AR, and I have one more lower to go.

I’m starting to see more guns on shelves, but with stupid high prices.  I burned $800 to finish that AR with low end mil-spec parts.  That was for the upper assembly and stock assembly, and I had to assemble both.  The days of cheap ARs may be at an end.”

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Reader Ray K. wrote to mention:

“I just found out that the owner of the Doan Machinery & Equipment Co. has retired and shut down the factory. The residual stock can be purchased from their webpage:
https://www.doanfirestarter.com [7]
I have absolutely no interest in the company, but wanted to let you know.  The Chinese copies are pure junk.  I was able to pick up a few on eBay for $11 and change apiece, but once they’re gone – they’re gone.”

JWR Adds: I checked and found that there are still some original Doan firestarters available on eBay.

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How To Fight Back – Part 2: Our Army [8]. JWR’s Comments: The basic premise of “Good Patriot” is plausible, but there is a fatal flaw. I can’t overemphasize this: avoid creating large organizations. Small, independent cells are much more resilient. Just look at the history of resistance groups during the Second World War for examples of organizations that were too large and that quickly got penetrated and wiped out. What is the right way? Do a web search on “Leaderless Resistance.”  A resistance movement cannot also be a political movement combined in the same organization. The two roles must be kept completely independent, aside from an over-arching philosophy and set of long-term goals. A good analogy is the IRA and its political arm, Sinn Féin. Political parties can have rosters and hierarchies. But for a resistance or militia movement to do so would be suicidal folly. In the 21st Century, the active side of a resistance movement must have discrete, unconnected, and fully independent cells, or it is doomed!

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C.H. suggested this half-hour video: “DC vs America” New Intellectual Froglegs [9].

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In response to the most recent AAR article on the big Texas freeze, SurvivaBlog reader O.G. wrote:

“No one mentioned wiring the house for a simple roll-out generator. would have solved his 5 day issue. we are getting free fiat stimulus checks, convert that into a manual switch and a roll-out generator, your costs will be less than $1,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgtFCJlVFQ [10]
You can get roll-out generators that run off propane gas grill-sized bottles if you do not wish to store gasoline.
A gas fireplace is a bad idea for this writer as Texas natural gas lines froze, unless he ties in a stand-alone LP Bottle. Oh, and if he has backup power to run its blower.
Texans apparently have less then stellar insulation since this is not a normal weather event. Air sealing and insulating attic with blown cell as well as the blown cell inside walls would help with temp changes and pipe protection. If you have basements or crawlspaces then hit those with spray foam on the sill plates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hDNaZffAb4 [11]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_2PuilhlPc [12]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZReWFCP8tg [13]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHHRZFUnXI [14]
Also, consider building foam board insulation boxes to protect spigots and exposed piping. You can also obtain pipe insulation wraps online or at local hardware stores

For the author of this article, I would suggest getting that chimney serviced and ordering a cord or two of hardwood ASAP. It is the fastest and most cost-effective backup besides the generator set up and it can be done this week.”

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The COVID Passports are coming!  NY’s Excelsior Pass shows vaccine status, test results; can be used to enter stadiums, theaters, events [15]. (A hat tip to Bob H., for the link.)

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Reader A.D. like this essay: On The Psychology Of The Conspiracy Denier [16]

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Also from A.D. this historical tidbit: Portuguese eyewitness accounts of the great space weather event of 1582 [17].

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In response to the family “ho-to” video library suggestion form Old Bobbert, Michael C,. suggested:

“The VLC media player [from VideoLAN] can download vids from Youtube. Another benefit to using it, they have a portable version which he could keep on his portable hard drive and if shit did hit the fan and you had to use another computer, it’s compatible with several versions of windows, they even have a w95/98 version…
You can find VLC here [18]. Scroll down to official downloads of VLC, click on get VLC for windows…click on the down arrow next to download VLC and pick the 7zip or zip version
Directions to use VLC for downloading YouTube vids are here [19].
There are portable zipping programs for free he can download also to put on his hdd…windows 10 doesn’t need one but it also doesn’t come with a video player installed…and VLC will play just about any video type known and has its own codecs.”

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Peter suggested this product video: Survival Loader -12 Gauge [20].

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Reader M.S. sent his note:

“My 83-year-old father has trouble manipulating an AR-15, and even a Mini-14, but he has no problem with his Rossi lever action in .357. In searching for a better performing rifle he can use proficiently, I stumbled upon this magazine-fed Henry lever action in 5.56mm NATO. They also produce it in .243 Winchester, .308, and 6.5 Creedmore. I thought I’d pass this along in case anyone else has similar needs.  This guy gave it a good review [21].
Thanks for leading us to the Redoubt.”

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H.L. wrote to say that she was speechless when she read this news from Nanny State Brittania: It’s officially an offence now to LEAVE England [22].

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Survivorman99 sent this:

“Commander Zero of Notes from the Bunker ran a piece last week about military quality Wavian NATO fuel cans he had purchased. Various readers offered other sources. Note that there are many NATO jerry cans on the market, but they are mostly Chinese knock-offs with bad reputations. Wavian is the actual NATO contractor.

By a coincidence, I had recently purchased these: NATO Military Surplus 20L Steel Jerry Can, Used – 714456, Jerry Cans at Sportsman’s Guide [23] They cost about 1/4 to 1/3 of the price of new ones. Unfortunately, late last week, Sportsman’s Guide’s supply was exhausted.
Within the last couple of days, however, a new shipment became available. Both the earlier listing and the current listing show photos of cans in much worse conditions than the ones I received. The cans shown on the web site appear solid, but well-used with several layers of paint.
All I can tell you is that the cans I received were painted at the factory only. There was slight rust and scratches (only) which were quickly removed with sandpaper and steel wool. The interiors of the cans were pristine. Once sprayed with paint, my cans looked brand new. Yet, even if the cans had arrived in the condition depicted on the web site, they would likely outlast me. The ones I bought just before Y2K are as solid now as the day I bought them. Of course, I can’t predict the quality of the cans that individual readers might receive.
Note that if a purchaser is a member of the Sportsman’s Guide buyer’s club, [most] purchases over $49 ship free. My total price for the three cans delivered was $67.47.
If readers are in need of fuel cans, my advice is to strike while the iron is hot and to get as many cans as they believe they need before the cans are gone.”

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Reader C.B. liked this piece: Root Cellars 101 – Root Cellar Design, Use and Mistakes to Avoid [24]o  o

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Animal House also sent us the following three links:

Miscarriages skyrocket Six Weeks After Covid Vaccines [25]

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Top 10 foods and beverages you probably had No Idea contain chemical pesticides [26]

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Small Town Mayor Launches Governor Campaign to Oppose Radical Islamic Takeover of Minnesota State Politics [27]

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RFK, Jr. to Rutgers President: COVID Vaccine Mandate Violates Federal Law [28]

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And lastly, we received this kind note from reader “L.”

“Hi, Jim. This is just a note to say thank you for being at the forefront of the Redoubt movement. I myself purchased more than 30 acres of raw riverfront forest in the Poconos for a personal redoubt, surrounded by like-minded folks. As a Conservative Jew, I welcome my faithful Christian neighbors and hope to widen our circle of prepared, moral defense against the inevitable onslaught of societal collapse. More than just preparing to survive, we seek to flourish and thrive, promoting this lifestyle as healthy and proactive, not simply reactive. A return to our roots. God bless you and yours!”

Please Send Us Your Snippets!

Please send your snippet items for potential posting to JWR [29]. or AVL [29]. You can do so either via e-mail or via our Contact [30] form.