Preparedness Notes for Saturday — July 23, 2022

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On July 23, 1777 Polish military leader Casimir Pulaski arrived in Marblehead, Massachusetts, to volunteer in the Continental Army cavalry.

On July 23, 1944 the Battle of Kursk ended. This massive tank battle in the USSR was a defeat for the Nazis, with 1331 German tanks destroyed. Though the Soviet tank losses were higher, most of the German tanks were irreplaceable at that stage of the war.

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I just heard of the death of Milo Nordyke. He passed away on July 22nd. He was a brilliant physicist, pianist, and friend/traveling companion of the Rawles family. Milo led the DOE’s Operation Plowshare, developing peaceful uses for nuclear devices — primarily in excavation. In addition to his ear for music, Milo had an ear for languages. He became a fully-fluent Russian linguist and served a key role as a translator in nuclear disarmament treaty negotiations for several successive U.S. Presidential administrations. Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev insisted that Milo Nordyke be present whenever Heads of State-level talks were held, because he liked the way that Milo was able to explain complex technical issues to laymen in both Russian and English. Milo also verified Soviet treaty compliance for Lawrence Livermore Lab’s Z Division, as well as monitored the Soviets’ use of nuclear devices for excavations. In his spare time, he also served as the Mayor of Livermore.

Milo will be greatly missed!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime low-cost 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 SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. 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).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 FRN 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!

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. A LogOX 3-in-1 Forestry MultiTool (a $189 value) and a WoodOx Sling (a $79.95 value), courtesy of LogOx, both made in USA.
  4. A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 ends on July 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.