On August 15, 1620, the Mayflower set sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims.
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On August 15, 1901, Arch Rock, a hazard to San Francisco Bay shipping, was blasted with 30 tons of dynamite.
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I recently took delivery of a batch of 10 antique Swiss Schmidt-Rubin Model 1896/11 rifles [1]. An importer kindly hand-picked all antique (1898 or earlier) ones for me. (There were just 10 antique ones out of about 200 that they had on hand.) The 1896/11 model can shoot the modern high-pressure 7.5 x 55 ammunition. Four of these rifles sold immediately, so as of this morning, I have just six left on hand. These are being sold “luck of the draw” rather than with photographs and detailed descriptions of each. I expect them to sell out in less than a week, so get your order in soon.
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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
Today we present another entry for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest [2]. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon [3]. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course [4] (a $1,095 value),
- A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” [5] variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses [6].
- HSM Ammunition [7] in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.
Second Prize:
- A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord [8] (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, [9] (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections [10], a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [11], 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 gun purchasing privacy!
Third Prize:
- A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters [12] (a $305 value),
- Three sets each [13] 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)
- A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC [14] that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
- A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company [11], toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.
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More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics [15]. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 114 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail [16] 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.