SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. As winter begins to set in, our thoughts turn towards heat. There is an article on a wood stove competition today that is very interesting.
WD-40 Defense
Reader T.J. sent in this video of a store clerk using the super secret WD-40 defense when he was threatened. This obviously occurs in some area where firearms are forbidden because the would-be robbers only have hand tools to threaten the clerk with and the clerk grabs the nearest thing to defend himself which happens to be a can of WD-40 lubricant. The move befuddles the attackers who eventually give up and leave. The takeaway here is that the clerks attitude was obviously the difference and the real reason why the attackers left. I can’t help but wonder how much more effective that can of WD-40 would have been when combined with one of those cheap Bic lighters also usually found on the counters at convenience stores.
Social Media
Reader M.P. sent in this article on Fox News detailing yet another reason why you really don’t want a presence on social media. As if buying a gun in New York didn’t already require ridiculous hoops to jump through, proposed legislation in the State would require a purchaser to consent to up to three years worth of search history on social media to gain approval of an application. The proposed legislation would also be applied to those who are renewing existing permits to carry or possess a pistol or revolver. Things specifically looked for would be commonly known profane slurs or biased language used to describe race, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation as well as threatening the health or safety of another person, or acts of terrorism.
While identifying potential terrorist seems worth it for some, the language about gender, religion or sexual orientation is incredibly disturbing. Does that mean if you are a Christian preaching against the sin of homosexuality that you can no longer qualify for a permit? It also seems to be pretty arbitrary on who makes the decision of what is dangerous or offensive. I suspect this bill will be challenged on constitutional grounds.
Global Warming
National Geographic ran an article reviving the old Nuclear Winter concept that prevailed during the cold war. For those who are too young to remember this, the concept is simply that a nuclear war would kick up enough dust particles into the atmosphere to impact how much IR radiation would reach the earth. This would result in a cooling effect which would affect crop production world-wide. I guess since global warming is a bust now, the liberal/progressive pundits are back to the ’70s with their global cooling. Those who are old enough (50-year-olds maybe?) will remember the rampant fears of the coming mini-ice age that was going to wipe us all out. Thanks to G.P. for the link.
Wood Stove Competition
Another video from National Geographic, sent in by reader D.C., profiles a wood stove competition. The competition measured the particulate and carbon monoxide emissions generated by each stove. Most of these stoves were incredibly efficient and clean burning though some of them seemed pretty complex. The short video doesn’t go into alot of detail on each stove, but it sounds like it was a great competition and there are plenty of links in the description to view the original article which does describe the entries in more detail. The overall winner was the Ideal Steel Hybrid Woodstove. Note that this is an older video and article from 2013, but the information is still very relevant today.
Banks Blocking Assets
We’ve long been proponents of the adage that you don’t really own something unless you possess it. Cash and Gold are among those assets that are impacted by this adage. While there are dangers to holding your own assets, especially if others know you have them, there are also dangers when someone else holds them for you. This article, sent in by reader H.L., shows that banks are increasingly blocking access to client owned assets around the world.
Bank bail-ins, frozen assets, and court warrants to access private safe deposit boxes are just some of the dangers you face when holding those assets inside a safe belonging to someone else. Banks have a tendency to loan out your asset when they hold it and withdrawing your gold or cash may not be as easy as you think. Swiss banks are even resisting attempts by clients to withdraw money, limiting the withdrawals to 100,000 Swiss francs in cash or gold per year. Three years ago, I attempted to withdraw several thousand dollars from my bank to purchase a used vehicle from a private owner. The bank didn’t even have the money on hand and had to order the cash from their supplier.
Being Grateful
Reader DSV sent in this article on how how being grateful is good for your health. As we wind up this Thanksgiving weekend here in the states, we’ve had ample opportunity to give thanks to the Lord for the blessings he has bestowed on us. It is this thankfulness towards the Lord or even others around you that provides incredible health benefits. These benefits include reduced stress, improved sleep, better heart health and even measurable effects on every organ in your body. There are also strong psychological benefits as well. The article is an interesting read. Be thankful.
Great Sale
Just a reminder that JRH Enterprises’ holiday week sales are ending very soon. Don’t miss deals like a Photonis ECHO spec BNVD dual tube night vision set for just $5999. with up to a 10 year warranty. For your medical kits, JRH has needle decompression kits as low as $9.95 each while they last and the MURS Perimeter alarms set on sale with $100 off.
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Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
One wonders if there’s value in creating an innocent Facebook account, rarely updated, with no 2nd Amendment or political themes.
If asked for your Facebook profile, just toss that account to them.
There’s some practicalities you may need to implement:
– No clear photos of your face, or your face with a huge smile (gives facial recognition problems)
– Attached to a burner phone, which you toss after getting the validation code from FB
– Burner email address
– Your correct birthdate (you want to give the profile legitimacy)
– Don’t accept any connection invitations, even your close family
– Don’t use the computer you created the profile for anything else than FB – that means email!
– Only connect when you update FB from a free WiFi location -NEVER from home.
I’ve always tried to keep a certain amount of cash at my house for emergencies. I got to the point that I had more than a few thousand dollars. So when I bought my used truck from a local guy off of Craig’s List I told him I needed to run by the house to get some cash. He was shocked that I had that much cash, approximately eight thousand, on hand. That cut my cash reserve down by about 50%. I still save cash at the house for emergencies, but I also turn a lot of it into silver round, junk silver, and small amounts of gold. All of this is kept in my safe at the house. I’ve grown to where I just don’t trust the banks for the very reason mentioned here.
OPSEC – he is going to tell his friends about your home cash stash, and they will tell some of their friends, and you may or may not be lucky.
My contractor had a friend who kept large amounts of gold in his house. How do I know? He told me! And everyone else too. He was a nice guy, just unthinking, and was horrified when I told him what his chattering mouth could do to his friend.
I suggest you plant some rose bushes in your garden as soon as possible. Or maybe bulbs. They always need to be dug up.
But now that an unspecified number of people know about it, maybe keep a couple thousand in the house so it can be stolen in peace and quiet. Call it insurance.
You should not have told this guy about your large cash amount at your home. People have been KILLED for less. And their families. Why tell anyone WHERE you get your cash from ? They do not need to know. Let him think that you made a run to the bank or cash machine. It is none of his business. And think back- do you tell EVERYONE what you do as a matter of course ? Loose lips sink ships- and get people murdered. What happens at home should STAY at home. Strangers should not know about your supplies, or cash.
Better yet don’t have fb. My wife’s family thinks it strange I won’t let them post my picture or pictures of my children. I told them the world we live in won’t be the same one our children will have to live in. It’s not easy to keep your photo off of fb but if you are vocal about it around your family you can keep all but a random photo from a random person off of there. And if you don’t have an account they can tag you. End of story.
Social media back ground check: I believe I have the right to hate or dislike anybody I want to and say so verbally or in print. I think there is something the Founders wrote in some old document about that…..
I graduated in 1975. They were pushing the coming Ice Age back then and were pretty panicky about it too…..just like they are about “climate change” now. Ironic eh? FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Cash is King! Mold your lifestyle so you can make it work.
This social presence topic reinforces my prediction. We all know about auto spelling correction software; increasingly there are online blogs where any comment referring to certain people, or the use of certain ‘dog whistle’ terms are blocked out. Right now someone out there is working on software that will rephrase socially unacceptable sentiments into those that are supportive of the desired agenda. Then nobody will really know what anybody is thinking.
Just because an algorithm replaces your so-called unacceptable words for public display doesn’t mean that your original content is not kept to be used against you at some future point in time.
Best to not have a social media presence at all.
I understand that, my point being that it would hide what we think about from each other, not from them. They would know the original post, but not the viewers of it. All in the campaign to channel the conversation to where they want it to go.
One sad thing about fb and all the rest is when parents place their child’s photo sometimes from before birth and often sometimes almost daily on the Internet. These children are not only exposed to possible kooks out there but their life can be traced back. The child has no choice plus is brought up thinking this is the normal way.
I am strongly considering dropping facebook, I use it to drop a line to my kids and friends, but have noticed something VERY disturbing: This has happened 4 different times so I have ruled out concidence. I have been having a conversation on the telephone with someone and within hours I have advertisements and posts concerning topics discussed show up on my facebook feed. I have a landline, my friends/family have cell phones. I know cell phones are not considered “right to privacy” conversations, but I thought since I have a landline my conversations were. Is there any way to secure your phone when talking to someone who has a cell phone??
I don’t think the problem is on your end. One or more of your friends most likely had the FB installed on their phone and probably had your info in their contact list. That’s all it took. The only “solution” would be to not talk to anyone with a smartphone with apps installed.
NO, there is not. We have passed that way point about 20 years ago. I commend you for establishing a land line, they can be very useful. Land lines are not powered by the electric company, nor are they related to any cell server. They are powered by the phone company independently. That means when the cell service goes down (or is turned of strategically by our government) you still have a phone. You might not be able to call anybody (friends or family) but you will be able to call the police , the fire department, any govt. agency really. That’s because the federal, state and local govts. all know that in an emergency the only communication is via land line.
Land lines also suffer when traffic is high. Most land lines are controlled by digital switches nowadays so they have the same issues that cell phones have when it comes to priority given to government agencies. It’s a simple issue for someone to block and control these lines. Even if an older mechanical switch is used, you still run into problems. The phone companies oversell the available lines by significant amounts. A typical small town my have 20,000 available phone lines, but only 1,000 mechanical trunk lines. If all the land line owners try to call out, the trunk lines are easily overwhelmed. Phone companies do not plan for worst case usage, they plan for average usage.
Basically, if it’s digital, you get the same issues as cell phones. If it’s mechanical, you have a different set of issues, but they present the same. If you want failsafe communications, you are going to have to look at something like Ham Radio or a hardwired, dedicated line which is very expensive.
The answer to the social media problem is to not have an account. However, employers are increasingly asking for media account usernames to verify “acceptable” behavior and attitude. When I told them I didn’t have ANY FB, Twitter or anything else, I was practically ushered out the door for “lying”. The belief is that everyone must have a Facebook or something especially for a 30 year old.
As far as having money with easy access, information as to whether or not you do or do not should never be posted on line in my opinion.
What’s the worst that could happen? The Feds going to kill me over it? If it goes that far what difference does it make, not a world I want to live in.
The worry is not the feds Brooksy but some scum that hacks your IP address from your post and now knows where you live. Posting that sort of info. on line also suggests that you are a blabbermouth in person also. Neither is healthy.
No social media in our immediate family. Information is cautiously only given on a need to know basis. That includes family members as well as close friends.
No >>>SOCIALIST<<< media in our immediate family. Information is cautiously only given on a need to know basis. That includes family members as well as close friends.
-FIXED THAT FOR YA.
Socialist media includes Facebook, Google, Youtube, Twitter, and many more.
The Ideal Steel Hybrid Woodstove is the one I’ve have if I had a large space. But I’m
especially intrigued by their The Survival Hybrid Wood Stove and only 320 pounds. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so beautiful. Resulted from their Navaho project where they designed a stove to burn both sub-bituminous coal and wood. You can have Navaho artwork on it for $100.00 extra which will go to the Navaho tribe.
As a trustee for a friend of a friend that passed away 2 years ago, I discovered, when the bank was drilling off the lock. since I couldn’t find his key, that you are not allowed to have cash in your own safe deposit box. This was Bank of America. My own bank. Yes, restrictions are getting worse I’ve noticed over the last several years. Sad.
So, even though I’m older and probably on every government list out there, I will not do social media. Want to talk to me? Call me on the phone. Okay, email me, even. And especially nice would be a real hand-written letter where you remember how cursive works.
Went on FB to link up with friends from high school. Well I was in high school a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. I soon realized I had little in common with folks I hadn’t seen in (at that time) over forty or more years. I stayed on FB so I could monitor my nephews and their activities. As they became adults, I figured they were on their own at that point. That’s when I deleted my FB account. I never had a picture of myself on the account, I used a polar bear image instead.
I never had a Twitter account or any other social media account. Don’t see the point. I use cell phone and land line for communications. I send the occasional email, though even that is very rare. Even my cell phone uses Java as an operating system, rather than Android (Google) or IOS (Apple). Unfortunately, the next phone will probably have to be one or the other.
My phone service is TracFone. Their new phone are all some version of a smart phone. I’ve had TracFone for years, with the same number going from phone to phone. It is the cheapest phone system I can find, I don’t need the monthly bill. Total cost less than roughly $80 a year. That may change the next time I have to change phones. Sometimes, progress sucks.
I had TracFone ‘brick phone’ from 2004 continuously until just last week, when my adult son (an I.T. security protocol programmer) helped me configure a quality smartphone with a new operating system and various apps such as maps, weather, email (Protonmail), text (Signal and WhatsApp), etc. Even though it’s Android based, it has absolutely no ties whatsoever to Google, and everything is encrypted. What’s even better…TracFone offers a SIM card kit which allows you to assign a TracFone phone number and continue to anonymously ‘top up’ for your usage. I did this, and now have a bona fide high end smartphone that gives me nearly all the things a typical Samsung or Apple user (sheeple) has, but with encrypted anonymity and no contract. 🙂
My only caveat to that approach is that most smartphones do not have field-removable batteries. The only way to be sure that you can’t be tracked is to use a phone with a quickly removable battery. That is why I bought several old style TracFone flip “dumb” phones. Buy with cash, of course.
You are correct, which is why I also turn it on only when I intend to use it, and use a Faraday device (metal box, bag, etc.) when it’s turned off, and at night. The most important things to me with my encrypted phone are (1) no ties whatsoever to Google or any social media and (2) no ties to my name. In the end, we’ll all leave *some* measure of footprints in the sand as we walk on the beach, but we can exercise control over how easily those prints can be seen by others. As for those prints that are simply beyond our control, I defer to the concept of being the Grey Man and making them prints as uninteresting as possible.
FB is always asking of photo of me, so my friends can recognize me, so what I’m thinking is maybe a photo of something maybe like Yosemite Sam as my younger self and then maybe Elmer Fudd as I am today. Think that would work?
Do what I did:posted pictures of my cocker spaniels. The only pics on my FB page are of my dogs. So….I guess you could say that I have a baby face with long curls.
My phone never stops asking me for my finger print so that it will know it’s me. I’m sure that my phone company would never send that print to any government agency. That would never happen, right? So they will be having snowball fights in hell the day I give them my finger print.