Letter Re: Should I Convert My Nickels to Silver?

3

Hello Hugh and Jim, Per Jim’s good advice, my wife and I have been taking nickels out of our pocket change each day and setting them aside. It has been an easy and painless way to simultaneously set aside some cash, hedge against inflation, and invest in industrial metals. Over the last couple of years, we have accumulated over $150 in nickels. I’m wondering now, at this point in time, whether it would be wiser to take the cash value from those nickels and use it to purchase pre-1965 “junk” silver coins, or retain the nickels as a store of …


A Primer on Violence, by P.N.

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“All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.” -Leo Tolstoy

Violence is a word that conjures up a number of emotions. Some people think of violence and immediately visualize a major city in their head. Others think of violence as gangs, adolescents, and most often, criminals. For some, the thought of violence brings a visceral reaction that causes panic. For others, violence is simply something that happens on the news, in TV shows, in the movies and is far away from their life. Finally, for others, violence is something to prepare for, something to train for.

When discussing violence, we need not only think about our own emotions and reactions but those of other people. When walking down the street, is the violent criminal concerned that you don’t like violence? Are they concerned that you only believe violence belongs on TV? No, the violent criminal will do whatever they can to achieve their goal. What might their goal be? Sheer violence, robbery, theft, injury, or murder? The point is, we don’t know what level of violence other people are willing to achieve. So how can we prepare?


Letter Re: Strangling Wranglerstar

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Dear Mr. Rawles and Mr. Latimer, You’ve mentioned that Wranglerstar is your favorite YouTube channel. As you may know, YouTube has changed the rules. Wranglerstar has a “not family-friendly” rating and is not eligible for advertising revenue. Meanwhile, Wranglerstar has never featured a tiny shred of the porn, violence, or other foolishness that abounds elsewhere on/in YouTube. They have also done this with other channels conveying useful information. Gun-safety, ethical hunting, or most everything else depicted therein of a traditionalist Americana cast is hit. Enclosed below is the relevant video by Wranglerstar. But I also wanted to ask if you, …


Start With A .22 Rifle- Part 4, by behind-the-counter

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Steps 3 and 4 This is the final article in a four-part series and finishes the do-it-yourself guide with installation of three additional upgrades for your Ruger 10/22, including an enhanced extractor, a much improved firing pin, and a larger bolt handle with a polished guide rod and spring. We wrap up this article with a complete list of all the videos and .pdf files referenced in all of the articles plus an annotated tool list and links to additional resources. If you have followed us this far, you have learned that we think a .22 rifle is an excellent …


Start With a .22 Rifle– Part 3, by behind-the-counter

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Steps 1 and 2 We started this series by recommending a .22 rifle as a first gun for a prepper battery or as an important addition to a well-stocked arsenal. We specifically suggested a 10/22 Takedown or any other 10/22 model and recommended dedicating enough time to become confident using this wonderful little rifle. The two structured alternatives we described for building competence and confidence were the Appleseed Project and Rimfire Challenge. In the second article we provided much more detail about Appleseed and Rimfire. We also described the specific upgrades recommended by Appleseed and four more that would improve …


Start With A .22 Rifle- Part 2, by behind-the-counter

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Appleseed or Rimfire Are you still pondering whether to get a 10/22? Or, have you already added a stainless Takedown to your gun safe and made several trips to the range? If you have also taken a class or done some serious practice, your round count is likely to be 300 to 500 rounds or more. You will have built some confidence in your rifle and yourself. The next step is really a personal choice. Either of the two recommended options, Appleseed or Rimfire Challenge, will result in a major improvement in your skills and put you on the path …


Start With a .22 Rifle– Part 1, by behind-the-counter

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10/22 Takedown Are all of your defensive preps squared away? Do you have a full battery of firearms complete with magazines, spare parts, optics, and web gear? If yes, skip the following contribution and what may seem like heresy. Are you taking a close look at the “Personal Defense” part of your preps and wondering where to begin? Have you figured out a budget and started your firearms purchases but are still a little short on practical experience? Are you at the stage where you are putting more focus on this area of your preps, but your action plan has …


Recipe of the Week: Bobotie, by K.R.

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Here is my recipe for Bobotie (a South African sweet meat dish) Ingredients: 2 pounds ground beef 2 onions, chopped 2 Tablespoons oil 2 Tablespoons curry powder 4 eggs 12 almonds or any nut you like, chopped or 1 Tablespoon pumpkin seeds 4 dried apricots, finely sliced 1 1/2 Tablespoons fennel seed 1 Tablespoon apricot jam 1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric Lemon juice to taste 6 lemon leaves 1 1/3 cup milk (fresh or prepared powdered) Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, then 300 degrees F later. Soak bread in a little milk until soft, then mash with a fork. …


Letter Re: The Counter War on Credit Cards

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Hugh, It seems that at least several times a week there’s a link on SurvivalBlog to a story about the war on cash. Several years ago my city’s water utility department stopped sending preaddressed envelopes in my monthly statement. I assumed this was an effort to get me to quit sending them my payment by check and pay online with a credit/debit card. Today as I was writing my check, a flyer in the statement announced changes to their credit card policy which surprised me since I thought they wanted credit card payments. It started by saying how they were …


Letter Re: Taking Out the Trash: Secure Deletion

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HJL, Technically, short of physically destroying flash media, there is no way to insure that something is securely erased. This applies to USB drives, SD cards of all sizes, and even SSD disk drives. It applies less so to magnetic hard drives. Hard drives can drift so there can be a thin shadow of old data, but that is something only someone with very deep pockets can recover, and it would be hit and miss. With flash drives, data is eventually erased, but what normally happens is the prior place the data was stored is mapped as “obsolete, erase when …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 3, by Jonathan Hollerman

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“I can’t afford a survival retreat and I have nowhere to go!” I hope the information I’ve imparted so far—scrutinizing the source of your prepper information and determining the worst-case scenario to prepare for—has the wheels turning inside your head. Maybe you’re not totally convinced that you should abandon your current plans to survive in place yet, but you admit there’s at least an inkling of truth to what I’m saying. Your biggest roadblock may be financial, and that may seem insurmountable. Most of us aren’t millionaire businessmen who can afford a fully-stocked survival retreat to bug out to. I …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 2, by Jonathan Hollerman

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So, what SHTF scenario should I be preparing for? In part one, I cautioned you to be diligent to only follow the advice of credible prepping experts with real-life experience and a true understanding of human psychology in desperate circumstances. Before I can give my advice on the Bug Out/Survive in Place debate, we must first determine what scenario you are preparing for. In my opinion, the most likely threat today is a natural disaster, like a hurricane or tornado or maybe a days-long blackout in a localized area. However, preparing for these things is common sense and being able …


Should I Bug Out or Survive in Place?- Part 1, by Jonathan Hollerman

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Where are you getting your prepping advice? Why? Should I try to survive in place or should I bug out? This is a hotly debated question in the prepping community with many people firmly entrenched on both sides of the aisle. There are numerous articles discussing the topic, but most are only a handful of paragraphs that never really explain how or why they arrived at their recommendation. To answer the “Bug Out” or “Bug In” question effectively, we must discuss essential background information and context. I will break down the discussion into three sections: your source for prepping advice, …


Rainwater Harvesting: An Easy and Efficient Build, by L.R.

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With spring finally here, many a homesteader is turning their thoughts to this year’s vegetable garden. Whether their garden is large or small, experienced gardeners know the successful garden begins well before the seed is planted. Many gardeners diagram on paper where they want to plant what vegetable, how many rows of each, and calculate how many bedding plants or how much seed they will need. Then, it’s off to the seed catalogs or local nursery to stock up. For many of us who have been raising gardens for a long time, there’s nothing quite like planting seeds in grow …


Letter Re: Transporting Documents – Empty the Trash!

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Hugh, The files that you think you deleted from your portable drive using the Windows “delete” command or the Mac “move to trash” command are still there; you just can’t see them. Learn how to securely delete files from the .trashes and hidden files from thumb drives by doing an Internet search on the topic of .trashes file and how to securely delete old files from them. This is a must do for anyone using a USB thumb or SD card. If you have a Windows computer and can find the option to “show hidden files” you should do that. …