The $100 Homestead Grain Winnower – Part 2, by PapaP

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) The “L” was constructed from a scrap piece of 1″ thick pine board which was about 9″ long and cut 7/8″ wide. The longer side of the “L”was about 6″ long and the smaller piece about 3″ long. The 3” piece was then screwed to the longer piece to form the “L”. This “L” provides the gap between the two plywood sides, allows a piece of metal strapping to encircle the plastic inlet, and holds the blower securely in place. To secure your particular blower assembly you will have to design and …


The $100 Homestead Grain Winnower – Part 1, by PapaP

One of the pillars of homestead food production is growing small grains such as wheat, barley, oats, etc. The classic text for homestead grain production is Small-Scale Grain Raising, by Gene Logsdon (1977). His focus is on using small-scale or appropriate technology, usually human powered. For example, harvesting small grains would entail the use of a scythe for cutting the grain, a flail for threshing the grain followed by tossing the grain into the air to winnow or separate the grain from the chaff. I was raised on a traditional farm in the 1960s and 1970s where we used farm-scale …


Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 1, by The Novice

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The following is my Range Report: on the Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R models Recoil influences my practical handgun accuracy. This made me wonder if I should experiment with a caliber that produces less recoil than 9 mm, which is my current go-to self defense handgun round. First I checked out what was available in .380 ACP. I wanted something that was recoil operated with a double stack magazine and a four to five inch barrel. I could not find anything in .380 ACP that fit that profile. Then Ruger introduced the Ruger 57, and my …


The Semi-Prepper – Part 2, by Francis

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) In addition I stress myself at the range by exercising when I get there (running, pushups, jumping jacks.)  The idea is to degrade my performance by tiring and winding myself, which will show me how I will shoot under stress. Since I’m now in my 70’s, I feel the best home defense weapon is a rifle. Semiautomatic pistols are great but a rifle with its’ longer sight radius leads me to be more accurate. Also as I get older I am concerned about the complexity of the “manual of arms” for the …


Advance Your Shooting Ability, by Steve Mc

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It has been well documented that concerns related to the COVID19 pandemic have been the impetus for many people to become first-time gun owners. For those new to firearms, as well as those that have owned and used firearms for many years, I want to challenge you to take some specific steps to advance your firearm capability. Because our society and legal system affirms the use of firearms to protect and defend ourselves, our loved ones, and those that need protection, it is incumbent upon us to maximize our capability to effectively use the firearms if, God-forbid, it becomes necessary. …


The Protein All Around Us, by Oregon Bill

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It was the fifth raccoon that I had permanently discouraged from killing our chickens. “If we ever had to eat these in an emergency, our family would put on weight” I said to my wife. I was joking of course. She surprised me with her reply: “Well, why don’t we give them a try so we know if it would ever be worth it?” She had grown up eating wild meat, and our family commonly ate what we raised or hunted, so it sounded kind of like a new adventure. Here is some of what we learned that might be …


Propane and Compressor Refrigerators, by Tunnel Rabbit

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This is a brief analysis of propane and compressor refrigerators in long term grid-down appplications. In Northwest Montana life has not changed radically during the Coronavirus lockdown, and there are plenty of used freezers, and fridges available on Craigslist.  However, demand for propane refrigerators is on the increase as there is marked rise in interest in self-reliance.  If nothing can be found in your area, then be willing to travel to buy a used propane refrigerators before they are gone.  These are expensive and hard to find. At the least, these can preserve meat while you jar it up, and …


Should I Move? by Southern J.

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In this essay, I will address how to know if it’s time for you to relocate. One of the seminal questions a preparedness-minded individual asks themselves is “Do I need to move to a better location?” Oftentimes the preparedness “fantasy” is the remote retreat in scenic Idaho, with beautiful views and being miles away from a paved road. This sounds great (who wouldn’t want that?) but the reality is that may not be feasible for most people. In this article, I will strive to give you criteria to look at to determine whether your location, the society you are in …


Preparing – Practicing & Preaching, by TJ in Georgia

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Regardless of who you are now, who you were in the past, or who you will be in the future, I think everyone will now be a ‘prepper’. Please consider this: We’ve all had a taste of doing without something in the past month or so, and I for one don’t look forward to this time in history becoming the new normal. I was in Girl Scouts from about 2nd grade until 7th grade. We learned many skills such as hiking, cooking outside, sleeping outside, fire starting, selling cookies (yes, that is a skill) and being a responsible citizen. In …


Generosity in Dire Times, by Elli O.

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Warning: This article may be considered controversial by some readers. During this global pandemic it seems as if TEOTWAWKI could be just around the corner. Daily the media is not only reporting the number of infected and deaths, they are also reporting on different shortages- both real and unsubstantiated. Some are in the present and others in the near future. First it was toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Then it was N95 masks and disinfectant wipes. This past week it was meat- poultry, beef, and pork. For those of us who have been preparing for such times, we were not …


100 Days of Final Preparations – Part 1, by Elli O.

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I’m writing this as a stand-alone article. However, if you would like to read more about our journey through the world of preparedness and our homestead, please see my previous article in the SurvivalBlog archives for November 26-27, 2019. As a follow-up I am writing this to explain what we have done just in the past 100 days and how the global pandemic and possible near-future economical collapse has impacted us and our preparations. 100 DAYS OF FINAL PREPARATIONS For as long as I can remember, I have always had a mindset of preparedness, partly because of my background as …


Knives Under $50 That I Love – Part 2, by The Novice

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(Continued from Patrt 1. This concludes the article.) The Mini Survival Kit Since I mentioned the mini survival kit, I will tell you more about it. It is easy throw into any pack or game pocket when I head outdoors. In addition to the aforementioned Opinel No. 8 knife , it contains a waterproof match case filled with waterproof matches, a ferrocerium rod with a built in compass and whistle, an extra whistle, and a half dozen or so cotton balls dabbed with Vaseline enclosed in a plastic bag. All of these things are kept in a pint sized SubZero …


Knives Under $50 That I Love – Part 1, by The Novice

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The use of tools is one characteristic that distinguishes mankind from the animals. It may be true that chimpanzees will crack nuts with a stone and that some kinds of crows will use a stick to extract insects from tree bark. But when it comes to making and utilizing tools, human being operate on a level far above the most sophisticated denizens of the animal kingdom. Perhaps the most widely used tool across cultures and throughout history is the knife. From the flint knives of paleolithic tribes to the laser knives of modern neurosurgeons, knives enable us to cut things …


Propaganda and My Prepping – Part 3, by St. Funogas

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(Continued from  Part 2. This concludes the article.) The other big problem I soon discovered with the Thank a Vet program is that it propagates the myth that our military keeps us free. Think back to our childhoods: riding our bikes down to the gravel pit with our Stevens Crackshot .22’s across our backs with a sling, then walking into the little grocery store afterwards to buy some penny candy and nobody calling the police or thinking anything of it. We rode on the floor in the back of the station wagon, or in the front passenger seat of the …


Propaganda and My Prepping – Part 2, by St. Funogas

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(Continued from Part 2.) Propaganda can also be very damaging to us as individuals, and especially to us as a nation. Advertising = propaganda is ultimately about controlling us. Controlling us so we’ll quit littering, or controlling us so we’ll hand over our money and buy their products instead of the competition’s, or controlling us so we won’t object when they take away more of our freedoms either in the form of raising our taxes again or by passing more laws pushing us towards a more Orwellian future that awaits us. The term Military Industrial Complex (MIC) was popularized by …