Notes for Saturday – June 07, 2014

Apparently, today is Freeze Dry Day. The final installment of the three-part review on Harvest Right’s freeze dryer is posted today. If you feel that, after reading the review, owning one of these machines is not for you, be sure to check out our advertisers below, as they are having sales on Mountain House freeze-dried foods. o o o Ready Made Resources is having a summer sale, offering Mountain House freeze dryed foods with entrees for 32%-60% off of normal pricing and they will cover the shipping. o o o The Freeze Dry Guy is having a 1 month sale …


Product Review: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer, by HJL – Part 3

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Note from the Manufacture Harvest Right has been very responsive to their customers feedback and, in fact, responded to the first two parts of this article with the following letter: Thank you for using the freeze dryer, and thank you for your article. Because of your thoughts, we have made the following modifications to our unit: We have changed the riveting of the tray holder assembly. It is now quite stable. We extended the length of the drain tube. We are also using shrink-wrapped solder connections instead of electrical tape. It is much faster and looks better. (We don’t know …


Two Letters Re: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer

Hugh, Thanks for the review of the freeze dryer, I’m very interested. Just wanted to share that the first thing I thought when reading your review and clicking on their pictures is “that display is going to go bad”! And it did. Gotta worry about $4K and something major (and predictable) goes like that, with only a 1 yr warranty. – M.R. HJL Replies: I was initially worried about that, too, but the company was very responsive in taking care of the issue. While I did the repair myself, they offered to have a local appliance repairman do the work. …


Economics and Investing:

The Good And The Not- So-Good News About US Jobs In One Chart. Part of the problem is the skills mis-match. Many good (primarily blue collar) jobs remain unfilled as younger folks do NOT have the skills, nor do they want to learn them! – H.L. o o o The Purchase Of Our Republic. – B.B. o o o Items from Mr Econocobas: Rising Resource Costs Escalate Odds of Global Unrest Video: James Rickards ‘Inflation is Coming as it is The Only Way The U.S. Can Pay It’s Debt’ Deflation ‘Greatest Hoax’ as Prices Keep Rising Seemingly Terrific April Jobs …


Odds ‘n Sods:

In the UK You Can Now Only Buy Heirloom Seeds if You Are Part of a Private Members Club. – H.L. Article quote: “The way we are being pushed and squeezed by regulations that govern every facet of our life, we will soon only be able to defecate when our allotted time slot comes around.” o o o What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades. – D.S o o o Holder to Create ‘Homegrown’ Terrorism Task Force – G.B. o o o Just Another Anonymous Victim of the Economic Recovery. – H.L. o o o Yet again, another reason why I like …



Notes for Friday – June 06, 2014

The 6th of June is remembered for both D-Day and for the birth of Dieudonné Joseph Saive (born 1899.) He was the designer of many well-known firearms, including the Browning Hi-Power and the FN49, and he was co-designer (along with Ernest Vervier) of the very popular FN-FAL, which was issued to the militaries of more than 90 countries. o o o RepackBox is joining our SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest with a $300 certificate to their site. o o o Today we present another entry for Round 53 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this …


Getting A Real Education– Why Becoming Self-Sufficient Is Better Than Going To College, by D.T.

Everywhere you turn experts are predicting that the world is heading into some very troubling times. At every level, they say we are heading into a period of history that will see major upheavals in economics, politics, education, food production, housing, jobs, and basically everything. These major changes will effect everyone on earth. That is why so many people are trying to prepare for these changes before they happen in full force, and most experts agree the best way to prepare to meet the challenges of living in this kind of future is to have a skills-based education rather than …


Letter Re: Officer Survival Initiative First Aid Materials

Scot, I enjoyed your article entitled Product Review: Officer Survival Initiative First Aid Materials. I am a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School and a three-time graduate of the Wilderness Medicine Institute’s Wilderness First Aid Course (a re-certification is required every two years). I have three points: First, Wilderness First Aid has a different orientation than regular Red Cross First Aid courses. The latter are quite practical for most of us who live in cities and towns and focus on assessing and stabilizing a victim, while an ambulance is on its way. In the back country when help is …


Economics and Investing:

Where Is The U.S. Economy Headed? – D.B. o o o 77,000 Foreign Banks to Share Tax Info with IRS – H.L. o o o Items from Mr. Econocobas: US Money Slump Flashes Warnings as Economy Contracts The Velocity Of Money In The U.S. Falls To An All-Time Record Low Ben & Janet’s Swell Housing Recovery: Sales Booming For The 1%; Heading Down For Everyone Else Four More Signs That A Market Top Is Nigh America’s Insatiable Demand For More Expensive Cars, Larger Homes And Bigger Debts


Odds ‘n Sods:

On this anniversary of D-Day, SurvivalBlog reader C.T. sent in this link to an interesting article comparing the Normandy beaches in 1944 to 70 years later. D-Day Landing Sites Then and Now o o o Dr. Ben Carson: Obamacare More Damaging Than 9/11 – H.L. o o o SurvivalBlog reader R.B. in Washington state writes in: Now Washington state is seeing detainment of motorists for roadside “surveys”. The online news video was edited from what actually was broadcast. One broadcast version has the same reporter saying (paraphrased) that a reluctance to participate in the survey might be an indicator of …



Notes for Thursday – June 05, 2014

Today we present another entry for Round 53 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value), A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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, Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value), A $300 gift …


Livestock Breeding Strategies For When SHTF – Part 2, by S.W.

The goat is called the poor man’s cow. They are inexpensive, easy to handle, and eat a wide variety of vegetation. They are basically browsers, meaning they eat leaves and stems from shrubs and trees. They are the most efficient animal to convert browse to lean meat. When commercial feeds become unavailable, they would be the most likely survivors. They are also easily trained as pack and cart animals, able to pack 20 to 40% of their weight and pull five times that. They can negotiate more difficult terrain than any other pack animal and continue with only the water …


Two Letters Re: Moving Females in SHTF Scenario

HJL, Regarding C.B.’s article on moving females, I have a few suggestions. I have long, thick hair that goes to my waist and for many years had the constant frustration of trying to figure out what to do with it when I was getting dirty (hunting, butchering, cleaning the barn, ect.). Tucking it into a hat never worked for more than 20 minutes at a time. First, the cap or cowboy hat or what ever was in constant danger of being knocked off my head because of the extra mass under it or blown off by our wonderful winds in …