Category: Odds ‘n Sods

I had to chuckle a bit, seeing the news reports from the east coast. You see, we get five to eight feet of snow most winters here in our part of the American Redoubt. And it is not unusual to get two feet of snow with just one two-day storm. When we do, we just throw another log on the fire, top off our livestock water tanks, and our kids have an excuse to slack off on their homeschooling to do some extra sledding. But we certainly don’t call it #SNOWMAGEDDON, and the local police chief doesn’t threaten to arrest …

Good news for those living in the deep south…Reader G.P. sent in this article to an interesting invention. It’s a self-filliing water bottle that converts humidity to drinks.. Now if only they could invent one of those for the arid southwest. o o o Staying Warm During the Polar Vortex – Submitted by T.A. o o o Sent in by D.S.: Is D.C. megastorm Jonas a ‘gift of God’. While it’s probably not judgment from God, “Snow-pocalypse”, as many are calling it, can at least be looked at as an excellent time to practice putting those preps to work. A …

French Toast Warning! (Get your Milk, Eggs, and Bread now.) – Or better yet, just check your pantry and make sure everything is in order. More than 75MILLION people brace themselves for the wrath of Jonas – the monster East Coast snowstorm – as FIVE THOUSAND flights are canceled and panic buyers clear the shelves – JBG o o o Reader BLW wrote in to tell us that while the east coast is expecting a major snow storm in the next couple of days, an unexpected clipper roamed through his area Wednesday night and it crippled the city. Only one …

SurvivalRealty has what I would term the “coolest” survival property ever in it’s listings. It’s a 165 acres located in the Western USA with a half mile tunnel (20 feet wide, 30 feet high and 2,400 feet long) on it. The property is 200 feet wide and seven miles long. o o o K. in Tennessee sent in a link to 25 PVC projects. While some of these rate high on the coolness factor as well as the impracticality scale, some actually look useful. o o o Reader GJS sent in the link to this article that explains What Amending …

RBS sent in this link: Drone Catcher Is Every Drone’s Worst Nightmare (video) – My favorite comment: “Inevitable, a counter-drone. Next will be a counter-drone-catcher” o o o Clinton-Appointed Judge Dismisses RICO Case Against Clintons JWR’s Comment: This adds new meaning to the word racketeering. (Any ethical judge would have recused himself.) o o o Inspector General: Clinton emails had intel from most secretive, classified programs – Apparently Hillary had “several dozen” emails classified as special access programs (SAP) on her private server. SAP indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret”. Anyone placing bets on whether a Democratic …

SurvivalBlog reader T.Z. sent in a link on the GP-5 SSB Shortwave (+AM + FM) receiver. It is a bit complex to use with all the buttons and features, but it receives all the HF Ham bands (CB and shortwave too), has a useful scan/store channel feature, can use NiMH rechargeables or normal AAAs or even a Mini-B USB. It includes all the accessories, including a ferrite and clip-on wire antenna. It’s not very expensive, is small and has lots of extras, like alarm and temperature. It is receive only, but considering the number of Amateur Radio operators this would …

Water matters. “Michigan’s attorney general opened an investigation Friday into lead contamination in Flint’s drinking water, and the governor asked President Obama to declare a disaster as National Guard troops fanned out across this anxious city to help distribute bottled water, water filters and testing kits. The actions drew new scrutiny to an environmental crisis that poisoned the water supply for a year and a half before it was addressed. The contamination has left a city of 100,000 people unable to use tap water for drinking, cooking or bathing…” From the New York Times: Anger and Scrutiny Grow Over Poisoned …

SurvivalBlog reader K.S. wrote in with these links on how to re-pressurize spray cans. (This should work with anything in a spray can. As long as whatever is in it hasn’t dried up.) I don’t think he mentions it, but a basketball inflating needle would screwed into a blow gun would help. This guy uses a tire valve. It just overpowers the built-in valve. This guy refills the liquid while he is at it! (This would work well with anything you can buy as a liquid, like WD40 or maybe Rustolium?) o o o Reader W.A. sent in this link …

After 2½ years and 1,000,000 page views, Frank and Fern are bringing their blog to a close. They want more time to continue their prepping but will continue to leave the blog up and encourage folks to spend time looking through the archives. Many of SurvivalBlog’s readers enjoyed their perspectives, and we are certain to miss their input and reading about their experiences. Jim, Lily, and the whole SurvivalBlog team wish them well. We are already missing them! o o o SurvivalBlog reader JFJ sent in this link to SurvivalSherpa: How to Estimate Distance in the Woods with Right Triangles …

The Right to Keep and Bear Blenders. The title is perhaps tongue-in-cheek, but as usual, Krayton Kerns, DVM (The Conservative Cow Doctor) has some pretty good words on the Second Amendment. o o o Have you prepped for protection from mosquitos? As diseases proliferate, mosquitoes becoming Public Enemy No. 1 o o o The dangers of “high-tech” are sometimes forgotten or overlooked when looking at modern conveniences: Software bug forced Nest thermostats offline. High-tech may be “cool”, but make sure you have a low-tech option available. o o o Reader D.S. wrote in: This European move to crack down on …

A conversation with one of our favorite bloggers, Patrice Lewis, resulted in this link. The Coil Pump – a nearly forgotten invention that can pump water to a head of over 60 feet from a slow moving stream. It’s a very useful skill to know. o o o For anyone looking for gun parts and accessories, especially semi-autos, I highly recommend the forum set up by the Albert Brothers, Sturmgewehr.com. (Commonly called “Buddy’s Boards”–named after the main board administrator.) For the past 16 years, it was a very simplified board with some arcane posting rules, but they’ve recently implemented forum-style …

House Homeland Chair Warns of Terror Attacks at Disney, Oscars, the Mall of America… – Sent in by T.A. o o o Disturbing news for those planning on having children: Scientists push for new wave of eugenics with genome testing for all newborns While there may be good reasons for knowing this information, I can think of a stream of ways that it will be abused if it exists. – Sent in by D.S. o o o An interesting idea for a survival kit was sent in by reader M.T. PACE lid. Be prepared for whatever life throws your way. …

The latest from Wranglerstar (one of our favorite vloggers: Best Everyday Carry Gear 2016) o o o Reader C.S. sent in this link to a review of some inexpensive/cheap “mop wick” diesel stoves. Part of the article is a video that shows how to re-wick them and their operation. Prepping 101: Cooking With Diesel – Mop Wick Kerosene Stoves Explained o o o From Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large: Point source failure – One major highway and only one bridge connecting the nation. Ontario’s Nipigon River bridge fails, severing Trans-Canada Highway o o o After Ebola, two other tropical …

Reader B.B. sent in this link. We have been discussing the danger of computer algorithms determining everything about you from your credit worthiness to how “good” a citizen you are, now comes the “threat” score: The new way police are surveilling you: Calculating your threat ‘score’ This should be yet one more wake-up-call for those who are active on social media. Data mining of information that you just “throw out there” is big business. o o o Continuing the ongoing bluster coming out of North Korea is a video of a ‘new’ submarine-launched missile test. There is some considerable question …