Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, books, and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how-to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food and storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week the focus is on some crucial home security gear for intrusion detection, delaying entry, and documenting visitors to your propperty–both two-legged and four-legged. (See the Books section and the Gear & Grub section.)
Books:
Prepper’s Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary
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The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens
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Tommy Robinson: Enemy of the State
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A Heinlein classic sci-fi novel intended for young adults: Starman Jones
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Harley-Davidson: The Complete History
Web Pages & Blogs:
How People Kept Houses Cool Before Air Conditioning Was Invented. (Thanks to D.S.V. for the link.)
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Some thought-provoking comments by Nathan, over at The Price of Liberty: Ramping up? His essay timely ends with this:
“All over the world, state militaries are fighting non-state opponents, and almost always, the state is losing. State militaries were designed to fight other state militaries like themselves, and against non-state enemies most of their equipment, tactics and training are useless or counterproductive.”
That seems to be precisely how our current civil war can be described, keeping in mind that American police forces are often as much military as they are “law enforcement” and “keeping the peace.” Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the Occupy Movement, and no doubt other regressive, socialist groups are the “non-state” actors. But ALLIED with elements within the governments. And they have been preparing the battlefield for a half-century.
One tactic: delegitimize the police forces – a task which the police themselves seem to cooperate in. Indoctrination in schools and religion is another. This is, however, all battlefield prep – the phase that Mao states would precede the direct confrontation of their enemies by their main forces.
Or, in other words, ramping up.”
Instructional Videos & Vlogs:
How to weatherproof your cables and wires for Raspberry Pi using OpenH Rubicon Enclosure. Note: There is no narration, so you can turn down the volume on the annoying music.
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Build a do-it-yourself air purifier for about $25
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Burial Vaults, Firearms, and Geo-caching
Music:
Wade in the Water – The Petersens
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Some great bluegrass, from a Norwegian band: Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra – ‘Migrants’ Album Release Concert Part II: The Bluegrass Jam Circle
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Guy Clark: Dublin Blues
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Gear & Grub:
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Doorricade Door Bar – Best Protection Against Home Invasion – Solid Aluminum Bar.
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Make a Suggestion
Want to suggest Recommendations of your own? Then please send them to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!
The book recommendation: “Tommy Robinson: Enemy of the State” is lacking a working URL link.
re:
Tommy Robinson bad link
I noticed.
Accordingly, I searched the phrase ‘tommy robinson enemy of the state’, and it showed right up as the first dozen results.
I refuse to accept ‘no’ as an answer based in reality.
But don’t mind me.
I am old and cantankerous, and don’t understand TheNewMath©… partly by choice, partly because it is ridiculous and stupit.
The broken link there was my mistake. I’ve just corrected it.
Another way to keep cool with NO AC, as long as you have power. I lived in St. Louis, MO for a year in the early 80’s and they had the worse heat wave in decades! Many of the older apartment buildings were brick which heats up like an oven and there was no AC in most of them. People died, pets died. It was awful!
If they had just taken COTTON sheets or tee shirts, damped them down, rolled them up, put in refrigerator or freezer for awhile, and then laid in a bed or recliner or sofa, (being nude helps), and cover their torso with the rolled out COOL cotton, and put a cotton cooled hanky on their head, they might have survived. It is laborious, but I have done it. Keep the body’s core cool is key, and having a cook forehead helps. Having a fan nearby also helps.
We have a generator now, back in CT, but if the power goes out, we do NOT run the central AC. I would do the same thing in a heat wave.
My Mom lived on a farm in OK with no power and no AC. They used wet sheets over the open windows.
And for those who prefer a “ready to go” product which is already dialed in and field tested, there are numerous sellers of inexpensive “neck cooling bandanas” in sporting goods, online, street fair/festival stores. A small amount of non-toxic gel granules soak up water within minutes and slowly evaporate against your neck all day (the neck is both a sensitive area where good feelings are spread around the body, and a “choke point”, literally, where major blood plumbing carries heat around the head & body. Cool the blood, cool the body!). These are also super easy to make (keep those kids busy doing something they can use), as long as you use the proper nontoxic gel. As a desert worker, I LOVE these!! Note that they rely on evaporative cooling and may be less effective in more humid weather. I keep a second one in a baggie filled with a bit of excess water. Around noon, after 4+ hours, I’ll swap out the used, drier one for a nice fresh cool one, and recharge the used one back in the soggy baggie. An easy, cheap personal cooling system that really works!!
I’ve been working remotely from home for the past six months and rarely leaving. A few weeks ago, I went to town to run some errands. When I returned home, the front chain link gates had been driven through, smashed open, the front door was unlocked, and the front door security bar was loose, but still in place. All other doors were secured, so they didn’t get into Area 2, the home. The neighbors were doing yard work, but didn’t see anything, so it happened very fast. I was very lucky, this time. But, I didn’t know, who, what vehicle, how many, what time, or how long. I can’t see anyone smashing through the front gates with a newer vehicle, so it had to be something old and rugged.
I recommend all the items listed above. Game cam & Dakota for Area 4, outside the property, to see who is driving by. Cameras for Area 3, inside the fence. Door bar for Area 2, the house. I was using a travel door security bar, but they almost defeated it. Also, some of those personal alarms, less than $10, looped around the door knob and secured to a nail on the frame. Must have picked the locks, no damage to the door or frame.
The county jails and state prisons have all been emptied, and there are millions out of work, a few who might be tempted to a life of crime. So, it is time to upgrade, and rethink our home security. Hoodies, masks, caps, sun glasses, all reduce the effectiveness of cameras, but they can still show times, numbers, and behavior.
to keep cool, fill a kiddie pool or even just a plastic dishpan with water and periodically put your feet in for a while. Also on another topic re the energy gum, there is a website called http://www.minimus.biz that sells individual sizes of many products and they sell Jelly Belly energy jelly beans in small packets, good to keep in the jockey box or BOB.
The big Cheese has good advice. … Placing the feet in a tub of cool water will help ~cool the entire body. The blood circulating in the feet, is closer to the skin, without much muscle or fat acting as insulation. … +The feet are ‘thermostats’ of sorts, with the feet sending information about feet~body temperature to the brain.
The ‘evaporative’ cooling methods are only very effective in hot ~dry climates. … Back east during high humidity days, the tub of cool water should still work. … +The ‘siesta’ is employed all over the world in hot climates. … In the USA, the very HOT southern half of the USA didn’t flourish until air conditioning became the norm.
As the song goes:
“They’re obviously definitely nuts!
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun …
But Englishmen detest a siesta!”
Obviously, our ‘straight through’ workday with a stop for lunch, and not a siesta, was devised by people with ancestors originating in a cooler climate. The work clock doesn’t stop for a needed siesta during the heat. [Though, people working outside in the heat will take a quick lunch and a nap in the middle of the day]
Cowboy boots might be manly footwear, but sandals help keep the feet cooler during hot weather. [Work boots are better than sandals, when working at jobs needing foot protection.]
I can fully recommend Dakota Alert systems. While I don’t have the MURS system, the wireless system I do have covers both my driveways very well, so much so that I know when my neighbor is mowing his yard! (I could set the detection shorter but the area is very open) The detectors are small (and varied) and are easily hidden, Dakota even has them in small false birdhouses to place on trees or posts.
One thing I would like is a mobile alert on the driveways, I can’t hear the alert for my shop access, if I’m down at my garden, but seeing as the receiver is 12v, I think I can rig something up.
I ordered direct from Dakota Alert’s website and was nothing but pleased with the service, the package was here before I expected it.
Those wireless driveway alerts and wireless cameras are 100% susceptible to RF jammers.
This would leave you blind without you knowing it.
Hardwire when possible.
Guy Clark is truly one of the great American songwriters. “Texas 1947”, “last gunfighter ballad” and “soldier’s joy” are masterpiece historical word paintings to music. Thanks for including Mr. Clark in your blog!
In response to the essay by Nathan a very good book that explains this all and is called “4th Generation Warfare Handbook” by William S. Lind. It explains the history of warfare through the ages and where we are today with the likes of ANTIFA/BLM and middle eastern terrorist groups. Quite an eye opener to how wars have been fought and how we have come almost full circle in the aspects of war.
We do not have AC in our house. It is a trailer. (Metal box.) We live in an area where the temps can hit 100F and usually do for a few days each summer. The key to staying relatively cool is airflow. We run big fans to keep us cool in every room that is occupied. But the air must have a definite PATH to go- in a window, through the room or house, and out through a window. Just having a fan blow on you is not enough. But having enough airflow past you can make you and your pets feel much cooler.
Another thing you can do is put in a chimney. Or more than one. A chimney will allow hot air to escape outside through the roof. Hot air rises and will create airflow out of the house. The sun shining on the outside of the chimney will heat it up. The air in the chimney will rise. You can increase this by painting the outside of the chimney black. A chimney can lower the temperature (by my measurement in my house) by five degrees or more. Just put a cover over it so it does not rain in and a way to seal it up during the winter. These things actually work- by my own experience.
P.S.- We also have allowed (encouraged ) vegetation to completely cover two sides of our house to prevent the sun from shining directly on the sides of our house. Every little bit helps.
re:
cooling during hot weather
In our greenhouses near the outskirts of Eugene Oregon, we use thermostat-controlled roof-fans to evacuate warm air at night.
This system works best in the greenhouses we partially-buried and bermed.
The thermal-delay of tons of earth reduces our unwanted heat-load.
*****
In one of our stand-still residences years ago, a roof-fan in the hallway was very effective at night for evacuating stratified warm air near the ceiling while simultaneously pulling nighttime cool air inside through open windows.
After breakfast, we closed-up the house, and it was very comfortable during the hottest days.
*****
I have a problem with the menopausals at church and visiting some elderly shut-ins.
They hijack the thermostat, turning the place into an icebox.
During warm weather, I acclimate my physical body to working outdoors in the sunshine at temperatures nearing my body temperature.
Walking into a stuffy humid 78°f/26°c room is a shock to my delicate system.
That goes double if they have the blinds down and the drapes drawn and the place as gloomy as a dusty humid tomb.
And a word to elderly shut-ins:
* your evening shower with soap and shampoo goes a long way to lessen ‘anti-social distancing’.
LargeMarge, Your comments made me smile.
“They hijack the thermostat, turning the place into an icebox.”
I can relate to this, but for a different reason.
I was totally inspired by the off grid living of Navy veteran, Dick Proenneke, up in Alaska.
I took note that after a days work, when he went back into his cabin and got a roaring fire going, he casually mentioned it was a toasty 48 degrees… Gahh??? Brrr. Cold…
Well, I thought to myself. If he can do that, so can I.
So, for the last two years, I have acclimated my body to the cold and had to suffice to 58 degrees because I live in the Puget Sound area, so I cannot get 48 degrees inside my house. (Plus, I have to take care of food supplies.) However, the funny side of doing this, is that I do not like being warm anymore, let alone hot. So, I save on the winter heating bills, and I pay for the summer air conditioning, of which the heat pump only goes down to 64 degrees, so that is what I leave it at.
I would never turn down the thermostat on an elderly person, but I would want to. lol
Blessings to you for making me laugh,
Krissy
Just a note forJWR. The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide is in southern Oregon’s Costco.
Today is VJ Day.
Thank you to all veterans. We are free because of all the veterans ever- not the least of whom who fought the Japanese in the Pacific, including my father.
The current crop of politicians makes me want to puke- especially Nasty Pelosi and the communists in D.C. . here is a partial list of commies in congress-
https://www.trevorloudon.com/2020/08/trevor-loudons-2020-list-of-65-communists-socialists-and-security-risks-in-congress/
Nathan Hale
Be careful with vegetation growing on your home, especially if it is masonry. The vegetation will seek the lime in the mortar. This deteriorates the mortar joints and creates voids and points of water intrusion.
Weak walls, damaged joints and water leaks
Fortunately, my trailer (mobile home) is not masonry. I don’t know exactly WHAT the vegetation is, but it was planted by the former owner and looks attractive. Some of it looks like ferns and I don’t have a clue what the rest of it is.
“Starman Jones” is even a fun read for older adults, in my opinion. I finally got around to reading it on a plane and was pleasantly surprised. Many others say the same for his other juvenile works, too.
My first foray into reading SciFi was Robert Heinlein’s “Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.” Next was “Tunnel in the Sky.” (My older sister “borrowed” the books from the school library and never returned them. I still have them stored away somewhere.) I have loved Heinlein’s books ever since. It was very disillusioning to find out he was more than sympathetic to Socialism but, if I had known more about Socialism way back when, I would have been more apt to put 2 and 2 together and figure that out for myself. Ah well, one should never look too closely at one’s heroes, I guess.
For any Star Trek fans, his juvenile novel “The Rolling Stones” introduced “flat cats,” the forerunners of “Tribbles.”