Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 20, 2024

On April 20, 1902, Pierre and Marie Curie isolated the radioactive compound radium chloride.

On April 20th, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, creating the worst known offshore oil spill.

April 20th is also the day that we remember the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy, where two students stormed into a suburban high school in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, at lunchtime with guns and explosives, killing 13 and wounding dozens more in what was, at the time, the nation’s deadliest school shooting. Today, 25 years later, the teachers and other staff members of most schools are still unarmed. And the mass murderers know it, so the massacres continue.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.

  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Our Black Swan Event – Part 2, by E.R.

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.)

The Black Swan Has Landed

Following the arrival of guests, we found ourselves using more water than we should have. When one is dependent on rainwater, one simply cannot afford luxuries like taking a bath every single day – that is the simple reality. And the young children, they certainly did need their baths at the end of each day.

One morning, 10 days later – we had our Black Swan event – two inches of rainfall in less than one hour! Our 250 gallon water collection tote overflowed in short order. Torrents of water moved across the landscape, pooling in every dip, eventually making its way to the mostly backfilled cistern cavity – soon the whole neighbourhood was flooded. There was a huge pond where we had buried the cistern. And then suddenly, the tank became buoyant and the one end floated up so that it was now on a 45 degree angle. (See photo.)
Yes, a tank partially filled with air is rather buoyant. And when the only thing holding it down is loose soil, it will act very much like a boat.Continue reading“Our Black Swan Event – Part 2, by E.R.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

This past week I kept busy packing orders for Elk Creek Company.  The latest batch of guns has been selling very quickly.  I suppose that the ATF’s upcoming rule grossly expanding the “Engaged in The Business” definition is what has spurred the sudden interest.  Pre-1899 guns will soon become the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy, in all 50 states!  To avoid a Federal felony prosecution, virtually any gun with a frame or receiver made after December 31st, 1898 will have to be sold only by or through a FFL — with a Form 4473 and a FBI background check.

Oh, and with the recent run-up in the price of silver, I have increased my FRNs to pre-’65 silver divisor to 22-to-1.  (You can take the listed gun prices and divide by 22, if you will be paying in pre-1965 silver U.S Dimes, quarters, or half dollars.)

Calving season has begun. Lily will fill you in with some calving details, in her part of the report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.

Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.” – Ecclesiastes 9 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 19, 2024

Today, April 19th, is a genuine Red Letter Day. April 19th is the original Patriot Day which marks the multiple anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.

Today also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in 1943, the BATF’s costly raid on the Branch Davidian Church in Waco, the gun turret explosion on the USS Iowa in 1989, the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013, and very sadly also the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

April 19th is also the birthday of novelist Ralph Peters. Coincidentally, Ralph and I both have the same literary agent, Robert Gottlieb.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2,000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Our Black Swan Event – Part 1, by E.R.

The Black Swan is the metaphor often used when describing an unlikely event, that comes as a major surprise, having a catastrophic effect.

Which Risks Do We Attempt to Mitigate?

The news headlines in March, 2024 were rife with dire ‘official’ warnings of coming cyber attacks on water systems, echoing pronouncements previously made by that billionaires club and UN partner, The World Economic Forum, as the next big threat to follow the coronavirus. Was this yet more fear-mongering propaganda, or are they actually planning something?

Also in the news, that hard-left urban center Toronto is contemplating the introduction of a stormwater tax. In case you hadn’t yet heard – many local governments had already been collecting stormwater taxes for more than a decade. Why is this now news?

While it is hard to believe that it has been two years already, but most of us still recall the massive trucker protests across the continent in 2022 – protests which reverberated in copycat campaigns around the world. But why was it until winter 2024 that finally we are seeing reports of ‘hearings’ for protesters still in prison awaiting trial? And this, in that bastion of Canadian conservatism and freedom, Alberta – two years in prison without a trial for what will likely turn out to be trumped-up charges for political dissent?Continue reading“Our Black Swan Event – Part 1, by E.R.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the investing aspect of the upcoming demise of gun-buying privacy in the United States. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Precious metals were up again Thursday evening (Friday morning, in Asia), on news of an Israeli retaliatory missile strike on Iran:

  • Gold
    $2,421.40 up $25.10 (1.04%)
  • Silver
    $28.87 up $0.35 (1.23%)
  • Platinum
    $961.30 up $2.80 (0.29%)

o  o  o

Alasdair Macleod: The Bullish Factors Behind Silver’s Rise.

o  o  o

Radomski, at Gold-Eagle.com: THE Reversal in Gold, THE Confirmed Breakout in USD/YEN.

Economy & Finance:

From Bloomberg: Larry Summers Says CPI Raises Chances That Fed’s Next Move Is to Hike.

o  o  o

The Fed may have no choice but to tip the US into recession, economist says.

o  o  o

Credit-Card Delinquency Rates Were Worst on Record in Fed Study.

o  o  o

By way of Zero Hedge, I found this piece by Charles Hugh Smith: Financial Forecast 2025-2032: Please Don’t Be Naive. Here is a pericope:

“You already know the global financial system is untenable. In a nutshell, the expansion of production and consumption has been funded by the expansion of credit–money borrowed from future resources and income. The rate of expanding debt far surpasses the anemic rates of expanding production, and this rapidly expanding mountain of debt is perched precariously on the phantom collateral generated by The Everything Bubble, the astounding expansion of asset prices as those with the lowest cost access to credit have bid up every asset class, from real estate to gold to bitcoin to stocks to fine art.

All these assets are phantom collateral because they were bid up on the wings of cheap, abundant credit. History is rather decisive: all credit-asset bubbles pop, and the price of the assets round-trips back to pre-bubble valuations. As the bubble pops, credit shifts from being abundant and near-zero in cost to being scarce and dear.”

o  o  o

We all saw this one coming: Labor group demands California’s $20 minimum wage for fast food workers extend to all sectors.Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 18, 2024

On April 18, 1775, British troops marched out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere (pictured) and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen.

The Doolittle Tokyo Raid was launched on April 18, 1942.

April 18th is the birthday of pastor and former Washington Representative Matt Shea. (Born 1974).

On April 18th, 1906, the San Francisco earthquake struck northern California, killing hundreds of people as it toppled numerous buildings and started fires that engulfed whole neighborhoods. The quake was so powerful that it knocked down chimneys in the Anderson Valley, 120 miles north of the city.

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We are now down to just 45 of the waterproof 2005-2023 SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks. I’ve reduced the price on those remaining sticks to $28.95, to ensure that they sell out quickly. Consider this your last call until late January 2025, when the next edition should become available. There will be no more produced this year!

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Today we present a guest article that was too short to qualify as an entry for Round 112 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running the contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

An Elderly Prepper Moves On, by L.T.

My husband and I started following the writings of Jim Rawles many years ago and his advice helped us find our ideal location in the Missouri Ozarks. Then, unexpectedly, my husband passed away and now Jonathan Rawles’ SurvivalRealty website is helping me sell my homestead. The tapestry of life.

My husband and I loved the challenge of creating a sustainable lifestyle, a productive homestead, and learning the rural life.  We took a piece of rather rough land and created a beautiful place. Not finished when he passed, but I’m not sure it would ever be finished, that was the enjoyable part. (Not an enjoyable part was living in a camper with four dogs while building our shop/house “shouse”.)Continue reading“An Elderly Prepper Moves On, by L.T.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, an estimate on full capacity magazine ownership.

700 Million+ Full Capacity Mags in Private Hands

Reader H.L. sent us this:  Americans Own 700 Million+ Mags With Greater Than 10-Round Capacity. JWR’s Comments:  That equates to just two magazines per citizen. Really? Based on the number of magazines that I own, my estimate of the number that my friends and neighbors own, and what I see available at gun shows, I believe that this published estimate is quite low. In fact, it is probably understated by at least half. And of course the NSSF data did not include the huge number of magazines released as military and police department surplus.  I’d estimate that there are actually 1.5 to 2 billion magazines now in private hands, here in the States. For further research, see the original NSSF report.

Be Prepared — The Grid Is Going Down

A few months ago, Tucker Carlson interviewed Dennis Quaid: Be Prepared. The Grid Is Going Down.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 17, 2024

On April 17, 1970, the Apollo 13 command module—carrying James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., and John L. Swigert, Jr.—entered Earth‘s atmosphere and splashed down, ending one of the most tense chapters in space history; four days earlier an oxygen tank had exploded, threatening the lives of the three astronauts.

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On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Due to the Cuba/Soviet intelligence network as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, which was repeated in US and foreign newspaper reports, the Cuban government knew, in advance, of the planned invasion. The Washington Post also reported that the Soviets knew the exact date of the attack, that the CIA was aware that they knew, and that the CIA did not inform President Kennedy.

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With the generosity of a sponsor, we’ve just added a new prize to the Second Place prize package for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest:

A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.

They are adding new products every week. Take a look at their web page. And if you place an order, please thank them for being a SurvivalBlog writing contest sponsor.

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Today’s feature article is by SurvivalBlog feature article is by Senior Editor James Wesley, Rawles.

Reviving The Moribund 10th Amendment

One of the greatest strengths of our system of government is our Bill of Rights. The first 10 Amendments limit the power of the government. Though it is not perfect, this system has kept government in check, in several key spheres. The 10th Amendment is succinct, yet powerful.  It reads:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Sadly, the 10th Amendment has been degraded in the past 50 years by power-hungry statists. The American people are now over-taxed and over-regulated. The regulations penned by Congress are bad enough, but those emanating from international treaties, presidential executive orders, and decrees from unelected bureaucrats have become odious.  If our founding fathers were alive to see just how strong the Federal government has become, and how it encroaches into so many aspects of our lives, they would be horrified. Even the most strident Federalist of the 1780s would be shocked to see just how arbitrary and despotic our national government has become. The advent of the “alphabet soup” agencies since the 1930s has radically centralized the government’s power and subverted the rights of the states, and the rights of the citizenry.Continue reading“Reviving The Moribund 10th Amendment”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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U.S. Navy Mocked for Photo of Commander With Rifle Scope Mounted Backwards. JWR’s Comments:  Perhaps the Navy should stick to their time-proven M14 deck rifles with iron sights. Thankfully, our potential opponents have much bigger guns and missiles to worry about, and the Navy handles those with deadly competency.

o  o  o

I expect to hear the announcement of a Starlink satellite phone service, later this year: SpaceX: Cellular Starlink System Works on iPhone, Pixel, Galaxy Devices.

o  o  o

Peter mentioned the free set of PDF files available at this web page:  USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.  Peter included this note: “It would be nice if it was a single PDF, but the content is free.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”