The Dawning of the Day of Discarnate Discomfiture. Well, golly gee, it is December 22, 2012, and to the chagrin of some, the world didn’t come to an end yesterday. The sun did rise in the East this morning, the magnetic poles did not reverse, Yellowstone didn’t go ka-boom, the atmosphere was not ripped from the Earth by the passing of that allegedly-so-sneaky-that-even-astronomers-can’t-see-it Nibiru, and Woody Harrelson didn’t get his life-imitates-art “I told you so” close-up. The crystal channeling New Agers have now had their equivalent of Y2K. What is the real meaning December 22, 2012? I would say that it is that we can expect to see some bargains on still “new in the box” back-up generators advertised on Craigslist and there will be minty AR-15s walking in the door of gun shows, come January. I simply look at this Day of Discarnate Discomfiture as a buying opportunity for those of us who are truly preparedness-minded, and not fixated upon hokey numerological nonsense. But it is a good thing that people stocked up for December 21, 2012, even if they did so for the wrong reasons. Every well-prepared family represents one less family that will will be cleaning out the grocery stores shelves, when the Schumer hits the fan.
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December 22nd is also the anniversary of the death of SP4 James T. Davis, the first uniformed American combat casualty of the Vietnam War, in 1961. This ASA soldier (of the 3rd Radio Research Unit) was killed in a Viet Cong ambush on a road outside Saigon.
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Today we present another entry for Round 44 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.
Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, E.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.
Round 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.