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:

With the recent foul weather, I made myself useful with a few small indoor projects. One of them was making a protective storage tube for our kitchen glass candy thermometer.  It had heretofore been stored loose in our kitchen knife drawer. To my actuarial mind, that had a future “unfortunate accident” written all over it.  I had been planning to construct a cardboard or wooden box for it. But then I settled on just using a scrap length of 1″ diameter white Schedule 40 PVC pipe, taped at one end. Wrapping the candy thermometer in 1.5 turns of paper towel and sliding it into the tube worked perfectly. That sure beats the potential risk of breathing mercury vapors for the rest of my life.

I helped Lily sort through the last of the storage apples, from our orchard’s fall harvest.  A few were starting to go bad. Some of the marginal ones went out to our horses, for winter treats. After Lily sorted through and processed all of the bins, the remainder fit in the two bins at the bottom of our refrigerator. Once those are used up — probably by late February — we will shift to relying on dried apples, dried apple & cashew bars, frozen applesauce, and canned applesauce.

I assembled several new wire rack shelves in the hall that leads to our master bedroom. That hall doubles as storage space, primarily for large cooking utensils, pantry items, and extra canning jars. It is gratifying to finally get that hall organized and to see that space fully optimized. (Lilly will discuss that project, in detail.)

I caught up on cataloging some antique cartridge guns and some modern blackpowder percussion guns in the Elk Creek Company online catalog. Notably, the latter included four blackpowder deer hunting rifles that I acquired by bidding on an estate collection. One of these is a .45 caliber full-stocked rifle made by Jukar, in Spain. All of the rest are .50 caliber, and mostly made in Italy. Two of them are half-stocked Hawken-style rifles, but one is a scarce original Doc White inline-capped .504-caliber scoped deer and elk rifle.  That rifle was made by White’s in Utah, back in the late 1990s. All four of these rifles are in great condition and quite reasonably priced. Take a look!

Now, Lily’s part of the weekly report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.” – Exodus 34:1-10 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 3, 2025

On January 3rd, 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X for failing to recant parts of his Ninety-five Theses. Luther’s doctrine sparked the Protestant Reformation.

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January 3, 1777: General George Washington‘s army defeated British forces at the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey.

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January 3, 1868: The Meiji Restoration returned authority to Japan’s emperors.

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Today’s feature article is a repost, so it is not eligible for judging in the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

We are in need of articles for Round 116 of the writing contest. More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 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.

2025 Annual Appeal: The Ten Cent Challenge

I hope that you get at least 10 cents worth of knowledge, entertainment, and motivation each day from SurvivalBlog. It has been posted with fresh content daily, since August, 2005. In nearly 20 years I’ve only missed posting on a few days — most notably in the week after my first wife passed away.

I do my best to mention the Ten Cent Challenge editorially only once each year — and this post is it, for all of 2025.

Unlike PBS, we don’t run agonizingly endless pledge drives. Just this one brief reminder, annually. But we do depend on voluntary subscriptions to pay the blog’s bills. These expenses include: paying our staff writers, the local ISP monthly bill, our web hosting server, domain registrations, news service subscriptions, payments for stock photos, phone bills, liability insurance, legal expenses (we were threatened with lawsuits twice by stock photography scam lawyers in 2024), maintaining our remote backup server, post office box rental, and providing a small portion of the writing contest prizes. With inflation, nearly all of our costs are escalating. But we still ask for only 10 cents per day — the same amount that we asked back in 2005. That is just $36.50, per year.

The PayPal Exodus

Back in September and October of 2022, there was an understandable mass exodus from PayPal. That cost us, because of subscription cancellations. About 30% of our subscriptions vanished, soon after PayPal’s censorious intentions were revealed publicly. I do not blame anyone for quitting PayPal. Our readers were fully justified in doing so. But losing those subscriptions hurt our cash flow quite badly. And, as I’m sure you recall, three years ago, we quit the Amazon.com Associates program. Previously, the Amazon commissions had covered most of our expenses.

I greatly appreciate the 2.5% of readers who do choose to subscribe. Subscriptions are entirely voluntary. If you’ve never subscribed before, then please become a subscriber. And if you are one of the many folks that quit PayPal and thus had your SurvivalBlog subscription lapse, then please “re-up”, through the following methods:

  • Sending us a check, money order, cash, “forever” postage stamps, or silver, by mail.
  • Via GabPay. That is now our preferred payment method.  My GabPay “@” address is: JamesWesleyRawles

If paying for your subscription via mail, then please use this address:

SurvivalBlog
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

And if you still have a PayPal account, our PayPal address is unchanged. It is: james@rawles.to

Our Contingency PlaN: SurvivalBlog Old School (S.O.S.)

I don’t need to remind you that we are living in perilous times. The Biden regime went to war against conservatives, libertarians, Christians, and homeschoolers. They weaponized the FBI, DOJ, and ATF to harass and prosecute us. Even with the election of Donald Trump to a belated second term, there are still many threats to our lives, health, liberty, and property,

As I mentioned in early December of 2023, we are developing the infrastructure to produce an “Old School” hardcopy mailed newsletter. We plan to be ready to revert to distributing a paper newsletter that is sent out by traditional mail, for if and when SurvivalBlog is expunged from the Internet’s World Wide Web. (“Taken down.”) I’ve dubbed this contingency project: SurvivalBlog – Old School (S.O.S.)

For security, the only copies of the mailing list (with subscriber USPS addresses) will be kept on a pair of tiny Micro-SD cards, and both of those are kept very well hidden.  We also keep our burn barrel and plenty of diesel fuel handy, for the event that we ever need to do a “full burn”.

We produced and distributed the first issue in March, 2024. The S.O.S. Newsletter subscribers will most likely receive just ONE newsletter in March of each year, as confirmation that they are on the contingency mailing list. The snail mail envelopes that you receive will have your address on an adhesive label, with an identical label in the upper-left corner. If we get booted off of the Internet and must go “Old School”, then you will be mailed hardcopy S.O.S. Newsletter issues more often – probably 3 to 6 issues per year, as circumstances dictate.

If you want to be on the S.O.S. Newsletter contingency mailing list, then please add $50 to your annual subscription payment. If you send $86.50 or more and you make any mention of “Newsletter” “303” “SOS”, or “505” inside your payment envelope or on your check, then I will add your address to our Micro USB stick for the S.O.S. Newsletter mailing list. Thanks!

Other Ways To Help

You can also support the blog indirectly, by patronizing our loyal banner advertisers and our affiliate advertisers. By the way, if you operate a business that sells goods or services that would appeal to SurvivalBlog readers, then please consider becoming a SurvivalBlog advertiser, or donating prizes for our ongoing writing contest.

Note: If you are on a tight budget, then please support our publication only with prayer.

A Request for Bequests

And I have one other request: Please remember SurvivalBlog in your will. The next time that you update your will, please consider designating a modest dollar figure or a small percentage of your estate for your will’s executor to send to SurvivalBlog. I’m confident that those small bequests will keep the blog going, multi-generationally. You won’t live forever, and I won’t live forever. But I’m confident that one of my sons or a trusted friend will step up and continue to post SurvivalBlog uninterruptedly, with the same style, substance, and unswerving editorial focus.

May God grant that SurvivalBlog continues to be a beacon of truth!

With Many Thanks, and Wishing You God’s Blessings,

– Jim Rawles

Update: A Legal, Low-Cost, Readily-Available Painkiller, by Kitchen Maven

Editor’s Introductory  Note:  I only rarely re-post articles from the SurvivalBlog archives.  But I was recently reminded about this 2010 article.  Since nearly 15 years have gone by, I can safely assume that it probably has not been read by most of the current  SurvivalBlog readers.  I have updated it with some more recent research and a confirmation of one mentioned source.

I’ll open this article with a couple of real-world experiences:

  • You’re stacking wood when a log suddenly twists, and the pile comes tumbling down on you, leaving your legs covered with cuts and bruises.
  • You walk into the kitchen, and see your toddler, who has climbed the counter to grab something in an upper cabinet, start to topple over. You lunge forward to grab her, and your body provides her with a soft landing spot as you crash over the kitchen chair and wind up on your face on the floor.

Accidents happen, and they hurt. Many posts have discussed pharmaceutical painkillers, but most people have limited access to them, and if a layperson tries to prep by storing controlled substances in quantity, difficulties with the law may result.

A client who owned a health food store introduced me to a legal, low-cost, readily-available painkiller that is incredibly effective for any type of flesh injury, as well as several other types of pain. Many readers already have it in their homes, since it is widely used for arthritis, but have no idea that they own something that can put morphine to shame. Not that you can get high on it, you can’t, but it wipes out most pain with without making you sick, sleepy, or risking addiction.Continue reading“Update: A Legal, Low-Cost, Readily-Available Painkiller, by Kitchen Maven”

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 some 2025 market predictions.

Precious Metals:

2025 Silver Price Predictions.

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Gold set for brightest year since 2010 on rate cuts, safe-haven demand.

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Matthew Piepenburg: Gold in 2025? Tragically Predictable.

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Gold Price 2025 Forecast: Rising Support Sets Stage for Second-Half Breakout. JWR’s Comment:  With the doom of the Dollar on the horizon, I recommend holding tight with your precious metals. Do not sell unless you are putting the proceeds into something tangible, such as a retreat farm or ranch. Do not succumb to any temptation to sell tangibles to invest in intangibles!

Economy & Finance:

From the generally bullish Motley Fool: 10 Stock Market Predictions for 2025.

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From Fortune: Wall Street’s predictions for the market and economy in 2025.

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This video compilation shows signs of deep economic trouble in the People’s Republic of China: Crisis in Beijing: Streets Filled With Tears as Millions of Workers Leave, Empty Trains to Beijing.

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From the usually optimistic Yahoo Finance: Is the Stock Market Going to Crash in 2025? 2 Historically Flawless Indicators Paint a Clear Picture.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 2, 2025

On January 2, 1492, Muhammad XII, the last Emir of Granada, surrendered his city to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile. This ended both the Reconquista and centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula.

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January 2, 1890: A record 19.2 foot-long alligator was shot in Louisiana by American businessman Edward Avery McIlhenny.

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Today’s feature article was too short to qualify for the judging in the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

We need more entries for Round 116 of the contest. More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 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.

 

Post-TEOTWAWKI Refrigeration, by 3AD Scout

My Amish neighbor, who recently moved into the neighborhood, was telling me that he was going to build an ice house from a kit.  I told him to let me know when he was going to assemble it and I would give him a hand.  I have some historical knowledge of how ice used to be harvested, stored, delivered, and used before modern refrigeration, so I was very interested in how the Amish store and use their ice today.

The Component kit

The ice house kit consisted of 14 large pieces of styrofoam that were one foot thick.  The kit also came with a door that had a very beefy metal locking latch system, and a piece of diamond plate for a threshold.  The styrofoam on the door panel was sandwiched in between two pieces of quarter-inch OSB that were covered by some type of resin type material.  The cost of this particular kit was about $2,000, including shipping.  I was told that the price for the kit was discounted since several Amish families had gotten together to do a bulk purchase of five units.  Continue reading“Post-TEOTWAWKI Refrigeration, by 3AD Scout”

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, some news on the prepper development of the former Black Hills Ordnance Depot (BHOD).

Bunker Residents Raise Financial, Safety Concerns

Over at the leftist Yahoo News: Trouble in ‘prepper’ paradise: Bunker residents raise financial, safety concerns.

For some further reading on both the facility’s history and the Vivos XPoint project, see this well-illustrated piece at Cold War Tourist from 2020:  Black Hills Ordnance Depot – Igloo, SD.

A Vast, Growing Anomaly in Earth’s Magnetic Field

Reader C.B. sent us this: NASA Is Watching a Vast, Growing Anomaly in Earth’s Magnetic Field. An excerpt:

“NASA has been monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth’s magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.

This vast, developing phenomenon, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has intrigued and concerned scientists for years, and perhaps none more so than NASA researchers.

The space agency’s satellites and spacecraft are particularly vulnerable to the weakened magnetic field strength within the anomaly, and the resulting exposure to charged particles from the Sun.

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) – likened by NASA to a ‘dent’ in Earth’s magnetic field, or a kind of ‘pothole in space’ – generally doesn’t affect life on Earth, but the same can’t be said for orbital spacecraft (including the International Space Station), which pass directly through the anomaly as they loop around the planet at low-Earth orbit altitudes.”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government which impartially secures to every man whatever is his own.” – James Madison, “Essay on Property,” 1792

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 1, 2025

On January 1, 45 B.C., the Julian calendar took effect for the first time, by edict of Roman consul Julius Caesar.

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January 1, 1583 was the first day of the Gregorian calendar in Holland and Flanders.

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On January 1, 1600, Scotland first began its numbered year on January 1st instead of March 25th.

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And on January 1, 1788, Quakers in Pennsylvania emancipated their slaves.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 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 $2000.
  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 $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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 Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 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)
  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. 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 $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 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.

Collards: Our Winter Staple, by A.F.

One of the aspects of living where we do I find most appealing is the long gardening season. It is possible to keep produce of one type or another growing in the garden year-round, (though this is not the same as saying we have harvestable vegetables for the full year). Kale is the most resilient thus far since a single fall planting can carry into the following June if there is not an early heat spell. Cabbage and broccoli are each suitable for both late winter and late summer plantings and typically yield well while requiring minimal effort.

When life and time permit, we start brassica plants from seed in mid-August. Our observation has been that even buying sets from a local greenhouse is risky because they will quickly sell out of their own in house sets and rely on vendor plants to finish meeting demand. The sets brought in from outside the area typically struggle due to weak stems, often appearing to be pinched just above ground level. We start seedlings in 180 cell trays and transplant into larger cups as soon as the sprouts are as thick as a toothpick. We bottom water until the plant is three or more inches tall and rely on the potting mix nutrients for the first few weeks after up-potting.Continue reading“Collards: Our Winter Staple, by A.F.”

December, 2024 in Precious Metals, by Everett Millman

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and silver’s performance and examine the factors that affected metal prices.

WHAT DID GOLD AND SILVER DO IN DECEMBER?

Despite enjoying a terrific annual performance, the precious metals fared poorly to close out the year. Gold ended the month down 1% while silver endured another monthly loss in excess of 5%.

The metals started the month trending lower: on Dec. 2nd, spot gold fell about 0.5% to $2,636 per troy ounce, and silver prices slipped 13 cents lower to $30.47 per oz. Silver rose 78 cents over the course of Dec. 3rd and 4th, and then jumped another 88 cents on Dec. 9th to reach its high point for the month at $31.85/oz.

Amid a streak of seven consecutive losing days, silver slumped 4% into the red during trading on Dec.18th. The gold price lost $65 on the same day (-2.4%) to fall as low as $2,580/oz. There was a brief rebound on Dec. 20th, with silver rallying 1.55% higher and gold adding more than 1% on the day.

The week of Christmas saw both metals drift lower but by small increments. Following the holidays, gold fell somewhat sharply on Dec. 30th as it again tested the $2,600 level. To close out trading for 2024, gold settled around $2,620/oz and silver held near $28.80/oz on New Year’s Eve.Continue reading“December, 2024 in Precious Metals, by Everett Millman”

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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Have you heard that the best-selling 1949 survivalist novel Earth Abides finally became a television miniseries?  All of the episodes are now available over at MGM+ and at the computer virus-plagued www.lookmovie2.to. The script writers and producers took some considerable liberties with the storyline, but at least the novel’s basic premise is there… By the way, the novel has been continuously in print since its initial release — now edging on a 76-year print run!

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A thought-provoking and very common-sense John Lovell Warrior Poet Society video: 11th Hour Checklist. JWR’s Comment: John sounds more and more like a SurvivalBlogger with every passing year.

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There are several interesting new listings at the SurvivalRealty.com site, owned and operated by Jonathan Rawles.  Here is just one of them: Strategic Mountain Retreat in Highlands, NC.

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Reader Mike in Alaska wrote:

“Here’s a link you might want to share on the blog at some point. It is free software download for “Radio Mobile” that allows a map of radio propagation at a given site to be modeled and even printed out if needed. Our local ham club uses this software for mapping our repeater coverages in the interior of Alaska.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”