Notes for Wednesday – August 17, 2016

While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory on August 17th, 1896, George Carmack reportedly spotted nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparked the last great gold rush in the American West. His two companions later agreed that Skookum, Jim–Carmack’s brother-in-law, actually made the discovery.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 66 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating an AquaBrick water filtration kit with a retail value of $250, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  3. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  4. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  5. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. 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,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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).

Round 66 ends on September 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.

Urban Trash: Why and How to Minimize Your Garbage- Part 2, by K.S.

3. Compost/Animal Food

Technically you could differentiate between these two, as some items that you can compost you shouldn’t feed to certain animals. So scrounge two plastic buckets of a size you’ll actually use, carry, and empty, and make sure they have well-sealing lids since you’ll probably keep these in the kitchen. Then, label one Compost and the other Chicken Food (or whatever). Keep them under the sink or somewhere where you’ll actually use them. I’ve heard that compost “rules” have changed and you might be able to compost meat and dairy products now. I probably wouldn’t feed old meat or cheese to the chickens, but maybe you do, so just do what works for you and your animals.

You can probably re-eat a lot of the stuff you’d normally put right in the compost, so consider doing that first. Save old fruit peels for making fruit vinegars, but then compost them later. Apple cores and cuttings can be juiced into a rough sort of apple cider and then composted. Make some soup stock out of the onion skins and carrot ends before composting them. You get the idea.

4. Scrap Metal

You can still do this even if you’re in the city, though you may need to get creative about storing your stash. I don’t know of any metal that can’t be taken to your local scrap yard (readers may be able to chime in, though). Just make sure you sort by type beforehand. If you just put everything in one bin, you’ll lose out on high-dollar metals, like copper and brass, because as far as I’ve experienced you’ll get the dollar value of the lowest-value metal in your container. So, sort out the brass and copper! Also, don’t recycle your food cans, if you do decide to have a scrap pile, but do recycle bottle-deposit cans (see #7).

Post-garage sale free piles can be great sources for scrap. Look for bed frames, old flatware, kitchen items you don’t need (trays/bowls), broken appliances (for the copper coils in the motor), and especially house hardware. (I’ve scored pounds of brass doorknobs and fixtures this way.)

Make sure your scrap containers are solid, not slatted. Then you can toss in small metal bits like bent nails, soda can tabs, and bottle caps. Seem extreme? Yup, but every piece can count.

Wait until you have probably a hundred pounds or more of sorted scrap, and then take your first run to the scrap yard. You’ll get a feel for how much you need to bring in to make a certain amount of money. They should give you an itemized receipt with the weights of your sorted metals and the dollar value per unit (in pounds or tons, probably). Then you’ll be able to gauge how often you want to do a scrap run and how much stuff you should bring to make it worth your while. I think we used to go every six months or so. Follow the rules, be polite, don’t horse around, and don’t try to pull a fast one by hiding low-value metals in your high-value bins!

5. Burn

If you have any sort of backyard or back driveway, rustle up some concrete blocks, a big old stock pot, or a circle of rocks, and start a burn area. Also, start a paper “Burn Bag” in your kitchen. You’ll see major reductions in your landfill trash this way. Plus, you can get rid of personally identifying documents without needing to buy a shredder. I’d suggest diverting items like old bank paperwork to the burn bag, plus stuff you can’t necessarily recycle or compost, like greasy paper towels, dryer lint, old toothpicks and popsicle sticks, tin can labels, used matches, short bits of string, butter wrappers, paper food containers, and pizza boxes. Want to take it to the extreme? You can dispose of some bathroom trash this way (used kleenex, cotton swabs, and cardboard toilet paper rolls, for example). It’d probably be more sustainable, though, to sew some handkerchiefs out of found fabric.

If you want to maintain a little more OPSEC in the summer, just use your burn bag as kindling before a nice hot dog roast or barbecue. That way, if neighbors are curious about the smoke, you have a real reason to tell them, instead of letting on that you’re burning sensitive documents.

6. Free Pile/Donate

Can’t reuse, re-eat, compost, scrap, or burn it? Try donating it to a thrift store. There are none close by? If you’re in a moderate to high traffic area, and this fits with your neighborhood ethos (stay Grey Man), try a free box. The town we live in has a thriving “freeboxing” community, if you know where to look and what guidelines to follow. I’ll have more about how to maximize free stuff in my next article, but for now if you’re looking to give stuff away for free (so that you don’t have to pay to throw it away) here’s what to remember. First of all, your goal is to get rid of something, right? You need to make it easy and appealing for someone to take. Put your clearly labeled “free box” (cardboard is just fine) out on your curb or median grass strip. Don’t keep it on your porch or lawn or you might end up with folks taking your lawn furniture or items on your porch. Keep your free box clean and neat! It’s a big turn-off to find a free box that looks like it’s full of kitchen trash. If you want to get rid of items that thrift stores won’t take, like old plastic and glass food containers, wash them first! Stack them neatly and include lids. You’ll likely have more takers than if you treat your free box as a dumping ground. If you’re giving away clothes or fabric material, wash and fold them, then put them in the box. Keep an eye on your free box; if stuff gets tossed outside of it, take a minute to tidy it up. Put the box away in your garage or otherwise out of sight after a few days, so folks don’t start tossing their trash in it. You may or may not need to advertise (on Craigslist, etc) that you have a free box at your curb. If you feel ambitious, you can use scrap lumber to build a nice “free box” stand with a roof and clothes hanger bar, as some in our city have done.

7. Recycle

If you maximize “trash” flow to strategy streams 0 through 6, you may not need to pay for recycling service. See if you can swing that. Otherwise, if you end up with a lot of nonburnable, non-scrappable, inedible items (like glossy paper ads and some styrofoam materials), recycling may be for you. Though, before you shell out your cash on service, check out three other options. First, see if you can trade with a neighbor to utilize their recycling bin. Maybe if you take it to the curb and back in every week, they’ll let you toss in your stuff, especially if it’s not much. Second, ask your coworkers or your boss if you can bring your recycling to work. (Clearly, this option depends on your personal work circumstances.) Third, see if your town has any kids’ clubs, churches, or craft centers that need donations of art materials. Styrofoam meat trays, plastic yogurt cups, glossy ads, and foil wrappers (all clean!) could be a great help to that group.

Also, don’t scrap or send through recycling services anything that has a deposit! Look at the label or top on drink bottles and cans, and see if it lists your state abbreviation (i.e. “CA”) and then says something like “DEPOSIT” or “5 cents”. Save those items and take them to a bottle-deposit facility, grocery store, or mini-mart. If you take them to a person (as opposed to an automated machine), pre-count your items, politely let the clerk know how many you have (stay under daily limits), and then graciously recount them out in front of the clerk when requested. Don’t ever try to sneak in non-deposit items; or, if you’re new to this and accidentally put in a non-deposit can, be honest and apologize. Over time, the clerk will start to trust you and your count. Build that trust and don’t abuse it, and it’ll pay off in the long term. They often deal with a tough crowd, and your politeness and honesty will put you on their good side.

8. Trash

This should ideally be a last resort, but there are some things that you can’t do much else with. Feel free to offer your reuse ideas for empty ketchup packets, used dental floss, and broken light bulbs! By now, though, your landfill-bound trash bag should be pretty small, as you’ve successfully learned how to divert the majority of the waste you generate to other streams.

Your trash at this point contains one last thing of value though. You now have an opportunity to analyze what you’re still tossing in order to determine how you can find, make, reuse, or trade for that item, instead of buying it and then throwing it away.

For example, maybe you’re still throwing away tea bags. Could you eliminate those from your trash? I think so. First, you’d have to decide whether or not you wanted to keep buying tea (#0). Maybe that’s a “Yes” for you, which is fine. Next, consider if you could reuse/re-eat this item (#1 and #2). Can you make one more cup of tea out of it before tossing the teabag? Then, if it’s really at the end of its lifespan, look at composting the organic matter (#3). Maybe your tea bags have that little staple, string, and tag. Feeling extreme? How about scrapping the staple (#4) and burning the string and tag (#5)? No more tea bags in the garbage!

And what if you’re throwing away juice boxes? Maybe you’re ready to stop buying those (#0). Have you saved and juiced some apple cuttings (#2)? Great! Now you can put your homemade juice in reused plastic or glass containers (#1) and feed the juiced-out apple bits to the chickens (#3).

So, you get the picture. While cutting down your trash might seem like a big endeavor, it will ultimately help you save money for the things that are much harder to get, while building a creative, out-of-the-box mindset in you that positions you for resourceful survival. To be honest, though, while we’ve done every single item on this list, it’s not always easy. You can cut yourself a break on that one late night when hand-washing a sandwich bag might send you over the edge. We’re all human, but don’t give up! Find another creative way to cut down your trash. I think you can do it. I know we did.

Letter Re: Two Things Old-Timers Knew, That You Must Know About Wound Care

There are two things old timers knew that you must know about wound care, if the patient is outside. The wounds of a person or animal all will be affected greatly be these two things. If you are not able to see a doctor or get to an air-conditioned facility, such as a hospital, these two things could save your life. You need to know them.

b1

Two days ago my daughter was riding her beloved pony and our cows were a bit scared by the dog who was faithfully looking out for our daughter. She usually doesn’t ride near the cows. The dog’s actions alerted my husband that something wasn’t right. In the blink of an eye, the bull charged at the pair (pony and daughter), and the pony took a life-saving blow for our daughter. My daughter, by the way, got some pretty good licks in on that bull with a riding crop. Between her blows and the dog, the bull lost. All this happened in a blink of an eye and before we knew what had happened. My husband, who was 200 feet away, was and unable to stop it quickly, though he ran to her rescue, but it was over as quickly as it started. The scene ended with only a wounded pony and one ticked off 10 year old. Don’t mess with country girls or their horses! God smiled down on us and our daughter wasn’t hurt, but we had to act fast to help the pony who had been gored pretty bad. Here’s the two things you should know that could mean life or death for you, your family/friends, or your animals if someone is wounded and you cannot get medical help. This will specifically address wounds that must be treated and healed outside.

b2

  1. The weather is a major contributor for germs, pests, and/or disease. We are in the thick of Mississippi, and it’s August. What do you think is my first priority in wound care, besides cleaning or stopping blood? Bugs! Yes, flies and horse flies are going to lay eggs as soon as they can, and maggots will be all in the wound to take up residence. Even ticks will try to get a spot in an open wound. So after cleaning with (YES) peroxide once and iodine, we then pour Neem Oil right into the wound. You can pour around it, if you do not feel comfortable to use on the wound. It burns like hell, but it gets the job done. This essential oil is known world wide for repelling pests (as it’s a very popular Egyptian remedy for lice), and it can actually stop the tissue from profusely bleeding by slightly cardorizing the tissue. It isn’t as good as clotting cloths or other remedies. It is more for bug repellent and is what we use in our garden. Old timers knew one thing you should never do in summer was to dehorn or do any other things that would open an animal up for pests in summer. With humidity and bugs, you have nothing more than a test tube for infection. Always address this when dealing with a wound that is going to be exposed to the outside elements in summer. On people or animals you should also consider covering it. This is up to you as to the need. Some wounds are much better left open, especially if it is humid outside. Sweat will not be your friend. If it’s summer, treat for pests and consider leaving open to heal. Winter is a much better time to deal with animals and wounds, if the patient will be healing outside in the elements. There are no bugs, and there is less humidity and warmth for infection to grow in. *You must reapply this or another bug repellent daily to keep the pests away.

    Next we called the vet because we could (amazingly) see very clearly right into the wound. It was a very deep gore that went into the shoulder and she had to be stitched up. The cut was about eight inches long and a few inches deep. So this brings us to our next important topic for knowing how to treat wounds outside.

    b3

  2. The wound was easily cleaned and stitched up all nice and pretty. *She did have to have antibiotics because it was a HUGE puncture wound. Anytime you are punctured by animals (or anything else really) there is a need for antibiotics, because other animals and objects carry germs that can be deadly to us. Hopefully, you will not ever need this information, but should you find yourself dealing with wounds on your homestead, with people or animals that will be exposed to the elements, these two things will make a difference in the outcome. – M.M.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Over a Thousand Motorists Stranded by the Flood: Are You Prepped for Something Like This? How long could you survive? – H.L.

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Ron Paul: Election 2016 – Liberty Loses No Matter Who Wins

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Brotherhood-linked leader tells Muslims to change Sioux Falls, convert non-Muslims (VIDEO) – B.B.

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U.N. Peacekeepers, U.S. Embassy Stand Down As American Aid Workers Beaten, Raped In Sudan – C.L.

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Clinton Wants Politicians to Fight American Gun Owners, aka the Gun Lobby “The only gun lobby is the millions of voluntary citizen members of the National Rifle Association, The Gun Owners of America, The Second Amendment Foundation and the thousands of state level, pro gun, groups and associations. All made up of folks like me and you.” – B.B

Notes for Tuesday – August 16, 2016

On August 16th, 1841, President John Tyler vetoed a second attempt by Congress to re-establish the Bank of the United States. In response, angry supporters of the bank gathered outside the White House and burned an effigy of Tyler.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 66 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chrome-lined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating an AquaBrick water filtration kit with a retail value of $250, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  3. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  4. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  5. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. 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,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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).

Round 66 ends on September 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.

Urban Trash: Why and How to Minimize Your Garbage- Part 1, by KS

“Political upheaval. Threats of nuclear war. Violent protests. Imminent economic collapse. And you think it’s important to talk about sorting my trash? Let’s get real. I’ve got bigger things to deal with, and I don’t have time to go all eco-friendly here.”

Sound familiar? Sound like… you, maybe? I get it. I really do. Why spend time doing hippy-dippy stuff, like reducing, reusing, and recycling when you could be going to the range, running tactical drills, deep-stocking your pantry, or armoring your BOV? Well, you need money for ammo, armor, food supplies, firearms, and medical gear, right? And unless you’re one of the fortunate few, I’d imagine cash is in short supply. You could always use more, especially when you find some .22 on the shelf or a great Mountain House sale. I’m here to give you an opportunity to learn how to save your money for what really counts by minimizing what you throw away and by maximizing what you find for free.

This mindset– the mindset of scrounging up what you can so that you can save money for stuff that’s harder to find– is best summed up in the questions that often I ask myself as I wash sandwich bags at the sink: “Would I rather spend my money on ziploc bags or on ammo, on aluminum foil or antibiotics, on new clothes or body armor?” It’s a mindset of creativity, of thinking outside the box, of being okay with not having the nicest stuff, all for a bigger payoff down the road.

So, I invite you to learn about how you can dumpster-dive your very own trash as a way to save money for what counts. We’ll go through eight home waste diversion strategies, discovering what you can reclaim instead of buying. Note that any equipment or tools I mention as ways to minimize your garbage are things I’m assuming you can hunt down for free, so if I write something like “get two plastic buckets with lids”, don’t go out and buy them right away! Start building your urban forage skills and see what you can find for free. Of course, some items are tougher to score than others. (I haven’t found any Gamma lids, junk silver, or coconut oil in seven solid years of dumpster diving.) However, with a little time and practice, you’ll be able to rustle up almost anything you need. (I’ve landed a homebrew setup, cold beer, cash, work boots, and much, much more).

Let’s go through eight main home garbage diversion tactics step by step, and you’ll learn what you can salvage for free.

Don’t Buy, Replace With

Okay, actually, it’s nine different tactics, but this one is just “don’t use”. You can minimize your trash – and cash outlay – by stopping buying certain items, and sometimes substituting for items you already have or already need to buy. I’ll list out some suggested “Don’t Buy” items and offer “Replace With” possibilities. Of course, if you happen to score a sweet Tupperware find or new toothpaste while dumpster diving by all means take them home! Just don’t think you always need to spend money on those things. Every home and family is different though. You may have other “Don’t Buy” priorities than I’ve suggested, and that’s fine. Do what actually works for you. I’ve survived all of the following first things I stopped buying and replaced with the latter:

  • Tupperware – plastic food containers from food you already bought (Yogurt containers are great.)
  • Toothpaste, deodorant, toilet/bathtub/sink cleaner – baking soda
  • Plastic wrap – foil that you wash and reuse, or just put leftovers in old plastic containers or glass jars
  • Wrapping paper – have the kids decorate newspapers or paper grocery bags
  • Clothes – except underwear and maybe socks, try just wearing what you find for free. Wash with hot water and maybe a little bleach before wearing
  • Rags – use free clothes that you don’t end up wearing
  • Furniture – ask friends/neighbors, build out of scrap lumber, find for free
  • Plates, cups, silverware – old glass jars hold drinks just fine, and check garage sale sites the day after a sale to see if unsold dinnerware has been left out for free, or eat out of a pie tin. If you’re serious about saving money on plates, just find something flat-ish and not flimsy. Carve a spoon if you can’t score a free one.
  • Trash can – cardboard box with some tape for reinforcement
  • Trash bags – if your trash can is small enough, use plastic bags from the grocery store
  • Home decorations – drape nice old tea towels or fabric over shelves and tables, put flowers from the yard in old glass jars, have the kids draw stuff for picture frames you make or find for free, decoratively arrange rocks and seashells from the beach
  • Craft supplies – junk mail, toilet paper tubes, catalogs, old bits of string/yarn/fabric scraps
  • Water bottles – wash and reuse old sports drink bottles that don’t have bottle deposit value

Eight Home Waste Diversion Strategies

1. Reuse

You probably already do this to some extent (ever written your grocery list on the back of an envelope?), and now you can think about expanding the scope of the items you reuse. There’s some overlap with the “Don’t Buy” category, too. Start reconsidering how you could reuse items that you’ve just thrown out up until now. Socks have holes in them? Patch with part of another sock, sew into a stuffed animal for a young kid, or put in the rag bin. Knees busted out on your jeans? Similarly, patch with parts from a worse pair of jeans, sew into a grocery bag, or send to the rag pile. Newspaper can be used as wrapping paper, scratch paper, kindling, garden mulch/weed suppressant, and craft material. Wash out glass food containers and lids. (A good soaking can help remove the label.) Then use them as food gift containers, dry food storage, vases, or drinking glasses. In fact, refer to “Don’t Buy” for more similar ideas. You can take it to the next level with some of the following reuse suggestions of items and what they can be used for:

  • Metal cans – cut off both ends, flatten, use as shingles (if not scrapping – see #4)
  • Coffee bags – open to flat rectangle, use as shingles (did this for a broody buster we had to build really quickly)
  • Junk mail envelopes – can cut to uniform size and store neatly as scratch paper
  • Peanut butter jars– wash and use for sourdough starters
  • Toilet paper tubes – cut in half and fold into seed starting containers
  • Plastic grocery store bags – store homemade bread, line trash cans, carry lunch to work

  2. Re-eat

Okay, this might take the biggest mindset shift, but you’ll see some quick results. Imagine your kitchen after getting dinner ready. You’ve got the cutting board out with some onion ends, and you’re sauteeing the onion up for soup. You trimmed the fat off the chicken, and it’s just sitting with the onion peels, waiting for you to throw it away. Fruit salad was on the menu, so you’ve got leftover apple cores and pear tops. And the heel of the bread you’re serving went stale, so that’s gotta go. It’s a typical kitchen scene, huh? Many folks would sweep all this “trash” into the garbage because that’s where it belongs, right? Maybe a few people would compost the fruit bits. I think you can use it all again for your food.

If the leftover bread has gone moldy, though, I’d probably compost it. I guess you could try feeding it to chickens, but that might make them sick. If the bread is just dry and old, crumble or process it into bread crumbs, store in a labeled container in the freezer, and use for meatloaf, breading meat, or turning into a quiche crumb crust. You can use other bread-type bits that way, too. Save potato chip, tortilla chip, and cracker crumbs for really good quiche crusts. I think we had matzoh crumb meatloaf once, too.

One of the best ways to cut your food waste and save money is to start making your own soup stock. Get some sort of big plastic bag or container (old yogurt containers or bread bags work pretty well), label it “soup stock stuff– pork” or “chicken” or whatever, and start filling it with veggie and meat trimmings, bones, onion peels, et cetera. If you really don’t want jalapeno in there, go to waste stream #3 (compost). Store your bag in the freezer, and add scraps to it as you generate them. Basically build the stock to your taste, get a half gallon of trimmings or so, dump the bag in a big stock pot, cover with water, and cook all day. Toss in a bay leaf, too. Do other stuff around the house while your stock simmers. When the stock is done and strained, you could probably pressure can it, or if you don’t have a pressure canner, let the stock cool, pour it into containers. (I like plastic yogurt containers because they won’t break in the freezer if you overfill them). Then, label the container with the date and contents, and store in the freezer. Plan ahead a day or two to thaw a container for making beans. The cost for a few quarts of stock? Nothing. Compare that to the grocery store. What to do with the now-cooked stock scraps? My vote is compost.

Start with these few examples for thinking creatively (and extremely!) about food re-use, and you can start cutting your daily-consumption food budget even more. Maybe eating banana bread made out of stale muffin crumbs and dumpster-dive brown bananas doesn’t sound great, but with practice (and the right spices), you’ll get the hang of turning “trash” into taste. And remember, the money you save on food is money you can divert to items that are more difficult to find or make for free, like ammo armor, or antibiotics.

Letter: Check Yourself for Readiness

Readers,

Are you prepared to handle BIG change? What if China invades the U.S. tomorrow, or Russia drops a nuke on NYC, or global warming causes the U.S. to become the poorest country in the world, or really any other life changing event occurs? Have you thought about what you will do differently? Many people gear up for that catastrophe by storing gear and food in the basement and buying weapons. While that is important, it is not nearly enough. Nothing will make you invincible, but as Curly said, “The One Thing” is your attitude.

I own and run a business that is focused on preparedness and have been coaching others around that theme since I was very young. I grew up outdoors hunting, camping, and fishing. I joined the Marine Corps at 18 and learned some good skills. I joke that with all my training that TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) will hit and I will miss the adventure because a tree fell on me as I was getting out of my hot tub. When the inevitable dark day comes (it does not need to be war or an invasion), it is always helpful to keep things in perspective. Humor is as good a survival tool as anything because it can help us to keep that very important perspective. People will say, “If that happens I don’t want to be here.” Well, you may not get a vote. It may not be up to you, so regardless it may help to think about it a bit.

How many times have you already experienced TEOTWAWKI? You probably don’t even realize that you have already been tested several times. The end of the world doesn’t have to be “THE END OF THE WORLD”. For example, if you lost your job at some point in the past, then didn’t the world as you know it end, if only for a short time? Yet, you’re still here. How did that happen? Everything is relative, meaning relative to a POW, or someone with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or Bruce or wait I mean Caitlyn Jenner; you are in a better position. Things can always be worse, and we often forget that. Maybe you need to check yourself and remember how resilient you really are because of the way that you have handled difficult change in the past. Train and practice all you want, but if you forget that you can make it and thrive, you won’t.

I was deployed to the Middle East in 1991 as a young Marine. The night I hit the rack before our ground assault that ended Desert Storm, I remember thinking tomorrow could be anything, even hand to hand combat. While we all know how well it ended for us, I’m not sure I realized that my attitude of “either I will die or I won’t” was a survival skill, because it just was all I could do. I don’t even recall what gear I had on that day, as it didn’t matter. All that mattered was my attitude. I had a hummer and three Marines with me. I was trained and equipped, but if I went in without that attitude it could have been dangerous for me and those around me.

This past July, my 17 year old son was diagnosed with very serious brain cancer. Upon hearing the news my stomach clenched and I felt like throwing up. Very quickly I reminded myself that “Damn, this is TEOTWAWKI for me and my son! This can go two ways– either we crumble under the weight of this terrible illness and wither away, or we meet the challenge head on and grow because of it. When I received the news I was in the car with all of my kids returning from a day of fishing on the ocean during our summer vacation. After hanging up with the doctor, I turned to my son to give him the news, and I was already proud of him because I knew he would handle it well. That’s survival! That day was TEOTWAWKI, and since then while it has been intense it has forged us. I pray that when the world does fall apart again for me that I can quickly get over the shock and check myself like my son has. That’s survival, not filling your basement with stuff.

The point of this all is to chill out, and while you should continue to train, learn, and practice, the more you carry in your head the less you have to carry in your pack. No matter what, the most important weapon in your arsenal is a good attitude. Remind yourself that you’ve done this before. Yes, make an effort to stock up on things you may need if things fall apart. But while you are inventorying your gear, make sure you inventory yourself, and remind yourself that you have already seen TEOTWAWKI! – Tom

News From The American Redoubt:

Act III – Finale – “a long train of abuses and usurpations…” – Link sent in by J.H.

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Idaho, SWAT destroys home for hours, but it was empty except for a dog. – T.Z.

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Family camping in Idaho saves girl from mountain lion

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ShepherdFarmerGeek writes in:

The independently-made movie “Amerigeddon” is coming to Spokane Valley, Thursday, September 15th. Here’s what the movie is about and the trailer.

The way it works is they need to have more pre-showing ticket sales to guarantee a showing. It’s pretty clever. As of this writing (Sunday evening, August 14) they need 56 more interested people in the next 17 days. There’s GOT to be that many preppers in the greater Spokane area!

The movie was co-written by the son of Chuck Norris and the scenario has to do with the New World Order and EMP. It’ll give everyone something to think about and maybe spur some thoughtful conversations and preparation. Bring your friends, neighbors, and drag your older kids along. There’s NOTHING like seeing a movie to drive home what we’ve been talking and writing about all these years.

The Shepherdess and I are planning to attend. Please forward this information on to everyone you know in the greater Spokane area who might be interested. It will be a stirring challenge to see what the future COULD hold and how patriotic Americans might yet be able to save something of our American values and ideals. Not having seen the movie, I’m not “totally” endorsing it, but it looks good from the trailer. Come join us and let’s watch together!

Trust God. Be Prepared. We can do both! – ShepherdFarmerGeek

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Why We Prepare – The Pioneer Fire 2016

Notes for Monday – August 15, 2016

On August 15, 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities began building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there.