Purely Alpaca Outdoor Adventure Socks, by Thomas Christianson

Purely Alpaca Outdoor Adventure Socks are made with a warm, comfortable, moisture-wicking, odor-resistent blend of alpaca, microfiber, nylon, and lycra. They are machine washable and tumble dryable.

They are priced at $25.95 a pair at the time of this writing from purelyalpaca.com. You may want to think about trying a pair.

The Backstory

My buddy from high school and I have been through a lot together. I was with him when he broke his arm. He was with me when I ricocheted an arrow off a snowman and into the side of my parent’s above-ground swimming pool. I was the best man at his wedding. He was the best man at my wedding. He had a daughter on my birthday. I had a daughter on his birthday. We have quite a bit of shared experience.

A few years ago, my friend began telling me about his wonderful alpaca socks. He said that they were so breathable that he could wear them summer or winter, that they were so odor-resistant that he could wear them a week at a time without laundering, and that they were by far the most comfortable socks that he had ever owned.Continue reading“Purely Alpaca Outdoor Adventure Socks, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: The Easiest Jam or Syrup

The following recipe for Jam or Syrup is from SurvivalBlog reader Mrs. Alaska. She writes:

Fruit jams and syrups are the taste of summer in a jar.

Some jam recipes can sound intimidating, but with only two ingredients, you can make jam.  If it does not gel, then you have fruit syrup.  What is the downside? Give it a try.

Jam requires a bit of patience and attention (low boiling and stirring over 30 minutes or so) and two, three, or four ingredients depending on the fruit.  The easiest fruits have natural pectin ( a jelly-like substance)  and acid (sourness) and just require sugar. That’s it!  Examples of easy, common, jam-making fruit include all citrus, grapes, blackberries, black currants, and, believe it or not, tart apples.      Slightly under-ripe, (tart) fruits are almost foolproof. Other fruits, like stone fruits (peaches, apricots) and strawberries need extra acid (usually lemon juice) and purchased packages of pectin (in the baking aisle).  They are NOT 2 ingredient jams.

SO:  The easiest jam for first-time jam makers is from tart, high-pectin fruits.  Try those above or research the term to find the fruits you favor. (Search “high pectin fruit”)

The first jam I make each year is with haskaps, which are a berry from Japan that I grow in Alaska.  Its taste is between a blackberry and a concord grape.  It has a blue skin and red interior, in a knobby shape like the end of one’s pinkie finger.  This berry also has a high pectin content, which is the jelly-like substance one sees in all citrus, grapes, and some berries.

I dump a gallon of berries into a big pot with ½ a gallon of sugar, and stir often over a medium low flame until the mixture liquefies and thickens.  Many recipes recommend a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sweet, which may make sense with citrus and tart apples but this is too sweet for haskaps and my taste in general.  I encourage new jammers to start with an existing recipe or cut back on the sugar and then taste and adjust to your preference.

Turning fruit juice into jam involves a chemical reaction of the sugar and acid molecules to bind and thicken.  High amounts of sugar or purchased pectin is an easy way to accomplish this, but for my taste, I prefer to simply boil my batch longer, thereby concentrating the flavor as some of the liquid steams off.  How long?  About 30 minutes, depending on how much liquid is in your fruit of choice.  My fruit mixture sheds water, dropping about two inches deeper than its upper line.   You will know that that your fruit liquid will gel when the liquid looks glossy.  First timers: You can measure temperature.  You want about 110 degrees.

BEWARE:  As the liquid heats, it will foam up.  If you have too small a pot, then you will have a hot, sticky mess on your hands.  So make sure that you have about  5 inches of space above your mixture, and keep an eye on the stove, stirring frequently, at a low boil.

When you are finished cooking, pour your hot mixture into hot, clean jars and either pressure can to make them shelf stable, or let them cool and store them in the freezer, long term or refrigerator short term.  Label them frozen, refrigerated or canned for future notice.

NOTE:  If your first batch does not gel, then do not despair!  You have instead created a delicious fruit syrup for pancakes, ice cream, fruit salad, or anything else you wish.  Next time, review what you did and revise.  You can cook it longer or add citric acid — usually in the form of lemon juice, or more closely monitor the temperature.  Either way, you have preserved the taste of summer in a jar.  Rejoice and enjoy.

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Mrs. Alaska blogs at: Alaskauu1.blogspot.com

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

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 rising oil and fuel prices. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson suggested this article: Platinum Market on track to see record 1-million ounce deficit in 2023.

o  o  o

Dave Kranzler, over at Gold-Eagle.com: Gold & Silver Are Facing 2008-Like Conditions.

Economy & Finance:

Moody’s cuts China’s 2024 economic growth forecast, lifts US GDP 2023 expectations.

o  o  o

Over at the CNN perennial cheering section: America is in a factory boom again. Even a recession may not bring it down this time.

o  o  o

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: BRICS Giant Begins Dumping U.S. Treasuries. JWR’s Comment:  China’s holdings of U.S Treasury paper peaked 10 years ago.  Their divestment trend is not a new phenomenon.

o  o  o

“There Is A Default Coming”: Dave Brat Warns Of Economic Path With McCarthy At Wheel.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — September 10, 2023

On September 10, 1955, the television show Gunsmoke began airing on CBS, and by the time it ended, in 1975, the series was the longest-running western on American television.

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On September 10, 1776, George Washington asked for a spy volunteer. Nathan Hale stepped up to the challenge of an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City. Unfortunately, the British captured and executed him. He is probably best known for his last words before being hanged: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” He has long been considered an American hero, and in 1985, was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut. It is good for us to remember that every American patriot and hero from the times leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War would have been considered traitors to the crown and would have suffered much the same fate as Hale had America not won her independence.

Some Very Bad Law: The ATF’s New “Engaged In The Business” Rule

I’ve had several readers write to ask me about the ATF’s new 108-Page proposed “Engaged In The Business” rule. On August 31, 2023, the Biden Regime announced that it is attempting to redefine “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. This rulemaking will strongly amplify and greatly expand on the wording of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BCSA) of 2022.  The latter provides that, as applied to a dealer in firearms, the term “engaged in the business” means “a person who devotes time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to predominantly earn a profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of firearms.”Continue reading“Some Very Bad Law: The ATF’s New “Engaged In The Business” Rule”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text:

You know you are getting old when…

The same model as your first home computer is now on display at The Smithsonian Museum

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provide that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.” – John 4: 5-26 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — September 9, 2023

On September 9, 1087, the English king William I (“William the Conqueror”, pictured) died from an injury suffered while attempting to capture the town of Mantes. He was later buried at St. Stephen’s Church.

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On September 9, 1492, the fleet of Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo / Cristóbal Colón) set sail west.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. 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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  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 $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.
  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 Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, 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.

 

A Local Disaster Network – Part 5, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

Cloud Dancing

Next, we’ll set up the Nextcloud application. Assuming your laptop and Raspberry Pi are still connected to your GL.iNet router and it has Internet access, open up a web browser on your laptop and enter the following address: ‘http://nextcloud.local’ – depending on your operating system and browser you may get a warning that says the connection isn’t private – just click to proceed anyway (or click on ‘Advanced’ and then ‘Proceed’). The first screen that will pop up is the following:

Figure 16: Nextcloud Activation

 

 

 

 

 

You’ll notice that there are two very very very long passwords displayed – the first one is for accessing the Nextcloud maintenance functions (http://nextcloud.local:4443) and the second one is for the default Nextcloud general user account ‘ncp’ (http://nextcloud.local). We’ll change these later on, but it’s absolutely critical that you save them somewhere like in a text file on your laptop for now. If you don’t and can’t remember them you’ll need to go back and re-image the microSD card from scratch.Continue reading“A Local Disaster Network – Part 5, by J.M.”

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:

I had three on-site consulting days, on behalf of two different clients this week. I also went to visit an old friend.  And on Friday,  I attended a gun show. With so much time on the road, I was barely able to keep up with my writing, editing, and ranch work.

Now, Lily’s report…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.

Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,

Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,

And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,

And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense,

And onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate.

And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded.” – Exodus 35:1-10 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — September 8, 2023

On September 8, 1565, the first permanent settlement in what would become the United States of America was formed, in St. Augustine, Florida.

—

Also, in 1943, on this day, Italy surrendered to the Allies in World War II.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. 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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  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 $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.
  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 Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, 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.

 

A Local Disaster Network – Part 4, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 3.)

Cloud Server

Next, we’re going to set up the operating system and Nextcloud cloud application that runs on the Raspberry Pi server. You’ll need to download two or three pieces of software to accomplish this – a utility for loading the Raspberry Pi’s operating system image onto the microSD card, the actual Raspberry Pi operating system/application image file, and a tool for uncompressing the compressed operating system/application image file after downloading it (if you don’t already have something like WinZip or 7-Zip installed). For the Pi’s operating system/application we’re going to use an image called NextCloudPi from GitHub, which is the Raspberry Pi operating system and Nextcloud cloud server application all pre-configured and bundled in one image file. Go to the GitHub download page and click on the link called ‘NextCloudPi_RaspberryPi_vN.N.N.zip’, (or ‘NextCloudPi_[whatever computer you bought]’ for a different kind of computer) where ‘N.N.N’ is the latest version number and save it to your local disk.Continue reading“A Local Disaster Network – Part 4, by J.M.”

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 possibility of another gold confiscation. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Reader H.L. mentioned this, over at Doug Casey’s International Man: Don’t Dismiss the Possibility of Gold Confiscation. JWR’s Comment:  This is just one more reason to have a precious metals portfolio that is heavy on silver. Confiscating all of the citizenry’s gold again would be very difficult, but the logistics of confiscating silver (with 15 times more bulk and weight) would be nigh-on impossible.)

o  o  o

At Gold-Eagle.com: Yields Set To Fall & Gold Set To Soar.

Economy & Finance:

UPS Offers Severance Package to 167 Pilots as Air Cargo Slumps. JWR’s Comments: The “official” announcement of the recession won’t come for several months. But in essence, it is already here, folks!

o  o  o

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: US credit card debt has reached a record high of $1 trillion dollars, with an average interest rate of 20.63 percent, indicating a potential debt crisis.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Peter Schiff: Government Spending Has Bankrupted The US.

o  o  o

Dollar General Plunges On Missed Earnings, Outlook Slashed; A Warning Sign Consumer Cracks.

o  o  o

Consumers Win: Apple to Embrace USB-C with iPhone 15. (Our thanks to reader C.B. for the link.)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”