Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” – Romans 10:8-9 (KJV)

How to Make and Utilize the Most Excellent Tinder Sticks For Starting Fires, by D.A.

Okay, when the lid comes off civilization and things are fun again, you don’t want to be the numbskull sending up a smoke signal that can be seen from space, just trying to get a fire going. You want to be the guy who kneels down for a bit and brings forth fire, like Prometheus or somebody that gets things done.

I am going to teach you to make tinder that will stay lit and accelerate your fire. It will be inexpensive, too.

Then you will achieve success in building a fire so you can finally crack open that can of Dinty Moore and be popular again. Your amazement will be towering.

You’re going to need some stuff. However, let’s do this “on the cheap”. Cheap is good. It’s refreshing. Use tools you may have or can get really inexpensively.

Stuff you will need:

1. Big chunk of cardboard

2. Some masking tape

3. Old crock pot

4. Old candles

5. Lumber scraps or culled wood

6. Some hot dog tongs

7. Some zip lock baggies to store your Most Excellent Tinder Sticks

You will need some tools. Since we are in the prepping community, I might not be too far off the mark in assuming that you might have some of the basics. If not, I would start hitting the garage sales and thrift stores. According to my wife, anything that does not bring in money is called a hobby and expenses are rightly scrutinized by the paymaster. Inexpensive is the motto, so I can spend my money on ammo and food.

Tools you will need:

1. Saw, to cut your wood

2. Hatchet to split your wood into Tinder Sticks

3. A bench vise is nice, but it’s not necessary

4. Hammer or rubber mallet

5. Fire extinguisher, so you won’t burn your house down

With regard to the Crock-pot. Do not use the wife’s. You will sleep on the couch for exactly twice the amount of time it takes her to get the cinnamon-berry-wax/pork-roast taste out of her mouth. Don’t worry; I am here to guide you. Go to the thrift store. There will be a Crock-pot there. Buy it. What’d that set you back? Five bucks? See? Now, I’m “the man”.

While you’re in the thrift store, look out for some old candles. Sometimes there are big fat decorative ones. It doesn’t matter. Any old candles will do. Also, garage sales are a good place to get old candles.

Grab some hot dog tongs or an old salad grabber at the thrift store.

On your way home stop by the back end of some stores and get some cardboard. The bottom off a refrigerator box is supreme, but anything at least 3’x3’ will be adequate.

Stop at the lumber yard and buy a culled 2×4. This is a board that is so warped that it is unusable for honest construction. It will probably cost you a dollar or two. Get a dry one, since you want to start fires. Now, they can cut them for you, but it’s like $0.50 cents a cut. So just buy enough cuts to get it home in your car without endangering people on the sidewalk.

So now we start

Clear off a work bench outside so you can get things done. Don’t do this inside, if you like sleeping inside. You will make enemies if you do this inside. Also don’t do this on the ground, because you know the dog will step in it if you do.

Now take the cardboard and make a big tray to work in. This is what the masking tape is for. The sides only have to be a couple of inches tall. Set this aside with a rock on it so you don’t have to chase it down the block.

This tray will catch the wax and keep it from going all over grandchild #3, the dog, and everything else underneath the workbench when you knock over the Crock-pot. This cardboard will also become valuable fire starting tinder to add to your stash, thus being energy and resource friendly, making you look even smarter.

Take out the baggies. Since you are storing this stuff in baggies, you are going to use the baggie to determine the length of your tinder.

Measure your baggie with an eye to placing your tinder in there vertically oriented, like cigarettes in a pack. This allows for the most versatile storage while allowing the baggie to stay closed, which is good. My baggies measure 5 and ¾ Inches from zipper to bottom.

To store the Most Excellent Tinder Sticks effectively, I cut my tinder at 5 inches to allow the baggie to stay closed when I jam a load of tinder sticks in there. Cut the wood into the proper lengths.

Then use the hatchet to split the five inch or so blocks into Tinder Sticks. You want them about ¼ inch square, or the thickness of french fries. This is going to take a bit of time. This is also where a bench vise comes in handy. It makes this step safer.

Put your hatchet in the vise with the blade facing upward. You want about an inch of the hatchet blade showing above the top of the vise. Don’t expose more than that or you will end up on a first name bases with the ER nurse. Then you can split the blocks using the mallet by positioning the block on the blade and tapping the block down on the blade, splitting it. You make a pile of rectangles and split those into Tinder Sticks. This part is the tedious part, and you must remain careful if you wish to avoid unnecessary visits to the Emergency Room.

When you finish, take the hatchet out of the vise before some idiot (probably yourself) puts a hand there.

Next we can get down to business

Put the cardboard tray on the bench. Place the Crock-pot and the tongs in the center of the tray, and plug in the Crock-pot. NOTE: Be careful with the cord. Make sure it won’t be tripped over or chewed on, et cetera.

Next cut a double handful of candle chunks and throw them in the Crock-pot. Wicks, tin wick anchors, and all, just chunk them in there. NOTE: This is the most important part: Make sure the fire extinguisher is handy.

Set the Crock-pot on low. Keep it there. [Editors Note: A double boiler is better, as it guarantees the temperature will not get too high.]

In fact, set the Crock-pot on low, take the knob off, and throw the knob on the roof. Do not become impatient. Becoming impatient will burn your house down. Next, if you have a block plane, you can plane the remainder of your scrap wood. Make a big pile of curly shavings.

So now you have a pot of melted wax. After dunking your finger and the like, you take a double handful of Tinder Sticks and put them in the Crock-pot. Stir them around a bit and use the tongs to take them out and dump them on the tray to harden. Then put in some more sticks and repeat until you are out of the first batch of wax. Dump in some more wax and start over. Do this until you run out of material.

After the wax hardens, you start grabbing the pile of tinder sticks, busting the wax that joins the sticks, and organizing them into groups for baggie insertion. Then, you fill your baggies with your Most Excellent Tinder Sticks.

If you have enough wax, break the curly shavings into the wax by rubbing them over the Crock-pot. This will form an oatmeal mush that you tong out onto the cardboard to harden as the wax cools. I used to use ice cube trays to make cubes out of this stuff, but after a week in the pack they break down to a wax/sawdust granola, negating all that effort. The “granola” is just as flammable and is even more effective when sprinkled into the fire starting base for a flame extender. So instead of involving all that work I just make lumps that I put into bags when it cools.

Now we make waste into cool stuff

Grab some strike anywhere matches and dip the heads in wax before it cools. It helps keep them from lighting on each other in a backpack and helps waterproofing. Don’t get wax all up the stick.

Scrape the wax up from the cardboard and put it in the Crock-pot for the next batch. Cut the cardboard that has wax staining into pieces and put that in some baggies for starting a fire in bad weather.

You can rub the wax on tool handles to preserve them and dip drill heads and other metal tools in wax to keep the edges from rusting.

Now if you don’t want the Crock-pot any longer, out it goes. Or, you can bag it inside a trash bag for next time.

So how do we get that Dinty Moore action happening? We start a fire, that’s how.

Finally, we use our Most Excellent Tinder to start a fire

If you have no teenagers or other minions, you are going to have to gather firewood and kindling yourself. After collecting an impressive amount of both, spend a few minutes breaking the kindling into smaller and smaller bits. The reason behind this is that small twigs catch fire easier, so the larger the kindling pile the better shot you have at getting the wet castle timbers you hauled into camp to light and keep you from freezing. A good thing to remember is that graduating the sizes of your kindling up from itty bitty to thumb size to wrist sized will increase your chances of starting a clean burning fire successfully.

So having gathered and gathered, you prepare the fire base. Take out a baggie of Most Excellent Tinder Sticks and place two side by side about two inches apart. Then lay two more crosswise on top of the first two forming a “log cabin” shape. Repeat until you have a little cabin about four inches high. You can put a piece of paper in the center or light an end of one of the Tinder sticks and start building your kindling on that. The wax and the dried pine will extend the flame time and help get your kindling alight. Stack a nice pyramid of kindling using the flames to guide your placement.

Now enjoy that stew. You earned it.

Letter Re: Pat Cascio’s Product Review – AR-7

Hugh,

Every so often Pat hits a “homer”. The AR-7 review was another very well thought out and informative article by a person who I have much respect for. A couple of points on the current AR7: one the big orange front sight is not a negative, as it is currently manufactured for those of us getting a little older and needing a little help, and that orange blade is just that. Another aspect is to buy at least 10 extra mags for each gun. First, as Pat stated, you can keep one in the receiver and that allows two extra to be stored in the butt stock, for a total of three. Also having extra loaded mags at the range is a big plus. The only negative with this rifle is the slip on butt stock cover; it presents an accident waiting to happen. I have over the years had the butt cover come open when carrying or just turning the rifle upside down and the weight of the components push against the cover and spill out on the ground…NOT GOOD. I wish Henry would redesign a fix for this. For me, I use a piece of black duct tape placed around the butt cap when it is broken down for carry. Also I make sure to carry the rifle in hand or in the pack with butt stock end up. The debate will always be in effect about the 22LR and its ability as a man stopper. My take is that using a CCI stinger hyper velocity round at something around 1600 ft per second is a winner, period. To quote Pat’s bio: “People have been stopped dead in their tracks with a lowly .22 LR, and others have stood after taking several hits from a .44 Magnum. So, there is no magic bullet or perfect gun. Any gun or caliber is a compromise.” This gun is the perfect storm insurance item. For the price, there is nothing on the market even close. – John in NV

Economics and Investing:

Big slowdown coming in auto manufacturers? About Those Record Auto Sales: Let’s Communicate! – P.S.

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The World’s Largest Shipping Company Is Already Preparing For The Next Oil Crash

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It finally happened: 500 euro notes will no longer be produced – DSV

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The Historic Dow Jones-Silver Ratio Points To $300 Silver

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Rail Traffic Depression: 292 Union Pacific Engines Are Sitting In The Arizona Desert Doing Nothing

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader R.M. sent in this video which shows the German people protesting their minister, who has been working to flood Germany with millions of Muslims and has shut down all social media comments critical of the invasion and has jailed people for hate speech who dared to speak out. The video description describes the situation very well and is important, as German people have been cowed by hate speech laws and the guilt of their past wars to not speak up against their dispossession by immigrants and those who want to punish the German people with endless third world immigration. “Get out, Traitor!” – German People chases Minister of Justice Heiko Maas to his Armored Mercedes

He also wanted to remind people of Ann Corcoran’s wonderful site on refugee resettlement as the same process of massive immigration via the refugee scam is happening here, too.

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America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny – Sent in by B.B.

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L.A. deputy suspected of drinking too much disarmed by Sacramento residents. “Sacramento police say the deputy got into another man’s car early Monday on R Street and would not get out. The vehicle owner saw the deputy’s gun and pulled him out, then took his weapon. Sacramento police turned the deputy over to a supervisor and no arrest was made.” – T.P.

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State Dept. delays FOIA request on Clinton email security until ‘AFTER THE ELECTION’ – B.B.

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What fifth amendment? N.J. troopers arrest woman for remaining silent during traffic stop – DSV

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A city shedding blood in her midst, so that her time will come, and that makes idols, contrary to her interest, for defilement! You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and defiled by your idols which you have made. Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute, full of turmoil.” Ezekiel 22: 1-5 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – May 06, 2016

May 6th is the birthday of Tuvia Bielski (born 1906). You may remember him as the main character in the movie Defiance. This movie was based on the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans by Nechama Tec.

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Please lift up our neighbors to the north in prayer – ‘Catastrophic wildfires’ force thousands to flee in Canada

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Today, we present another entry for Round 64 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. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 LifeStraws (a $200 value)
  9. 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 64 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Maintaining Your Household in the Post-SHTF World- Part 2, by S.T.

Wood Stove Cooking

The same recipes that you use in the summer with a wonder oven you can also cook in the winter on a wood stove.

The Ice House Keeping Food Cold or Frozen in the Hot Summer

I do not have ponds or horses and buggies to move large blocks of ice during the winter, so I must improvise.

During summer, when cutting and splitting firewood, this will be done over a tarp so that the sawdust can be collected and saved in buckets.

When winter is full force, I have 10 each of the 20-gallon Rubbermade totes that I can set outside. If these totes are filled at approximately 1/2” with water every couple of days until the the rubber totes are filled to approximately 3/4 full, they will then provide blocks of ice that can provide the cold needed to keep food cold during the warm fall through the hot summers and through the next winter, if placed in an ice house and insulated with sawdust.

An existing shed on my property will become the ice house.

Indoor Plumbing

Outhouses and bucket toilets I feel will be the hardest part for people to adapt to. As a young child I lived for two years with no indoor plumbing. We had an outhouse, chamber pots under the bed for night time use, and a large wash tub for indoor baths once a week. We are all now so used to indoor plumbing, and this will be the biggest adjustment.

Toilets will put large amounts of “stuff” into your septic system, especially if you take in any additional family members. There will be no company to pump out your septic system and place it into the public waste treatment plant.

Outhouse

Yes, I know that most places now outlaw outhouses. However, if you build an outhouse that is larger that normal, it could be disguised as a small storage shed now and then placed in use when it is needed. There are many building plans on the Internet available for free. Depending on the size of your family, you may need two outhouses– one for males and one for females.

I live in an area with severe winter weather, so I plan on having bucket toilets in the house for use during the winter and at night, and then we’ll use the outhouse during the rest of the time.

My plan is to have two bucket toilets in the bathroom– one for solids and one for liquids. Then we will be able to dump them in the outhouse as needed.

WARNING: Make sure that your outhouse is away from your water well or stream.

Trash

Trash wil be a big problem because trash smells, and trash lets your neighbors know that you have supplies. Furthermore, trash attracts animals and bugs. When you are purchasing and stocking your supplies, remove all excess packaging and dispose of it now, while you still have trash service available.

You can build a long-lasting burn box by obtaining concrete blocks and building a box made up of two blocks on all four sides and three to five blocks high. Then cover it with a fine wire mesh.

Staying Clean

Staying clean in a post-SHTF world will no longer be as available as it was in the pre-SHTF world. Staying clean in a post-SHTF environment is dependent upon your water supply, your water management, and also your pre-planning. If you are on city water service with no plan for a water catchment system, you are out of luck. If you are on just a well with electric power or just a water catchment, you must manage your limited water supply. The persons who plan ahead and have a water catchment system and a way to extract water from a well when there is no electricity will be in the best position because you have two ways to get water.

There will no longer be showers or washing your hair every day. For hair, consider stocking some baby powder, as it can be added to your hair and combed through to reduce oily hair. Teen girls will have a real problem adjusting to this.

There is a concern with keeping as much water out of your septic system and drain field as possible. Solar showers used in the house during the winter and used outside during the spring, summer, and fall.

This could reduce the amount of liquids in your septic system by 75%.

A Clean Home

If you are someone, or know someone, whose home is always looks like a model home from a magazine with a place for everything and everything in its place, well in a SHTF situation these people are in for a very big shock. We will have pots and buckets and jugs of strained and boiled water waiting to be added to storage containers or heating to wash today’s dishes and cook dinner. We will have piles of laundry and sewing repairs waiting for us every day.

We will have lots of things that a person would normally put in the trash hanging around waiting for a new use. Examples might include toilet paper rolls that will be used for starting seeds or making fire starters, bits of leftover candles waiting to be melted down into new candles, pieces of cardboard that will be used for fire starting, empty glass jars waiting for a new use as who knows what, empty plastic bottles waiting to be filled for clean water storage, and gourds drying out for use next year.

A Clean Kitchen

A clean kitchen in a post-SHTF world is imperative to keep your family healthy. You will be forced to boil water to wash and rinse your dishes everyday. A spray bottle filled with bleach water or rubbing alcohol will provide excellent sanitation to counter tops when there are no more commercial cleaners.

Bugs & Rodents

Bugs and rodents (a.k.a. mice and rates) will need to be controlled during SHTF. Those that make their own laundry soap have a large stockpile of borax. Borax put in disposable pie pans obtained from the dollar store and placed in empty rooms (rooms empty of pets and small children and the doors closed) will assist in keeping the rodents in check.

Furthermore, you can make homemade flypaper. This is a good reason to save and reuse paper grocery bags.

Carpets

Depending on the apocalypse level, do not count on any electricity. That means there will be no vacuum cleaners and no carpet shampooers. This means dirt and germs and bugs in your carpets and no one to install a new wood or tile floor. If you can not afford to replace all of the carpets with tile or wood flooring now, please consider getting some 5-gallon buckets of primer and paint so that after the carpets must be removed, you can prime and paint the subfloors.

A Trial Run

Summer is almost upon us. Consider a trial run during the summer school break. For just one week, turn off all of the house breakers except the one that controls your refrigerator and freezer. Try living just like they did during the times of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A trial run is an important part of your preparations to practice your skills and to bring out any deficiencies in your preparations now, so that you can remedy them before SHTF.

If you have children, this would make for a great homeschool project and a way for the children to become involved in the preparations and make suggestions. I could just see their written reports about how hard the work was and maybe a few suggestions on how to do things better or a new easier ways to do things or a new design for something.

After the summer trial run, a winter trial run should also be undertaken. In order to make sure that you have enough time to do all of your household chores, you must go back to the pioneer times. Spring, summer, and fall were devoted to growing, harvesting, and preserving food. Winter was devoted to making and mending clothing, soap making, candle making, making homemade remedies for use during all of the rest of the year.

P.S. If you have children and they attend public schools, any such activity like this should be kept quiet outside of the home.

Letter Re: Velcro on Tactical Gear

Dear Hugh,

A very nice alternative to velcro pouches is made by the folks at UW Gear. They use a “tuck tab” feature that doesn’t use velcro, snaps, or buckles. This uses a stiff piece of webbing that “tucks” into the tab on the front of the magazine pouch. There is nothing to wear out here and should be easy to clean if snow or mud somehow gets in there. They make chest rigs, bandoleers, and standalone pouches. To my knowledge, they currently can make these for 5.56, 7.62×39,5.45, and 7.62×51. It is a little bit of a wait time to get things from them, since it’s a small company, but I’ve found their quality and customer service is excellent. I had them make me a custom three magazine bandoleer for my S&W M&P 15-22 magazines, so that rifle has a piece of load bearing gear to go with it. UW Gear’s website: uwgearinc.com – P.B.

Odds ‘n Sods:

A beautiful prayer by film producer/author Alex Kendrick speaking at the 2015 National Day of Prayer in Washington D.C.

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This link is to an article from Tech Insider on the ease with which a penetration team (white hat hackers) completely compromised a power utility within 24 hours. It is a good eye-opener to just how much at risk such things still remain, as well as a good lesson for those of us responsible for computer security generally. How easy is it to compromise a utility? – M.P.

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Baltimore police warn motorists of armed carjackings after deliberate fender benders – Sent in by G.P.

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April Marks 12th Straight Month of Record Gun Sales – G.G.

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Connecticut Governor to Sign Gun Confiscation Bill — Here Are the Key Details – Given how easy it is to obtain a restraining order, this is a very slippery slope. – DSV

Economics and Investing:

Every Time This Has Happened, A Recession Followed

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New banking normal where lending $2 increases GDP by $1: US bank credit up 44 percent since 2008 while GDP up 21 percent.

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Inflation as a Policy (Mises) Excerpt: “…the more evident the evil consequences of inflation became, the more rabid became the demands for still more inflation to cure them.”

Investors Look for Signs of Future Fed Action (Financial Times) Excerpt: “You don’t get the sense going into this [meeting] that there is a solid consensus,” Ms Swonk said. “It is more dissonance than a symphony.”

Fed Set to Keep Rates Unchanged, May Nod to Ebbing Risks (Reuters) Excerpt: “The Fed may be wary of making too strong a judgment on the resilience of the U.S. economy come June until it has more data.”

Beyond the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act: Congress Should Get More Serious about Tarriff Reform (Cato) Excerpt: “…Congress should be thinking bigger—much bigger—than the AMCA.”

International News

Banks Will Reach a Point When They Can No Longer Cut Rates. Is this it? (The Telegraph) Excerpt: “When rates are low or negative, banks face costs for holding deposits. This is passed on to customers any way the banks can, possibly by way of higher charges or by raising borrowing rates.”

The World is Turning It’s Back on One of the Greatest Economic Trends of the Last Century (Business Insider) Excerpt: “There is significant anti-globalization sentiment out there,” said Quinlan. “People are blaming flatline economic growth and wages on the move to globalization, jobs moving to China and Mexico, and automating.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

9 Farmer’s Market Shopping Tips That Will Help You Save Big and Get the Best Produce (Fun Happy Home) Excerpt: “If you’ve never shopped the Farmer’s Market before, here are some helpful tips to help you save big and get super tasty produce!”

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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Liberals believe government should take people’s earnings to give to poor people. Conservatives disagree. They think government should confiscate people’s earnings and give them to farmers and insolvent banks. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one’s property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage.” – Walter E. Williams.

Notes for Thursday – May 05, 2016

May 5th is the birthday of Pat Frank (1908-1964). This was the pen name of newspaper journalist Harry Hart Frank. His novel Alas, Babylon is a survivalist classic. His personal life was marred by alcoholism, but his writing is admired and still surprisingly popular, today. (Alas, Babylon is still in print, after more than 50 years!) As an homage to Pat Frank, one of the settings in JWR’s novel Expatriates is Mt. Dora, Florida, which was fictionalized by Pat Frank as Fort Repose in Alas, Babylon.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 64 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. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 LifeStraws (a $200 value)
  9. 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 64 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Maintaining Your Household in the Post-SHTF World- Part 1, by S.T.

Today I washed clothes the easy way:

  1. I placed the clothes in the washing machine, added homemade laundry soap, and turned it on.
  2. When the washer was done, I transferred the clothes to the dryer and turned it on.
  3. When the dryer was done, I removed the clothes from the dryer and folded everything.

While my automatic washing machine and automatic dryer are working, I am sitting here typing this. I do this three times every week– once for my family, once for my father who can not navigate his basement stairs, and once for my aunt who also can not navigate her basement stairs.

Every household chore in a post-apocalypse environment will also require more work, from hauling or pumping water to chopping firewood to canning food. You will also have additional chores to make and replace the store-manufactured goods that you now purchase, such as bath soap, laundry soap, and making clothes.

Laundry after SHTF is a whole other story. Here’s what it might look like:

Summer Laundry

  1. Bring three 20-gallon Rubbermaid totes outside.
  2. Bring all laundry outside.
  3. Sort laundry by color.
  4. Place homemade laundry soap in tub #1.
  5. Fill all three tubs with boiling hot water.
  6. Place dirty laundry in tub #1.
  7. Using a plunger that is only used for laundry, plunge up and down for about 10 minutes.
  8. Ring out clothes, then place the clothes in tub #2.
  9. Using the plunger, plunge up and down for about 5 minutes.
  10. Ring out the clothes, then place the clothes in tub #3.
  11. Using the plunger, plunge up and down for about 5 minutes.
  12. Ring out the clothes, and then hang on the line to dry.
  13. Start the next load of clothes. Do you have clotheslines and clothespins?

Winter Laundry

  1. Bring three 20-gallon Rubbermaid totes into your basement or onto a covered porch.
  2. Bring all laundry to where the totes are located.
  3. Sort laundry by color.
  4. Place homemade laundry soap in tub #1.
  5. Fill all tubs with boiled hot water.
  6. Place dirty laundry in tub #1.
  7. Using a plunger that is only used for laundry, plunge up and down for about 10 minutes.
  8. Ring out clothes, then place clothes in tub #2.
  9. Using the plunger, plunge up and down for about 5 minutes.
  10. Ring out the clothes, and then place clothes in tub #3.
  11. Using the plunger, plunge up and down for about 5 minutes.
  12. Ring out the clothes, and then hang on the clothes drying rack in front of the woodstove.
  13. Start the next load of clothes. Do you have a clothes drying rack?

Having a few extra kids and plungers to help would be very beneficial, as they each can man and work one of the tubs, and maybe one extra child can also hang and fold the clothes.

The amount of laundry you do will increase post-SHTF, if you are a person who relies upon a lot of disposable products, such as paper towels, paper napkins, toilet paper, and/or Kleenex, because you will have to replace all of these with cloth versions. Do you even have these cloth versions of towels, napkins, and so forth available now or the various supplies needed to make them?

Below are some alternatives to the wash tubs and a plunger method:

  • James Washer, which is $579 without the wringer and $729 with the wringer. The reviews are not very good.
  • Home Queen Wringer Washer, which is $969 plus $175 freight, and it still needs electricity. Further, this machine is made in Saudi Arabia, so I would not count on any repair parts being available.
  • Wonder Clean Washer, which is only $47 and a good idea, but it only holds two shirts. What about the 10 pairs of jeans that need to be washed?
  • GiraDora is a foot-powered washing machine that costs approximately $40. This machine is not yet being produced, and I believe that when it is produced that it will only be available in third world countries. This would be a good option for the families with children and teens, because they could do the laundry with this foot-powered machine. Maybe someone can produce something similar using the metal drum from an existing washing machine. They would be the most in demand person in a Post-SHTF world. I know I would prefer a foot-powered machine to a hand-powered machine.
  • Homemade Washing Machine, which costs $35 + the expense of purchasing and mounting a wringer. This would be an excellent alternative for a DIY person (I would make it larger to accommodate two tubs and two wringers, add a drain hole in the bottom, and buckets (to make water disposable easier). I’d also want to use a stopper. Once the design and pattern is perfected, it would make a great side business selling to the non-DIY type prepper person.
  • The Big Green Washing Machine is approximately $169.95 (wringer) plus an unknown amount for the washing machine and stand. (No price is given on the website.) This is a great option for large families or any families who plan on taking in laundry after SHTF as a potential side business. I think in order to make laundry only take one day vs two days, a second machine would be very helpful so that there would be one for washing and one for rinsing.

Ways to Reduce the Amount of Laundry

Every adult in the house should have aprons, which are used when cooking, doing laundry, gardening, and doing any other chore so that the regular clothes (jeans and shirts) will be able to be worn more than once and up to five times between washings. The aprons will be washed more often. This will also save on the wear and tear of the clothing. Heavy duty aprons should be made from a dark “cotton duck” fabric.

Clothing Repairs

Replacement clothing will not be just a drive to the local Walmart, so you will need to be able to make clothing repairs and to remake clothing into other items. In order to make these repairs, you will need a well stocked sewing box filled with thread, sewing needles, darning egg, cotton embroidery thread (for use to repair socks), iron-on patches, quilting pins, and safety pins.

Cloth Diaper & Female Hygiene Considerations

If you have small children or are possibly planning on having children in a post-SHTF environment, there will be no more disposable diapers or disposable baby wipes. You’ll need to buy cloths for cleaning. So, for the cloth diapers, I suggest washing them separately using the three bucket and plunger system as described above. In the bathroom, keep one bucket (with a lid) ½ filled with water and a tablespoon of baking soda to hold the used diapers until wash day.

A separate bucket system should also be used for any washable feminine hygiene products and washable family cloths also.

The best bucket I have found for this is the square kitty litter buckets because of the hinged lid and the square design allowing it to set next to my toilet, where a round bucket will not fit.

Cover your bathroom sinks with a piece of plywood and add an old fashioned pitcher and bowl for face washing to brushing teeth.

Cooking

Cooking will be another labor intensive job with no electricity and no more store-purchased items, such as cereal or pop-tarts. However, there are ways to reduce the amount of work.

My plan for food is one pot or one pan meals. These include, for example, scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast, and split pea soup, beef stew, chicken soup, or beans all with fresh homemade bread or biscuits for lunches and dinners.

Have you ever cooked a meal on your wood stove? I do this two or three times every winter, just to keep in practice.

Wonder Oven

A wonder oven is a non-electric version of a modern crockpot and a pioneer version of a hay box cooker. You can get a free PDF sewing pattern for a wonder oven online.

This is a great option for the summer months. You just heat everything to boiling for five minutes on your outside or wood stove and then place the pot in the wonder oven for five hours or so. I have ceramic tile floors, which are cool in the summer and downright cold in the winter, so when using a wonder oven in the winter, I place two or three towels under the wonder oven box to help keep in the heat.

The wonder oven can be washed in the washing machine. However, they can not be put in the dryer, so consider adding a loop to both sections to make hanging on the clothes line easier.

The wonder oven is also a great way to contain the smells of cooking food from your neighbors.

Dishes

I will state up front that my new homestead does not have an automatic dishwasher. My old city home did have one, but I washed all of the dishes by hand everyday except when there was a large holiday dinner.

I purchased some good dish pans and use one for washing and one for rinsing. This allows me to dump the water (and any bleach) outside so that it does not go into my septic system and cause problems.

Two Letters Re: Velcro on Tactical Gear

Hugh,

My experience with the hook-and-loop closure system is, that it works fine while it is new and clean, but deteriorates quickly. Lint is one of the biggest enemies, along with cheat grass and other vegetable contamination.

We have velcro on a camera case closure, and one time it came in handy when a moose was headed toward us with its hackles up. Zip, and the moose made a 90-degree turn to the left and trotted away.

But in situations where the noise could draw fire, a snap is usually less loud. Better yet, unsnap your retainer early on, before the sound is so likely to telegraph your intentions. Practicing damping the sound of snaps by applying finger pressure to the metal, and making a slow, controlled release of the popping parts. (Same applies to the safety controls on weapons. For example, the “AK clack” can be overcome by lifting the lever away from the receiver while moving it; and the clicking of the hammer when cocking external-hammer long guns can be eliminated by holding the trigger back while cocking the hammer. Same goes for the old knob-cocking single-shot .22–pull trigger, cock knob, release trigger.

Years ago, my father got a Leatherman Supertool that came with a nylon belt pouch. The closure was velcro, and failed in a short period of time. So, we put a snap in it, and the pouch is still working–at an age of about 17 years. The velcro is still there, but is completely non-functional.

Shoes are another item that many of us have had experience with. Velcro straps instead of laces. I my experience, they collect lint, hair, vegetation, and get to looking ratty well before the rest of the shoe wears out.

So, each to his own. I like snaps, side-release buckles, leather straps with buckles, buttons, and button studs. Zippers are nice to avoid, and velcro is a problem to be fixed. – C.

o o o

SurvivalBlog reader J.R wrote in with the link to this method of solving the Velcro noise issue.