Notes for Friday – April 01, 2016

April 1st is both April Fool’s Day and (unofficially) Molly Ivins Day. The latter refers to this key verse: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1 KJV)

April 1st, 1886 was the birthday of Arthur W. Pink, who died 15 July 1952 and was an English Christian evangelist and excellent Reformed Biblical scholar. It was his meticulously referenced arguments in his book, The Sovereignty of God, that first convinced JWR of the truth of the doctrine of Election.

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Today, we present the first 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 both 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)

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.

No Way!- Part 1, by J.P.

This is a letter to my fellow Americans. My heart is to help Americans see that which is coming.

Okay, take a breath, slow down for a moment, open your eyes, and take a good look. What do you see, what do you hear, and then what do you feel? Something isn’t right. What happened to safe streets, children playing outside alone, and walking downtown to the movies on Saturday afternoon. Why are all of the house doors locked all of the time. Where did our America go? English, who speaks that language? When are we saying the Pledge of Allegiance with our hand over our hearts or The Lord’s Prayer, if you can remember that far back?

America is in trouble, and you are America. America is this large glob of people living on a big lot interconnected with roads, planes, trains, wires, and wireless tentacles keeping all related to each other in one form or another on a day to day basis. It’s quite a large metabolic mechanism to keep in check and working all together in somewhat melodious harmony. Well, the harmony part is getting a little weak, which then makes the whole thing a little weak. Harmony is what Americans were all about. (Notice the key word– were.) Family is America’s backbone, and when the backbone is weakened, America becomes endangered. She loses her harmony and she becomes weak and negligent. We’re so involved with the movie of life, we have stopped paying attention.

It’s time to pay attention folks! The title of this article– “No Way”– is like saying “I can’t”. “Can’t” couldn’t do anything, the saying goes. “No way”, or is it “Yes way”, there is something sneaking up on you, and you need to pay attention and take your eyes off the movie of life for a moment. If you get caught unaware, you won’t be finishing the movie. If that happens, then you will have to contend with the “Oh No”, so to speak.

You have stuff to get done. It’s just not what you are thinking. What could that be; life is good, and all is well. All is not well, my friends. There is an America who has lost its harmony and has become negligent of its foundation. When you don’t take care of your home, it will eventually fall apart from outside forces– rain, wind, sun, bugs, dirt, and, you know, the usual stuff. Other outside forces are chipping away at America. She has become vulnerable because she has become negligent. She is not in harmony and her foundation is becoming weakened. Weak foundations are frail and do not have the strength to resist outside forces. Yes, you got stuff to do alright. It is defending the foundation.

Let’s be honest. There are forces in the world that hate America, hate Americans, and want us destroyed. Those forces represent the worst of evil that can be imagined. There is good, and there is evil. That theme runs through almost every movie we watch. Evil exists, and we must stop thinking, “No way. We are the good guys, and good guys always win in the movies.” Yes they do but not without a fight. What fight? A fight for your family and for America. America is weakened and you are in a weakened state. Furthermore, the idea of “No way” is in your head. Can you and your family resist outside forces who want you gone? I dare say, you cannot resist, because you are being caught unaware and unprepared to react to a surprise! Outside forces are sneaking up on us, slowly, so as not to be alarmingly noticed. However, if you would stop and listen, you would notice. You would notice that your foundation is weak, and you would notice that you are not prepared to react to a surprise. The world of evil is not going to announce its intentions. They will be a surprise, which you will have to react to. You will, of course, react with shock and then maybe panic, if you are not prepared.

Are you prepared? For what, I don’t know. In Boy Scouts, I was taught to be prepared for anything. What is anything? Anything is whatever it takes to survive an incident, whether it be a scratch falling off your bicycle, a 10 car pile-up on the interstate, or a Midwest tornado. Being prepared means having the mental capacity and resources required to deal with an unscheduled event. What are you supposed to be preparing for? Well, I don’t know. You say, “What could possibly happen?” Then, you are one of those “No way” people, eh, where nothing bad is going to happen. That is why you are not prepared for surprises. Surprises only happen to other people, but if you got this far in the article, maybe you are beginning to stop and listen.

Listen. Surprises do happen. Surprises can be anything from a short scare to something that results in death. Surprises really don’t care about you and whether you are prepared. The funny thing is that when surprises pick on prepared people, the outcome gets kicked in the teeth. The surprise got surprised!!! Tuck that away in your brain: surprise the surprise! Prepared people are fighters; they choose not to be victims. So, are you a fighter or a victim. That’s gonna take some figurin’. Here’s a news flash: If you choose not to be a fighter, you will become a victim, sadly maybe a dead one. Prepared people are ready to react to unforeseen circumstances. Can you prepare for anything? No, not really, but you can make a big dent and increase your odds greatly of not becoming a victim. Of course, when you set yourself up as a victim (through neglect), you have given evil the opportunity to prevail. I choose not to be a victim, and I choose to prevail over evil. What do you choose?

Choose to Prevail

Well, hello. You must have chosen to be a prevailer, since you are reading on. Good for you. America needs you; she is lost without her fighters. If you have ever watched an old 1950’s Superman episode, Superman stated that he was fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way”. That’s our America. Let’s save her from neglect and destruction. No one is going to do it for us. We are America. We are her fighters. We the People will fight for “truth, justice, and the American way”. So, you are signing up for that, yes?

Okay, “We the People”, let’s get busy. You got stuff to get done. You are a fighter, and you are going to be prepared. Evil is not going to prevail, and you are! You are going to prepare, and you are going to stop and listen so as not to be surprised and be caught unaware. You will be ready to react with your retrained attitude of “I can” and will gather resources, which will help you and your family come through unannounced surprises. America cannot survive without her people taking responsibility for their country. It belongs to you, not evil. You are the keeper of America. She is counting on you!

What Could Surprise Us

What are the surprises that we should be preparing for? Nobody knows what will happen, but there is enough history to remind us that something surely will happen to a neglectful people. No nation can endure with negligent inhabitants. Past nations have fallen due to neglect and future ones will, as well. What will happen? You ask, what will hurt us and what harm can an outside force exert upon us? What will hurt us is no food, no water, and no money. Yeah, that would hurt! Yes, it would. How would the U.S. get to that point? Well, the U.S. is in great financial debt, maybe that volatile financial system will break. Our borders are open and lots of bad guys are walking across it daily. There are bad guys who are coming in legally, who are also able to do bad things at their choosing. Bad nations are getting nuclear weapons and aerospace capabilities. That’s a dangerous combination. The bad guy “computer geeks” are breaking into our weakened computer systems. A lot of things can be broken, since our nation is controlled by computers and the Internet. There are electric systems, water systems, financial systems, and mass databases that can be damaged. We give the bad guys free worldwide communications service via the Internet and social media. There is much opportunity and means for the bad guys to break things that will hurt us. A nation, whose people only have two weeks of sustenance on hand, are extremely weakened and vulnerable. We can live without money but not without food and water. It seems we are wide open for a big hurt, and the evil forces are inclined to hurt us.

Worst Case

Let’s now go worst case, the electric power goes off. That would really hurt us. How could that happen? A nuclear attack, a computer hack, or the local destruction of our power grid primary transformers. A nuclear attack causes an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which destroys all electronics everywhere. They have already computer-hacked many systems worldwide. No system is impervious to malicious intruders. What all this means is that if the power goes down, “Houston, we have a problem.” Yes, it’s a very big and a long one– way more than two weeks. That’s all the food you got, right? What are you gonna do after that? How much water do you have? You have two weeks worth, for drinking, cooking, toilets, laundering, and bathing. That’s a lot of water needs, eh? Twenty-four water bottles is not gonna get it done. Of course, beyond the water issue, all of the food in your frig is lost. Oops!

There’s no power, as Schumer has hit the fan! With no preparations, panic is the next mode you will be in, guaranteed. You say, “No way”? Sorry, Yes, way! Panic ensues, due to no resources to help you react to the surprise. You have no mental training and no written plan to read and implement. Of course, you will be living around thousands of other Americans also with the “No way” plan in place, and they will all be in the same panic mode. Now, the mass population is in panic. Nothing good is happening and FEMA is not coming to rescue you. This will become the worst day of your life, and all will be downhill from there. Fortunately, you are now an “I can/Yes way” person. Schumer is still spewing out of the fan, but at least you, the fighter, have a chance, which is better than no chance, in my book.

The Work of a Fighter

So, what is a fighter supposed to do? Prepare your mind first. You have to transition from a follower to a leader. Leadership takes courage and perseverance. There is a big job ahead of you and the time to accomplish it is shortening. Train your mind to know trouble may be ahead; times may become very difficult, and sacrifices will be required. Any generation, preceding our times, had to fight and sacrifice to win. Some had to die, but our American heroes were never victims. If power goes out, you will have a plan in hand, made certain preparations, gathered resources, and trained yourself. Any war America ever fought required all of these things.

Your mind’s capacity to perform under stress will determine your ability to protect you and your family. You will need a plan of what you are preparing for, what will be needed, and who and when it will be implemented. Get some notebooks to put your planning notes in. Do not keep them in a computer that may not work in an emergency. Use the Internet as the resource to learn about the things your family needs.

Now, I must instill a little fear into you. Fear is good, if it gets you moving in the right direction. Fear should not paralyze you but rather guide you carefully to a better outcome. Fear can actually protect you, if it is under control. So, if you have enough warning about things that will drive you into deep fear, you can adjust your pre-planned response ahead of time. Your home basically has about two weeks’ supply of living stuff in it, right? Grocery stores will immediately be stripped. Remember, the terrorists have just knocked down the power grid. Consider these immediate issues thrust upon you:

  • Toilet paper is gone. Now what?
  • The toilet has no water to flush with. You know where that’s going.
  • Hygiene articles– toothpaste, soap, shampoo, mouthwash, et cetera, and tampons (a really big problem)– are not available.
  • Water is unavailable. There is no power, so no running water. Those 24 water bottles are gone. You need to flush, wash, cook, drink with what?
  • Refrigerator’s food all spoiled in a couple of days.
  • Medicine, such as those for your blood pressure, pain, et cetera, and also insulin and antibiotics, will run out with no drug store to go to.
  • Smokes get smoked. You won’t die but you will become instantly frantic when they are gone.
  • Alcohol, well, if you have a drinking issue this will rock your boat for sure.
  • First Aid is something you don’t really miss until it becomes necessary and there is none.
  • Baby needs– diapers, milk, baby food won’t be available at the story.
  • Environment concerns will hit with no heating or cooling.

That’s just the tip of the ice berg. These are the things you will immediately be confronted with when the power goes out. I hope your heart rate has just increased a few beats. It gets real scary real quick. If you have not prepared, you will be stricken with panic instantly, and the whole neighborhood will be in the same mode. A really big mess, indeed, has ensued.

Letter Re: Prepper Auctions

HJL,

In my 26 years as an auctioneer I have conducted over five of these type auctions. Three were defaulted storage auctions. Normally, we don’t know what we have until the door is opened. The first one that I remember was around 1993. It was a 10 X 20 unit. In it were three crossbows, boxes of climbing gear for mountain climbing (crampons, pitons, ropes, and harnesses), first aid kits with blood expander, packs and pack frames, firearms, various brands of dehydrated food, small cook stoves, and so forth. The next one I remember was a 5 X 10 heated unit full of new guns, ammo, packs, food, portable gasoline-operated winch (it worked off of a chainsaw engine and was new from factory), and many other items. The third was a 10 X 15 unit where the person had passed and the relatives said, “Sell it.” It was full of over 100 boxes of books on every subject imaginable, with many on the same subject by different authors. Another was an estate where there were over 75 firearms, many new unfired but in odd calibers, and literally a ton of ammo; some was from the factory and some re-loads. There was reloading gear, powder, NVG, several binoculars and monoculars for range finding, books, brass, lead, lead casting items. It took four auctions of about three hours each to sell it all. In today’s era, the younger relatives don’t want to deal with the eccentricities of Mom or Dad and will dispose of years of accumulation of what is to them “useless junk”. Having read Patriots and several other books about four years ago, I have come to appreciate these type of auctions. If you have the time, farm estate auctions as well as storage auctions can be a place to find many items for prepping. For me and my wife, even though we are auctioneers, we cannot pass up an on-site farm estate auction. – Prepper in ANC

Economics and Investing:

71,777,758 Enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP; Up 14,478,342 Since Obamacare Exchanges Opened; 1 for Every 2 Americans With a Job – B.B.

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Price Controls May Be On the Way

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

California Audit Reveals Pension Debt Grew by 2,000% (Breitbart) Excerpt: “With the addition of the GASB’s required balance sheet adjustments, each of California’s approximately 12.7 million households now is on the hook for about $31,904 in pension obligations.”

Study: Big Banks Don’t Have Enough Capital Cushion (Washington Examiner) Excerpt: “In other words, big banks such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley would have to increase their capital levels by as much as 40 percent, on average, to be adequately capitalized.”

Price Controls May be On the Way (Mises) Excerpt: “Market forces want to drive prices down, while central banks attempt to prop them up. So what to do when central banks aren’t getting their way?”

International News

Japan’s Negative Rates a Looming Headache for Central Banks (Business Insider) Excerpt: “Negative yields make it a challenge to calculate a bond’s fair value, the returns it can be expected to generate through maturity. Market participants say wide spreads between bids and offers also complicate trading, and increase volatility.”

Can Anything Rescue Japan from the Abyss? (The Telegraph) Excerpt: “Having decided to carry out the most radical experiment in monetary stimulus in modern history, buying up 80 trillion yen in government debt every year, there is now increasing disquiet within the ranks of the central bank.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

The Self-Reliance Manifesto: More than 300 Resources to Guide You on the Path to Radical Freedom (The Organic Prepper) Excerpt: “Self-Reliance. It’s a revolutionary word these days and I thought it deserved a manifesto.”

How to Stop Wasteful Spending: Follow the Money… (Clark Howard) Excerpt: “…no single, big ticket item that was an out-of-the-ordinary purchase. In fact, far too many of them looked all too familiar… and frequent.”

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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:

SurvivalBlog reader J.W. sent in this interesting article on Power Water Networks that were popular during the second half of the nineteenth century. This might be a usable skill for performing work should TEOTWAWKI happen.

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Some of these questions are so basic that it is truly scary to think that these are the next leaders of the world – or not. Depressing Survey Results Show How Extremely Stupid America Has Become – Sent in by B.B.

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Make Vinegar From Apples. This can be used for anything except “pickling”, which requires the use of known acidity. Sent in by D.S.

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Privacy Alert! Verizon is going to tell people where you are – again. Didn’t they just agree to pay the FCC $1.35 million for something like this?

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50 Clever Ways to Reuse Your Trash and Not Play into the Throw-Away Society – Learning again what our grandparents already knew. – DSV

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Americans have the mistaken viewpoint that Lady Liberty is only a peacetime luxury who is ill-equipped to fight the nasties. Therefore, they reason, we need an equally nasty Big Brother. Americans have forgotten that Lady Liberty is one ferocious mother when protecting her children.” – Mary Ruwart

Notes for Thursday – March 31, 2016

March 31 is the birthday of economist Dr. Walter E. Williams, PhD., who was born in 1936.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 63 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 both 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)

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 63 ends on March 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.

Thinking About Fitness and BOB, by S.B.

I like being prepared for whatever comes my way. That doesn’t mean I know what’s coming, but simply that I’m as well prepared as possible to deal with situations that may arise. In so doing, I pay close attention to my surroundings, whether they are immediate, in the micro sense, or globally in the broader sense. I consider this critical to preparedness and the ability to act when needed. Paying attention to myself is equally critical. Having the mental capacity to assess the situation and devise a plan is one thing. Having the physical ability to carry it out is something completely different. Physical fitness is critical, especially if you envision your situation involving bugging out and carrying the provisions and defensive tools necessary to sustain you even for a short period.

Personally, I have always enjoyed physical fitness and being in shape, beginning at the age of 12 with my first set of weights. By age 18, I was enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and a life of physical preparedness took on a different meaning. It meant I might have to rely on my physical abilities to save my life, or someone else’s. Today, 31 years later, in a world of incredible uncertainty and peril, no fewer challenges exist. Now, however, I’m a 49 year old, married, father of girls, and fitness is a much harder game yet equally, if not more, important to my preparedness.

Throughout my life I have maintained an affinity toward personal fitness through a number of hobbies and activities, such as weight training, ice hockey, downhill skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and archery hunting in the Colorado mountains. At the age of around 45, I realized the drive to stay fit required a challenge to keep me engaged. So I signed up for my first Tough Mudder Challenge being held at Beaver Creek Ski Resort in Colorado. I began following the P90X workout series and literally changed my aging body over the next six months, getting myself ready for Tough Mudder. In September of 2012, I completed the 13+ mile obstacle course, traversing the Colorado mountains without significant difficulty for one simple reason. I was in shape, because I had properly prepared.

Following that event, I knew another challenge was needed for the next year. I found it while reading the pages of SurvivalBlog, where I ran across a submission regarding the GORUCK Challenge. At the GORUCK.com website, I learned about their challenges, the background of the Cadre leaders, and the challenges they prepare. After that, I was all in. This led to months of hard training, much the same as before. Nine months of time in the gym, P90X in the basement, swimming laps in the pool, and some form of physical activity five or six days per week put me in the best shape of my life and ready for that 2013 September night.

Without going into all the details of a GORUCK Tough Challenge, I will say that it was tough. Weighing over 150 pounds meant I was required to carry a pack containing six bricks, slightly over 36 pounds, not including water or food. Our cadre was also required to carry a 25 pound team weight, a full 8-gallon water jug, and of course a U.S. flag. We started at 1:00 am, and throughout the next 14 hours we navigated 15 miles, carrying “casualties” and their packs, railroad ties, walking with only one shoe, or being required to carry our pack (or packs) using only one strap. If you think carrying a 36+ pound pack on each shoulder with one strap and one shoe on your feet for two or three miles is simple, give it a whirl. You will find it isn’t easy, but it will prepare you for that time when you need to. As I said, the GORUCK Tough Challenge was just that– tough. Our cadre finished with the entire group of 33 starters, and along the way I learned a few new things about challenging others and myself in an unfamiliar environment. The challenge tested not only fitness but also mental willingness to push beyond what is considered “normal”. Ultimately, it was a great experience, which I highly recommend.

Earlier, while researching the GORUCK events, I learned the founder and his buddies had once run a Tough Mudder Challenge wearing weighted packs. That sounded pretty challenging, and so I made my own decision to finish a Tough Mudder Challenge in Colorado carrying a weighted pack.

Unfortunately, my plans were altered for me over the next year. While practicing for archery hunting season during the summer of 2014, I noticed the strength in my right arm was off, way off. In a fairly short period of time, my right bicep strength diminished so badly I could no longer do a single bicep curl using an eight pound weight. No amount of chiropractic, acupuncture, or deep tissue massage helped pinpoint the problem, so it was MRI time. By late July 2014, I was undergoing shoulder surgery to repair a torn bicep ligament. I spent a full nine months after the surgery rehabilitating and resting my shoulder and body. Fortunately, the surgery and rehabilitation were successes, and in early June 2015 I was able to resume preparing myself for Tough Mudder 2015 being held in late August at Snowmass Village, Colorado.

I had determined I would carry my GORUCK pack containing six bricks, with two additional five pound plates, making the total weight 47 pounds. This decision came from the research I have done regarding the more difficult GORUCK events, which require a minimum 45 pound pack, excluding food and water. I figured if the Special Forces guys at GORUCK have it figured out, I would follow their plan.

On September 12, 2015 I finally ran, and completed, the Tough Mudder Challenge at Snowmass. This time the event was 11.5 miles with 18 obstacles scattered throughout the course. Each obstacle required something different, such as climbing, crawling, submersion in an ice water pool, or team-carrying heavy logs. The course traversed the mountain, requiring a climb from the base to the summit twice, but after more than 4.5 hours I finished the course, with a couple of good friends at my side. I can assure you, this time it was not easy.

I’ve had several months to reflect since then, during which friends and family ask the same question. Why? It’s a fair question, considering there were thousands of people at Tough Mudder and I would reasonably guess not five carried heavily weighted packs. My answer is always the same– because it’s a challenge and I can succeed. However, the real answer is deeper.

As I stated earlier, I have always enjoyed being in shape. But, being in shape and being prepared to travel long distances, sometimes at speed for prolonged periods while carrying heavy weights, are two different levels of fitness, I can assure you. I trained hard for my first Tough Mudder and GORUCK challenges. However, when I carried a pack for TM2015, I followed the P90X routine for only three months, after a full year off due to injury, surgery, and rehab. This meant I was at a decent fitness level at which I believed I was capable of finishing the event but not at peak conditioning. I can honestly tell you, the next morning I absolutely did not want to put my shoes and pack on for another 11-mile traverse through the mountains.

But what if I had to? What if, rather than being the crazy idiot my friends joke about having carried a pack at Tough Mudder, I was instead carrying 50-ish pounds of critical items, such as food, shelter, clothing, ammo, knife, assorted survival components. Are you counting the pounds as they add up? Did I say ammo? How much of that do I need? That stuff is heavy. What weapon am I carrying? The sweet Armalite AR-10T Ultra in 300 RSAUM will punch big holes at great distances, but it also weighs over 15 pounds and will certainly be left behind. The same is true for that cool 15” commando knife weighing in over three pounds. Remember, what goes in the pack has to be carried along with anything else you strap on, dangle, tie, or otherwise attach to your body, and it all adds up quickly. How many people are in your group? What can they carry? My family members consist of three small-framed women, who can’t carry anywhere near what I can, but they need all the same considerations.

Also remember, your provisions may also go away fairly quickly. Water, food, ammo, could all diminish faster than you may want, which means what? You might be required to carry more of some items, depending on the circumstance.

The bottom line to this giant story is that weight is a killer and your life may depend on how you deal with it. Whether in the form of a spare tire from too much good eating, or more “stuff” in your pack than you can reasonably carry, it is your burden to deal with and plan for. Extra stuff can be dispersed or left behind, but extra personal weight is all ours to bear. If you’ve determined in your mind that you’re bugging out when the SHTF, you’d better pack wisely and be physically capable. If you’re in a situation where you really have to get out (think urban setting), you had better be able to move quickly or have a good backup plan.

The idea that we can jump up and throw our BOB over our shoulder, bounding across the countryside with weapon in hand and the rest of the party in tow, makes for a great Hollywood story. Reality sets in when you’re six miles in, having kept a brisk pace the whole way, and you face another mountain peak to climb and there’s another behind it and another.

Letter Re: TATP

JWR,
Regarding the Brussels terrorist incident: While I don’t doubt that TATP was used, something is wrong with this! TATP is an “entrophic”; I believe that is the word, a reaction. There was lots of gas but no heat or fire. The Brussels explosions show fires in several areas. Something else must have been used in conjunction with TATP. The question is what and how did “something else” get past the sensors, dogs, et cetera?

As a retired deputy, I still have several law enforcement contacts. Several months ago I was talking with one. He mentioned they were being trained/briefed/educated on a new type of explosive anyone could manufacture at home; it’s a combination of H202 and Acetone. didn’t think much of it at the time, but now it is abundantly clear that there was something afoot. The shoe bomber reportedly used TATP, but there was no particular outcry about it at that time. It makes me wonder about “why now?”

As a former DIA employee told me years ago, nothing in government happens by accident; something about the sudden emergence of TATP makes my hair stand on end. And from what little I know about the manufacture of it, it’s about as safe as lighting a cigarette while making meth! Someone, somewhere, has a hidden agenda where this stuff is concerned and I’ll bet we, the people, will be the “recipients” of their largess in making us safer! – Retired Deputy

Economics and Investing:

SILVER vs. GOLD: 2 Must See Charts

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23 Percent Of Americans In Their Prime Working Years Are Unemployed – Sent in by B.B.

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Junk Territory: US Corporate Debt Ratings Near 15 Year Low (CNN Money) Excerpt: “In the past four years, S&P has assigned a single-B rating to 75% of companies accessing the debt markets for the first time. That rating is just one notch up from triple-C, a rating given to companies with a high probability of default.”

School of Debt: How to Bankrupt Public Education, Chicago-Style (Bloomberg) Excerpt: “Today the Chicago public schools are in such dire straits that officials from the Illinois governor down wonder aloud about its solvency.”

Chicago’s $63 Billion Debt Burden (Illinois Policy) Excerpt: “All that debt has led Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade Chicago’s debt to just three notches above junk status. Chicago’s bonds are now rated the lowest of the nation’s biggest cities, other than Detroit.”

Lankford Targets Trump’s Historic Hotel (Government Waste Fraud and Abuse) Excerpt: “Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) targeted GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s historic hotel project in Washington, D.C. as an example of wasted tax-dollars, arguing that taxpayers will help foot the bill with $40 million in credits through the National Historic Tax Credit.”

“Deeply Troubled” DHS System Blows Millions, Feds Want Extra $1 Bil (Judicial Watch) Excerpt: “Years after the U.S. launched an automated Homeland Security system essential to keeping the nation safe, it’s a malfunctioning flop that’s so far swallowed a mind-boggling $1.7 billion and needs an additional billion and several more years to perhaps get it to work. That’s not even the best part.”

International News

China Owns the Canadian Real Estate Market: Chinese Account for One-Third of All Vancouver Home Sales Volume in 2015 (My Budget 360) Excerpt: “The Canadian housing market makes the U.S. housing bubble seem like a tiny pricing discrepancy.”

The Dollar Has Been Shanghaied (Daily Reckoning) Excerpt: “Having multiple central banks manipulate expectations and coordinate policy behind the scenes is complex. These efforts are doomed to fail because of unintended consequences and exogenous shocks. But that won’t stop the big brains from trying.”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Hackers Posing as Company CEOs Trick Workers Into Handing Over Information (Clark Howard) Excerpt: “Just in the last six months, $800 million has been lost….”

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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:

Camping Survival posted a canned food shelf life video that mentions and takes place in their new store. If you have questions on the longevity of your food, you might want to take a peek at it. (Or perhaps you might just want to see their new storefront/warehouse.)

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So much for man as the major cause of pollution: Volcano erupts in Alaska, sends ash 20,000 feet into air TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles – Sent in by RBS.

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Some amazing pictures. This is what I call “off-grid” – Forest Ranger Spots Hidden Cabin In Woods, Finds Creepy Mystery Inside – J.J.

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Frankenmosquitoes About to Be Released Previously released in Brazil, the number of mosquito eggs dropped by an impressive 92%, yet the original reason for the release was dengue fever and there was no reduction in the number of cases. There are also concerns of other side issues. – D.S.

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Muslim hackers infiltrate water utility’s control system, change levels of chemicals used to treat tap water The report has been scrubbed of location data, but it sounds like it took place in the U.S. – B.B.

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All you need is LOVE to stop ISIS says Facebook’s founder. He believes the “only sustainable way to fight back” against the attacks is to “create a world” where everyone “feels cared for and loved”. – T.P.

Notes for Wednesday – March 30, 2016

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a District of Columbia police officer. Known for his quips and unaware of the injury to others at the scene, President Reagan walked into the hospital, despite his wound, and was heard telling his wife, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”

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Today, we present another entry for Round 63 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 both 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)

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 63 ends on March 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.

Lessons Learned at a Prepper Auction, by LCA in WNY

Last weekend, my spouse and I attended a very interesting auction. The auction was advertised as “Apocalypse Prepper Estate Auction.” It listed a large gun collection, large quantity of ammo, tools, household items, and four vehicles. The advertisement caught my eye, so off we went. We arrived in time to preview some of the items. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I stood there thinking it seemed as if he had used SurvivalBlog.com as a checklist. He had purchased every item ever mentioned in this blog. Then, I had to chuckle as I spotted a table with a dozen copies of Patriots by James Wesley, Rawles! Yes, he must have been a reader. We found a seat and prepared to see what kinds of deals we would be able to score and to people watch. Auctions can be very interesting entertainment at times. However, this one proved to not just be entertainment but an opportunity to learn some very important prepper lessons.

As the start of the auction approached, I looked around and saw well over 150 people at this auction. The auctioneer started the event by giving a few details of the estate. The auction was the estate of a 66 year old man who had recently and unexpectedly died. The family of the man asked the auctioneer to clean out the house. When the auctioneer arrived at the very small house, which was around 900 square feert, he found plastic totes stacked floor to ceiling, row after row, with just a path available through the center of the house. The auctioneer stated they found over 350 totes in the house along with a ton of food. The auctioneer threw out all the canned goods, wheat, et cetera and sorted through the items in the totes.

We stayed at the auction for over five hours, and at that time there were still enough items left to auction that it probably went for at least another hour to an hour and a half. They auctioned well over 100 guns– everything from your basic .22 pistol to AK47 to a Mosburg rifle. It was a prepper’s dream. There were tens of thousands of rounds of ammo; at least half of the five hours were devoted to auctioning the ammo! He had a dozen military surplus, camo colored rucksack/backpack type items that would be great bug out bags. He had several Kevlar vests, pressure cookers, a dozen geiger counters, a couple of expensive night vision scopes, at least two dozen gas mask kits, along with an entire tote of gas mask filters! He had hundreds of knives. There were so many knives that they auctioned them by the boxful. There were even Berkey water filters and Mountain House canned emergency food. There were so many items it would take me paragraphs and paragraphs to name it all.

The auction started at 10am, and they auctioned some of the household items first, like brand new TVs. Then at noon, they auctioned the vehicles. After the vehicles sold, more than half the audience got up and left! What lesson we can take from this is that people still don’t get it! They really weren’t interested in the prepper items. People were going crazy bidding up TVs, even paying over retail, but Geiger counters went for $15-$20! People obviously don’t see the economic situation for what it really is, when items such as TVs and cars are the most important/best selling items at an auction full of prepper items. The guns sold for under retail, most of them selling for $100-$200. There was even a beautiful night vision scope that had probably been purchased for over $1000 that sold for less than $400. At the end of five hours, most of the crowd was gone and items were being sold by the box, with each box going for $10-15. My spouse and I were able to pick up several good items for great deals.

As we drove home, I pondered some of the other lessons I learned that day. Not only did the audience at the auction not get the times and opportunity, but neither did this man’s family or the man himself. His family didn’t get it, since they auctioned off every single thing in the house. I am willing to bet that some day soon they may think this relative wasn’t so crazy after all and that they should have kept some of these items!

Also, this poor man whose entire life was being auctioned off, didn’t get it either. How can I say that? Well, he thought he was prepared for SHTF, but he wasn’t really prepared at all. All these prepper items were stacked floor to ceiling in row after row of totes. There was no way in an actual emergency he could have retrieved any of these items he needed in order to use them. Also, every single one of these items was brand new and had never been used. The bug out bags were empty with price tags still on them. The pressure cookers were all still sealed up in the box. The Geiger counters had never been out of their boxes. The gas masks were sealed in plastic bags, and the guns had never, ever been fired! This man was not a prepper at all. He was more like a hoarder who had used SurvivalBlog for his shopping list.

What good is it to have over a hundred guns and tens of thousands rounds of ammo if you have never practiced with any of them? If this man had lived to see SHTF he would have never survived. He believed in things and not in skills. Skills are what will save us in a true SHTF. You can’t just have cans of seeds and never have tried to plant a garden. You can’t have hundreds of guns and never have shot one. What good are gas masks, if you have never opened it up to see if you know how to put it on and if it is a good fit?

There are times I feel I am not prepared for what may be coming because I don’t have the money to purchase all the items I think I need, but this auction proved I am more prepared than I think. I have been gardening for over 20 years, and I have been canning and dehydrating for a decade. I have kept chickens and other animals for many years and know how to care for them, and I have been shooting guns since I was 12 years old. I may not have hundreds of guns or dozens of Geiger counters, but I am a real prepper, and I am much more prepared and ready for SHTF than this poor man who had spent well over six figures on “things” he never knew how to use.

Things are nice, but develop your skills people! They are what will save you and your family.

Letter Re: Cashless Society

Dear Editor,

The move to a cashless society appears to be on track, but some will resist the final withdrawal of paper and coin money from circulation… unless they have a compelling reason to voluntarily give it up. I’ve thought for years that the only thing needed to cause people to shun cash is a report of a pathogen that rides from person to person on cash. All we need is a report from the CDC, which doesn’t even have to be true, that they are investigating some cases of hepatitis infection where cash was the vector. The cashless infrastructure is in place and 99% of the population already have cashless tools in their wallet and are trained to use them. Ca-ching! Cashless society. Let’s watch and see.

Barter Ready in Virginia