Preparedness Notes for Saturday — September 30, 2023

On September 30, 1949, the Berlin airlift officially ended after the Western Allied powers delivered 2,323,738 tons of food, fuel, machinery, and other supplies to West Berlin, which had been cut off from the West during the Soviet blockade of Berlin.

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On this day in 1938, the Treaty of Munich was signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Daladier, and Chamberlain. This treaty forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to Germany.

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I just learned of the death of Democrat California Senator Dianne Feinstein, at age 90. Please pray that a more conservative and pro-gun senator takes her seat.

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Today’s short feature piece is by JWR.

We are now seeking entries for Round 109 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

The prize winners for Round 108 will be announced on Sunday.

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 109 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Risk Mitigation in the Mid-2020s

Looking at the manifold threats facing the world in late 2023, as an American citizen I cannot help but feel overwhelmed. In a nutshell, these threats include:

  • The threat of regional or world war, stemming from the Iraq, Ukraine, or Taiwan conflicts.
  • Out-of-control government spending and indebtedness.
  • Corruption at all levels of government.
  • Federal agencies running roughshod over our constitutional rights.
  • Selective and vindictive prosecutions driven by politics.
  • High inflation and an increasingly unaffordable cost of living and healthcare.
  • Urbanization and over-complication of supply chains.
  • Malinvestment and misallocation of government spending.
  • Chronic homelessness and growing encampments.
  • Uncompensated Federal mandates on state governments.
  • New restrictions on gun ownership.
  • Enforced vaccination with largely untested mRNA injections.
  • Military organizations that are neutered by political correctness.
  • A fiat U.S. Dollar that is losing its dominance in world trade.
  • A doddering, senile, reality-detached, and perverted president who is controlled and scripted by his handlers.
  • The deepening divide between urban and rural states.
  • Unprotected national power grids that are vulnerable to physical attack, hackers, solar flares, and EMP strikes.
  • The ongoing culture war, with both the mass media and academia siding with the woke, leftist, and largely homosexual agenda.
  • The marginalization of traditional American culture, Christianity and the nuclear family unit.
  • Rapidly increasing consumer debt.
  • Political parties with indistinguishable agendas.
  • Politically-driven green energy conversion.
  • Out-of-control urban crime.
  • Cancel culture: Social credit scores, de-banking, de-listing, de-ranking, and swatting.
  • Censorship driven by private interest groups.
  • Rampant drug and alcohol addiction.
  • Propaganda.
  • The rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
  • Loss of election integrity.
  • Obesity, poor diets, and a decline in meaningful exercise.
  • Social media obsession/addiction.
  • Declining soils and food quality.
  • Depleted aquifers.
  • Uncontrolled illegal immigration.
  • Schools that no longer strive for academic excellence but instead occupy countless hours preaching woke leftism.
  • The push toward digital currencies.

And that is just a cursory list!

Vote With Your Feet

I must remind my readers that these many problems will not be solved within our lifetimes.  If anything, given the nature of modern government and technocracy, these problems will only get worse. Therefore, the only effective risk mitigation for individual American families will be via relocation to lightly populated self-sufficient regions that are more conservative.  In short: It is high time to vote with your feet!

Please prayerfully consider relocating your family, as soon as possible. Do so while mortgage interest rates are still affordable. Urban land values will decline, while rural land values will increase. If you wait too long, then you will essentially be trapped by a property and mortgage affordability gap. – JWR

September 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

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

What Did Gold Do in September?

Gold prices surprised observers by resisting selling pressure until the last part of the month. A breakdown in stocks, bonds, and gold caused by abysmal consumer confidence and plunging new home sales on September 26th pushed gold prices to $1,919. Bond yields hit 4.6% and the dollar index rose to 106.82 on the 27th, forcing December gold $29 lower and into a “death cross” where the 50-day moving average falls beneath the 200-day moving average.

Gold prices saw no relief at the end of the month, dropping another $12.50 to $1,866 an ounce on the 29th to the end September with a loss of $100. $80 of this loss came during the last week of the month, which shows the rapid deterioration of the gold price as the automakers strike continued and the economy recoiled from the threat of a government lockdown.Continue reading“September 2023 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I was fortunate to find a couple of power tools at an estate sale, this week:  A drill press and a bandsaw. I had been needing both of these for many years.  To get the pair for under $400 was a real blessing. The traditional Rockwell belt-driven drill press dates from 1962. Granted, it will be cumbersome to set different speeds, but I won’t have to do that very often. The bandsaw looks like it was made after 2000, and it appears to have hardly had any use. They are both now safely positioned in our shop. Now I just have to do some online research, to find PDFs of their user manuals to print out for my workshop reference binder.  Lily still wants me to find a wood-turning lathe. But finding one of those at a reasonable price might take a while…

I did some more traveling last weekend to attend a gun show. I found a Ludwig Loewe Argentine contract Mauser M1891 sporter, for my Elk Creek Company inventory. I also bought some ammunition, for one of my consulting clients.

I also did some apple picking, but Lily will fill you in on that.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.

And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” – Psalm 9:1-10 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — September 29, 2023

The Twilight Zone Episode 3, Season 3 titled “The Shelter” originally aired on September 29, 1961 on CBS. It is one of the few Twilight Zone episodes to feature no supernatural or sci-fi elements.

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September 29th, 1881, was the birthday of Ludwig von Mises. (Born 1881, died October 10, 1973.)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

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But first, and update to an announcement.

Update: Opportunity for Retreat Group Membership in a Secure Kansas Bug Out Location

I currently have a consulting client who lives full-time with his family on a highly-productive farm in Kansas. He has asked me to use SurvivalBlog to add a family to his retreat group. Unlike the caretaker position that I posted earlier this year (which was a salaried position) posted earlier this year, this is not a paying job, but if you have the qualifications think of your response as the first step toward a potential space for you and your family in a lifeboat which in a collapse scenario could be very important.

Imagine if the collapse has occurred and instead of being stuck in the city, you traveled to a retreat and are welcomed by a Christian family. All you needed to do is travel to their farm/retreat and help with security and usual farm chores. It sounds like a fantasy, but it is true as there is a retreat owner and consulting client has asked me to search for a qualified like-minded family to help assist their family in the event their retreat needs to be activated. They live full time at their farm which has been a productive farm for over 150 years. The farm is in a safe geographic area with multiple sources of power, water including a stocked lake, and abundant trees for firewood in Kansas, which is a conservative state.

The farm produces enough food for hundreds of people and surrounding farms also produce grains, milk, meat, and eggs. The area is lightly populated, with more cattle than people. Wildlife including deer abound in the area.
Continue reading“Update: Opportunity for Retreat Group Membership in a Secure Kansas Bug Out Location”

A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 2, by Anon-6

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

– To filter air:

  • Need to get fresh air into the shelter without pulling in fallout particles
  • In rack 1 is everything you need to set up an air filter system that pulls in filtered air
  • Checklist with step-by-step pictures is on the clipboard
  • Instructions are also written on the plywood board that will go in the opened movie room window slot (board already has 12” holes in it for the small yellow industrial fan to pull air into the movie room through one of the furnace filters) [Rack 1 contains a small commercial ventilation fan (Vevor 12” utility blower fan), three large house furnace filters that will be used to filter air pulled into the movie from outside, a fitted plywood board that will go into the movie room subterranean window, two rolls of duct tape, and several pre-cut thick pieces of foam to ensure a tight fit]
  • The fan will need to be powered on once every two hours for 5-10 minutes to change out the air [it will be powered by the Yeti 1250 battery “generator,” or by another power source discussed below]
  • When the fan is off flip the pre-cut and already-attached thick plastic sheet down onto the inner/exhaust side of fan – this will keep bad particles outside as much as possible (use the large black rubber bands already on the exhaust side of the fan to secure it)

Continue reading“A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 2, by Anon-6”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, news of the FBIs’s “lost” gold coins. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Stewart Thomson: A Blowoff For Rates & A Surge For Gold.

o  o  o

Several SurvivalBlog readers sent this: FBI sued after allegedly losing hundreds of thousands in rare coins during raid. An excerpt:

“The Institute for Justice filed two lawsuits Friday on behalf of clients who had property seized from their safety deposit boxes in a March 2021 FBI raid on U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly Hills–based company. After prevailing in court, and the FBI agreeing to return their property, both Don Mellein and Jeni Pearsons discovered some of their property was missing and suspect the FBI’s haphazard raid or sticky fingers are to blame.”

Economy & Finance:

Yields and Dollar surge to fresh YTD highs into month/quarter-end – Newsquawk Market Wrap.

o  o  o

An editorial penned by Joe Penland, at Red State: How the U.S. Debt Is Draining Your Family’s Finances.

o  o  o

Reported on September 22nd: More US Banks Downgraded on Liquidity Fears.

o  o  o

At The New York Post: Biden’s food stamp expansion linked to 15% jump in grocery prices: study.

o  o  o

Sandwich chain Subway will be sold to Arby’s owner Roark Capital.

o  o  o

Target to close 9 stores across 4 states, citing retail crime.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 28, 2023

On September 28, 1781, the Siege of Yorktown began, eventually leading on October 19 to the British surrender by General Lord Cornwallis and the end of the American Revolution.

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On September 28, 1542, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo landed near what is now San Diego and became the first European to set foot on the west coast of what would become the United States.

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On September 28, 1066, William The Conqueror invaded England, landing at Pevensey Bay, Sussex.

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And on September 28, 2008, SpaceX successfully launched Falcon 1, becoming the first privately owned company to send a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 1, by Anon-6

I’ve been a prepper since 2012 and was born in the early 60s. I started prepping when Obama was reelected and realized we’re on our own to protect our families from the hazards of a dangerous world. One of my first purchases was a 1-ounce silver Eagle that stays in my pocket to this day as part of my EDC kit – a small metal cigar case that works nicely (maybe a future article on that). From there, research and then purchasing food, water storage, comms, medical supplies, guns, and getting trained.

Fast forward to late 2022 and early 2023. Based on the politics of today (and the Ukraine war) the most obvious way I see the US coming out of the divisive environment we find ourselves in is a major war (standard). I concluded there was a greatly elevated risk that a war will come and serve as a way to unify us against some problem/boogyman – worked before (the Civil war “to end slavery”, German and Japanese “defeating fascism” in WWII and to end the Depression, Iraq invasion of Kuwait, etc.)

Part of my research was to read – a lot. SurvivalBlog has helped enormously – many thanks to the smarter-than-me contributors for your ideas, motivation, and plans. One of the most thought provoking things I read was a book published in 1997 titled “The Fourth Turning.” You can search it where you buy your books (in cash – wink, wink). That book describes how our country goes through four 20 year cycles every 80-ish years and every major fourth cycle, or “fourth turning,” has ended in a war: the War for Independence, the Civil War, WWII, and now with the To-Be-Named-Later War. I can’t come up with a cool acronym for this so I’ll just think of it as the next war. The authors point out that each subsequent war was more deadly than the one before it. If the trend continues, and I think it probably will, we’re looking at an ugly mid- to late 2020s timeframe nuclear exchange for this Fourth Turning’s culmination.Continue reading“A Nuclear Attack Quick Actions Checklist – Part 1, by Anon-6”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at Gavin Newsom’s ongoing war on the Second Amendment.

Gov. Newsom Signs 20% Total ‘Sin Tax’ On Guns & Ammunition

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Wow, Gov Gavin Newsom Signs 20% Total ‘Sin Tax’ On Guns & Ammunition.  JWR’s Comment: How many “last straws” do California gun owners need, before they flee the state? Californians are now treading on a carpet of last straws.

Berkey Water Filters Sues the EPA

Press Release: Berkey Water Filters Sues the EPA. Here is a quote:

“Berkey’s filters have never caused any harm to anyone, and the EPA’s arbitrary—and arguably irrational—new interpretation of its regulations would have a huge impact, directly threatening not only the jobs of 500+ employees globally, lost sales for Berkey distributors and retailers around the world (some of which sell only Berkey products—effectively putting them out of business) and also the well-being of the American people, the very consumers who the EPA is supposed to protect. Moreover, it would have the same impact on other outdoor water filter manufacturers, potentially putting them out of business as well.”
Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 27, 2023

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress, having fled Philadelphia, held a session in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, making the city the capital of the American colonies for just one day.

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Today (not counting the change in dates due to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar) is also the birthday of Samuel Adams. He was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 108 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $840,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 108 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.