Hugh,
The article reminds me of a fellow I met on an American Heritage Girls camp out. He melts down his wife’s defunct candles placing the wax in Dixie cups that are half full of chain saw shavings from fire wood cutting. He just covers the saw dust and lets it solidify. Top half of the cup serves as a wick now that I think a little more. It provides the little extra that the fire needs to get going without the danger of accelerants. They are small and light.
RV
Gold and Warnings From Exponential Markets
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t’s Official: China Confirms It Has Begun Liquidating Treasuries, Warns Washington – B.B.
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The Midst Of A Financial Meltdown That Is Truly Global In Scope
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
Fed’s George Says Still Prepared for Rate Hike, But Turmoil – You better believe there will be volatility if the Fed raises rates.. Odds are if they do some minor rate hike as immaterial as it would be it will send the markets in another tail spin and QE4 will be all the talk we hear.. I’ve subscribed for a long time that they will always use some excuse as to why they can’t raise rates and why more QE is needed until we reach a physiological breaking point.
Our SurvivalRealty.com spinoff website has been expanded and improved. It now has new property search and mapping features, as well as broader offerings, and more details. There are now more than 230 retreat property listings. Check it out!
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Unlawful immigrants can have gun rights, appeals court rules – RBS
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Facebook has secretly been spying on your medical internet searches – D.S.
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Managers are using drones to monitor their employees – D.S.
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Fargo police ‘apologetic’ after mistaking students’ telescope for a gun – T.P.
“The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.” – Lord Acton
Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 60 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.
I’m writing to give alternative ideas for those of us who have less money. The basic idea is to spread out your funds to be able to factor in prepping costs. Now I don’t know how much money you get, but if you’re really dedicated you should be able to reach a reasonable conclusion which allows you to invest in prepping needs while also having enough for daily living; maybe you can set aside 4% of your monthly income for prepping. It gives you plenty for your prepping needs but also allows sufficient funds for your everyday needs. Now that was just an example, but you should be able to decide based on your own thoughts and paycheck. So I’ve came up with a few topics that should arouse some interest because of their necessity. These are the things that you will most likely want to have around. Notice that all of the categories are listed in their relative importance, depending of course on the disaster.
You’ll need a large quantity of water, which fortunately is usually pretty easy to come by. The trick is to use empty containers that could be recycled to meet your purposes. Empty 2-liter soda bottles work nicely; they’re cheap and can deal with a good deal of harassment before they burst. A good place to store them is in old milk crates, which can be stacked in a garage. The average person should drink 1.9 liters per day, so be sure to stock up on more water than you think you’ll need. A good thing to keep in mind when storing water is that you’ll never have enough water no matter how much you have. Don’t forget water for washing clothes and dishes. You’re going to need a water filtration system once you run out of your water supply, so consider saving your pennies and buying a durable water filter. Water collecting is a fairly simple task; all it really requires is a tarp and a container. Suspend the tarp on four poles over the container and poke a hole in the tarp then wait for the rain. Remember you’ll probably never have enough water stored, so keep collecting.
Food is a little more difficult to stock up on because you’ll need to make sure to rotate it so it doesn’t go bad, unlike water which has a virtually unlimited shelf life. So get yourself a notebook and write dates down so you can rotate the food properly. The types of food I recommend are the kinds that can be saved for at least six months. Make sure you stock up on the kinds of food you enjoy or want to acquire a taste for. It’s not good to have two dozen disgusting meals that get wasted. There are three types of foods that are ideal for storing– MREs (meals ready to eat), dehydrated foods, and canned goods. MREs at sometimes three bucks a piece are a good idea because of their easy use. Or if you want you can save up and for $4,000 get a year’s supply of MREs. However, I only recommend that if you’re prepared in all other aspects. Dehydrated foods on the other hand can be saved for over 20 years. Canned goods are so inexpensive for a great amount of food, and most of them have a two year shelf life. Each type of food has its own pros and cons. MREs are rather inexpensive and have a vast variety of flavors, while dehydrated foods last for an incredible amount of time without spoiling. Then, lastly there are the canned foods, which in my opinion are the best choice because they can be bought at pretty much any store, along with the fact that they can be stored much easier than the other two. Plus, they’re super inexpensive! Now, don’t forget about proper food storage, because there’s no point buying a ton of non-perishables if it ends up getting damaged. What you should do is get some plastic garbage bins with lids; then fill the bins with your food and duct tape the lid back on. Then you just need to find a cool place to store them. Also, when shopping, don’t forget condiments like salt, pepper, and other seasonings, especially salt. You might want to get some plastic forks and spoons, unless you want to end up eating soup with your fingers. Make sure you keep rotating!
Fire is up there in the top three needs, when preparing for major disaster after food and water, because though it isn’t an absolute necessity it is quite helpful in many ways. For starters, lighters are a relatively inexpensive way to start a fire, but if they get too wet then they’re going to be most likely useless, so be sure to store them in a waterproof container. My personal favorite fire starter is a mini BIC lighter, because they’re easy to carry and store; keep in mind their smaller size means less times that they can be used. The bigger BIC lighter are really good too, though it’s a bit strange to carry them in your pocket all of the time, but they’ll be very useful in every other aspect. Sometimes lighters come with little child locks on them, which sometimes makes them harder to use, but they can be removed if you stick a nail or a knife blade underneath the lock and pry it off. Don’t worry if it’s done right, it won’t damage the lighter in any way. Now matches on the other hand are a lot of fun, if you get the right ones. Strike anywhere matches are much harder to find but are much more useful, because they don’t need sandpaper to strike on. When you get matches, check to see if they’re waterproof. If not, you can waterproof matches by melting wax then dipping the tips in it. Then, when you’re ready to use them, just scrape off the wax. Be sure to store them properly, too. Then, there’s a fire piston. It’s much more versatile than the others but harder to use. A fire piston consists of a hollow cylinder sealed at one side and a piston with a handle in one end and indented in the other end, where it forms an air tight chamber so when a piece of cloth or dry grass is placed in the indentation on the piston and rammed into the cylinder it causes the air to compress and creates a sharp increase in temperature in the tube (approximately 500 degrees Fahrenheit) causing the tinder to catch, which then can be transferred to a tinder pile. Be sure to remove the piston quickly or else the tinder will use up the oxygen in the tube. Then, lastly, there’s flint and steel. The idea is kind of simple; strike the steel against the flint and direct the sparks into a pile of tinder. (Barbeque lighter fluid is helpful with this.) Some accelerants are helpful when starting a fire with wet wood. Isopropyl or denatured alcohol, and lighter fluid are all easily-used accelerants. [Editor’s Note: Of course NEVER use gasoline. The vapors are explosive and it is simply too dangerous–even when used in tiny amounts!] Be careful not to get any on yourself when you’re lighting a fire. Third degree burns are not fun in a bug out situation. Accelerants are just about useless without wood, so get plenty of it.
Medicine is very helpful to have to fight various diseases without relying completely on your immune system. Get pills if possible, since they last longer and are easier to store. Good types of medications are ibuprofen, Nyquil and Dayquil, and benadryl. Oral health is almost as important. Toothbrushes and toothpaste are highly needed because it’s going to be hard to deal with cavities and infections. So you should probably take extra care of your teeth. Don’t forget floss; it’s one of the most useful items I’ve come across. Floss can be used for sewing and for lashing sticks together, and it’s also clean (but not sterile), so in extremis you can sew gashes and wounds shut with it. I’ll bet you didn’t know that toothpaste can be used for bug bites. Just apply the toothpaste on the wound and then wrap it. For burns, cool the burn with water and then add then add aloe vera. What you need is a little case in which to store all your first aid stuff. The types of things that should be put in a first aid kit are: Band-Aids, antiseptic wipes, Neosporin, pain relievers, needles and thread, and rubbing alcohol, which also makes a great fire starter. Keep your first-aid kit in a dry place and out of the reach of children.
James and Hugh,
I’m referencing the 22 August article “Can the States Seize Federal Lands?“.
First, they are NOT Federal Lands; they are State Lands being occupied by the Fed, mostly illegally. The U.S. Constitution is quite clear on how the Fed MAY purchase State Lands (Article I, Section 8, Clause 17) in a specifically limited quantity, for only necessary functions of the Fed, and MUST have the agreement from the State Legislature in question.
Second, as decided by the Supreme Court of the U.S., “A State is created in Statehood, instantly and whole”, (paraphrased). To wit: not created in bits and pieces determined by the lesser Federal Government but as a Sovereign, whole State. An example, other than the Eastern States, is Hawaii, the last to achieve statehood. When the State of Hawaii became a Sovereign State, the Federal Government was invited to pack up all except the established needed Lands for Federal operation and go home to D.C., which they did, as that was the prerogative of Hawaii. Look at Nevada @ approx. 92% Federal control; New Mexico @ 35% Federal control; each of the other Western States have their own % “occupied”, except Hawaii, as noted.
The Federally claimed lands, which the Federal Agencies DO CLAIM to be “owners of”, are literally squatters, usurpers of state lands, with rarely any legal standing at all. The gross record of mismanagement, by BLM and the USFS in particular down through the years and peaking in the last 10 or so years, is a story to shame any bureaucrat. Makes little or no difference to the Feds, but a State is the annual loser in both income and quality of the lands destroyed and mismanaged.
The people that are the “front line losers” are the rural people trying to produce and maintain state lands, which are occupied by the Fed and the source of clearly defined, recorded, studied mismanagement as well as some of the worst legal harassment of any businesses in this country. The problem there is that NO MEDIA gives a hoot about a bunch of farmers and ranchers out in the middle of nowhere. Who cares? If the public was aware, the howl to “get the bums out (BLM & USFS)” would be impressive.
There is so much more involved, but I won’t belabor the point unless there is need for further explanation. The States, which are sovereign OVER the Fed that they created, have been far too lax and too blackmailed by Federal tax dollars being handed out to stand up for states rights, which they have in too many cases handed to the Federal government. The states are literally the owner of a business being told what to do by the help. – E.C.
Devaluation Stunner: China Has Dumped $100 Billion In Treasurys In The Past Two Weeks – GJM
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Plunge Protection Team Losing Control of Markets-Jim Sinclair – B.B.
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China’s economy, the world’s second largest economy only behind the USA, is tanking…
The Chinese are very well known for being hard-as-nails and sticking to the course, no matter how hard. When we see them capitulate and make a major move (panic?) in devaluing their currency, coupled with lowering their interest rates, we have to believe things are far worse than we know, and certainly worse than what our government would ever say, given that the Chinese tide also floats our boat these days.
There are stormy seas ahead, and it’s time to trim the sails and batten the hatches. Here is an article than may be of interest…The Truth about Currency Devaluation and Preparedness – S.E.
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CONDITION RED: The Financial System Is Now Out Of Control
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San Francisco Hygiene Goes Full Medieval? ( Caution – Silicon Valley’s New World Ordure ) My two cents: This a ticking cholera or dysentery time bomb. Get OUT of the major cities. – T.P.
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A 21st-Century Migrant’s Essentials: Food, Shelter, Smartphone – P.S.
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Wranglerstar discusses some of his latest controversies, but these have some real relevance to those families who are planing on sharing a retreat with others. There are some serious things that should be discussed beforehand. The Great YouTube Sack Lunch Drama
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You were wondering how your teenager managed to get lice? Are selfies to blame? – D.S.
“If the Tenth Amendment were still taken seriously, most of the federal government’s present activities would not exist. That’s why no one in Washington ever mentions it.” – Thomas E. Woods
August 26, 526, is the official anniversary of the invention of toilet paper by the Chinese. We celebrate this, though not because of its convenience. In fact, it has many shortcomings, some which are described within the articles and letters of SurvivalBlog. Our celebration of it is primarily because we now have an official metric of just how hard core of a prepper you are as well as a metric for just how economically unstable your country is.
August 26, 1946 is also the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”
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Today, we present another entry for Round 60 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $10,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 60 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.
Hi, I am a journeyman, millwright, and electrician by trade and do a lot of fabrication for the companies I work for. I also have 20+ years as a contractor, building houses. Additionally, I am an avid artist and a survivalist.
The basic principle of a survival journal is almost exactly as it sounds. I say almost, because there is a bit more to it than just a simple journal. I will give my general journal layout and some of my reasons for adding certain things. First off, I will give some description of what kind of book I currently use.
I found a leather bound standard 4″x6″ drawing pad for my use. Any book would work depending on your preference, be it a write-in-the-rain book or lined tablet; it doesn’t really matter what you choose, though I would try to stick to something small for a lighter weight and easier carrying ability. I even went so far as to make a pouch for mine out of leather so I can put it on my belt and have easy access to it when out. It is a constant work in progress. Revised and expanded as I learn new things, think of other tidbits to put into it, and add other techniques. The book is also quite disorganized at the moment, and will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.
My survival journal started out as a guide to my wife and children, with as much of my knowledge written in it that I could think of, in the event of my inability to be around in the case of a SHTF scenario, or for any reason where they may need to know certain things. I agree that practicing skills with your loved ones should be the primary method of passing on information and I do, but a written history definitely has its advantages. The most important reason is that people forget things under the best of circumstances let alone in high stress situations. On the other hand, it is good for you as the writer/survivalist to write these things down as the actions are performed to positively reinforce them as they are happening. As you are trying new things, add them to the book. Include what works best for tinder, thatching for a shelter, or cordage for fishing; the best part is, it will be the specific resources of your region and area. In the end, it becomes the tailored survival guide for where you live. I speak of the wilderness survival aspect at the moment, but by no means does it have to be (or should be) limited to this. I live near the outskirts of a small town of about 3,000 people. This town contains plenty of businesses with useful items in them, as well as a ton of wooded area within and around four counties and larger cities about 30 miles away, so there will definitely be urban and wilderness survival mixed together. So on to the meat and potatoes of the content, and why certain things are added and embellished upon.
In the beginning of the journal, I lay out the various bug out plans. Considering these would be used in the most extreme cases, I want them clearly written and available with instructions of where to go, estimated times it should take to get there, and numerous contingencies for consideration, load limits of my immediate family, and means of travel, whether by foot, car, boat, or bike. There is so much information that I could put into the plan, it could take hours to write it all down. In another section, I also cover bugging in, which doesn’t change too much of the living conditions in the beginning.
This section takes into consideration the various elements involved in standard situations, specifically the environment and opsec. Given the area I live in, there are both urban and wilderness skills to be learned. The skills section covers but is not limited to trapping, skinning, primitive fire starting, tech fire starting (batteries and uncommon methods), water procurement, camouflage, and stalking. Basically, if it deals with learned skills needed to generally survive, I try to put it in here. The skills are a generalized set that would basically work in most any situation. There are many other survival sets that are covered and that will be expanded upon.
This is my expertise. I began making weapons at the age of 12; though they were crude and mostly weak, they were generally functional. Over the years they have grown to be a bit more impressive, pretty, and extremely functional. Some of my most recent creations are two tantos– one that has a completely hand carved handle and sheath of mahogany for my late grandfather and one for my father with a tsuba of solid carved silver. A few more of my creations include a Viking axe for my best friend and the construction of two bows, which is relatively a new learned skill of only a few years. Teaching myself to build bows and arrows was a direct outcome of wanting to know how to create one of the oldest projectile weapons. Though i am still in need of fine-tuning the skill, they are definitely functional. Fom a weapon or tool perspective, function is the most important part, followed directly after by hardiness. At some point in my youth I found I had the ability to tell where the weak spot in any weapon/tool is and to use that to develop better designs and forms. This ability has helped tremendously over the years, and I can build pretty much all I need. In my journal I cover making every feasible weapon, trap, and tool I can think of that will be of use, though there are still quite a few that I haven’t added yet because of current time constraints. The basic principle of this section is to show hand-drawn instructions on how to complete a tool from start to finish with techniques and also the best materials to use.
Here I show how to make various shelters, debris huts, lean tos, and teepees, and I include insulation methods and even how to lash it all together to be the most effective. I also cover how to make a water filter, trap water, how long to boil it, and where to get the freshest water in my area. The fire section has all the various methods of creating fire, including how to set up the fire bundle, birds nest, self-feeding fires, and the pit itself. The last bit on materials, hunting, and fishing is a bit more interesting in terms of content. The hunting part is pretty straight forward, all said and done. Then you get into how to skin and process the various animals where I live and prepare the meat. Also, this section is where the materials part comes into play, from the making of fishing gear including cordage to catch your first fish, which in turn is used to create objects like needles and more hooks, to using the skins and bones in animals to make even more gear. There is even a section in here that explains how to knap a knife from stone, make a fishing/frog spear, and tan a hide for clothing and shelter, though if I did my job right and the plan was followed, there shouldn’t be a need for a lot of this primitive gear for quite awhile, unless something breaks.
The urban survival section goes into pretty good detail for dealing with the trouble and unique issues of an urban setting. I try to encompass the local businesses in respect to a SHTF scenario. As in what to get from where, what to look out for, methods of moving around a city to shorten exposure to unwanted attention, and how to access certain buildings. At this stage, the focus is on scavenging useful items and supplies while there is still stuff to be had. [Editors Note: It is important to remember – unless you know for sure that what you are taking does not already belong to someone else, it is not scavenging, it is stealing and you may be severely hurting someone else’s ability to survive. In addition, while scavenging may be necessary at times, the risk to you goes up exponentially during those times.] Considering the ease of access to all of the amenities of our modern age in an urban setting, tools and weapons are not really an issue, though I do go through finding ammunition in abandoned houses and other items of interest. Toothpaste, toilet paper, clothing, hygiene products, medicine, and pots and pans are a huge bonus if you are trying to survive anywhere. You can’t really pick those up in the woods. (Yeah, I know there are alternatives to most of these in the wilderness.)
There is so much more that you could put into your journal, depending on your personal preferences. I have intentionally left out foraging for edible plants because my skill/knowledge of it is severely lacking at this point. My plans are to change that in the near future and to teach that to my wife and children as well. I am by no means an expert on most of these subjects (though my study of historical weapons has surpassed 20 years) and I make no allusions to being such. I am simply a student and teacher to my own little group. I am a craftsman of pretty good skill and a seeker of knowledge, which will help me and mine not just survive but thrive. Every little bit helps in the end, and if there is a way to continue to teach, even if i am no longer around, then I owe it to my children and my wife to try everything I can to accomplish that task. The easiest way that I have found so far is to have a history of my trials and successes, which I call my survival journal.
Hugh and Capt. Rawles,
I’ve been following SB.com for about three years now after reading How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. That book and others opened me up to the insanity surrounding us, and I suddenly felt sadly under-prepared.
Since then I’ve trolled the web, bookstores, and gun shows for tools to help me protect my family. My enthusiasm can probably be attributed to wanting to ensure my two little girls never have to suffer through the times depicted in Jim’s works of fiction. I have held out, for the most part, from purchasing any item that is endorsed or otherwise marketed by “person A” or “organization B”, as I’ve found that many of those items are single-use tools.
A knife, however, has many uses, and I can be accused of being a collector of bladed implements. So I decided to add the Voyager to my collection. I have only one good, solid blade with me on the ship, so a backup seemed logical. Being on deployment, the speed at which it would arrive was a bit of a question for me. I was very impressed by the speed at which it arrived to my hands on the ship, less than two weeks.
As for the knife itself; it’s simple, solid, and a whole lotta blade for the buck. While showing it off to the other guys in my unit, one of them suffered a small cut from closing the blade. That’s how sharp it ships from Cold Steel. I personally enjoy how you can get a comfortable grip close to the hinge point or down by the pommel. It is a little large as folders go; however, should you need this guy, size probably will not be a big concern.
All-in-all, it’s a great piece to add to your kit, and I’m already quite glad to have it out here as one of my many tools should things go badly. – F.M.
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Interest rates to remain ‘stuck’ at 5000 year-old levels Has the great correction begun? Time will tell. It’s mathematically impossible for the system we have to keep growing as it is; common sense tells a person this. Either way the prudent prepare as Joseph did in Egypt long ago. – A.S.
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Gold Facts and Gold Speculations
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
Hi Hugh,
Reading Carol Deppe’s book, I realized I needed to read:
Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden Gilbert L. Wilson, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987
The Hidatsa grew corn, beans, squash, sunflowers near the Missouri River in ND. Clearly, they were able to feed themselves without tractors or mules! They very efficiently processed and saved their corn, beans, squash, sunflower seed. The book takes one through a typical year and is rich in describing their culture, songs, stories, ceremonies, recipes, and way of life. The first edition was published in 1917. Buffalo Bird Woman was born around 1839.
One review from Foster’s Botanical and Herb Review: “every gardener and agricultural scientist should find gems of practical wisdom in these pages, borne from an age-old tradition when sustainable agricultural practices…made the difference in sustaining life. Fascinating!”
