Odds ‘n Sods:

Got an old Radio Shack brand scanner? Here are the manuals and instruction data for them. Free.

Some scanners allow for modifications. You can search those out on the web by searching for the model and modifications that can be done, if you are so motivated. – RBS

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Man Indicted For Shotgun Blasts At Hovering Drone – D.S.

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Wolverines! The danger may not be from where you expect. – W.C.

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Man’s Concrete Home Survives Raging Wildfire in Washington – A.W.

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Utah boy survived night in woods by curling up in warm rocks – J.C.
There was a time in our history when this would not have been unusual.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language,
where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun” (Psalm 19:1-4)

“For some, the star filled sky is only ambient light. To the professorial-secularist who peers through telescopes and patronizes the planetarium, seeking to see what stars are made of, not their Maker; they completely miss the mark. For others, stars are merely a magical twinkle, simply inspiring them to wonder what they are. But for the person more concerned with one day meeting his Maker, more concerned with his fallen state than falling stars, their declaration of glory is great news. The stars are a sign that gently whispers that we’re not forgotten and that our Deliverer wants us to look to Him for hope.”

– Bastion of Liberty – Simply Stellar

Notes for Tuesday – August 25, 2015

August 25th is a birthday shared by novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938) and American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933). Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others. McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor. When I met Pat a few years ago, Pat very kindly autographed my entire battered collection of his books. Some of these books had been so well-loved that the pages were falling out of their bindings. I suppose that is the ultimate compliment for an author. – JWR

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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:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have 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),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd 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.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  9. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, 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 FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, 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,
  4. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  10. 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 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,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  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 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.

Learning How to Grow Food in the American Redoubt, by AJ

What happens when our food preparations run out? This question has kept me awake more nights than I care to remember. Whatever your scenario– economic collapse, electromagnetic pulse (EMP), pandemic, a nuclear attack, or another devastating TEOTWAWKI situation– there will be a point when food becomes scarce. Learning to grow and preserve our own food will become necessary at some point, and the time to learn these essential skills is now.

I literally “woke up” one day, after months of digging deeper into the alternative media in an attempt to explain why I had this feeling that something was incredibly wrong. I became convinced that we are long past due for an economic collapse that will far surpass what occurred during the Great Depression. We were living in Hawaii at this time, and I knew that any disruption to shipping services would result in massive food shortages (and chaos) in a very short amount of time. I knew it was time to relocate.

I dragged my family to American Redoubt just under four years ago. The spring we arrived in our new home in Idaho I immediately began to teach myself everything possible about growing food in our new environment. To say there was a learning curve is an understatement. Like most Americans, I had never grown any of my own food. As I look back, I realize just how vulnerable my family and I were, being completely dependent upon a rapidly disintegrating system.

Brrrrrrrrrrr….

The biggest challenge to growing in this region, just like many other northern locations, is the short growing season. My current location is a located in a USDA hardiness zone 6b. Hardiness Zones in the majority of the American Redoubt range from around Zone 7a (the warmest, longest growing season) to 3a (the coldest, shortest growing season).

Season-extending solutions, like raised beds, plastic-covered grow tunnels, and materials (black plastic tarps and clear greenhouse plastic) placed directly on the soil to warm it sooner, can be used to lengthen the amount of time you can grow during relatively cold seasons. There are also seeds, many of which originated in Russia, Canada, Alaska, or other extreme northern climates, that are specifically bred for short growing seasons. I always look for these varieties, because I figure if they will grow in the aforementioned harsh climates then they should thrive in my climate.

One of the most important things about growing food in a short-season environment is food preservation. This will be absolutely necessary for food independence in a long-term survival scenario. I am currently using a homemade solar food dehydrator with Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers to preserve our excess produce. Of course, old-fashioned canning techniques are also a great way to preserve enough food for the region’s long, cold winters.

Where to Begin

Organic and heirloom varieties will produce seeds that you can preserve for future crops, unlike some of the bio-engineered hybrids. Also, the crops I have chosen can be grown and harvested in an off-grid situation. Although I would love to grow fields of wheat, I assume that we will not have access to a tractor in any number of scenarios.

Potatoes

I love potatoes. They grow like weeds with very little maintenance. I have had the most success with Russet, although Yukon Gold and the red Sangria have also done well. Of course, storage of this great food source is key, but if saved properly you will have well-acclimated seed potato for the following season’s crop. I also know I can grow potatoes during all seasons except the winter. This is an essential food source in a TEOTWAWKI situation that will store well and provide much-needed calories.

In many parts of the American Redoubt, if you start them early enough in the spring, you should be able to grow two crops of potatoes by the time the ground freezes in late fall. You will know when you can start the first crop by using a soil thermometer. The soil temperature should be no less than 50 degrees F. You can pick smaller potatoes throughout the season by feeling under the plant. You will know the plant is mature once it starts to brown and die off. Leave the potatoes for a few weeks after the plants die off to get the skins thicker for storage in a root cellar or basement.

Sweet Potatoes?

Yes, it is possible. Growing sweet potatoes in a plant hardiness zone 5 or 6 is not easy, but this nutrient-dense food source is worth the hassle. The key to success is warm soil and protecting them from frost. I have grown them in black collapsible grow buckets in an unheated greenhouse in the summer, as well as unheated plastic-covered tunnels placed over raised beds. They are very cold sensitive, so I tend to plant them the first week of June. They love compost, so pile it on. I have had success with shorter-season varieties, like Beauregard and Georgia Jet.

More Zucchini and Squash, Please

It must be something in the soil, but the zucchini and squash grow faster here than any other vegetable. They also mature very early in the season. We pick many pounds of zucchini and yellow squash each week from just three plants. Acorn and Butternut squash also grow well here, although these plants tend to take longer to mature. The zucchini and yellow squash dehydrate very easily, even in my homemade solar dehydrator. Butternut squash, if properly cured, will last months in a root cellar or basement.

Tomatoes and Cucumbers

I have tried over twenty varieties of tomatoes in order to discover the best cold-tolerant varieties for my growing region. I have had great luck with the Black Prince, a cold-weather Russian variety. I like Glacier, also a smallish variety that can be started very early in the season. For the bigger tomatoes, I like the Oregon Spring and Manitoba, for their short-season growing and dependability. I also intertwine cucumbers with my tomatoes, because they also thrive when growing up a simple A-frame trellis.

This year I have also added tomatoes that dehydrate well. These include Mountain Magic and the Matthew Tomato varieties. Tomatoes will grow here from late spring (unprotected) until early fall, so there is quite a long period of time that tomatoes can be grown without a well-heated (and energy-sucking) greenhouse.

Watermelons and Cantaloupe

These are not usually high on the survivor crop list, but if you have the space to grow watermelons and cantaloupe they might be an unusual barter item or a great way for your family to fight food fatigue. The Blacktail Mountain Watermelon was developed in this region and thrives even in our colder night temperatures. The smaller Sugar Baby Watermelon matures in 80 days, so they are not too much of a problem, if you start the plants in spring and transplant them in the early summer. The Minnesota Midget Melon is a cantaloupe that matures very quickly, but once again this melon will do better if you start it in a heated greenhouse mid-spring and then transplant in early summer.

Grains

This year we are also growing amaranth and quinoa, to see how they perform as grains in our climate. Quinoa can be cooked or ground into flour, so it has big implications for food independence. The catch is that this crop can take up to 120 days to mature, but since it can be planted when the soil reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit, this can be grown throughout a large portion of the American Redoubt. Amaranth is a brightly colored plant that produces seeds that are high in protein and nutrients that can be cooked like rice or popped like popcorn. This plant shouldn’t be planted until the soil temperature is at least 65 degrees, most likely late spring. Don’t expect these plants to be ready to harvest until fall, since they take at least 100 days to mature.

I have had mixed success growing corn in this region, especially sweet corn. The catch with corn is that each plant only provides a very limited amount of food. Depending on how much area you have to grow, you might not find corn to be worth the space it will need to provide high enough yields. I have had more challenges with diseases and pests in corn than any of the other crops I mention. That said, this can be an important source of food in a SHTF scenario, so working out the bugs (literally) now will help in your efforts toward long-term food preparedness.

Beans

How prepared could we be without the “B” for beans? My experiments with black, pinto, red kidney, and garbanzo beans have all met with relative success. The black and pinto beans are by far the most productive in my climate and soil conditions. These plants grow quickly and produce surprisingly high yields. The red kidney beans produce but not in the volume of the black and pinto beans. The garbanzo only produce minimally and are probably not worth the effort when you can get far more beans from the other varieties.

These beans preserve for about a year in a jar with a tight lid, if they are kept out of the light.

Berries

Strawberries grow very well in our plant hardiness zone. For a continuous supply, we have everbearing varieties, which produce an early season and late season crop, and a mid-season variety. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are very productive in our area and are perfect preservation food when made into jam.

Apples, Peaches, and Pears

What long-term survival plan would be complete without some fruit trees? The variety of tree will be very dependent on your climate zone, so it is best to seek out a reputable nursery in your area. We have chosen dwarf varieties, because they provide fruit sooner and are smaller and thus easier to harvest. If you do decide to plant trees, it is best to do so immediately, given that these trees take years to produce fruit. (Our dwarf McIntosh apple tree we planted three years ago is just now producing apples.)

Cold-weather Sustenance

Cold-weather vegetables are perhaps the easiest to grow throughout much of the American Redoubt. You should be able to grow many varieties of these crops throughout a large part of the year, especially if you employ season-extending techniques when it gets colder. These vegetables benefit tremendously with the raised boxes, row covers over the actual crops, and hoops attached to the boxes covered by thick (6 mil) greenhouse plastic film. This should keep the soil temperature raised much higher than outside the tunnel, prevent the soil from freezing, and protect from frost damage for a large part of the fall and some of the winter.

Since most people in the American Redoubt can easily grow cold-weather crops, many varieties of these plants should prove successful. I have tried many types of swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, kale, beets, sugar snap peas, and carrots and have not noticed a significant difference as to their growth patterns given that they thrive in cooler weather. The only exception I will mention is the Vitamin-C and extremely cold-tolerant Miner’s Lettuce. This strange-looking, but fast-growing plant will help prevent scurvy at a time when good nutrition may be hard to attain.

Survivalist-specific Crops

The following are what I call my survivalist-specific plants. These plants, if you can keep them alive in a SHTF scenario, can give you an advantage over others.

There is a specific type of sunflower that when pressed (with our manual press, just in case we are off grid) produces sunflower oil for cooking and barter. The Oilseed Sunflower can be planted after your last frost date, which in our area is late spring. These plants grow well and require almost no attention except for proper weed control and some sort of support when the plant heads get too big. When mature, collect the seeds, dry, and then process them through an oil extractor. Cooking oil is a high-demand item in places that are experiencing shortages from deteriorating economic conditions, like Venezuela and Argentina.

The Moringa tree will not survive the winters in most of the American Redoubt. That is why I have my plants in pots that I place outside in the late summer/spring and move inside in the fall. This is one of those plants that you have to really want, because it does require some attention. Why do I keep these high-maintenance trees? Moringa trees offer some great advantages. The seeds of the tree can be used as part of your off-grid water filtration process. The leaves can be eaten and have extremely high levels of protein, vitamins A and C, potassium, and calcium. The pods can be cooked as well.

The Trinidad Scorpion pepper is one of the hottest in the world. Why would we need this in a SHTF scenario? I am growing it now as a deterrent to combat my garden’s unrelenting pests. Growing without pesticides does mean using nature to battle nature. I have a problem with pocket gophers and moles, and I have found a mix of dish soap and powdered cayenne pepper sprayed around their holes to be an effective way to control these greedy little guys. Unfortunately, I don’t think cayenne pepper is strong enough, so I am experimenting with the Trinidad pepper as a much more powerful deterrent against both the smaller and larger (deer) pests.

Medicinal Plants

In a truly long-term survival scenario, it is highly unlikely that we will have access to quality medical care. While it may be possible to forage for medicinal plants, why not grow them? After extensive research on medicinal plants in my area, I was somewhat surprised once I realized that I could grow many of the natural medicine we would need.

Many of these plants are native, or can adapted to many of the plant hardiness zones throughout the Redoubt. Of course you will have to learn how to make the teas, poultices, compresses, tinctures, salves, et cetera, but there are many excellent books that can provide the basics one would need. Some of the more common plants that have medicinal properties are garlic, dandelion, lavender, and chamomile.

The climate in many parts of the American Redoubt can also support the growth of other medicinal plants including comfrey, mullein, nettle, plantain, valerian, peppermint, chickweed, yarrow, and elderberry.

When There Are No Fertilizers Or Pesticides

There is a good chance, in a SHTF scenario, that fertilizers and pesticides will be unavailable. That means we will be growing our food au naturel. This is why adopting natural and organic farming practices is essential.

I learned early in my mini-farming experience why the key tenant of organic agriculture is maintaining the health of the soil. I like to think of the soil as one huge energy outlet. The plants plug their roots into the soil and suck out the nutrients to produce crops. But in order to keep getting healthy, highly productive food, the soil needs to be replenished. Otherwise, each year your plants will be less and less productive.

Crop Rotation

Crop rotation is simply rotating crops to different areas in your garden or farm. This is done for many reasons, but it primarily helps dissuade plant diseases and pests from growing accustomed to one area.

Cover Crops

You can help to get all of those healthy nutrients back into the soil by planting cover crops. These specific crops are planted after you remove your plants from the garden at the end of the season. Cover crops replace those nutrients back into the soil while also helping to prevent the erosion that would occur when your fields would otherwise remain empty over the winter. In most parts of the American Redoubt, these crops will die off in the winter, leaving you with a lush layer of dead plant matter in the spring.

Importance of Compost

Compost is another important element required to maintain soil health. This decomposed matter boosts the nutrients and beneficial microbes in your soil, even further enhancing your output.

Putting It All Together

There is no better time to learn how to grow at least some food. If you plan on growing your own food in a SHTF scenario, please get enough non-hybrid, non-GMO seeds now. There is a very good chance that they will be unavailable in a crisis. Pay attention to the expiration dates on the packets, but realize that if stored in a cool, dry location those seeds will last much longer than their expiration suggests. Just remember that the longer from expiration date, the less seeds will germinate, so you will need more seeds to grow fewer plants.

You may want to start slowly, because taking on too much too soon can quickly become overwhelming. The feeling of making an entire meal from your own garden is both empowering and humbling, knowing that we are all capable but few choose to grow their own food. As a survivalist, you will sleep better knowing that you have this essential skill that could save your family in times of future turmoil.

Letter Re: How to Obtain Your Amateur Radio License, by N.M.

Hello,

I recently read author N.M’s article regarding how to obtain an Amateur Radio license. The article was well-written and provided a wealth of information for prospective Hams. I have been a licensed Amateur Radio operator since the early 1990s and have seen a lot of changes in the hobby. Some were good and some not so good, but that is a discussion better left to a lazy chair and a pot of coffee. The reason I am writing is I noticed something that is potentially problematic in N.M’s article. When discussing what radio to select, N.M. mentions the Yaesu FT-8900r, which operates on the 10m/6m/2m/70cm amateur radio bands. While this would indeed be a good radio for a newly-licensed technician, it should be noted that technician class operators would not be allowed to legally use this radio on the 10m band. While technician class operators do indeed have privileges from 28.000 MHz to 28.500 MHz (voice privileges are from 28.300 MHz to 28.500 MHz), the authorized voice mode is SSB phone. The Yaesu FT-8900r is an FM only rig, and, as such, does not utilize the required mode of single sideband (SSB). Using the FM transmit mode on those frequencies could, at least, alienate you from other Ham operators and, at worst, get you a nasty letter from the FCC. – J.D.

News From The American Redoubt:

‘It’s unrelenting’: inside the Washington town surrounded by raging wildfires

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Video: At Least 24 Homes Destroyed in Washington Wildfire

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Northern Idaho Wildfire Update

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Video: Western wildfires continue to spread destruction

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Wilder Idaho school forces student to remove Confederate flag from truck Calls it a “gang” logo – RBS

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Idaho ammo company is in the business of downing drones – RBS

Economics and Investing:

Global Trade In Freefall: Container Freight Rates From Asia To Europe Crash 60% In Three Weeks – GJM

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10 Reasons Why The Market Carnage Is Far From Over

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Why The Bear Of 2015 Is Different From The Bear Of 2008

Making Sense Of The Sudden Market Plunge

Households See 1.8 Trillion of Wealth Vanish

Stock Up on Canned Goods and Bottle Water- Fmr Advisor to Gordon Brown Advises – This is interesting just given the source..

Odds ‘n Sods:

Beware, your lock screen passcode probably isn’t very secure: 75% of us start secret patterns from a corner, study reveals – JBG

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Uniformed Officer Booted From Chuck E Cheese Over Duty Handgun – D.S.

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Disconnected is the new security feature: How hyperconnectivity is dangerous to human civilization – D.S.

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Now THAT is real survival: Nurse sets own broken legs while trapped in car after crash – T.P.
“I noticed my feet were real broken,” she said. “They were twisted to the side. My little nurse brain was like, you’ve got to straighten those up because you’re going to…lose your blood supply and then you’re going to lose your legs. I just prayed for a while and so I then picked them up and I moved them. It was really painful but I did it.”

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ZeroGov is launching a new book: A Vision for an Unshackled Humanity: Volume II is a compilation of essays from 2012-2015. By the way, it was launched on August 24 in honor of William Wilberforce who was born on that day.

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The latest from over at the “Thoughts from Frank and Fern” blog: Daddy, I’m Hungry…

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Powerful government tends to draw into it people with bloated egos, people who think they know more than everyone else and have little hesitance in coercing their fellow man. Or as Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek said, ‘in government, the scum rises to the top’.” – Walter E. Williams

Notes for Monday – August 24, 2015

On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. This could conceivably be the beginning of the dark middle ages.

Scot’s Product Review: Burris 2-7xx32mm Handgun Scope on the Mexican Mauser

I have long been a fan of Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper and his Scout rifle concept. It’s not the best tool for every application of the rifle, but his idea was to create a general purpose answer to the problem of striking a decisive blow on an animal up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) at any distance the shooter could place a bullet into the vitals of said animal. He further specified that it should be handy and defined it as being one meter (about 40 inches) long and three kilograms (a bit less than seven pounds) in weight unloaded but including sling and sights. Cooper apparently liked round numbers and metric measurements.

The .308 Winchester round, which is very common and compact enough to allow for a shorter and lighter rifle, is sufficiently powerful to meet Cooper’s standard. There are, of course, plenty of other cartridges that will do the trick, but .308 would be a first choice should one have options.

He also specified the bolt action as best suited to the concept. It is light, simple, and strong, and for his purposes a high rate of fire is unnecessary. A practiced rifleman can run a bolt quickly enough for a follow shot on game.

Besides hunting, Cooper felt the rifle would do well in self-defense and would be a good tool for the military scout, though many of us would pick a semi-auto for those roles. That said the Scout rifle could do the job in most cases.

Cooper argued the primary sighting system should be a fixed, low-powered scope forward mounted on the rifle ahead of the action. This goes against convention. Most of us like lots of magnification and variable power scopes, which we usually leave set on maximum. We usually mount them directly over the action. Cooper didn’t trust variable power scopes, having seen a number fail in his career. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 86, however, and missed experiencing many of the advances in optics over the last decade that have led most of us to think that reliable variable power scopes have arrived.

His preferred location of the scope, forward of the action, has great merit. Getting the scope forward allows easier access to the magazine for topping off the rifle and keeps the scope far from vulnerable foreheads. Most importantly, since the scope is farther from your eyes, it doesn’t block your view, which tremendously improves situational awareness– a valuable capability in hunting or self-defense. As a left-hander, I find it also helps me when I try to run a right-handed bolt rifle. The scope over the action makes it hard to reach over the rifle to work the bolt. If you ever get a chance to watch the movie Saving Private Ryan, make note of the American sharpshooter, who was left-handed, and of the extra effort he had to apply to work the action of his Springfield.

A problem with this mount, however, is that it limits the magnification we all love. Since the scope is further away, it is harder to get the eye directly behind it, and the more magnification we have, the more difficult it is to stay centered with it. Cooper felt that any more than 3 power scopes would not work. I’ve found that to be the case with my eyes. The low magnification does have the advantage of allowing us to keep both eyes open, which also helps our awareness. Lower power also minimizes the tremors we all have when shooting off-hand. A rule of thumb I had beaten into me was that 4x was about as much as most of us can handle, and it is certainly true for me. This applies to conventionally mounted scopes as well as forward mounted one.

While Cooper felt 3 power scopes were sufficiently powerful, I know I am not alone in sometimes wishing for more, which is the reason for this review. I do a fair amount of testing from the bench and get better groups with more magnification than I have with any of my fixed power Scout scopes. When working from a bench, you can take the time to get behind a scope, and paper targets on the range don’t require a high level of situational awareness. I was therefore interested when I spotted some variable power Scout scopes on the market. I feared, however, that the rifle I wanted to put it on, the 7x57mm Mexican Mauser I’ve written about before, might not work with them. The scope mount on the old Mauser is an S&K that sits where the original rear sight was mounted. The specs on these scopes indicated that the eye relief might require them to sit farther back than this mount allows. Pistol scopes, however, offer more eye relief, and since I had tried a 2x handgun scope on a Garand with good results, I asked Burris if I could borrow one of their 2-7x28mm Handgun scopes, and they were nice enough to oblige.

The scope has a 1-inch diameter tube and weighs 13 ounces. At its largest point, it is 39mm, or slightly more than 1.5 inches in diameter. It is 9.7 inches long. So overall, it is a pretty compact package and just a bit larger than a typical fixed power Scout scope, though it is six ounces heavier, which is enough to notice.

You get a choice of a ballistic or plain duplex style reticle. The ballistic has little dots on it for holdover or windage. I’m a simple sort and asked for the plain one. I don’t see this as a long range rifle, and it can be zeroed so you can hold dead on out to 250 yards or so, which in my view is a long shot for hunting in the southeast.

The field of view is 21 feet at low power and seven feet at high power at 100 yards. This is narrower than I would like, as a large field of view helps with situational awareness, but since it will primarily be used with both eyes open on low power and you can see around a Scout scope so easily, it is not the problem it would be on a scope that’s mounted close to your eye.

It offers plenty of adjustments for zeroing, 64 inches in both elevation and windage at 100 yards. Each click moves the shot ¼ inch at 100 yards. Eye relief is from 11-21 inches on low power and 10-14 inches on high power.

The finish is matte black, but you can get it in nickel if you like. The MSRP ranges from $419 to $455, depending on finish. The model I had can be found on Amazon for $349, a tidy discount if your budget is like mine.

The scope was mounted on the rifle using the S&K scope mount I reviewed last November. I wish they made this mount in a version for Weaver rings, as it would make it easier to remove the scope if necessary. The one that fits my rifle, however, only comes in a version that uses S&K rings. These are more attractive than Weaver rings and may even work better, but they require Allen wrenches to remove, while Weavers can be removed with a coin or knife blade. For a field use rifle, that’s a good thing. I used a kit from Midway with alignment tools to ensure the rings were properly set and then lapped them so there would be no strain placed on the scope by misaligned rings. A torque wrench got everything snug enough but not too snug.

I actually found there was more eye relief than I needed, and I had to mount the scope as far forward as possible. That surprised me a bit, and it means I probably could have used the Scout version of the scope just as well as the pistol one. I live and learn, but it did work out, which is the important thing.

It was then off to the range to zero. Proof that everything was lined up well is that it was on the paper with the first shot and less than 10 clicks were needed to center the group at 50 yards. The adjustments were consistent and repeatable and moved bullet impact precisely as they should.

Since the range I was using only went to 100 yards and I wanted a 200 yard zero, I used Shoot! , a $40 ballistics software application to compute that the group should be 2¼ inches high at 100 yards, and I futzed with it to get it there. I still need to go to an outdoor range and confirm that it is right at 200 yards. Software simulates and saves time, but we need reality if we are going to use a rifle on game or for self-defense.

The 200 yard zero, by the way, should keep me within four inches of my point of aim out to 250 yards. This is with the 139 grain Privi Partizan load, which is the only one I have been able to find at reasonable cost lately. Truthfully, I would be very unwilling to shoot that far unless I had a lot of time and a solid rest and position. If I combine my abilities with this rifle, I think I would be stretching to go beyond 200 yards in most cases. Serious hunger would, of course, alter that equation.

The scope is bright and clear. With a 32mm diameter objective, it is passing as much light through to the eye as the average young person can make use of at 4.5x magnification and as much as middle-aged and older people can typically use at 6.5x magnification. I discussed seeing through optics in the dark in a binocular review recently should you want more information on the subject. The basic idea, though, is that the more magnification you have, the larger the objective needs to be. There are limits to how much the human eye can take advantage of, and this scope strikes an excellent compromise on letting you see when it’s dark vs. the gain in size and weight larger objectives demand.

My biggest curiosity was how more magnification would turn out using a Scout scope. I think that Colonel Cooper pretty well nailed it. If I go more than 3x in magnification, it gets hard to use the scope off-hand. I start having to squint or close my offside eye and really focus on the scope to see through it. That defeats the goal, which is to have greater awareness of everything else around you and to be able to follow a moving target easily. I’m happiest at around 2.5x, but I can still keep both eyes open and see both through and around the scope at 3x. As magnification increases beyond 3x, it gets harder and harder; someplace past 4x, I lose the awareness that this is all about.

On the other hand, working on the bench, the extra magnification is very welcome. I could see many field situations where it would also be useful, shooting prone, for example. Despite the Colonel’s reservations, I think the variable power scope is worth it, thanks to the improvements in modern optics that he didn’t get to experience. Overall, this test confirmed what I suspected, that one could take advantage of more magnification with a Scout scope under some circumstances, and I found no negatives, other than weight and cost, in going to a variable power scope.

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Eire

Pat Cascio’s Product Review: CZ Scorpion Handgun

Some many months back, I viewed a video on YouTube about the CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 handgun. (That’s quite a mouthful, so we’ll just call it the CZ Scorpion.) I was really impressed with the video testing the CZ Scorpion. I’ve had some other semi-auto only versions of full-auto sub guns in the past, and most didn’t impress me. They were just too bulky, or they flat out weren’t reliable. However, there was just “something” about the CZ Scorpion that caught my attention when I watched that video. So, I kept a watchful eye out for one at my local gun shop, and recently they finally got one in stock that I snapped up.

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The CZ Scorpion is imported by CZ USA , along with many other fine firearms, too many to even begin to count on their website. The CZ Scorpion is made in the Czech Republic– what was formerly part of the old Iron Curtain under the control of the Soviet Union. To be sure, some outstanding firearms have been manufactured in the Czech Republic over the years. One I always wanted was the CZ 75 9mm handgun, but the few that were in the U.S. some many years ago were commanding big money. So, I was content to purchase “clones” of the famed CZ 75 over the years. Some were better than others. However, you can now have the real deal, thanks to CZ USA. However, the gun under review today is the CZ Scorpion.

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Make no mistake, this is a handgun, even though it may appear to be a submachine gun by its looks. The Scorpion is chambered in 9mm and comes with two 20-rd magazines, however, 30-rd mags are available, if you can find them. They are hard to come by, though, if you shop around you can find them at the actual retail price of a mere $19.95. There are some companies that are charging as much as $75 a piece for the 30-rd mags. Steer clear of them! Shop around the Internet, and you’ll find some of these 30-rd polymer mags for your Scorpion. www.gregcotellc.com often has the 30-rd mags for $19.95. If he is out of stock, get on the waiting list; he gets them in all the time. The polymer mags are fiber reinforced and translucent; you can see the rounds in the mag, even though the polymer is smoked colored. They are double feed and easy to load, too. Just press the rounds down, as you would on a mag like the AR-15 takes, really fast. It’s easy to load 30-rds in a minute or less.

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The frame/receiver on the Scorpion is black, fiber reinforced polymer, reducing the weight of the gun to 5.0 lbs. The barrel and bolt carrier group is, needless to say, made out of steel. The barrel is 7.72 inches and cold hammer forged, so it will stand up to all the shooting you want to do without fear of wearing the barrel out. Overall length of the Scoprion is 16.0 inches with a height of 9.4 inches with the 20-rd mag inserted. There are Picatinny-style rails on the top of the receiver as well as the bottom/front and on either side of the receiver forward of the ejection port, so you can mount all manner of accessories, like lights and lasers. The lower Picatinny rail has a “stop” attached, for proper hand placement. You don’t want your off hand to push forward and get a finger blown off if it protrudes in front of the barrel. On my sample, the “stop” was attached fully forward. I moved it rearward a bit, and it makes the gun fit my off hand all that much better. The barrel also has a flash suppressor attached to it, which is nice!

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The charging handle comes mounted on the left side of the upper receiver. However, in a minute or so, you can mount it on the right side of the gun, if you are a southpaw. The ejection port is large, and empty brass easily clears it. The grip is large and long, too long in my humble opinion, but I guess longer is better than having a grip that is too short. Additionally, you can move the grip rearward by simply loosening a screw and sliding the grip back. I found the position where it was, which was fully forward, to work best for me, and I experimented with moving in rearward. The trigger is also polymer and grooved. I would prefer a smooth trigger face, however, you can easily smooth the trigger fast with a bit of sandpaper or a Dremel Tool. Just go slow! The magazine release is just forward of the trigger, on the trigger guard, and is easily pushed with your trigger finger to remove a magazine. Again, that’s really nice!

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The front and rear sights are extremely nice, especially the rear sight, that has four different sized apertures so you can use the biggest opening for up close and personal work or the smallest one for longer distance shooting. With a flip of the apertures, you can change sizes. That’s excellent. The front sight is a squared aperture post that you can adjust for elevation. The rear sight can be adjusted for windage. The front sight also has grooves on the rear of it to help stop sunlight from reflecting on it. Just forward of the ejection port, we have a nice steel attaching device, for attaching a single point sling, one on either side of the gun. The rear of the receiver also has a method for attaching a single point sling. I added a piece of Velcro to it and a round key ring, so I can attach a single point sling there, if I don’t want to attach one on the sides of the gun.

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Lastly, we have an ambidextrous safety that operates smoothly. This is my only real complaint, and one CZ needs to address: the ambi safety is just long enough that when you take a proper firing grip on the gun, and pull the trigger, the safety digs into the knuckle of the trigger finger. Ouch! I’m hoping that CZ will come out with a single side safety. In lieu of that, I will take the old Dremel Tool to the bottom of the safety on the right side and grind it down a little bit. It won’t take much. I don’t know how CZ engineers missed this problem. If CZ doesn’t come out with a single-side safety, I’m sure some after-market enterprise will.

The trigger pull is a bit stiff, and on my sample was about seven pounds, however, it felt lighter than that for some reason. I also covered most of the Picatinny rails with rubber covers, for a better hold without the sharp edges of the rails cutting into my off hand when firing. A minute or two with some extra-fine emory cloth will do the same, but it was easier to just snap the rubber rail protectors onto the rails. We also have a bolt release on the left side of the Scorpion. If you gun the gun dry and insert another loaded mag into it, you can either pull the charging handle back and release it to send the bolt forward, chambering another round, or simply pull down on the large bolt carrier release. I found pulling down on the bolt carrier release lever worked better for me, instead of pulling back on the charging handle.

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I will say that, at least for me, it was best to attach a single-point sling to the side of the Scorpion, the left side, while the bungee part of the sling was across my shoulder and neck. Then, by extending the gun forward, causing some slight tension with the sling, I found I had a very steady platform from which to shoot. Simply grab the pistol grip, as you would with any other semi-auto handgun, and then place your off hand forward of the magazine well, allowing it to push against the “stop”, and you have about as solid of a platform as you can get. I did fire over a rolled up sleeping bag, but honestly the sling method is the way to go. “Yes,” you can fire the gun one-handed, but that’s not the way to go if you want any sort of accuracy.

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I had a huge variety of various 9mm loads from Black Hills Ammunition and Buffalo Bore Ammunition for testing, plus some reloads of unknown origin given to me, from JHP to lead to FMJ loads. From Black Hills, I had their 115-gr JHP +P, 124-JHP +P, 115-gr FMJ, 115-gr EXP HP, 124-gr JHP and their 115-gr Barnes TAC-XP +P all-copper hollow point. From Buffalo Bore, I had their 147-gr FMJ FN Heavy load, 147-gr +P Outdoorsman load, Hard Cast Flat Nose, 115-gr TAC-XP +P+ all-copper hollow point, 124-gr FMJ FN +P+ and their 115-gr JHP +P+. Wow!! Just about any type and flavor of 9mm ammo you can think of were run through the CZ Scorpion.

I’ll tell you what. I had zero malfunctions of any sort with any of the ammo, and to be sure, as a test, every single magazine I loaded had a mix of various types, weights, and manufactures of ammo in it. This is always a great test, to mix different types of ammo in a magazine to see how a gun will feed. Many owner’s manuals will tell you to not mix different brands or types of ammo in the mags, and many guns will simply choke if you do this. That was not so with the Scorpion. It fired everything, without hesitation, everything! And, needless to say, a 5-lb handgun in 9mm has no recoil to speak of, either.

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Accuracy testing was rather boring. It didn’t seem to matter much which ammo I ran through the Scorpion; it loved ’em all. That’s something that doesn’t usually happen. Then again, we have a fixed barrel, straight blow-back recoil system, so the barrel isn’t moving up and down or back and forth. If I had to pick a winner in the accuracy department, it would be the Black Hills 124-gr JHP load at 25-yards. No load exceeded 3-inchs, and I think the gun can do much better than that. My accuracy testing was limited. We were in the middle of one of three heat waves in Oregon, and I don’t tolerate that kind of heat, so I was a bit rushed to get through my shooting. In all, I put more than 500-rds down range with the Scorpion. I could pick out some large rocks, downrange 50-75 yards, and easily nail them. I changed the rear aperture a few times, and needless to say, the smaller apertures gave me a better sigh picture for longer shots.

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I’m thinking about putting some kind of red dot sight on the upper Picatinny rail, for faster sight acquisition. It’s be something small; nothing overly large is called for. So, now it begs to question, what good is a semi-auto “submachine gun” for a survival situation? Well, first of all, the Scorpion isn’t just designed for survival. It would make a dandy house gun with a 30-rd mag full of some JHP fodder; you can sure hold your own against any intruder. As a survival gun, well, it’s not my first choice, but I wouldn’t feel under-gunned if this is the only handgun I had with me out in the boonies. Stoke it with some of the Buffalo Bore 147-gr +P Outdoorsman Hard Cast loads, and you can take many kinds of game. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of the Scorpion if I were 150-yards out or close. We are talking about laying down some serious fire power, accurate fire too, in a short amount of time.

As I mentioned above, the best way to deploy the Scorpion is with a single point sling attached, either to one of the ambi attaching points on either side of the receiver in front of the ejection port, or place a piece of Velcro on the rear of the receiver (see pic) and use a round key ring to attach the single point sling there. Plus, at only 5.0 lbs, the Scorpion can hang across your chest all day long with a single point sling and a 30-rd mag; you’ll hardly know it’s there. Toss in a triple 9mm tactical thigh pouch from 100_6164href=”http://www.blackhawk.com”>Blackhawk Products and one more mag in the gun, and that gives you a fast 120-rds on hand. Toss a couple more triple 9mm subgun mag pouches on a tactical vest, and you are ready for WW3.

I test a lot of guns for articles, as well as testing guns in some of my handgun classes, that are far and few between. Many guns I test are just a new and improved version of an older design. However, the CZ Scoprion EVO 3 S1 (there’s that long name) was a lot of fun to shoot… a LOT of fun! I oftentimes ask a friend or two to go out shooting with me, and they are always more than happy to shoot at my expense. However, this time around I hoarded the Scorpion all to myself. I didn’t even let the wife shoot it. It could be very addicting, and a person could easily blow through a case or two of 9mm ammo in short order, if they weren’t paying attention. Yes! It is that much fun to shoot! Full retail is $849. I talked my local gun shop down to $750; they had it marked for $799. It’s quite a bargain, if you ask me, for so much gun, so much fun gun! Check one out at your local gun shop, if they have one. They are still in short supply.

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Tzatziki Dip, by A.S.

Here is a simple recipe for making a cool refreshing dip for those hot summer days when you don’t want something sweet or you are seeking a healthy way of adding some variety to your diet. It makes a great alternative to the sugary sauces that are sold on the supermarket shelf. The bonus is its homemade, and you know what’s in it, which is a winner in my book!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Kg / 2.2 lbs full fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 rsp lemon Juice
  • 4 cloves of fresh garlic
  • 1 tsp rock salt
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 stalks of fresh chives
  • 1 lg telegraph cucumber- peeled, halved, and seeds removed
  • 2 cut pieces of muslin /cheesecloth (about 6×8 inches)

Directions:

  1. Place yogurt in your piece of cheesecloth and slowly squeeze over a bowl to remove the whey. Do this until most of the whey is removed. Let the now much drier yogurt drain over the bowl for 15 minutes.
  2. Take the cucumber and proceed to grate the green outside skin to the softer flesh underneath. Place the grated Cucumber in another piece of muslin/cheesecloth and squeeze out the juice into a bowl and discard.
  3. In a bowl place your salt, lemon juice, olive oil, chives, garlic, yogurt, and cucumber; mix well!
  4. Let your dip stay overnight in the fridge to bring out the flavour, and then serve with your favourite pita bread and black olives to enjoy!

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: Multiple Families on Your Retreat

Hi.

The article on Multiple Families was very good. We, too, live at our retreat. We’ve been working for five years to make this 9000 ft elevation retreat sustainable and may someday write about lessons learned, but for now we just want to respond to Farmer Brown. He was very generous to invite someone in to partner on the ranch, especially since the infrastructure he owns is a very expensive venture– one not shared by the new family. We believe we solved this issue in that we developed a co-op and invited a number of small families from our church to participate. We’ve done this for two years now and have had a chance to watch their work ethic, to see how dedicated they are to accomplishing tasks, and how they work together with or without our guidance. (A few times we were out of town and they had to figure out what to do with themselves, and they made us proud.) Some of them are as poor as church mice, while others just aren’t self-motivated; they need guidance to buy this or that. Still others are working their fingers to the bone trying to establish their own retreat in the city. They all have expertise in various areas necessary to survival. But we haven’t gone that extra step, as Farmer Brown suggested, and written up anything formal or set out specific tasks if/when we should all live together. Some in the group won’t need that and others won’t see what needs doing. But, we think, we do have a handle on whether these specific people will work well in a grid-down situation, after working with them for an extended time.

Thanks for this blog. It is VERY helpful. – S.

Economics and Investing:

Warning: The Great Reset Is Coming, Very Soon! — Bill Holter

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Making Sense Of The Sudden Market Plunge As we’ve been warning for a long time, you cannot print your way to prosperity; you can only delay the inevitable by trading time for elevation. Now, instead of finding ourselves saddled with $155 trillion of global debt as we did in 2008, we’re entering this next crisis with $200 trillion on the books and interest rates already stuck at zero. We are 30 feet up the ladder instead of 10, and it’s a long way down. – A.T.

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Oil Price Collapse Triggers Currency Crisis In Emerging Markets

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Is The Global Financial System On The Verge Of Collapse?