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:

This week, I did my best to catch up on my blog writing, following our long road trip.  (I try to keep the blog written and edited at least three days in advance.)

I’ve also been busy packing and mailing out orders, for my Elk Creek Company side biz. Every time we run a special sale, I get a rush of orders. The current sale is on all of our inventory of Ludwig Loewe (Berlin) M1891 Argentine Mausers and our Pietta percussion .44 revolvers. Many of the latter are convertible to safely fire .45 Colt and .45 ACP cartridges.

There is definitely a nip of Fall in the air, in our corner of the American Redoubt.  Lily has been busy harvesting in the main garden and in the orchard. I’ve just been helping to get some of that produce tucked away in our Cool Room. I helped her pick apples, and got them into The Other Cool Room. I also slaughtered, gutted, and skinned five roosters. As usual, Lily finished up butchering those and got three of them into the stew pot. I then deboned those into ziploc bags and Lily put that meat in one of our freezers. The other two birds went right in the oven, for a chicken roast.

Lily will give you some more details on her bountiful harvest, in her report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.” – Psalm 119: 40-45 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — September 27, 2024

On September 27, 1822, French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced that he had deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone.

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We are running a 3-week-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Until October 11th, 2024, all of our Pietta brand blackpowder revolvers and all of our M1891 Argentine Mauser rifles are deeply discounted. Take a look!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 114 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. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  6. 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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  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 $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 114 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.

Prepper Group Training: Indigenous Guerrilla Teams – Part 2, by Bulldog

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

The Challenge

To understand why I feel we are lacking in our preparation of these men and women, let us look at only one necessary skill set, team radio communications. Certainly we could agree that it represents one of the key core elements critically necessary to prepper and survivalist groups. Yet, in most cases it is overlooked or minimized by group leadership. Instead, we relegate programming to the “commo guy” and hope that after stuff hits the fan (SHTF), group members will somehow magically demonstrate more interest. Please understand that I am in the same boat. In my own situation here, I find myself handing out pre-programmed “Fengs” to neighbors. Still, our goals should be that our group members are proficient in manually programming frequencies, or more importantly, programming and successfully making a specific contact.

With each passing year, the complexity of our communication training needs only increases. Although the analog radios could sometimes tax the patience of new members, the digital mobile radios (DMR) of today brought with them another layer of complexity. For us here, we maintain one model of dual-band analog HT, and one model dual band DMR. With either, the goal should be that members can manually program and transmit successfully, using the individual team radio for both voice and data transmission and reception. But now we added a small tablet or Android device to achieve a redneck burst transmission of sorts.Continue reading“Prepper Group Training: Indigenous Guerrilla Teams – Part 2, by Bulldog”

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, we look at the raging bull gold market. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

With spot gold hitting another all-time high of $2,693.00 per Troy ounce on Thursday morning, it now appears that the U.S. COMEX short traders are near capitulation. (Meanwhile, spot silver hit $32.61.)  When the shorts finally give up their weekly see-saw battles with their bullish Asian trading counterparts, I predict gold will make a successful run to $3,000+ per ounce.  I hope my readers took my advice and stacked gold in or before October, 2022, when Gold was under $1,650 per ounce. And BTW, there is still time to buy silver and platinum, while their prices are artificially depressed. Once this bull goes Full Pamplona, silver and platinum will likely double in price! – JWR

o  o  o

Saudi Central Bank Caught Secretly Buying 160 Tonnes Of Gold In Switzerland.

o  o  o

Hub Moolman, at Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Is Stepping Up Its Monetary Dominance.

Economy & Finance:

From reader H.L.:  Walmart plans instant bank payments, cutting out card networks.

o  o  o

Jerome Powell: Migration Is Raising Americans’ Unemployment Rate.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: China’s Collapsing Economy Adds To Headwinds For Japanese Automakers.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — September 26, 2024

September 26, 1655, at the height of the Great Plague of London, 7,165 people died throughout the previous week.  The familiar cry in the street was “Bring Out Your Dead”, as the death carts circulated through the city.

On September 26, 1396, Ottoman Sultan Bajezid I ordered the beheading hundreds of Crusaders after the Battle of Nicopolis.

And on September 26, 1908 an ad for the Edison Phonograph first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 114 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. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

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. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  6. 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 gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  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 $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 114 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.

Prepper Group Training: Indigenous Guerrilla Teams – Part 1, by Bulldog

I would like to begin my topic by examining two concepts. I feel both ideas illustrate the hearts and souls of many men and women within today’s prepper and survivalist communities.

The first one is an analogy. Its origins have most been often attributed to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. Lt. Col. Grossman’s premise was that all people can be placed into one of three groups; “sheep, sheepdogs, or wolves.”Continue reading“Prepper Group Training: Indigenous Guerrilla Teams – Part 1, by Bulldog”

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 some “interesting” U.S. military deployments.

Alaska Troops Deploy to Remote Shemya Island

Alaska troops deploy to remote Shemya Island, less than 300 miles from Russia. JWR’s Comments:  Shemya has been publicly revealed as a Cobra Dane space object and missile tracking RADINT/ELINT/MASINT site. It was once jointly operated as a Field Station (FS) by the Army ASA and the US Air Force.

Pentagon Announces More Troops for Middle East

H.L. sent this: WWIII Watch: Pentagon Announces More Troops for Middle East. A pericope:

“AP reports Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. Their precise geographical region of deployment has also not been disclosed.

The U.S. currently has about 40,000 troops in the region. Just last month U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and told the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area.”

The Island Fortress of America’s Mega-Billionaires

Tim J. was the first of several SurvivalBlog readers to mention this interesting article that was also linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Inside the island fortress of America’s mega-billionaires.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” – President Gerald R. Ford, in an address to a Joint Session of Congress August 12, 1974

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — September 25, 2024

On September 25, 1890, Sequoia National Park was established by US President Benjamin Harrison. This was California’s first national park and the country’s second.

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On September 25, 1989, archaeologists opened the Titus of Rhine grave in Amsterdam. JWR’s Comment: Apparently it is no longer considered grave desecration if archaeologists do it…

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On September 25th, 1789, the first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification.

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Today we feature a lengthy response to a comment to a writing contest entry.

We are seeking entries for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 114 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 Response to a Question on .45 LC in .410, by Tunnel Rabbit

If, in desperate times we need to take risks that would in normal times be unacceptable and possibly extra legal with the extraordinary circumstances.  Examining the limits of the risks that we would consider to be acceptable would be an individual’s judgment call.  Some of the contents of one of my recent articles is predicated on the situation when and where we might be faced with in a future dystopian world where we would be forced to hunt in order to supplement our limited food source to avoid starvation.  Some of the methods involving firearms are not now, or should they be considered to be acceptable, such as the means of hunting as described in the recollection and story of a boy who hunted and successfully taken 77 deer with only a .22 rimfire rifle.  See: Hunting in Desperate Times, Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit.Continue reading“A Response to a Question on .45 LC in .410, by Tunnel Rabbit”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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Amid Growing Violence, More Churches Turn to Faith-Based Security Groups.

o  o  o

SurvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Mike Williamson sent us a link to some valid criticism of a prepper ad, over at  X/Twitter. JWR’s Comments: The rust on that saw shows that it isn’t used often, or well cared for.  And seeing him make his cut between the sawbuck supports is downright laughable.  He is moments away from getting his saw pinched.

o  o  o

Study: Electric Vehicle Batteries Make Cars Too Heavy to Be Stopped by Safety Guardrails.

o  o  o

U.S. citizens can now renew their passports online. JWR’s Comment:  Keeping passports updated for every family member is important.  You never know when you might need to implement a “Plan C” or even a “Plan D”, for bug-out.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 24, 2024

On September 24, 1529, Sultan Suleiman and his Ottoman troops arrived in Vienna, beginning a whole series of smaller sieges in the region, culminating with the Turk’s failed Second Siege, in 1683.

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Today’s feature article is a short guest post by former congressman Dr. Ron Paul, selected by JWR. It is reposted with permission.

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We are seeking entries for Round 114 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  More than $900,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 114 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.