Odds ‘n Sods:

There has been an uproar on the Internet (and a significant market rush) caused by the BATFE’s proposed ban of “green tip” M855 5.56mm NATO ammunition, even though it is not truly “armor piercing”, and even though less than 1% of AR-15s are built as pistols. If you oppose this rule change, then please politely send a comment to the ATF.

ATF will carefully consider all comments, as appropriate, received on or before March 16, 2015, and will give comments received after that date the same consideration if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given except as to comments received on or before March 16, 2015. ATF will not acknowledge receipt of comments. Submit comments in any of three ways (but do not submit the same comments multiple times or by more than one method):

Fax: (202) 648-9741

Mail: Denise Brown, Mailstop 6N-602, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, BATFE, 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20226: ATTN: AP Ammo Comments.

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‘Beware of New Jersey’: 72-Year-Old Man Facing 10 Years in Prison Over an Antique Gun. – D.S.

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Free eBook: ‘Surviving the End’ by James Jay Carafano. – G.G.

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Moscow-Based Security Firm Reveals What May Be The Biggest NSA “Backdoor Exploit” Ever. – H.L.

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Pennsylvania Judge Sentenced to 28 Years In Prison for Selling Teens to Prisons. – D.S.

Notes for Tuesday – February 17, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three 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 then 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 30 DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448) 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 pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a 340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. 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,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. 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. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis 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,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  10. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

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,
  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 Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 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 57 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The World of Bug Out Bags, by D.M. – Part 2

Common Gear to Bring in Your Bag

Now the type of bug out bag I have been addressing is one that you might have to use to travel a great distance and spend the night, depending upon only the gear that you have with you. Each situation is different, and each geographic region and season brings different challenges. In some of the articles I have read, I am amazed at what some people list as “survival” or necessary items, like a heavy, solar charger (remember that you are carrying this on your back!), but they forget to pack other important items, like toilet paper (good for fire starting, as a signaling device, and for bandaging, writing notes, and your behind) or a good water purification system. Some may say toilet paper is not essential; however, if you are in a remote area and come down with dysentery to where you are squatting for hours, trust me, you will be glad you had it and did not have to wipe with stones or leaves, causing you to be susceptible to cuts, which lead to infection in a delicate body area and possibly beyond.

Another point of writing this article is to share how we can thrive with a good bug out bag and not just barely survive. Here is a list of essential/useful items that I bring on most backpacking trips. As every season and situation is different, I hope this mere list will help you with a baseline as to what to bring on multiple-night trips.

  • Shelter

    Tent, bivy sack, hammock, bug netting, tarp, et cetera. Just make sure it matches your climate and expected situation of use. Please don’t be foolish and buy one and put it into your pack without ever practicing putting it together at home. Putting up a new tent, in the dark, while it’s raining, miles away from your car, only to find out that your new tent did not come with stakes, the seams aren’t sealed (water goes through the stitching), and the tent door zipper is broken, makes for a very memorable night.

  • One change of clothing

    Allows you to change out of wet clothing or add layers, if cold. If your daily work environment calls for inappropriate shoes (high heels or penny loafers), then make sure to pack shoes that will match your intended use that add adequate foot protection and medial and lateral support.

  • Water filter

    Tablets work, but having to wait 20+ min before you can drink limits you. Boiling water is time consuming, plus the smoke from the fire may give away your position, it requires fuel, and some places/situations won’t allow for a fire (like while you are in a canoe). Additionally, having to wait for the water to cool down feels like forever in the hot summer heat. A water filter/purifier makes murky water clear, improves the taste, and removes odors and colors as well as some chemicals, like pesticides and sulfide. It is also not reliant on needing a water bottle if it breaks (you could filter right into your mouth). A good filter is the fastest safe method available however I would recommend a metal water bottle for boiling as a backup or iodine tablets in case your filter gets lost or breaks.

  • Water bottles

    Notice the plural tense used on on the word: “bottles”. Take two, just in case one breaks or if water is sparse and sources are a great distance apart. I recommend a 32-ounce, wide mouth Nalgene bottle. (It is almost unbreakable; however ,I have found out that it will break if it falls off a cliff with frozen water in it, and it won’t survive a tractor running over it either.) I also recommend a similar sized metal bottle, providing the ability to boil water.

  • Knives

    I recommend a quality Kukri or large knife for wood processing, shelter making, and defense. Additionally, for finesse tasks, such as bushcraft and food prep, I recommend a smaller knife (3-5 inches).

  • Sleeping bag and pad

    They go hand in hand with your shelter system. Choose quality! When in doubt, opt for a warmer bag than you expect you’ll need. Being cold in a sleeping bag that is not warm enough is miserable and makes for a long stressful night. If you chose a bag that is too warm, then you can just unzip your bag or use it as a blanket. As for down versus synthetic, that depends on your environment, budget, and type of intended use. As mentioned earlier in the article, don’t forget the pad, as it has many purposes beyond aiding in a comfortable night’s sleep.

  • Food

    Good food uplifts your spirits and makes a trip great. Bad food can get you sick, constipated, or an easy way to run out of toilet paper. Only bring food that you have tried out at home and like. If you get an allergic reaction out in the back country, medical help might not be there. I don’t recommend bringing heavy cans. MRE’s are so highly advertised in the prepping world; however, many don’t realize how heavy they are and how much space they take up. Get dehydrated foods. Backpackers Pantry and Mountain House are a great place to start. You simply boil water, pour it into the package, wait, and eat from the package. It is ideal for stressful, disaster situations. Just remember to check food expiration dates. Eating expired gourmet beef stew is what I think dog food would task like.

  • First aid kit

    Do not buy a pre-made one that you only open in an emergency. Most pre-made ones are inadequate, so you will need to add to them. Every location and trip brings different risk factors, so your kit needs to constantly change and adapt. Make sure it is in a waterproof container! Wet Band-Aids don’t stick, and wet gauze can become moldy. Benadryl has saved a lot of lives. Make sure to pack it, and don’t forget to check expiration dates on any medications you bring.

    Fire starters

  • Bring at least two different methods for starting a fire. My favorite combination to bring is a Bic lighter (they work), Magnesium fire starter (works when wet), and a Fresnel lens (get the page size) for sunny days. Cotton balls with petroleum jelly do wonders, and those trick birthday candles that don’t go out are great (and inexpensive) fire starters, too.
  • Map
  • Compass
  • Bible

    It is the best reading material for inspiration, peace, instruction, and when you’re in trouble. Also, it’s the number one selling book of all time in the world.

  • Toilet paper

    Can be used as fire starter, bandage, for note taking, as emergency feminine pad, or napkins. It can help with chaffing or help wipe debris out of your eyes, as well as to wipe yourself.

  • Water-resistant LED Headlamp(Princeton Tec, Black Diamond, and Petzel make good ones.)
  • Hiking poles

    I used to think they were only for old fogies; however, once I tried them I found that I was able to cross swift rivers and ledges easier. It took much of the load off my back, and my injured knee allowed me to go further in comfort. I have also used a pole to push away snakes, as an improvised tent pole with a tarp, and to fend off wild dogs.

  • Firearm

    Whether you like it or not, the historical fact is that there are evil people who, especially in a disaster situation, will take advantage of others and steal, murder, and rape. I helped out those effected by Hurricane Katrina two days after it hit the USA and saw firsthand how the military m-4’s had to protect us (volunteer workers) from the pillaging mobs. If you are adequate with a firearm, then I will suggest you safely pack one with you. If you are not familiar with firearms and do not have proper training or are hesitant to use one (and I respect that), then I suggest you carry a can of bear spray. It is very effective against animals (wild dogs and rabid animals) and will turn the burliest of men into a crybaby for three hours or more. As for what type of gun and what caliber, I could only recommend these words of wisdom: Choose a gun that you can handle well and shoot the most accurately, and then practice, practice, practice.

These are the main items I bring. However, the most important thing to bring is a level head. With God and the right mind set, you will be able to handle every situation that comes your way.

Other Thoughts

Most people in a disaster situation will be in need. If you have a backpack or anything valuable, you will become a target. I believe it is very important to be incognito and not stand out in a world without rule of law (WRL) or disaster situation. Here are some plus and minus thoughts.

  • Military/Common bug out bags

    + Have neutral colors with little to no logos. Some are very “plain Jane”.

    – These bags scream to military and police that you have a gun or weapons. This look might make you seem like you’re in the military and to not mess with you.

    – Many people view these bags as nitch/prepper bags, and thus you have expensive gear inside (gold, electronics, weapons).

  • Backpacking bag as a bug out bag

    + Look like plain camping backpacks and not like you’re in the military

    – Most come in many colorful colors that stand out. To combat this, you could order a black version, or if they don’t offer one then just take some dye or Sharpie markers and change it to any color you want.

    – Many of these bags have more compartments and make items more accessible for quick deployment like for your first aid kit, food, and water.

Please don’t be that guy that has 12 bug out bags and is still not satisfied. Do your homework. A good sight for backpacking reviews is www.backpacker.com. They have in the past, filled backpacks and dragged them from the back of a pickup truck just to test the durability and the stitching quality. Now that was a review! I am very thankful for the Internet, because there are so many reviews online and videos on YouTube that it is easy to make thoughtful decisions on gear.

Cost Factor

I have had people ask me, “How much should I spend on this?” I am not going to tell you, the reader, that if you don’t spend this or that much money that your bag is no good, like some advertisers do. Every person is different, and each person has different needs. My first suggestion is to use what bag you have now, for it is better to have something than nothing ready. Or as the Bible says “…for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” (Ecc 9:4 KJV).

I will emphasis this: Don’t be cheap! You might be trusting your life and your family’s life to this bag. Some prepper stores I visit I do find myself saying, “$300 for what? That small, little bag?” I would agree that there are bug out bags that are astronomically over priced; however, a quick online search should help you to determine if you are getting what you paid for or if it is just a logo that you’re paying for.

I have friends that have said to me “that bag is too expensive”, and then they buy an inferior, less expensive knock-off model only to find their bag is uncomfortable, has poor quality control or falls apart sooner (made in China), and then they buy another bag only to find out that they have spent more money on two poorly-constructed bags than I spent on my nice bag that has a lifetime warranty. I am not suggesting going out and spending $500-8oo. I am saying don’t buy poor quality; you usually do get what you pay for. Just save your money until you can afford to buy what you need. It would be worth it in the end.

Conclusion

Go backpacking or talk to a backpacker. Chances are that the things you need to survive and thrive for two to three days in the wilderness are the same things you don’t want to leave out of your bug out bag. If your bug out bag is too small, like most, then I would suggest upgrading to a bigger one. If you’re interested in backpacking and don’t have a bug out bag and are looking into purchasing one, then I would suggest you save yourself money and just buy (you might already have one) a high quality backpacking backpack. Use it for camping and backpacking, and when not in use, keep all of your gear in it at the ready for an emergency. Just don’t buy the neon yellow ones.

Letter Re: Milsurp Ammo

Sir:

There has been some back and forth about the utility of milsurp rifles lately. Without regard to the rifles themselves, one of the advantages often given is that ammunition for some calibers can be relatively inexpensive when bought in bulk. Folks should be warned that some of this ammunition is military surplus and may not have been manufactured to Western standards, and it may have been subjected to improper storage conditions as well. It’s surplus for a reason, you know.

Case in point: Some years back, I bought a spam can of 7.62x54R, opened the can, and transferred the individual ammo boxes to a USGI ammo can. I’m a little embarrassed to report that I didn’t inspect the individual cartridges first. That ammo can sat on the shelf until recently, when I opened it to use a few rounds. Upon opening the cheap paper boxes the cartridges had been packed in, it was surprising to find that over 50% of the cartridges had split necks and were unusable. I suppose the projectiles are salvageable, but certainly the cases and powder is not, and now I really don’t trust the remainder that pass a visual inspection, either.

What are the odds that some of this stuff, or perhaps a lot of it, is still out there, stashed under the front stairs or in somebody’s cache?

So, if anyone reading this has bought a bunch of spam cans on the cheap and stacked it deep, be warned that you might not have what you think you have. Get the cans open, inspect the contents thoroughly to verify there has been no deterioration, maybe even fire a few rounds to make sure it’s safe ammo (whilst observing all reasonable safety precautions), and repack it in proper containers. You don’t want to crack open a spam can with barbarians at the gate, only to discover you’re still out of ammo. – H.

News From The American Redoubt:

Idaho senator to introduce mandatory civics test bill for students. – RBS

Just make sure Chris Cuomo doesn’t take the test.

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Another county has sent a message to the legislature opposing any attacks on 2nd Amendment rights.

Malheur County has crafted a letter making it clear that they support gun rights and warning the legislature not to overstep its bounds. As each new county steps up, the hopes of the gun grabbers grow more complicated to realize.

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Gun bills emerge in Idaho legislature. – RBS

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Many oppose GOP senator’s plan to restrict food stamps

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Wyo. House Speaker says Medicaid dispute not over

Odds ‘n Sods:

Cometh the Censor – Birth of What Will Prove a Short Siege – K.M.

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The FBI’s Plan To Collect Everyone’s DNA Just Got A Huge Boost From Congress. – RBS

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So sad. Have we learned nothing in the last 100 years? Video: A Jew Harassed on the Streets of Paris. – P.M.

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Call For End To Foreign Aid To Argentina As It Buys Fighter Jets From China. – T.P.

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Video: Nation’s Top Teacher Drops Resignation Bomb: “I Can’t Drill ‘em and Kill ‘em”. – H.L.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Over the years, Americans in particular have been all too willing to squander their hard-earned independence and freedom for the illusion of feeling safe under someone else’s authority. The concept of self-sufficiency has been undermined in value over a scant few generations. The vast majority of the population seems to look down their noses upon self-reliance as some quaint dusty relic, entertained only by the hyperparanoid or those hopelessly incapable of fitting into mainstream society.” ? Cody Lundin, When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes

Learning From Washington’s Huge Background Checks Mistake

The American electorate has once again proven itself to be easily manipulated by the mass media. Late last year, the voters in the State of Washington foolishly voted in favor of I-594. This ballot initiative fundamentally changed the status of gun owners in the state– treating everyone like suspected felons. Now, the centuries-long tradition of free intrastate commerce in used private party guns has been criminalized. In Washington, it is no longer legal to sell a used gun to your neighbor or even to your cousin. The law has only a few exceptions, such as transfers between immediate family members and transfers of pre-1899 antique guns (but only IF they are chambered in obsolete cartridges)! Now, nearly every gun sale or gift in Washington must go through a Federally-licensed dealer with a criminal background check, a Form 4473 filled out, and a dealer’s Bound Book entry completed, which is all information permanently put on file. (Under Federal law, FFL dealers who go out of business must ship off their bound books, or their digital equivalents, to the ATF’s cavernous “Out of Business Records Center.”) Also, a fee is charged for nearly all FFL transactions, and there is state-level paperwork now required for handgun transfers.

The enormity of the mistake that Washington’s voters made cannot be overstated. They traded their birthright for a warm bowl of feel-good pottage. These civilian disarmament schemes are often sugar-coated and labeled with Kumbaya names. This particular one was trotted out under the innocuous Soccer Mom-pleasing moniker “Universal Background Checks“. However, I-594 is the epitome of bad law. This is in fact very wicked legislation that converted a right into a crime, by putting an erstwhile private transactions under the control of a government licensed agent. Washington’s new law goes so far as to turn the former right of free intrastate commerce in used guns into a “gross misdemeanor” on the first offense and into a felony on the second offense. Think about that for a minute: A right has become a bureaucratized privilege, and failure to follow the bad law is a potential felony. As I’ve written in SurvivalBlog before:

Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right, then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere privilege, subject to the whim of petty bureaucrats. Fundamental rights are not abstract tokens that are given or sold by other men. They are in fact primary liberties bestowed upon us by God, our maker. Rights are not substantially secured by asking, “Mother may I?” of any government agency. Rights are more properly demanded or boldly seized and then conspicuously exercised regularly. This secures the liberties that have legitimately belonged to us since birth. If need be, lost rights can and must be restored through proscriptive use. If you live in a land where your rights have been marginalized into privileges, then it is either time to change your government, or to change your address. Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.

In essence, with the complicity of a distinctly biased media, the leftists won the War of Words that led up to the December 2014 election in Washington. They used feel-good phrases that conspicuously avoided the real, thorny, underlying issue to great effect. The mass media kept focusing on “keeping guns out of the hands of felons”, while always avoiding the real issue– putting government’s nose into our private business affairs, vetting nearly all gun transactions, and building mountains of paperwork that could someday be used for self-incrimination. This law will also ruin the tradition of private party gun shows in Washington. Sadly, gun shows in Washington will never be the same and will soon become like those in California– a great place to buy jerky and t-shirts but not guns. It is noteworthy that the I-594 vote was largely carried by the statist/leftist majority in western Washington. (Eastern Washingtonians are not so easily fooled.) I sincerely hope that the people of Washington realize the mistake they made and overturn this law. However, because populous Western Washington (west of the Cascades) has been flooded with statist immigrants from California for the past three decades, I doubt this will happen. This band of fools actually wants big government, with all of its trappings (and traps). The best that we can hope for is that the passage of I594 will further spur calls for the partition of Eastern Washington into a separate state. Given the increasingly polarized politics and morals of the two halves of the state, such a partition is almost inevitable. It is not a quest of “if” but rather of “when.” Ditto for eastern Oregon. (This explains why I only included the eastern halves of both states in The American Redoubt.)

All Americans should study what happened in Washington and learn from this monumental mistake. We must be prepared to stop similar ballot initiatives or legislation at our state capitols. We must be ready to clearly and forcefully articulate the real issues, not play by the statist rulebook, and not get suckered into using their mamby-pamby words and phrases. We need to stand up and say: “Wait second! You are talking about converting a right into a felony!”

The I-594 initiative was not really about “disarming felons”. Rather, it was about eventually disarming us all. – JWR

Scot’s Product Review: MRE Depot Food Products

I recently wrote about the Yoders meats sold by MRE Depot, one of a number of vendors that sell storage foods aimed at preppers. As well as MRE’s and Yoders meats, they also carry a number of other items of interest. While MRE’s are useful and everyone should have some, the other items are, in my view, more important. A diet of MRE’s is going to get old pretty quick. This review is on some of the other food products they offer. They were kind enough to send several different items for me to review.

Since I think readers deserve more than my opinion on food, I have assembled a family taste panel, which I’ve described before. For the benefit of regular readers, I put the description of the panel at the bottom of the review. I have also noted before, but will repeat that I think storage food needs to be composed of stuff your family will eat in normal times. Many of us fear that there is a crunch coming, but we hope to never need it, and so I don’t want to get stuck with food that might go to waste. We, therefore, taste test before we buy, and we don’t buy what we won’t eat in normal times.

All of these products were in #2½ cans– a size I favor for storage. My immediate family consists of three, and we can finish the contents of this size can before anyone gets so sick of what came out of it that we stop eating it and it goes to waste. The products in #10 cans last far longer than any of us want to eat the same thing over and over, and we therefore have to worry about wasting food. This probably won’t be as much of an issue in crisis, but it sure comes up when we eat things to rotate supplies. Your mileage will vary as you may have a much larger family, or food fatigue may not be as much of an issue for you.

Future Essentials Canned Fifty Chocolate Gold Coins

These are six-gram pieces of chocolate, wrapped in gold foil and embossed to look like a Kennedy half dollar. They are 1½ inches in diameter and 1/8th inch thick. The can provides a total of about 10.5 ounces of chocolate. I tricked my son with this one and didn’t tell him it came from storage food, and he liked them. He has grown suspicious of some of his dad’s experiments with storage food. He wasn’t the only one who liked it; in fact, everyone did. It’s not Godiva, and it’s not Hershey’s, but it is good; it will never, ever go to waste in my home. In a SHTF situation, these would represent a huge cheer up factor, especially if you have kids. The problem will be making them last. They are $10.95 per can and have a five-year storage life.

I didn’t try them, but I saw that they also offer a chocolate variety pack for $109.45 with three different chocolate items and a seven- to ten-year storage life, if kept out of the sun or heat. You get canned Milk Chocolate Caramel Cups, canned Mini Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, and canned Hershey’s Mini Milk Chocolate Kisses. This could go a long way in keeping folks happy under stress.

Freeze Dried Strawberries

My son, who devours fresh strawberries, turned his nose up at these, alas. The adults approved; however, I suspect my son was being fickle. They offer no competition with fresh strawberries, mind you, but they are quite acceptable. They can be eaten without reconstituting with water, but I liked them better after letting them soak for several minutes. A bit of sugar helps too, as they seemed slightly tart. I thought they worked quite well with vanilla ice cream or yogurt; my wife and sister agreed. They cost $8.95 per can.

Pilot Bread Crackers

These crackers are almost the same diameter as the #2½ can they come in. There are 12 in the can, and each 100-calorie cracker is considered a serving. They reminded me a bit of hard tack without the hard. In other words, your dental work is quite safe. I had expected something of a Ritz cracker flavor, but they don’t have the soda taste; that makes me like them even more. My sister and wife also enjoyed them as did my son, who grimaced when he discovered they came out of one of my cans. He kept eating it, though. There are a lot of possibilities with these things. Soups go great with them as do peanut butter or jam. Cheese is also an excellent companion as is a fried egg. They are sturdy enough to be wrapped and carried in a coat pocket. You would have to take a bit of care, but if they were in a bag, you could dribble the crumbs into your mouth. They cost $7.95 per can, and MRE Depot says they will last for 30 years, so you won’t have to rotate them very often.

Future Essentials Freeze-Dried Marinara Sauce

This rehydrated into a chunkier mix than my son or I prefer. Since my son and I both cringe at the sight of intact tomatoes, my wife threw it into the blender for some extra processing. She used it with the pasta noodles that came with the shipment and made a pleasant meal. It wasn’t my favorite ever Marinara sauce, but there were no problems using it in normal times. It goes for $10.95 per can. They say it is good for 10 years storage.

Future Essentials Cooked Freeze-Dried Ground Beef

My wife called this “a great raw material for meals”, which is high praise coming from her, as she really likes putting things together for herself. It rehydrates easily, and while neither of us were crazy about eating it by itself, it worked well in a couple of dishes my wife prepared. One involved the Marinara sauce and the pasta noodles that are part of this report. This one costs $14.95 per can. They rated it as six servings per can, which I thought was pretty appropriate for how it will be used in recipes but probably not if served alone.

Future Essentials Canned Cream of Broccoli Soup Mix

This one was the one that failed for us. A failure was bound to happen sooner or later. The recipe called for milk or water, and I made it with milk, figuring it would be creamier that way. There were liberal amounts of broccoli, but both my wife and I felt the vegetable had a rubbery texture, and neither of us really liked the overall taste. I would eat it in a crunch, and I suspect my wife would too, but neither of us would eat it in normal times, so it isn’t something I will plan to stock. You might like it, but be sure to try it before buying it in quantity. It goes for $5.95 a can, so it’s no huge loss if you buy one and find you don’t like it either.

Future Essentials Canned Instant Mashed Potatoes Instant Mashed Potatoes

These were pretty much like any other instant mashed potatoes. My wife warned that the recipe didn’t ask for enough liquids, so she added milk. They suggest adding butter, which she also put in along with some salt. I wondered if they had been made completely with milk if they might have been better, but they were fine if you are okay with instant mashed potatoes. I’m not a fan of them, having been spoiled by the real ones my wife makes, but these were okay, and there will be no problem using them in rotation. They cost $7.95 per can.

Future Essentials Canned Small Shell Pasta Noodles

There isn’t much to say. These were noodles; they came out of the can and were just like the ones from the grocery store that come in a box; they tasted the same. The only difference is that they will last a whole lot longer on the shelf and the bugs and varmints can’t get into the can, like they could a cardboard box. They are $5.95 per can.

The Tasters for This Review

When I write about food, I need to give more than just my opinion. The taste panel I can conveniently herd together consists of my wife, my son, my sister, and me. I thought a rundown of our tastes might help you determine how valuable our comments are for your own needs. Please remember that everyone has different tastes and you may love stuff we hate. That’s why I have tried a panel approach, though it is a limited one.

I am the closest to a tasteless barbarian, though my table manners are better. While I like a well-prepared, tasty meal with fresh ingredients assembled by a talented cook (the national command authority also known as my wife), I can get by on far less, as long as mushrooms, raw tomatoes, and kimchi are out of sight. I can handle most MRE’s, but I do get bored with them. Mountain House freeze-dried meals are generally quite satisfying to me as a baseline meal, though they sure don’t compare to my wife’s excellent cooking. As long as I have a good recipe, I can prepare a decent meal, though I panic over judging whether fish and meats are cooked enough and having to improvise sends me screaming in terror from the kitchen.

My wife is on the gourmet end of the spectrum and is an accomplished cook. She doesn’t need any stinking recipes to toss together a very pleasant meal from whatever she can scrounge from the kitchen. I suspect she could make something tasty with the sponge by the kitchen sink. She bores if she has the same thing too many times, which is probably about twice. She grew up in French Canada and U.S. Maine, eating fresh lobsters and dining in good restaurants that had chefs rather than cooks. She can spend hours watching cooking shows. MRE’s provoke threatening looks. She truly enjoys exotic foods from around the world, and there is little she won’t try.

My ten-year-old son likes Vietnamese and Chinese foods and will go for a number of dishes his peers panic over. His table manners would be barbaric if allowed. He has had bouts of suspicion over some of the storage foods we have tried, as a couple of them weren’t so hot, but he seems to be getting over it. He makes some good observations on meals that surprise me with their sophistication. He does have some typical ten-year-old boy aversions to vegetables, but he likes meat in most every form. When he likes something, he will eat it for days without end. He trusts his mom’s cooking more than his dad’s and will even watch cooking shows with her.

My sister might be a cross between my wife and me. She will eat most anything, but she really likes quality food. She spent a lot of time living in Europe and was exposed to many cuisines. Although she is good in the kitchen, she doesn’t cook much herself as my brother-in-law fancies himself a chef, and he really is quite good at it.

SimGar Update

I have been meaning to do an update on the SimGar container gardening system I reviewed quite a while back. As a reminder, it has two containers for soil that sit on a tank of water that is circulated through the containers with a solar-powered pump. I got a nice batch of black-eyed peas out of it and then switched to green peppers when the black-eyed peas gave out. The peppers didn’t do well, and I was puzzled why until I remembered I had been warned to watch the pH of the water and soil. I picked up a pH meter and sure enough, things had gotten really acidic. Apparently, the fertilizer I was using, or perhaps the rain, brought the pH down substantially, and the green peppers were miserable. I picked up some stuff to bring the pH up to a more normal range, deep stirred the soil, and put in some chives, parsley, oregano, and basil; now things are looking pretty good. My wife is also happy to have the herbs, so that’s a plus too. I still have one container open, so I’m going to try some more green pepper plants. I still like the concept, and the unit is working well. I had to move it to catch the winter sun. A nice feature is how well it catches rain water. I have only had to add water once, but it has been a wet year in these parts. I’ll keep you posted.

– SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor, Scot Frank Erie

Recipe of the Week: Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Halupkies), by OkieRanchWife

I am now living west of the Mississippi, but when I was growing up in a northeastern state, these were present at weddings, fire company (hosey) picnics, church functions, and family holidays in various Eastern European traditions. Called halupkies, cabbage rolls, stuffed cabbage, blind pigeons, or Hunky Hand grenades, they were staples of Eastern European cooking. They are packed full of protein, whole grain goodness, Vitamin C, and they are filling!

I only use the dark green, outer leaves of the cabbage head. They are easier to roll and have more nutrients than the pale, inner leaves. You have to find these at farmer’s markets, in your own garden, or possibly at the local store if you make friends with the produce manager. They usually cut off the outer leaves before arranging them in the produce section, so you can ask if they will either keep the leaves on the head or save the outer leaves for you. I have chickens, so the local produce manager also keeps the produce and fruit cull for me. My hens are happy hens.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground venison or beef (I buy various cuts on reduced quick sale and grind it myself)
  • 1 pound ground pork (ditto on quick sale)
  • 1 cup barley
  • 1 sweet onion, grated
  • 2 whole eggs
  • ½ stick unsalted butter, melted
  • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
  • approximately 4 pounds of outer cabbage leaves
  • 4 cans (15 ozs each) sauerkraut
  • 2 cans (15 ozs each) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (15 ozs) tomato sauce

Directions:

  1. In a medium size pot, heat 2 cups of water. When it is boiling, add the barley. Reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and fluff with a fork.
  2. Combine ground meat, cooked barley, onion, eggs, butter, and seasonings. Set aside.
  3. On all of the cabbage, trim the center rib to about 1/8 inch thick so the leaves are easy to roll. Wash the leaves. While you are trimming and washing the leaves, heat salted water in a large stock pot until boiling. When the water is boiling, place the leaves in the water and blanch for 10 minutes. You may need to do this in several batches. When the time is up, remove leaves from water and allow to cool in a colander.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. <place picture here- right justified> Using a large turkey roaster, place a layer of 2 cans of sauerkraut. Take approximately 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture and shape into a little football. Select a cabbage leaf. Place the meat football on the leaf at the stem end, and roll the cabbage leaf up like a Mexican burrito stuffed cabbage. Arrange each cabbage roll in the roaster. When you have a full layer, top the rolls with 2 cans of sauerkraut. Arrange a second layer of cabbage rolls. Top that layer with 2 cans of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce. Cover with roaster lid. Bake 2 hours. Makes approximately 50 rolls.

o o o

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

Letter Re: E-readers: My Personal Alexandria, Now Less Flammable!

I was excited to hear of someone else besides myself using an eReader as a repository for info, which would be handy after TEOTWAWKI. I had arrived at the same conclusions just a couple weeks ago and bought one myself. I’m very happy with my decision.

I’d like to shine a light on a few of both the advantages and caveats of of using these devices for this purpose that weren’t covered in the original post. I should mention that I am not connected with any eReader company. The only dog I have in this fight is as a consumer who is just trying to find the best product for my own somewhat eccentric needs.

First of all, in my mind, I have wrestled with this very problem since the mid-1970s. I was a prepper then, and I recognized how valuable the printed word could be in either a short- or long-term crisis. As much as I wanted to lay up an archive of texts that would be useful in an emergency, there were a number of things that stood firmly in my way.

Even being a pathological archivist, I could not overcome the fact that I just couldn’t scrape together the cash for all but a few of the books I wanted to put aside. After moving to the subtropics, I also became aware that the climate I was living in greatly shortened the service life of conventional books.

Finally, with the Internet, I now have access to most of the titles I couldn’t afford, but because of the sheer number of books I have in digital form it is not realistic to print them out. I was also somewhat put off by the ironic fact that in an emergency I would need electricity AND a computer to peruse their information, so I would actually have less or no access to them when I needed them the very most.

For a while I toyed with the idea of building an ultra low-powered computer, just for viewing these kind of files in a grid down situation. This could be done from off shelf parts like the Raspberry PI coupled with an eInk screen instead of an LCD monitor. This is very doable by someone, just not me. Though I’ve built many computers, the eInk screens have not been available to the DIY computer crowd long enough for me to get it all together and build one. The big advantage of an eInk screen is low powered operation and the fact that once it puts up a screen full of information, it requires no more electricity to continue displaying it for up to a week. The down side of eInk displays is the slow refresh rate, but that would not be an issue for reading files in an emergency. Having searched around on this topic for a few years and observed the interest and progress already made in that short time, I am confident that a few ultra low-powered post-apocalyptic computers will be cobbled together soon and how-to articles may appear in as little as two years.

My thinking on all of this changed when a friend of mine gave me an old Barnes & Noble Nook eReader a few months back. It wasn’t long before the archiver in me took over and I was experimenting with creating and loading my own files onto the Nook. While I love the Nook, it was a painful experience.

The Nook will not recognize or display TXT or HTML files, which pretty much put it out of the running for disaster related information files. I was able to create PDF files that worked on the Nook, but I find PDFs to be very limiting for my needs.

My experiences with the Nook DID convince me that there was a possibility that some eReader or other may be appropriate for a large archive of emergency information. After a week of research on different brands of eReaders, I decided that the Kobo line would hold the most utility for me.

While no currently available eReader could be described as a totally “open platform”, the Kobos give far more freedom to the end user and thus many more options to the dyed in the wool archiver.

The Kobos support an almost incredible variety of file formats when compared to ALL other comers:

  • Books: EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, and MOBI
  • Documents: PDF (and perhaps DOC, too)
  • Images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, and TIFF
  • Text: TXT, HTML, and RTF
  • Comic Books: CBZ and CBR

While some of these formats are DRM encumbered and of no use to me, I can see where having them in place would be nice if you needed them. Having a very basic HTML capability has been very handy already. Even if you can only use a half dozen HTML tags, you may reformat any web pages for the Kobos that you might want to use as a reference at some later date. Even crude HTML compatibility is a very powerful tool for the archiver.

Many (but not all) of the 18th and 19th century technology books I’ve found in digital formats are confined to PDF. I find PDFs cumbersome, but the Kobos make PDFs a bit easier to navigate by including a landscape viewing mode and a built-in image viewer. It’s much better than nothing in situations where I just have to view a title in that format.

The Kobos win on file formats.

Another issue for archivers is on board storage. Some eReaders have internal flash memory storage but lack a micro SD slot. Also, with some very popular eReaders, there is a trend where newer models of their readers have no micro SD slot in spite of the fact that their previous models were equipped with them. That is a total deal killer for my purposes.

As an example, my Kobo Aura comes with 4 GB of internal flash memory for storage, and it will also recognize up to a 32GB (!) micro SD card. 36 GB of flash translates into enough storage for roughly 30,000 books. It also allows me the option of growing the archive on a scale of magnitude by simply buying more 32 GB high speed micro SD cards. (Amazon has 32 GB class 10 micro SD cards at $18 each.)

Another small point here is that, if anything happens to my reader, I’ll still have the files intact on the micro SD cards, so I could plug them into a spare reader or at least have an outside shot at accessing them with a charged up laptop.

So Kobo does very well on storage flexibility, too.

I initially decided on the Kobo Aura H2O, but when I had the money in my hand I couldn’t find one. Then I had the same problem with the Kobo Aura HD. I finally settled on the Kobo Aura, and I am very happy with it.

I totally recommend getting a case for your eReader right from the get go. EInk screens are more complex and fragile than cell phone or tablet screens, and they really need protection to get the most out of their service lives. Clean the screen with a microfiber lens cleaning cloth at least once a week. Wash your hands before reading. Don’t use alcohol or other chemicals to clean the screen. Don’t eat fried chicken while you use your eReader. 🙂

For the long term, I’m looking for an Otterbox– an actual watertight box of the type Otterbox became famous for as opposed to an Otterbox phone or tablet cover. I want one sized to fit my reader, in its case, with enough room for a microfiber cleaning cloth and a desiccant. Aside from the box giving more protection to the screen, the desiccant will constantly be reversing the effects of subtropical humidity whenever it’s put away.

I know that this system I have described is not perfect or fool proof, but it is WAY better than nothing. After 40 years of wrestling with these emergency archive issues, I feel good enough about this to proceed. It’s far more versatile than anything I’ve had before, and with any luck it should hold me until something better comes along. – B.