Federal Reserve Counterfeiting Approaches 100%
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Financial Collapse Will Cause Civil Unrest to Erupt In America By 2016. – B.B.
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BIS warns on ‘violent’ reversal of global markets. – J.W.
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Item from Mr. Econocobas:
U.S. Mint Temporarily Sold Out of Silver Eagles Amid Huge Demand
There was a bumper crop of turnips harvested from the garden at the Rawles Ranch this week. Does anyone have any good turnip recipes? If so, then please e-mail them. Thanks!
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From the desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor At Large: The echoes of communism
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Expert Advice: How to Find Your Way Without a Compass – G.G.
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Latest Ebola fear: Safety of lab equipment. – T.P.
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Contained? NYC Department Of Health Actively Monitoring 357 Individuals For Ebola. – P.S.
“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” – Genesis 22:7&8 (KJV)
November 7th is the anniversary of the death of actor Steve McQueen. (Born March 24, 1930, died November 7, 1980.) The many well-publicized exploits in his tempestuous life and his enduring persona are well known. However, the end of his life is actually the most noteworthy part of his legacy, even though it seldom gets much publicity outside of Christian circles; he came to Christ after he had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. He died with his forefinger pointing to his key verse in his Bible– Titus 1:2.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 55 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
I am writing this article to inform other average Americans of how I began prepping, in hopes that my suggestions will be helpful for those who are just beginning. I began prepping after watching numerous shows on the National Geographic channel in connection with current news channels. Recognizing that America is vulnerable in several aspects (i.e. our power grid, internal terrorists, and weather events), I began to visualize how unprepared my family and I were in the event of a national emergency.
Now you may be saying to yourself “in the event of an emergency, our government will take care of us.” However, in reality, ask yourself if this has been put to the test; in other words, has there has been a national crisis in which Americans HAVE actually experienced the government doing a good job of taking care of the people in a major event? For example, most Americans probably have experienced a power outage for at least one day, and most Americans probably can attest that they had enough food, water, finances, antibiotics, and entertainment to last throughout that day. What if it had been for three days? It is recommended by multiple sources for Americans to have at least a three day supply of food and water in the event of an emergency. It is very likely that, if you ration your family’s food and water, your entire family would make it through three days without electricity or means of transportation. However, not many Americans think the “what if” scenario of survival past three days. This is the background question that led me to begin prepping; it was a “what if” scenario of national power grid failure, national terrorist emergency, or even severe weather events.
Now, I am no means the richest American, nor am I the poorest; I am an average American. My finances can be a struggle at times, so prepping has been an adventure for me financially and educationally. At first, the thought of being unprepared hit me like a train. I was nervous, and different scenarios kept popping up in my head as well as the dreaded “what if” situations. My first immediate reaction, which hurt financially, was to purchase long-term food storage supplies. This did relieve a bit of anxiety and give me some peace of mind. I had enough food storage to last my family quite a while, yet the feeling of the need for greater preparedness was edging me. More questions began to arise. I asked myself, “What if my family and I are not home?” “How will we survive to get home?” “In the event x happens, where can I find my loved ones?” We realized we were only a fraction of the way to feel comfortably prepared.
In response to these thoughts, we purchased pre-made bug-out bags to keep with us at all times. These bug-out bags were decently equipped and were made with decent quality backpack material. However, again, the “what if” questions began to populate my mind. I wondered, “What if we get stranded or have to travel in bad weather conditions (i.e. snow, rain, extreme heat)?” “What would we do if we had to camp overnight somewhere before we could make it home?” “What if we have to defend our supplies from wild animals or attackers?” These questions are the ones that brought my prepping to a whole new level.
I began to purchase a few items from local retail stores, but I quickly realized that more items were needed for various scenarios and with our survival experience. This, in return, would add quite a bit of expenses for items purchased from local retail stores to add to each of our bug-out bags for equal distribution of four total bug-out bags. I did some research and discovered a lot of the items we were wanting on our check list could be purchased through online auction websites and online retail stores at significantly lower prices. Granted, shipping for several items took three to even five weeks to receive. However, the cost effectiveness outweighed the time constraint benefits. We begin to purchase items for less than $3.00 each (including free shipping) such as:
These are a few of the many examples of items we purchased that averaged around $1.50 each.
We felt greatly more prepared for a national event that might occur, while we are doing our normal everyday life routines (work, school, outside events). Yet, the questions began to arise again in regards to long-term survival. After doing research, I discovered that dehydrating and canning food has significant cost benefits along with long-term storage gains. We began canning essential everyday items, such as salt, sugar, herbs (dehydrated), and flour. We learned that these items have significantly longer shelf lives if canned properly. The method we used was the “oven-bake method” with the following steps:
There have been pros and cons to this method of long-term storage. I, personally, have not been doing this for 15-25 years to attest to its effectiveness, but for any food storage method there are three basic factors that effect the length of time the food can safely be stored:
I have even heard of people storing biscuit and pancake mixes in this manner, but I have not personally attempted that.
Our next method for long-term food storage involved dehydrated foods. Dehydrated foods, when stored properly, can last for several years. Fruits tend to not last as long as vegetables, which may last up to five years, yet fruits contain valuable nutrients worth storing. Dehydrated vegetables can last several years when stored in ideal conditions. Ask yourself, how often do you purchase vegetables (such as potatoes) or fruits (such as oranges) in bags of larger quantities than you actually use? We do it all the time. We end up finding ourselves at grocery stores about to purchase a few individual food items, such as potatoes, when it is just as affordable to purchase a bag of potatoes. Nine out of ten times we find ourselves throwing out quite a bit of the excess quantities, simply because they were not used or stored properly. We began to purchase groceries how we would normally, but we dehydrated these excess quantities of foods that we used to throw out. Dehydrating foods retain most of the nutrients while taking out the moisture in foods. Moisture in foods is what contributes to foods spoiling in short periods of time due to mold growth.
We began to store our dehydrated vegetables and fruits in one-gallon mylar bags with a 300cc oxygen absorber, which we found to be relatively cheap online. We also purchased 5-gallon buckets that we found at local retail stores for $2.97 each in the paint section. We thoroughly clean these buckets, line them with a 5-gallon mylar bag, insert a 2000cc oxygen absorber, and fill them with bags of dehydrated foods. We also use a sealant along the rim of the lid connection for extra precaution from air. Again, I personally cannot attest to the effectiveness of these methods; however, my method is based on multiple storage techniques from multiple online long-term food storage suggestions and combining multiple methods. We felt it is better to have multiple methods to increase the effectiveness for long-term storage. For the storage of the jars, we did the same method by placing them in a 5-gallon bucket that is lined with a 5-gallon mylar bag and 2000cc oxygen absorber.
As for water, we have purchased water in one gallon jugs so that we have enough for one gallon of water per person for 30 days. We have also purchased quantities of water purification tablets along with household bleach for further water purification. (Use two drops of bleach per one quart of water.) We plan to boil the water for extra precaution when it comes time for use. We live in a wooded area, so wood will be our primary source of fuel and heat. We plan to use the 5-gallon buckets to collect rain water for extended long-term storage, beyond our 30 day supply of water.
We have purchased a few weapons and ammo to use, if needed. We also have several machetes. We believe an attacker would be less likely to attack a person with a machete, if the attacker only has a commonly found attack weapon, such as a pipe, baseball bat, or knife. Along with other safety training, we plan to be prepared in the event our safety is at risk.
We haven’t had to put our methods to test in any real-life event emergency. However, we are slowly and continuously getting more prepared each day and more cost effectively doing so while encouraging others to do the same. Ask yourself, “To what extent would you go to protect your family and loved ones?” Are you prepared to survive for days, weeks, or years without a reliable source of food, water, or supplies? Farming can be effective for a long-term food source; however, in the event of a national emergency during an off-season, be prepared for you, your family, and your loved ones, and maybe also to help your neighbors, too!
Hugh,
The recent article on making rope by using plastic bags falls into the whole rope making category. A while back, when I still had animals, I made rope every day, a foot or two at a time, while feeding them their grain. I used the twine from the hay bales and made 8 or 10 strand flat braids. I regularly made 50 and 100 foot long ropes that I still use. They are as strong as a similar manila rope; I have pulled a car on the road with one. Learning how to braid flat braids is a skill that in a long-term SHTF event would be a negotiable trade skill and in the meantime think of the money you could be saving. – A.R.
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Central Planners Are In A State of Panic
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
U.S. Loan Applications to Buy Homes Lowest Since February: MBA
The Economy Of The Largest Superpower On The Planet Is Collapsing Right Now
Bill Gross Should Stick To Shuffleboard – His Case For Bigger Deficits Is Ludicrous
Tolerance: The Myth – Avalance Lily
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Political Catch-Phrase – Avalance Lily
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Facebook sees 24% uptick in government requests for user data – J.C.
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Check out my thoughts on the threat risks of a resurgent Russia, an Ebola pandemic, and a U.S. power grid vulnerable to attack. On the latest segment of my interview with DRescapes.com, the expatriate blog – JWR
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“An efficient and valuable man does what he can, whether the community pay him for it or not. The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder, and are forever expecting to be put in office.” – Henry David Thoreau
November 6, is the anniversary of the day that B-24 Liberator co-pilot Al Millspaugh was shot down over Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1944. He ended up in a Luft Stalag, until 1945. I got to know Al at some John Birch Society chapter meetings back in the late 1970s. Hearing his stories was fascinating. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in the California Air National Guard. Now in ill health, Al is living in Kelseyville, California. Please pray for him. My latest novel Liberators was in part dedicated to Al Millspaugh.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 55 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 55 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
I started prepping back in 2008, when the financial crash hit our family hard. We were going about our business, both my husband and I working ourselves to death enjoying the “American dream”– a mortgage, a couple of car payments, kids in college, and a disposable income that was quickly gobbled up each month by luxuries that included the latest iPhone, every child having his or her own computer, rib eye steaks for dinner, rounds of golf, and things like this. When the financial free fall started, we were not prepared. We lost everything! On top of that, my husband had a debilitating stroke from the stress of it all. We had both worked very, very hard to achieve what we had, but looking back now I see that we were seriously over-leveraged, as many people were. We are Baby Boomers, and our view of what kind of lifestyle we were supposed to maintain was seriously flawed. We were caught unaware. Why had we not learned from our parents and grandparents?
Looking back, I am horrified by the way we spent money. It was as if we were doing what we thought we should be doing without understanding the fundamentals of financial management, in a similar manner to what the United States government has done. We were keeping up appearances while standing on quick sand. Our parents owned home(s) and cars, and we all had a college education, yet they made a fraction of what we made. I’m not smart enough to do the calculations for cost of living then versus now, but I think our parents were more frugal. I remember one year, when I was in high school, it was time to go shopping for school clothes. With six children, my parents had to make hard decisions on a regular basis, and this day was no different. My dad looked at us three older girls, all in high school, and said, “I will buy you the material, if you make your clothes.” We were aghast; mind you, this was the 70’s and nobody made his or her own clothes. Surely, he didn’t mean that. Of course we all knew how to sew, but we were expected to sew our school wardrobe!?! Mother was aghast as well, but since Dad managed the finances, she wasn’t always certain how much money there was. Mom got creative and took us girls to the clothing store outlets in San Francisco, and we were able to each buy several items very inexpensively. As she explained it, “He has no idea how much the material costs; it’s cheaper to buy than sew.” However, the day I decided to marry, my mother got busy sewing all the bridesmaids’ dresses as well as her own dress, and we did a backyard wedding. It was beautiful.
After we lost everything, I asked my parents, “How did you do it?” My father frankly relayed that when they were the same age that we were, they were also over-leveraged with several children in college. He said it was by the grace of God, they made it through. He also explained that the housing collapse was not something we could have foreseen, and that they were blessed to have bought and sold houses when they did. We bought at the “wrong time”. Our home’s value had dropped, in a very short period, to nearly half of its purchase price. However, I know my parents’ parents, who went through the Great Depression, influenced them substantially. They were taught frugality and how to work and save for things they wanted. My parents provided such a lovely life for us that it didn’t seem we ever suffered or lacked for anything. We believed that if we worked hard, things would be the same for us. However, we weren’t paying attention to the fundamentals; I’m not going to let us off the hook that easy. As much as I blame the “big money people” (as I call them) and the government, we have to accept blame where blame is due.
I had the chance to discuss the Great Depression with my grandparents before they passed away. My great-great grandfather owned a farm and ran his own construction business. When business got bad, they all moved back to the farm. My grandfather’s view of farming was described to me this way: “Sara, anyone who wants to live on a farm has never lived on one. It’s hard, dirty, and exhausting work.” My grandfather left the farm for the big city as quickly as he could, and he did well. My grandmother on the other hand, was very frugal. She cooked everything from scratch, used basic cleaning supplies, and wore simple clothing from Sears. They were very well off, and yet you couldn’t tell by looking at my grandmother. She still liked to shop at the thrift stores. I had the chance to speak to my husband’s father, who is still living in his mid-80’s. I asked him if he remembered the Great Depression growing up. He became agitated and irritable. He told me that his parents sent him off to live with an aunt who owned a boarding house, since they could not afford to feed all their children. His job was to empty the bedpans for all the boarders and to do what he was told. He never forgave his father for that. He felt abandoned and unloved, and his relationship with his father never repaired, but he stayed alive.
I’ve been trying to learn survival lessons as fast as I can, but it’s all foreign to me. I’ve stocked the pantry and the freezers and started an organic garden. I’ve stocked up on odd supplies, like aluminum foil, paracord, bandages, hospital-grade antibacterial soap, antiviral face masks, and an assortment of “hard to find, might be useful someday” supplies. I’ve educated myself on herbal remedies as opposed to prescription drugs, just in case. I started an herb garden and stocked upon essential oils. We bought guns and ammunition. I have no clue how to shoot a gun, but many in our family do, and some are in law enforcement and/or are veterans. Learning to shoot is on my list of things to do, as so many other things are. I bought a dehydrator and learned a lot about drying food, and then realized I could do better buying dried foods in bulk from Costco. I thought about investing in freeze-drying equipment and stopped myself from going down another rat hole. We stocked up on firewood and purchased cast iron cooking pots and pans, just in case we have to use the fireplaces for cooking. I keep going back to James Rawles’ “list of lists”, and I get so stressed out. We aren’t near ready for a collapse of any length.
Incorporating lessons learned from the Great Depression is one way to be better prepared. There are numerous sources for the Great Depression “lessons learned”, but I’d like to avoid the U.S. government’s fiscal and social policy topics because in the end, it won’t matter. It’s what we do in our daily lives that matters.
Lessons I’ve adopted:
It sounds simple, eh? It’s not. It’s a lifestyle change. Right now we have a mortgage, but we are working furiously to get the house ready to sell so that we can cash out and downsize now that the housing market has recovered somewhat. We used to buy up, and now we are focused on buying down, so we never have to worry about a mortgage again. We are praying we can beat the next housing crash as we paint and repair and upgrade at a feverish pace. We were tempted to take out a home equity loan to get the house ready faster, but no, no borrowing. HELOCs were a huge problem after the crash, as people had used their homes like ATM machines. We are using every spare dime to get the house ready to sell, which scares us because we are depleting all our reserves. We live in a high-end neighborhood and there is huge upside potential, but we have to do things right without being ridiculous. With that in mind, the upgrades are carefully chosen and have been the source of numerous arguments and agonizing decisions. For instance, have you noticed the price of new kitchen appliances? I about fell down when I realized how expensive they were. We are focusing on quality rather than glitz, and we regularly check the Sears Outlet for returned and undamaged appliances. We haggled like professionals over the price of hardwood and installation. We’ve hired help and paid cash for the manual labor when we couldn’t physically do the work. We stayed with licensed contractors for the important upgrades. We have scraped, painted, and ripped until we can hardly move. We want to get as far away as possible from town and the lines of drift. However, we cannot count on getting out of our home with anything because we have no idea when the housing market will take another nosedive. Right now, it has stalled, so we wait to see what next spring will bring while we work.
Our cars are aging. My SUV is 14 years old. My husband’s SUV is 10 years old. Neither car is worth much, so selling one of them wouldn’t provide any big chunk of cash. Oh, how tempting it is to buy a new car, but no, there will be no car payments. We’ll drive ‘em until they die, and when one dies we will share the other one until it dies. Then how about a practical pre-1985 used GMC truck purchased with cash? What about credit cards? We closed all but one credit card, and it’s for emergencies and travel. We use it, pay it off, use it, pay it off.
I must say that with the Ebola scare, the ISIS threat, and the random acts of violence (especially the recent one in New York where a guy wielded a hatchet at police officers before he was shot to death), I am anxious. His Facebook page had this: “Think of a swarm of bees (negroes) that surround and attack an elephant (America) to death.” It sent chills up and down my spine and I had to calm myself down and realize I lived hours from any large, metropolitan city, but it’s not far enough. The insanity of America’s spending, the fragile economy, the lies about the unemployment rate, the influx of illegal immigrants carrying disease and without jobs and housing, altogether have my heart racing. Furthermore, it’s not just the news, it’s the community of survivalists who are clanging the warning bell, James Rawles included, “Get out now or it will be too late” (my interpretation). The below excerpt from the Woodpile report has been weighing on my heart.
Ol’ Remus: “What you should really fear is scarcity. It’s unAmerican to say this, but what you have is all you’re likely to have and chances are you won’t keep all of that. So, are you planning a mountain retreat with a well and a hand pump, more than a tank of gas from the nearest urban center, away from lines of drift, solar powered hot tub with optional foot massage? If you’re not there now, or nearly so, you’re not going to get there. In other words, time’s up. Get your affairs in order where you are, because where you are is where you’re going to be. And what you have is what you’re going to have.” (http://www.woodpilereport.com/; Woodpile Report 378 – 15 Jul 2014)
What do we do right now? Do we change the plan to hunker down for a year or two? Do we sell the house now, unfinished or with a few cosmetic changes and barely make it out with our finances intact? Do we head for the hills and hope to rent something? I have been spending time every morning reading scripture to calm my fears, knowing that Satan is the father of lies. Then again, I don’t want to be unprepared with my head in the sand. I must focus on the Lord and His Word. I am confident He will make the way straight.
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.” – Psalm 121
HJL,
I made an interesting discovery. While I have good night vision for use in my LPOP, when I did a test run this weekend, I took my Howard Leight headphones with me to see how much “Audio Augmentation” would help in my ability to “hear before I see”.
I was stunned!
With the volume turned up, I am getting an easy 10 Db gain in audio sensitivity and this is as if someone turned on an audio floodlight. I could detect soft conversations 500′ away that were not detectable without the headphone. I heard many small animals that were also normally undetectable. However, more stunning was the ability to hear neighbors quietly walking 500′ away that I would normally only hear within 100′. I later asked my wife to come out and run some controlled tests, and I got similar results.
The net-net is my noise-protection headset will always go with me out to the LPOP so I gain superhuman hearing. A 5:1 improvement in detection range is a huge force multiplier; with as much impact in the dark as a good night vision system, it only 2-3% of the cost of night vision.
Plus my ears stay warm AND if I ever do have to shoot, my hearing will be intact.
Congress Reaches Debt-To-Tax Ratio Unseen Since WWII. – G.G.
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Unprecedented Money Printing Injected into Economy-Fabian Calvo. – J.W.
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Americans Tighten Their Belts, While Their Government Races Toward Disaster
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
Second Amendment Crushes Gun Control Candidates in Midterm Elections – JBG
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While most races involving the 2nd Amendment went the way they should have, SurvivalBlog reader D.S. informs us that some went further afield: Billionaire gun grabbers get their way. It may be time for that split in some states.
JWR’s Comment: I have no doubt that this referendum banning private party sales of guns did not get a majority of votes in lightly-populated eastern Washington. This is just one more reason for Washington to be partititioned at the summit of the Cascades. The western and eastern halves of the state now have hardly anything in common. (Ditto for Oregon.)
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Verizon, AT&T tracking their users with ‘supercookies’
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I noticed with disappointment this election cycle that many candidates were absolutely silent on the issue of “right to life”. Shame on those candidates for refusing to answer those questions, especially for those whom the elected position places them in some form of authority over the issue. – Hugh
“Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice.” – Adam Smith