Pat’s Product Review: 750 & 550 Parachute Cord From 5 Col Survival Supply

I get contacted by SurvivalBlog readers daily, and I take the time to answer each e-mail, and I have to keep my replies short, because my time is limited. I’m often asked, “what should I carry in my BOB?” and I can’t really give a definitive answer to that. It depends on where you live, you age, your own personal requirements, when do you plan to bug out to, and other factors. Many readers send me a list of all the things they have packed in their BOB, and most are pretty well equipped for many different emergencies. One item that is often missing, is Paracord – and I’m using this in a generic term.

There are many different types of Paracord, some better than others, and some really cheaply made – so to be clear, not all Paracord is the same in quality. And, if you don’t have a good 25 or 50 foot hank of Paracord in your BOB, shame on you! This is one of the handiest items you can pack in your BOB, and it doesn’t take up much room, either.

I received some different types of Paracord from 5Col Survival Supply for testing, and to put it bluntly, they aren’t making junk – like you might find at the big box stores. As I said, not all Paracord is the same. First of all, 5Col Survival Supply sells only military grade Paracord, conforming to Mil-C5040H and the newer pia-c-5040 specifications. Now, while this might not mean anything to you, but if your about to make a jump from a plane, you want to know that, your parachute has the best Paracord you can get attached to the canopy. Additionally, all their Paracord is manufactured in the USA!

The folks at 5Col Survival Supply, are a family run business, and I like to send business the way of small companies like this, for some reason. They keep extremely busy, and I understand they are growing, too. They sent me Type IV 750 and Type III 550 Paracord samples for testing, along with hanks of different colored Paracord – and they have a nice selection, so you don’t have to settle for OD green or black when you place an order. Needless to say, the Type IV 750 Paracord is thicker and capable of holding more weight than the Type III 550 Paracord – so you have to decide which one you want to carry – personally, I’d just go with the Type IV 750 for my needs. The Type IV has 11 core strands, and all core strands are 3-ply – heavy duty! And, as the name suggests, it has a minimum breaking strength of 750 pounds. The outside diameter is 3/16th of an inch, and a pound of it is about 165 feet in length, so it doesn’t weigh much at all.

So, what are the uses for Paracord? Well, there are many, and this is just a partial list of suggestions. You can use it to help build a shelter, traps for small game, snares, rigging, trot lines, gill nets, wraps, braids and many other survival purposes. I’ve tried Paracord in the past as fishing line – you have to take it apart, and use the thin inner strands, but it works quite well – very strong. It’s great for lashing gear to your body or your pack, too. I have a friend, who is a former US Army Ranger, and he said whenever he went on a jump, he took inner strands of the Paracord and used them to lash down his gear, so it wouldn’t go flying off his body – and hit him in the face, good idea if you ask me. You can also use it to fasten a knife to a pole, for an improvised weapon or for spearing fish. The uses are almost unlimited when it comes to Paracord. I’ve used Paracord on more than one occasion when a shoe lace broke – and there is no better substitute for a shoe or boot lace, than Paracord.

I used some of the Paracord samples sent to me, and tied the ends together, and let my big ol’ German Shepherds play tug-o-war with it, and it never broke – and my dogs are very strong, to say the least. I even let my dogs chew on the Paracord, until the outer cover was chewed through, and then let them play tug-o-war some more and the cord still didn’t break. I keep some in my e-box in my car, and on more than one occasion I’ve used it for some sort of emergency. Recently, I went to the dog groomer, and forgot a leash, well, I used a piece of Paracord for an improvised leash – my main male German Shepherd hates having his nails done and won’t get out of the car – so a leash is needed to “motivate” him at times.

5Col Survival Supply 750 and 550 Paracord is certified, and that’s why it is rated for military use – and if you’ve ever done any business with any government agency, you know what a hassle it is, meeting specifications, especially military specs! I know I wouldn’t want our troops using anything but the best of the best. And, if I were jumping out of a plane, I’d want to be assured that the Paracord holding my chute on, wasn’t going to break because it was some cheap commercial grade stuff – that hasn’t been tested and certified.

If you’re serious about Prepping, or you’re in the military, you honestly have to have some Paracord in your kit or BOB. And, it doesn’t take-up much room at all – heck you can even lash it to the outside of your pack, if you don’t have room inside the pack. And, as an aside, make sure you have matches or some way of burning the ends of your Paracord when you cut it to the length you need it – you don’t want it coming apart – so burning the ends is a must do.

So, go through your kit or BOB, and if you don’t have some Paracord in there, give the nice folks at 5Col Survival Supply a call and order-up some genuine mil-spec certified Paracord, and it’s not that expensive, so there’s no excuse for not having some in your emergency supplies. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio

Recipe Of The Week: Arizona Cowgirl’s Potato Sausage Skillet

Arizona Cowgirl’s Potato Sausage Skillet Recipe. We really enjoy this dish, and it’s a delicious ‘comfort’ food on a cold wintry day!

Ingredients are:

  • 4 large baking potatoes, peeled & sliced thin.
  • 1/2 diced sweet onion
  • 1/4 Red or green Bell Pepper, diced

Combine the above veggies in a large 12″ skillet with cooking oil. Cook covered on low heat, stirring occasionally.

While these cook, add the following ingredients as you prep them:

  • 1 whole smoked kielbasa sausage, sliced thin.
  • 1 small can of diced green chilies.
  • Fresh cut Broccoli, as much as you like.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.

Continue cooking covered over low heat until all the veggies are done. Then cover with 1/2 lb. shredded cheddar until melted.

Total prep/cooking time about 30 minutes.

Serves 4 hungry folk. Enjoy! – M.W.

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

Letter Re: American Made Tools And Tool Boxes?

Greetings,

As always, thank you for the survival blog. It is a wonderful resource.

I remember seeing a link or list of American made products, but I can’t find it on the site. I’m starting tool boxes for my young children for either DIY home projects or for survival on the homestead after the SHTF. Do you have any suggestions for quality American made tool boxes and hand tools? Thanks – JR

HJL Replies: JWR posted a list of companies that sell American made gear and tools last year. If our readers are aware of any others, we would be happy to add them to the list.

Economics And Investing:

E.B. – Looks like the fed leadership is introducing the idea of inflation as a “solution”. I don’t think this is a mistake nor a spur of the moment idea. This was probably a planned comment. Fed may need to let inflation run hot to meet goals: Evans

Items from The Economatrix:

Yellen Repeats Fed Likely To Keep Trimming Asset Purchases

Viedeo: RED ALERT VIDEO! RUN, DON’T WALK FROM THE U.S. STOCK MARKET. By Gregory Mannarino

Is This Time Bomb Going To Implode The Economy?

The Coming Global Monetary Reset

Odds ‘n Sods:

K.G. sent this link in on wood choping: Less effort, more wood and safer too. Something that could be built by just about any reader here.

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H.L. sent in this link on 11 sure signs you’ve been hacked. In today’s threatscape, antivirus software provides little piece of mind. In fact, anti-malware scanners on the whole are horrifically inaccurate, especially with exploits less than 24 hours old. After all, malicious hackers and malware can change their tactics at will. Swap a few bytes around, and a previously recognized malware program becomes unrecognizable.

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In light of the current events in Ukraine, JFJ sent this article in: Forward with the statement “Don’t doubt for one iota that this or a variance wouldn’t be used here if feasible.”

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R.K.F. sent in a link with some neat information on Homes Made from Old Cargo Containers.

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War’s New Frontier: DOD presses for EMF spectrum used by cell phones for next generation weapons

Notes from HJL:

It looks like things are beginning to move quickly in Ukraine. This came in yesterday: US issues travel warning as armed men seize two Crimean airports. Per Spetsnaz military doctrine, airports are always the first objective. This establishes what the U.S. military calls an “airhead”, thus bypassing border defenses. Then today, Putin asked for and recieved permission from parliment to use the military in Ukraine. The parliament apparently also wants their ambassador pulled from Washington DC.

Of course, the U.S. is apparently hamstrung. Despite warnings from Obama, Russia is moving forward with their plans. We knew clear back in 2008 that this would happen.

It is still not clear, at this time, whether the protests are being egged on by Russian Spetsnaz or a true grass roots movement from the people. What is clear is that the Russian government does not trust the current Ukraine government as it appears to be leaning towards the west.

Let’s keep those families in prayer during this time of crises.

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Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  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. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand,
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589.
  3. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  4. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  8. EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles, is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepperis providing a $500 gift certificate.

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. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.

Round 51 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.

Staying Warm In An LP/OP, by M.E.

Hugh, recently B.B. wrote asking for readers’ input on how a listening post/observation post (LP/OP) occupant can stay warm during extremely cold weather. His letter, and your reply, generated some self-reflection as I begin retirement in a few months after a 30+ year Army career, which spanned both active duty and National Guard service. During that time I served on active duty as an artillery forward observer to both Infantry and Armor companies and was branched Infantry for most of my National Guard service.

I suspect that B.B. will find that his biggest problem will not be one of staying warm, but it will rather be one of staying awake. I have been constantly amazed over my three decades, while watching both my soldiers and those of other units as well as those of other countries that I have served with, at how misused and misunderstood the monitoring of sleep is. People are hard-wired to sleep at night and be up during the day. More importantly, to be functional they need a minimal amount of sleep. Put them in a situation outside their normal routine, and their body will shut down. The bottom-line is: Don’t make shifts too long because sleep is a double-edged weapon. They will be worthless the next day, either for driving, security, or doing simple farm work.

Let’s start with B.B.’s initial question, keeping in mind that most people will utilize LP/OPs in two settings: Permanent and temporary, with temporary being what most would think of as patrol bases. Let’s deal with the patrol base, or temporary halt, LP/OP. You simply can’t put a person out in the dark for a long length of time and expect them to function well the next day. You have to balance a number of things, including exactly how cold it is, how exposed to the wind the location is, and how many people are available for duty. In reasonably temperate temperatures with a limited number of people, I think two hours is the absolute limit you should have someone on duty. They will need to function the next day and any longer will degrade their mental and physical abilities. In really cold weather one option is to put him in a chair inside a sleeping bag. If he wears a pair of sneakers (or even moccasins), it will help keep the bag clean, yet allow him to maintain mobility and the ability to quickly fight back. We never did this in the military; however, many of my friends do this on the deer stand, especially those with children hunting for the first time. The children stay warm, thus don’t take an immediate dislike to hunting, yet it remains a simple thing to unzip the bag enough to shoot. Interestingly, the German army has a sleeping bag, still available at Army surplus stores, that has a quick opening slit in the back designed for you to put your feet out and run. It even has arm sleeves and a hood so you can fight from it. I have had one for about 20 years. While it is not the warmest bag I own, it will keep you comfortable enough for an hour or two in the harshest weather. Be sure the chair isn’t metal or it will sap the warmth right out of everything it touches. We would take pieces of thick carpet and put on the floor of our tracked vehicles, otherwise in winter the cold metal would quickly turn your feet into blocks of ice.

We have a saying in the Army, “Soldiers don’t do what you expect; they do what you inspect.” There is no higher calling than standing guard over your buddies while they are asleep and defenseless. Yet, soldiers are also human and will succumb to things like discomfort due to cold and sleepiness. That is why close supervision is paramount. Rarely will a single LP be able to cover your entire area, thus a radio watch or sergeant of the guard to manage the entire perimeter is important. When you first stop at a location, do a thorough analysis of the location. The goal is to have as few LP/OPs as possible, while still maintaining security. I remember once, as a young Lieutenant, waking up late (after daylight) because a sentry had gotten tired of waiting on his replacement and simply gone back to sleep. When my very irate platoon sergeant looked into it, he found that our SOP needed a little tweaking. It called for only one LP/OP, which was to rotate every hour. We had enough soldiers that you only had to stand guard at night once every couple of days, insuring you got a reasonable amount of sleep. The problem, however, arose when the outgoing sentry would wake his replacement, who would need a few minutes to get dressed and ready. Many times, since they were both junior soldiers and there was no “adult” to insure prompt compliance, they would lay back down “for a few minutes to get their thoughts together.” Needless to say, they would go back to sleep, generating a return visit by the outgoing sentry. Over the course of the night we found each tour got progressively longer, until some of the sentries had pulled double their allotted time in a single night watch. My platoon sergeant’s answer, after a thorough reaming out by the first sergeant, was to confiscate one sleeping bag from the collective platoon, meaning that the outgoing sentry couldn’t get warm until he got in the sleeping bag of the soldier who replaced him. Although we were in Germany at the time, it wasn’t winter. So, although it did get chilly at night it wasn’t dangerously cold. The first time someone was slow in getting up they were quickly reminded by a boot to get up so the outgoing guy could crawl in. Perhaps it was not the most hygienic of answers, but it worked. Remember, this was during peacetime maneuvers whose purpose was primarily to ensure we got up on time the next morning, as well as to keep thieves (yes, the military has them) from coming in and stealing anything they could find. During TEOTWAWKI you will probably not want to trust your life or the lives of your family to a single point of failure. Later in my career, after three mobilizations, we never used only one person. The Romans realized the importance of this and made it a death penalty for any sentries who fell asleep. The sentence was carried out immediately (the same day) and by his own unit, who were the very people he was charged with guarding. Obviously, you aren’t going to do this to a family member or close friend, but it does show the importance of putting extra thought into it. Another answer, had we needed more than one guard, would have been to add a radio watch or sergeant of the guard. Their job is to be sure everyone stays awake, are focused, and to stay in touch with your higher element. During Desert Storm, my unit was short-handed. Every night I took both the first and last radio watch. That allowed my platoon sergeant a bit more sleep and allowed me some quiet time to write out operation orders and do other paperwork. After several months in the desert, before the war even began, we were all pretty exhausted, but you have to maintain a balance of security with work performance. During TEOTWAWKI you are going to have a multitude of daily tasks, including dealing with food procurement, and will require a clear mind. The task is to balance the two. You just have to put some thought into it.

On another train-up for a mobilization, we solved the problem another way. We were not yet in an active war zone, so having only one sentry wasn’t a life or death situation. I had one soldier, from the deep southern woods, who was terrified of the desert to the point he couldn’t sleep at night. This was made worse by the fact that when we first got to Fort Irwin and hadn’t become acclimated to the local conditions (one of which was the local coyote population), he has a late night visitor. He had eaten his dinner and put his paper plate down beside his head before laying down to sleep. He woke about an hour later and opened his eyes only to see a coyote eating his leftovers from about 12 inches away. He woke the whole platoon up screaming and wouldn’t leave the top of his tracked vehicle at night for the entire time we were at Fort Irwin. Every night my platoon sergeant gave him a pair of night observation devices with fresh batteries, and he stood watch over us until morning. He took countless catnaps during the day and somehow continued to function for the three months we were there. Once again, a solution that isn’t really optimal, but you have to find solutions that fix your unique situation.

Optimally, your LP/OP will hunker down in total silence and hear anyone approaching from a long distance. Sometimes, however, they will be required to move around, once again perhaps if you don’t have enough people. This is not really a good idea as it makes you much more visible but is necessary at times. . If you don’t have enough people to have a radio watch designee, the LP/OP may have to wake up their replacement. A special note about safety: During the peacetime in the Army, we always lost more soldiers to accidents than any other thing. We were always careful where we parked the vehicles, especially the tanks and tracked vehicles that required cranking several times at night to maintain battery charge, especially if the radios were running. If possible, you don’t move a vehicle, even a few feet, at night for fear of crushing someone. This happened several times to neighboring units while I was stationed in Germany. The same will be a concern in TEOTWAWKI. Night vehicular traffic will be dangerous from both an ambush and blackout driving considerations. When you laager up (camp in a defensive encirclement), it might be a good idea to park with an eye on not only safe, easy, movement in the dark if you have to move, but also in such a way that it facilitates the sentry in locating someone in the dark when noise discipline is paramount. One friend of mine had rivets welded to the right side of his track, to which he snapped his pup tent. That way everyone always knew where to find him.

LP/OPs for more permanent locations, such as I believe B.B. is talking about, have additional concerns. One is that it will be very difficult to completely camouflage your LP/OP. In snowy conditions, there is really no way around the obvious path through the snow to and from the location. The less you move back and forth the less obvious it will be, but there is no way to make it completely hidden in snow. One option is to dig it in so he can move around at least a little to stay warm. Although not a cold weather concern, we got around this in Iraq by draping camo nets over our guard towers. The Iraqis knew what and where they were, but couldn’t tell if or when they were occupied, much the way deer can’t tell if an enclosed deer stand has a hunter in it. While not all a retreat’s LP/OP locations can be from an elevated building, it is worth the effort to strategically locate your positions in such a way that the occupant can move around some to stay warm, but not in such a way as to give away that someone is actually in it. You also need to stay away from taking coffee to it. Not only do smells carry at night, but the added heat makes it easier to pick up if the bad guys have a thermal imaging device. I never realized this until one of the tankers I was supporting invited me into his tank after dark to scan the local area with his thermals. It was amazing to go from pitch black darkness to actually being able to tell small details, including someone who was obviously drinking coffee from a canteen cup and another who was urinating off the top of his tank. If we were near a German town, you could even tell which cars had people in them, even if the motor was not on, due to the glow through the windows. It was amazing the difference the devices made.

Not all aids have to be high tech. If the LP/OP is at ground level, take a dog with you. Not only can they be used as a large, warming device (just ask any duck/goose hunter), they are much more likely to detect something out of the ordinary. I know that during my year in Iraq many of our nighttime raids on suspected insurgent hideouts were ruined by common untrained dogs giving the warning something wasn’t right.

In closing, I see the answer to B.B.’s question as not a simple technological fix. Rather, it is a matter of balancing multiple ideas: proper location of the LP/OP itself, the amount of time each person spends in it, risk in its being detected versus facilitating the job of providing early warning, and, yes, whatever tricks you need to use to stay warm.

Letter Re: Ammunition Shortages

The article on ammunition, shortages, and government purchases was very informative and well written. Here is a very simple way to look at the shortages that occur from a mathematical perspective.

Assume that 20 million rounds of .22 are available every single day. That would be 40,000 boxes of 500 rounds each. Fifty states get 800 boxes each. Fifty retailers per state get 16 boxes each. I cannot tell you how much ammo the U.S. can manufacture or import, but I do not think it is anywhere near the level of demand created by our current government’s stance on the 2nd Amendment.

Thanks, BamaMan

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Shalom

I am assuming that the article about bulk government purchases was written by Hugh. Since these stories have been hitting the web we have seen all sorts of explanations given for the requests. Responses have ranged from the uber-conspiratorial to the brain-dead parroting of official government propaganda.

We are all aware that buying in bulk saves money. We also are comfortable with the idea that large contracts allow our agencies to retain these bulk price rates. This is common sense.

The real question then IMHO is, are these purchases in line with previous purchases, or do they stand out as extraordinary? We shouldn’t be asking how many or what type of bullets could or should our agents be using, but what is the norm?

My webfu is pretty strong and my googling technique superior to most, yet I cannot find any data from past years to compare, nor has anyone apparently gone out of their way to examine this issue.

I’m a cigarette smoker. My wife knows it and knows my purchase habits. If I go from buying three packs a week to 30 packs a week and try and explain it away as saving money in bulk purchase, I’m going to be in the doghouse.

Let’s see some hard data on purchase habits.

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Just as a matter of interest, here in Austria we have started to experience a shortage of ammunition as well. There seem to be reasonable quantities of the normal hunting rifle calibers floating around (and after all, you don’t really need a lot of ammunition for hunting). I have seen boxes of 0.22 on offer, so it really seems to be only 9 mm Parabellum that is affected.

I generally buy the boxes of 250 from S&B, but there have been none available to the dealers for the past two or three months. One dealer that I regularly go to has a stock of them still, but that is a result of buying a huge amount last year.

Our local dealer was telling me that they had been bought out by an American company that was now shipping all the product to the U.S., but I can see no record of that. In fact, they are owned by CBC, which is a Brazilian company, better known to you, probably, as Magtech. I can see no sign of American ownership there.

So, maybe they are shipping everything to the U.S., but it is not due to North American ownership.

Still, he sold me 1000 rounds of Geco pistol food for the same price as the bigger boxes from S&B, so I am not complaining too much.

Simon

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HJL Adds: This link was sent in to SurvivalBlog by a reader: Making Money From the American Ammo Shortage. This quote shows just what kind of demand we as consumers are putting on the system.

“I had a report yesterday of a fistfight in a sporting goods store, people trying to get rimfire ammunition off the shelf,” said Alliant Chief Executive Mark DeYoung on an analysts’ call after the company reported forecast-beating third quarter profits on Thursday. “So there is still demand and customers are still very anxious to get product.”

Letter: Timing of Collapse

Sir:
There has been some debate as to whether ‘the Collapse’ will precipitate quickly or not. I think it will depend on the immediate cause of the collapse. I was in the Ba’ath Party Headquarters in Baghdad in 2003 a couple of days after our cruise missiles hit it, starting the war. It was though Saddam Hussein was there watching a movie, but he was not. I walked through the Headquarters, and saw blood and brain tissue on the walls. I found a cruise missile fan blade on the roof. All the carpets, vases, pictures, furniture, et cetera had been stolen, virtually overnight. The system collapsed almost instantly, and it was “each man for himself.” In a military attack or coup d’état, I believe the collapse would be quick. If the collapse is precipitated by a economic depression, on the other hand, which I believe it will be, it will probably be a slow motion collapse. The Weimar Republic, Germany (1919-1933) slowly sank into total economic collapse. People kept thinking that the government knew what it is doing and would correct the problems. Of course, it did not know what to do, and in fact, did precisely the wrong thing (print money), as our government is doing. We are sinking into a big black abyss, as in a slow macabre dance, and the vast majority of people are completely clueless. It is interesting that the Founding Fathers– the very ones who wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Bills of Rights, our Constitution, who were the first Presidents, Senators, Congressmen– were the very ones who most distrusted the government. Now everyone is expected to trust the government, or they will be called a fascist or racist. Do you trust the IRS or the NSA? I sure don’t. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw an elephant. Anyone who does trust them is just being astonishingly naïve. “Pray and pass the ammo.” – Pastor Dave

Odds ‘n Sods:

Connecticut officer says woman sounds ‘anti-American’ for questioning gun control law – RBS

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WBB sent in this video concerning the CIA and their goals: GigaOM Structure:Data 2013. Of particular interest is their prioritizing social media (even though the vast majority of social media users are U.S. citizens.) Also of interest is the CIA’s determination that your smartphone’s ID is better than a fingerprint and they can get it even if your phone is “off”.

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Noah’s ark project in Ky. to move forward – P.M.

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Need to reload your 12 gauge and don’t have access to a reloader? In a survival situation this may help: Learn How to Reload a 12 Gauge Shotgun Shell – M.W.

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From G.G. – Not safe to display American flag in American high school.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV)

Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  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. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand,
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589.
  3. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  4. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  8. EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles, is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepperis providing a $500 gift certificate.

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. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.

Round 51 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.

Why Your Family Will NOT Survive the Economic Collapse, by A.Y.

What I’m about to leave you with will most likely be the most ignored, neglected, and probably hated article you will read. What I’m going to say is the most overlooked aspect of the average person’s life, but it is most important second only to your eternal salvation. This will be primarily directed at the males, because if your families do not survive, it is your fault. One thing the old testament military and any member of the current military will tell you is that when you are in charge, you take the blame for the failure. Most men in America, like those in most every other country in the world, are failing our family, failing God, and failing our country.

We, men, think that 90 percent of the time if we provide for our family our job is over. We’re wrong. The first reason your prepping or whatever you want to call it is useless is because you’re placing your trust in items rather than in Jesus Christ. I’m not here to preach, I assure you. All I’m trying to do is save you and your family. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, now is the time to get that right. Whatever hill you climb, whatever goal you reach is completely useless if you spend your eternity burning in hell. The book of Romans says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” If you believe Jesus is the true Son of God, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and was resurrected three days later, and that you are a sinner deserving of hell, and you think God is telling you to get saved right now, you can be saved. How? Ask God to save you, and then place your trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ– Heaven’s spotless lamb– to save you. He alone can save you. Do that and you can and will, as per the word of God, be saved. Now even if you are saved, it’s not the tools, the gadgets, the freeze-dried food that will keep you and your family alive in the economic collapse; it is the grace of God. If He were to remove His hand right now, you’d be dead. You’re breathing His air. He’s keeping you tethered to the planet right now. If He removed His hand, you’d be dead. So, instead of trusting freeze-dried food, guns, and Advil to save your life, why not trust Jesus?

Now, I’m not saying any of the prepping stuff is wrong. You should put back food, weapons, ammunition, medication, silver, and gold, but don’t trust them. The second reason your family won’t survive is you’re confused. Simply, you don’t know what you’re doing. Now, you can read 100 “how-to” articles a week to get all kinds of knowledge, but again you’re not focusing on what’s important. Knowledge is important, I know that. An idiot won’t survive without an instruction manual, but a family won’t survive purely based on head knowledge. You need a relationship with your family. We talk about coming together, pooling our resources, and most of our families can’t even sit together at a table and have a meal. I’m willing to bet over a fifth of the deaths in America will not be because of a lack of food, or water, or medicine. It’ll be because people simply give up. Why? Their cell phones are dead. There will be no more video games, no computer, and when the center of your universe is gone, you’ll just simply quit. Most Americans are addicted to their cell phones, or facebook, or pinterest, and that is pathetic. The only way most Americans know how to communicate is by a text message. When the phones are gone, they won’t know how to communicate. If we can’t carry on a face-to-face conversation with someone for more than ten minutes, how are we supposed to spend months and years together? Additionally, how do we do it in the most dangerous, stressfull times this country has ever faced?

Now, we can communicate with our friends and our coworkers, but often times the most important people in our lives– our family, especially our immediate family, who are the ones we spend everyday with– are the hardest to reach. Your immediate family, your brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, and especially your wife are the most important people in your life, by God’s standards, not mine. The average American family sits down around a television and watch some filthy, nasty movie, straight from the devil’s hell while eating a meal together. Then, they call that bonding. In the rare event a family does sit at a table to eat, often, the daughters stare at a cell phone in their hand, the sons have a video game, and the husband and wife are silent because they’re still mad over something that happened a week ago. I don’t care what your wife is like, it is the husband’s job to love her and love her with every fiber of his being. If you could sum up what the Bible says about the family, you could do it with these six words– husbands love, wives submit, children obey. A man once said, “The man is the head of the home, the wife is the heart of the home, and the children are the hope of the home.” I remind you that while you neglect your children, the television, the computer, and the school system are shaping who they are. Whether you survive the economic collapse or not, you will one day turn this country over to them. Men need to have a real relationship with their families, moreso than with the buyers on craiglist or their sports buddies. Their most important and main relationship needs to be with their wife and children.

The next reason your family won’t survive is that we, men in particular, are selfish. We care more about our needs than the needs of those around us. Now, some of you are scratching your head thinking, “I’m working thirty hours overtime to put back so that my family can survive the collapse. Now is that selfish?” You’re concerned about the future, which isn’t wrong. Proverbs says, “A people without a vision perishes.” So, planning for the future is important, but not so important you neglect today. You can concern yourself so much with the future and work so much to put back to the extent it can become a god to you. We always make time for what we care about most. This isn’t only prepping; it can be anything– vacations, a new X-box, a PlayStation, or a computer. We will work hours and hours so we can get an ounce of pleasure. Instead, we should be worrying about our family, getting our loved ones taken care of, walking with and having a real relationship with Jesus Christ, and being able to go to bed every night knowing that everything is alright between me, my family, and God. That is not pleasure; that is joy. This joy lasts a lot longer than any vacation or camping trip. I’m not saying any of that’s wrong, but it shouldn’t control us. Before the fall of the Roman Empire, the Romans cried out, “Give us bread and circus.” They placed pleasure, as high in importance as the necessities, and it wasn’t very long before they were destroyed. When you work 60 hours a week, all so you can go on a vacation and neglect your family, you are selfish.

All of us, at one point in time, have been overwhelmed. We have got so many problems in this generation, and yet living now should be easier than it ever has. The reason it is not is because we demand the best. I hate to tell say, but in TEOTWAWKI your zero-turn lawn mower that you used to mow your 100 square foot yard is going to be useless. We have lost focus on what’s important. We think we have to have so many things– the newest truck, the best lawnmower, the biggest house, and so forth. Yet, none of that amounts to any more than a hill of beans. I hope, the survivalist crowd, who claims to prioritize and focus on what’s necessary, will listen to this. Your house payment, your cell phone bills, and your car payment should not be the things that control your life. If your car payment cripples your monthly income, sell it. I’ll say this, buying a brand new vehicle is idiotic. By the time you drive it off the parking lot it loses over half its value, and 90% of the time when that warranty goes out, it’ll start having problems. If you can’t afford your house and if you missed work for a month, the bank would take everything you own, so sell it. Neglecting your family and working yourself into an early grave is not worth impressing the neighbors. If the neighbor’s opinion means more to you than your family, you are shallow, and you should be ashamed. The only opinions that should matter to you are that of your wife, your children, and your Savior. Do your kids see you read your bible every day? Do you even read your bible? Do you teach them about the important things in life? Do you even know the important things in life?

If our families are struggling to stay above water now, they will never survive the economic collapse. Men, love your wives and take care of your families. Train up your children in the way they should go, and don’t let the school or the television do it. The best thing you could do is get rid of the stupid thing. I believe it has been one of the most effective methods the devil has used in destroying America. Be a family now, and you will be a family then.