Preparedness Notes for Saturday — April 15, 2023

Today, April 15, 2023 is the 20th Blogiversary of Commander Zero’s Notes From The Bunker blog. Congratulations, Z.!

April 15th is traditionally Tax Day, but I prefer to remember its as musician Roy Clark’s birthday. He was born April 15, 1933.

April 15th, 1912, is also the anniversary of the sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic. 1,517 people lost their lives on the maiden voyage.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 ends on May 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.

Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 5, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

There is a serious weakness in the Baofeng UV-5R and several other similar radios, since there is no off-the-shelf charger made to charge these radios from a standard 12vdc source. Fortunately, we can make our own 12vdc step-down charger power supply by putting together the parts that I list below. It can charge up to four Baofeng UV5R radios, or any brand handheld radios, and even some Kenwood and Midland radios (transceivers), or any radio that requires 9vdc  to 10vdc at its charger base. It can charge more than 4 handhelds at a time. However, with four transceivers charging, the charge times would be extended to a point that is impractical for most typical use.

The 5.5mm barrel connector, or appropriate connector fits many charging docks. The converter provides up to 2 amps, and 9.14vdc that the Baofeng charging base then steps down to 8.3vdc as a maximum allowed voltage. This duplicates factory performance and allows the factory circuitry to regulate the charging process, and avoids overcharging.

Solar Direct Charging
If we can charge radios “solar direct”, then we have eliminated the need for a battery bank and charge controller. Charging solar direct is roughly 30 percent more efficient if a PWM charge controller is eliminated.  We avoid the loss of power during the conversion into a chemical form as when a storage battery is used –with the loss of power when the chemical process is reversed to transfer power.
As tested with a constant 5aH 19.5 vdc power supply, the converter steps down the voltage to 9.22 volts instead of the previously mentioned 9.14vdc, and the charging base limits the maximum charging voltage to 8.3 vdc as it does when the original power source is between 12 and 13 vdc, the voltage of a typical lead acid battery.
This test at 19.5vdc simulates the level of power that would be supplied by a nominal 12vdc 100-watt PV panel at VOC that the maximum voltage during peak production as occurs during bright sunny conditions in very cold weather. Therefore, I estimate  that this step-down conversion device can be used to charge 1 to 4 handheld radios in the same time period that the manufacturer expects when directly connected to a single 40-watt panel as minimum during ideal solar conditions.  Or to a 400-watt 12vdc panel during cloudy conditions, or during ideal conditions.

Continue reading“Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 5, by Tunnel Rabbit”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

For half of the past week, I was still down with a cold.  But now I’m back to a nearly normal pace of activity. The snow is quickly melting, and our pastures are starting to green up. (Quite late, this year!)

I’ve been making just a bit of progress on remodeling our workshop.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.

The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.

They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.” – Lamentations 4:1-12 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 14, 2023

On this day in 1865, just after the effective end of the American Civil War, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a production at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., and died the next morning.

—

On April 14, 1828 Noah Webster published An American Dictionary of the English Language; based on the principle that word usage should evolve from the spoken language, the work was hugely influential, though it was initially attacked for its “Americanism.”

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 ends on May 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.

Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 4, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 3.)

CB Radios
Cobra has time-tested models that are sure to please you. However, there are less expensive brands that may be just as reliable, but lack some of the useful features that Cobra offers. Regardless, 40-channel handhelds and mobile CBs are limited to 3.5 watts. As a practical matter, I would be inclined to buy several of the least expensive CBs before getting something as nice as a full-featured Cobra, or better yet, a CB with SSB. I apply this approach to all my purchases in order to create as deep a supply as possible.  Logistics wins wars, and the same principle will help the survivalist survive.
I recently tested a Uniden hand-held CB radio, the PRO401HH. This ia a 3.5 watt transceiver purchased on eBay for just $49.  Relative to the older models of handhelds that are as large and heavy as red bricks, this is a slim, more compact, and comfortable to hold modern handheld CB. I found that it is very easy to operate.  It can be powered and charged directly by 12vdc, and be connected to an external 1/4-wave ground plane, or a shorter non-ground plane antenna that is more convent to install. It would be a good substitute for a mobile and used as a ‘base station’ in the home, or in a vehicle with a magnetic-mounted rooftop antenna, and can be carried. Given the antenna requirements and limitations of installing larger antennas needed to get the most range out of a CB transceivers, its range is typically less than handheld UHF/VHF transceivers. CB will, however, be popular, and is a must-have if someone wants to keep their options open so that we have the ability to talk to neighbors who will be using these radios, since a CB may be the only transceiver that they process.

Continue reading“Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 4, by Tunnel Rabbit”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we catch some whiffs of recession in the air. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold and silver have seen another week of solid price gains versus the Dollar. As of Thursday morning:

  • Spot Gold was at $2,058.10 per Troy ounce, up $34.10 (up 1.67% for the day)
  • Spot Silver was at $26.10 per Troy ounce, up 50 cents (up 1.96% for the day)

As of Thursday, one well-known national bullion coin dealer was charging a whopping $30,830 for a $1,000 face-value bag of pre-1965 90% silver quarters.

o  o  o

Wall Street, Dollar Apologists Busted for Ever-Shifting Anti-Gold Arguments.

o  o  o

Texas May Launch Its Own Gold-backed Digital Currency.

Economy & Finance:

Treasury Plans to Raise US Debt to $50 Trillion.

o  o  o

From The FEE: Silicon Valley Bank, Another Victim of Expansive Monetary Policy.

o  o  o

Video commentary from Matt Christiansen: Small Business Bankruptcies Surge Past Pandemic/Lockdown High.

o  o  o

Yea, verily, “Get Woke, Go Broke”: Anheuser-Busch loses more than $5 billion in value amid Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light controversy. JWR’s Comment: Something tells me that this isn’t yet the bottom, for their stock price.

o  o  o

The BRICS Street Boys Toppling G7 Economies.

o  o  o

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Warns of Continued Banking Crisis and Potential Trouble Ahead.

o  o  o

WSJ: Priorities That Defined Our National Character For Generations — Religion, Patriotism, Children, Hard Work — Are Cratering Among Americans, Especially Democrats.

o  o  o

Video from Dr. Peter St. Onge: Dr. Doom: “Most banks are technically insolvent”.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Americans may like guns because they were reminiscent of the smell of outdoors, military heroism, the intensity of the hunt or merely because they are fascinated by the finely machined metal parts. Maybe the origin of a gun speaks of history; maybe the gun makes a man’s home seem to him less vulnerable; maybe these feelings are more justified in the country than in the city; but, above all, many of us believe that these feelings are a man’s own business and need not be judged by the Department of the Treasury or the Department of Justice.” – Samuel Cummings, Founder of Interarms

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 13, 2023

April 13, 1743 was the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. Patriotically, he died on July 4th, 1826.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 106 ends on May 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.

Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 3, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 2.)

Test All Antennas for Acceptable SWR
The antenna manufacturer of the Tram 1481 boosts an impressive gain on the VHF side of 8 dBi. Given the low power tests conducted, I found this figure plausible as 3.5 watts sent to the dual band Tram 1481 antenna mount only a few feet off the ground was easily received by a Baofeng UV5R on a J-pole located at a distance of 18.3 miles away LOS, and on the other side of a small mountain. The signal was reflect around the mountain. The SWR on low power at that frequency was 2:1 and the power loss through 30 feet of RG8x at the antenna was estimated to be about 1 watt, leave us with 2.5 watts delivered to the antenna. The ERP with 8 dBi of gain put the signal out the door at upwards of 9.6 watts. Wow! However impressive is this level of gain from an omni-directional VHF antenna, I am not impressed by the build quality.

Continue reading“Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 3, by Tunnel Rabbit”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, we look at Sales Tax Holidays.

Texas: Emergency Preparation Supplies Sales Tax Holiday

Texas has announced an Emergency Preparation Supplies Sales Tax Holiday that will run April 22-24, 2023.

And for folks living in other states: Sales Tax Holidays.

Tax holidays represent a good time to stock up. Under Texas law, these emergency preparation supplies qualify for tax exemption during the holiday:

  • Less than $3000
    • Portable generators.
  • Less than $300
    • Emergency ladders.
    • Hurricane shutters.
  • Less than $75
    • Axes.
    • Batteries, single or multipack (AAA cell, AA cell, C cell, D cell, 6 volt or 9 volt).
    • Can openers – nonelectric.
    • Carbon monoxide detectors.
    • Coolers and ice chests for food storage – nonelectric.
    • Fire extinguishers.
    • First aid kits.
    • Fuel containers.
    • Ground anchor systems and tie-down kits.
    • Hatchets.
    • Ice products – reusable and artificial.
    • Light sources – portable self-powered (including battery operated).
      • Examples of items include: candles, flashlights and lanterns.
    • Mobile telephone batteries and mobile telephone chargers.
    • Radios – portable self-powered (including battery operated) – includes two-way and weather band radios.
    • Smoke detectors.
    • Tarps and other plastic sheeting.

Bank Accounts of Murder Victims Drained Via Facial Recognition Tech

This piece at Fox News comes to us courtesy of blog reader C.B.: Bank accounts of New York ‘roofie murder’ victims drained via facial recognition technology.Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 12, 2023

April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre, with his first novel, The Hunt For Red October.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 106 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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.
  2. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  3. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. EBL is providing an EBL Voyager 500-Watt Power Station with deep cycle lithium batteries, providing reliable 120 Volt AC and DC (12 Volt and USB) power for emergencies or outdoor use. (A $399 value.)
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $800,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 105 ends on May 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.

Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 1.)

Antennas, Expedient Techniques, and Construction Methods
A radio tech should be sure to have several SWR meters, one of which is for the 11-meter band, and have the ability to improvise and construct antennas of all kinds — even if it is only a dipole.  For CB, an expedient 1/2 wave dipole (216-inches long) made from coaxial cable propagates much better than a 52″ long 1/8-wave ground plane CB antenna. CBs have a very long radio wave as compared to UHF/VHF radio and thus require much taller and larger antennas to propagate to their full potential.  In a future disaster, there will be lots of vintage mobile CBs dug out of storage and pressed into service. Yet without an antenna, these radios will not be serviceable.
In a disaster, there will be a serious lack of even the most popular and widely used PL259 and BNC Male connectors. So buy them inexpensively and in bulk now, as well as other connectors and cables. Most radios have a SO-239 (aka “UHF”) connector for the antenna cable to attach to the radio. I have many times improvised by constructing an inner pin with folded wire and solder, or no solder and secured the cable to the radio using the shield from the coaxial cable and stout wire wrapped around the shielding and the threads of the SO239 panel connector. The SWRs checked properly.  However “lossy” the connection, it works.  This is the kind of improvisation that will be needed. It will be apropos for times when using RG59 or RG6 72-ohm coaxial television cable as this cable has an outer shielding that is most often made with aluminum instead of steel or copper and hence cannot be soldered. Crimp-on connectors can be used with standard television cable.  But solder-type PL259 connectors can be used with RG59/RG6, if there is RG58/RG8x cable reducer available. Simply bend the outer shielding back over the forward end of the RG58 reducer/insert and tighten it well.

Continue reading“Commo for Family, Group, or Community – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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

—

Please continue to pray for the full restoration of health, for Pat Cascio. His recovery from a stroke has been difficult.

o  o  o

The two most recent gender-confused mass shootings have the liberals in full-fledged screaming “do something!” mode. I suspect that will come in the form of a raft of executive orders from Creepy-Sniffy Joe’s West Wing staff. They might try some quite outlandish ones. But at the minimum, I expect them to ban a lot of imports.  They have plenty of precedents for that. Full-capacity magazines, parts sets, and semi-auto firearms of all descriptions will probably get import-banned.  SIG, HK, Beretta, FN, CZ, and Glock make some, but not all of their magazines here in the States.  (SIG recently announced that they will be ramping up stateside production, but that won’t be nearly enough to fill the demand if there is an import ban announced.)

Take note that Austrian-made Glock magazines are stamped “AUSTRIA”, but their US-made mags just have a part number. So, obviously, a large percentage of their magazines are still made in Austria. And Springfield Armory sources most of their pistol magazines in Croatia.

So, if you own any guns for which the magazines are imported, then it would be wise to order a lifetime supply of those magazines for you and your progeny immediately. I’ve mentioned several good suppliers with competitive prices in SurvivalBlog several times, such as GunMag Warehouse, Brownells, Keep Shooting, Natchez, Midway, and Palmetto State Armory.  I should mention that FN, SIG, and HK also sell some magazines directly in the US, but they only rarely discount them. (Ful disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with some of the aforementioned companies.)

I’m primarily an aficionado of American-made guns, but if I were a collector of European guns, then my Magazine Panic Buy List might look something like this:

30 ea. – SIG P320 21-rd. factory 9mm mags

20 ea. – SIG P320 30-rd. factory 9mm mags

20 ea. – Magazines for each of my Springfield Armory XD series pistols (Croatian-sourced)

25 ea. – CZ Scorpion 9mm 30-rd. mags

20 ea. – CZ-75 9mm mags

12 ea. – Factory HK 93 magazines (all were made in Germany)

16 ea. – Factory HK 94/MP5 magazines (all were made in Germany)

12 ea. – Factory SIG magazines (all were made in Switzerland)

50 ea. – .45 ACP KCI (Korean) Glock 26-rd. extended mags

100 ea. – 9mm KCI (Korean) Glock 32-rd. extended mags

15 ea. – B&T 30-Round 9mm magazines for USW/CZ-75

80 ea. – AK-47 40 rd. mags

15 ea – Beretta factory 30-rd. M92 mags

20 ea – FN Factory FN FiveSeven pistol mags

30 ea – FN Factory FN 5.7 rifle mags

12 ea. – FN SCAR magazines

Your mileage may vary. Tailor your own list to match your collection. Again, imported magazines should be your highest priority.  If in doubt about the capacity to choose, go big. If there is a ban, it will be easier to trade big magazines for smaller ones. Trading vice versa will be far less advantageous.

Oh, and if you’ve been wanting to buy any imported semi-auto gun, then go ahead and buy it soon. But be sure to get their requisite spare magazines on order, first. As my old friend Bob Griswold of Readymade Resources says: “Panic now, and beat the rush.” – JWR

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”