SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

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

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An interesting vlog from Norwegian commentator Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen (pictured): We Will Not Comply.

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Over at The Organic Prepper: How Bob Griswold Used Ham Radio To Save a Man’s Life.

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Our Editor-at-Large Michael Z. Williamson found a site with some great cutaway views of guns. Two examples, that Mike recommends:

AR-15 cycle of operation.

Remington 870.

Mike says: “He also has a Mauser, and others.  Step-by-step, with narration and animation.”

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Scott was the first of several readers to send this link to a quite troubling article at The Intercept: Truth Cops: Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation.

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SaraSue sent this snippet:

“I didn’t send an update last week because I’ve been working myself hard, managing a farm by myself.  I have had major work going on with hired help: new roof, new house siding, a run-in shelter for calves, and a new chicken house.  Not to mention the renovations I’ve been doing by myself inside the house.

I decided to expand the chicken flock and the little coops I bought at Tractor Supply just don’t cut it, and they’re falling apart after only a year – a waste of money, hard to keep clean.  The new chicken house is 10’ x 12’ with lots of nesting boxes and roosting tree branches nailed in.  We’ve had very chilly temps at night – in the 20s – much earlier than normal.  Processing 21 gallons of milk every week has taken a lot of time, but I’ve got a freezer full of cheese and butter, and have enjoyed the amazing yogurt and fresh milk – best I’ve ever tasted in my life.  Being able to supply my children and grandchildren with these healthy foods has been so fulfilling.  The calf was weaned over a month ago, and my dear milk cow is finally, on the third attempt, “bred back”, so we should have a beef cow born on the farm next year. Her milk production has slowed down now that I’ve switched to only milking in the mornings, and I consider that a blessing – down to 14 gallons each week – much easier to process.  I spend time every evening “gentling” the calf, who is bigger than me, once all the other chores are done and before the sun goes down.  I’m looking forward to my 7th grandchild being born soon, here on the farm, with the help of midwives.  Please pray with me for a safe birth, and healthy baby.  Thank you.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“A man who does not know how to be angry does not know how to be good. And a man that does not know how to be shaken to his heart’s core with indignation over things evil is either a fungus or a wicked man.” – Henry Ward Beecher

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — November 1, 2022

November 1st is the birthday of economist Martin A. Armstrong. For many years he was a prisoner of conscience, in part because he refused to turn over his proprietary trading algorithms to Federal prosecutors. After seven years in prison without a trial, the longest Federal incarceration for contempt in American history, Armstrong was finally put on trial in a proceeding that was branded as a sham. He was convicted on securities fraud charges based upon some marginal testimony and given a five-year sentence. He was released from prison in September of 2011. Notably, Armstrong continued to write his economics newsletter while in prison, producing most of the issues on a prison library typewriter.

November 1st, 1923, is also the birthday of science fiction writer Gordon R. Dickson (born 1923, died January 31, 2001). Many of his novels and short stories, such as Wolf and Iron, have survivalist themes.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 103 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. 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).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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. 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)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 103 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.

Building a Garden Dome to Increase Food Security, by K.R.

The pandemic has interrupted supply chains worldwide. Combine this with rising fuel costs, government crackdowns on fertilizer use, and suspiciously frequent fires at food processing plants, and people start talking about reductions in our society’s ability to produce enough food. While it is helpful to be able to store food, real food security comes from being able to grow enough food on your own indefinitely– in all situations.

In this climate, and with inflation heating up, my wife and I felt that the best tangible investment we could make was to increase our ability to grow food. We already have a 128-square-foot greenhouse where we grow tomatoes and cucumbers during the summer, and we have 24 raised beds where we use composted cow manure to grow carrots, peas, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, chard, beets, berries, and leeks. But we live in a zone 3 section of the Inland Northwest, and we can only grow these things during the summer. Even though we store a significant portion of our produce to use during the winter, leafy greens are much better when they are fresh; and there are some crops we avoid simply because our season is so short. So we began looking for ways to build a greenhouse that could produce food more months of the year, perhaps even during our cold, dark winters.

Our search led us to Growing Spaces in Colorado, whose motto is, “Gardens that Thrive 365.” They produce Grow Dome kits with components that help these geodesic greenhouses remain cool in the summer and warmer in the winter. This essay summarizes how the Growing Spaces Grow Dome helps to extend our growing season (in the hopes of giving readers ideas about how they can increase the length of their growing season using their own existing or self-designed growing spaces) and catalogs our experience in purchasing, constructing, and planting our Grow Dome.Continue reading“Building a Garden Dome to Increase Food Security, by K.R.”

October 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices.

What Did Gold Do in October?

Central bank rate hike programs depressed gold prices as the month went on in October. The dollar smashed all other currencies during October, fueled by the Fed’s determination to keep raising rates until something breaks. This added to the pressure on gold prices, as it became more expensive when bought with other currencies.

Prices recovered temporarily when market expectations grew that the Fed would pivot on rate hikes in December or February, but those hopes were short-lived as inflation showed no sign of easing.

Factors Affecting Gold This Month


FED RATE HIKE PREDICTIONS

It was another “good news is bad news” month for US markets in October. Hopes that the Fed would slow down on rate hikes were crushed every time good economic news was revealed. The one exception is inflation, where bad news is definitely bad. Headline inflation in the US was still above 8% in October, posting an 8.2% gain.

Rate hike forecasts have morphed over the last month. Everyone agrees that the Fed will raise rates by 75 basis points on November 2nd. A consensus had been building that the Fed would only hike rates by 50 bp in December, but that forecast was wiped out by the latest inflation numbers. A 75 bp hike is now penciled in for December, and earlier expectations of 25 bp hikes each in February and March have been replaced with forecasts of 50bp each. This will result in an interest rate of 5%.

SAFE HAVEN DEMAND

Briefly-serving UK Prime Minister Liz Truss came within hours of blowing up the UK economy and igniting a global financial crisis. Her “mini budget” proposed doing away with the highest tax bracket while engaging in billions of dollars of unfunded spending.

UK pension funds use leverered bond derivatives to make money, and the wholesale dumping of gilts threatened to wipe them out and force them into insolvency. Only an emergency nighttime intervention in the bond market by the Bank of England saved the British economy.

The threat of a Tory-led economic collapse and the crash of the British pound sent millions of Britons running to gold dealers to lock in their wealth before the worst happened. Major gold dealers reported that they were out of stock on everything, and as soon as they received small gold bars or bullion coins, they were snapped up.
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Russia is also experiencing a shortage of investor gold. Small gold bars have become the bullion of choice as economic sanctions cut off supplies of most major bullion coins, with retailers and banks unable to keep them in stock.

DOLLAR STRENGTH

Safe haven flows and Fed rate hikes have the US dollar pummeling all rivals this month. The euro was pushed below parity with the dollar for most of October, and the British pound was at historically weak levels versus the greenback even before Liz Truss tried to blow up the economy.
The Bank of Japan and the Chinese central bank have both had to intervene in the currency markets to prevent the yen and yuan becoming worthless. Japan and China are still both running expansionary monetary policy in an attempt to rescue their economies, while the rest of the world is tightening policy and raising interest rates. No wonder there’s a shortage of gold in China right now!

Central Banks

Other central banks are also battling inflation, which is made worse by their currencies being devalued by a strong dollar.

The ECB raised interest rates by 75 bp this month, something unheard of this summer. They have waited far too long to start raising rates, afraid of pushing the Eurozone into recession. High energy prices are driving EU economies into recession anyway, regardless of what the ECB does. Now they get to fight stagflation. EU consumer inflation hit a new record of 10.7% this month. Wholesale inflation for the Eurozone rose 43.3% (not a typo!) due to the natural gas crisis.
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The Bank of England sabotaged its own inflation fighting policy in October after it was forced into sudden Quantitative Easing in the bond market to prevent an economic collapse. The Bank assured markets that the emergency QE was just that, an emergency, and reaffirmed its commitment to raise rates to fight inflation even if the UK fell into recession.
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The Australian central bank hiked rates by 25 bp instead of the expected 50bp, leading US markets to hope that it was a sign that the Fed would pivot from its robust rate hike strategy. Those hopes were snuffed out when OPEC announced it would cut production by 2 million barrels a day instead of increasing production, raising inflation forecasts worldwide.

Central Bank Gold Purchases

Central bank gold purchases slowed to a net 20 tons in August. Turkey was the big buyer, purchasing 8.9 tons of gold. Uzbekistan was right behind them, buying 8.7 tons. Kazakhstan bought 2 tons. There were no sellers of note.

Gold ETFs

Gold-backed ETFs saw continued outflows in September. A net 95 tons of gold left ETFs for the month – the largest monthly outflow since March 2021 as gold prices fell.

North American gold ETFs lost 58.9 tons; European ETFs saw 35.5 tons of outflows, while Asian gold ETFs remained nearly unchanged. The nations in the “Other” category saw 0.9 tons of outflows.

On The Retail Front

Sales of 2022 American Silver Eagles continue to be strangled by rationing at the US Mint. Once again, only 850,000 were sold. Lower gold prices during October weighed on gold bullion sales at the Mint, with 57,000 ounces of American Gold Eagles and 32,500 ounces of American Gold Buffalo coins sold.
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Britain’s Royal Mint saw record profits in their fiscal year. Sales of $1.33 billion resulted in pre-tax profits of $20.4 million. This was driven mostly by precious metals sales. Sales to US buyers were 62% higher
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The Perth Mint sold 88,554 oz of gold, and a 5-year high 2,579,941 oz of silver in September

Market Buzz

A survey at the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) Global Precious Metals Conference predicts an average gold price of $1,850 an ounce by this time next year. The same survey predicts a silver price of $28.30 an ounce.
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Gold imports by Turkey quintupled in September, up 543% as inflation hit another 24-year high of 83.45%.
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Gold prices in China spiked at one point to more than $40 per ounce over spot this month as gold importers hit their quota limits early. The Chinese government sets import quotas for gold. Once that limit is hit, imports stop, no matter how high demand is.
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A hike in customs duties in India has sparked enough gold smuggling in India that prices remained mostly unchanged last month. This led gold exporters to divert deliveries from India to China and Turkey, where it was selling for more.
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Jan Nieuwenhijs explains why European nations with large gold reserves have been selling gold, and smaller EU nations have been buying. They’re equalizing gold reserves according to GDP in order to create an EU Gold Standard currency.

Looking Ahead To Next Month

With the world the way it is lately, trying to guess the future is something of a fool’s game. We will start seeing holiday-shortened weeks in November, while the market continues vainly in trying to figure out Jerome Powell’s next move.

If you’re considering giving gold or silver presents for Christmas, you probably should have already ordered them, with shortages causing shipping delays. If you’re looking for something fresh in silver bullion, Gainesville Coins is now carrying a new Buffalo 1oz silver round design from the Mason Mint, with a realistic Indian and bison.

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This column is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended as investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future result.

– Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we examine electric vehicle charging. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

A hat tip to H.L. for sending this link: Interactive: EV Charging Stations Across the U.S. Mapped. JWR’s Comments:  Note how few and far between these stations are in much of the American Redoubt. Someone simply wouldn’t make it, if they tried to drive an electric car across Montana’s “High Line” (U.S. Highway 2.) Ponder the absurdity of big city politicians dictating the end of internal combustion cars by some arbitrarily given date. This illustrates our lives in 21st Century America: We, the many, dragged along unwillingly into the consequences of policies dictated by the powerful, capricious, and unwitting few.

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Northwestern U.S. – Multiple Rounds of Snow & Wind.

Idaho

An interesting article and a great reply: Cobalt Mine Opens in Idaho – Behind the scenes, the Biden administration is not friendly to mines or mining.

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State of Idaho Receives $4 Million for EV Infrastructure.

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From Idaho Public Television: A Constitutional Question… — Oct. 21st, 2022

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Bogus Basin attempts to outpace growth with dozens of improvement projects.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — October 31, 2022

As Christians, our family does not celebrate the pagan Halloween. Since October 31st is also Reformation Day, that is what we celebrate, here at the Rawles Ranch.

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A special word of thanks to reader C.N., who kindly sent me the gift of a license plate, for my collection. It is an Idaho two digit plate, dated 1960. (My birth year.)  Thank you very much!

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Today’s feature article is a review written by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

Rite in the Rain No. 954 Notebook, by Thomas Christianson

Throughout history, mankind has chosen to record information using a variety of media: clay tablets, pieces of bone, slabs of wood, palm leaves, stone, parchment, papyrus, paper, USB drives, and a host of other media. Some of my favorite media are Rite in the Rain notebooks. I recently tested the Rite in the Rain No. 954 notebook, and found it to be an excellent choice for everyday carry. It is durable, moisture resistant, and reasonably priced (available at the time of this writing directly from Rite In The Rain for $6.95 plus shipping). I highly recommend it.

The Backstory

For many decades, I have carried small notebooks of various sorts in my left hip pocket, next to my handkerchief. I first started carrying a notebook in order to write down expenditures that I needed to enter into the budget each week. As time went on, I found the notebook to be useful for recording a host of other details that I might otherwise forget: phone numbers, door codes, passwords, parts numbers, etc.

The greatest challenge faced by my pocket notebooks was wear and tear. My pockets are a harsh environment for the objects they contain. The continued flexing motion produced by sitting on a notebook, standing up, and sitting on it again puts quite a bit of stress on the cover and the pages. Over the course of time, I have tried notebooks made by Avery, Mead, Barnes and Noble, Moleskine, and a host of other vendors. Most of these notebooks fell apart after about a year of use due to the stress of pocket carry.

In January of 2016, I ordered a Rite in the Rain No. 754. It was a 112 page, black, 3.5″ X 5″ notebook made with a special water-resistant paper by the JM Darling company of Tacoma, Washington. That notebook held up well to six years of continuous use and abuse. The cover eventually ripped, but I patched it with black duct tape, and the notebook just kept functioning. I gradually filled its pages with carry out orders for fast food, part numbers for pieces of equipment, numeric codes for the key pads of the doors at my church, addresses, telephone numbers, packing lists, shopping lists, and (of course) expenditures that needed to be recorded in the budget.

The notebook endured. I finally got to the place where there were only a couple of blank pages left in the book. It was time to look for a replacement.Continue reading“Rite in the Rain No. 954 Notebook, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Retreat Beef Stew

The following recipe for Retreat Beef Stew is from SurvivalBlog reader John M.  He says: ‘The best stew I have ever tasted or made in over 50 years of cooking.”

Ingredients
  • 3 lbs lean hamburger
  • 4 cups of beef broth
  • 3 cans of diced tomatoes
  • 8 med yellow potatoes
  • 1 diced med onion
  • 4 med carrots
  • 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon A1 steak sauce
  • 6 tablespoons salt (or less, to taste)
  • 4 tablespoons pepper
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
  • 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard
Directions
  1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, brown the hamburger
  2. When about halfway browned, add finely diced onion, and garlic.
  3. When fully browned, add beef broth and cook about 10 minutes on med heat.
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and most of the spices.
  5. Cook for another 2 hours. (The secret is to not allow the stew to boil.)
  6. Add additional spices (to taste) and cook on low heat for another hour.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

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. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the developing diesel fuel shortage. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

Bill Introduced in Congress to Restore Gold Standard.

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Egon von Greyerz: $2 Quadrillion Debt Precariously Resting On $2 Trillion Gold.

Economy & Finance:

Is Credit Suisse a Canary in the Financial Industry Coal Mine?

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At Hedgeweek: Hedge funds net $1 billion profit from Meta share price collapse.

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The next two years will be a crisis for the world economy: Prediction by US economist Roubini.

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ECB Starts QT via Loans rather than Bonds, Hikes by 75 bpts, to 1.5%, More Hikes to Come.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I am afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures and engraving them in the heart of the youth.” – Martin Luther

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — October 30, 2022

October 30th, 1735 was the birthday of President John Adams. (Some sources cite his birthdate as October 19, 1735.) He died on July 4, 1826 – just a few hours after the death of Thomas Jefferson.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 103 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. 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).
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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. 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)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $750,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 103 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.

Stretching Your Dollars, by Elli O.

Inflation is high. In fact, it has reached at least a 40-year high (depending on who you listen to) and shows no sign of slowing down. Mortgage interest rates are at a 20-year high. More households than ever before are struggling to pay for groceries, medical treatment, housing, and gasoline. Since our influence on the problem of inflation is next to non-existent, then we need to focus on some simple but basic solutions to being frugal. Stretching our dollars until the next payday is our goal!

My husband says that I am frugal to the point of being miserly! But this is a compliment. So let’s talk about being frugal.

Being frugal is a characteristic that will serve one well during TEOTWAWKI. Frugality is also beneficial now – during these times of record high inflation. But what exactly does it mean to be frugal? And, more importantly, how can one develop this trait?

Frugality is defined as thriftiness; being economical with food or money. But I think it can mean so much more, and if we embrace this broad meaning, we can thrive when the rest of the world is struggling.

Back in the 1930s there was this saying: “Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without!”

This mindset is counter to the culture that has been prevalent in America for the last 50+ years. With the ability to shop online and get whatever our heart desires – whatever that might be – almost the next day, there is no reason to not purchase that which we desire. We live in a throw-away society. We even discard items that are still full of life and usefulness.

So why should we be frugal? There are many reasons and they can be found in other articles I have written. The point to this article is to address the how of being frugal. For those of you who expect me to say “Create a budget and stick to it” and “develop self-discipline when it comes to spending money” you are going to be disappointed. I will be covering basic, practical ways to be frugal that anyone can accomplish – with or without a budget.Continue reading“Stretching Your Dollars, by Elli O.”