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, and examination of the advent of government surveillance cameras on private property.

Government Cameras Hidden on Private Property

Reader Robert W. mentioned this piece at AgWeb: Government Cameras Hidden on Private Property? Welcome to Open Fields. Robert’s Comments:

“This would logically extend to mining operations, farms, feed lots, dairies, stream banks and bodies of water, airstrips, anywhere there is a “regulated” activity. It kind of boggles the mind how many agencies this gives license to trespass.”

Map Shows U.S. Population Shifts

Reader D.S.V. sent us this link, illustrating The Great  Migration: Three Year Population Shift, By County JWR’s Comment:  Note the flow of American families toward the American Redoubt.

Bay Area Airports: New Facial Recognition for Travelers

R.D. sent this: Bay Area Airports Adopt Facial Recognition to Process Travelers.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 10, 2024

On April 10, 1849, the safety pin was patented by Walter Hunt in the United States; he later sold his rights to the fastener for just $400.

On April 10, 1972, the development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons were outlawed by the Biological Weapons Convention, signed by more than 150 countries.

April 10, 1827 was the birthday of General Lew Wallace. He wrote books (author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ), sculpted, practiced law, painted, played the violin — and made them as well. In the “Battle of Monocacy” he fought alongside 8,000 Union troops against 15,000 Confederates. He was second in command of the Lincoln conspiracy trial as well as principal in the trial of the Commander of Andersonville prison where prisoners had been starved to death. He was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey. And he served as the Territorial Governor of New Mexico.

April 10th, 1796 The birthday of James “Jim” Bowie (died March 6th, 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo.)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 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 $2,000.
  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. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. 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. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 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.
  3. 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)
  4. 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 $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 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.

By Default: Habits, Good and Bad – Part 2, by N.C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Altering Your Default Behaviors

If you are not executing your own positive plan you’re a resource to other agents at best and their servant or slave at worst. As Seneca put it to his protégé discussing how people decry things but do not change themselves “they are lingering of their own free will in a situation which they declare they find it hard and wretched to endure. It is so, my dear Lucilius; there are a few men whom slavery holds fast, but there are many more who hold fast to slavery.” Or, as Andrew Ryan put it in the bioshock video game: “a man chooses, a slave obeys”.

Yesterday I wrote about the principles that have shaped your default and will continue to determine what your default is as you attempt to make it better. If we design a default state that prioritizes our goals we will be better prepared. If we know how to adapt that design, then regardless of what happens, what type of emergency, what type of new normal, we will be better off.Continue reading“By Default: Habits, Good and Bad – Part 2, by N.C.”

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.

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UPI reports: At least 9 dead, nearly 1,000 injured in Taiwan earthquake. JWR’s Comment: This was one of the worst earthquakes on the island since the well-publicized earthquake in 2018. (Pictured.)  We will soon see if mainland China attempts to exploit this as a “moment of weakness.”

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Another useful video from the always humorous NotaRubicon: High Power SHTF Walkie-Talkie – HYS 25 Watt UHF HT – The Ultimate Survival Radio – UHF, GMRS, HAM.

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Reader A.K. suggested this practical video: Solo Pulling a Calf.

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Federal Judge Rules Millions Of NRA Members Exempt From ATF Pistol Brace Rule.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I was asked by a journalist if I am a secessionist. My answer was a resounding ‘No!’.  I explained that I’m rather a partitionist.  I believe that rural parts of states that have been disenfranchised by their more populous urban hubs have every right to form new States within the Union. The rural and conservative portions control the larger land areas of many states. There is nothing magical or penultimate about the number 50. It is merely a temporary stopping point that has only stood since 1959. The citizens of regions like Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Northern Colorado, Southern Illinois, and Western New York have every right to choose their own destiny — that is, to choose partition.”  – James Wesley, Rawles

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 9, 2024

On April 9, 1388, the Battle of Näfels culminated in a major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for self-determination against Habsburg overlordship.

April 9, 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, sieur (lord) de La Salle, claimed the Mississippi River basin for France, naming it Louisiana.

April 9, 1869, the Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to the Commonwealth of Canada.

Amd on April 9, 1768, John Hancock refused to allow two British customs agents to go below deck of his ship. This was considered by some to be the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the American colonies.

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This new 12.5-acre property listing at SurvivalRealty caught my eye:  Fully Off-Grid Farm and Luxury Home in North Idaho.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 112 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 $2,000.
  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. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $359 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. 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. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. 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.
  3. 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)
  4. 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 $875,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 112 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.

By Default: Habits, Good and Bad – Part 1, by N.C.

Part 1: Design Your Default, or Lose

We’ve all had the experience of realizing that you were zoned out while you were driving. Your brain was fried from a long day at work, you got in your car and realized that (without a conscious thought) you were somewhere. Maybe at a drive-through restaurant. Maybe your house. Maybe a bar. Wherever it was, it was not where you told yourself you would go this morning. Your conscious intent was to run an errand, hit the gym, go to Wednesday night service, or go to the park for a walk. But it didn’t happen. Why? Because you have a default setting — an unconscious habit — and you didn’t overcome its momentum.

You have defaults. So do I. In fact, you have default settings to about a million different things and we are only half aware of them. What we wear on a summer day, what we eat on a work day, how fast we drive given a speed limit, when we lock doors, when (and how long) we watch television, when we check our phones, what we stock in the fridge, what you drink when thirsty, where you sit down, what radio station comes on when you turn on your vehicle, what you do with an extra moment of downtime. Rarely are these things conscious decisions. Sometimes they are but more often it’s just the echo of the actions we’ve performed in the past.
We are all always going to have a default. We are all always going to have exceptions where we don’t perform our default behavior but we’re still going to have a default.Continue reading“By Default: Habits, Good and Bad – Part 1, by N.C.”

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, the emphasis is on illustrating the low population density of the American Redoubt Region.

Region-Wide

Mapped: North America Population Patterns by Density.

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An interesting video about the Idaho-Oregon-Nevada (ION) region: The Least Populated Part of the US. JWR’s Comments:  I am related to both the Shirk and Crow families — settlers in the Catlow Valley. The Shirks had a well-publicized range war with Pete French.  Oh, and my great uncle Joseph Rawles killed a man in a gunfight in Silver City, Idaho, in 1867.

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Spokane–Coeur d’Alene combined statistical area.

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Wallowa County Commissioners ask Idaho and Oregon Governors, Legislatures, to take up Greater Idaho discussion:

“On Monday, April 1st, Wallowa County Commissioners issued letters to the Governors of Idaho and Oregon, as well as the legislatures of both states, asking for their respective bodies to take up the issue of Greater Idaho.  The letters read, “On behalf of the citizens of Wallowa County, we are asking that you move this item forward to your respective bodies as soon as feasible for discussion.

In May of 2023, Wallowa County became the 12th county in eastern Oregon to pass a Greater Idaho measure, and they are the 5th of those counties to formally request legislators to begin border talks.”

Idaho

Here Is The Most Remote, Isolated Spot In Idaho And It’s Positively Breathtaking.

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Idaho’s Governor has signed a bill blocking the expenditure of public funds for Gender Transition surgery.

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Our Changing Population: Idaho.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — April 8, 2024

It looks like there will be some big traffic jams and perhaps gasoline shortages for a few days in the solar eclipse path of totality, particularly in areas like Burlington, Vermont, where they are expecting clear skies.

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The recent destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge inspired the selection of today’s Quote of the Day.  Sadly, the last two verses of our national anthem are only rarely quoted or publicly sung.

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April 8th is the birthday of the late Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia. (Born, 1919, died November 20, 2007.)

April 8th is also the anniversary of the death of English experimental gunsmith and author Phillip Luty, in 2011. He was hounded by British authorities for many years. He died of cancer before a scheduled criminal trial.

On April 8, 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment, which called for the direct election of U.S. senators by voters of the states, was ratified.

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We are now down to less than 100 SurvivalBlog 2005-2023 Archive USB sticks. I’ve reduced the price from $30.95 to $28.95 on those last few. Order yours, now!  There will be no more produced in 2024.

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Today’s feature article was written by SurvivalBlog  Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

Yankee Thunder Purple Pigeon Hooks, by Thomas Christianson

“What are purple pigeon hooks? Are they used to hook purple pigeons? Where do purple pigeons live anyway? Why would someone want to hook them?”

Actually, purple pigeon hooks are not hooks designed to catch purple pigeons. They are hooks used to attach clay pigeons to a horizontal support. The hooks are molded from a purple-colored polymer. Attaching clay pigeons to a support transforms them into excellent stationary reactive targets.

I recently had the opportunity to test Yankee Thunder Purple Pigeon Hooks on the improvised range behind my pole barn. I was surprised by how much my accuracy began to improve already over the course of the very first range session. That is the opposite of what I typically experience when I am using non-reactive targets. With non-reactive targets, my accuracy usually tends to diminish somewhat over the course of a range session as carelessness and fatigue set in.

So Purple Pigeon Hooks are fun and helpful. You might want to give them a try. At the time of this writing, a package of 25 Purple Pigeon Hooks cost $19.99. You can receive an additional 10% off by using the promo code “survivalblog” when you order.Continue reading“Yankee Thunder Purple Pigeon Hooks, by Thomas Christianson”

Opportunity to Live on a Secure Family Farm for Americans or From Select Countries

Introductory note from JWR: I just received this update letter:

“I wanted to write to the readers of SurvivalBlog about the search for a family to live on our family farm.  The opportunity is still open. We have one nearby family who answered an earlier post who is being considered to join us if our farm is ever activated as a bug out location. We are open to consider another family for a bug out location OR a family to someday move over here joining our family through marriage to our son.  Distance does not matter to us, but quality does as we are concentrating our prayer and efforts on finding a quality family.
The United States and specifically conservative areas in our country are still islands of freedom. We are open to talking with people both in the United States and in countries and areas around the world such as Europe, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Zimbabwe, or some other area that is culturally similar to the United States. We are definitely willing to hear from you, because centuries ago our family immigrated from Europe moving to the United States for better opportunities. Even in the United States, there are many areas where leftist policies inside big cities have created crime and reduced standards of living. This also could be an opportunity for a family in the United States who has been praying to find a safe area.
I will note that we live on highly productive farm, but the young woman or her family does not need to have any “experience” in farming. A young woman seeking to be a traditional wife aspiring to be married was in past generations a goal of most young woman, but today it is rare. If a young woman is seeking to be a wife and mother, in our family we have an intelligent successful quality young man who is praying for his future spouse. We pray daily for our son’s future wife and her family both for their health and to meet them.

Continue reading“Opportunity to Live on a Secure Family Farm for Americans or From Select Countries”

Recipe of the Week: Whole Wheat/ Flax Bread

The following recipe for Cathy’s Whole Wheat/ Flax Bread is courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader “Sis”. She notes: “This can be made by hand, mixing and kneeling by hand, mixed in mixer with dough hooks or the easiest ever, in an automatic bread maker, use the ‘Whole Wheat’ setting.”

Note: You can grind up the flaxseed in a blender or coffee grinder or even with a mortar and pestle.

JWR Adds: Doctors warn against consuming Flax Seed-based food products for anyone on blood thinners or statin drugs.

For a 1-1/2 pound loaf:         

Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup flaxseed (ground).
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 Tbl. Butter or margarine (cut into small pieces)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 1/2 cups bread flour (can substitute all purpose flour)
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 3Tbl. brown sugar (packed)
  • 1tsp yeast.

For a 2-pound loaf:

  • 1/2 cup flaxseed (ground)
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 3-1/3 cups bread flour (can substitute all purpose flour)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3 Tbl. Butter or margarine (cut into small pieces)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp. yeast.
Directions

If making it by hand or mixer: Mix it, knead it, then place it in a greased pan and let rise until double, then bake at 350 degrees until done. (It should be light brown and sound hollow when tapped on.)

SERVING

This is a tasty healthy bread that would work well for toast, sandwiches or just eaten from freshly baked 😊

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Do you have a well-tested 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 recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week

Today’s graphic depicts state minimum wages, in Dollars, as of January 1, 2024.  One way of looking at this is as a measure of government intrusiveness in free enterprise. (Map graphic courtesy of Reddit.)

The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.

 

 

 

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Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.