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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Controversy Unleashed: Biden Administration’s Proposed Gun Sales Background Check Sparks Constitutional Debate.  JWR’s Comments:  All Federal gun law authority is based on the Interstate Commerce clause. The ATF’s proposed rulemaking grossly expands the definition of “engaged in the business.” Given the recent Bruen Second Amendment decision and the upcoming Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision (that will overturn Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, and end Chevron deference), there is no way that this absurd executive branch redefinition can pass constitutional muster.  An intrastate sale of a used gun between two private parties who are residents of the same state is not interstate commerce! What is really needed is for the Supreme Court to overturn the insanely statist 1942 Wickard v. Filburn decision and reduce the scope of defined interstate commerce. They should then declare both the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968 unconstitutional.

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US drops 125 bombs on 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in devastating airstrikes on Iraq and Syria: Biden warns retaliation for drone attack that killed three soldiers will continue after long-range bombers and drones hit Middle East.

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A member of our extended family recently bought some U.S. military surplus ammo cans from Military Surplus LLC.  He said that he was quite impressed with the condition of the cans, and the company’s great customer service.  He also mentioned that the same company recently added very sturdy U.S. Navy surplus Bofors 40mm ammo cans to their inventory.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 6, 2024

February 6th, 1895 was the birthday of baseball player Babe Ruth. His home-run hitting helped make him one of the most-celebrated athletes in American sports.

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President Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6th, 1911.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 111 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. 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. 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 111 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.

A Christian Prepper’s Response to Postmodernism – Part 1, by Benjamin Szumskyj

From the ancient world to the contemporary, followers of Jesus Christ have encountered philosophies that often seek to compete or undermine the Christian faith and the Scriptures they are based on. The Apostle Paul, in writing a letter to the church at Colossae, exhorted to believers that they should ensure “no one takes [them] captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary” (Colossians 2:8). One of the most prevalent philosophies of the latter and current century’s is that of postmodernism. The informed prepper knows this.

Postmodernism is the philosophy that rejects absolutes, objectivity, and truth claims. This article will show that postmodernism fails in comparison with the teachings of Christianity when evaluated by objective criteria and fails to be consistent and competently respond to the questions of existence. This contention will be achieved by giving a summary of the worldview, an evaluation of its tenets, followed by a brief evaluation and defense of Christianity.

While postmodernism may have been a consequential response to the failure of modernism, it became a philosophy of skepticism, subjectivism, and shifting morality that Christianity not only rejects at its core, but provides meaningful answers and wisdom. It is imperative that Christian preppers understand the times, but also, the origins as to why there have been ideological shifts in society that impact our lives and how we prep. Above all, as a Christian prepper, one must unashamedly acknowledge God as Lord and Savior and that He alone will preserve us in the midst of tribulation.Continue reading“A Christian Prepper’s Response to Postmodernism – Part 1, by Benjamin Szumskyj”

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 focus on the continuing disenfranchisement of eastern Oregon’s conservatives by western Oregon’s overbearing Democrat majority. (See the Central & Eastern Oregon section.)

Region-Wide

Biden administration’s deal with Six Sovereigns sparks debate over Lower Snake River Dams.

o  o  o

Ballotopedia: Greater Idaho, Oregon, countywide ballot measures (2020-2024).

A key detail: The Crook County vote on the proposal will be held on May 21, 2024.

o  o  o

2024 Pacific Northwest Orienteering Festival. Nine orienteering days in Montana and Eastern Washington, June 21-30, 2024.

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Some fascinating history of the Inland Northwest: The Big Burn — Full Documentary — AMERICAN EXPERIENCE — PBS.

Idaho

Two people from Nampa and one from Boise killed in building collapse.

o  o  o

Some more details: 3 killed in hangar collapse on grounds of Boise airport, officials say.

o  o  o

Judge in U of I murders rejects appeal to dismiss indictment, delays ruling on trial start date. JWR’s Comments:  51 terabytes!  The pre-trial maneuvering in this case underscores just how complicated the discovery process is, our modern age of Big Data.  The mountains of data created by surveillance cameras, automatic license plate readers, social media, and browsing history greatly complicate and add huge expense to pre-trial discovery.  This makes obtaining legal counsel costs prohibitive for many defendants and lengthens the delays before anyone can go to trial.  Each hour that an attorney or a paralegal spends sifting through voluminous discovery data is a billable hour. The end result:  More people now feel obliged to plea bargain, even when they are innocent, especially in Federal court cases. (I doubt that Kohberger is innocent, but the circumstances of his trial show how the judicial process is changing in this age of Big Data.)

For further reading, there is this from Pew Research: Fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“No position appears to me more true than this; that the General Govt. can not effectually exist without reserving to the States the possession of their local rights. They are the instruments upon which the Union must frequently depend for the support and execution of their powers, however immediately operating upon the people, and not upon the States.” – Charles Pinckney, “Plan for a Government for America,” Constitutional Convention, June 25, 1787.  In the mural detail above, from the the US Archives, Charles Pinckney is pictured at the far left.

Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 5, 2024

On February 5, 1778, the Articles of Confederation were ratified by South Carolina — the second state to do so.

The Third Punic War, the last of three between Rome and Carthage, came to an end this day in 146 BC, culminating in the final destruction of Carthage, the enslavement of its people, and Roman hegemony over the Mediterranean.

Today is the birthday of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916). He was an American-British inventor best known as the creator of the first truly automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim also held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hair-curling irons, a mousetrap, and steam pumps. Maxim claimed to invented the lightbulb. He was the father of Hiram Percy Maxim, who founded the ARRL.

Coincidentally born the same day of the same year was John Boyd Dunlop, the Scottish inventor who invented pneumatic rubber tires.

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Here are just a few interesting properties, of the dozens of those advertised over at my #1 Son’s SurvivalRealty.com website:

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There have been so many orders for the SurvivalBlog 2005-2023 archive USB sticks that the first batch has sold out. And I now anticipate that the second batch will sell out as soon as February 25th. There most likely will not be a third batch produced, so get your order in soon!  Once the current batch sells out, there won’t be any more available until January 2025.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 111 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. 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. 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 111 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.

 

 

Ready Up Gear Digital Trigger Pull Gauge, by Thomas Christianson

The Ready Up Gear Digital Trigger Pull Gauge provides a handy, reliable, easy-to-use tool for objectively measuring trigger pull weight on a firearm. Made for Ready Up Gear by Pridefend, the gauge was available for $29.99 at the time of this writing from www.readyupgear.com.

Background

As I test various firearms, it is easy to subjectively tell that some triggers feel heavier and that some triggers feel lighter than others. But heretofore I did not have an objective means of measuring exactly how heavy or how light a particular trigger might be. So when Ready Up Gear offered to provide me with a digital trigger pull gauge, I jumped at the opportunity. About a week later, a package was delivered via USPS.

First Impressions

The main body of the gauge is about 3 inches wide, about 4 inches tall, and about 1 inch thick. There is a 1.5 inch arm coming out of the side of the gauge upon which the sensor is located. The entire gauge is made out of black plastic. It has a battery compartment on the back, a screen, and 5 buttons on the front. The buttons are labeled with a power symbol and with the words, “units”, “mode”, “delete”, and “enter”.

The entire gauge including batteries weighs just 4.6 ounces on my battered but still effective “kitchen” scale that I never use in the kitchen.Continue reading“Ready Up Gear Digital Trigger Pull Gauge, by Thomas Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Emergency Corn Biscuits

The following simple recipe for Emergency Corn Biscuits is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 new bonus books included in the new 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick.

Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 cupfuls bread flour
  • 1 cupful of cold water
  • 3/4 cupful cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoonful sugar
  • 2 tablespoonfuls shortening
  • 5 teaspoonful baking-powder
  • 1 teaspoonful salt
Directions

Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Mix in the shortening with two knives or the tips of the fingers. Add to the cold
water and mix well.

Drop by spoonfuls into greased muffin pans or on a greased baking sheet one and one-half inches apart. Bake for twenty minutes in an oven which registers 450″ F.

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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!

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“What are the 50 historical laws dating from 1789 to 1868 that the Attorney General has compiled as potential historical analogues? One would expect to find laws or ordinances that required a gunsmith to check with the local sheriff before selling a firearm. Or one might expect to find laws that restricted gunsmiths from selling to any customer who was a stranger in his community. Or perhaps there would be historical laws uncovered requiring a customer’s proof of citizenship before a merchant was allowed to sell him gunpowder. These could be apt analogues to demonstrate a related historical tradition of constitutional regulation.

Nothing like this appears in the State’s compilation of laws. The State’s compilation lists 48 laws which made it a crime to possess a gun and ammunition by Negros, Mulattos, slaves, or persons of color, and two laws that prohibited sales to Indians. For example, the Attorney General lists a 1798 Kentucky law which prohibited any “Negro, mulatto, or Indian” from possessing any gun or ammunition. An 1846 North Carolina law offers another example wherein it was prohibited to sell or deliver firearms to “any slave.” This is the third time the Attorney General has cited these laws in support for its laws and restrictions implicating the Second Amendment. These fifty laws identified by the Attorney General constitute a long, embarrassing, disgusting, insidious, reprehensible list of examples of government tyranny towards our own people.”

and,

“In the end, the State has failed to carry its burden to demonstrate that the ammunition background check laws “are consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” as required by Bruen. Bruen cautions, “courts should not ‘uphold every modern law that remotely resembles a historical analogue,’ because doing so ‘risks endorsing outliers that our ancestors would never have accepted.’” 597 U.S. at 30. A
sweeping background check requirement imposed every time a citizen needs to buy ammunition is an outlier that our ancestors would have never accepted for a citizen. Therefore, California’s ammunition background check system laws are unconstitutional and shall not be enforced.” –  U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez, from his 32-page ruling in Rhode v. Bonta, January 30, 2024

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 4, 2024

On February 4, 1932, the United States hosted its first Winter Olympic Games, in Lake Placid, New York.  .
On February 4, 1974, newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). An observant San Francisco gun store salesman gathered intel and took photos of SLA supporters/arms suppliers. This led to the May 1974 Los Angeles shootout and Hearst’s subsequent arrest in September 1974.

February 4th, 1824: J. W. Goodrich introduced the world to the first rubber galoshes.

On this day in 1789, George Washington became the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. This was repeated on this same day in 1792.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 111 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. 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. 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.

—

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 111 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.

End-Times Trends and Pre-Tribulation Events, by R.G.

The Old Testament of the Christian Bible (which is the whole of the Jewish Bible) gave many astonishing predictions of what will take place during the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). The key passages found in the Old Testament include Psalms Chapter 83, Ezekiel 36-39, Zechariah 14, and Daniel 7-12. The last book of the Christian Bible, Revelation, and many other New Testament books are full of end-times predictions.

Jesus combined most of these Old and New Testament prophecies about the end times when he gave the Olivet Discourse (Mat 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). This was Jesus’s last teaching just before his arrest and execution, so at least Jesus considered these end-time events to be important. It is also important to remember that the Bible is primarily the story of the Jews and their Jewish homeland, which includes Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. And the prophecies foretold in the Bible are presented from a Jewish point of view. Since we are constantly bombarded with human ideas and deceptions, wouldn’t it be reasonable to get our “Perception Bias” on end-time events from the most important book ever written?

All these end-time predictions defined at least 11 Key Trends to watch for leading up to the final seven-year Tribulation. As described in Matthew 24, a key condition to knowing these Trends are occurring during the end-times is they all will grow in Frequency, Intensity and Visibility like birth pangs until by Tribulation time they become Unstoppable.Continue reading“End-Times Trends and Pre-Tribulation Events, by R.G.”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR, from an idea suggested by Bruce Rawles:

Meme Text:

Why do they call some non-fluorescent light bulbs “Peruvian”?

Because they are of Incan descent!

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” – Revelation 5:1-9 (KJV)