My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.)

Day Four

It was completely overcast by 06:30. Yes! I can fully test my solar panel output.

Freezer temps before the morning solar-panel electricity came on: 24°F. I can deal with that if it never gets any warmer during the test, and it didn’t. This on/off freezer method could potentially work year-round so let the SHTF when it wants. As the days get shorter and less solar power is available, seasonal temperatures also get cooler making it easier for the freezer to keep up in my unheated shop. This will be an interesting comparison test for the winter grid-down trial. I added a third column to my freezer temperature-recording sheet: ambient temperature.Continue reading“My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 3, by St. Funogas”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make 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 this column, in the Odds ‘n Sods Column, and in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

Our shop insulating/partitioning/pegboarding/shelving project is still in progress. After I get all of the rivet shelves in place, the next steps will be to better organize our tools and supplies. That surely will keep me busy for several weeks, this winter. But, hey: “What’s time, to a hog?”

Speaking of our shop, we will soon be in the “decorating” stage. As long-time SurvivalBlog readers may recall, I’m a collector of license plates. With the new shop partitions, I will have room to add a lot more plates to my collection. So I’m making a special request:  If you have any spare old plates, then please box them up in a USPS Flat Rate Box and mail them to me. I would really appreciate getting them!

I might want to now branch out into collecting foreign plates and really old plates, but presently my license plate collection has four major themes:

  • Bible verse custom plates.
  • Permanent plates or plates with “Perm” stickers.
  • Custom plates with references to hunting, guns, cartridges, or calibers.
  • Wildlife theme plates — especially deer or elk

The inspiration for starting my license plate collection dates back to around 1974, when I saw one of the first “vanity” plates on a Jeep in my hometown of Livermore, California. It read:  “7MM4ELK“.  (California introduced custom plates in 1970, in a law signed by then-Governor Ronald Reagan.)

Our mailing address:

SurvivalBlog.com
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

Many thanks!

Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” – Proverbs 10:1-12 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 14, 2022

The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs were taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane and offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles were in Cuba. These missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads and were stationed 90 miles off the American coastline.

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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.

—

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.

My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.)

I started a to-do list for when the test is over. It started with:

  • Can 12 quarts or more of water.
  • Figure out how much water the plumbing pressure tank holds from 50 psi down to 0 psi
  • Many others, mentioned below.

I went to bed that night at 21:30. In the fifteen seconds it took for me to fall asleep, a quick thought passed through my head: How nice it was to have complete darkness, able to see all the stars out of my loft window with no little lights from the television and DVD player, the computer’s power strip, the night light downstairs.

And so ended Day One.

The Manual

One of the immediate realizations on Day One was that a Manual of some sort was needed, especially for Day One when most of my mistakes were made. You don’t want to be sitting around brainstorming on Day One about things so critical. This is important when the SHTF and helpful when Katrina comes roaring into town as well.

Keep in mind the Manual is for an actual real-life SHTF situation, not just for a preps test.

My Manual sections will include:

DO THESE FIRST! – Short and sweet Page One with the utmost important things like taking care of the freezers and turning sink-faucet valves to half open. When the SHTF, read page one as a group before doing anything else.
Large-font, clear headers on each page.
Prioritize the must-dos in order.
Refrigerators and freezers taped shut and freezers quickly consolidated if necessary, then get them running on the generator if it’s during the warmer months until the solar panels can take over in the morning. This will vary with the time of year depending on the ambient temperature. The time of year will also cause variation on what’s in the freezer so the generator is a very temporary fox while a plan is formulated on how to preserve the contents. This will be a very important high-priority item for my Week One.Continue reading“My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 2, by St. Funogas”

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 stocking up on fasteners, for construction. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Trading the Gold-Silver Ratio.

o  o  o

Credit Suisse & USD Policy: Signposts of Systemic Implosion to Gold Explosion.

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: “It’s A Global Margin Call. I Hope We Survive”.

o  o  o

Reader D.S.V spotted this: “Gone Woke”: PayPal Stock Fined 6% after Flood of Users Cancel over $2,500 ‘Misinformation’ Debacle.  JWR’s Comments: In addition to account closures, they also lost untold millions, with the cautious withdrawals from positive PayPal balances. Nearly all non-Muslim banking organizations make a considerable profit on the lending of the float of uncleared payments and of positive balances. As deposits decline, the float drops correspondingly. Unless the $2,500 bad boy fine policy “mistake” was signed off by the CEO, CFO, and the Board of Directors, methinks that there will be quite a few PayPal employees who get escorted out the door, this week.

o  o  o

Ed Yardeni: Fed’s Only Got Room for One More Hike.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 13, 2022

50 years ago today, on October 13, 1972, a flight chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes Mountains of Argentina, and the wreckage was not located for more than two months; the incident garnered international attention, especially after it was revealed that the survivors had resorted to cannibalism.

—

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.

—

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.

My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 1, by St. Funogas

With today’s world events, I’ve moved from “remote possibility” to “high probability” that we’ll soon see some major changes in our country and world that most folks can’t even imagine today. I’m not alone in thinking at some point there is a good possibility today’s events could lead into a major war for the U.S. We’ll be fighting some real armies, not a bunch of boys with old rifles riding ponies, as we did in Afghanistan.

How hard would it be for enemy with Special Forces-type teams to take out our national power grid without even dropping any bombs? We all know our borders are far from secure. The effects of the Russia sanctions on Europe, not Russia, should be a wake-up call to anyone who’s paying attention. EU leaders are gladly shooting themselves in the foot, or the head more correctly, regardless of the damage it’s doing to their economies and their people. By the same token, how much damage could China do by cutting off all container ships to America? Contrary to our long-held opinions, we’ve seen from the Russia-sanction effects on Europe that anything is possible, regardless of the economic consequences to those making the decisions. There are plenty of other reasons how and why China would cut us off. The common objection is based on normalcy bias, “That would hurt them as much as it would us so it’s not very likely.” Based on the Russia/EU situation, that’s obviously not so. The sanctions are causing an overwhelming amount of problems for Europe and yet they refuse to drop the sanctions.

The time to start prepping, serious prepping not just the Hurricane Katrina stuff, has never been more obvious than it is at this very moment. It’ll be much worse by this time next year. You can count on it. It’s time to test our preps to be sure we’re doing things the right way. I sure as heck wasn’t.Continue reading“My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 1, by St. Funogas”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at the heightened risk of nuclear war.

Mesh Networks for Preparedness Groups

Our Editor-At-Large Mike Williamson wrote to mention a preparedness group that has put Meshtastic radio text messaging systems into practical use. Quoting a member of the group:

“Members of my area preparedness network have been experimenting with software called Meshtastic to build a mesh network, which is a local WiFi network that runs separately from the internet. The mesh network is powered by individual devices, such as cell phones, tablets, and computers, that form a distributed “mesh” communications network. This enables us to share data, such as photos and videos, and text messages with each other without an internet connection. It runs completely free from the internet. This is a great option for a neighborhood watch or preparedness group that wants to share information during a disaster or emergency where cell and internet communications are disrupted.”

Russia is Unlikely to Use Nukes in Ukraine

Analysis from the IISS: Russia is Unlikely to Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine. The piece begins:

“On 6 October, US President Joe Biden stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent nuclear threats amounted to the most dangerous situation the world has seen since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, warning that any use of tactical nuclear weapons could lead to ‘Armageddon’. But as officials from the Biden administration told reporters afterward, there is no evidence that Russia is any closer to using nuclear weapons than it was at the end of February. They said that Biden was attempting to highlight the recklessness of Putin’s threats while continuing to send deterrence messages to Moscow.

Putin’s threats ring especially hollow because any use of nuclear weapons on territory he claims is part of Russia would be a disaster from a public and diplomatic point of view.”

How the Mega-Rich Plan to Outsmart Doomsday

Peter in Switzerland sent us this Next Big Idea Club podcast link: How the Mega-Rich Plan to Outsmart Doomsday. (34 minutes.)

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 12, 2022

On October 12, 2000, while preparing to refuel in the Yemeni port of Aden, the USS Cole, a U.S. naval destroyer, was attacked by suicide bombers associated with Al-Qaeda. There were 17 sailors were killed and 39 others were wounded.

—

Just before finishing up this group of posts, I heard some sad news: Legendary Hollywood Actress Angela Lansbury Dies at 96.

—

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.

—

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.

 

Volunteering With RAM, by Dan D. in Arizona

A Brief Introduction

In 1994 I picked up a copy of Wired magazine and there was a full-page image of Marc Thorpe showing a radio-controlled tank with a chainsaw mounted to the top. It was an advertisement for the first Robot Wars event (which then became the BattleBots television show that you are likely familiar with). I thought “I was made for this!” and then went on to compete and win a number of trophies. Not bad for a software engineer.

Last year, I was browsing DVDs at a thrift shop in town and stumbled across a Remote Area Medical (RAM) documentary. The one that I was bought was produced in 2013. After spending a dollar and then 90 minutes of my time, after 27 years I once again thought “I was made for this!” Here is my story of turning that desire into action.Continue reading“Volunteering With RAM, by Dan D. in Arizona”

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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And then they felt an immediate backlash: PayPal Reverses Course, Says Company Will NOT Seize Money From People for Promoting ‘Misinformation’. JWR’s Comment: Their prevarication was both a public relations disaster and a financial disaster for PayPal. Few folks will ever again trust their intentions. They’ve revealed their long-term goals: It reminds me of the punitive sanctions included in Mainland China’s notorious Social Credit Scoring system.

Update: The $2,500 Liquidated Damages clause is at last report still included in their contract terms.

o  o  o

You may be familiar with Bill Buppert’s ZeroGov blog. That site went dark in March of 2021. But I have some good news:  The first episode of Bill Buppert’s new Chasing Ghosts podcast on irregular warfare is now available for free download. Episode 2 just went up on Monday. I’m hopeful that this will be a lengthy series. Bill’s new podcast is available through a wide variety of podcast provider websites. Oh, and for some interesting background reading, the archives of the ZeroGov blog are still available.

o  o  o

Taiwan: Former admiral calls for citizen defense force.

o  o  o

Sheila S. wrote:

“I have been a long-time fan of SurvivalBlog and have learned much from the site.  We live in NE Florida and thought it would be helpful to others to relay what we learned from experience with Hurricane Ian.

We have been prepping for almost 15 years and have built a significant storehouse of supplies and knowledge.  As Hurricane Ian approached, we felt pretty good about our level of preparedness.  Even so, there were surprises that show the voids in our preparedness.  We continue to learn!

Our surprises centered around two themes – the supplies couldn’t be easily found or had been used up and not replaced.  Due to a lucky location on the grid, we seldom lose power.  (We are the same trunk as a major street.)  But when the power eventually went out, we could easily find the flashlights, they stay next to our beds in case we have unexpected visitors at night.  But finding the lanterns?  Another story.  We’ve moved twice and reshuffled the house three times to accommodate folks temporarily living with us.  We checked all the possible locations and eventually found them within half an hour.  We decided to store them all in the same location, in a marked box, for the future.

In the same vein, we found that the thermometer for the fridge with the external display could not be found.   We try to maximize the fuel for the generator by only attaching the fridge when it’s getting too hot for food safety.  Thus, the need to externally monitor the temperature inside.  When we couldn’t find the thermometer, we had to avoid opening the fridge and watch the time.  In previous experiences, we note that it took about two hours for the fridge to heat up.

Finally, we use the one-pound propane tanks to power the Coleman stove.  When rounding up the equipment we would need the next morning to cook breakfast, we discovered the one-pound tanks had been used up in the effort to burn weeds.  Of course, none were available for sale at the point we discovered this.  I did find an adapter to attach the 20-pound tank to the Coleman stove.  The lesson learned was to do a better job of replacing supplies as we go.

Overall, it seems that while we have expanded the garden, added livestock, and many other good steps, we forgot a few things along the way.  Always a learning experience! Thanks for publishing such a great site!”

o  o  o

We saw this coming: How criminals are using jammers, deauthers to disrupt WiFi security cameras.

o  o  o

Mike in Alaska wrote:

“I’d like to tell you of an event that happened to me a while ago in reference to your article about Boers

“Beyond 500 yards, 6.5CM, or 6.5×55 that are essentially ballistically identical, would be the better choice. These 6.5 cartridges make hitting targets out at 600 yards, and beyond, relatively easy, and allow new shooters to be successful at these and actual longer ranges of 1,000 yards and further, relatively quickly.”

I was stationed at Fort Bragg at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, a good friend of mine and I were downtown in Fayetteville (Fayette-Nam, we called it at the time) and I came across a 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser in a pawn shop for $35.00 so I bought it. We took it to the Pineland University shooting range and did some interesting shooting with it to work up loads. During one of our sessions a rabbit ran across the downrange target area at roughly 350 meters and came to rest under a range marking sign. So, being young and full of ambition I decided rabbit stew would be good that night and I took careful aim, and very slowly squeezed the trigger using the open sights, and a 125-grain Hornaday Boattail round, I don’t recall the powder or grains, but it wasn’t a “hot” load but decent for our work ups at the time in an unknown rifle.
Well, that bunny sort of jumped a bit and then hunkered back down a bit lower than before and I said I think I missed it; my spotter said no you hit it because it seemed to move backwards from its first position. The range safety officer stopped the range for us, and we went downrange to look at the rabbit, as we walked closer it didn’t move. When we got there (355 meters measured) we saw that the round had indeed hit the bunny, square in the nose, down his spine and out the rear end clean as a whistle and it splayed out spread eagle right under the sign it was at when I shot it but a tad bit back from where it originally sat.
It’s a fine round, and I’ve killed both deer and elk in Montana and Idaho with it and wished I hadn’t sold that gun.”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”