Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 2, by M.M.

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

#6   12-volt deep cycle batteries and at least two battery charges. (I prefer the 2-,6-, and 10-Amp chargers. I do have a 50-amp charger, but it is hard on a battery. The slower the charge, the better the life expectancy of the battery). These are extremely important and are actually my #2 priority item only after fuel. Get several if they are available. You can build a light system for your property using 12-volt lights or buy an inverter that switches to A/C  use. For outside lighting go to an RV/off-road store and pick up several light bars that go on vehicles. I have one about 15 inches long on my boat that is both a spot and a flood light combination.  I can see several hundred feet at night. and it has a wide field of view with the flood light.  You can also use the inverter to run your computer. You can plug in your survival blog archive stick and look up thousands of articles from the past. on how to articles.  Inverters use power and can drain your battery so use accordingly.
Continue reading“Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 2, by M.M.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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

Jim Reports:

We had mostly clear, chilly weather this week. This gave me the chance to wrap up a few outdoor projects, including some fall rototilling. I also discovered a serious glitch with our snowplow. Changing the hydraulic fluid and filter didn’t solve the problem so I chained the plow in the up-most position, and drove it to Spokane, Washington for repair at a specialty shop.  That was a 7-hour round trip. And once the repair is completed, it will be another 7-hour trip, to retrieve it. This illustrates one of the drawbacks of living way out in the hinterboonies!

Another one of our vehicles was driven into town for a snow tire switch. (The Les Schwab chain kindly does free seasonal switches, if your tires are already on rims.)  Two other vehicles were put in “storage” mode, with our insurance company, until April. There is no point in paying for insurance on vehicles that are just parked in our shop for the snow season.

And another one of our vehicles had a leaking power steering box. So that entailed another round-trip to town, for a repair.  I need to spend less time on the road, and more time on my projects here at the ranch!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been quite busy with consulting calls.  Clearly, the calamitous world events are prompting folks to get prepared. Quite a few of my clients are making long-distance moves, re-balancing their investment portfolios, and seriously stocking up. There is also a lot of well-justified angst over Team Biden’s plan to make most private gun show gun sales require FFL paperwork. So, many clients have had questions on where and how to round out their firearms batteries — whilst leaving little or no paper trail. Some of the quantities that they’ve been discussing are substantial. So I believe that 2023 and 2024 will be record years for gun sales  — particularly the quiet purchase of used guns, from private parties. And it is abundantly clear that ammunition is flying off of the shelves — especially the modern military calibers.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.” – 1 Kings 13:1-10 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 3, 2023

Stephen F. Austin was born on November 3rd, 1793. He was the founder of the principal settlements of English-speaking people in Texas in the 1820s, when it was still part of Mexico.

On November 3rd, 1978, Dominica achieved full independence, with Patrick Roland John as its first prime minister.

On November 3, 1903, Walker Evans, the American photographer best known for his portrayal of America during the Great Depression, was born.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 109 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 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 $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.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. 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 $850,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 109 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.

Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 1, by M.M

It appears that we are close to World War 3 according to all the reliable news outlets and the unfolding of current events.  It is only going to take one mistake to get a full-scale war going in several countries, maybe here also.  Pastor Jack Graham of Dallas, Texas has a wonderful video explaining why Hamas hates Israel. It began during King Saul’s time and has escalated to modern-day Iran (Persia). Dr. Graham states we are perilously close to the end of days, and that the current events may be prelude to the end of time.

A few military experts say they are attempting to weaken the United States by creating conflicts and wars in numerous places so that our military is spread thin worldwide. Our major enemies, China, Russia, and Iran are financing and directing these conflicts or wars.  If the bulk of our military is overseas, then our country is vulnerable to major attacks from within our own borders.  No one knows how many foreign agents are here, but you can see on the news thousands of illegals crossing our border every day.  News reports state that suspected agents from China, the Levant, Russia, and Iran (just a few mentioned) have been identified and living in America.  Thousands of Palestinian sympathizers are marching daily against Israel. The United States has always been the invader, and not invaded. Currently, we have been peacefully invaded, with no idea who is here and the weapons they have.  It will be a new type of war like we have never seen.
Continue reading“Some Last-Minute Purchases and Preps – Part 1, by M.M”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the risk of war and the platinum market. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

A “gut” platinum trade?  Earlier this week, I had a consulting client ask me what might happen to the precious metals market, in the event of a regional war in the Middle East, or World War Three. This client already owns more than a dozen ounces of gold (in various 1-ounce coins) and a couple of $1,000 face-value bags of pre-1965 silver quarters. My advice to him was: “If you have a gut feeling that Team Biden is going to get our aircraft (both manned and long-range drones), and missiles into action in a wider war, then you should save your silver, but ratio trade most of your gold into platinum coins.” (Specifically, U.S. Mint Liberty Platinum coins, or Isle of Man Platinum Noble coins — pictured, above.)  Here are the current numbers, as of Thursday,  November 2, 2023: Spot gold was $2002 per Troy ounce.  Meanwhile, spot platinum was only around $936 per Troy ounce. I consider that under-valued, at present. If the U.S. gets into a large-scale shooting war, then I expect the relative value of gold and platinum to flip-flop. (Thus, instead of platinum being half the price of gold, it will quickly run up to be twice the price of gold. Let’s say that gold zooms up to $2,800 per ounce.  But because of its strategic military importance, platinum might reach $5,600 per troy ounce. Platinum is used a lot in making all sorts of high-tech weapons, most notably missiles. Not much platinum is produced by U.S. mining companies. Most of it comes from South Africa, Russia, and Zimbabwe. So I must ask two questions, dear readers: 1.) Do you trust your gut?, and 2.) How adverse are you to risk?  But I must also add this caveat: Gut instinct-motivated moves can also be gutsy moves — meaning higher risk. – JWR

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The bidding has been surprisingly strong on this American Redoubt 1-ounce silver coin, considering its uneven toning/patina. (Note: It isn’t my auction. I just stumbled into it.)

Economy & Finance:

US Treasury Reveals Lower Than Expected Rate Of Debt Sales In Quarterly Refunding Plan; Yields Slide.

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Treasury details plans to step up size of bond sales to manage growing debt load and higher rates.

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Can The Fed Really Risk A Dovish Turn In This Kind Of Environment?

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What the ‘Great Trucking Recession’ is warning us about the economy.

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WeWork to file for bankruptcy after once being valued at $47B: report.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The war has been variously termed a war of production and a war of machines. Whatever else it is, so far as the United States is concerned, it is a war of logistics.” – Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, in a 1946 report to the Secretary of the Navy

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 2, 2023

November 2, 1947:  American aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes piloted the Spruce Goose, an eight-engine wooden flying boat intended to carry 750 passengers, on its only flight—one mile.

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On November 2, 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a declaration of intent to establish a Jewish homeland known as the Balfour Declaration. While Arab hostilities and the outbreak of World War II delayed the desired outcome, the Nation of Israel was eventually re-established in 1948.

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Today’s feature article is a guest piece by a SurvivalBlog reader. It is too short to be considered an entry for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

We are in need of articles for Round 109 of the contest. More than $850,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 109 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.

Know Who’s Running the Show, by B. Unknown

If the key to survival planning is about awareness, then start with becoming aware of the government of your own community.

I don’t know about your town. But in my town, being a team player in local government means ignoring and promoting incompetence and tolerating abusive toxic behavior. If you’re a moron, then this is an easy task. If you are a moron who hates working and just wants to fill a seat and get paid for it and be told how wonderful you are for doing nothing, then this is the place for you. If you cry and complain when told you’re not doing your job and you find sympathy with colleagues and your boss, well then you’ve found the dream job in my county. If your health insurance is furnished through a council member’s company and your health savings account is with another council member’s bank, then it matters not that it’s not a beneficial health plan for you but more about whether these elected officials can benefit from their positions. But you don’t mind, then you get paid for not working and get to enjoy being told how great you are at it. This is the nature of modern local government in many towns, large and small. Replicate this at the national level and it all makes sense. Is this a brutal assessment? You bet it is.  But nonetheless, it is pretty accurate.Continue reading“Know Who’s Running the Show, by B. Unknown”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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

Bailing Out Of The Blue States

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there is this at the UK Daily Mail: How Americans have fled blue states: California and New York lost a combined 1.4 million residents in 2022, many relocating to Texas and Florida, as high housing costs and taxes drove them to more affordable areas, census data show.

A Flood of Illegal Immigration

Over at Breitbart: Biden’s 2023 Flood: One Migrant for Every American Newborn.

US Population Growth Has Plummeted

Reader H.L. sent us this X-Twitter post, from commentator “Game of Trade”: US population growth has plummeted.Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day: 

“As soon as the prince sets himself up above the law, he loses the king in the tyrant; he does to all intents and purposes unking himself…And in such cases, has no more right to be obeyed, than any inferior officer who acts beyond his commission.” – Jonathan Mayhew

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — November 1, 2023

100 years ago today, November 1st, 1923, was 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. The photo above was taken at a science fiction convention by John A. Johnson.

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Today is birthday of Canadian test pilot Russell Bannock. He died in January, 2020, at age 100.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 109 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 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 $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.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $850,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 109 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.

An Introduction to Bodgery, by Noah L.

Greenwood crafts are essential to the preparedness community. It allows us to create what we need on the move or on homesteads, the things we need to keep going. This is why I have written this article on the practice of bodgery, a sect of greenwood crafts.

Bodger. Though the word is synonymous in the United Kingdom with doing only half a job, it is also known in greenwood crafts circles as someone with great skills in the handling of unseasoned timbers (greenwood), with minimal tools and within the woodland masters of their craft bring forth fabrications of assumed unattainability. Quite simply, a bodger, named after their favourite tool, is someone who crafts using the greenest of timbers while working in a symbiotic relationship with the woodland in which they dabble. That might include the production of chairs and other furniture, gardening tools like dippers or digging sticks, shingles for roof tiles, draw horses as work vises, tables, turned goods using a pole lathe — like cups, bowls, chair legs, and candlestick holders or perhaps even wicker baskets weaved of the thinner twiglings. But that is not the discussion here. We’re talking about the fundamentals of bodgery, and how to start off before embarking on more intricate projects.Continue reading“An Introduction to Bodgery, by Noah L.”

October 2023 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 affect gold prices.

What Did Gold Do in October?

Gold gained $139 in October. Unfortunately, most of those gains were paid for in the blood of Israeli civilians.

Gold hit a 7-month low of $1,831 on October 5th. It gained $58 on the 10th to break above the $1,900 mark to settle at $1,941. By the 19th, it was permanently above $1,980. Spot gold prices jumped more than $20 to close above $2,000 on Friday, the 27th, as Israel announced an imminent ground invasion of Gaza for the upcoming weekend

Factors Affecting Gold This Month

ISRAELI-HAMAS WAR
At 6:30 am on a holiday Sabbath, more than 3,000 Hamas terrorists burst through the border of the Gaza Strip and massacred 1,400 Israelis, mostly citizens. This was the largest single-day death toll in Israel’s history. Israel immediately launched a massive counterattack.
Gold prices surged nearly $100 an ounce over the next week on widespread fears that Hezbollah (which is ten times the size of Hamas and has actual military units) would take the opportunity to invade Israel from Lebanon and Syria in the north while the IDF was in the south. Aside from limited rocket attacks (Hezbollah) and airstrikes (IDF) a northern front has failed to materialize.Continue reading“October 2023 in Precious Metals by Steven Cochran”

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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NOAA space weather scientists now predict a fairly fast-rising and intense solar maximum, to peak in 2025: Solar Cycle Progression Updated Prediction (Experimental).

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Reader L.E. sent this snippet:

“Wine Jelly: A very delicious and not overly sweet jelly can be made from wine. I use the cheapest Wild Vines blackberry merlot and follow this simple recipe, 3 cups wine, 4 cups sugar, one box pectin, heat wine in metal pot, stir in pectin until totally dissolved, slowly add sugar stirring constantly until mix has bubbled for two full minutes, then add a dash or small squeeze of lemon juice, pour jelly into clean sterilized jars until almost completely full, hand tighten lids, boil jars 5 minutes in canner, pull them out, tighten jars completely, wait until each jar pings to verify it has sealed, and put jars in fridge for two  weeks or more (wine jelly takes a long time to set up so don’t be alarmed if your batch looks syrupy or runny, just put jars in fridge and forget about them for several weeks. The wine jelly is a beautiful garnet red color and is very appropriate for holiday gift-giving. Also, a peach almond flavored white wine gives a beautiful taste and appearance.”

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One-way plane tickets: NYC offers migrants free travel anywhere to move. JWR’s Comment: It is amazing to see how New York shifted from a “Sanctuary City” into a: “We don’t want you, now please leave” city.

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Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”