Strategies for Buying Rural Land

…risk, any of these affordable options would be better than what you currently have. These are only samples from my area. I am not recommending any of these properties. 134K https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/366-Pine-Valley-Dr_Rexford_MT_59930_M89271-00979 169K https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/45-Pine-Cone-Ln_Rexford_MT_59930_M86702-52454 If I only needed land. 45K https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Pinkham-Creek-Rd-Rexford-MT-59930/2114338696_zpid/ K Good tips Jim. I hadn’t considered most of them so really helpful. I’ll offer my own tip – bugout now in a van so that you can scout your future homestead. Living in a van has allowed me to travel the American Readout states for a year now looking for where I want I to put down roots. All the AR states have public land everywhere, so it is easy to camp in an area for several weeks at a time to get to know the area and the people. If you live a debt-free life like I do, then living in a van also helps you save tremendous…




Letter: Best Homeschool Materials for TEOTWAWKI

…All three approach education in a different manner, but the commonality is to build character and work ethic early, and focus more on education in the middle years when the brain has matured enough that reading isn’t such a struggle. Then in the older years, 12+ for example, to focus more diligently on in depth scholarship and apprenticeship. James Wesley Rawles For someone on a limited budget and with access to a reliable home computer printer, the Robinson Home Schooling Curriculum is quite good. Along with his late wife, it was developed by Dr. Arthur Robinson of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. See: http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/ But regardless of the prepared curriculum you choose, you should supplement it with lots of additional reading. Your goal should be to instill a love of learning in your children. If you can do that, then your kids will become “self-starters” and voracious readers….




How To Find a Bug Out Location Without First Going There, by Jen L.

…topographical map, you can then find the coordinates, plug them into google earth and zoom in to see exactly what’s there today.     Example # 1, my childhood home.   (Click the links to follow along)   I grew up just northeast of Noblesville, Indiana, so I picked “Omega” as my town name.  As you can see, there are maps dated 1962, 1977 and 1994.  I picked the 1977 map to download.  Remember, it takes time to download these, so just be patient.   These maps are in PDF format, so you will need to download Acrobat’s PDF reader if you don’t already have it on your computer.   Next, I zoomed in to 200% and found my childhood home at the corner of East 266th Street and Cornell Road.  Funny, when I was a kid there were no such street names.  I lived on the Arcadia pike at the “6 mile jog”.    You can even see the little black square…




SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 Archive Now Available Via Digital Download

It keeps getting bigger and better! The updated and expanded SurvivalBlog 2005-2012 archive now available via digital download. This new edition has expanded bonus material (a digital copy of my book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation–normally $28 in hard copy, 12 Firearms Manuals, and 14 U.S. Military Manuals), an improved user interface (with the same look and feel of the SurvivalBlog web site), and of course one more year of the blog content. The digital download and DVD both include the archives in HTML (10,131 pages) and PDF (7,923 pages). The blog archive is fully keyword searchable. It runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The archive provides you with all of the SurvivalBlog context since 2005, even when you are out the hinterboonies without an Internet connection, or if all of the Internet–or parts of the Internet–are, ahem, inaccessible. A more tangible DVD version of the archive should be available…




Protecting Electronics in Metal Military Surplus Ammunition Cans- Part 3, by J.T.

…or liquid), then make sure that you thoroughly wash off all of the flux to prevent any corrosion to the ammo box surfaces. Effectiveness, Durability, and Reliability of the Copper Mesh Tape Metal Gasket So, how effective are these shielded cans? I don’t have the sophisticated equipment to test the effectiveness of attenuating high frequency electromagnetic radiation or radio frequency interference. I do have some examples as to how effective these gaskets are in sealing and shielding the cans. Water Tight Seal Tested The first test was to fill one of the cans with a few gallons of water. The lid with the gasket was placed on the can and latched tight. I turned the can upside down and let is sit overnight. Then I looked for water leaks the next morning. There was no evidence that water leaked out. Impressive. Cell Service Tested Then tested the can by first…




The Disaster Field Bakery, by JIR

…back seat of a large sedan. My design is really simple. It’s basically two sheet metal boxes attached inside a larger sheet metal box. The inner boxes form the bread ovens (two of them). They both have doors cut through the outer box to the outside and hinged doors, also made of sheet metal. The bottom is open and a separate brazier or hobo stove is burned underneath. The hot air and smoke rises up through the open bottom, circulates around both inner boxes and exits through a hole at the top. Simple. If you make it tight enough, the smoke never touches the bread, so you can burn almost anything for fuel. (Mine leaks a tiny bit of smoke, so I have to stick with burning hard wood or untreated lumber). I have a wire shelf just below the bottom oven that I cover with 4 inches of ceramic…




Safe Drinking Water, by Lloyd T.

…disinfected.  Fog traps can also be made.  They are not difficult to make, but only work in a heavy fog.  Hang large sheets of plastic or other sheet like materials and collect the water that adheres to them.  With plastic, shape the bottom of the sheet into a curve that brings the water down to one point and place a container beneath it.  With cloth sheets wring the sheet out periodically.  This water will be as clean as the surface you collect it on.  You may or may not have to disinfect it, although it is a good idea to. Water heaters are also water storage tanks.  They come with a drain valve on the bottom.  Each water heater will contain many gallons of drinkable water.  This is particularly handy for short term water shortage problems, such as grid power failures.  Safe drinking water is an age-old problem, and is…




Constructing a Permanent Underground Cache, by JIR

…to make much of a dent in the ground. A back-hoe is definitely the way to go, but only if you can keep your cache sites a strict secret. The key things you need to look for in a cache site are: 1. Deep water table and good drainage. This is a huge problem in my area and finding a good site is difficult. Your container will not be completely water tight and will quickly fill with water if your site is wrong. I determined this by testing two sites using plastic pails. The side of a gentle slope works pretty well. Avoid low ground that could collect rain run-off. If your soil is wet all the time, you are going to have to use a very large piece of plastic sheeting to divert water and protect your cache. The soil should ideally be dry year round once you get…




Handguns For Hard Times – Part 1, by Rufus King

…and serial number on the cover, and each time I fire the handgun, I write down the date, the type of ammo, the round count, and any issues I experienced. I also keep a running total of rounds through the gun. This lets me keep track of when maintenance items like replacing the recoil spring come due, but more importantly it keeps me honest about whether the gun is reliable. If it hangs up a few times with some dubious ammo, then I will stop using that ammo. But if the gun won’t run with good quality ammo, then I need to either resolve that issue (e.g. replace a spring or broken extractor) or get rid of that gun. A few years ago, I purchased a new in-the-box Colt Delta Elite at a local gun shop. Delta Elites are chambered in 10mm Auto, which is not an inexpensive caliber to…




Review: 80% Arms Easy Jig 3, by Jonathan E. Rawles

…back-ordered 11-to-13 weeks, and orders on their multi-cal jigs are 4 weeks out. The Product The Easy Jig Gen 3 includes a guide plate with cutouts to guide the router in the milling operations. The guide plate also features a depth gauge to help adjust the router depth for a consistent cutting depth. The guide plate screws onto the side blocks which serve to secure the jig in the vise, and which also contain the drill bushings for the fire control pocket. The blank is secured in the easy jig at two points–with the pivot pin providing 5 degrees of constraint and the primary datum, and the buffer tube adapter providing the final degree of constraint. The jig strikes a reasonable compromise between cost-effective design, flexibility for “AR-10” and “AR-9” pattern lowers, and overall rigidity. When fully assembled, the blank feels very secure, and the jig provides a consistent and…




EdgePro Apex 4 Knife Sharpening Kit, by Thomas Christianson

for a bedtime snack. I grabbed the paring knife. Previously, the knife would have been hard-pressed to cut through the case of the sausage. Now it cut through the case with ease. The kit passed the test of problem knife #2. Problem Knife #3 The third problem knife was an ESEE Zancudo Framelock that I had recently tested for SurvivalBlog. I used the knife to experiment with a new method for opening cans. The new method for opening cans was a failure. It also ruined the edge of the knife. I subsequently tried to sharpen the knife with another tool with indifferent success. I started the attempt with the Apex kit with several passes of the 220 grit stone on each side of the blade. A burr did not develop. I then installed the optional slide guide. The slide guide gives two points of contact to the back of the…




The Gunfighter’s Guide: Lessons Learned the Hard Way- Part 1, by The Grumpy Gunfighter

…don’t know how much. I asked him whether it qualified him for a disability rating. He said, no, “everybody loses hearing.” Bruce Haney (Ironhorsecowboy) Survivorman – Yes, every combat veteran loses hearing to some degree. Every vet should get that loss validated by the VA. Believe me, eventually you will need hearing aids and the VA will supply them. Ironhorsecowboy JDC Survivormann, Get on your son to go back to the VA and get a rating. Even if zero % it is worth it. If his hearing worsens, he won’t have to prove it didn’t come from his life as a civilian. When he gets older he will likely need hearing aids, and the VA can get them for him…better than shelling out $7k a pair for them himself. Too many young bucks figure “to heck with it, comes with the job” when it comes to the aches and pains….




Start With a .22 Rifle– Part 3, by behind-the-counter

…spring can now rotate freely around the right pivot of the hammer. The second pin near the bottom of the housing holds (a) the lower edge of the bolt release, and (b) the upper end of the factory magazine release. Drift this pin halfway from left to right using the 1/8” pin punch. (Note: This pin and the upper pin are identical.) The bolt lock plate will now be completely free. Push up on the lower tab near the mag release and lift it up and out of the housing or turn the housing over and let the plate fall out. Put this part in a small plastic bag as the starting point for your spare parts kit. To install the new bolt release, flip the magazine lock spring all the way back on the hammer pivot so that the bent arm is sticking up out of the housing. Looking…




Your Ultimate Survival Binder, by Mia M.

…various fish Fishing knots Making flies/lures Line fishing tips Fly fishing tips Other fishing tips (nets, fish traps, etc.) Cleaning and preserving fish 7. FORAGING- Plant identification and usage guide Mushroom identification guide Tree identification and usage guide 8. NAVIGATION- Compass and map Celestial Other 9. WEATHER- Cloud reading Weather prediction guide Cold weather survival Hot weather survival Storm/flood survival 10. CORDAGE AND KNOTS Tensile chart Making cordage Tying knots and lashes 11. CRAFTING Weaving (basketry, etc.) Pottery Woodcraft Blacksmithing/metallurgy Clothing patterns, sewing stitches Leathercrafting Crochet stitch guide 12. TOOLS AND WEAPONS- Firearm manuals Making primitive tools Ax, knife, archery, and sling manuals 13. COOKING- Constructing ovens, stoves, etc. Recipes 14. SIGNALS/SIGNS- Glossaries of codes, signals, etc. (Morse, phonetic alphabets, and such) Trailblazing 15. HYGIENE- Soapmaking and saponin chart Basic hygiene (latrines, bathing/showers, dishwashing, laundry, etc.) Recipes for toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, etc. Lice treatment Communicable disease prevention Trash and…




A Prepper’s Guide to Beginning Ethanol Fuel Distillation, by Mr. C. in California

…up Alcohol stoves out of tin cans if you decide you need a cooking surface quickly or power an actual alcohol stove – which delivers a nice constant heat… Quite a few uses really. Best of all, in my opinion, Ethanol alcohol comes from the fermentation of yeasts that eat sugar out of starches and cellulose. While corn is traditionally thought of for a mash to produce ethanol (mostly for economic concerns for production), in reality it can be produced (though not as efficiently) from almost anything that you might normally compost from your leftovers…if you have the right enzymes to facilitate the breakdown of starches and cellulose into sugars. Some examples would be Beets, Carrots, Potatoes, Sugar Cane, any Sorghum grain, Artichokes and especially for those of you in the Midwest, Switchgrass is apparently an excellent producer of Ethanol. You can literally create Ethanol Fuel out of garbage with…