Preparedness Notes for Monday — February 7, 2022

On this day in 1775 in London, Benjamin Franklin published “An Imaginary Speech” in defense of American courage. The speech was intended to counter an unnamed officer’s comments to Parliament that the British need not fear the colonial rebels, because “Americans are unequal to the People of this Country [Britain] in Devotion to Women, and in courage and worse than all, they are religious.” Franklin’s response included his usual wit and acuity.

February 7th, 1867, is also the birthday of Laura Ingalls Wilder (died February 10, 1957). SurvivalBlog highly recommends the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as well as her biography.

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Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.

Springfield Armory XDm Elite 9mm, by Pat Cascio

META: Another new acronym. It drives me crazy with acronyms for so many things. Acronyms help save time when communicating with someone. That is, if they are schooled in the terminology with certain things. The military and police find that important. However, META is a new one to me. It doesn’t refer to the new name for the Facebook company or The Metaverse. Rather, it stands for Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly, and it refers to the trigger on the Springfield Armory XDm Elite 9mm pistol. The acronym from Springfield pretty much explains it all. They claim that this trigger is the best trigger pull on any production polymer handgun. And after all my testing, I’m not about to refute this claim!

I believe that I’ve owned and/or tested just about every polymer-framed handgun that Springfield Armory has produced over the years. And, many readers will likely agree with me, when I talk about the “mushy” feel to the triggers on many polymer-framed handguns. Some polymer-framed handguns have a short and very distinct pull, however, I’ve found that some of those triggers tend to make you “jerk” the gun off target – not a good thing.

I’m not privy to how Springfield Armory pulled this off on the XDm Elite model, but they sure did their homework. Without going into great detail, there is just a little bit of “slack” as you pull the trigger reward to fire the pistol, and then a little bit of resistance is felt as you pull the trigger more to the rear, and then “bang” the gun goes off – all the while your sights are on the target. Sweet! And the trigger reset distance is extremely short.Continue reading“Springfield Armory XDm Elite 9mm, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week:  Winter Trail Mix

The following recipe for a winter trail mix is from reader McKenzie:

Ingredients
  • 1 cup Dried Cranberries or Raisins
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (regular Toll House or white)
  • 1 cup Pistachios, dry roasted (Don’t get salted ones, if on a low-salt diet.)
  • 1 cup (or more) Granola, store-bought or homemade
  • 1-1/2 cups almonds (candied, roasted, or raw — to suit your taste)
  • 2 cups M&Ms (Optional, for you chocaholics)
Directions

Just mix it and bag it.

This is a great high-calorie mix for X-C skiing, or snoeshoeing.  If you find you like this and do a lot of winter sports, then this recipe can be doubled or tripled.

STORAGE

Keep the bags of this mix cool. Refrigerate or freeze them, if not using immediately. If making this for a warmer season, then omit the chocolate chips or it will become a mess.

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

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 the potential impact of a Russia-Ukraine war on precious metals and commodities.

Precious Metals:

How will the U.S. respond if Russia invades Ukraine? Implications for gold, oil, and stocks. JWR’s Comment: Retired USMC Colonel Harold Kempfer has a good grasp of both strategy and tactics. His assessment is correct. But I suspect that Russia has not yet mobilized and forward-deployed a sufficient field artillery and rocket force to support a full-scale invasion. (RAGs and DAGs.) And an early spring thaw could delay their invasion plans until mid-June or even early July.

o  o  o

Despite Being Heavily Out of Favor with Fund Managers, India and China Have Quietly Buying Lots of Gold.

o  o  o

Gold price holds $1,800, but can Fed’s 50-point hike trigger selloff?

Economy & Finance:

Charles Hugh Smith: The Bear Awakens.

o  o  o

At MarketWatch: Ford sales stumble on ‘persistent’ supply problems.

o  o  o

Bidenflation: Factory Orders Plunge Twice as Much as Expected.

o  o  o

The Fed Is About To Drain Trillions In Liquidity: Here’s How It Will Do It.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Whatever it is that you decide to do, we’re not anti-vax, we’re not anti-anything other than anti-mandate… The message is freedom for every Canadian.” – Trucker Mat, Parked directly outside the Canadian Parliament building.

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — February 6, 2022

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

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Today we present a guest article by Brandon Smith of the Alt-Market.us blog. We highly recommend all of his writings.

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We are in great need of articles for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Round 99 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.

How and Why Leftists Use Mass Censorship, by Brandon Smith

Why is censorship the go-to tactic for leftists? Well, if you ask them they won’t deny their love affair with the memory hole. In fact, most leftists will vehemently defend censorship as absolutely moral and for the “greater good.” Their position is basically this: We live in a “society”, and some ideas, thoughts and words are “dangerous” and destructive to that society. Therefore, those ideas and words must be eliminated from open discussion so they can protect society from itself.

But who gets to decide which ideas are dangerous and destructive? It’s rather convenient that the political left has anointed themselves the pure and objective arbiters of our culture. Purity within leftist groups is measured by expressions of “empathy” (virtue signaling). They are the thought police because, somehow, they believe they are the most empathetic.

True empathy is of course impossible to measure in another human being. You could very well be dealing with a narcissist or psychopath that is very good at pretending they care and have a conscience. They might say all the right things and have all the right opinions in public, but in their private lives they are malicious and take pleasure in causing pain in others. Humans are utterly fallible, which is why all systems of freedom seek to decentralize power through checks and balances and avoid mass censorship. All systems that value freedom and peace seek to eliminate the existence of thought police.

Leftists (and globalists) have sought to circumvent checks and balances as well as free speech protections through a number of tactics. In much of the western world they pay lip service to free speech rights when it is convenient for them, but most European nations and countries like Australia have NO legitimate constitutional measures that restrict governments from easily initiating speech suppression laws whenever they want. The draconian restrictions put in place over covid have proven this beyond a doubt.

This is what makes the US so unique as a culture, and it is the reason why leftists have pursued other methods to silence dissent.Continue reading“How and Why Leftists Use Mass Censorship, by Brandon Smith”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.

Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” – Galatians 4 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 5, 2022

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

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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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 99 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. 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,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. 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 $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 99 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.

My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)

First-Aid Kit – This is another area where I’m way out of the norm. My first-aid kit is based on the medical emergencies I’ve experienced throughout my life including backpacking and wilderness camping. None of those would have been helped by a first-aid kit: mostly broken bones (5), kidney stones (107), and a huge one which required hospitalization. For all other incidents requiring first aid my bandana was it, mostly to stop gushing blood. (As a side note, a bandana is one of the most versatile items in my GHB.) Any serious wounds will be treated with the antibacterial cream I’ll have for my feet. Fortunately, I have quick-clotting blood, a high pain tolerance, and a long list of “coping words.” So based purely on probabilities, my only first-aid supplies will be the moleskin and antibacterial cream already mentioned. All other wounds are in the SUB category and will be cleaned with soap and water. Total 0.22 lbs.

Tools – The only tool I’ll be carrying is the Tinker Swiss Army Knife I’ve carried all my life, with a backup in my pack (0.13 lb.) Free advice: never, ever loan your knife to another person, offer to cut the thing for them. Never, ever lay your knife down, it’s either in your hand doing a task or in your pocket.

Repair Materials – I’ve never needed them on the road or trail except for a sewing needle and paracord so no duct tape or repair kits for me other than a few sewing needles and some dental floss for sewing.

Paracord & Twine – 50’ of paracord, 100’ bailing twine which is nearly weightless yet strong and versatile for rigging tarps among other things. Weight: 0.2 lbs.

Mess Kit – just my 16-oz steel mug with a wire handle. Not the sierra-mug type but shaped like a pint salsa jar. Great for hot chocolate, scooping water, cooking ramen. Weight is heavy at 5.3 oz. but it’s heavier duty than the mess-kit kind.  No spoon, I eat a lot of food with chopsticks including popcorn (no greasy fingers!) so whittling a pair has always worked for me on the trail.

Map – State map only to see the side roads and shortcuts I don’t normally use. Weight: 0.1 lbs. No other navigation aids except for the road signs along the way and the button compass sewed onto my hand-lens cord. I hitchhiked coast to coast as a teenager with just a gas-station folding map of the United States so I consider detailed maps unnecessary in a get-home situation.Continue reading“My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – 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:

I’m pleased to report that we became grandparents again. Both Baby and Mom are doing fine.  I’m just hoping that all of our kids decide to live nearby us, long term. That will make the “Grandpa and Grandma Time” much easier to manage.

For a ranching family in “the dead of winter”, we’ve been surprisingly busy this past week. We’ve had lots of errands that kept us on the road, plenty of projects around the ranch. I generally try to keep the blog written three days in advance. But with all this activity, I’m down to just being one day ahead. Some of my errands took me as far away as Coeur d’Alene. One of those trips basically shoots an entire day.

That reminds me:  I should mention that living in a remote and lightly-peopled area has its drawbacks and requires some special planning.  You don’t just casually say:  “I need to shop in the Big City today.”  You need to maximize the benefits of the trip with some phone calls and web research in advance.  If you don’t come home from one of these infrequent trips without your vehicle full, then you’ve failed in terms of logistical efficiency. As we used to say in the Army: “Bzzzzzt. You are a No-Go on this station.”

One other thing about living in the hinterboonies that I don’t believe I’ve previously mentioned: When choosing a brand of pickup truck, then consider the brand sold by the nearest dealership that has a fully-stocked parts department. If it is an extra 60 miles of driving to get you to a fill-in-the-blank  _________Ford/Chevrolet/Dodge dealership, then you should probably skip buying that brand. Stick with what is common in your vicinity, and with parts readily available.

I’m pleased to report that the sale of my late mother’s house went well. It sold for a good step above the asking price to a cash buyer, in just five days. Close of escrow came just 10 days later. It doesn’t get much better than that.  Given the pile of paperwork now required for a home sale in California, that was quite a feat. My sister (the trustee) and an excellent real estate agent handled it all, wonderfully.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“ I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.

He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?

It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.”

– Psalm 18:1-38 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 4, 2022

On February 4th, 1824 — J. W. Goodrich introduced the first rubber galoshes.

Also on this day in 1789, George Washington became the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. This was repeated again on this same day in 1792. Because of the way the early American voting procedure worked, the electors cast two votes with no distinction for president or vice president. Washington was chosen by all of the electors and is considered to have been unanimously elected. Of the others on the ballots, Adams had the most votes and thus became the vice president.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 99 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. 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,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. 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 $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 99 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.

My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.)

What I’ll Be Carrying in My GHB

No weights were guessed, each item (or group of items for the very light things) was weighed in grams on a kitchen scale, then converted to pounds. For the backpack and bivvy bag the weight was taken from online spec sheets. Pounds are rounded off to the tenth but my Excel spreadsheet has the unrounded numbers so the final number for total weight will be accurate. I may have forgotten some things here which are on my spreadsheet, or forgotten to update a change in the manuscript, so if the numbers don’t quite add up to my stated total that’s why.

My total GHB weight including backpack, comes to 23.5 lbs. with enough food for a week providing an abundant 4,985 calories per day. After eating each day’s rations, my backpack weight will be dropping by 2.2 lbs. per day, leaving me with a total pack weight of 10.6 lbs. on the morning of the last day. With that little weight and six days’ worth of stamina built up, I can practically jog the rest of the way home.

These numbers also reflect a 3-season GHB. Winter, not as bad in my area as in the northern U.S. and Canada, would add another 5.1 lbs. to the total. Also, anything I normally have on my person (clothes, wallet, knife, hat, etc.) is not counted in the backpack total since I’m already accustomed to their weight and it won’t be on my back.

Other than packing my normal backpacking food and gear into my GHB, I’m also adding binoculars, water purification tablets, Nalgene water bottle, and a bivvy bag (Thanks J.M.!) instead of my regular 3-season mummy bag.

Food

Food will be the single biggest source of weight. I’m not interested in nutrition or food pyramids, and neither should you be, the only relevant thing will be getting the most calories per ounce of food as I can. Ounce for ounce, fats and oils have 2½ times the calories as carbohydrates so I avoid high-carb foods like oatmeal, rice, and flour-based foods.

All the food in this list can be kept in the freezing/sweltering trunk of a car for over a year without problems. As long as the chocolate is portioned out first as recommended, it won’t cause problems when it melts and turns into an amorphous blob. Long-term storage food is a must since many of us (including me) won’t be rotating it as it should be.

Peanuts and Chocolate – Nuts have the highest ratio of weight to calories I’m aware of, around 170 calories/oz., dark chocolate chips have 155 cal/oz. and hot chocolate 160 cal/packet. Three packets of hot chocolate and 8 oz. each of peanuts and chocolate chips provide 3,077 calories per day and 8.8 lbs. of total weight starting out. Chocolate can act as a laxative if you eat too much at once so it and the peanuts should be spaced evenly throughout the day as trail snacks. This will prevent unnecessary emergency bathroom stops and give your body more time to absorb the nutrients. For those worried about chocolate-related issues, Nutella comes in at 153 cal/oz., Slim Jims 142, and surprisingly banana chips have 140 cal/oz.

Ramen Noodles – I haven’t found anything that tops ramen noodles as a filling meal with a good calorie count (124 cal/oz.) Yes, ramen is probably made from newt tails, sawdust, and recycled petroleum products and it’s known to cause slightly higher rates of cancer in a study of Korean women who ate them 10-14 times a week over a lifetime. I’ll spare you my carcinogen rant but carcinogens aren’t relevant on a week’s diet while walking home, calories and weight are. You can’t get cancer from eating a week-long burst of ramen. Ramen is not only high in calories but it’s also very filling and like Brawndo, the seasoning packet is full of electrolytes. Feeling full will be very important on a week-long journey to prevent me from stealing tomorrow’s provisions and protein bars alone won’t fill me up. Package and all, ramen weighs 3 ounces so breakfast, lunch, and two for dinner will provide 1,568 calories/day and weigh a total of 5.2 lbs. for the week. Yes, I’ve eaten it that many times a day while backpacking. By crunching the dry noodles up inside the package, they only take up half as much room in my pack and the cellophane packaging makes good fire tinder. If you survive TEOTWAWKI, you can tell your grandkids about the time long, long ago when you ate 28 packages of ramen in one week and lived to tell the tale.

Protein Bars – One 2.8 oz. bar with breakfast provides 340 calories and seven weigh 1.2 lbs. for the week.

Total food weight is 15.3 lbs. and all food will be grouped in ziplock bags for each day to help prevent accidentally digging into tomorrow’s food.Continue reading“My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 2, by St. Funogas”