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 expected lower grain crop yields, because of the jump in fertilizer prices.

Soaring Fertilizer Prices: Millions More Undernourished

Reader C.B. sent us this disturbing news: Soaring fertilizer prices could see millions more undernourished. The article begins:

“High fertilizer prices could put an additional 100 million people at risk of undernourishment, a study suggests.

The war in Ukraine has led to the blockade of millions of tons of wheat, barley and corn, but reduced food exports from the region are less of a driver of food price rises than feared, researchers say.

Instead, a modeling study led by University of Edinburgh researchers suggests surging energy and fertilizer prices will have by far the greatest impact on in coming decades.

Until now, how energy and fertilizer price rises and restrictions affects future global food prices was poorly understood. There has also been little analysis to quantify the scale of harm that hikes in the price of food could have on human nutritional health and the environment.

The team used a global land-use computer model to simulate the effects of export restrictions and spikes in on food prices, health and land use until 2040.”

“Sudden, Unexpected Deaths Exploded” in Germany Since 2021

Reader V.L. sent us this: Data of 72 Million Insured Shows “Sudden, Unexpected Deaths Exploded” in Germany Since 2021.

The 10 Safest and Unsafest Cities In America

Forbes reports: The 10 Safest (And Unsafest) Cities In America.  This article links to the more detailed WalletHub report.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“There is a difference between resistance to specific commands and resistance by means of revolution to dethrone and replace an existing ruler. A tyrant is one whose habit of tyrannical actions strikes at a fundamental good of human society; his actions are akin to an unprovoked war against the people. Thus, he is a man warring against the nation, and since any nation can defend itself against national threats, the nation can conduct war against him. A just, violent revolution is a type of defensive war.” – Stephen Wolfe, The Case For Christian Nationalism

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 4, 2023

On January 4th, 1896 Utah became the 45th state of the Union. One condition for statehood was that a ban on polygamy had to be written into the state constitution.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 104 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 $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 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.

 

Hiding and Tracking – Part 2, by J.M.D.

(Continued from Part 1.)

A somewhat more obscure but still possible method of tracking is by following an electronic signal. If you’re using any type of transmitting device such as a radio or cell phone, a tracker could potentially locate you by detecting that signal. There have been a number of good articles on SurvivalBlog.com on radio frequency direction finding and locating, so I’m not going to go into detail here. Someone could also plant a dedicated tracking device on you or your vehicle and use that to track your location, but the tracker would obviously need the right equipment to locate and track signals.

Factors that Impact Tracking

How you leverage the various methods of tracking and how well they work will depend on a lot of different factors, and it’s critical to understand how these factors can impact both the tracker and the target. These factors include:

  • Goals
  • Personnel
  • Terrain
  • Weather
  • Distance/Schedule
  • Schedule
  • Repetition
  • Transport
  • Support animals
  • Kit

I’m going to cover these in more detail in the following paragraphs.Continue reading“Hiding and Tracking – Part 2, by J.M.D.”

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.

—

L.R. (a close friend of mine) recommended this thought-provoking essay: Lovers of Truth and Lovers of Lies: Seeing new lessons for today in Mel Gibson’s iconic portrayal of ‘The Patriot’.

o  o  o

The ultimate “down the memory hole” irony? Amazon Secretly Removes “1984” From the Kindle.

o  o  o

Reader C.B. sent this: Watch: Bald eagle flies with Canadian goose clutched in talons.

o  o  o

JMG sent this disturbing news: BARR: Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Bill Contains Backdoor ‘Kill Switch’ For Cars

“Buried deep within the massive infrastructure legislation recently signed by President Joe Biden is a little-noticed “safety” measure that will take effect in five years. Marketed to Congress as a benign tool to help prevent drunk driving, the measure will mandate that automobile manufacturers build into every car what amounts to a ‘vehicle kill switch.’”

o  o  o

Biden Opens Door to China Sabotage in North Dakota.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 3, 2023

On January 3, 1924 the Pharaoh Tutankhamun mummy was located near Luxor, Egypt, where King Tut’s tomb was discovered two years prior. This stone sarcophagus, which inside contained a mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamun of Egypt.

—

For those who have asked about ordering the 2005-2022 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archives USB stick: The new edition is being “built” now, and should be orderable by January 22nd, 2023. Please mark your calendar to look for the Archive USB stick ad that week. Shipments will begin in February.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 104 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 $775,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 104 ends on January 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.

 

Hiding and Tracking – Part 1, by J.M.D.

I enjoy learning new things and picking up new skills, and the many activities I engage in such as shooting, paintball, backpacking and, of course, prepping give me ample motivation and opportunity to do so. A year or so ago while on a backpacking trip with some friends I met a guy who was a pretty decent tracker, and after he kindly spent some time on that hike showing me some of the basics I decided that tracking (and evading trackers) were some skills that might be useful in a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Since then I’ve taken training classes, read books, researched a lot of online material and invested a good amount of field time in learning how to track both people and animals. The goal of this article is to provide a starting point for understanding the basics of tracking and hopefully give the reader an incentive for adding this skill to your survival arsenal. I want to state that I’m by no means an expert tracker – I’ve only been practicing and learning for about a year, and I have a long way to go before I’d even consider myself a novice, but I thought that sharing my experiences and what I learned might be useful for others.

To begin with, tracking and evading are two sides of the same coin – knowledge of how to track someone can be just as useful for helping you evade pursuers, and developing habits to minimize your ‘footprint’ on the world while instinctively paying attention to the signs left by others can help you in a lot of different scenarios. In a post-disaster environment you may need to track down someone who’s been poaching your livestock or locate a lost family member, or you may need to avoid leading some bad guys back to your homestead. Even in today’s ‘normal’ environment you may be followed or tracked by people that mean you harm.

There are also people that debate the meaning of ‘tracking’ versus ‘following’ someone – ‘tracking’ typically means using signs someone leaves behind in the environment to figure out where they’re going, how many people are involved, etc., whereas ‘following’ typically means maintaining visual contact with the person you want to keep track of. For the purposes of this article I’m just going to use the word ‘tracking’ for both, since the goals are essentially the same.Continue reading“Hiding and Tracking – Part 1, by J.M.D.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. In today’s column, news of an arrest in the Idaho multiple stabbing murders case. (See the Idaho section.)

Idaho

A suspect has been arrested in connection to the University of Idaho murders. Over at Fox News: Idaho murder suspect: Who is Bryan Christopher Kohberger?  A quote:

“Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, is a PhD student at the department of criminal justice and criminology, according to the WSU website.”

o  o  o

Idaho suspect stalked victims for weeks and woregloves after quadruple murder to avoid leaving trail of evidence, claims friend of investigator: ‘He’s not stupid and has been very careful’.

o  o  o

I found another interesting old Outdoor Idaho video segment: The River of No Return.

And that led me to this segment by Grits Gresham about Sylvan Hart (a.k.a. Buckskin Bill), and visiting Hart’s nearest neighbor, the twice-widowed Frances Wisner. Gresham’s video was for Sports Afield: Homesteading in the Wilderness of Idaho.

o  o  o

Idaho Lowers Income Tax Rates, Creates Rebate.

Related news: Idaho’s new flat tax.

o  o  o

From the leftist NPR: New faces mean big changes for 2023 Idaho Legislature.

o  o  o

Man shot, killed by Post Falls police on I-90 identified.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 2, 2023

On January 2, 1999, major snowstorm struck the Midwestern U.S., leaving 14 inches of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches in Chicago, Illinois, where temperatures plunged to -13 °F (-25 °C); 68 deaths were reported.

On this day in 1936, the first night vision electron tube was revealed in St. Louis, Missouri.

And January 2nd, 1776 is also the anniversary of the first revolutionary flag to be displayed in the American English colonies.

—

Today’s feature article is a product review written by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Thomas Christianson.

Taurus GX4XL 9mm Pistol, by Tom Christianson

I was recently able to test the new Taurus GX4XL EDC variant pistol in 9mm. I was impressed by the way Taurus was able to squeeze a 13-round magazine and a 3.6 inch barrel into a micro-compact profile. The grip texturing was highly effective, and the gas nitride finish on the slide and the diamond-like-coating (DLC) on the stainless steel barrel enhance reliability and wear resistance. Practical accuracy was adequate for a micro-compact profile handgun. With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $429 for the basic model and widely available online for under $350 at the time of this writing, the GX4XL offers a good option for everyday carry.

A Pleasant Surprise

I had first asked to borrow a sample of the GX4XL several months ago. At that time, Taurus was backordered on the handgun. They promised to send one to my FFL when they had enough in stock to allow them to do so. I stopped by my FFL recently to pick up a different firearm, and was pleasantly surprised to find the GX4XL waiting for me as well.

First Impressions

Taurus sent me both the standard GX4XL and the Taurus Optic Ready Option (T.O.R.O.) kit. The T.O.R.O. kit contains a slide designed to accommodate a number of different models of micro-red dot sights as well as a second recoil spring and barrel. The case that comes with the GX4XL is made of a decent gauge of plastic with well-designed latches. It won’t need to be quickly replaced like the cardboard boxes or flimsy plastic cases that accompany many new handguns.

The grip texturing on the handle of the GX4XL is excellent, providing a great combination of comfort and secure grip under a wide variety of conditions. The same texturing is used on a pair of indexing pads on the sides of the frame. These indexing pads provide tactile reference points for safe trigger-finger placement outside the trigger guard.Continue reading“Taurus GX4XL 9mm Pistol, by Tom Christianson”

Recipe of the Week: Powdered Milk Granola Bars

The following recipe for Powdered Milk Granola Bars is from reader S.S.. Dry nonfat milk is used in a glaze topping.

Ingredients
  • 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter (Note: Fresh butter is preferred — using reconstituted butter from butter powder can be tricky with this recipe.)
  • 10.5 oz. marshmallows (miniature marshmallows melt more readily)
  • 6 cups of granola or other dry breakfast cereal. Kids like Cheerios, but granola is much more healthy.
  • 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
  • 2 Tsp of tap water
Directions
  1. Butter or PAM an 8-inch square pan or a loaf pan.
  2. In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter to “brown”. To brown it, keep the butter on the heat until it turns brown and smells nutty. The butter will foam and turn golden before beginning to brown. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom. Warning: Watch the butter closely, because it can go from brown to burned (ruined) in less than a minute!
  3. Once the butter is browned, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows.
  4. Add the cereal once the marshmallows are smoothed in, and stir until all evenly coated.
  5. Spread the cereal bar mixture into the prepared pan.
  6. Press the cereal down with a silicone spatula or a lightly-buttered plastic spatula.
  7. Let cool and then cut into 2″x2″ square bars.
To Prepare the Dry Milk Glaze:
  • 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons water

In a small mixing bowl, mix the milk powder, powdered sugar, and water until the powders have fully dissolved.

Drizzle this on top of the finished granola bars.

STORAGE

Store these bars in an airtight container — refrigerated, or at room temperature.  You may need to hide these from your kids, or they will quickly vanish.

—

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 Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at crashing home sales. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Reuters: Supreme dollar rules the roost in gold market.

o  o  o

Central banks buy gold at fastest pace in 55 years. “Analysts are pinning China and Russia as big buyers.”

Equities:

‘Worst Year Ever’ For Stocks & Bonds – Global Inflation Fight Bursts ‘Everything Bubble’.

o  o  o

At Hedgeweek: Investors lose billions as stock hedge funds tank again in 2022.

o  o  o

Forbes: Hedge Fund Outlook For 2023: What To Expect As Managers Face Increased Complexity.

o  o  o

Tesla stock to close out worst year ever with a 65% loss in 2022, wiping out more than $700 billion in market cap. JWR’s Comments: With so many other electric car brands that benefitted from Tesla’s learning curve now on the market, I would shy away from buying Tesla shares.  But…  The World’s Most Famous South African has a few other ventures that promise to be very profitable — including a full constellation of Starlink satellites, the new Tesla Phone, and I’ll wager… […drumroll…] …a fully satellite-capable VOIP version of the Tesla phone. “Look, ma: no cell phone towers!”

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Attempts to resist modern life in practical ways are often derided as LARPing or live-action role playing—that one’s anti-modernity is superficial, imaginary, and made possible by modernity itself. There is some element of truth to this. Modern homesteading, for example, often requires supplemental income from modern sources. But many of the things ridiculed as LARPing are simply good choices for living well in this world. A woman who makes food from scratch from her own garden is not only offering her family healthy options but also exercising praiseworthy skills and passing those skills on to her children. The variety of skills that our ancestors mastered to survive are now unnecessary and obsolete, and the products of these skills are readily available in stores. But certainly something important for living well has been lost as a result, as we’ve lost the ability to make and fix things for ourselves and to intimately bring something from the soil to the table. LARPing is, in the best sense mastering inefficient and old skills and practices that attune one to the natural world, that break you free in part from the modern world.” – Stephen Wolfe, The Case For Christian Nationalism