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:

We are presently traveling out-of-state to attend a memorial service and to help my siblings clear out the house of my dear departed mother, Barbara Marie Rawles. So I don’t have a lot to report regarding self-sufficiency, or survival preparedness in this column, other than one skunk misadventure:

On a recent morning, Lily reported that there was an adult skunk in our live trap, out behind our hen house.  (At the advice of a SurvivalBlog reader we now own a reliable large (Have-A-Hart style) Little Giant brand treadle trap, with spring-loaded doors at both ends.)

As the man of the family, of course the fun, fun, fun smelly job fell on me. A couple of quick blaps from 15 feet (upwind, and with the skunk’s rear-end facing away from me) with a S&W SW22 .22 LR pistol, had him meet his demise. Thankfully the bullets missed the wires of the cage, so no damage done.  Well, at least not to cage.

In his death throes, Mr. Ghost Skunk predictably let loose an odorous blast.

I was already wearing ancient clothes–most notably including a pair of holey old jeans. I put the pistol away, and I donned a pair of latex exam gloves. Mr. Ghost Skunk was very dead, but verrrrry smelly. I carried the cage trap at arm’s length 250 yards into the National Forest, and dumped his carcass out, to feed the scavengers. Coming back onto the ranch, I left the trap just inside our fenceline, to air out for a few weeks.  I’ll have to allow the same time with my mud boots, which I left outdoors.

Despite my best efforts, I picked up some frowsty skunk odor on my clothes.  Avalanche Lily decreed: “Burn them!” So they went right in the burn barrel, atop about 20 fir cones and some scrap wood. They were soon burned to ash. Then I took a very long and very thorough, sudsy shower.

Since it only takes a few parts per million for the human nose to detect skunk spray droplets, I wonder if I’ll bring any residual skunk odor with me, on my trip to see all of the relatives. Perhaps it will be apropos that I’ll be wearing a black suit and a white shirt, and the memorial service. I feel like Pepe Le Pew…

Lily wanted to mention that this week, she canned eight more quarts of tomato sauce from our slowly ripening tomatoes and dehydrated two quarts worth of celery that was growing in the greenhouse. Additionally, when in town, this week, she collected a huge quantity of maple seeds from the trees dropping them, and spread the seeds around the ranch.  We shall see how many sprout, next spring.

Lily said something this week that made me laugh and praise God that she is my practical preppy wife.  I was heading to town to do some errands and I asked her if we needed anything from the hardware store.  Lily paused for a long minute, seemingly undecided as to what to say, then blurted, “The whole store.” That’s my wife!

I should also mention that when I went to pack for this trip, there was very little searching required for the needed items. Black suit and tie: Check. Kleenex: Check. Sleeping bags and ground pads: Check. Furniture dolly: Check. Heavy-duty dolly: Check. Work boots: Check. Furniture padding blankets: Check. Extra boxes: Check. Roll of bubblepack: Check. Packing tape: Check. Ice Chest: Check. Air compressor: Check. Padlocks and keys for rear of horse trailer: Check. Keys for horse trailer tack room: Check. Tarps: Check.

I’ve always been one of those: “Everything in its place and a place for everything” kinda guys. In times of stress, it is nice to know where I quickly lay my hands on needful things.

As I mentioned in the blog on Thursday: Get right with God: Accept Jesus (Yeshua) as your savior. That is the most crucial item on your preparedness checklist.

Update Friday night:  Miss Violet has some respiratory illness which developed in the past two days, Therefore, Lily is remaining home at the ranch to make sure it’s nothing serious. Additionally, our daughter-in-law’s brother, J, has a seriously bad respiratory illness and we would appreciate it, if you would pray for him.  Please pray for both of them. Thank you.

May you all have a very blessed and safe week.

– Jim and Avalanche Lily, Rawles

o o o

As always,  please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week.  We want to hear from you.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.

When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:

Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.” – Psalm 75 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — October 15, 2021

On October 15, 1529, Ottoman armies under Suleiman ended their siege of Vienna and turned back to Belgrade.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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 Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 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.

The Lord Will Judge America – Part 2, by The Watchman

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

Who will be Judged, and What will that Judgment Look Like?

I imagine that you may have been aware that America has turned away from God before reading this message. No one can mistake the fact that our country is less Christian every day. And if you have read your Bible at all, you know that this turning away evokes judgment. But now let us ask two follow-up questions: on who will this calamity fall, and what will that judgment look like? The answer to the first question is all Americans. America has sinned as a nation, and America will be judged as a nation. “What?!,” you will say, “I haven’t done (some of) these things!” “The Lord will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked, will He?” First, I must remind you that while many of us do not have “tree sin” in our lives, we are nurturing “root sins” in our hearts. Second, I take umbrage when Christians say that “the Lord will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked.” They seem to imply that so long as there is one ‘good’ person in the crowd, the Lord will not do anything. Or at least that he will whisk his chosen ones away to some sort of vacation resort from which they will watch the destruction poolside with drink in hand.

The phrase “the Lord will not sweep away the righteous with the wicked” is taken from Genesis 19, where Abraham implores God not to sweep away the righteous along with the wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah. In response, the Lord agrees to not judge the cities if He finds only 5 righteous there. But we must remember that in making this promise to Abraham, the Lord was not issuing a policy statement. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-Nego (6 persons, for those keeping count) all lived in Judah prior to its destruction and yet their nation was overthrown. And while the lives of these six men were spared during that judgment, they all suffered greatly.

Daniel, as an example, was exiled to Babylon and had to serve the government that destroyed his home. How would you feel if China destroyed the USA, and you had to spend your life serving the communist government in Beijing? And we must also remember that the Lord may indeed take the earthly lives of the righteous when He judges a country. Ezekiel 21:3 says “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold I am against you; and I will draw my sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.’” The Lord does not have to spare a nation on behalf of a handful of righteous men and women, and He may not even spare that handful. I fear that others are hoping that the falling away of America and the judgment that is due is a sign of the impending rapture. But surely it is hubris to say the end of one’s nation signals the end of the world. The Roman Christians thought the world was ending when the city of Rome fell over 1500 years ago, and yet the world continues to spin.Continue reading“The Lord Will Judge America – Part 2, by The Watchman”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Since I’m traveling today en route to a memorial service and have scant time for column writing, with permission, I’m posting a guest article by Arkadiusz Sieroń that was originally posted by Sunshine Profits:

Will the Surge in Spending on Goods Include Gold?, by Arkadiusz Sieroń

Consumers’ expenses on goods soared amid the pandemic crisis. Will gold benefit from this spending spree?

“We need lower [consumer demand] growth to give the supply chain time to catch up, or differently spread out growth”, said Morten Engelstoft, chief executive of Maersk-owned APM Terminals, in September. Even though I’m fully aware of the supply-chain crisis, Engelstoft’s remarks struck me. Companies usually complain about soft consumers’ appetite, not about strong demand, and they don’t call for a reduction in expenditures!

Something strange is happening here, indeed. So, I decided to dig into this issue a bit deeper, and I was even more struck by the data I found. Please take a look at the chart below, which shows the US real personal consumption expenditures on services (red line) and on goods (green line). As you can see in the chart below, people’s spending on goods has increased about 15% since February 2020.

 

 

 

Let’s repeat it, adding some context: we experienced the deepest recession since the Great Depression, but the personal expenditures on goods are not lower, but higher! And they are substantially higher, as 15% is a giant disturbance to the production system, which is very difficult to be accommodated in such a short time.

Why is it so important? Well, it’s a unique development. As the chart above shows, after the global financial crisis in 2007-2009, consumer spending on goods has returned to the pre-crisis level only in 2012. This difference is caused by two things. The first is enormous fiscal stimulus passed in response to the epidemic. As a result, the demand for goods, especially durables, surged, boosting inflation.Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 14, 2021

I just received word that my mother, Barbara Marie Rawles, has passed away peacefully at her home, at age 89. She was just two weeks from her 90th birthday. She died of congestive heart failure. (And, for the record,, she had no respiratory illnesses in the past three years. She never had the Wu Flu.) For the past 3-1/2 years, I had been taking turns caring for my mom at her home, alternating monthly with my brother and sister. We kept her quite isolated from flus and colds. I was just there with her for the month of September.

Because of my upcoming travel back to California to make funeral arrangements, to attend a family memorial gathering, and to help with the logistics of closing up her house, my blog posts may be sporadic for the next several weeks. I already have several days of posts written and edited in advance, but there will probably be some gaps — most likely starting October 19th. Apologies to my readers. I’ve also suspended taking any new orders at Elk Creek Company. The Elk Creek shopping cart won’t be reactivated until around November 5th. Sorry!

Barbara Marie Rawles (1931-2021)

I’ve only missed a few days of posting SurvivalBlog in the past 16 years. Most notably, that was following the death of my first wife, Linda, in 2009. An aside: Linda very selflessly picked me out a new wife, while she was on her deathbed. Less than a year later, a very happy union followed with Avalanche Lily — a lovely young widow with two children of her own. By God’s Grace, that has been a good match, and she has proven herself an amazing Help Meet.

I take comfort in the fact my mother was a saved woman. She is now with Jesus (Yeshua). I pray that you too, my dear readers, have accepted salvation in Christ Jesus. You’ve surely heard this before, but it bears repeating: We only have two destinations: The eternal bliss of Heaven or the eternal torment of Hell. Make yourself ready, because you never know what day will be your last. Of all of your preparedness measures, that is by far the most important. – JWR

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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 Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 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.

The Lord Will Judge America – Part 1, by The Watchman

I am writing this work as a watchman so that my conscience will be clean and so that I will be free of the blood guilt of any American that reads it. It is my sincere hope that you will heed the warning that this message contains. Our nation will shortly be judged, and the watchman is waking you while there is still time to act. When the judgment is over, the United States that we have known will be gone, along with many of its people. The survivors will have to carry on with whatever is left, and I pray that they will rebuild on the foundation of God’s word. But if you want your family to have that chance to rebuild, you must respond to the Lord’s warning now. Only those who entered the ark with Noah survived, and only those who take heed to the Lord’s warning today will be spared. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15)

Our founding fathers were given two wonderful gifts: the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the chance to forge a new nation in a virgin country. Seldom, if ever, have any people been given such a chance. The richness of this land exceeds that of the promised land of Israel. Think of the fertile farmland of the Midwest, the redwood forests, the coal seams of West Virginia, the vast herds of buffalo and elk, the beauty of Yellowstone and Yosemite valley, etc. And our fathers had not only the Biblical Law and the Prophets (the old testament) to guide them, but the knowledge of the risen Savior as well! And the United States of America became a truly mighty nation. Blessed with great natural resources and the protection of two large oceans to our east and west, our nation went on to achieve unparalleled heights of economic and military success. The current dollar GDP of the USA is a staggering $20,930,000,000,000.

The log cabins and mud thatch homes of our forebears have been superseded by megalopolis cities full of air-conditioned homes with running water, electricity, high-speed Internet, and every electronic appliance imaginable. Grocery stores are full of fresh food brought to us from all over the world. Every product we could ever wish for is available to us with the push of a button on our smartphones. And we haven’t kept all this abundance to ourselves – unaccountable sums of money have flowed from this land to humanitarian and evangelistic causes. Beyond our economic achievements, we fought a bloody civil war to end slavery. We fought to restore peace and order to Europe (twice). We helped liberate South Korea from communist aggression. And we fought a 20-year war against global terror. Indeed, we pride ourselves on always coming to the defense of peace and freedom across the world. And all this has been done under the aegis of ‘one nation under God.’ So why then would America be under judgment? The answer is that beneath the worldly success, the power, the noble causes, and the veneer of godliness, we have forsaken the Lord God and turned to idols. “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)Continue reading“The Lord Will Judge America – Part 1, by The Watchman”

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, there is more talk of state secession.

Lebanon Blackout: Whole Country Without Power

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Lebanon Blackout: Whole country without power.  JWR’s Comment: This provides us a preview of economic collapse and infrastructure collapse.

Consequences If America Splits Apart

H.L. suggested this, at American Thinker: If America’s going to split apart, here’s what will happen to you. An excerpt:

“Secession does not necessarily need to be hard and formal as the South tried in 1861. It can be a United States evolving back to a true republic as it was initially meant to be. In that scenario, states would have more autonomy to enact laws that suit their citizens and not be ruled from the imperial capital on the Potomac. This would begin with states refusing to obey objectionable federal laws or decrees of the Supreme Court. This is not anti-democratic. It’s naïve to think Washington is beholden to the people of the country. That’s a façade put forth for public consumption. The politicians, with rare exception, dance to the tune of the big moneyed oligopoly. That’s why America’s once-mighty Midwestern industrial base was turned into the Rust Belt. And it’s also why despite laws to the contrary, illegal immigration flourishes and why U.S. blood and treasure are squandered in foreign adventures.”

Augason Farms Ceases Operations for 90 Days

First up, there is this headline: Major storable food supplier Augason Farms ceases operations for 90 days, citing collapsing supply chain.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of a worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth – but neither shall we shrink from that risk any time it must be faced.” – President John F. Kennedy

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 13, 2021

October 13, 2021 is the 80th birthday of singer-songwriter Paul Simon. (Born, 1941.)

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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 Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 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.

Risk Mitigation: Strategies for the Prepper, by Dan S.

Risk mitigation. Sounds fancy but all it means is “what are the most viable threats and what actions I can take to reduce the threats.” In this article, I am going to discuss risk mitigation strategies and provide practical examples of how this linear thought process can be used by the prepper in how they plan, provision, and train for WTSHTF. Risk mitigation differs from contingency planning by asking what can I do before a critical incident happens, versus what can I do after it happens.

A major aspect of continuity planning for large organizations (government, business, academia, health care, etc.) is examining potential threats, identifying vulnerabilities, and taking actions to reduce adverse results. Commonly known as risk mitigation, there are four general strategies

  • Risk Acceptance: recognizing the risk as manageable
  • Risk Avoidance: recognizing the risk as dangerous
  • Risk Limitation: recognizing the risk is both manageable and dangerous
  • Risk Transference: recognizing the risk is better assumed by other parties with proper skills or expertise.

In simplest terms, risk mitigation is the process of narrowing down what are the most likely threats to my safety and what information should I be focusing on, what should I be spending money on, and what skills do I need to obtain. With all that’s occurring right now in this crazy world, sometimes prepping is like drinking from a fire hose. Risk mitigation clarifies and illuminates and filters the real and imminent threats from the less real and more unlikely threats.

First Hand Experience

As a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, I often employed risk management in daily enforcement operations. If an investigation identified a business was involved in illegal activity, and probable cause existed for execution of a search warrant, prior to actual service of the warrant the person with tactical oversight undertook a process to identify risks and plan accordingly. For example, if the business were a chop shop for stolen cars with two aggressive Doberman pinchers guarding the building and fenced lot, the risk mitigation process would evaluate the level of danger and plan accordingly. In this example, the process would recognize the dogs present a clear risk of physical harm to officers executing the warrant, the result of no action could be officers getting bite, and the smartest course of action would be to have animal control officers present to control and contain the dogs at the beginning of the enforcement operation.
To parse this out a bit further, in this example, risk limitation identified the risk as both manageable and dangerous, and risk transference engaged the use of experts to reduce adverse outcomes.Continue reading“Risk Mitigation: Strategies for the Prepper, by Dan S.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

First up, over at Media Matters: Tucker Carlson gives his full endorsement for the use of illegal fake vaccination cards. “Buying a fake vaccination card is an act of desperation by decent, law-abiding Americans who have been forced into a corner by tyrants”

o  o  o

M.J. wrote:

“I enjoyed APD-4’s article and SaraSue’s article.

APD-4 encouraged seeking out like-minded groups. I’m trying to do this.  APD-4 suggested joining groups such as the police auxiliary or volunteer fire department.  I’ve thought about joining the State Defense Force. However, I have three concerns: what if it’s been taken over by the Marxists, like the regular military, 2) general lack of spare time, and 3) if we get to a WROL situation and I’m called up, who will defend the home I just purchased?  The solution might be to find a good wife, which is one reason I’m still in the city; there’s a larger dating pool.
With regard to SaraSue–for now, I’m in the city. However, the city I live in is much smaller than Southern California, so that’s progress, even if I’m not in a really small rural town. My goal is to find my other half, save money, and then get out before I’m of retirement age. Then I can raise my future youngsters in a small town where people still love our country and value liberty.  I just hope it’s not too late.  SB readers may be interested in this article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10050039/More-HALF-Trump-voters-want-red-states-secede-union.html
Regarding my new home: I was able to make a large down payment and obtain a loan with a reasonable rate of interest from my parents.  Please encourage SB readers to do this if they can; that way, wealth is being kept in the family instead of being given to big corporations.  “

o  o  o

Government Orders Google to Track Anyone Using Certain Names, Addresses, and Phone Numbers.

o  o  o

Making hay while the birds nest? Study finds landowners willing to protect grassland birds nesting in their hay fields.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 12, 2021

Today, in 1492, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted a Bahamian island, mistakenly believing he had reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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 Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. 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,
  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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. A transferable $150 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!

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More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 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.