A Young Man’s Preps – Part 2, by St. Leibowitz

(Continued from Part 1.)

Blades

Knives are next. Knife laws vary wildly even between the states. We got most knives legalized here in Texas a while back, but there are still some that are prohibited in certain locations. In most places you can at least have a pocket knife without too much trouble. Victorinox’s Swiss Army knives are quite good, and look a little less scary than, say, a Spyderco tactical folder. Assess what you want and need, and get one. Or two. Or several. Just don’t go crazy buying any old knife that looks cool. You need to save your money for other things. Generally, the more tools a “knife” has on it, the less dangerous it is perceived to be. 4” blade on a Leatherman? “Oh, aren’t you prepared? ;)” A 4” blade on a Benchmade out-the front (OTF) automatic opener? “OMG we’re all gonna die! Help, terrorism!” Your mileage may vary. Knives do not have to be expensive. The more common Swiss Army knives are quite reasonable, and they last forever if not abused. I still use my Victorinox Cadet after fourteen years, and I expect my new Fieldmaster to last thirty. Everyone should have a pocketknife. If an otherwise normal boy seven or older can’t be trusted with a pocketknife, then he was not parented well.

Moving on, let me discuss sheath knives. Let’s begin with the more tool-ish ones, for outdoor, utility, and skinning use. These also do not have to be expensive, but there is a very strict dichotomy between inexpensive and cheap. Inexpensive means it does not cost very much. Cheap means that it’s a piece of garbage and you should throw it into the nearest convenient dumpster. There are $15 knives that are awesome. There are a great many more that aren’t worthy to spread butter. The best quality sheath knives in terms of bang for your buck are the Swedish Mora knives. They are awesome. On sale, they can be found for around $12. They are very sharp, very easy to sharpen, and very durable. They come in carbon or stainless steel. If you’re new to knives, then get stainless. I use a carbon steel Mora Companion for my work. (I do feral honeybee removals) and it’s held up under fairly rough use for about three years now. I have resharpened it enough that the blade is visually less wide than a new one, and unless I lose it I expect to use it for another couple of years. And if I do, then $12 gets me another one.Continue reading“A Young Man’s Preps – Part 2, by St. Leibowitz”

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:

This week was fairly quiet at the ranch. Just a dusting of snow, so I didn’t need to plow.  We spruced up our snow paths to the greenhouse and henhouse so that we have them smooth before any thawing and re-freezing. It is a pain to adjust trails and pathways through the snow after a re-freeze. So Lily and I have been getting a lot of exercise, snow-shovelling!

I had to make two trips to town, to ship out Elk Creek Company orders. December is always a busy month for our sales of antique guns.

Now, in addition to being de-banked early in the year, we were just unceremoniously dumped by our mid-sized tax accounting firm. They canceled our annual engagement contract in a letter that vaguely blamed “the economy.” Such are the perils of being politically incorrect, in the early 21st Century. So, now I need to find a new CPA who handles income taxes and who isn’t fazed by delayed filings. My taxes are complicated, so my filings are delayed nearly every year.

We are looking forward to another family gathering this weekend.  Lily will fill you in on that…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:

That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.

And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.

And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.” – Joshua 20 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 16, 2022

The Boston Tea Party anti-tax protest raid was on the night of December 16, 1773 at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. Frustrated colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. This was the first significant publicized act of defiance to British rule in the American colonies.

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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.

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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.

A Young Man’s Preps – Part 1, by St. Leibowitz

The world is increasingly becoming a less comfortable place. You, as a teenage or young adult man reading this, have hopefully recognized this. You’d have to be oblivious not to. A lot of us are. This guide is meant to help give a high school to college-aged guy some ideas on how to increase his own personal preparedness. I have some small experience with this: I grew up in a moderately prepared family, and due to the intersection of theirs and my interests, I have what I think is a relatively realistic view of what is an attainable level of preparedness for your average guy without a lot of resources and support. I admit that this article will likely strike some as unbalanced in scope.

Let’s talk about personal situations. Yours is going to be critical. A lot of this information is going to be of differing levels of usefulness. Some things you need to consider include:

How old are you? There may not be much difference biologically and mentally between a seventeen, eighteen, and twenty-one-year-old you. But there sure is a great big legal one, and that will affect what is available to you. Having only recently turned twenty-one, a lot more things are open to me in terms of what I can now purchase, but they were mostly things I’d already tried, (handguns, alcohol, and tobacco) so the efficacy of the laws should also be considered.

Disclaimer: Do not do anything illegal, I am a fine upstanding pastor’s son who pays his taxes, volunteers during local elections, helps out the elderly, definitely supports women’s suffrage, and definitely has not made his own guns and alcohol. Did I mention that I pay my taxes?

Where do you live? Are you in the US, Poland, or Brazil? Urban or rural? How much space do you have for gardening or shooting practice? Your neighborhood alone can make a world of difference regarding what you’re able to practice. In one house we lived in, we only kept rabbits and four “pet” chickens because of neighborhood restrictions. In another house in the same county we’re able to have pigs, goats, and a steer. Can you shoot an air gun or practice fire starting in your yard, or will your cat lady neighbor call the cops on you if she sees you with so much as a Swiss Army Knife?Continue reading“A Young Man’s Preps – Part 1, by St. Leibowitz”

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 unfolding decline in the residential and commercial real estate markets. (See the Tangibles Investing Section.)

Precious Metals:

Downside risks for gold and silver prices in 2023 – Natixis’ Dahdah.

o  o  o

Gold, Silver to Shine as Dollar Weakens in 2023 & Beyond.

Economy & Finance:

Both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve’s FOMC bumped up interest rates by another 1/2 of one percent this week. JWR’s Comment: The key question is: When will they lose their nerve in their quest to stem inflation?  If that pivot comes soon, then we will likely see some monumental market shifts.

o  o  o

Is “buy and hold” investing over? Household wealth is down $13.5 trillion this year.

o  o  o

What the H*ll Happened to PayPal? JWR’s Comments: This article neglected to mention that PayPal went to war against anyone who deals in firearms or ammunition soon after the eBay acquisition. I’ve heard countless horror stories about how it took many months for folks with frozen accounts to finally get their money back.

o  o  o

Store Credit Cards Hit 30% Interest Rates As Consumer Balances Rise.

o  o  o

US states raising minimum wage, with four above $15. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)

o  o  o

From the leftist-statist MSN: The IRS Adjusted Its Tax Income Brackets — Are You Ready? JWR’s Comment: Note the tone of this article, in making the government sound beneficent.  No rise in income tax thresholds would be necessary unless the government didn’t first rob us, through inflation.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 15, 2022

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. (The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia.) We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud.

—

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.

 

 

Staying Safe Around Big Trucks, by SwampFox

Chances are, if you are buying something from a store or ordering it online, a truck brought it to you. While rail and air freight play a role in our transportation system, they generally do not make deliveries for the final mile, or even the final 100 miles. That means there are a lot of trucks on the road, and a lot of truck drivers. In 2020, the Department of Labor estimated that there were over two million truck drivers on American roads.

I am one of those truck drivers. I have worked in the industry for a few years, and I have driven different types of trucks, from gasoline tankers to heavy equipment haulers. I have seen a lot of interesting occurences on the road, including some amazing (and preventable) wrecks. While preparing for EMP and economic collapse is a concern, driving around trucks can be a daily hazard for most Americans. It may seem like an obvious statement, but unless you have driven a big truck, you probably do not fully understand: A truck does not handle the same way as a car!

Large trucks accelerate differently than a car. While trucks can keep up at highway speeds, getting up to speed is slow at times due to carrying a heavy load. Also, many larger fleets govern their trucks below the speed limit. I have driven trucks governed as low as 63 miles per hour (MPH). This is frustrating for the driver, and frustrating for surrounding traffic. Have you ever seen two trucks slowly passing each other on a hill, slowing down all the traffic behind them? This is caused by speed-governed trucks. It also happens when one truck is loaded more lightly than the other. Car drivers dislike it…and truck drivers do too. If you want to put an end to some of this, then contact your legislators.Continue reading“Staying Safe Around Big Trucks, by SwampFox”

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 a fusion power breakthrough.

At Lawrence Livermore: U.S. to Announce Fusion Breakthrough

H.L. sent this news from my hometown, Livermore, California: U.S. to announce fusion energy ‘breakthrough’. The article begins:

“The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion-dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power.”

There are a few more details in an article published by Forbes. (Thanks to Tracy M., for that link.)

JWR’s Comments: Not quite “Mr. Fusion”, but they’re getting closer…

The consistent yield of reactions, containment, continuity of an ongoing string of reactions, and conversion of that energy into something useful are the next steps. Mastering those steps will be a slow process to reach the stage where they have something that is commercially reliable for generating megawatts of power.

I should mention that back in the mid-1970s, when I was a teenager, I visited the Shiva Laser Fusion Project prototype — at that time, it was just a huge white-painted metal framework, with no lasers yet installed — just some fixtures for alignment tests. As a guest on that Lawrence Lab “Family Day”, I discussed the fusion power research programs with my father, Donald Rawles, who worked in a different group in B Division (now called the Physics Division). In his group, they experimented with the lab’s particle accelerators. And in the late 1970s, his “baby” was the second-generation rotating target neutron source (RTNS-II), at Building 292.  An aside: The 48-ton containment door of that building is seen briefly in the movie Tron — and so was the Shiva laser framework. As we walked through the massive Shiva building, my father opined: “It may be 40 or 50 years before these guys get beyond unity, and perhaps 70 years or longer before they make a practical system that can be small and affordable enough for generating utility power.” By “beyond unity”, he of course meant a fusion reaction with more power coming out than power going in. That key milestone was what was just announced.

New California Laws, Starting in 2023

More reasons to move out of The Land of Fruits and Nuts: New California laws in 2023: Minimum wage increase, legal jaywalking and more. Don’t miss the “Firearms” section near the end of the article, which includes this zinger:

“Restraining Orders: AB 2870 strengthens California’s so-called “red flag” law which authorizes a court to issue a restraining order to prohibit a person from purchasing or possessing a firearm if that person poses a danger to themselves or others. The law now allows roommates, dating partners and an individual with a child in common to request a firearm restraining order. Previously, only law enforcement, immediate family members, employers, coworkers, or teachers could make such a request.”

JWR’s Comment: Californians beware… Don’t disagree with a roommate or coworker when talking about politics or religion — or the police may come and confiscate your guns.

How Much Do Off-Grid Solar Systems Cost In 2022?

Forbes asks: How Much Do Off-Grid Solar Systems Cost In 2022?

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Power and those in control concede nothing … without a demand. They never have and never will… Each and every one of us must keep demanding, must keep fighting, must keep thundering, must keep plowing, must keep on keeping things struggling, must speak out and speak up until justice is served because where there is no justice there is no peace.” – Frederick Douglass

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 14, 2022

December 14th is the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013.) Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name: Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg.

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Today’s feature article is a guest piece written by SurvivalBlog reader Mrs. Alaska. Because it was first published in her blog, Alaska Bush Life, Off-Road, Off-Grid, it is not eligible for judging in the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

We are in need of articles to post for Round 104 of the writing contest.  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.

Estimating Your Off-Grid Power Needs, by Mrs. Alaska

The European energy lobbying group 2000WATTS.org proposes that 2,000 watts is the amount of power that would be available to humans if each one of the 7.9 billion people on the planet had access to the same amount. Their concern is that our power resources are dwindling.

Whether you agree or disagree with their assumptions, it is interesting to consider how much power our frequently used appliances require.  When I lived in a city, I never thought about this.  I just flipped switches and paid utility bills.  However, with so many parts of the country suffering power outages, I imagine that more people are now wondering, “If the power goes out, what do I do?”  What could I run with a generator of this or that size?  How much fuel would that require?”

Here in remote Alaska, we built our own power supply so we are alert to power hogs and power sippers that we decided to buy or do without.  And since the generator we use as a backup to our solar panels and wind turbine is a Honda 2000 (producing 2,000 watts), we know how much our various appliances and tools require and which ones we can or cannot use simultaneously without tripping a circuit breaker.Continue reading“Estimating Your Off-Grid Power Needs, by Mrs. Alaska”

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.

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A video recommended by our Editor-At-Large, Michael Z. Williamson: The .22 LR “Pinball” Skull Shot Theory, Is It True?

o  o  o

The latest YouTube essay from Lauren Southern: Hunting Rifle Ban Announced in Canada.

o  o  o

Avalanche Lily spotted this: Why Do So Many Christians Deny The Deadly Intent Behind The Globalists’ Agenda?

o  o  o

Bankrupt Front Sight firearms training school is now owned by PrairieFire.

o  o  o

Andre in Belgium recommended this software developed in Germany: AntiRansomware.

o  o  o

Reader C.B. mentioned this new attempt at land-grabbing: Strategic reserves in Oregon’s forests to prevent biodiversity losses, protect water, and mitigate climate change.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The country life is to be preferred, for there we see the works of God, but in cities little else but the works of men. And the one makes a better subject for contemplation than the other.” – William Penn