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 now back at the ranch, following a week-long inventory buying trip.  I had a mechanical problem with my vehicle, and this delayed my return by a day. I’ve re-started the shopping cart system for Elk Creek Company. But it may be a few days before I get most of the recently-purchased antique guns added to online listings.

I had an interesting trip. I attended a gun show in Kerrville, Texas, and visited a few gun stores. I found a few interesting pieces including a pre-warning LNIB Ruger Old Army, a Ludwig Loewe Chilean Mauser Short Rifle, a Remington Rollingblock 7×57 rifle, and an Iver Johnson .38 Double-Action with a special-order long barrel.

I also had the pleasure of attending a nightclub gig by Henri Herbert and his band, in Austin. There was a very friendly crowd there, but no place to sit!  The place was packed. The club had an old-fashioned honky-tonk vibe, but of course sans cigarette smoke, these days. I believe that Henri Herbert is incredibly talented and destined to stardom.  If you get the chance, then I highly recommend that you go see him live. Please check out his YouTube videos. One of them deservedly had 59 million views.

One observation: When I travel through oil country, I usually see the majority of the oilfield  “cricket” pump jacks at stripper wells are usually sitting idle.  But not on this trip!  Just anecdotally, I’d say that about 70% of the cricket pumps that I saw were in operation, bringing up crude.  With oil now pushing $100 per barrel, it is no wonder that even marginal wells are being put back into production.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.

And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman.

Then Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.

And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.

And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:

And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your head?

And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.

Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.

And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?

And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.

And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:

And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:

But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;

Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.

Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.

And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.

But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.

And the Lord God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.

So now the Lord God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?

Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.” – Judges 11:1-24 (KJV)

 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 4, 2022

It is with great sadness that we announce that Dr. Gary North has passed away.  I had the privilege of assisting him with his Y2K Forums, two decades ago. His many books — nearly all available for free download — are highly recommended. Our condolences to his family.

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On March 4, 1955, the first radio facsimile, or fax transmission, was sent across the continent.

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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 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 SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  4. 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).
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. 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.

Silent, Secure Communication – Part 2, by P.J.

(Continued from Part 1.)

Option 4: The live drop:

A person-to-person message drop can be performed as well, but it has the highest level of risk for someone to intercept or notice.

You have probably seen a live drop in movies where a briefcase changes hands in a crowded terminal or something, very observable for those paying attention and not overly discrete. It is absolutely critical that, if it can be avoided, the two individuals performing a live drop have no discernable connection with each other or readily identifiable groups! If known club member A passes by known club member B and has any kind of interaction, people in the know will put that together. However, if club member A has his grandma’s neighbor do the interaction, it may not be recognized quite as readily.

As I mentioned for the briefcase transfer, some drops need to be larger in size. The live drop is a certain way to guarantee that the target package has receipt by the target recipient – but it puts all the parties “at the scene”. Disguise is paramount…you may have to go to great lengths (like ‘borrow’ an Amazon van for the day) to pull off a large drop. [See further down in Caches for large item drops.] Suffice to say, make the item as common-place as possible to avoid detection of the transfer.
One idea for live drops is to plan ahead. For example, if the forecast is rain for the next three days, then arrange your drop outside. The target sits on a bench getting soaked. Informant walks by with an extra umbrella and graciously gives the umbrella to the soaked person. The drop is in the umbrella handle, the target then opens the umbrella, and gets up after a determined time after the informant leaves. It would be wise to come up with a handoff phrase that someone could not guess to ensure the correct target (if not known).Continue reading“Silent, Secure Communication – Part 2, by P.J.”

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 global economic fallout created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Palladium extends rally as Russia supply risks mount, gold eases.

o  o  o

Gold Silver, still bullish despite volatility.

Economy & Finance:

US, allies weaponizing sanctions to curb Russian aggression.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge:  “Don’t Get Too Excited” – Bill Gross Warns Investors That Surging Inflation Will Topple Stocks.

o  o  o

Russian Stocks Devastated In London As Moscow Exchange Remains Closed.

o  o  o

Reader H.L. sent this: Billionaire Ray Dalio has two looming concerns about Ukraine that should worry every investor.

o  o  o

Russian Stocks Are Nearly Worthless as Ukraine Sanctions Bite.

o  o  o

Apple & Google Payment Systems Block Russians, Causing Chaos in Moscow Metro System.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.” – Thomas Sowell

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 3, 2022

Today is the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012. His guitar work was phenomenal.

This is also the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, and actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005.

—

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 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 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 $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.

 

Silent, Secure Communication – Part 1, by P.J.

Today, we see a growing vulnerability of our communications and how they impact our short term, and long-term lives. With hacking on the rise, electronic protection systems growing more and more complex, Social media nannies, and increased reliance on foreign components (that may have embedded spyware) …Americans are starting to wake up to the thought “maybe what I am saying isn’t private anymore”. You would be correct, and this would hint that a total loss of freedoms of speech and of security of your person has occurred or isn’t far away.

Our liberties are eroding around us in America, and whether we can change the trajectory that our governance is taking us…we can still have some fun playing games. Hey – the military has war games, we can have some too. Today I would like to challenge you all to a game of hide-and-seek. Let me explain.

If you want to hide information that only you and another pre-approved party are privy to, then you need to have ways to conceal that information or encrypt it. Since encryption is not my strongest talent, I will elaborate on the means and methods that allow someone to physically hide and transfer information in a secret manner to minimize the risk of interception. This article will give you means and methods that let you keep your communications obscure and separated from the typical channels. Let’s dive in.

Disclaimer: This article IN NO WAY advocates or encourages criminal activity!

THE DELIVERY

Here are a couple ways that you can be your own James Bond for communications transfers:

Option 1: The Dead Drop

Channel your inner spy with the old classic dead drop. A dead drop is a note, jump drive, CD, signal, etc. that is left in a location that another pre-informed person is supposed to find covertly. The point of a dead drop is that you can transfer a bunch of information where the actual transfer between parties is not witnessed and where both parties are not at the drop point at the same time. This is classic spy tradecraft that you probably read in novels or seen in movies.Continue reading“Silent, Secure Communication – Part 1, by P.J.”

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 the many current threat spirals.

FEMA’s Absurd New Nuclear Attack Advice

Reader C.H. forwarded this from FEMA’s “Ready.gov” web site. Here is a quotes from about a third of the way down the web page:

“Stay inside for 24 hours unless local authorities provide other instructions. Continue to practice social distancing by wearing a mask and by keeping a distance of at least six feet between yourself and people who not part of your household.”

C.H.’s Comments: “Because, you know, during a nuclear attack COVID exposure is the primary concern. I long for the days when adults were in charge of government.”

Microsoft’s Cyberwar in Ukraine

As the tanks rolled into Ukraine, so did Malware; Then Microsoft entered the war.

America’s Power Grid Is Increasingly Unreliable

In The Wall Street Journal: America’s Power Grid Is Increasingly Unreliable.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let’s make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there’s no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person’s property to give it to another to whom it does not belong – in effect, legalized theft.” – Dr. Walter E. Williams

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 2, 2022

Today is the birthday of Moe Berg, American baseball player and clandestine agent. (He died in 1972). His biography The Catcher Was a Spy is fascinating reading.

And this is the birthday of libertarian economist Murray Rothbard (born 1926, died 1995) His book For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto is highly recommended.

On March 2nd, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Today is coincidentally also the birthday of Sam Houston.

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Because I’ve been on a road trip, I didn’t have the time to write or edit a feature article for today. However, I did create a bonus meme.

I should be back to regular posting, tomorrow.  Thanks for your patience!  – JWR

 

JWR’s Bonus Meme:

The latest meme created by JWR:

The Biden press office tells us the change was “based on the advice of scientific experts.”

To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/LlzA1i-oYM

Meme Text:

In An Amazing Coincidence, Team Biden Quietly Dropped All Of Their COVID Restrictions on 80% of Americans…

Just Four Days After The Ukrainian Invasion Began, And Two Days After The Truckers’ Convoy to the Capitol Began Rolling.

News Link: Jen Psaki’s Announcement.

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If we as Christians do not speak out as authoritarian governments grow from within or come from outside, eventually we or our children will be the enemy of society and the state.

No truly authoritarian government can tolerate those who have a real absolute by which to judge its arbitrary absolutes and who speak out and act upon that absolute.” – Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture

Recruiting Law Enforcement & Veterans for Your Group, by C.J.B.

Prior to an “end of the world” scenario… one can add or enhance your group’s abilities, skill-sets, technical knowledge, and tactical prowess by adding veterans, reserve military members, and law enforcement personnel (LEOs) to your team roster.

So what do veterans/military members and law enforcement professionals bring to the table?

Intangibles/Tangibles: There are several unique and service-focused skills, mindsets, technical and tactical knowledge and experiences that military and LEOs can field to the benefit of your organization/group. Moreover, most have their own individual gear, and will or can be sympathetic to the prepper’s causes. Additionally, they may have access to body armor, helmets, assorted gear, and firearms more readily than a common person.

Teamwork Focused: For starters the above-mentioned class of individuals tend to know how to work as an effective team member, follow instructions, and be a positive force multiplier for most groups. Especially, those members who served or are currently serving in combat-arms MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) fields, and police officers or sheriff’s deputies. At times, being a “team player” is a life-and-death matter for this group of people, and this is an important core value that is imparted to them from day one of their training.

Communication-Centered: Additionally, these service members tend to know how to affectively use advanced radio communications skills or less- than- common communication techniques (arm and hand signals, Morse Code, smoke and flare signals, 10-codes, phonetic alphabets, and encrypted messaging).

Tactical Training: Tactical training is embedded in most of this group’s individual DNA. Army soldiers, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and law enforcement officers tend to have advanced firearms/ tactical training, bought and paid for by the government in a “ready to serve your group” package. I served almost 18-years in the U.S. Army and am currently a peace officer, and I can’t count how many thousands of rounds I’ve fired downrange, or how many buildings and rooms I’ve had to clear throughout my career- not only in training, but in real world situations and scenarios. You can safely bet that most if not all service members and LEO personnel have a solid, basic, tactical/firearms foundation, if not advanced.Continue reading“Recruiting Law Enforcement & Veterans for Your Group, by C.J.B.”