The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“In every war zone that I’ve been in, there has been a reality and then there has been the public perception of why the war was being fought. In every crisis, in every confrontation that has come my way, the issues have been far more complex than the public has been allowed to know.” – The Late John le Carré

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — December 20, 2020

9

On December 20th, 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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!

Round 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Weatherproofing My Medic Bag – Part 2, by Skyrat

6

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

An Aside:  Please, take note of the last photo in Part 1 of this article. See how one end has a dark clippy thing, and I affixed the lanyard loop to the other end? Well, should you desire to recreate my own experience on your own, please, please, please do NOT simply open the package of your shiny new razor knife, and then drop it into your medic kit. It turns out that, when I was doing some chore or another in my well-lighted, warm, very own basement, I learned that the blade (you know: that sharp thing!) protrudes from the handle AT THE END TO WHICH I HAD AFFIXED MY LANYARD LOOP! (a) If you do not learn that, at your leisure, you may learn it, abruptly, in the dark, in the rain, on your very own emergency scene. And, you may wind up contributing your very own blood to the bodily fluids present on scene.

Most of us might find that distracting.

TDW-Mark II has observed, in the past, when I have lacerated myself, “Oh! You are on blood thinners! You are really gonna bleed from that!” (a) I KNOW that I am on blood thinners, a fact about which my cardiologist has waxed most eloquent, and (b) having been an RN for generations nearly beyond number, as well as a paramedic and a midlevel practitioner, I believe that I am familiar with the effect blood thinners have upon coagulation, and (c) as well as the effects of lacerations interacting with the foregoing. But, thank you very much.

So, for love of Pete, manipulate your kit’s contents in the warmth/light/safety/comfort of your own home, in order to AVOID recreating my own fail (or near fail, depending upon which part of this epistle has had the most impact upon you).

Then, of course, there is the “Summer In The Trenches Of The Somme” test Aesop suggested we consider. The PVC pipe idea has many advantages, particularly given Commander Zero’s initial epiphany ref his bicycle kit.Continue reading“Weatherproofing My Medic Bag – Part 2, by Skyrat”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

1

The latest meme created by JWR:

Polymer80 ATF Meme

 

 

 

 

 

 

To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/7vu8v6s0

 

Meme Text:

The ATF Says That an 80% Complete Frame Is NOT Legally a “Firearm”

That is, Until They Need to Impress Joe Biden.

Then, Suddenly, it IS a “Firearm”

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” – 2 Peter 3:1-10 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — December 19, 2020

14

December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (born 1852, died May 9, 1931), who was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. I’m related to him, by marriage, on my paternal side.

—

On Dec 19, 1776, Thomas Paine published “American Crisis”.

“These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

These words were an inspiration to Washington’s dispirited men, having suffered humiliating defeats and encamped at McKonkey’s Ferry on the Delaware River. The beleaguered troops mustered their remaining hopes for victory, crossed the Delaware, and defeated the hung-over Hessians. The revolution had been salvaged.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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!

Round 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Weatherproofing My Medic Bag – Part 1, by Skyrat

7

Being a “prepare for bad things” sort of fellow, you might not be surprised to learn that I follow not just SurvivalBlog, but also several other blogs, oriented toward Bad Times, and how they might manifest themselves.

Folks who have given this topic any sort of lengthy thought realize that “Bad Times” may come in what we might consider several “flavors”. Of course, there is the Nuclear Armageddon/Zombie Apocalypse sort of Bad Times. On the other hand, more likely is the potential for much more localized Bad Times. For example, there is the “Motorcyclist dumped his bike in front of us on the expressway” sort of event. Or, the “Don’t chop wood, camping, when you are tired or distracted” sort of thing, wherein you discover things about the interior anatomy of your ankle that you really would just as soon not learn.

Advice From Two Bloggers

Of course, being an Old Medic, I have “medic bags” in our vehicles as well as in our home. I had thought I was pretty well set, until I read an interchange between two great bloggers, Commander Zero, of the Notes From The Bunker blog, and Aesop, of Raconteur Report.

Commander Zero (“CZ”) noted that he had packed his own first aid kit in mylar after an experience of leaving his kit out, all winter long, in a fabric bicycle bag. Bad outcome. His goal was to forestall the conjuring up of the Ghost of Murphy (and his famous law).

Commander Zero’s adventures are documented in First Aid Kit Foibles from March 8, 2015, and an assessment recorded on September 4, 2019.

That post (Mar 8, 2015) elicited the following response in Notes From The Bunker from Aesop, of Raconteur Report

Aesop on March 17, 2015 at 1:17 AM said:
1. Any FA kit that isn’t waterproof is worthless. If not now, then when you need it, which is worse. As you’ve discovered, and as I did the first time I was working on a movie set on a rainy day. It’s a mistake you only make once.
2. Mylar is nice, but you can’t see what’s inside. Consider heavy-duty Saran wrap or equiv. as something still see-through, but easier to tear open than mylar or two-hand zip-loks.
3. If you’re any kind of handy with a sewing machine, turning mil-spec poncho materials into pack and bag condoms is a quick and elegant way to make your favorite bag far more water resistant. It also gives you options as far as external appearance, whether more camo’ed, or more non-descript than Tactical Timmy camo patterns in urban use around the unprepared muggles. YMMV.
4. Given your penchants anyways, you can get single-use heat seal clear plastic bagging material too, and simply resolve that if you tear something open for use, you’ll re-stock and re-seal it at the first opportunity.
5. As far as opening, putting a guard-protected single-edge razor or retractable box cutter in the top of the kit is never a bad idea. For some of the sterile wrap cr*p used in the ED, I need bandage scissors, trauma shears, and/or a hemostat (think ER pliers) just to open the blasted packaging, and that’s indoors in air-conditioned comfort, with two hands.
6. As a general rule, whether for first aid or any other kind of kit, anything that couldn’t be reliably used during a year’s service in the WWI trenches of the Somme probably isn’t proper kit to rely on, and you’ll find that out at the worst possible moment. Field-test your gear and eliminate the flaws now, when mistakes are free.
7. Just random curiosity, but for a bike kit, why not something along the lines of a screw-top or screw-twist together PVC pipe or somesuch thing, clamped/strapped/zip-tied/etc. to the frame? Bombproof, compact, and totally watertight, and you could size the tube diameter to the largest items, and adjust the length so everything fits. Just thinking out loud there.

Since I am not particularly smart (but I do listen to folks who are!), the project that I am about to describe is entirely derivative.

My usual practice is to pull, empty, inspect, repack and/or replace the contents of my medic bags/kits roughly every six months. Last repack found my Quick Clot to be rapidly pending out date, and, at around $15 a pop, well, two packages times three kits plus six IFAK/Blow Out Kits at one Quick Clot each, along with a couple of restock spares, quickly adds up to a sizable amount of money, money that I really think could be spent more realistically on Moar Ammo!

Whatever. That’s why I work OT, anyhow.

Making It Weatherproof

With Commander Zero’s experience and Aesop’s insights, this time around, I moved to increase the weather resistance of my kits. The following photos illustrate:

 

 

 

 

Picture One: Before: contents laid out on a handy table in my basement. Notice the nylon L. A Police Gear “Bail Out Bag”, which serves as my medic bag. Not waterproof. Notice, as well, that the contents laid out on the table are, themselves, not waterproof.

 

 

 

Picture Two: Here is how it had been packed in my bag, before. Kinda organized, yes. Waterproof? Not so much! And, while to date (some 45 years, more or less) it has not let me down, consider that I have not needed it during a rainy weekend field exercise. Or, for that matter, for reals in an Oobleck storm.

 

 

 

 

Picture Three: Example of the gauze and ABD dressings, vacuum-sealed (with a Foodsaver.) I also purchased a dozen inexpensive retractable blade razor knives, secured with a lanyard to the inside of the bag, for ease of opening. (see below)

 

 

 

 

Picture Four: After. Medic bag, with IFAK/Blowout Bag attached to the handle. The Sharpie writing (arrowhead) says, “BVM”, as an indication that the Bag Valve Mask, or manual resuscitator, is inside.

 

 

 

Picture Five: In order to be certain that I can open the gauze, or the ABDs, or whatever, when my elderly fingers are cold, or stiff, or slippery with (insert disgusting bodily fluid, here), following Aesop’s suggestion I have included a retractable razor knife. (about a buck each at my neighborhood hardware store).

 

 

 

Picture Six: The orange duct tape allows me to dummy cord the knife to my pack, so that, since my aforementioned elderly fingers may be cold, or stiff, or slippery with whatever bodily fluid you selected above, it will be more difficult to have the knife slip from my hand, and get lost in the (dark)(mud)(other). If you are clever enough to read SurvivalBlog, Raconteur Report, or Notes From The Bunker blog, you can figure out the lanyard thing yourself. I looped some 550 cord through the tape loop, and then looped said 550 cord through a knotted loop of elastic cord the manufacturer thoughtfully provided inside the bag.

(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 2.)

Editors’ Prepping Progress

107

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. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

Another quiet week, while I’m out of state, helping an elderly relative.  I’ve done a lot of bicycling, and a few calisthenics.  I’ve kept myself busy writing and editing the blog. I’ve also been catching up on cataloging guns for Elk Creek Company.  You will note that most of these have “No Photo Available ‘ placeholders.  My #2 Daughter will be photographing those guns, when I return to The Rawles Ranch.

On Thursday I had a bit of mishap: I was cycling through a neighborhood about a mile from home, about 45 minutes into a planned two-hour ride. I was coming down a hill toward an intersection at a good clip –probably 20+ miles per hour. A car pulled in front of me unexpectedly. Without thinking about it, I pulled both brake handles, just as I would on level ground. But since I was going downhill, the front brake “caught”, and I ended up going over the handlebars while I was still moving at about 5 m.p.h.. At first, I thought that I had only suffered just a bit of road rash on my right elbow. But then I noticed a twinge in my right hamstring. By the time I got back to my relative’s home, I realized that I needed some Asprin. And then, an hour after that, things tightened up, and I started hobbling. Ouch! I probably won’t be doing any bicycling for at least the next week. Lesson learned.

I’ve had so many queries from would-be-buyers, asking about particular guns that I’ve decided to open up our Shopping Cart system on December 26th. (Mark your calendar.) But be advised that I won’t be shipping any of those new orders until January 3rd. Thanks for your patience!

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.

Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.

Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?

Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?

There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” – Ecclesiastes 8 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 18, 2020

13

Today is the birthday of Jørgen Haagen Schmith (born December 18, 1910, died October 15, 1944). He was better known under the codename Citron and was a famous Danish resistance fighter in occupied Denmark. His biographical sketch at Wikipedia describes his death, after he was tracked down by the Nazis: “German soldiers arrived at the house to arrest or kill Schmith. He fought for hours against an overwhelming force of enemy troops killing 11 and wounded scores of others before the house was set on fire and he was shot attempting to escape the flames.” His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron.

December 18th is also the birthday of Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788). He wrote more that 1,700 hymns.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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!

Round 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 4, by St. Funogas

44

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.)

Rain Gauge – Once you fall in love with those metric grams, go ahead and toss that $1.95 plastic rain gauge which has an error factor of +/- 92%, and switch to a five-gallon bucket so you can weigh the precipitation instead. Use your Sharpie to write the grams-to-inches conversion number right on the bucket so you can record rainfall in hundredths of inches such as 1.89”. This rainfall info will help you to more accurately calculate how much you receive each month, which months are the dry months, and how large of a rain-catchment system you’ll need after that EMP blasts us back to 1753 and the grid goes down forever. And that teeny-weenie little 2032 disc battery the scale uses which you have to tilt just right in the light after retrieving your reading glasses so you can read the number? Use your Sharpie to write “2032” right on the little battery door so a guy with stage 3 cataracts can read it by moonlight from ten paces.

Mason Jar Lids – Since frugal preppers are already reusing their mason jar lids and the spendthrifts will be reusing them after the Crunch which should occur sometime during the Harris administration, continue to write on your lids with a Sharpie but in a different way than you’re doing now. We can tell by the visual aspects that this is tomato sauce and those are potatoes so there’s really no need to write that all out. When you write “St. Funogas Totally Awesome Blackberry Jam” on each lid, your friends and family are going to want to know who the heck St. Funogas is, and secondly, it’s going to be a real pain to get all that off when you reuse the lid on your Totally Fantabulous Green Tomato/Apple Chutney. When it’s obvious what the contents are, I use a small coded letter beneath the brand name of the lid to help conceal it. The letters are A-J and represent the year that product was canned. A = 1 (2021), B = 2, etc. and J = 0. This not only makes it easier to know the age of the contents, but if you leave it in place when you write the next year’s letter, you’ll know how many times the lid has been used which will give you certain bragging rights at your local post-TEOTWAWKI Canning Club meetings.

Appliance Wattage – You spent $32 on that awesome Kill-A-Watt meter or the less expensive $21 Poniie PN1500 to see how much power each of your electrical apparati are using in a month. Instead of writing that info on a 3 x 5 card which will be illegible after the pants pocket you leave it in goes through the wash, get out your Sharpie and write it right on the appliance in a discrete location. My refrigerator usage (19½ kWh/month) is written on that little metal plate inside the fridge which has all the electrical information. This individual appliance info will help when planning your move to off-grid so you can know how many kW hours you’ll be saving when you toss the electric coffee grinder or how much it will take to run your motorized grain mill. It will also let you estimate how many hours that new marine battery will keep the 88-watt blower on your woodstove running during the next ice storm which knocks the power out for four days.

Freeze Alarm Setting – My well-house freeze alarm works like a charm but when I put in fresh batteries and activate it each October, I can never reset all the numbers without finding the manual first. Sharpie to the rescue. A few key words written on the back of the alarm remind me how to set it up quickly without having to use any of my special helper words.Continue reading“Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 4, by St. Funogas”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

81

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 Texas Corporate Relocation. (See the Companies Bound For Texas section.)

Precious Metals:

Lyn Alden: Gold Price Forecast 2021: On a Bullish Track

o  o  o

Billionaire Investor Thomas Kaplan says gold prices to move ‘way past’ all-time highs

Economy & Finance:

Deloitte: Weekly global economic update. Here is a snippet:

“Third, a disproportionate share of the increase in equity prices this year stemmed from the performance of technology companies. Investors have bet that, in the aftermath of this crisis, the transition to more remote interaction will continue. Thus, if large numbers of people continue to work, shop, and be entertained remotely, then technology companies will be the principal beneficiaries. Thus, their high share prices might make sense.”

o  o  o

At InvestmentWatchBlog: Mapped: The Risk of Eviction and Foreclosure in U.S. States

o  o  o

Over at Seeking Alpha: Inflation Is Here Right Now And Interest Rates Are Headed Significantly Higher

Companies Bound For Texas:

This trend started long ago, but seems to be accelerating: Texas No.1 destination for companies leaving California for last 12 years.

o  o  o

Oracle is moving its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas. JWR’s Comments:  Unlike the gun manufacturers that are relocating to Texas, this move will not improve the politics of Texas. As a former Oracle employee who worked at the corporate headquarters in Redwood Shores, I can vouch that Oracle’s management is ultra-liberal, and most of its employees are left of center. This was from mid-1999 to early 2001. I found their pandering to every liberal cause and bizarre sexual orientation was sickening. So, for Texans, this particular announced move is not good news.

o  o  o

And, similarly, there is this news about H-P: The company that literally started Silicon Valley is moving to Texas

o  o  o

Elon Musk says he has moved to Texas

o  o  o

California “Techsodus”: Tech Companies, Billionaires, Millionaires, Tech Employees Flee San Francisco & Silicon Valley

o  o  o

Incora (Wesco) Moving to Fort WorthContinue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

9

“I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that the issues of this election are the maintenance of peace and prosperity. The line has been used, “We’ve never had it so good…

As for the peace that we would preserve, I wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this is a peace that should be maintained indefinitely. Do they mean peace, or do they mean we just want to be left in peace? There can be no real peace while one American is dying some place in the world for the rest of us. We’re at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it’s been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well, I think it’s time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.

Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said, “We don’t know how lucky we are.” And the Cuban stopped and said, “How lucky you are? I had someplace to escape to.” And in that sentence, he told us the entire story. If we lose freedom here, there’s no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.

And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest and the most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man.

This is the issue of this election: whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well, I’d like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There’s only an up or down: [up to] man’s old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course…”  – Ronald Reagan

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 17, 2020

32

December 17th, 1905, was the birthday of Simo Häyhä, who was the world’s most successful sniper. Using an iron-sighted Mosin–Nagant in Finland’s Winter War, he had an astounding 505 confirmed sniper kills. He died April 1, 2002.

—

I encourage any SurvivalBlog readers with friends or relatives who live in Georgia to phone them and exhort them to VOTE in the January 5th U.S. Senate runoff election. Maintaining Republican control of the Senate will be crucial in the next eight years!

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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!

Round 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 3, by St. Funogas

37

(Continued from Part 2.)

Chain Saw – I shouldn’t mention this one for fear of revealing just how far my LOMR has progressed but next to the bar-oil cap of your chainsaw write “OIL” and “GAS” next to the gas cap. Once I reach Stage 4 LOMR I’ll no doubt be running the saw with bar oil and gas in the wrong tanks instead of catching my mistake like I do now, dumping them out, going to the house for a fresh cup of coffee, and then returning to try to get it right the second or third time. If you pump the bar oil button and smell gasoline right before the bar bursts into flame, this is a sure confirmation you’re well into stage 4 LOMR and are on the fast track to stage 5 and beyond. If you smell smoke but fail to notice the bar conflagration or that the flames from your chaps are getting uncomfortably close to your unmentionables, this is a good indication that, while your olfactory senses are top-notch, the rest of your brain has atrophied to a solid stage 6. At stage 6 they do a frontal lobotomy to keep you and the rest of the citizenry safe. After the grid goes down, they do the lobotomy with a rusty serrated steak knife and sew you back up using dental floss, generally leaving an extra 24” hanging down in front of your left ear so you never again have a credible excuse for not flossing.

Plumbing – You built that solar water heater to save some bucks and put the extra dough towards getting your mortgage paid off early. It’s hard to know which way those unions turn when taking your heater offline since you have two options depending on how you attached them. So go ahead and write some arrows on the part facing you. While you’re at it label “Main Shut-Off Valve” on your main plumbing line. Simple helps like these generally increase the resale value of your home if it ever goes on the market. Be sure to point the arrows out to the real estate appraiser but not the county assessor. For you former Big City apartment dwellers who have just arrived in the American Redoubt, the arrow concept also works on garden hoses. If you make arrows on that brass thingy on the end of the hose it will help you get it onto the whatchamajig with the round handle where the water comes out of the wall. If you get your  Sharpie all wet and it won’t work anymore, just remember “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.” Continue reading“Surviving Seniorhood With Sharpies – Part 3, by St. Funogas”