My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.)

What I’ll Be Carrying in My GHB

No weights were guessed, each item (or group of items for the very light things) was weighed in grams on a kitchen scale, then converted to pounds. For the backpack and bivvy bag the weight was taken from online spec sheets. Pounds are rounded off to the tenth but my Excel spreadsheet has the unrounded numbers so the final number for total weight will be accurate. I may have forgotten some things here which are on my spreadsheet, or forgotten to update a change in the manuscript, so if the numbers don’t quite add up to my stated total that’s why.

My total GHB weight including backpack, comes to 23.5 lbs. with enough food for a week providing an abundant 4,985 calories per day. After eating each day’s rations, my backpack weight will be dropping by 2.2 lbs. per day, leaving me with a total pack weight of 10.6 lbs. on the morning of the last day. With that little weight and six days’ worth of stamina built up, I can practically jog the rest of the way home.

These numbers also reflect a 3-season GHB. Winter, not as bad in my area as in the northern U.S. and Canada, would add another 5.1 lbs. to the total. Also, anything I normally have on my person (clothes, wallet, knife, hat, etc.) is not counted in the backpack total since I’m already accustomed to their weight and it won’t be on my back.

Other than packing my normal backpacking food and gear into my GHB, I’m also adding binoculars, water purification tablets, Nalgene water bottle, and a bivvy bag (Thanks J.M.!) instead of my regular 3-season mummy bag.

Food

Food will be the single biggest source of weight. I’m not interested in nutrition or food pyramids, and neither should you be, the only relevant thing will be getting the most calories per ounce of food as I can. Ounce for ounce, fats and oils have 2½ times the calories as carbohydrates so I avoid high-carb foods like oatmeal, rice, and flour-based foods.

All the food in this list can be kept in the freezing/sweltering trunk of a car for over a year without problems. As long as the chocolate is portioned out first as recommended, it won’t cause problems when it melts and turns into an amorphous blob. Long-term storage food is a must since many of us (including me) won’t be rotating it as it should be.

Peanuts and Chocolate – Nuts have the highest ratio of weight to calories I’m aware of, around 170 calories/oz., dark chocolate chips have 155 cal/oz. and hot chocolate 160 cal/packet. Three packets of hot chocolate and 8 oz. each of peanuts and chocolate chips provide 3,077 calories per day and 8.8 lbs. of total weight starting out. Chocolate can act as a laxative if you eat too much at once so it and the peanuts should be spaced evenly throughout the day as trail snacks. This will prevent unnecessary emergency bathroom stops and give your body more time to absorb the nutrients. For those worried about chocolate-related issues, Nutella comes in at 153 cal/oz., Slim Jims 142, and surprisingly banana chips have 140 cal/oz.

Ramen Noodles – I haven’t found anything that tops ramen noodles as a filling meal with a good calorie count (124 cal/oz.) Yes, ramen is probably made from newt tails, sawdust, and recycled petroleum products and it’s known to cause slightly higher rates of cancer in a study of Korean women who ate them 10-14 times a week over a lifetime. I’ll spare you my carcinogen rant but carcinogens aren’t relevant on a week’s diet while walking home, calories and weight are. You can’t get cancer from eating a week-long burst of ramen. Ramen is not only high in calories but it’s also very filling and like Brawndo, the seasoning packet is full of electrolytes. Feeling full will be very important on a week-long journey to prevent me from stealing tomorrow’s provisions and protein bars alone won’t fill me up. Package and all, ramen weighs 3 ounces so breakfast, lunch, and two for dinner will provide 1,568 calories/day and weigh a total of 5.2 lbs. for the week. Yes, I’ve eaten it that many times a day while backpacking. By crunching the dry noodles up inside the package, they only take up half as much room in my pack and the cellophane packaging makes good fire tinder. If you survive TEOTWAWKI, you can tell your grandkids about the time long, long ago when you ate 28 packages of ramen in one week and lived to tell the tale.

Protein Bars – One 2.8 oz. bar with breakfast provides 340 calories and seven weigh 1.2 lbs. for the week.

Total food weight is 15.3 lbs. and all food will be grouped in ziplock bags for each day to help prevent accidentally digging into tomorrow’s food.Continue reading“My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 2, by St. Funogas”

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 natural gas and propane markets. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

Silver could be the primary market over gold ahead.

o  o  o

Why Is Goldman Still Looking For $2K Gold?

o  o  o

Hedging The Decline And Fall Of A Currency.

Economy & Finance:

U.S. National Debt Hits $30 Trillion for First Time. JWR’s Comments:  And that is just the official figure. That doesn’t include long-term pension obligations. Also, note that many long-term Federal obligations have inflation escalators built in.  Hence, once inflation resumes in earnest, it will catalyze a self-building mountain of debt that is absolutely unsustainable. There then will be just two exit strategies: Debt Default or Hyperinflation. We all know which one of these that America’s career politicians will opt for.

o  o  o

The Bank of England hike interest rates with a hawkish tilt.

o  o  o

At Investment Watch: Fed Rate Hikes Coming Soon… Here’s What That Means for Normal Americans. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)

o  o  o

Steve Bannon and Phillip Patrick: “This Looks Like 2008 All Over Again”.

o  o

At Seeking Alpha: Five ETFs feel the shockwaves from Meta Platforms sell off.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Youth — nothing else worth having in the world…and I had youth, the transitory, the fugitive, now, completely and abundantly. Yet what was I going to do with it? Certainly not squander its gold on the commonplace quest for riches and respectability, and then secretly lament the price that had to be paid for these futile ideals. Let those who wish have their respectability — I wanted freedom, freedom to indulge in whatever caprice struck my fancy, freedom to search in the farthermost corners of the earth for the beautiful, the joyous and the romantic.” – Richard Halliburton

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 3, 2022

Today is the birthday of painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978.)

This is also the birthday of writer James Michener (1907–1997), known for his very well-researched epic novels, such as Centennial.

—

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 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,
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. 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.

My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 1, by St. Funogas

Three cheers to J.M. for his recent excellent, award-winning article on Get Home Bags (GHBs). Finally, a GHB article with advice that’s sensible, logical, and doable for anyone wanting to put together a GHB. I know how long it takes to write an article for SurvivalBlog so I know it took J.M. months to put that all together so again, thanks for such a well-researched piece.

I’m stepping up to the plate on his request for some thoughts on other ways to put together an ultra-light GHB. To say the least, I was pretty disappointed with what I was finding in my research six months ago so decided to write an article which I thought was more realistic. After I got the article completed and the final proofreading done, it went straight into the “Do Not Publish” folder to join its many companions for reasons I won’t mention.

After J.M.’s closing comment asking for anyone else’s ultra-light version of GHBs, I pulled it out of the DNP folder, dusted it off and after a makeover and adding comments on J.M.’s article, I hope the reader can find some useful info here.

J.M.’s Qualifications

Part of what made J.M.’s article so realistic is that he’s a backpacker and understands the single-most important objective when packing a backpack is weight. His article is the only one I’ve seen that actually has everything weighed out to the ounce and he clearly understands that after you’ve said, “This item doesn’t weigh much,” for the 23rd time, they do weigh too much. He also shares my philosophy of using as few one-purpose items as possible and instead incorporating gear which is multi-purpose. Amen Brother.

We both believe that to make things more concrete and easier to plan to your GHB, having an actual location to get home from is a plus. Also, a plan on how to possibly get a bicycle wherever you’re at to carry your GHB instead of your back and hips is a plus.Continue reading“My Ultralight Get-Home Bag – Part 1, by St. Funogas”

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 U.S. Freshwater Reserves.

Amateur Radio Gear Being Sent to Tonga

Frequent content contributor Tim J. sent us this item: Amateur radio equipment being sent to Tonga.

Highway Funding Bait-and-Switch

Reader C.B. spotted this in The Wall Street Journal: Highway Funding Bait-and-Switch.

Android Malware Draining Bank Accounts

Jim A. sent this: Android malware can factory-reset phones after draining bank accounts.  Here is teh article’s opening:

“A banking-fraud trojan that has been targeting Android users for three years has been updated to create even more grief. Besides draining bank accounts, the trojan can now activate a kill switch that performs a factory reset and wipes infected devices clean.

Brata was first documented in a post from security firm Kaspersky, which reported that the Android malware had been circulating since at least January 2019. The malware spread primarily through Google Play but also through third-party marketplaces, push notifications on compromised websites, sponsored links on Google, and messages delivered by WhatsApp or SMS. At the time, Brata targeted people with accounts from Brazil-based banks.

Now Brata is back with a host of new capabilities, the most significant of which is the ability to perform a factory reset on infected devices to erase any trace of the malware after an unauthorized wire transfer has been attempted. Security firm Cleafy Labs, which first reported the kill switch, said other features recently added to Brata include GPS tracking, improved communication with control servers, the ability to continuously monitor victims’ bank apps, and the ability to target the accounts of banks located in additional countries. The trojan now works with banks located in Europe, the US, and Latin America.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 2, 2022

February 2nd is the birthday of Ayn Rand (born Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum in 1905), died – March 6, 1982) She is of course remembered for her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is considered a Libertarian classic. While I sharply disagree with her views on religion (since she was an atheist), I admire both her skill as a writer and her ability to articulate some core precepts of human liberty.

—

UPDATE: The first batch of 1,000 waterproof SurvivalBlog archive USB sticks sold out quickly, and they’ve all now been mailed out. The second batch of 600 sticks (now in transit to the family that handles our order fulfillment) is pre-selling very quickly.  There are now just 190 available for ordering. Order yours, soon. Mailings of the second batch should begin on or about February 8th.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 99 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

But first, here are the results of the judging for Round 98.

Writing Contest Winners Announced: Round 98

We’ve completed the judging for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. Here are the results:

First Prize

First Prize is awarded to J.M., for An Ultralight Get Home Bag Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 — posted January 18-22, 2022.  He will receive these prizes:

  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

Second Prize is awarded to Philip J. Goscienski, M.D., for: Your Red Bags: Stop The Bleed –  Part 1, and Part 2 — posted December 7-8, 2021. He will receive these prizes:

  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. 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

Third Prize is awarded to Tunnel Rabbit, for Using a Dankoff Solar Powered Water Pump
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 — posted January 11-15, 2022. He will receive these prizes:

  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 $100 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

Honorable Mention Prizes

The following 12 articles won Honorable Mention prizes. Each of these prize winners have been awarded a $100 FRN purchase credit that is good for the purchase of any antique gun at Elk Creek Company:

Congratulations to all of the prize winners!

Note to the top three prize winners:  Please e-mail us your mailing and shipping addresses, for your prizes.  Thanks. – JWR

Organizing the Pantry, by Elli O.

Organizing one’s pantry is generally part of the list of items we know we should do, like eating right, getting in shape, de-cluttering the closets, and cleaning out the basement. But organizing our food stock doesn’t need to be a depressing chore. I want to share with you what has worked well for me so that (hopefully) it will motivate you to attack your pantry with success in sight!

I have added pictures not only to assist in the explanation but to add some appeal to an otherwise boring topic.

To some, a pantry may seem like an old-fashion term- something our grandma had at the old farmhouse. To some it may seem useless with the ability to easily obtain food through personal shopping, or apps like Grubhub and Doordash. But to those of us in the prepper world, a pantry may mean an entire room stocked from floor to ceiling with enough supplies to feed the neighborhood. Whatever your pantry looks like, here are some tips on how and why and to organize it!

Pantry Placement

The placement of the pantry within your home is important. Of the factors to consider, ask yourself these questions:

Question #1-Is it close to my kitchen? Having a pantry in the furthest room from your kitchen may help you get your daily steps in, but can also be frustrating and exhausting.

Question #2- Where do I have room? If you are limited on space, you may want to consider storing under furniture like beds. They make plastic storage tubs specifically for under the beds. Look for other wasted areas where you can safely store and easily access pantry items.

Question #3-Is it in an area that is cool and dry as possible? Our pantry is right outside of the utility/laundry room and sometimes in the winter we open up the dryer vent to add moisture to the family room. But when we do this, we make sure that the door to the pantry is tightly closed. For those who live in temperate climates, a garage may work as a pantry. But for those that live in areas that have temperatures that swing more than monkeys at the zoo, the only thing to consider storing in the garage might be toilet paper!

Question #4- Is there room to expand it, as needed? When I first started expanding my food supplies, I set up a set of shelves in the utility/laundry room. After a few years and adding as many shelves as I could possible fit in the room, I decided to turn the spare bedroom which was located directly across from the utility room into a grand-sized pantry.

Question #5-Can it be somewhat secured from prying eyes? The answer to this question may be the wrong answer to question #1. Placing your pantry in the room no one ever goes to might be good for operational security (OPSEC), but that may be the room that is furthest from your kitchen. You decide. If your pantry consists of only a few shelves of extra food, then it should do no harm for others to see it. If you have an extensive pantry- one that takes up a complete room- then discretion is prudent.Continue reading“Organizing the Pantry, by Elli O.”

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. We may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

Reader A.K. sent the following advice for the owners of cells phones with non-removable batteries:

“In case anyone is interested in blocking their cell phone from being able to be located or who they meet with pinpointed or even used to determine if they’ve been around others with Covid- I tried this out with a friend and it appears to block any text or call from being received so clearly it’s invisible to cell towers. Just wrap your cell phone in a piece of standard kitchen aluminium foil so several layers overlap. I’d suggest putting the phone in a baggie first. Works great. No need to buy a special faraday bag. Just reuse it until it’s too ripped and then use it in the kitchen or on a camping trip before recycling.

Maybe others already know this, but I’ll bet that some won’t.”

o  o  o

SaraSue wrote us:

“We’ve had crazy low temps here in Tennessee. I woke up to frozen pipes (again). This house wasn’t built for this. There’s nothing I can do but wait for the sun to warm up pipes that were run in exterior walls or maybe it’s not insulated underneath. This spring/summer I’ll have to see if blown-in insulation will help. I had to bring in bottled water I store in the garage and bring it to a high temp on the stove, pour into gallon jugs, carry out to the animal’s waterers to unfreeze them. For the first time in my prepping life, I did not have enough water stored. Just enough for a couple days. Ugh. A good reason to have a couple cases of baby wipes on hand for bathing!  Thankfully we did not lose electricity but I am prepared with other heating methods.  In other news, the chicken yard was doubled in size this week. Also, a fenced path was built for the goats to go from the small barn shelter to the front pasture safely. I’ve ordered meat birds for April delivery because I decided to keep the heritage birds as Layers. With food shortages everywhere, having extra eggs to sell locally is a good idea.”

o  o  o

GOA: ATF LEAK: Trigger Confiscation (and MORE) Incoming. (Forced Reset Triggers now subject to seizure.)

o  o  o

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“My home…It is my retreat and resting place from wars, I try to keep this corner as a haven against the tempest outside, as I do another corner in my soul.” – Michel de Montaigne

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 1, 2022

Today, we recognize the birthday of Christian economist Dr. Gary North. (Born, 1942.) North is a prolific writer on Christian Reconstruction and economics.  He recently announced that he is in failing health, and that he has published his final book. Please pray for his restored health.

We also remember February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas and Louisiana as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present the first 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 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,
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. 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.

Prepping At My First House, by M.J.

I just bought my new house in one of New Mexico’s larger cities.

It’s not a rural homestead. But it is a nice neighborhood and I’ve spoken with my neighbors a few times. So far so good. And I certainly couldn’t have afforded this home in my old stomping grounds in Southern California. I financed this house in part by liquidating some investments and in part by getting a loan from my parents, which I am paying back at a regularly monthly rate (including interest) that’s lower than the rent I was paying at the apartment that I stayed in for my first few months in town. This way, the family wealth is being kept in the family instead of going to some greedy woke corporation. I strongly urge SB readers to exercise this option for home or other large purchases whenever possible.

The backyard and front yard are empty. One of my work colleagues calls this “zeroscaping” – have a yard and put zero work into it. (As opposed to true xeriscaping, which is landscaping with plants for arid regions that needs little to no water.) On the plus side, the yards are blank slates that I can do with as I please! I will have to hire a stump removal service to get rid of the tree stumps left behind by the previous owners. I will turn the backyard into a big garden. I’m thinking about some dwarf pecan and walnut trees, because those nuts are so expensive.

The backyard gets the morning sun. When I work at home, I can dry my clothes on the hooks and nails that the previous owners thoughtfully left on the patio eaves. It’s neat to see the water vapor rising off the clothes under the full morning sun. I can also cook meals in my solar oven. In the afternoon, the front yard gets the sun; that means that if I entertain in the afternoons or evenings during the ferocious summers, my guests and I won’t be broiled.

There is much work to be done. The fascia are rotted in some places, so I must have that fixed before I can have gutters installed to catch rainwater. I had originally planned to get window bars, but the high cost and long lead time forced me to get an alarm system instead. That’s good as long as the telecom grid stays up, but that grid is awfully fragile. IT is my day job; my teammates and I have to deal with problems caused by software programs not getting along with each other, or mechanical failures, or user ignorance. I really think there would be panic if people had any idea how fragile the modern telecom net (internet, electricity, cell service, landlines) is and how easily it can be taken down, either by mechanical failure, software problems, cyberattack, or EMP. But hey, we’re all good as long as social media works, right?Continue reading“Prepping At My First House, by M.J.”

January 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices.

What Did Gold Do in January?

Gold began the year with a large $28 drop, to end the day at an even $1,800. A rally to $1,825 was negated on the 6th by a $36 drop, to settle at $1,789. Gold spent two more days under $1,800, rising $20 to $1,818 on the 11th. Prices remained above $1,800 through the 26th, hitting the high for the month at $1,852 on the 25th.

The Fed announced an unexpectedly hawkish reaction to growing inflation on the 25th, immediately leading the market to price in five rate hikes this year. This sent gold tumbling to end the month, falling $77.60 in four sessions.

Factors Affecting Gold This Month

BOND YIELDS

Markets began January unsure if there would be a rate hike at all in March. The narrative began changing almost immediately. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.7% on the 6th and never looked back, hitting successive 2-year highs. The yield on two-year Treasuries rose above 1% and the ten-year yield broke above 1.8% the third week of January, as markets fully digested the likelihood of four rate hikes by the Fed.

Treasury bonds are considered risk-free. When their yields rise, the opportunity cost of gold rises, reducing demand.

US INFLATION

The Fed was forced to move faster than they may have wanted due to spiking inflation this month. If there was any doubt that they would have to raise rates at the next FOMC meeting in March, those thoughts were blown away in the middle of the month.

Consumer inflation hit a 40-year high of 7% and wholesale inflation rose 9.7%. Consumer spending collapsed on inflation worries in December, coming in at -1.9%. Overall wage growth came in at 4.5%, the highest in 20 years. but consumer inflation of 7% means that real wages are actually falling. These high inflation numbers moved the probability of a March rate hike to 95%

It isn’t just the US that is seeing suddenly higher inflation. Inflation in the UK hit a 30-year high of 5.4%, driven by supply shortages and energy costs more than quadrupling. Canadian inflation hit a 30-year high of 4.8%

ENERGY/OIL

Europe continues to pay the price of assuming cheap Russian natural gas would always be there for the asking. Electric bills are expected to triple this year because Russia isn’t shipping any extra gas to Europe. This is forcing steel mills and other industries to shut down because they can’t afford to pay the high energy prices. A shrinking economy and energy-fueled inflation mean that the EU should be falling into stagflation soon.

On the global front, it is increasingly obvious that most of OPEC can’t pump the amount of oil that they are entitled to under the production agreement. This leaves Saudi Arabia and Russia as the only two big oil exporters that can actually increase production.

Green initiatives pushed US oil companies to cut exploration and expansion of existing oilfields. This means that American oil production is lower now than it was five years ago. These supply shortages caused oil to reach $90 per barrel this month. This is having a spillover effect throughout the economy and is one of the main causes of the present spike in inflation.

A Houthi missile attack on UAE this month was foiled by anti-missile defenses. The UAE conducted airstrikes on Houthi-held territory in Yemen in retaliation. The targeting of the UAE’s oil production facilities is raising fears that $100 oil will soon be upon us.Continue reading“January 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”