Beretta M9A1, by Pat Cascio

I don’t know about other people, but I’ve always been resistant to change or controversy in my life. As I grow older, rapidly approaching my 70th year on this earth, I find I’m more resistant to change than ever. I don’t enjoy getting into a controversy over things. I believe a lot of controversy stems from our opinions on things. Many people simply don’t understand what an opinion is, either. Quite simply, an opinion is just that – an “opinion” and it is based on what we believe. I don’t think an opinion is right or wrong, it’s just one person’s thoughts on something.

I cut my teeth on the grand old 1911, .45 ACP handgun, and it is still my favorite handgun. Now, many readers will remember that I’ve written that in an End Of The World situation, I would select a Glock Model 19X as my one and only handgun, and I still stand by that. Different situations call for different firearms. However, if I could only have one handgun, to meet all my needs in such a situation, it will still be the Glock 19X. It holds a lot of ammunition, is plenty accurate and as reliable as reliable can be. That doesn’t distract from my love affair with the 1911.

Back in the early 1980s, the US military decided it was time to retire the 1911, and they wanted to go with a 9mm handgun. Many of our NATO allies military personnel were carrying 9mm handguns of one type or another. The controversy began immediately, over the 9mm caliber. As we all “know” the .45 ACP, even in FMJ will rip your arm off, even if you are only hit in the pinky finger – that’s how powerful that .45 ACP is – always has been, always will be. Still to this day, these types of rumors persist to the uninitiated. Of course, it is just an uneducated person who believes this, and it is their opinion – and you will never change their thinking.

Many of the big-name gun makers submitted 9mm handguns to testing to the military, hopefully, their designs would meet all the requirements laid out for the testing process, and their gun would be the winner. This testing process actually took several years, and one-by-one the competitors were eliminated due to one short coming or another. It came down to just two makers’ submissions, one was from Beretta and the other from SIG Sauer. In the end, it came down to the price, and to this day, their decision is still controversial over the price. SIG Sauer submitted their bid, as did Beretta. However, those who were there at the closing bids, said that after SIG Sauer submitted their bid, that Beretta then submitted their bid, and it was lower than the SIG bid. This is still a hot topic, to this day. Some people have contended that Beretta somehow “cheated” when that happened. Personally, I prefer the SIG Sauer P226 over the Beretta 92FS. Both are outstanding handguns – it is just my opinion that the SIG is a better gun.Continue reading“Beretta M9A1, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Pear

The following recipe for Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Pear was sent by blog reader M.N.. It is cooked in a Dutch Oven.

Ingredients
  • 1 roasting chicken
  • 1⁄2 stick butter
  • 1⁄4 cup olive oil
  • 4 head of garlic (or less, to taste)
  • 1 Pear, Bartlet
  • 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 Tbsp Thyme
  • 1 tsp black pepper, finely ground
  • 1 tsp salt
Directions
  1. Melt butter in Dutch oven and add olive oil.
  2. Brown chicken on all sides. Set aside.
  3. Sauté garlic cloves until fragrant.
  4. Core, peel, and slice the pear.
  5. Add to garlic and wine, and simmer for 2 minutes.
  6. Return chicken and cover with spices.
  7. Cover and bake for 90 minutes at 350° F.
  8. Remove chicken and let it stand for 5 minutes.
  9. Strain broth in the Dutch oven and serve with the bird.
  10. Bring broth to boil and add 1 Tbsp of Better Than Bullion.
  11. Thicken with corn starch.
SERVING

Serve with seared asparagus and wild rice.

—

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

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 China’s unsustainable debt bubble. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Needless to say, look for a big breakout in the prices of gold, silver, and platinum if Russia fully invades Ukraine. Stack them deep, and stack them early. Commerzbank seems to agree.

o  o  o

Neither Inflation Nor The Fed Moves Gold.

Economy & Finance:

Mainland China’s debt bubble implosion now seems to be getting fully underway.  The collapse of Evergrande and other over-leveraged construction companies is in full swing.  This implosion will very likely expand to many other sectors of the Chinese economy.  The next sectors to fail? Most likely it will be high-speed rail lines, then car makers, and then perhaps their high technology sector. The debt-to-GDP ratio in China is seriously out of whack — somewhere around 270%.  And the size of China’s bond market is second only to that in the United States. A lot of the Chinese debt was for Pie in the Sky boondoggles. This level of malinvestment needs to be “un-wound” before their economy can resume any real progress.

In the 19th Century and early 20th Century, China had a problem with the global opium trade. But now, in the early 21st Century, they have a problem with the global OPM market. What is OPM? Other People’s Money (OPM). Debt. There is simply too much debt. China has created a wholly unsustainable debt bubble. Many of the underlying “assets” of these loans are not sellable. They are ghost apartment complexes and entire ghost cities. Many of these buildings are just empty shells of apartment blocks and offices that were never completed. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is fully complicit with creating the debt bubble.

Again, what happened to Evergrande and Kaisa was just the beginning– just a precursor of a monumental debt crisis that could very quickly become globally contagious. Beware.

o  o  o

Markets Are “Sea Of Red” Amid “Total Meltdown In Anything Tech And Pandemic Winners”.

o  o  o

Treasury Yields Spike After Jamie Dimon Forecasts “Six Or Seven” Rate Hikes In 2022.

o  o  o

Goldman Plunges After Trading Revenue Miss.

o  o  o

Visualizing The $94 Trillion World Economy In One Chart.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 23, 2022

On January 23rd, 1570, the world’s first assassination by firearm occurred when James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was shot in Linlithgow, Scotland.

On January 23rd, 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was awarded her M.D., becoming the first female doctor in the U.S.

January 23rd, 1855 was the birthday of John Moses Browning. He was the brilliant designer of dozens of guns, including the M1911 pistol, Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the venerable M2 .50 Caliber Machinegun.

Today is also the birthday of my #2 Grandson. His coincidental “Browning Birthday” ensures that he will inherit a disproportionately large portion of my guns that are Browning designs.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. 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. 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.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Sanitation for Survivalists, by Tunnel Rabbit

This article is an introduction to hygiene and sanitation for families, small groups, and communities.

During early wars, dysentery was by far the cause of most of the combat ineffectiveness in the field. It can debilitate armies. Second to dysentery, were trench foot and frostbite.

Sanitation begins with personal hygiene, and is important regardless of group size. Individual habits contribute to the health of others. We do not need to be spreading disease among ourselves and becoming sick and inffective. The broader issue of sanitation must be addressed and practiced at the group level.

Having lived in austere conditions for years, I’ve experienced many of the medical issues that soldiers in the field experience. As a quasi-military operation, survivalist groups can apply what the military already knows. For those who have lived as infantry, theirs is hard-earned wisdom for those who have not lived it, and even for those who have. Once the conveniences of modern life are gone (i.e. washing machines, flushing toilets, and hot water) the uninitiated will experience a new set of sanitation and hygiene issues that will contribute to health problems when living in prolong austere conditions. These extreme circumstances will in general, degrade one’s immune system, making us vulnerable to other diseases as well. As modern conveniences go away, the once-common diseases return. These diseases of the Third World will flourish, and take us by surprise.

Disease Threats

The odds that we could see history repeat itself with plagues, pestilence, and famine are high. Our immune systems are not adapted for primitive environments, but for relatively sanitary modern life. Given a lack of antibiotics, and other medicine, we would never be more vulnerable. The best way to deal with it is to follow the procedure and wisdom of an army in the field, and maintain a good level of sanitation. It all starts with personal hygiene. The individual must be responsible to carry out basic hygiene practices on a routine basis, otherwise all could be subject to disease. However, individual practices are not a substitute for good sanitation procedures, such as keeping latrines clean and fly-free, and providing clean water to a larger group of persons.

Cholera will be among the worst of waterborne diseases. Along with Giardia, these would cause outbreaks of dysentry. This is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, a sensation of incomplete defecation, and abdominal pain. Dysentry without modern medicine is deadly and has been able to render large portions of armies combat ineffective. Historically, dysentery has been the largest cause of non-combat fatalities.Continue reading“Sanitation for Survivalists, by Tunnel Rabbit”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:1-17 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 22, 2022

On January 22, 1944, Allied forces began landing at Anzio, Italy.

On January 22, 1984 the first Apple Macintosh Computer was announced. The memorable first ad for the Mac aired just once, during the 1984 Super Bowl. One interesting fact is that the advertisement aired only once prior to its nationwide showing. A few minutes before midnight on December 31, 1983, it aired on Twin Falls, Idaho television station KMVT, Channel 11. This was so that it complied with rules that allowed it to be entered into an advertising competition. Once the ad aired, the tape was mailed back to the ad agency….and the rest is history. Ridley Scott of Hollywood fame was its director.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. 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. 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.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 5, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

Seasonal Considerations

One of the problems with planning any kind of self-contained outdoor survival kit for New England is that you have to be able to handle a wide range of weather conditions, including really cold and wet winters. Things like thunder snowstorms, freezing rain, blizzards and sub-zero temperatures aren’t uncommon, and if you’re not prepared for the worse than you’ll probably fail (translation: die). I don’t want to get into too much detail on the background for my decisions, but if you’d like to read more I had another article published on SurvivalBlog called ‘Cold Weather Considerations’ (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) that might help fill in some of the holes. And yes, I had her read that article for background.

The first thing we looked at was her normal work clothing. She isn’t required to wear business dress or a uniform, since she occasionally needs to get down on the floor to work on the equipment, so I recommended that she upgrade her pants to something like 5.11 Women’s Apex Pants for colder weather and Mesa Pants for warmer weather. They both provide extra carrying capacity without screaming ‘cargo’ pants, and they’re a poly blend so they should dry quickly. 5.11 also makes a lot of nice tops for women, but I wasn’t about to get into a discussion on fashion with her so I just suggested tops with pockets and not 100% cotton. I did suggest she stick with real wool sweaters like Merino wool for winter, since they tend to provide warmth even when wet.

For outerwear, I recommended a lightweight waterproof/breathable shell jacket for cool weather, and a good quality long parka-style jacket like Columbia’s Mount Si Omni-Heat for winter. For shoes in warmer weather I recommended a good pair of walking/hiking shoes from someone like Keen or Merrell, and a good pair of insulated walking/hiking boots for winter. Something else I introduced her to that she absolutely loves are NEOS overshoes, which makes those long walks from the bus or train in freezing rain and deep slush a lot more bearable. These are going to be critical if she’s going to be walking home in cold, wet and snowy conditions for several days, since very few boots are actually 100% waterproof. If she doesn’t want to carry the NEOS overshoes (1.22 lbs.) another alternative are the Sealskinz waterproof winter socks, which weigh around 6 oz. a pair. One reason I recommend the NEOS overshoes over the waterproof socks is that if her boots get soaked that adds a significant amount of weight she has to lift with each step, and most boots take a really long time to dry.Continue reading“An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 5, by J.M.”

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:

A lot of my time in the past week got expended with trips to town.  These included a 2+ hour drive to pick up an antique Mauser and some ammunition, lunch and a consulting session at retreat/ranch in our region, and a trip to ferry two vehicles to a body shop for a bumper swap. The latter was to transplant the very heavy-duty deer and elk-protective bumper from our old SUV onto our new one.  (Well new to us, that is. It is about a decade old.)

On one of our trips to town, we bought 8 bales of straw, because we had been running low. They nicked us $5.25 per bale. Ouch!

Otherwise, it was just a normal winter week of livestock care and feeding, other chores, and writing.

Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 21, 2022

On this day in 1968, the siege of Khe Sanh began, as NVA regulars surrounded the USMC hilltop airfield near the Laotian border. Fearing a repeat of the French Army’s 1953 Dien Bien Phu debacle, the Pentagon assigned maximum round-the-clock air power to the region, including B-52 bomber strikes, to break the siege. According to the Infogalatic wiki this was “‘the most concentrated application of aerial firepower in the history of warfare’. On an average day 350 tactical fighter-bombers, 60 B-52s, and 30 light observation or reconnaissance aircraft operated in the skies near Khe Sanh.” More than 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped in the area. American casualties during the siege were 274 killed and 2,541 wounded. ARVN casualties were 229 killed and 436 wounded. The NVA took massive casualties, before withdrawing. MACV’s report estimated 5,550 NVA killed and more 8,000 wounded. (Only 1,602 NVA bodies were counted, but the NVA was famous for recovering the bodies of their KIAs, partially for propaganda reasons, to “deny body count.”) Khe Sanh was finally relieved by American and ARVN ground forces on April 6, 1968.

—

In honor of the birthday of John Moses Browning, I have started a four-day sale at Elk Creek Company. All of our percussion revolvers and cartridge conversion cylinders are on sale, as well as several rifles and revolvers. This sale ends on Monday evening, January 24, 2022.

 

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 98 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three-day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  5. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  6. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  7. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, that have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  4. 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. 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.

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 98 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 4, by J.M.

(Continued From Part 3.)

Information/References

I firmly believe that one of the keys to surviving almost any situation is having the right information, so I tried to include enough of the right information sources to get her through her journey. Fortunately, she has a decent cell phone in a rugged case, so she can use that in most scenarios. Here’s what I recommended:

  • Rand McNally maps (2.5 oz./ea., 5.0 oz. per trip) – These are hardcopy state-level plastic coated maps. They’re not as detailed as topo or Delorme Atlas and Gazetter maps, but they’re a lot lighter and more compact and adequate for generally finding her way home. Connecticut and Rhode Island are on one map, Vermont and New Hampshire are on one, so with Massachusetts and Maine she only needs to buy four maps in all, and she only needs to carry the ones for where she’s travelling. Typically she’ll only need 2 maps to cover her route home, so that’s 5 oz. total.
  • Clip-On Wrist Compass (1 oz.) – It’s not a full blown military compass, but it works well and it’s a lot lighter and more compact. Another good alternative is the Brunton Classic Tag-A-Long Plus Compass.
  • Open Street Maps (0 oz.) – I had her install this on her phone and download all of the detailed New England state maps. Even if GPS is out it can still provide her access to some pretty detailed topographic and landmark maps.
  • Trip plan (1.0 oz.) – I created an example of a trip plan and had her create one for each of her customer locations. It’s an 11”x14” color map printout with one side centered around the customer site that shows locations for the closest grocery stores, convenience stores, bike shops, gun shops, camping supply stores, etc., and the other side showing potential supply sources and locations of interest along her possible routes home. The paper is pre-folded and then coated with Aquaseal If electronics aren’t available this can provide her with possible locations to stock up on additional food supplies or purchase a bicycle, snowshoes, etc. to reduce her trip time.
  • Scanner Radio Pro (0 oz.) – This is an app for her cell phone that provides access to some local LE and other emergency radio traffic. I desperately wanted to justify including a handheld scanner radio that handles trunked comms in her backpack, since many New England LE and emergency services have switched to trunked, but the only options available are the Uniden Bearcat BCD325P2/BCD436HP or Whistler TRX-1 which are pretty bulky and heavy (> 8 oz. w/batteries). I ended up having her buy a Uniden BCD325P2 to carry in her suitcase on overnight trips, and I pre-programmed it using FreeScan with the frequencies for all potentially relevant groups, agencies, departments, etc. between her home and the various areas she visits. I had her install some rechargeable AA batteries and included a USB-C to Mini USB adapter so the batteries could be recharged right in the radio. I also had her include a mono earphone so she could listen to the radio without attracting attention, and I created a little half-page cheat sheet that shows her how to run the pre-programmed scans, select and run band scans, tune into specific frequencies, etc.
  • Survival/First Aid guides (1.1 oz.) – These are actually pretty useful and should help fill in any gaps in her knowledge/training.

Continue reading“An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 4, by J.M.”

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 investing in surplus military vehicles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Asian Metals Market Update: China Cuts Interest Rate.

o  o  o

Bubba Horwitz: Gold and silver continue to torture traders.

Economy & Finance:

China’s Property Sector Is Crashing Again And This Time It Has Reached The Country’s Biggest Developer. JWR’s Comments: This is still just the early phase of the Chinese debt crisis. By the time these huge malinvestments are worked out, I can foresee that they will have profound global effects on credit markets, the construction industry, construction-related commodities, the housing markets in many nations, and perhaps even national currencies.  I will post some further comments about this debt crisis, on Monday.

o  o  o

CNN Business reports: Another big Chinese real estate developer might need to sell off property.

o  o  o

Top 20 hedge funds earned USD65.4bn for investors in 2021, says LCH.

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: The Fed’s Huge Income Statement for 2021 Is Out: Where its Revenues Came from and Where They Went.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”