After nearly 40 years of riding across millions of American TV and movie screens, the cowboy actor William Boyd, best known for his role as Hopalong Cassidy, died on this day in 1972 at the age of 77.
There are many types of preppers, including the couch prepper. How many of us “preppers” have sat behind a computer screen and researched the newest and greatest AR-15 accessory that will ensure our survival for the coming “collapse”? I’m sure most faithful readers of this site have put into practice some form of prepping. Maybe that means you have bought a few extra cans of food or purchased that first firearm and some ammo to go along with it.
Or maybe you fall in to the camp of focusing on a certain aspect of prepping (i.e. that amazing gun collection you have now). Some have the “I have 3,000 rounds of ammo and I am going to live off the land” mentality. Possibly you are completely self-sufficient and are prepared for any number of different scenarios. But in reality, I am willing to bet the average prepper is somewhat like myself.
I am the average American with the stereotypical wife, two kids, and very modest income. I fully believe that the TEOTWAWKI awaits us in the not so distant future. My bet is that it comes in the form of an economic collapse, but others predict some type of natural disaster or health pandemic. And like others, while I believe the collapse is imminent and unavoidable, I try to balance my prepping mentality with that of carrying on a “normal” way of living.
I don’t want to spend every single dime of discretionary income I have on bullets, beans, and band aids. I am constantly trying to find the balance between adding to my preps and providing my family with as many of their desires as is fiscally appropriate. The beach vacation will not be skipped to add six month’s worth of freeze-dried food to my larder. With all of that said, that leaves what I believe is a large group of people, myself included, in the “somewhat prepared” stage.
Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on rugged laptops.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac – 2018
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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
The Real Inglorious Bastards. (A documentary about an OSS team that parachuted into the Tirol region, during World War II.) Now available on DVD, or free download for Amazon Prime members.
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Stone of Destiny. Also available for free download for Amazon Prime members.
Dougie MacLean: Inside the Thunder
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Holding Up Half The Sky: Voices Of Celtic Women II
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 “HJL”. More Hurricane News from both Irma and Harvey today.
Survivalblog reader D.S. sent in this article where an entire section of 75 students was forced to undergo invasive blood and alcohol tests because school officials found a single beer can under the stadium. The mass of forced tests overwhelmed the small medical facilities of the town. At least one school board candidate understands the issue though. They may desire to protect the students from underage drinking. But they have an obligation to protect the rights of the students as well. As he put it: “When the accused-but-innocent outnumber the guilty 16 to one, we probably did it wrong.”
Some car owners found out the hard way that electric cars have some serious drawbacks. Aside from the fact that they really are not environmentally friendly, they just don’t have the range of gas powered vehicles. Many were stranded on the side of the road because they ran out of power. That is until Tesla gave them a free upgrade. It turns out that many of the cars were handicapped by the factory to use only 75% of their available power. The factory was able to remotely upgrade the vehicles to allow them to continue on. That bothers me on many levels including the selling of handicapped hardware and remote access of the cars.
“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” – Hyman Schachtel
September 11th is of course the anniversary of the 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. , but it is also the anniversary of the Benghazi Embassy attacks, in 2012. (Those events were recounted in the recent Hollywood film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.) Please remember the sacrifice of J. Christopher Stevenson, Sean Smith, and CIA (former Navy SEAL) agents Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Between them, Woods and Dohery reportedly dropped at least 60 of the attackers. Please also remember the spineless worms in Washington, D.C. who decided to not back up the embassy staff when they were in dire need of help. Eventually, they will pay for that. Time wounds all heels.
While there are many different types of “survival foods” on the market, ranging from military MREs to freeze-dried and dehydrated plus any number of types of off-the-shelf foods that last a long time, today we are looking at dehydrated foods from Valley Food Storage.
Having been a Prepper since I was a little tyke, I’ve tasted all manner of “survival foods” over the years. Some were better than others and some much, much better that others. Then we have some that aren’t very tasty, but they will keep you alive. My family and I are always on the lookout for something new to try and add to our food stores, and we make a point to eat what we store. I’m not a very picky eater, but some would say otherwise.
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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the recent massive Equifax Hack attack. (See the Troubling Trends section, near the end of this column.)
The first 26:20 of this 33-minute mini-documentary is well worth watching: Silver vs. The World (Why I Went ALL IN On Silver) His reasoning is sound. If you don’t quite grok it, then watch the first 26:20 a second time.
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Wall St., Main St. Look For Gold To Extend Recent Gains
Stocks, Dollar Slide as Irma Bears Down, Korea Threat Lingers
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Time for some crash protection as US stocks hit record overvaluation
OPEC Fails To Cut Oil Exports Below 2016 Levels
The slide continues: United States Dollar (USD) To Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rate History. Are you hedging yet?
“Atlas Shrugged is not a prophecy of our unavoidable destruction, but a manifesto of our power to avoid it, if we choose to change our course.” – Ayn Rand
Please pray for everyone in the path of Hurricane Irma, and continue to pray for those already devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
On September 10, 1776, George Washington asked for a spy volunteer. Nathan Hale stepped up to the challenge of an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City. Unfortunately, the British captured and executed him. He is probably best known for his last words before being hanged: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” He has long been considered an American hero, and in 1985, was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut. It is good for us to remember that every American patriot and hero from the times leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War would have been considered traitors to the crown and would have suffered much the same fate as Hale had America not won her independence.
Let’s talk about reality and what we see and believe, but just for a moment imagine this scenario. Visualize the following presumably safe evening event at your home one day soon.
You are reflecting on the terrible situation in (name any major city, state, or area) and you are very grateful that your home area is not severely affected by that power grid outage somewhere else in the country, specifically about 1,000 miles away from your home. Your area power system is functioning just fine. You’re feeling really bad for that area as you watch the video news after a pleasant evening meal. Your older children are teasing one another while working on homework. Your younger children are busily falling asleep watching television. As you see the videos of hospitals not accepting additional patients and wrecker trucks pulling cars off of the highways where they were abandoned when their fuel tanks went dry, you will be grateful! Remember that there will always be trials!
You are safe and you are an experienced and confident prepper. You helped to organize last year’s preparedness expo, sponsored by the power company and the city water division. Your name was on the brochure as an area preparedness leader. Your family feels safe, well prepared, and well protected. Dad and Mom know their stuff and are fully prepared if the power grid down event ever visits your area.
I truly appreciate the info my family and I have gleaned over the years from SB. It has become one of our most trusted sources of info as we have been embarking on our self-sufficiency. Now, on to my question that I believe could be beneficial to other readers. (I have searched the site, but no recent info came up.)
I have been researching water well hand-pumps. Bison Pumps has great customer service and so far I am leaning towards them as my grid-down water retrieval solution from my well. Their product appears to be quality made where others seem to be designed more in an aesthetic nature, rather than truly functional and hard-wearing for daily use. If anyone has experience with Bison or another well pump, please share your experiences. For folks who are in warmer climates, freezing pipes aren’t an issue, but here last year we had multiple days where temps dropped into the negative teens… needless to say, ensuring that water is accessible while keeping pipes from rupturing is of paramount importance!
Additionally there is another product called the “earth straw” by a company named FloJak. This doesn’t appear to be a permanent solution, but rather an emergency item. Does anyone have any experience with this product or another solution to water retrieval? I don’t have a pond and the closest river is about a mile away. – S.H.
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 “HJL”. While Florida is getting socked today, Irma has finished with many islands and, as expected, the looting has begun.
SurvivalBlog Reader R.V. suggested that the mass of humanity coming out of Florida on I-75 and I-95 illustrated what JWR had talked about when he referenced the “Golden Horde” in his novels. The only difference is that these people are not starving and looting on their path. Some reports suggest that as much as 25% of Florida’s residents have been told to evacuate.
Robb, of Robb’s Homemade Life YouTube channel, was reminiscing about Hurricane Andrew in Miami while waiting for Hurricane Irma and remembered that he lost power for days afterwards. While the lack of power was easier to deal with, the loss of water was difficult. He created a gadget (and subsequently a video) that will allow the user to be very frugal with water used for hygiene, yet can be made with only a milk jug and a Popsicle stick.
“And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.” – Luke 21:1-4 (KJV)
