An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 2, by J.M.

(Continued From Part 1.)

Shelter/Warmth

The next area involves protecting her core body temperature, especially while sleeping at night. One important thing to keep in mind is that in New England it gets down into the lower 60s or upper 50s at night, even in the summertime, and since you can get hypothermia at temperatures as high as 60 degrees you need to make sure you can stay warm and dry year-round. While there are various commercial and public buildings along most of her get-home routes that she could seek shelter in, I didn’t want to assume that would

I’ll be discussing specific seasonal considerations later on, but there are some items that should be included for all seasons.

  • Poncho/Tarp (7.7 oz.) – Used to stay dry when wearing or when set up as a shelter. I selected the OneWind one due to its light weight and decent size (89” x 56”). One modification I made for her was to add some ultralight tensioners in the center of the two short sides to allow it to be strung up lengthwise as an a-frame. Other tarp/poncho options I considered were ones from Terrapin and Sea-to-Summit, both of which were slightly larger, but heavier and a lot more expensive.
  • Merino wool hat (2 oz.) – This is good for keeping her head warm when it gets cooler at night.
  • Silk long underwear (5.1 oz. for both) – A lightweight top and bottom that increases comfort on chilly late spring/summer/early fall nights.
  • SOL Escape Bivvy (8.9 oz.) – This is the outer layer of the sleep system. It’s relatively lightweight, waterproof, breathable and reflects 70% of your body heat back. It’s also a lot more durable than those cheap mylar ones, so it can handle quite a few nights. I’ve used one myself on numerous camping trips and it easily adds 10-20 degrees of warmth. One other advantage over the cheap mylar ones is that it makes a lot less noise when moving around inside it.
  • 100′ of microcord (1.4 oz.) – This can be used to rig a shelter and lot of other things. I pre-cut two 15’ lengths and attached a small aluminum carabiner (.1 oz./ea.) to one end of each so she can quickly wrap it around a tree and run the free end through the tensioner on the poncho/tarp to rig it up. This stuff is rated at 100 lbs. tensile strength, which should be more than strong enough for any task she needs.
  • 4 x titanium shepherd hook stakes (.8 oz) – These are for staking down the corners of the shelter. Yes, she could find some sticks and carve some stakes, but that’s extra work that’s easily avoided with a minimal weight penalty.

Continue reading“An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 2, by J.M.”

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.

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Doug C. wrote:

“Take a look at this short two minute video.

A summary (in case the link is taken down):
in just 24 hours the people of Kazakhstan overthrew the entire government. The President, Prime Minister, and military are fleeing the country, and remainders, if caught being taken into arrest including doctors and vax center operators. Banks are being robbed.
The government increased the vax mandate to include requiring a proof of VAX QR code to withdraw money and that was the tipping point.
BBC News is claiming the revolt is regarding gasoline prices, but boots on the ground say that is a lie, and it is due to the vax mandate. Please spread the word far and wide.“

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Georgia quietly becomes a top gun-making state. (Thanks to Todd M. for the link.)

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Animal House wrote:

“I have two old pressure canners, one is 23 years old and the other 40 years old; thus the gaskets are shot. I have been searching for replacement gaskets for years. I found a silicon replacement for the younger canner about 5 years ago, but needed a rubber gasket for the senior canner. After much research, I found a small company in Montana that has rubber gaskets for pressure canners. Recommend you get your replacement parts from this family-owned business: Cooking & Canning Company, www.cookingandcanning.net. Phone: 623-327-1443″

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Reader H.L. sent this news from Connecticut, but I suspect it is common nationwide: Anger, Aggression on the Rise, as Patients Face Long Waits, Limited Hospital Visits.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — January 18, 2022

January 18th, 1813 was the birthday Joseph Glidden, who invented barbed wire.

And speaking of barbed wire — and the lack thereof — Kevin Costner, who starred in Open Range, was born on this day in 1955.

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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 1, by J.M.

A few months ago I was approached by a friend of a friend who asked me for some help. She’s a medical device service technician and her job takes her around most of New England visiting hospitals and other healthcare facilities to do service work on medical equipment. She lives in New Hampshire, and she and her husband have a nice spread with chickens, goats and a large vegetable garden and greenhouse. We’ve had talked several times about preparedness in general and how she would home after a disaster if she were on the road, and she finally decided it was an area she needed to address and asked me for some help putting together a lightweight Get Home Bag (GHB). I actually learned a lot myself while researching and helping her put the kit together, so I thought I’d share my experiences with SurvivalBlog readers.

I first spent some time talking to her and collecting information, and here are some critical points I came away with:

  • She and her husband both do a good amount of hiking and biking, so she’s in good physical condition.
  • Her company facility is located just outside of Boston, and she frequently goes into the office.
  • She covers customers all over New England, usually located in or around major metro areas (Boston, Portland, Concord, Warwick, Hartford, Burlington, etc.).
  • She hates to drive, so she takes public transportation pretty much all the time for anything more than a half hour away. She also doesn’t like to fly, so she takes trains, commuter rails, subways, busses, Uber, etc.
  • Her customers tend to schedule maintenance for the graveyard shift when the equipment isn’t in use, so she frequently stays overnight at a local hotel for any trip that’s not local. For overnight trips she brings a roller suitcase in addition to her carry bag.
  • She has a company-issued laptop and toolkit for working on the equipment.
  • She gets paid pretty well, and recently she received a nice bonus that she’s willing to spend part of on a decent kit. However, she’s also Yankee born and raised, so she’ll want to save money where she can.
  • She’s around 5’8” and 145 lbs. (And wasn’t that an awkward question…)
  • We figured it would take her around 7 days to walk home from her furthest customer site (Burlington, Vermont), assuming only moderate obstacles (e.g. no major blizzard, city not locked down, etc.) She spends more than half her time in the greater Boston area, where she figures it would be a 2-3 day walk.
  • She wears disposable contacts most of the time, but has a set of glasses for backup.
  • She’d like to be prepared for a wide range of emergencies, not just walking home after a disaster.

Continue reading“An Ultralight Get Home Bag – Part 1, by J.M.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on embattled Wyoming Congressional Representative Liz Cheney. (See the Wyoming section.)

Idaho

Report: Boise PD chief under investigation by Idaho State Police.

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Shari Dovale, at Redoubt News: Will the Idaho Republican Party Throw the Voters Under the Bus?

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Over at INW Report: BRAD LITTLE’S BUDGET BOASTS 17.1% SPENDING INCREASE, NOT 8.1%.

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A new snowbiking video from Wranglerstar:  Time For Idaho.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people’s motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans – anything except reason.” – Thomas Sowell

Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 17, 2022

On this day in 1994, the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Earthquake struck Los Angeles. It caused about $20 billion in damage and killed 61 people.

This is also the anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. This small battle was the turning point of the American Revolution in the South. In it, the best battlefield tactician America produced, the backwoodsman Daniel Morgan, decisively and utterly defeated the most arrogant, bloody, and successful field grade officer in the British Army, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. The battle set in motion the chain of events that led directly to the decisive siege at Yorktown and the British decision to give up on the war.

On Jan. 17, 1920 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, establishing Prohibition. By one account, 286 distilleries, 992 breweries, and more than 300,000 bars and saloons were closesd.

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Bushnell Trail Cameras, by Pat Cascio

I’m old school – especially when it comes to hunting. I always thought that the word “hunting” meant you got out there and beat the bushes for the game you wanted. I guess things have changed over the years, and now it is a scientific and calculated thing – doesn’t sound much like a hunt to me. It is more of a game, if you ask me.

Have you ever wondered what is going on at your digs, when you aren’t home, or who – or what – is on your property in the dead of night? Yeah, I thought so – many of us are curious about what is lurking and may pose a threat to us – when we aren’t as attentive as we should be. I know on my small retreat, of only about four acres, I can’t see the entire place, without actually walking my property – it has heavy timber and other vegetation.

There are times when we’ve been gone for several hours from our home, and when we return, we just have a feeling that someone has been on our property. That is just a feeling, and I’m sure many of you have had this happen to you. You just know that something isn’t right, or is out of place, from the time you left until you returned home. Sure, you’ve looked around your place, but you can’t put your finger on it – but something is different.

We have motion sensor alarms all over our front yard – and it is a big front yard. We also have motion sensor lights that turn on after the sun goes does, and we know when someone is on our property with the combination of lights and audible alarms. However, none of that is of any use, when we’re not home.

Many hunters have turned to trail cameras in recent years. These are handy-dandy cameras you can attach to trees in the area you plan to hunt. Used to be, these sort of cameras were very expensive, and there was always the chance that someone else might discover them, and steal them. That happens a lot more often than you might think. Plus, when setting up these cameras, to check the game in your area, you have to have a good idea where a game trail might be. To inexperienced hunters, they might walk over a game trail or even on the trail, without knowing where to place a camera or two.Continue reading“Bushnell Trail Cameras, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Anne’s Smoked Flavor Chicken With Chickpeas

The following recipe for Smoked Flavor Chicken With Chick Peas was kindly sent to us by  Anne. This is a tasty and stomach-warming winter recipe that serves four adults.

Ingredients
  • 2 chicken breasts, cubed
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • Salt and pepper (to taste)
  • One 12- to 16-ounce (1.5-cup) can of chopped tomatoes
  • One 12- to 16-ounce (1.5-cup) can of chickpeas
  • Chicken bouillon cube — or 1/4-pint of frozen chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • Cooking oil (of your choice)
Directions
  1. Heat the cooking oil.
  2. Saute the chopped onion and garlic for five minutes.
  3. Add the cubed chicken.
  4. Add the listed spices.
  5. Fry slowly, for about 10 minutes.
  6. Dissolve the chicken bouillon cube in a quarter of a pint of boiling water and then add this broth to the pan with the tomatoes.
  7. Add the lemon juice.
  8. Bring mixture to a boil.
  9. Pour in the chickpeas.
  10. Add salt and pepper (to taste).
  11. Cook slowly for another 10 minutes to ensure chicken is cooked through.
SERVING

Serve with bread and/or rice.

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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 stock market prospects in 2022. (See the Equities section.)

Precious Metals:

The Key Factor In Silver Is A “Concentrated Short Position On Comex”. JWR’s Comment: This shorting-selling cannot go on forever. When interest rates spike, it will trigger a breakout in spot and futures silver prices. The shorts will have to cover their positions. What I’m describing here is a massive short squeeze in a notoriously thin market. When the short-sellers finally capitulate, it will likely propel the price of silver above $60 per Troy ounce. So, buy your silver now, before the Fed raises interest rates!

o  o  o

Gold/silver: are you buying the dip?

Economy & Finance:

Economist: Outlook for economy in 2022 uncertain.

o  o  o

The Federal Reserve is scaring markets with the triple threat of policy tightening.

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‘If we’re lucky,’ the Fed can engineer a ‘soft landing’: Expect more than 4 rate increases in 2022 and a lot of market volatility, says JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon.

o  o  o

Inflation Fears Among Small Business Owners at Highest Level In 40 Years.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” – Samuel Adams

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 16, 2022

On January 16, 1920, one year after it was ratified, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution went into effect, for the prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages.

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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.

 

Surviving Virginia’s New Year’s Snowstorm, by K.A.A.

Unlike many of you, I am an average suburbanite, not a hardcore prepper living on a homestead in the country. My family needs to stay where we are because of my husband’s work. So we are making the best of living a short distance from Washington, DC. We are generally well-prepared for the typical emergencies experienced in northern Virginia, such as severe thunderstorms and hurricanes. But we were caught mostly unprepared for the unusually severe snowstorm that we had in early January, 2022. This storm delivered 14-inches of snow where I live and stranded hundreds of drivers, including one of Virginia’s US Senators, for over 20 hours on a 50-mile stretch of I-95, which was rendered impassable by the storm. I am going to share our successes, failures, and lessons learned from this experience to help others who live in suburbia and may face a similar situation.

We had been out of state on vacation for Christmas and New Year’s for over two weeks when we saw that some snow was expected at home. We decided to return early to avoid the bad traffic that results from any precipitation as we live in one of the worst traffic areas of the country. We returned late on Sunday night and didn’t do any food shopping. We weren’t concerned because any snow that is forecast usually falls short of what we actually get. We woke up the next morning to heavy snow falling at a rate of over one inch per hour. By the storm’s end, we received over a foot of heavy, wet snow. To give some perspective, where we live a few inches is a big deal and causes government shutdowns, closures, traffic accidents, and a general feeling of panic in many people.

Our power lines are mostly underground, so we were surprised when our power went off in the morning during the storm. We ended up being without electricity for almost four days. Unlike hurricanes where the worst we have to worry about is some spoiled food and a hot, humid house, for the first time we had to worry about hypothermia and frozen pipes.

Our central heating system no longer worked. We had no hot water because our tankless gas water heater requires electricity. Our gas stove did not work because safety features prevented us from igniting the burners manually. The only remaining source of heat, our gas fireplace, would not turn on because the power was out. Heavy snow caused several of our trees to fall in our yard and on the neighbor’s fence.Continue reading“Surviving Virginia’s New Year’s Snowstorm, by K.A.A.”