Hands-On Self-Sufficient Living in Florida, by Bonnie R.

Introduction

I have lived in Southwest Florida for my entire life. My dad is a Florida-raised, University of Florida graduate. My mother spent half her childhood in Indiana and the other half in Naples, Florida.

Before my siblings and I were born, my parents started a semi-successful beekeeping business that has been going strong for thirty years. Now, I say “semi-successful” because when you’re running a beekeeping business you rely mostly on nature; and nature is something that is depleting with every passing year. However, they built this business well enough that they were able to homeschool and raise seven children off the profits. Their three oldest sons have even come to profit from their own beekeeping businesses.

I will go a little further into the beekeeping aspect of our life later into the article, but for now let’s start with farming. The four younger children (including myself) stick with cows, poultry, and gardening. We primarily raise is cattle. This includes beef cows, dairy cows, and beef/dairy crosses. We have had many of our animals fall ill, but none like the cows.

Sometimes after recently giving birth, the dairy cows got milk fever. Milk fever is caused by a blood calcium deficiency in which the cow will be unable to stand up. She may also have diarrhea, become dehydrated, and can even die. This is something that happened to us once). For this, we gave electrolytes and calcium supplements. We even found that Tums heartburn tablets would work, in an emergency situation.

To get the cows off the ground, we’d push a heavy linen sheet or a tarp underneath them and then get as many people as possible to lift them up. More often than not, the sheet or tarp would rip.

Scours was when one calf would get severe diarrhea; and then the rest of the herd would get it. In fact, just earlier this year a young calf got it. We ended up giving it electrolytes and barley water. This is fairly easy to make and works wonders. Of course, the only way to get it into the calf was feeding it with a large, needleless syringe.Continue reading“Hands-On Self-Sufficient Living in Florida, by Bonnie R.”

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, more conjecture on a nascent 21st Century U.S. civil war.

Tim Pool Talks Civil War

Some food for thought from pundit Tim Pool: NYT Article Warns Civil War Is Close As Media Claims Proof  Trump Planned Military Coup On Jan 6th. JWR’s Comments: Tim Pool’s observations on spikes in food costs as triggers for civil war are spot-on.

Kentucky Tornado Aftermath: 74 Dead, 100+ Missing

In the New York Post: Kentucky tornado aftermath: At least 74 dead, over 100 still missing.  A quote:

“National Guard troops and FEMA crews are helping to search through the rubble for possible survivors — and more expected casualties, Beshear acknowledged at an afternoon briefing.

‘We expect that this death count will continue to grow,’ the grim-faced governor said.”

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss on The Matrix Awakens

This technology has some huge implications in creating Deep Fakes of just about anyone: Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss on making The Matrix Awakens with Epic Games. JWR’s Comments: First, a warning:  This interview takes a kinky turn in the last segment. Skip watching that part.

In a way, what they discussed about deep fakes is confirmation of my 2009 decision to stop doing any on-camera interviews. In essence, the fakers can’t manipulate images that don’t exist. Take heed: This technology will proliferate in the next few years. In the wrong hands, it can do a lot of damage.

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 15, 2021

December 15th is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights became law on this day in 1791, following ratification by the state of Virginia. We encourage our American readers to gather publicly and read the Bill of Rights aloud.

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The 15th of December, 1923, was the birthday of Uziel “Uzi” Gal (born Gotthard Glas). According to Wikipedia, he was “…born in Weimar, Germany. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 he moved first to England and later, in 1936, to Kibbutz Yagur in the British Mandate of Palestine where he changed his name to Uziel Gal. In 1943, he was arrested for illegally carrying a gun and sentenced to six years in prison. However, he was pardoned and released in 1946, serving less than half of his sentence.” He is, of course, remembered as the inventor of the famous Uzi submachine gun. Uzi Gal is not to be confused with Israel Galili, the chief weapons designer for Israeli Military Industries (IMI), who along with Yaacov Lior designed the Galil improvement to the AK-47.

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For those who have asked… Yes, we will be making another batch of SurvivalBlog Archive waterproof/EMP-proof USB sticks again this year.  They should be orderable on or about January 15th, 2022, and deliveries will start around February 10th. This year, because the archive has become so large, we’ll have the first 10 years on one stick, and the six most recent years (through Dec 31, 2021) on a second stick. And as usual,  the bonus book selection will be growing again. Stay tuned, for details.

Note that the archive sticks will probably sell out by mid-February, so be sure to mark a reminder in your calendar, to get your order in.

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.

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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.

Can You Survive Without Meat When The SHTF?, by Ken Gallender

I’d like to start this article with saying that I am not a tree hugger. I love meat, eggs, cheese and fish. I’m not trying to convince anyone to quit hunting and fishing. I have been an outdoorsman my entire life. I drive and use 4×4 trucks and ATVs every week. I just want to impart what has profoundly changed my life.

I have given a lot of thought to how we would survive and provide the protein requirements for my family if suddenly we were faced with the prospect of having no supermarket or source of meat and dairy products. I keep fish traps, gill nets, minnow seines, etc. as a silent means of catching fish and crayfish (“freshwater lobster”). I also keep traps for small game.

I recently learned, quite accidentally, that you can not only survive, but actually thrive in the absence of meat, dairy, and fish. I learned that with the exception of vitamin B-12 you can eat just one food and sustain yourself for a lifetime. That food is the sweet potato. You only get B-12 from the bacteria in your food, it is not found in the meat and dairy products, only the bacteria consumed by the animals and winds up in the meat and dairy. Cheese is full of bacteria. To get the vitamin D your body needs is easy. Go stand in the sun with your face and arms exposed 10 or 15 minutes a week. You can get all you need taking a short stroll every day.

As I entered middle age, I became obese and no matter what I tried, I was unable to drop the weight in any meaningful amount. I developed high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. My ankles would swell to the size of softballs after a day at my desk. My knees hurt and my activity was severely limited. I was 80 lbs. overweight. I started researching my diabetes and I discovered a video of Dr. John McDougall and watched his video on YouTube titled Stop Eating Poison. I watched in disbelief at what he said and it was directly opposite of what my doctors advised, and everything I have heard and read for the past 30 years.

I have spent years not eating anything that had a carbohydrate in it. I ate huge amounts of chicken, eggs, cheese, green vegetables, etc. I never lost weight. I started intermittent fasting where I consumed nothing other than unsweetened coffee and tea, three days in a row each week. I once went on a 7-day fast and guess what, I was still 80 lbs. overweight. Sure, I would lose 4 or 5 pounds here and there, but nothing substantial.Continue reading“Can You Survive Without Meat When The SHTF?, by Ken Gallender”

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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Dozens of tornados touched down in five states including Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. These did tremendous damage and may have claimed more than 100 lives–mostly in Kentucky. Please keep the survivors in your prayers.  Here are some trustworthy places to make donations:

Samaritan’s Purse

and,

Kentucky Southern Baptist Convention.

o  o  o

A word of warning: Brian Williams Quits TV: America In 2021 Is “Unrecognizable”. JWR’s Comment: It remains to be seen if he goes Full Sharyl Atkinsson. But bless him for at least having the guts to say what he did.

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Bear wrote us:

“Reportedly, in response to the Julian Assange extradition ruling, Wikileaks has released a mass of documents. Here is a link to the index: https://www.bitterrootbugle.com/2021/12/14/wikileaks-data-dump/
I think things are going to keep getting, shall we say, ‘interesting’…”

o  o  o

Mark McC. wrote in response to a recent article:

“A smallpox epidemic would be horrifying if it had a 25% mortality, but many of us age 50 and older may be protected.

Have a concave or flat circular scar on your upper arm? That was left by a smallpox shot you got as a kid.
While the CDC says smallpox vax last only 3-5 years, some scientists say it has some lifetime protection.
A description of how the smallpox vaccine was invented: “Edward Jenner innoculated his gardner’s son with pus from a cowpox lesion on a milkmaid’s hand. Then sometime later he exposed the same child on both arms with the pus from someone who had smallpox.  The child never developed smallpox thereby proving immunity to smallpox by inoculating with cowpox.”
This should be easy to replicate in the event of a smallpox epidemic.
Finally, although not mentioned anywhere, the antiviral and antihelmic drug Ivermectin (yes, pony paste) could be useful for smallpox, as well as Covid. It can’t hurt to keep a couple of tubes [of plain Ivermectin paste] in stock.”

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Reader FJ sent this news from rural New York:  Hikers in Sneakers Stranded in 8 Inches of Snow Atop Mount Marcy Rescued. Here are FJ’s comments:

“The “un”-preppers get lucky.  “Don’t know how to read a map” and they go hiking. “surprised by the temperature change of elevation”.

D**n fools were just lucky.
My question: who paid for the search and rescue operation?”

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“…The Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn’t say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a ‘compelling interest’ in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn’t say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances.” – Harry Browne

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — December 14, 2021

Today is the birthday of Air Force General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, who died September 27, 1993.

December 14th is also the birthday of the late John Warren Wadleigh (born 1927, died September 24, 2013). Wadleigh was better known to many SurvivalBlog readers by his pen name – Oliver Lange. He was the author of the best-selling resistance warfare novel Vandenberg.

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The last day!  By popular demand, I extended the month-long Patton’s Birthday Sale at Elk Creek Company. It will now end tonight. Get your order in by 1700 hrs, Pacific Time on Tuesday, December 14th.  With our unique ordering system, you can choose between paying in Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. check or postal money order), or with pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage.  I should mention that about half of our customers now pay in silver.

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Today’s feature article (“The Handyman’s Tool Pouch”) was too short to be included in the judging for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

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.

The Handyman’s Tool Pouch, by John M.

Over the decades, I became a seasoned (older) person having built, renovated a few homes, rebuilt a score of autos, maintained survival retreats, watercraft, motorcycles, and so forth. These all at some point require specific tools, be it just a screwdriver, or a Crescent wrench. Chances are, working at a building site, or other situation you will have most tools that you need, but there is that unplanned event that requires a special tool. When I was younger, my goal was to have tools, lots of tools, and soon discovered the need for storage and a large tool chest on wheels was the logical solution. That worked for organizing tools but was not always convenient and sometimes required several trips back and forth to the tool chest.

Today, I still have a large chest on wheels in my workshop, and it has served me well for use in the shop. But over the years, different off-sire jobs dictated the need for a hand-carry toolbox. So I created a toolbox for electrical jobs, another for carpenter’s needs, and still another for plumbing use. In the 1970s I added a tool pouch, which was the type that roofers use, and it served me well until I discovered the electrical type pouch. This was the one made for General Electric, for their electrical workers. This discovery was a “Kodak moment” that I had while working remote projects. There, Iearned about not having the right tool for the job bigger screwdriver, or maybe a pair of pliers, a level, etc. The frustration of having to stop what I was working with or on and go back and find the tool I needed was time-consuming and interruptions in my thought process and workflow.Continue reading“The Handyman’s Tool Pouch, by John 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 wolf trapping in Idaho. (See the Idaho section.)

Region-Wide

From Montana’s Billings Gazette newspaper: For sale: God, guns and separatism in the American Redoubt. This has typical 21st Century liberal journalistic bias, but at least they reported the details correctly. For the record: They quoted me out of context. I’ve made it clear from the beginning that the key goal of the American Redoubt internal migration movement is encouraging the relocation of conservative Christians and Jews to the Redoubt.

o  o  o

‘Greater Idaho’ petition delivered in Klamath County.

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New twist in decades-old Montana missing person case.

o  o  o

Man accused of kidnapping Lewiston teen groomed her through Snapchat, court records say. And here is some previous news about the case: Idaho teen missing, may be traveling in Washington with wanted man.

Idaho

Lawsuit seeks to stop wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho.

o  o  o

Several pounds of meth, marijuana located during a traffic stop.

o  o  o

Former Idaho Representative extradited back to Idaho to face rape charge.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“But let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you – and why?”  – Walter E. Williams

Preparedness Notes for Monday — December 13, 2021

December 13th is the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York. Infogalactic had this summary: “He was one of the most decorated soldiers of the United States Army in World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 35 machine guns, killing at least 28 German soldiers, and capturing 132 others. This action occurred during the United States-led portion of the broader Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France to breach the Hindenburg line and make the opposing German forces surrender.”

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Today we present another review written by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

Cold Steel Finn Hawk, by Pat Cascio

Sometimes, something old, can be new again, with minor improvements. The Finnish Puukko knife is one of those things that are old, but new again.

When I was just a young boy – maybe 11 years old, I used to travel to downtown Chicago, to haunt a couple Army/Navy surplus stores. I always had an affinity for anything military surplus. I still do, to a certain extent. Both of the Army/Navy surplus stores I used to haunt were within a block and a half of one another. However, the smaller of the two stores, had a much larger selection of knives and bayonets to choose from. One of the very first knives I purchased was a Finnish Army Puukko fixed blade knife – nothing fancy about it, but there was just “something” about it, that caught my attention – and I purchased it. I don’t recall the exact price, but I want to say it was around ten bucks.

Over the years, many different companies have manufactured their version of the Puukko knife – some were good copies, some pieces of junk. One thing I remember about my genuine Puukko military knife is how sharp it was – and it held the edge forever before it needed to be re-sharpened. Most of the use it received from me, was just sitting on the front stoop, whittling on a piece of wood. Kids today don’t do that – they are more interested in playing video games. They don’t know what they’re missing – spending a summer afternoon, just sitting there, making a big piece of wood into shavings – an entire afternoon could be “wasted” away shaving a piece of wood. Life was soooo much simpler back then, than it is today.

I had quite a knife and bayonet collection at one time. But I needed funds going through a divorce later in life, and I sold the entire collection. I now wish that I hadn’t. Hindsight is wonderful, and I’m sure many will agree with that. Regrets? I have a few…

If you do a web search, and type in “Puukko Knife”, you’ll come up with a lot of versions of this famed knife, some are quite different from the original version, some very similar, some priced right and some priced out of this world.

Cold Steel is no longer owned by long-time friend, Lynn C. Thompson. He sold it about a year ago. I was sad to see that happen. However, a check of their website shows that many of the knives he designed are still available. One is the Finn Hawk, that was co-designed by Thompson and famed custom knife maker Andrew Demko, and without a doubt, it is an improvement on the original Puukko knife, and priced oh-so-right.Continue reading“Cold Steel Finn Hawk, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Nut Balls

The following recipe for Peanut Butter Nut Balls is from reader Cathy N.   She notes: “This is the recipe much as it was given to me. But I have added my own minor changes.”

Ingredients
  • 1 Box Powdered Sugar (1#)
  • 1-1/2 C Flaked Coconut
  • !-1/2 C Crushed Graham Crackers 
  • 1-1/2 C Chopped Pecans or Peanuts
  • 1C Melted butter
  • 12 oz Jar Crunchy Peanut Butter
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions
  1. Mix all together and form into 1” balls
  2. Melt 2 packages of semi-sweet chocolate morsels with 3 Tbsp shortening in a double boiler.
  3. Dip balls in chocolate, and then chill.
Chef’s Notes:

When chilling the balls grease a cookie sheet first for easier removal (spatula) I use the butter flavored shortening.  I chill directly in the freezer and when frozen I bag them in a zip bag until ready for giving.

Warm the peanut butter in the microwave for easier mixing.

I start with 2 Tbsp of butter-flavored shortening and add as needed for dipping.  

Substitute walnuts for pecans to save a little money, also if the nuts are chopped small it is easier to roll the balls since this is all done by hand.  Whichever is easier for you, they can even be mixed.

Getting the graham crackers that are already ground up, saves a lot of time and mess.  They should be in the baking section and are in a box.

The quantities of ingredients are not set in stone — a little more a little less of anything will be okay.

Order on the internet or go to a candy supply store and get a chocolate dipper, these are usually a little plastic or stainless steel thing that looks like a mini spoon with a semi-long handle and has a hole in the middle of the spoon part. They are inexpensive.  Other designs are also available.

Try white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet or peanut butter chips can be good too, if you give these as gifts be prepared to multiply the recipe due to demand in the future.

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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, more news on the Evergrande default. (See the Economy, Finance, & Taxes section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold has been ‘shockingly stable’: It’s a long-term play as U.S. dollar rolls over, says Jeffrey Gundlach.

o  o  o

U.S. Treasury Refuses to Answer Questions about Disposition of Its Own Gold. (Thanks to Randy for the link.)

Economy, Finance, & Taxes:

An update: Evergrande defaults on $1.2B in foreign bonds, Fitch says, as China intervenes in debt-ridden real estate sector.

Elsewhere, we read: Evergrande Has Finally Defaulted: Here’s What Happens Next.

JWR’s Comment:  Despite the claimed re-structuring, I expect to see lots of “Asian Contagion” headlines in the coming days and weeks.

o  o  o

Fitch: Normalization Expected for U.S. Banks in 2022.

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Over at WND: Americans respond to states with high taxes – by leaving!

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Still no personal income payroll tax, but… Washington Enacts New Capital Gains Tax for 2022 and Beyond.

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New Minimum Wages for 2022.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”