Prepping For In Between – Part 2, by Noah C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Tangible takeaways

As I researched this I found a fascinating point of agreement in writings and interviews with disparate sources (former Delta Force, CIA agent, British Paratrooper, and a Mossad agents) all saying that being aware and friendly is the default to avoiding bad outcomes across cultures. Not being intimidating. Not having weapons (in fact sometimes deliberately avoiding firearms and knives). A friendly face blending in while being aware is the ideal default. Regardless of what other steps you decide are prudent friendly unobtrusive awareness is the pre-requisite.

If things continue to deteriorate (while not falling apart) an almost universally accepted strategy is in the subtle power of numbers. Not gang movement but group movement. Going to restaurants or parks or even shopping with multiple families. An outing showing good humor and good manners by all while at the same time offering the safety of numbers and multiple eyes on the horizon. That is not provocative but is protective. We’re not there yet here in the US but we may be headed that way.

Finally, even though signs of danger vary from place to place I will offer this as a possibly universal signal that there is danger: if the children disappear. For months, I didn’t bring my children on outings and I didn’t see other children out. If there had been children and now there are not, the baseline has changed in a major way.Continue reading“Prepping For In Between – Part 2, by Noah C.”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.“- Galatians 3:1-22 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 13, 2021

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, was born in Scotland on November 13th, 1850.

Continental Army Brigadier General Richard Montgomery took Montreal, Canada without opposition on this day in 1775. Ironically, Shortly after this Montgomery was killed while fighting the British in Quebec, and the British retook the territory.

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The George Patton’s Birthday Sale is now underway, at Elk Creek Company.  Check out the reduced prices on all of our pre-1899 antique cartridge guns, percussion replicas, percussion conversion cylinders, bayonets, and knives. The sale ends on December 11th.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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 $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Prepping For In Between – Part 1, by Noah C.

I’ve done a lot of research into prepping, survivalism, and bushcraft. I like the way you guys think. I like your approach to technology, I like that you’re keeping old skills and old recipes alive, I applaud your resolve to defend your families and communities, and I admire your inclusion of charity in your preparations; but I say ‘you guys’ because I don’t feel like I’m really one of you. At the same time, because of what you all have taught me, neither am I one of the herd panic buying beef jerky and bottled water at the last minute. I am someone in between and I want to write to others who are prepping in between.

I live in small-town USA with my wife and kids. My property has no chance of even approaching self-sufficiency and it is close enough to a large enough population center that the fleeing horde would strip it bare even if was. I spend money on things I absolutely would not spend on if I believed the balloon could go up any minute. At the same time I was not shocked at how quickly shelves were stripped in 2020. You guys had already taught me about just-in-time [JIT] shipping. And I was already carrying extra provisions against emergency weather.

There is a part of me would love to live in the Alaskan wilderness in a homestead, how else would I have found you guys? But in my research I came to realize there’s a zero-sum aspect to this. Each resource we put towards preparing for TEOTWAWKI is a resource we didn’t put to succeeding in the world as we know it. My wife has a point in not wanting that life to where it excludes resources for my children’s success in the world as we know it. Ultimately, prepping for in between means that you won’t be the most successful in either world but I think you can succeed well enough in both. Something more important because I think the emergencies we will face will be in between, too.Continue reading“Prepping For In Between – Part 1, by Noah C.”

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:

This week I’ve been very busy, catching up on projects here at the Rawles Ranch. In addition to unpacking and organizing,  I worked on our new (larger) hen house. I also dropped off a load of furniture and a dozen chickens that were our gifts to a young family that lives nearby.  Lily and I shoveled up a couple of tons of bull manure. (The real kind, versus the virtual/rhetorical kind from Washington, DC.) This took more than a half-dozen trips with our electric ATV and its small dump trailer.  We moved that manure to fertilize the right side of the Annex garden.  Next up will be wiring our replacement henhouse with lights, 117 VAC outlets, and a fan.

I’ve also started boxing orders for Elk Creek Company, since our month-long sale is underway. This year we are calling it the George Patton’s Birthday Sale. It runs from November 11th to December 11th, 2021.

Now, over to Lily, for her details…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.

The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.

For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.

They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.

The anger of the Lord hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.

As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.

They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.” – Lamentation 4: 5-20 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — November 12, 2021

November 12th, 1950 was the birthday of Corporal John Alan Coey (died 19 July 1975). He was the first American volunteer killed in Rhodesia.

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Today is the birthday of USMC Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph “Dan” Daly (born 1873, died April 27, 1937). He was one of only nineteen men (including seven Marines) to twice receive the Medal of Honor.

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I just noticed that we’ve reached the 35,000 posts threshold, on SurvivalBlog. I recommend that any recently-arrived readers take the time to dig through the blog archives, that date all the way back to 2005.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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 $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, 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.

 

 

Nobody Wants To Be That Guy, by The Lone Canadian

I listen to the news daily, and I know that to a great extent they are lying to us. I listen to the politicians give their little speeches and their sound bites, and I know they are lying. I watched President Trump walk quietly away from the big chair even though we continue to see proof, to this day, that there was widespread election fraud. First, the Federal Reserve told us there would be no inflation, and then when they could no longer hide the facts, they told us that it will be transitory. The government tells us that a little piece of cloth over our faces, that won’t even stop dust particles, is going to save us from a virus that is 50 to 100 nanometers in size. We can reach herd immunity with an experimental gene therapy (I refuse to call it a vaccine) that hasn’t been properly tested, and that we don’t know what the long-term effects might be. The stock market is continuing to hit record highs, so the economy is doing great. BLM and Antifa only have peaceful protests. Fences don’t work. Controlling your borders is racist. All the people illegally crossing the borders are just poor refugees from oppressed countries. There are no cartels involved, and nobody with a criminal background will come into the country. China and Russia are our friends, not our adversaries, and we need to negotiate deals with them, no matter how bad the deals are for us. America is always the aggressor, and always wrong. If it wasn’t for our imperialist, expansionist attitudes, peace would break out world-wide and everybody would hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

Am I the only one that looks at the preceding list, and wonders where common sense has gone? How can so many people believe the lies being told? How can our leaders and media continue to tell such outright lies, and expect to get away with it?

Well, my friends, the real truth is that they will continue to get away with it because the general population is too scared to hear the truth! To quote Tommy Lee Jones, “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it!”

And why won’t any of our leaders tell us the truth? Because NOBODY WANTS TO BE THAT GUY! What guy? The guy that actually tells the truth to those dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and brings about the catastrophe that we are all trying to avoid.

Let’s just stop and examine a few different stories and events. Bear with me as I ramble a little bit, from one subject to another.

The EMP Commission, created in 2001, found that if an EMP weapon were used against the United States that it could result in the death of 9 out of 10 Americans, within the first year. Now, in 2021, that prediction has not changed, and there has been little to no progress in protecting the country from this weapon. Just think about that for a minute. 9 out of 10 people would mean about 298 million people dead in the U.S. alone. That is children, the elderly, the young, the old, and the in-between. That means that if you are standing in a group of 20 friends and family, that a year after an EMP, the odds are that there would only be 2 of you left. The rest of those people, your loved ones, would be dead! That’s a pretty sobering thought. For most of us it would be an unimaginable nightmare.Continue reading“Nobody Wants To Be That Guy, by The Lone Canadian”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the recently-passed $1.2 Trillion infrastructure spending bill. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Metals prices set for ‘historically above-average prices through to 2025’ – S&P Global Market Intelligence.

o  o  o

Growing solar power sector to drive silver demand for the next decade – Heraeus.

Economy & Finance:

Over at The New American: Congress Enacts $1.2 Trillion “Infrastructure” Bill With Radical Provisions. JWR’s Comments:  The word inside the Beltway is that this $1.2 Trillion boondoggle (scaled back from Biden’s $3+ Trillion request) is about 90% pork-barrel spending, mainly benefitting Democrat-dominated coastal states.  Take note of the names of the Republicans that signed on to this monstrosity of a spending bill. Also, consider this: It took 200 years for the Federal government to accumulate its first $1 trillion in National Debt. The congresscritters just more than matched that, in a day. It is hard to keep track, but the debt level is now around $29 Trillion. Face the facts, folks: Their only way to escape their mountain of debt is to inflate their way out. Invest, accordingly. Hedge, hedge, hedge!

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Further up the Producer Price Pipeline, Inflation Rages at over 20%, Heading for Consumers.

o  o  o

The stock markets are getting farther and farther from reality. The ratio of corporate equities to GDP in the U.S. (200% at last measure) is the highest in history. Beware.  I recommend reducing your exposure.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — November 11, 2021

Today is the birthday of General George S. Patton. In honor of his birthday, we are running a month-long sale at Elk Creek Company.  Check out the reduced prices on all of our pre-1899 antique cartridge guns, percussion replicas, percussion conversion cylinders, bayonets, and knives. The sale ends on December 11th, 2021.

—
November 11th is also of course Veteran’s Day. If you value your freedom, then thank a veteran.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 97 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. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum-sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.

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 $150 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!

—

More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 97 ends on November 30th, 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.

Home-Made Insulin, by C.S.

After seeing several discussions online in various forums about how individuals with type 1 diabetes would be able to survive post-Schumer Hits The Fan (SHTF), I became curious.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL NOR A SCIENTIST AND ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE RESEARCHED INDEPENDENTLY AND ALWAYS CONSULT WITH MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS.

Okay, insulin is the body’s way of controlling the levels of sugar in your blood. All of today’s insulin is synthesized but when it was first discovered it all came from animals. Insulin is produced in the pancreas or pancreatic areas. Approaching this from a preparedness standpoint I was curious if insulin could be produced at home. The leading sources of home-produced insulin would be the pancreas of pigs or cattle. The issue I see with this would be the potential killing of a food source before it was needed just to make insulin. After some digging I found that fish also produce insulin and if you were raising Tilapia for other prep then you would have a source.

INSULIN FROM MAMMALS

As soon as you can after slaughtering the animal for food, remove the pancreas and begin processing. The traditional method of preparation is as follows — s recounted in several publications, but this method dates back to 1925:Continue reading“Home-Made Insulin, by C.S.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

Justice Department Arrests Two in Ransomware Hacks

I spotted this in the highly-recommended McAlvany Daily G2 e-newsletter: Justice Department arrests two in ransomware hacks.

Jim Caviezel’s “The Storm is Upon Us” Speech

Reader Rick P. suggested a video link to powerfully patriotic and Christian speech: Jim Caviezel “The Storm is Upon Us” – The Sound of Freedom. A couple of quotes from his rousing speech:

“We are headed into the storm of all storms. Yes, the storm is upon us.”

“We must fight for that authentic freedom and live my friends. By God, we must live and with the Holy Spirit as your shield and Christ as your sword may you join Saint Michael and all the other angels in defending God and sending Lucifer and his henchmen straight back to hell where they belong.”

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