Mosquito Protection and a Headlamp, by The Novice

It is said that even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. In this second installment of the Blind Squirrel series, I would like to pass along some nutty discoveries for your amusement and edification.

Mosquito Protection

The area where I live is quite swampy. At certain times of the year, being outside without some sort of protection is almost unbearable.

Whenever possible, I like to avoid the use of insect repellent. It feels sticky, smells stinky, and I don’t like the idea of absorbing chemicals through my skin. Fortunately, there are some other tools available that provide excellent protection from mosquito attacks.

Head Nets

If it is not too warm, a head net used with a broad brim hat and a jacket can provide excellent protection. Just put on the hat, pull the net over the hat and down to the collar of your shirt, put on the jacket and zip it all the way up, and you are ready to brave the wilds of mosquito land. Head nets are light, can be packed into the tiniest of spaces, and can save you a lot of misery when blood-sucking creatures are swarming. (Well, with mosquitoes at least. Politicians are more difficult to deal with.) Head nets are widely available at reasonable prices wherever camping gear is sold. The best deal that I could find on eBay at the time of this writing was a four-pack for $11.99.

Bug Jackets

Some days, it is just too hot to put on a regular jacket. A bug jacket is a good alternative. It is made entirely of mesh, and includes an integrated head net. Just put on a broad brim hat, pull the bug jacket over your head, put your arms through the sleeves, and tighten the drawstrings at the wrists and waist. Bug jackets in various sizes are also widely available at reasonable prices wherever camping gear is sold. The best deal that I could find on eBay at the time of this writing in my size (large) was $17.45. Bug jackets can also be packed in an extremely small space. This is not always an advantage. I had to buy a new bug jacket this year, because my old bug jacket is packed away so well that presently I cannot find it. I was not too terribly upset, because I suspect it will turn up sooner or later, and… “two is one, but one is none.”Continue reading“Mosquito Protection and a Headlamp, by The Novice”

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:

We had a fairly quiet week here at the Rawles Ranch.  As an answer to prayer, we had a couple of days of rain. That good soaking will go a long way toward ending the fire season in the region.

I’ve been very busying gathering inventory and packing orders for Elk Creek Company. Take note that I will be putting the biz on hiatus for the month of September, while I travel. I really need to get out there and find more inventory!

This week, I helped my wonderful wife Avalanche Lily tote in her crop of potatoes.  She’ll provide all of the details on that…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.” – Psalm 28 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 20, 2021

August 20th, 1866 is the day that President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over.

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August 20th, 1935 was the birthday of former Congressman Ron Paul.  Dr. Paul is to be commended for fighting the good fight for many years.

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Some sad news: Journalist Joe Galloway, chronicler of Vietnam War, dies.

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The last day!  Today is the last day of a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company. In honor of gun designer James Paris Lee’s birthday, I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% on nearly all of our inventory. With the recent drop in the spot price of silver on the COMEX, this is an advantageous time to make your purchases in FRNs.  (We’ve temporarily dropped our FRN-to-silver multiplier to just 20.3-to-1.) Get your order in soon. Please note that we no longer take credit card payments, but we do take pre-1965 U.S. silver coins or inflated FRNs in the form of cash, checks, or money orders. (At our store, you may toggle between silver and FRN pricing.) Again, this sale will end tonight: the evening of Friday, August 20, 2021.

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A Special Note: We are now running very low on feature articles for the blog. Round 96 of the writing contest ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Thanks! – JWR

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 96 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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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. Siege Stoves is generously donating a SIEGE® STOVE kit, including a Titanium Gen 3 Flat-Pack Stove with titanium Cross-Members and a variety of bonus items including a Large Folding Grill, a pair of Side Toasters, a Compact Fire Poker, and an extra set of stainless steel universal Cross-Members. (In all, a $200 value.)
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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!

Honorable Mention:

A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit toward the purchase of any antique or percussion replica gun from Elk Creek Company will be awarded to each Honorable Mention prize winner.

—

Round 96 ends on September 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.

Your AR-15 For Hunting Deer, by Behind The Counter

Even a casual reader of SurvivalBlog over the last several years has seen a number of excellent articles on deer hunting. While deer can be a valuable supplement to food storage in more or less normal times, most of these articles have made commonsense arguments that it would be a serious mistake to plan on venison as a staple in a true TEOTWAWKI event. There are some rural parts of the Redoubt where deer may continue to be abundant at least for some time, but in the more populous Midwestern farming states, along the East Coast, and in the South, venison on the hoof will quickly become wary and scarce under the severe hunting pressure likely to occur in a long-term disaster scenario.

Nonetheless, getting a deer license and putting together a well-planned hunt does make a lot of sense in these tough times, especially if you resolve to use your intended defense rifle as your hunting weapon.
Did you have a large enough supply of ammo that you were able to maintain or even increase your handgun and rifle practice in the last 18 months? Lockdowns, social distancing, and other mandates may have kept you from even going to your local gun range. In short, you and your preps might benefit from having a focused task that serves multiple purposes. One good solution: Take your AR-15 deer hunting!

Never blessed with great self-discipline, I usually accomplish more if I have a clear end-goal and work steadily toward it. For example, I can fully appreciate the wisdom in assembling a bug out bag and keeping my BOB near the door or in my truck. In practice, I have settled for keeping some things in my truck and adding really useful survival items to my basement storage area where I could assemble a reasonably good BOB in a short time. Taking my BOB to the field several weekends each year would have been better and would test whether I had assembled the right gear. But, nope. However, much of the gear I will need to put together for my hunt are the same items that should be in my BOB. I am resolved to keep them all together except for the clothing which is seasonally driven.Continue reading“Your AR-15 For Hunting Deer, by Behind The Counter”

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 currency revaluations real and rumored–in Venezuela, Vietnam, and Iraq. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

First up, there is this, posted over at Gold-Eagle: UBS is calling for lower levels in gold.

o  o  o

Afghanistan tensions and gold, here’s what to watch for – MKS PAMP Group.

o  o  o

A video interview: $50 silver price, $2,300 gold are next, but not before this happens first – Patrick Karim.

Economy & Finance:

US Treasury Freezes Billions In Afghan Reserves, Depriving Taliban Of Cash.

o  o  o

In The WSJ: Fed Officials Weigh Ending Asset Purchases by Mid-2022.

o  o  o

US Economic Growth Suddenly Collapses, As Even Goldman Says “Not Good”.

o  o  o

Kyle Bass: China To ‘Move In Under Security And Diplomatic Guise’ To Pilfer Afghanistan’s Trillions In Minerals.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don’t do to other nations what we don’t want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?” – Former Congressman Dr. Ron Paul

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 19, 2021

August 19th is the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906-1971). Farnsworth was an American inventor who is best known for his image pickup device that formed the basis for the fully functional and complete all-electronic television system. Among his many other inventions was the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, a small nuclear fusion device that remains a viable source of neutrons. At his death, he held over 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.

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Two Special Prayer Requests:

First, blog reader “RKRGRL68” wrote:

“I just wanted to reach out and ask my SurvivalBlog family for special prayers as I just found out that my USMC Son is being deployed to Afghanistan. I’m very afraid and really need my friends right now. As of now, my daughter, who is also USMC has not been deployed there yet, but that could change quickly as she is in Okinawa right now.”

Second, fellow prepping blogger Patrice Lewis (Editrix of the great Rural Revolution blog) posted a prayer request for the residents of her former rural neighborhood, a plateau that is a distance north of Moscow, Idaho. Patrice wrote:

“Thankfully no lives were lost, but we’re saddened that some of our dear friends, Dallas and Susie, lost their home and all their possessions. Miraculously their horses and cows escaped, singed and terrified, but at least alive. However their livestock’s winter food supply also burned.”

Patrice has established a GoFundMe page, on their behalf: Help Dallas and Susie Rebuild Their Home.

Please pray for them, and give generously.  Thanks, – JWR

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 96 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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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. Siege Stoves is generously donating a SIEGE® STOVE kit, including a Titanium Gen 3 Flat-Pack Stove with titanium Cross-Members and a variety of bonus items including a Large Folding Grill, a pair of Side Toasters, a Compact Fire Poker, and an extra set of stainless steel universal Cross-Members. (In all, a $200 value.)
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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!

—

Round 96 ends on September 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.

Shooting Drills for WTSHTF – Part 2 , by T.Z.

(Continued from Part1. This concludes the article.)

Intermediate Shooting Drills

Once you are accurate and consistent with static supported positions, start practicing static unsupported positions. The prone, kneeling and standing unsupported positions do not have a sandbag or table to support them (hence, unsupported positions), so you must create a stable platform with your body position in order to maintain a clear sight picture.

Creating a stable platform in the prone unsupported position is executed by placing your elbows on the ground and driving the buttstock into your shoulder. Your shooting hand should be lightly gripping the handle of the weapon, with most of the weight on your supporting hand. Your supporting hand should be gripping the weapon and pulling it towards you. As you lean forward into the weapon, you will feel very little weight on your shooting hand. This is preferable, as it allows the muscles around your trigger finger to relax and set the conditions for a smooth trigger squeeze.

Just as the prone unsupported position relies on using your elbows to create a stable body position, so too does the kneeling unsupported position. Your shooting hand should feel almost no weight from the weapon, but your supporting hand should be gripping the weapon and pulling it into your shoulder. Place your supporting elbow on your knee, then move it an inch or two lower. By placing the lower tricep on your knee, and your elbow guiding the aim of the weapon, you create a significantly more stable platform. Lean into the weapon and gain a proper sight picture before firing your weapon.

Unlike the previous two, the standing unsupported position does not rely on using your elbows. Because your arms cannot rest on the ground or on your knee, it is purely your muscles holding the weapon steady. Therefore the bend in your elbow would cause you to tire faster and to shake when holding your weapon for long periods of time. Straighten your supporting arm and grip the barrel in a C shape, with your thumb on top and the remaining four fingers on bottom. Just as before, pull the weapon into your shoulder and lean into it, reducing the weight on your shooting hand.Continue reading“Shooting Drills for WTSHTF – Part 2 , by T.Z.”

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 rural population losses.

Rural Population Losses Add to Farm and Ranch Labor Shortage

As reported by the Newsmax news site: Rural Population Losses Add to Farm and Ranch Labor Shortage. This article’s intro:

“Rural America lost more population in the latest census, highlighting an already severe worker shortage in the nation’s farming and ranching regions and drawing calls from those industries for immigration reform to help ease the problem.

The census data released last week showed that population gains in many rural areas were driven by increases in Hispanic and Latino residents, many of whom come as immigrants to work on farms or in meatpacking plants or to start their own businesses.”

Taliban Searching in Kabul for US Collaborators

All eyes are on Afghanistan, of late. I found this linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Taliban reportedly conducting ‘door-to-door’ searches in Kabul for US collaborators. And, just as I described in my novel Land Of Promise, the jihadis are busy requisitioning very young brides: Taliban executions, beheadings in Afghanistan strike fear among those stuck inside country.

Three Volcanoes Erupting in Alaskan Islands

H.L. sent this: Three volcanoes are erupting simultaneously on Alaskan island chain.

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 18, 2021

August 18th is the birthday of Meriwether Lewis, an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator that is best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

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The deadline to submit comments on the ATF’s proposed receiver reclassification rule is tomorrow, August 19th, 2021. Please leave your polite comment, ASAP. Note: When you write your comment, include “Federal Register Number 2021-10058.” Without that, your comment will not count.

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Just two days left!  We are nearing the end of a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company,  In honor of gun designer James Paris Lee’s birthday. I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% on nearly all of our inventory. With the recent drop in the spot price of silver on the COMEX, this is an advantageous time to make your purchases in FRNs.  (We’ve temporarily dropped our FRN to silver multiplier to just 20-to-1.) Get your order in soon. Please note that we no longer take credit card payments, but we do take pre-1965 U.S. silver coins or inflated FRNs in the form of cash, checks, or money orders. (At our store, you may toggle between silver and FRN pricing.) This sale will end on the evening of Friday, August 20, 2021.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 96 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.
  5. An assortment of products along with a one-hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

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. Siege Stoves is generously donating a SIEGE® STOVE kit, including a Titanium Gen 3 Flat-Pack Stove with titanium Cross-Members and a variety of bonus items including a Large Folding Grill, a pair of Side Toasters, a Compact Fire Poker, and an extra set of stainless steel universal Cross-Members. (In all, a $200 value.)
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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!

Honorable Mention:

A transferable $100 FRN purchase credit toward the purchase of any antique or percussion replica gun from Elk Creek Company will be awarded to each Honorable Mention prize winner.

—

Round 96 ends on September 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.

 

Shooting Drills for WTSHTF – Part 1, by T.Z.

Shooting requires constant, realistic practice to hone and maintain your skills with a weapon. This is especially true when preparing for the possibility of human beings attacking you or your family. Many people shoot for target practice or hunting, but they do not train for hostile encounters. Training with firearms for prepping must be intentional and planned, not merely a recreational activity. In this article I will show how to train for hostile encounters, including drills you can do with or without ammunition.

Given the enormous breadth of this subject, I will be limiting the scope of this article to range shooting drills with semiautomatic rifles. This will be divided into four sections: pre-fire, basic, intermediate, advanced, and expert shooting drills. It will begin with very common and simple – yet essential – exercises, and progress into more advanced drills meant to train your brain, eyes, and weapon to work together in order to successfully engage multiple targets under realistic and complex situations.

This article would be amiss if I did not discuss weapons safety. I implore the reader to always be careful around firearms, and to communicate and enforce the rules of weapons safety with each and every person he or she brings to the range. These five are especially important:

1. Always treat all weapons as if they are loaded.
2. Never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
4. Keep the weapon on “safe” until you intend to fire.
5. Always be aware of what is in front of, to the side of, and behind your target

Firearms are designed to kill, and there is not any margin for error when lives are
involved. Ensure that a range master is assigned and present, that each person understands the rules, and do not allow anyone to progress in training faster than he or she is ready. A range is not the place to have an ego.

After each person understands weapons safety, you can move on to the fundamentals of marksmanship. For anyone to become proficient and effective as a shooter, he or she must become an expert of these basic fundamentals:

1. Firing position
2. Sight picture
3. Breathing
4. Trigger squeeze

The three main firing positions are prone, kneeling, and standing. There are some differences while moving or firing behind a barrier, but they are very small. I will discuss each firing position in detail later in the article.

Sight picture is often misunderstood, yet it is essential to achieving a consistent shot group. In order to gain a proper sight picture, you will need to understand how to see, and what to look at, while shooting. ‘How to see’ refers to the shooter looking at the same part of the optic, from the same angle, every time. This is best achieved by placing your cheek on the same part of the buttstock every time. Some people place their nose on a certain part of the charging handle; others like to place the upper part of their cheekbones on a certain ridge on the stock; no matter which way you choose to position yourself with the weapon, just make sure it is consistent. Then you will consistently be looking at the optic from the same angle, achieving a good sight picture.

The aforementioned point of ‘what to look at’ refers to the shooter looking at the target, rather than the sight or scope. Too often, people look at the crosshairs or red dot, losing focus on the point they are aiming at. Shooters should instead focus on the target. Focus on the point you are aiming at, then meet the crosshairs or red dot to that point. You will be able to consistently aim at smaller points on the target, causing tighter shot groups. This is especially important when engaging multiple targets, as this allows you to transition between them with more speed and accuracy.Continue reading“Shooting Drills for WTSHTF – Part 1, by T.Z.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: 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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A video interview and tour with the late, great Mike Oehler: Idaho modern oldtimer builds underground & solar $50 houses. He passed away on February 2, 2016, at age 78.

o  o  o

Reader J.A. wrote:

“Regarding the article “Winning The War On Weeds – Part 1, by St. Funogas” where St. Funogas uses/suggests using carpet, blankets and especially second-hand carpet/blankets in gardens — I do not recommend this mainly for two reasons (1) leeching of chemicals from the items into the garden soil/water and (2) you do not know what the second-hand items were used for or what was spilled on them, thus leeching into the garden soil/water. Leeched chemicals will be absorbed by plants. The very thing being grown to be consumed.”

o  o  o

A dose of climate change truth, from Australia:  Outsiders Weather and Ice Age Watch: ‘The Sun runs on 11-year cycles’.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.” – President John F. Kennedy, from an address to the American Newspaper Publishers Association at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 1961