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 again look at Swiss watches. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Manly: Gold Price Smash in Paper – But Physical Demand on Fire.

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Barrick CEO: Gold’s real rally hasn’t even come yet; Mark Bristow on Q2 results, forward guidance.

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Yields Plunge After Strongest 10Y Auction On Record.

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Social Security’s Insolvency Is Bigger Than Climate Change And COVID-19 Combined.

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$1.1 Trillion Flood of Liquidity from Drawdown of Treasury General Account Peters Out.

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US trade deficit hits record $75.7 billion in June.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 12, 2021

This is the birthday of country singer/songwriter Buck Owens (1929–2006). His songs typified what has been called “The Bakersfield Sound.”

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From my personal collection: Through a friend with an FFL, I’m auctioning a stainless steel Seecamp LWS .380 ACP made in Milford, Connecticut, new in box with three factory magazines, and extra factory springs. As a modern gun, it would require delivery to or through an FFL. This scarce Seecamp pistol has a current market value in excess of $1,000. Please consider bidding. Not only will you help support SurvivalBlog, but you’ll end up with a gun from my personal collection. Mark your calendar: This auction ends Sunday, 8/15/2021 at 10:03 PM, Eastern Time.

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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.

Becoming a Hunter – Part 2, by Remington Smith

(Continued from Part 1.)

Becoming a true marksman does not come overnight. It comes over many trips to the range. I was blessed to be going into my first season of hunting already knowing of what I was capable. I had nothing to prove regarding my shooting.

I have been involved in one of the Olympic pistol disciplines for seven years. Through competitive shooting I have learned many, many valuable lessons. Some of these regard shooting under stress. Others involve simply the basics of shooting taken to a competitive level.

Aside from competition, my dad and I regularly shoot a bolt action .22 on our backyard range. Our range is 100 yards long; perfect for sighting in rifles. The targets are copies of the Swiss B-4 330 yard (300 meter) targets. They are scaled down, so that at 55 yards they appear the same as the original at 330 yards.
Our course of fire consists of five rounds shot over four positions: prone, sitting, squatting, and offhand. We start at the 50 yard line firing one round from prone and another round from sitting. Then, we move up to 35 yards and fire another round from squatting. Our last round is fired offhand at 25 yards (remember, this is the equivalent of a man-sized target at 150 yards). The remaining round is fired differently depending on the stage. It is fired from prone in the first stage, then sitting in the next, so on and so forth.

This course has been adapted from the courses which Jeff Cooper designed. Jeff Cooper is more than the greatest firearms instructor, he is a legend. Not only is Col. Cooper responsible for the resurrection of the 1911, he is also responsible for the development of the Scout Rifle.

Randy Cain of Cumberland tactics refined the Scout Rifle by broadening the spectrum of what it was considered. He refers to them as “practical rifles.” In my way of thinking this is what all hunting rifles should be. Cain is also quoted as having said, “You will never rise to the occasion, you will revert to your training.” Nothing is more true, and that is what keeps me training. I have seen that come true many times, both in pistol matches and once when a certain deer found himself in my crosshairs.

One major problem with hunters today is that they take their rifle to the range, sit at a bench, fire a box of ammunition, and call themselves good. Many deer have been wounded as a result of this “practice.” You must learn to shoot a rifle from any of the field positions. If you shoot a bolt action rifle, you must learn to operate that bolt with the utmost speed. Finally, you must learn to make every round count. As Jeff Cooper said, “The purpose of shooting is hitting.” Continue reading“Becoming a Hunter – Part 2, by Remington Smith”

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 low-tech tractors.

Midwest Farmers Want Older Tractors They Can Fix

Reader Jim L. suggested this sign of the times:  Midwest Farmers Are Tired of Tech-Loaded Tractors They Can’t Fix. Here is how the article begins:

“Regardless of who you think the typical Tesla owner is, they don’t—because they can’t—put their car on vehicle ramps to fix whatever problem they’re having. And just like those Tesla owners, farmers with a tractor built in the last decade, and sometimes more, are unable to perform the repairs they once could on their equipment.

Tractors, like cars—electric or otherwise—are becoming more and more reliant on technology and computers, which forces repairs to be done by dealers. And as those changes are phasing out the farmer in the repair process, older tractors are becoming more sought after in the Midwest, according to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.”

A Summer Carry Fanny Pack Set-Up

Reader W.B. mentioned this instructive video on fanny pack concealed carry: Summer Carry: Fanny Pack Set-Up. JWR’s Comment: I was tickled to see that he’s currently reading one of my books.  I didn’t pay him for “product placement.”

Low Countries: Colder-than-Average July. GSM Winter for U.S.?

André in Belgium mentioned this, over at Electroverse: Belgium and the Netherlands suffered Colder-than-Average Julys, as the Farmers’ Almanac Forecasts a ‘Grand Solar Minimum’ Winter for the U.S.. Here is an excerpt:

“July 2021 in Belgium was much cooler than average.

The month delivered record amounts of rain, too.

Average temperature at the Uccle Observatory held at just 17.9C (64.2F) — that’s -0.8C (-1.4F) below the norm:
It was also Belgium’s wettest July on record, and by some margin, too.

A total of 166.5mm (6.6 inches) of rain fell over the course of the month, versus the norm of 76.9mm (3 inches) — this busted previous record of 133.8mm (5.3 inches) set back in the year 2000.”

US And Chinese Officials Spar Over South China Sea

H.L. sent this: US And Chinese Officials Spar Over South China Sea At UN Meeting.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Situational unawareness in the private marketplace or on the battlefield will cost you your livelihood or your life. In the Age of Obama, however, such willful ignorance is a job prerequisite. The less you know the better.” – Michelle Malkin

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 11, 2021

On August 11, 1857, N. H. Wolfe and Company, the oldest flour and grain company in New York City, failed. This failure shook investor confidence and began a slow selloff in the market which continued into late August. Several other failures followed, and this cascaded into what was later called the Panic of 1857.

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In honor of gun designer James Paris Lee’s birthday, we are running a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company. I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% on nearly all of our inventory. Get your order in soon, while the selection of antique guns is still good. 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.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today, we begin 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.

Becoming a Hunter – Part 1, by Remington Smith

The mention of hunting will most likely bring two responses. The first of the non-hunter, sometimes anti-hunter, and that is of disgust. The other is of the hunter himself. It is one who smiles widely and tells a couple of hunting stories, however true they may be.

When I was young and growing up my response would have been the first. That is not entirely my fault because most of the so-called hunters in my area think nothing of killing an immature animal, or worse yet, not being a marksman and wounding the animal. For me, wounding an animal and risking the possibility of not being able to utilize it was unforgivable.

Things do change however, and my family moved out to the country when I was eleven. This move brought innumerable blessings. Living out in the country also brought me in contact with situations to which I would have never been exposed in the city. Some of these situations were of the death of an animal, and over time this changed my view on hunting. I am still disgusted, as any sportsman should be, when I hear of an animal being shot and lost. What I finally began to realize is that all animals die. Some animals die of old age in the winter. Others die quickly from a hunter’s bullet. Their meat is eaten and enjoyed and thanks is given for the blessing of their nutrients.

I have now been blessed to have hunted a season, bagged a deer, and learned many valuable lessons about hunting as a way of self-reliance. I have also learned many things about myself through hunting. My prayer is that through this article I can prevent someone else from making the same mistakes I made during my first season, so they can be more focused on finding and learning about themselves through this activity in which the crazy, outside world has no business. In order to best show what needs to be developed to be a successful hunter and sportsman, we will look at choosing a rifle, hunting equipment, hunting strategies, marksmanship development, scouting, and my experience of the hunt.Continue reading“Becoming a Hunter – Part 1, by Remington Smith”

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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We’ll start with this advice on growing peppers, from Sean B.:

“Although I have been saving seeds from my garden vegetables and fruits for more than five years now, this year I am harvesting the result of a rookie mistake I made last year. Not knowing that bell peppers and jalapeno peppers can cross-pollinate, my bell pepper seeds from last year are now growing a hybrid and my jalapeno seeds from last year have very poor germination and low survivability in the plants. My hybrid bell pepper/jalapeno plants are now growing what looks like a very large jalapeno, that is spicier than a bell pepper, but not spicy enough to be a “hot” pepper. They also don’t have the nice thick fleshy fruit wall we expect from a bell pepper. So, although the hybrid is edible, it is closer to a “worst of both worlds” combination.

Next year I will either have to try growing my saved two-year-old bell pepper and jalapeno seeds (collected before the cross-pollination), or buy new seeds. A reminder to the seed savers out there, if you are not doing it already, keep similar plants far enough apart to prevent cross-pollination. Also, each year, pack away some “just in case” seeds so if something goes south, you have some 2-year old seeds as a backup. Were this year’s harvest happening during a TEOTWAWKI scenario, these “worst of both worlds” peppers would be a very unpleasant surprise.”

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While they scare you with “variants,” Congress wants to make dietary supplements prescription only. (Thanks to Jim L., for the link.)

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Lily directed me to this, over at Gateway Pundit: Bill Gates Smiles When Suggesting the Nonvaccinated Should Be Withheld Their Social Security Benefits. JWR’s Comment: Most evil people have difficultly concealing the depth of their evil intent.

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Reader L.H. recommended this, from The Freeholder blog: Creeping Big Brotherism.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 10, 2021

On August 10th, 1984, Red Dawn, the first PG-13 rated movie, starring Patrick Swayze was released. The movie (the 1984 original, not the 2012 remake) is a favorite of both JWR and HJL. This fine John Milius movie embodies the independent, indomitable spirit that created this country.

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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.

Bitcoin for Preppers, by S.C.

“Oh no, not someone else talking about Bitcoin!” That is what you’re probably thinking right now.

I know Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been a hot topic of late. And there are more than enough “wanna-be” experts out there.

When looking through SurvivalBlog.com, I realized that it’s been quite a while since there was a dedicated piece on cryptocurrencies. Since the technology (and the economy) is changing so rapidly, I wanted to do a primer on Bitcoin for Preppers. I’ll include Use Cases and some How-To.

In this article, I’m going to make the case for Bitcoin, not as an investment (which I believe it is), nor a great store of value (which I also believe it is becoming), but instead, I’m going to simply state that having some Bitcoin in offline storage should be an essential part of any prepper’s toolkit.

Recently, a former JPMorgan cross-asset strategist said about Bitcoin,

“If..one’s risk scenario is of the Thunderdome variant characterized by the simultaneous collapse of a currency and its payments system, then there is no better hedge than private, digital money.”

If JPMorgan sees it as a prepping tool, maybe you should as well.

And I don’t claim to be a Bitcoin expert. I’m not a developer or a software programmer, but over the past four  years, I’ve dug pretty deep down the crypto rabbit hole and I’ve become convinced that at least a little Bitcoin should be part of your preparations for an unpredictable future.

Let me tell you why…

What a Bitcoin Is

Before we jump down the Bitcoin rabbit hole, let’s first talk about what Bitcoin is. If you’re familiar with Bitcoin, you can skip this part. If you’re unfamiliar, I’m going to give a hyper-abbreviated intro to Bitcoin.

Simply put, Bitcoin is the first digital bearer instrument with provable scarcity.Continue reading“Bitcoin for Preppers, by S.C.”

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 the politicized — and botched — prosecution of some “Soviet Moscow” protestors, as reported by Redoubt News. (See the Idaho section.)

Idaho

Over at Redoubt News: City Fumbles Prosecution of Teens over ‘Soviet Moscow’ Sticker.

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Idaho vaccine rate among lowest in country. (37% versus 61%, nationwide. Chalk that up to “healthy skepticism.”)

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I just heard about a firearms and survival gear company located in Moscow, Idaho. They tell me that they will operate by e-commerce for the time being until open up a retail store: Holzman Arms.

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Reader C.B. sent this: Search continues for missing Idaho boy, 5, who disappeared near home nearly 2 weeks ago.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in western Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ’s disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.” – Norman Maclean

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 9, 2021

August 9th, 1831was the birthday of James Paris Lee (August 9, 1831 – February 24, 1904). He was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles. But most notably, Lee was the inventor of the spring-loaded detachable box magazine that has become standard in the vast majority of modern rifles and pistols, worldwide.

Starting today, in honor of James Paris Lee’s birthday, we are running a two-week sale at Elk Creek Company. I’ve set sales prices with discounts from 5% to 25% on nearly all of my inventory. Note that because of a shopping cart software glitch, the special sale prices are showing up on the main pages, but not on the detail pages. So your total will be based on the sale price, regardless of what you see quoted at checkout. Get your order in soon, while the selection of antique guns is still good. Also 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 my store, you may toggle between silver and FRN pricing.)

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