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 flooding in Middle Tennessee.

‘Preppers’ Quietly Stock Up for the ‘Perfect Storm’

Over at The Epoch Times: ‘Preppers’ Quietly Stock Up for the ‘Perfect Storm’.

People Crushed to Death Outside Kabul Airport

Over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there is this video: Afghanistan: People crushed to death outside Kabul airport. JWR’s Comment: The late Ol’ Remus said it simply and said it best:  “Stay away from crowds.”

Extreme Floods in Middle Tennessee

From The Tennessean: 10 dead and 40 missing in Humphreys County after extreme floods rock Middle Tennessee. An excerpt:

“Twenty-one people are dead and dozens are missing in Humphreys County after severe flooding rocked the community Saturday.

Crews were going house to house in search of the missing people late Saturday, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told The Tennessean. Davis said the flooding event is the worst he has seen in his 28 years with the department.

Power outages and a lack cell phone service has compounded the problems. Portable units will be brought in to help establish communication lines, Davis said.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 25, 2021

August 25th is a birthday shared by humorist Bret Harte (pictured, born 1836), novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938), and the late American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933). Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others. McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor.

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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!

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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.

A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 2, by St. Funogas

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

BUILDING THE BOX

Again, if money isn’t a big concern, I’d recommend using a full sheet of plywood and corrugated polycarbonate greenhouse panels. This will not only give you a larger water heater, but be lighter and easier to move as well.

I constructed a double-coiled version using a free recycled, double-paned sliding patio door which, on sunny days, supplies more hot water than I can use. The construction method will be the same regardless of which size you choose to make.

For the full-sheet-of-plywood version, use two treated 2 x 4 x 8’s (one for each sidebar of the frame) and one 2 x 4 x 10’ for the ends, cut in half to make two 2 x 4 x 5’. This will make the end pieces extra-long to act as legs which keep the SWH off the ground as seen in photo below. (The light spots in the photo are sunshine coming through the trees, not a lousy paint job.)Continue reading“A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 2, by St. Funogas”

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 out with some troubling news: DHS Secret Terror Watchlist With Nearly 2 MILLION People On It Exposed Online With NO PASSWORD.

o  o  o

H.L. spotted this news: Black vultures are eating cows alive. Now some farmers can legally shoot the protected birds.

o  o  o

Tim J. suggested this, over at American Partisan: Ivermectin Treatment Protocols.

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Debunking The Cost of Living Myth.

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A video for more advanced hams: SIGNALINKUSB and Elecraft KX3 set up.

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From Reader C.B.: New analysis of landmark scurvy study leads to update on vitamin C needs.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 24, 2021

On August 24th, 410, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths in an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This is a moment in history that we would do well to remember. An empire that ruled the known world was corrupted from the inside to the point that they could not defend themselves from a much weaker enemy. This could conceivably be the beginning of the dark middle ages.

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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!

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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.

A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 1, by St. Funogas

If you had to list ten things that would be most missed in a post-TEOTWAWKI world, opening a tap and having free-flowing hot water whenever you want it would have to be near the top of the list for a lot of us.

In this article I’ll present an inexpensive solar water heater (SWH) which has gotta be the most efficient for the cost. I use this on my homestead almost six months of the year and in a non-freeze situation such as a greenhouse, this could be used year-round. Even with minimal skills and hand tools, you can build this yourself.

This can be a stand-alone system or incorporated into your normal hot-water home-plumbing system, allowing you to take advantage when the sun is shining, then by closing two valves, you easily fall back on your propane/electric water heater on cloudy days. In a separate SB article, I’ll show how to connect alternative water heaters to the main plumbing lines so your regular water heater can be a quick backup.

This is one more solar project that pays for itself in energy savings today and will provide an easier transition to a post-TEOTWAWKI world tomorrow.

WHY A SOLAR WATER HEATER?

Due to the high density of water, it takes much more propane to heat water than it does to fry bacon and eggs. The last thing I want to do when the SHTF is waste propane heating water if the propane man is going to be just a distant memory I’ll tell my great-grandkids about. With nothing more than the sun, a 25-watt solar panel (or a battery from your post-SHTF vehicle and a $15 solar trickle charger), you can run this solar water heater for years. There’s very little work involved in heating water: open two valves, flip a switch, and ignore it until a few hours later when it’s time to turn it off. How long would it to take to heat 30 gallons on your woodstove or campfire in the backyard? How dangerous is it walking around with pots of hot water on your way to the bathroom or kitchen? How nice are hot showers compared to a sponge bath?Continue reading“A DIY Solar Water Heater – Part 1, by St. Funogas”

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 Yellowstone’s busiest month ever. (See the Wyoming section.)

Idaho

Totely Fire burning near Plummer burning 650 acres, 15% contained. [JWR’s Comment: This is the same fire that Patrice Lewis described in her blog. And, as I mentioned on Thursday, Patrice has established a GoFundMe campaign, on behalf of her former neighbors who lost their home to the flames: Help Dallas and Susie Rebuild Their Home. Please consider donating.]

o  o  o

Former A-10 pilot Rep. Priscilla Giddings gave a great speech exposing Critical Race Theory at the Regeneration Church in Sandpoint.

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Over at WND: Supreme battle over couple’s home construction is now in its 17th year.

o  o  o

Mountain lion spotted in Eagle neighborhood.

o  o  o

Orofino WWII veteran takes to the skies on a flight he will never forget.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 23, 2021

August 23rd is the anniversary of the declaration of the independent state of “Franklin” in Eastern Tennessee by the settlers there in 1784. Unfortunately, the Continental Congress rejected it, so the state of Franklin never became a reality.

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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!

—

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.

Ruger 9mm MAX-9 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

The folks at Ruger don’t introduce a lot of new firearms each year, but when they do release a new model, it is almost always a winner. And as usual with Ruger firearms, they are almost always in demand by the gun-buying public. I think a lot of people were caught off-guard with the release of the new Ruger Max-9, 9mm pistol. But we shouldn’t have been.

The trend for the few years has been sub-compact or micro-sized 9mm pistols, especially designed for concealed carry with two-column magazines–providing a lot of ammo. Anyone who knows Ruger handguns  knows that when Ruger calls something “compact” it is really a smaller, but not by much, version of a full-sized handgun. I own a Ruger American full-sized 9mm handgun, and the same in their compact version – and the compact really isn’t nearly as small or compact as you think it is – still, it’s a stellar 9mm handgun, that holds either 10 or 12 rounds of 9mm Parabellum in the magazine.

I’ve liked the Ruger LC9 sub-compact pistol since first seeing one, nice little concealed carry pistol, chambered in 9mm. The only thing was that it only held 7+1 rounds. Sure, it sounds like a lot of ammo, and of course, everyone should carry at least one spare magazine these days. Still, the way things are going when it comes to crime statistics, many attacks are being carried out by multiple attackers, and you might wish you had more ammo. I’ve near heard anyone who has been in a real-life gunfight complain that they had too much ammo. Keep that in mind.

At first glance, the new Ruger Max-9, appears to be a kissing cousin, to the LC9, and it many respects it is, just a little bit “different” than the LC9. The good news is that the Max-9 is only slightly larger – not by much, than the LC9. But the Max-9 is a double-stack 9mm pistol. It comes with two magazines, one is a flush fit 10-round version, and the other is a 12-round version. The latter really isn’t all that much longer than the 10-round mag, with the included “pinky catcher” floor plate on it. One nice thing that I am happy to report is that  the Max-9 magazines, either capacity model, are a lot easier to load than some of the other micro-sized 9mm magazines. That’s a good thing in my old age, with arthritic hands/fingers. I used to breeze through loading any type of magazines. However these days, I mostly use a magazine loader of some type to aid me in loading magazines, especially if I’m going to do a lot of shooting.

The Max-9 is a striker-fired pistol, with no exposed hammer. There is no second strike capability – if you pull the trigger and nothing happens, you need to pull the slide back and chamber another round. Not a deal breaker, as I’ve trained that way most of my life – if there is a “click” instead of a “bang” I just chamber another round. It is noteworthy that many other striker-fired pistols also don’t have a second strike capability.Continue reading“Ruger 9mm MAX-9 Pistol, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Carl’s Trail Mix

The following recipe for a high-protein nut and trail mix recipe comes to us from SurvivalBlog reader Carl B.

Ingredients
  • ½ cup dried blueberries
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • ½ cup dried cherries (tart style)
  • ½ cup salted dried sunflower seeds (optional)
  • 2 ½ cups salted mixed nuts (preferably with almonds but without any peanuts–unless you love peanuts.)
  • ½ cup small dried pineapple (chop first to 1/3-inch cubes, if the chunks are too large)
  • 1 cup M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces

Carl’s Note: The last ingredient is optional or can be reduced. You may substitute one cup of something else that is sweet and about the same size pieces. For example, raisins. But whatever you choose must be low moisture!  I found that most dried apricots are high moisture, and therefore will ruin any trail mix that is stored more than a day.

You can also substitute low salt nuts and low salt sunflower seeds if you are on a low-salt diet.

Directions

Combine all the ingredients and mix until evenly blended.

STORAGE

Store in any sealed container that is airtight.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the return of some ammunition to gun store shelves. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

All eyes are still on Afghanistan. Mark my words: If you begin hearing the words “American Hostages” coming out of Afghanistan, then you can expect to see precious metals zoom up 10% or more, within a few days. If any hostage situation drags on, then we might see a 30% gain in gold. Buy low and sell high, folks.

o  o  o

Platinum still looks strong enough to reach that long term sub 1:1 equilibrium versus gold.

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Gold to Silver Ratio: Long Term Trend 1693 to Present.  JWR’s Comment: I still predict that the silver to gold ratio will revert to below 20-to-1 before 2030.

Economy & Finance:

Bonds Flashing a Death Cross.

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Fed Signals Pullback of Monetary Stimulus Likely to Start This Year.

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U.S. consumer sentiment nosedives as Delta variant spikes.

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At Wolf Street: The Extra $300/Week Unemployment Benefits Encouraged Many to Not Work: Details about the “Labor Shortage” Pile Up.

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Who Bought the $5 Trillion Piled on the Monstrous US National Debt in 15 Months?

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”