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 thin silver market. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Can Reddit’s silver ‘apes’ beat the market?  JWR’s Comments: In a market this thin, yes, the Reddit crowd could indeed trigger a large market rally and a lot of short covering!  What do I mean by “thin”?  A thin market is the opposite of a liquid market.  A thin market has just a few traders, and high volatility. Compared to the equities market, the size of the silver market is tiny. COMEX open interest is now over 1 billion Troy ounces. There are large discrepancies between physical silver and paper silver.  And the amount of leverage employed (paper versus physical) is huge. This makes the silver market fairly volatile at all times and incredibly susceptible to manipulation. In times of market crisis, silver could easily triple or even quintuple. Be prepared for some big price swings. Buy low and then buckle up, folks. And if silver does ever double quickly, then don’t hesitate to then sell half of your holdings. At that point, your cost on what is left will be zero, and thus you can enjoy the ride, despite the dramatic price swings.

o  o  o

The recent dip in gold and silver is worth mentioning. This has brought the retail price of physical metals down. For instance, APMEX is now selling  $1,000 face value bags of circulated pre-1965 silver for less than $22,000. It is a good time to buy.

Economy & Finance:

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is ready to start slowing the pace of central bank bond buying.

o  o  o

The Economic Cost of Cuban Socialism.

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And over at the CNBC Perpetual Cheering Section: Dow drops nearly 300 points on Friday, snaps 3-week winning streak.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — July 18, 2021

July 18th, 1954 is the birthdate of Ricky Skaggs, an American country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 95 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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. An Israeli CBRN Gas Mask with Hydration Straw and two Extra 40mm NATO Filter s – Manufactured in 2020 (a $229.99 value), courtesy of McGuire Army-Navy.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 95 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Bettering Your Post-SHTF Barter Preps, by 3AD Scout

Many Prepper YouTube channels and Prepper websites advocate the stocking up of barter items from the dollar store.  Let us examine this line of thinking and explore other options for barter goods.  I don’t doubt that the un-prepared might have a need for dollar store quality trinkets but there are four questions to ask yourself before stocking up on barter goods from a dollar store.

  • One, will those, who are prepared with barter goods need your dollar store barter goods?
  • Two, what exactly will those, so unprepared as to need something from the dollar store, have of value to trade with you?
  • Three, is it worth the security risk to trade with people that are that un-prepared as to need something from the dollar store?
  • Four, will the dollar store items be seen as valuable?

I have taught classes in family disaster preparedness and used several props from the dollar store to demonstrate and drive home the point that when you need your disaster supplies kit, you need the items to work since your life may depend upon it.  I used a dollar store Swiss Army “style” knife with a bent-over blade to demonstrate the lack of quality.  If you put 50 of these knives away for trade for a post-The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) environment, how many people would make a trade for a knife of such poor quality? Perhaps they don’t know the knife is of poor quality and they make a trade for it and it breaks the first time they use it?  Word will get around that you have junk and/or that you are a cheat. Both of these opinions will be detrimental to you, as you will be stuck with trade goods no one is willing to trade for and/or no one will trust you to trade with you for anything.  Yes, there will be hoards of the un-prepared who need stuff but like you and I, they will need that stuff to be of quality to survive.  The un-prepared will probably be desperate to begin with.  The perception (or reality) that they got “ripped off” on a trade by you may make them even more desperate and thus turn them into a potential security threat.

I’ve been rough on dollar stores just to make a point.  I’m not insinuating that there isn’t anything of barter value at a dollar store but you need to test those items and if, after the test, you wouldn’t put the item in your bug out bag, you shouldn’t put someone else in a bind by trading something of such poor quality.  As my dad always used to say “your reputation is the most valuable thing you own, so don’t tarnish it.”  I suspect after SHTF reputation will mean a whole lot more for everyday survival than it does today.

Something else to consider is how many other Preppers in your area have also stocked up on barter items from the dollar store? Will the barter marketplace be flush with dollar store knives that word gets around quickly are garbage?  Will there be an overabundance of baby wipes to the point that the law of supply and demand kicks in and make your barter goods not worth as much as you had thought?

I used to accept the premise that the best barter goods were those that were consumable.  I have several thousand strike anywhere and strike on box matches, that I stored up for Y2K specifically for barter, to prove my belief in this theory.  I still think those matches will have value but what will I conceivably need that will be of about the same value?  Over the years, I have come to believe that the “means of production” will be more valuable than most consumables.Continue reading“Bettering Your Post-SHTF Barter Preps, by 3AD Scout”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

To share this, you can find it here: https://kapwi.ng/c/DLX3AQwE

Meme Text:

As of August 1st, the COVID Jab Will Be Mandatory in France
for Public Transit and All Shopping.
Macron of The Beast?
Related News Links:

French President Sets Stricter Health Rules; Cannes Festival Unaffected by New Orders

“The key measure announced by Macron will make the EU Digital Covid Certificate — commonly called “health pass” — mandatory in all cultural venues, including cinemas, theaters and concert halls starting on July 21. Starting in August, the health pass will be mandatory in cafes, shops, restaurants, as well as trains and planes, among other places.”

Jail time for both patrons and vendors.

“People in France who enter a bar or restaurant without a COVID pass face 6 months in jail, while business owners who fail to check their status face a 1-year prison sentence and a €45,000 fine.”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat.

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?

Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:

And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

And charged them that they should not make him known:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” – Matthew 12:1-21  (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — July 17, 2021

July 17th, 1889 was the birthdate of Erle Stanley Gardner. He was an American lawyer and author. Though best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces, as well as a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico.

The best-selling American author of the 20th century at the time of his death, Gardner also published under numerous pseudonyms, including A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenny, Les Tillray, and Robert Parr.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 95 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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. An Israeli CBRN Gas Mask with Hydration Straw and two Extra 40mm NATO Filter s – Manufactured in 2020 (a $229.99 value), courtesy of McGuire Army-Navy.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 95 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Our First Camper, by The Novice

Many people include a recreational vehicle in their preparedness planning. For some, it is a part of their “Get out of Dodge” plan. For others, it offers temporary accommodation at their retreat location. Neither of these scenarios is an element in the planning that my wife and I have done. But perhaps our experiences with our first camper will be informative to some SurvivalBlog readers in their planning, and entertaining to others.

Camping in Norway

A little more than 30 years ago, my family and I moved to Norway. Norway is a land of rugged natural beauty as well as gracious and helpful people. It is also a very expensive place to live, or even visit. It soon became clear that if we were going to enjoy the country’s rugged natural beauty, we were not going to do it by staying in hotels at night. First of all, there were not that many hotels. Secondly, we just could not afford it.

After diligent searching, we found two major types of accommodation for exploring new areas in Norway. During the children’s autumn vacation from school, when the weather was often poor, demand for rental cabins was down. At that time, it was often possible to rent a cabin at a fraction of what it might cost at other times of year. During the summer, camping offered a budget-friendly alternative for the traveler to rest his weary head at night.

I had camped with my parents in my early childhood, so it was not a new experience for me. We bought a used tent and some sleeping bags, loaded them up along with some canned goods and other groceries in the back of our Volvo 240 DL station wagon, and headed for the hills.

Tent camping with young children was interesting. Asking a group of three eager kids to hand one a tent pole while setting up an interior frame tent was an invitation to adventure as well as grave bodily harm. We froze in frosty mountain meadows and baked on the sunny shores of stunning fjords. We saw scenes of haunting beauty that still echo in our minds.

After about a decade in Norway, we moved back to the United States. A network of family and friends as well as more reasonable hotel and rental cabin rates made tent camping less of a necessity than it had been in Norway. We still used the tent occasionally, but with nothing like the frequency we had used it in Norway. It was no longer the only show in town.

Several years ago, we embarked on a new adventure: being grandparents. Our daughter and son-in-law were fruitful and multiplied. They decided to take the family camping, and invited us to come along. They bought a nice, used pop-up camper at an auction. During the time when they had only one child, the pop-up was large enough to accommodate all of us. When two more children came along, the parents and children stayed in the pop-up, and my wife and I broke out the tent.

For some inexplicable reason, the tent had become significantly more uncomfortable over the course of 30 years. The ground had become harder, bending over to set up the tent had become more difficult, and the interior of the tent had become smaller. We decided that maybe it was time to look for a camper of our own.Continue reading“Our First Camper, 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:

This past week has been all about firewood, here at The Rawles Ranch. We have plenty of dead-standing larch and fir trees on the ranch, so there is no worry about having well-seasoned wood. It is just a matter of time to get them felled, cut up, hauled, split, and stacked. To complicate things, the weather has been roaring hot recently, so on most mornings I start working around 6 AM, and knock off at around 10:30 AM. Then, during the heat of the day, I’m in my office: writing, editing, researching, cataloging guns for Elk Creek Company, and packing orders. By the way, I recently added a half-dozen rifles in practical calibers that might be of interest.

Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

For it is the day of the Lord‘s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.

They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing.

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls.

The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.

There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.” – Isaiah 34 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 16, 2021

July 16th is the anniversary of the first successful atomic bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1945. This portentous event heralded the advent of the age of nuclear weapons. Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb by the Allies were established as early as 1939. In 1940 the federal government granted a total of $6,000 for research, but in early 1942, with the United States at war, the limits on spending were removed. The total cost was in excess of $2 billion. Germany was also feared to be working on a bomb as was Japan, though neither of those nations could bring the resources to bear in time before their defeat. With that, the nuclear age was born.

—

We recently heard from one of the prize donor sponsors of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest that because of a change in ownership, they will discontinue providing a prize, starting August 1st.  So that opens up the opportunity for another company to provide a prize, in exchange for some great publicity.  You may have noticed that many of the prize donors have keep renewing, year after year.  They tell me that the publicity created by those prize links is more productive in inspiring visits to their websites and orders placed than any other form of publicity that they’ve arranged. So if you know of any company that would be willing to provide a prize with a minimum value of $200, then please ask them to become a prize sponsor.  Thanks!  – JWR

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 95 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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. An Israeli CBRN Gas Mask with Hydration Straw and two Extra 40mm NATO Filter s – Manufactured in 2020 (a $229.99 value), courtesy of McGuire Army-Navy.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 95 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

One Little Slip, by Kevin R. Berg

All it took was one little slip while hiking to change my plans. (This article describes how a simple accident has changed my prep plans)

I have amassed plenty of supplies to cover “B., B, & B.” and was in the phase to bring the family up to speed with the knowledge they will need for possible future events. Because of my slip I will have to rethink many options and outright cancel some.

First, the accident: It was hot in Reno the first part of June, we were visiting my brother and we decided to take our recreational vehicle (RV) up to some lakes west of Reno to cool off for a day or two. After the brief mountain trip we would then head back to our home in Southern Nevada, where it is even hotter.

The trip to the lake was uneventful and we were all interested in getting out into the cooler weather. Luckily, the campground host was able to tell us of an open spot. That was good fortune as the campground was full. It turned out someone reserved three spaces but only needed two. Always be nice and polite to the campground host, it pays off.

We set up the campsite while it was about an hour before dark. I had finished up I was going down to find the family by the river. I descended the trail and reached the bottom to realize that I did not lock up. So I went back up the trail to the RV to lock up, with that done I went back down the trail to join the family. That’s when ‘Murphy” showed up. I was watching them play at the river and not paying full attention to my feet (mistake 1). The rock that I stepped on seemed okay, but suddenly it slipped out from under my tennis shoe (mistake 2). I went straight down onto my butt; my left leg was straight out, stiff and pointing downhill. As I started to slide down the steep slope my left leg was pulled off to my left side, still straight. My upper body leaned forward and my center of gravity was now all pointing downhill. As I started to tumble forward the strain on my left leg was too much. My head was near my left knee when I heard the pop. Right then I knew I was in trouble. Once the tumble was complete I was on my back and I started to get myself aligned to get up and check the damage. I knew the left leg was going to be sore as I stood up brushing myself off. I had scraped up the left arm and it was bleeding quite a bit, but I knew that it was not bad.Continue reading“One Little Slip, by Kevin R. Berg”

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 continuing inflation. (See the Inflation Watch section.)

Precious Metals:

Forecast: What’s Next For Gold Is Always About The US Dollar.

o  o  o

Sharp declines in treasury yields equal higher gold pricing.

Economy & Finance:

Forbes reports: Senate Democrats Unveil $3.5 Trillion Spending Deal. JWR’s Comment:  If they ramrod this through, then there is little hope of saving the U.S. Dollar from destruction. My advice: Diversify into land and practical, barterable tangibles, in anticipation of higher inflation.

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WND: Fed report confirms: People aren’t working because of government handouts.

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Supreme Court Grants Rare Win For Economic Freedom.

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At Zero Hedge: Wells Fargo Unexpectedly Shuts All Existing Personal Lines Of Credit, Hinting US Economy On The Edge.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” – John Stuart Mill

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 15, 2021

On July 15th, 1888, the Bandai Volcano erupted on the Japanese island of Honshu killing hundreds and burying many nearby villages in ash. While Honshu is in an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, this eruption was surprising. The volcano had erupted only four times in the 1,000 years prior and none had been particularly deadly. However, this eruption was different. The rumblings started just after 7 a.m. Within 30 minutes there was an explosion on the north side of the mountain and over the next two hours there were dozens of explosions giving villagers very little time to escape.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today’s entry for Round 95 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest on rainwater harvesting was removed, because of a flawed premise that did not hold up to peer review. In essence, the author asserted that because a roof has a pitch, hence greater surface area than a flat roof, that it will collect more rainwater.  This is not true.  A 1,000 square foot home will collect the same volume of rainwater from the roof no matter if it has a flat roof or a pitched roof. Rain typically falls perpendicular to the ground. And in the case of angled rain, the closer-side angled roof gets more rain but the far side gets proportionally less rain.  Thus, it equalizes the potential collection of level square footage. – JWR

The prizes for this round of the writing contest 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. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (a $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

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. An Israeli CBRN Gas Mask with Hydration Straw and two Extra 40mm NATO Filter s – Manufactured in 2020 (a $229.99 value), courtesy of McGuire Army-Navy.
  5. 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.
  6. 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 95 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.