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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Reader J.M.D. wrote to mention:
“Baofeng has come out with the GT-5R, a US-legal version of the venerable UV-5R. Transmission is limited to 144-148MHz & 420-450MHz (Ham 2m & 70cm bands), so no more FRS/GMRS/MURS/Marine transmissions like the original UV-5R and its variants. They claim all of the original UV-5R accessories will work with it
Of course, the original UV-5R and its variants are still available on many direct-from-China web sites like eBay, AliExpress and Banggood.”
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Avalanche Lily told me about this surprising television news clip: ‘Oh my God, I just pushed a bear:’ Viral video shows teenage girl protecting dogs from bear attack.
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In a recent video, Jon Patton (of TGC News) breaks down how… NEW ATF PISTOL BRACE RULE WOULD TURN MILLIONS TO FELONS.
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In response to the recent piece by St. Funogas on can jar lid science, Jeffrey wrote to mention a no-longer-produced, but still widely available device:
“We found a great kitchen tool made by Pry-A-Lid, online. It removes canning car lids without denting or damaging the lids.”
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Ray sent this amazing video: Man Digs a Hole in a Mountain and Turns it Into an Amazing Apartment.
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Professor Wagstaff wrote:
For those not familiar with internal combustion engines that run on wood smoke, there is an Oak Ridge National Laboratory report, showing how to make a wood gas generator to run your tractor or whatever… (It is a simplified WW-II era “Imbert” wood gas generator). Apparently back in 1989 someone in the Gov. thought it was a good idea to get this info. out …just in case… things that make you go, hmmm…”
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The author of that same article, S.B., sent this follow-up:
“I’m not trying to be self-serving related to my recent guest article submittal on electric vehicles…or trying to be an electric vehicle booster. By pure coincidence this article on electric vehicle charge times showed up on one of the news aggregation sites I follow: Automakers face a threat to EV sales: Slow charging times | News | bakersfield.com.
