May 2021 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices.

What Did Gold Do in May?

Gold started the month with a morning run at $1,800, being brought up short at $1,799.20 an ounce before settling lower. At the same time, silver briefly tagged the $27 mark.

Things trended higher for the remainder of the month. Gold made sustained breaks above the $1,800 mark on the 6th, the $1,850 mark on the 17th, and the $1,875 mark on the 19th. Gold spent the last week of the month making runs at $1,900, falling short each time.

Factors Affecting Gold This Month

INFLATION FEARS
Warren Buffett at this year’s Berkshire Hathaway stockholder meeting said, “We are seeing very substantial inflation” caused by supply shortages, especially lumber for the homebuilders it owns.
————
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen may not be running the Fed anymore, but she can still crash markets with a verbal gaffe. Commenting at The Atlantic’s Future Economy Summit, she said, “It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn’t overheat.” She was forced to walk back that statement the next morning, to end the market freakout.
————
Several economic reports this month pointed towards building inflation pressures.
Core CPI is the Fed’s preferred inflation guage. It rose 0.9% in April, a 39-year high month-to-month. The year-to-year reading hit a 25-year high, at +3.0%. Overall CPI rose 0.8% month to month, and 4.2% year-to-year.

Producers were hit hard by shortages of everything from lumber to steel to computer chips. Wholesale prices rose 6.17% in May, compared to April 2020.

BITCOIN
Dreams around the world of becoming Bitcoin Billionaires came crashing to Earth this month, dragging the whole altcoin market with it. Bitcoin’s value fell from $60,000 down to $30,000 before recovering slightly. On May 17th alone, the crypto market lost more than half a TRILLION dollars. The trauma led many investors to pivot into gold and gold ETFs.

Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch afterwards “any debate about Bitcoin challenging gold as a ‘safe haven’ just got a very blunt answer from the markets.” “While the precious metal isn’t immune to volatility, gold has never cut its price in half inside a week,” he added.

Matt Gongloff at Bloomberg says that this month’s massive meltdown in the crypto market proves “Bitcoin is more modern art or a religion than money.”

The Governor of the Bank of England warns Britons, “I’m going to say this very bluntly again. Buy them [crypto currencies] only if you’re prepared to lose all your money.”
————
The extreme volatility of the crypto market had already caught the US government’s attention even before the catastrophic drop in value.

Major crypto exchange BINANCE is under investigation by the US Justice Department and the IRS on charges of money laundering and assisting in tax evasion.

The FED has issued new regulations that cryptocurrency transactions over $10,000 must now be reported on a Form 8200, the same as precious metals. This is intended to curb money laundering using crypto.
————
CHINESE regulators have warned that they are cracking down on illegal crypto use. Financial institutions and payment services are forbidden from accepting crypto as payment AND may not offer products or services tied to crypto. The People’s Bank of China spokesman said that crypto “is not a real currency” and “should not and cannot be used as currency in the market.”

Central Banks

The Federal Reserve stuck to its guns in May, insisting that the increase in inflation this month was due to supply bottlenecks that are expected to ease. It took Fed officials hammering this point home for most of the month before the stock market began believing them.

San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly said a little inflation would do us good. “We should tolerate 2.5% inflation the same as we do 1.5%.”

Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin says that inflation will come back down next year. He said that he personally will not vote to taper QE until the employment to population ratio is back where it was just before COVID hit the US.

In opposition, Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan said this month that the Fed would need to start discussing tapering QE sooner than later. He believes that the taper will happen next year.
————

The ECB forecasts that composite EU inflation will only be 2% by the end of the year, and will drop to only 1.2% next year.

————

The BANK OF ENGLAND tapered monthly bond purchases this month. It is the first major bank to do so.

————

Isabel Schnabel, a EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK executive board member, channeled her “inner Yellen” this month. On the subject of German inflation forecasts above 3%, she assured markets that it would just be a temporary increase.Continue reading“May 2021 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”

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.

First up, reader H.L. sent us this: Forgotten First Shots of the Revolutionary War, ‘The Watchman’ Thwarts General Gage’s Gun Grab.

o  o  o

‘Nothing looks good’ preparing for summer wildfire season.

o  o  o

David in Australia wrote:

“G’day,
In the post it mentions keeping various dowel on hand. A dowel jig/maker can be made pretty cheap at the moment (or purchased). Just a series of different sized holes drilled in a piece of metal (around 10mm 3/8” thick) or better. Keep a nice square shoulder on the hole. First plane/cut timber to rough size then hammer/force through holes till you have the size dowel you need. Pretty simple and works.
Not sure if 3AD has used them or heard of them but it means you don’t have to keep dowel on hand (reducing storage room) and it also means you can make dowels of the same type of timber if required for aesthetic purposes. Using an Alaskan Mill is back breaking work on Australian hardwoods!
Good luck and God speed”

o  o  o

Reader C.B. spotted this; Bacterium causing rabbit fever remains virulent for months in cold water.

o  o  o

Texas Passes Bill to Remove NFA Suppressor Requirements for ‘Made in Texas’ Cans. (Thanks to Tim J. for the link.)

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — June 1, 2021

On June 1st, 1942, seven months after the extermination of prisoners began, the Warsaw underground newspaper, The Liberty Brigade, made the first public announcement of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland. The story came from a young man, Emanuel Ringelblum, who had escaped the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies that were thrown out of the gas vans. The West then knew the horrific truth about the slaughter of Jews.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present the first 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!

Writing Contest Winners Announced

We’ve completed the judging for Round 94 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. That round ran from April 1st to May 31st, 2021. The prize winners are:

First Prize:

First Prize is awarded to K.B., MD, for Medical Emergency Sheets., which was posted in four parts from April 14 to 17, 2021. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.) She will receive the following prizes:

  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:

Second Prize is awarded to D.F. for Growing Your Own Food in the Inland Northwest. That was posted in four parts from May 11 to 14, 2021: (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.)

He will receive the following prizes:

  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:

Third Prize is awarded to Uncle Reid, for A Moving Story, which was posted on April 24, 2021. He will receive the following prizes:

  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 Prize Winners:

The Honorable Mention Prize Winners for Round 94 have each been awarded a $100 Purchase credit from Elk Creek Company. The 17 Honorable Mention prize-winning writers are:

Round 95 in now underway ends on July 30th, 2021. 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.

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 Montana’s Constitutional Carry law. (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Idaho couple charged with murder in deaths of two children.

o  o  o

While the governor is away, Idaho lieutenant gov. bans mask mandates.

o  o  o

Last year’s wildfire season was historic for West, but Idaho escaped. How about this year?

o  o  o

WATCH: A sneak peek at Silverwood’s new attraction “Stunt Pilot”

o  o  o

The latest from Jeremy & Melissa of the Good Simple Living vlog: Bears Are Back & We’re Running Out Of Time | Building Our Home In The Mountains.  JWR’s Comment:  Congrats on topping 250,000 subscribers! I highly recommend this vlog to all of my readers. Click on their “Subscribe” button! They live in North Idaho, but it is of interest to anyone who is now building or hopes to ever build their own retreat.

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

Frog & Co. Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0, by The Novice

Recently, the Senior Pastor of my church gave me a gift. It is a Frog & Co. Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0. It is a great blessing to have a Senior Pastor who faithfully teaches the word of God. It is a bonus that he also recognizes that we live in a dangerous world, and tries to help his flock to be prepared.

This lighter was my first experience with a product from Survivalfrog.com. I visited their website, and noticed that they have many interesting items for sale. My first impression was that some of the items seemed to be priced a little on the high side. Other items seemed to be somewhat impractical, better suited for stocking the shelves of armchair theorists than for use in real-life situations. Still other items looked genuinely useful and reasonably priced. These initial impressions may be unfair. I invite Survivalblog readers with more extensive experience with Survivalfrog to weigh in with their observations.

On the Survivalfrog website, the lighter was listed as an “Outdoor Waterproof Dual Arc Plasma Lighter”. There it was priced at $29.97. The exact same lighter was listed by Survivalfrog elsewhere for about half the price. I noticed that this was true of many of their other products as well. I am not sure what rationale lies behind this pricing strategy.Continue reading“Frog & Co. Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0, by The Novice”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — May 31, 2021

May 31, 1930 was the birthday of actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood.

One hundred years ago today, on May 31, 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot destroyed a 35-square block section of the city nicknamed “Black Wall Street.” At least 75 people were killed — mostly black. Some were shot and some died in structure fires. The initial shootout that precipitated the chaos took the lives of 10 whites and two blacks. The riots that followed were more lopsided in the other direction. There were even firebombings and shootings from the cockpits of private planes. The incident left a stain on the history of Tulsa, largely because some Tulsa police officers were complicit and/or took part in the retaliatory murders.

On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. The avalanche moved downhill at a speed estimated at 175 to 210 mph, with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic meters of ice, mud, and rock. The avalanche traveled nearly 11 miles, burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca in up to 300 feet of rock and debris. It is estimated that this earthquake and avalanche killed more than 67,000 Peruvians. It is the deadliest avalanche in recorded history.

May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides.

—

I’m pleased to report that a hardback edition of my novel Patriots is again available following a lapse of more than a year.  This new edition from Ulysses Press features a sturdy four-color printed cover, rather than a traditional printed dustjacket. If you want to order a few copies for gifts, then please order yours through Books-a-Million. (We are doing our best to Starve The Amazon beast.) Thanks!  – JWR

—

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

CRKT Bona Fide, by Pat Cascio

As a rule, I report the suggested retail price of the products I test, usually near the end of the review. However, this time, I’m reporting it first. This is the new CRKT Bona Fide folder, and it has a retail price of $125 – and as savvy shoppers know, if they shop the ‘net they can usually find CRKT products for a lot less than their suggested retail price. The Bona Fide, is another design from world-famous knife designer/maker, Ken Onion, who makes his home in Hawaii. It has been a lot of years, since I spoke with Ken – we’ve never met face-to-face, but we’ve talked on the phone, when I was interviewing him for an article some years ago, for Knives Illustrated magazine, when I was their West Coast Field Editor. And, Ken is, just a lot of fun to talk to – very down to earth, and he cusses like a sailor on shore leave, too.

The Bona Fide is so brand-new, when I received it back in early December 2020, that it didn’t even come with a box and no information about the knife. So, I had to contact the good folks at CRKT and ask for some information about the knife. I want to go back a bit, and talk about the suggested retail price on this knife. I was thinking that this folder, might just be their new flagship knife for 2021 – I like it “that” much. This is a first-class folder in all respects. I quite honestly was thinking this particular folder would easily have a retail price of around $200. It is spectacular and totally flawless in every aspect. Plus, it’s a real beauty, too. I’m obliged to mention that this folder is made in China where most of CRKT products are produced. This is a cost-saving to the consumer. If this folder were made in the USA, then I believe it would have easily retailed for $250 or more. I’ve been assured that CRKT products are not made in prison slave labor factories. Continue reading“CRKT Bona Fide, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Bear’s Everything Casserole

The following recipe “Everything” Casserole comes to us from frequent recipe contributor “Bear.” Here is her introduction:

I like this recipe because it can be assembled ahead of time, can be eaten for any meal of the day, and because it is so customizable. Use any kind of bread and cheese and veggies and herbs that you like! For example, the recipe originally called for cheddar cheese, but I like it even better with a mixture of mozzarella and smoked provolone. Add more or less of each ingredient to suit your own taste. Include the meat, or don’t; it’s good both ways.”

Ingredients
  • 4 C bread cubes or homemade croutons (if using fresh bread, let it dry out a little bit or toast it)
  • 2 C shredded cheese (fresh, frozen, or reconstituted freeze-dried)
  • 1/3 C chopped onions
  • 1/4 C chopped pepper
  • 1/2 C finely chopped tomato
  • Sliced mushrooms, optional
  • 10 eggs, beaten (fresh, frozen or reconstituted powdered)
  • 4 C milk (fresh or powdered)
  • 1 Tbsp parsley, chopped (fresh or dried)
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard
  • 1/4 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • Cooked, crumbled bacon or sausage — optional (fresh, frozen or freeze-dried)

Note: The veggies can also be either fresh, frozen, dehydrated or freeze-dried. I have found that the most time-consuming part of preparing this recipe is chopping the veggies, so I have prepared a bunch at once, and then dehydrated them one casserole’s worth per tray (so I don’t have to measure later), and individually vacuum-sealed them. Then I just pull out one packet and rehydrate it in a little water while I’m gathering the other ingredients.

Directions
  1. Spread bread cubes on bottom of well-greased 9×13″ baking dish.
  2. Layer cheese, veggies, and mushrooms (if using) on top of bread.
  3. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, and mix well. Pour over the other ingredients in the baking dish.
  4. Top with bacon or sausage, if using.
  5. Cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours) or up to 24 hours.
  6. Bake uncovered at 325 F for 50-to-70 minutes, or until set and a knife comes out clean. (Baking time will depend a lot on how dry the bread was, and how long it rested in the fridge.)
SERVING

Allow to stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

—

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 Joe Biden’s “Sugar High” Economy. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

World’s Biggest Platinum Miner Makes Another Bold Call on Prices.

o  o  o

Golds gains over $100 this month.

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Biden Unveils $6 Trillion Budget That Will Raise Federal Spending To Highest Post-WW2 Level.

o  o  o

Joe Biden’s sugar-high economy should raise alarm. This piece begins:

“President Biden is betting big government can boost long-term growth and vanquish inequality and racism.

His infrastructure and social spending proposals would increase the federal deficit well above last year’s crisis-driven $3.1 trillion. A pandemic bounce will yield 6.5 percent GDP growth this year but longer term, Mr. Biden’s policies will bequeath higher interest rates, inflation, fleeing private investment and many fewer good paying jobs.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says the likes of Kimberly-Clark hiking prices on Huggies is a temporary phenomenon, but he is already tightening monetary policy. The 10-year Treasury rate, which provides the benchmark for everything from credit cards to mortgages, has jumped precipitously.

The dismal science and the financial press say higher interest rates reflect expectations for some combination of higher growth and inflation but whatever happened to supply and demand?

In 2020, the Fed purchased Treasuries and other securities approximately equaling the massive federal deficit, but this year its stated policy is to purchase half as many.

Without the Fed mopping up all the bonds the Treasury is spilling, demand is tanking. Longer-term interest rates must rise, and new home construction, auto purchases and shaky businesses propped up by junk bonds will eventually falter.

Raising corporate and capital gains taxes to some of the highest in the world are a biblical imperative for progressives with their disdain for thrift, enterprise, hard work and success.

Along with more government spending, higher interest rates and taxes will crowd out private investment and discourage risk taking on new products — the mother’s milk of productivity growth, higher living standards and international competitiveness.”

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Fed Drains $485 Billion in Liquidity from Market via Reverse Repos, Undoing 4 Months of QE, Even as QE Continues, Total Assets Near $8 Trillion

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The great merit of gold is precisely that it is scarce; that its quantity is limited by nature; that it is costly to discover, to mine, and to process; and that it cannot be created by political fiat or caprice.” – Henry Hazlitt

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — May 30, 2021

By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance was held on May 30th, 1868 to honor those who died “in defense of their country.” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

—

Today we present a book review that is not part of the judging for Round 94 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

Round 95 of the contest begins on June 1st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. We are currently short of articles in the queue, so this will increases your chances of winning a prize in Round 95. 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.

Survival Retreats & Relocation: A Book Review by John Brew

My #1 Son recived permission to republish the following review of a book that we co-authored: Survival Retreats & Relocation.
John Brew (brewbooks) is a SurvivalBlog reader, and left this review on Amazon:

“Survival Retreats & Relocation” [by Jonathan E. Rawles and James Wesley, Rawles] uses a systems engineering approach to provide the reader a process and framework for acquiring and thriving a survival retreat. Let me start this review by stating the authors view survival through a politically and religiously conservative American lens. If that causes you offense, no need to read further, this book isn’t for you. That said, there’s a wealth of material in this book that anyone, anywhere can learn from.

In Part 1, the authors start by defining the principles of survival, which are expanded in a detailed Appendix. Next, comes a well-reasoned set of issues for the reader to consider such as: liberty, security, food, water, community. Each issue is supported with facts and sources that let the reader dig deeper. The reader is provided a sample set of criteria to use as a baseline to develop their own location criteria. This set of criteria is going to vary for each reader; each person is going to make their own trades based on the starting points desired by the authors. The final section of Part 1 asks the reader to consider how self-sufficient and how isolated they want their retreat to be.

Next, provide their assessment of possible relocation areas within the USA. They start with a chapter on regions, then a chapter with a state-by-state analysis. Finally, they provide a chapter with detailed analysis of retreat locales based on their expert assessment. The maps alone are worth the cost of the book in my opinion. It was interesting to see that some of my favorite places to explore in the Western US are charted on these maps along with some new places to explore.

Part 3 is a guide to the logistics of relocation. There’s a lot of nitty-gritty detail. The initial chapter explains how to search for a retreat Next, their are two well-researched chapters on developing initial criteria for acquiring their land and home. To be truly useful, each reader needs to develop and rank their own set of criteria. In doing so, the reader needs to consider the maxim: “Perfect is the enemy of good enough.” There are always going to be tradeoffs.

The last part of the book has two chapters that provides food for thought on setting up and then stocking a retreat location. The last chapter is a single page checklist which is an overall framework of the relocation process; from making the decision to relocate to moving in. There are also six appendices. Two that I found useful to me were “Precepts of Survival” and “Retreat Owner Profiles”. Finally, there is a useful bibliography.

I found this book to be very useful to me. It is the best book I have read on this topic and has made me reevaluate where I want to live in the future. I know I will spend more time with this book and have started my own location criteria. For me, this is not a quick, light reading book. Instead, it’s much more like a textbook with homework problems for the student. I would highly recommend this book for anyone considering moving to a more secure, self-sufficient location.

One caveat, this review is of the Kindle edition. I found it much easier to read the full-page book on the high resolution screen of my iPad. I was able to read on my Fire HD8 color but it was more challenging, especially viewing the maps. I also ordered a couple of print copies to give to friends that will benefit from this book.