Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 29, 2021

On this day in 1780, the treatment of Patriot prisoners by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his Loyalist troops led to the coining of a phrase that defined British brutality for the rest of the War for Independence: “Tarleton’s Quarter.”

Tarleton and his Torries proceeded to shoot any and all Patriots that had surrendered after the fall of Charleston. The Patriots lost 113 men. The slaughter of the surrendered troops became a propaganda victory for the Continentals and Carolina civilians who had been terrified of Tarleton and their loyalist neighbors now rallied to the Patriot cause.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 94 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 94 ends on May 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.

Equipping Your Vehicle For Emergencies, by C.J.

A recent mechanical problem had me stranded beside the road for several hours and made me think about possible bad scenarios and what I would want to have in my car in order to survive these situations. My vehicle was stranded on the off-ramp of a major interstate, but the remoteness became apparent when I realized I only saw four cars get on or off this exit in three hours. One of those cars was a sheriff and he didn’t stop to see if I needed help. I was able to use my cell phone, but in many places, especially in the western US, cell phone coverage is spotty or non-existent. The world that we live in has created in us the mindset that everything we want is always available on demand. As we have seen during the recent pandemic, that is not always true. During my vehicle breakdown, I was only 20 miles from a medium-sized town with decent services, but at 7 p.m. on a weeknight, I was not able to get a tow truck to tow me the 80 miles to my house. We must be prepared for all of these scenarios. In this case, I needed to be prepared to spend the night in your vehicle. Could you safely do that?

I hope this article will help you think through what you want to keep in your vehicle for emergency situations. It’s important to keep in mind that everyone has different situations and what works for one will not necessarily work for others.

Basic tips:

Keep track of landmarks – Exits, towns, mile markers, etc. This information is required to get help in a timely manner. We should always be practice keeping aware of our surroundings.

Keep an eye on your gas gauge – It can be hours between gas stations in some regions of the country. Recent gas shortages also show us it is possible for the gas stations to be shut down for days at a time. Don’t let your tank get below half-full.Continue reading“Equipping Your Vehicle For Emergencies, by C.J.”

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 I was very busy with fence building. I still have an additional 300-foot long cross fence to complete. But that will have to wait until the river level drops, and that pasture dries out. (It floods seasonally.) I also added a hot wire to the top of another 3,500 feet of fencing. That now makes our perimeter fully electrified. Hopefully, that will dissuade our Bovine Delinquents from any more fence-hopping.

While in the midst of the electrification project, I discovered that one of our corner posts had rotted out. This surprised me, because it was 14-inch diameter cedar log. It had been emplaced by the previous owner of the ranch.  (Hence, sometime before 2006.)  Because of some complicating factors, replacing that turned into a six-hour project. It just goes to show that nothing lasts forever — not even a big cedar fence post.

I also burned two slash piles this past week. The rest of the piles–with boughs that are more green–will be burned this coming fall.

I’ve put Elk Creek Company on hiatus while I travel during the month of June. Part of that trip will be dedicated to searching for more inventory. I should mention that it is becoming very difficult to find any affordable pre-1899 cartridge guns. They are “getting bid up to the sky.” My plan is to re-open on July 1st, with pricing denominated in pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage, with a multiplier for payments in Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) — by check or postal money orders.  Thanks for your patience.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

That the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.” – 1 Kings 2:1-12 (KJV)

 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — May 28, 2021

Today is the birthday of the late Major General (MG)  Victor Joseph Hugo Jr., who passed away last year. He was born 28 May, 1931, and died 11 May, 2020. In an obituary piece, Ray Oden wrote:

MG Victor Hugo died in May and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 13 November 2020. The OSS Society produced a 13-minute video as a fitting tribute to him.

MG Hugo was at the tip of the spear for so many important missions in the Army and after his retirement, and many are recounted in this short video. It is very much worth watching. His life was full of more adventure than you could read in a novel. And he made lasting contributions to our national security, much because of his Special Forces and Intelligence training, experience, and expertise. We should all aspire to live up to his example. De Oppresso Liber!

—

More than a dozen readers have written to ask about the second production run of 2005-2020 SurvivalBlog Archive USB sticks. The first run sold out in less than two months. We are planning on releasing a new version (with a couple of minor glitches fixed) on July 4th, 2021. There will be just 250 sticks in that run, so mark your calendar.

—

Today, an essay by JWR.

Round 94 of writing contest ends on May 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.

The “Reasonable” Dictators of D.C.

The congressmen and executive branch bureaucrats of the District of Columbia (DC) — a.k.a. The District of Criminals — are now fully exercising arbitrary and capricious powers. While supposedly operating within a constitutional framework, their dictates are becoming more and more draconian, and often downright absurd. Their latest proposal is a  “high capacity” magazine ban. I’d like to illustrate the absurdity of such proposals with an analogy:

Let’s say that you live in the mythical country of The Republic of Freedonia. Freedonia is a constitutional republic with individual rights enshrined in a much-vaunted but two-century-old Constitution. Among these rights is “freedom of speech and press.” However, the increasingly socialist Freedonian national congress is in fear of an uprising inflamed by Pamphleteers. These pamphlets cannot be traced to their anonymous authors. They include lengthy essays on liberty. So the national congress passes “reasonable” and “commonsense” speech control laws. Among these is a law limiting pamphlets to 50 words. Any pamphlet that is 50 words or less is deemed “protected speech.”  But writing, printing or possessing any new pamphlet that is 51 words or longer is considered a federal felony, punishiable by fines up to $100,000 and prison sentences up to eight years. Any lengthy pamphlets that were printed before the pamphlet ban was enacted are covered under a grandfather clause, and hence still legal to possess.

Does this illustration sound absurd? It shouldn’t. Because the federal magazine ban bill that was recently introduced in congress would make it a felony to manufacture or import a magazine or belt holding 11 or more cartridges. A 10-round magazine or would be perfectly legal. But an 11-round (or larger) magazine or belt would be a felony and could subject you to fines up to $100,000 and prison sentences up to eight years.

Some of my younger readers are not old enough to remember the magazine ban that was in effect from 1994 to 2004. Thankfully, that law had a 10-year Sunset Clause. But the currently proposed magazine ban does not. It would be permanent.Continue reading“The “Reasonable” Dictators of D.C.”

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 how second-hand car prices are soaring. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

U.S. Congressman Seeks Full Audit Of America’s Gold Reserves.

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Some interesting history, from Vince Lanci: Gold is Money. Silver is More.

Economy & Finance:

Here’s what’s in Republicans’ new $928 billion infrastructure counterproposal. JWR’s Comment: How did congress devolve into a debating society that argues about creating trillions of dollars of new national debt?

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At Zero Hedge: “Eerily Analogous To 2008” – Carl Icahn’s “Big Short 2.0” Trade Starts Paying Off As Mall Loan Fails.

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H.L. suggested this interview: Inflation & Implosion – Hyperinflation in 2022 – John Williams

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At Wolf Street: “Just Shut Up and Buy”: But Hype-Stocks & Cryptos Crashed

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 27, 2021

On this day in 1861, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney of Maryland issued the Ex parte Merryman decision, challenging the authority of President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in Maryland.

On May 27, 1813, former President Thomas Jefferson wrote former President John Adams about the loss of their mutual friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush. Reflecting upon the loss, Jefferson wrote, “We too must go; and that ere long. I believe we are under half a dozen at present; I mean the signers of the Declaration.”

Dr. Rush was instrumental in the reconciliation of Jefferson and Adams by initiating correspondence between the three of them. Both Jefferson and Adams continued to correspond until their deaths on July 4th, 1826– the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which all three had signed in 1776.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Just four days left to enter your article for Round 94!

Today we present another entry for Round 94 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 94 ends on May 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.

Realistic Team Training Events, by Joe Dolio

When talking about survival in a Without Rule of Law (WROL) situation, you are going to need a team. This can be a dedicated preparedness group, your family, a collection of friends, or whomever. But you absolutely need a team to survive in the coming chaos. This team needs to train together in order to be effective.

The problem is that most training events go something like this: On Friday night, everyone meets at the location, has a big BBQ dinner and hangs out around the campfire. Tents and shelters are placed in a wide-open area, spread out over a large surface and people bring large “family camping” style tents, rather than a tactically appropriate small-footprint shelter. On Saturday morning, there’s a large group breakfast and the first two hours are spent eating and chatting. Finally, there is a lecture session on something lasting an hour or two. Another couple of hours are spent having a large lunch, then in the afternoon, everyone lines up in a straight line and blasts away from stationary positions at stationary targets. Then, we’re back to a large BBQ and campfire time. On Sunday, the first few hours are dedicated to a big cookout breakfast, then the group practices “CQB” by launching attacks on an undefended plywood structure, which has exactly no relevance to preparedness. In preparedness, we won’t be out seizing buildings, we’ll be defending them, but that doesn’t stop every group I’ve ever trained with from spending the bulk of their time doing “ultra-tacti-cool-guy” training, that will not be relevant one bit. Then, everyone will brag at work and on social media about all the “training” they did, which was effectively zero.

So, what then is the solution? Here, I will present a far better option that is realistic, and scenario-based and allows every minute of the weekend to be dedicated to training. The only problem is, it won’t be as much fun, and it will be difficult and challenging. This exercise, and others, are outlined in my book The Base Line Training Manual. (Available from Books-a-Million or the dreaded Amazon.)Continue reading“Realistic Team Training Events, by Joe Dolio”

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 Saber Rattling in the Arctic.

More Saber Rattling in the Arctic

H.L. sent this: Russia Warns US & NATO Over Increased Military Activity In Arctic.

Meanwhile, the view of NATO allies: In the Russian Arctic, the First Stirrings of a Very Cold War.

SCOTUS Decision May Lead to End of Red Flag Laws

Some great news from Jon Patton: SCOTUS Decision May Lead to End of Red Flag Laws – Fight for Gun Rights!

We’ll All Be Targeted Under the New Precrime Program

Reader H.L. also sent us this piece by John W. Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute: Total Tyranny: We’ll All Be Targeted Under the Government’s New Precrime Program. Here is an excerpt:

“Precrime, straight out of the realm of dystopian science fiction movies such as Minority Report, aims to prevent crimes before they happen by combining widespread surveillance, behavior prediction technologies, data mining, precognitive technology, and neighborhood and family snitch programs to enable police to capture would-be criminals before they can do any damage.

This particular precrime division will fall under the Department of Homeland Security, the agency notorious for militarizing the police and SWAT teams; spying on activists, dissidents and veterans; stockpiling ammunition; distributing license plate readers; contracting to build detention camps; tracking cell-phones with Stingray devices; carrying out military drills and lockdowns in American cities; using the TSA as an advance guard; conducting virtual strip searches with full-body scanners; carrying out soft target checkpoints; directing government workers to spy on Americans; conducting widespread spying networks using fusion centers; carrying out Constitution-free border control searches; funding city-wide surveillance cameras; and utilizing drones and other spybots.

The intent, of course, is for the government to be all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful in its preemptive efforts to combat domestic extremism.

Where we run into trouble is when the government gets overzealous and over-ambitious and overreaches.

This is how you turn a nation of citizens into snitches and suspects.

In the blink of an eye, ordinary Americans will find themselves labeled domestic extremists for engaging in lawful behavior that triggers the government’s precrime sensors.”Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence. Whensoever therefore the legislative shall transgress this fundamental rule of society; and either by ambition, fear, folly or corruption, endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the people, who have a right to resume their original liberty. ” – John Locke

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 26, 2021

May 26th is the birthday of Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams, Jr.) He was born 1949. When not touring, he lives Somewhere in Montana, so he qualifies as a Redoubter. He reportedly has a large gun collection which is heavy on Sharps rifles and rifles that have factory letters showing that they were originally shipped to Montana. His song A Country Boy Can Survive is practically a survivalist anthem. His father was just 29 when he died, and despite a couple of close calls, Hank Jr. is now well into his golden years, so he may yet live to a ripe old age.

—

I’ve put Elk Creek Company on hiatus while I travel during the month of June. The plan is to re-open on July 1st, with pricing denominated in pre-1965 U.S. silver coinage, with a multiplier for payments in Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) — by check or postal money orders.  Thanks for your patience.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 94 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 94 ends on May 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.

Training Yourself For Preparedness, by Joe Dolio

So many of the people in the preparedness community build massive stockpiles of supplies, including food, camping gear, backpacks, weapons & ammo, and all that ultra tacti-cool stuff. The problem is, they rarely get off the couch and train, and they rarely get out and use their gear.

It does you no good to have a cool backpacking tent, but have no idea how to set it up. Having an ultra-light backpacking stove is great, unless you have no idea how to use it. Your 70 pound “bug out bag” may very well be well-stocked, but unless you’ve trained on carrying it over distances for a long time, you’re going to die of a heart attack on day one and end up as loot drop for someone who comes across your body.

Some of you may think, “But I’m bugging in, so this doesn’t apply to me.” That’s not true. You are bugging in, until you have to bug out. If the mob shows up and burns your house down because you refuse to hand over your food, then steadfastly refusing to bug out becomes silly. So, even if you intend to bug in, having the ability to bug out and survive in the outdoors for 72 hours with just what’s on your back, until a threat leaves the area for example, is a good skill and ability to have.

How do we move from a modern, sedentary lifestyle to being prepared to survive and move outdoors in an emergency? In this article, we’re going to discuss a training progression that I suggested in my book, The Base Line Training Manual. (Available from Books-a-Million or the dreaded Amazon.) It’s a way to start out with small actions, and build up to a full exercise.

The first thing is to remember that we aren’t just going out in the woods for a hike or a camping trip. We are training for survival in a potential Without Rule of Law (WROL) situation, so act like it. When conducting these exercises, focus on trying to avoid contact with other humans you come across, try to stay unobserved, and be obsessive about security measures. A WROL world will require that for survival.Continue reading“Training Yourself For Preparedness, by Joe Dolio”

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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Our own Pat Cascio forwarded this disturbing news: It Begins: Fully Vaccinated People in Oregon Must Show Proof of Vaccination Status in Order to Enter Businesses Without a Mask.

o  o  o

Reader “Bear” wrote:

“I liked a recent article by Angelo Codevilla. Anyone who quotes Alice’s Restaurant gets bonus points from me, but the real idea was about subverting the Constitution to persecute political prisoners. Here’s a quote from the conclusion:

The oligarchs are not fooling around. Appealing to the Constitution can only increase their determination to bury its remnants under the administrative powers it creates or enhances. This is a regime alien and inimical to ours.

That is good as well as bad news. The good aspect of it is that we who swear to uphold the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic owe no allegiance whatever to the oligarchy that now runs this country. Nor can we persuade them about right and wrong. If we are to avoid becoming the oligarchy’s mere subjects we can and must treat them as the enemies they are: deny their legitimacy, and rebuild the republic amongst those of us who love it.

I also liked this article about the aftereffects of intensive propaganda, sad though it is.  Makes me so, so glad that we homeschool, work from home, don’t have a television, and don’t let our cubs on social media. Fear is a weapon of mass destruction. As far as I am concerned, any human should be free to put whatever they want on their faces, or not to, but surely it isn’t “freedom” if they’re terrified into it.”

o  o  o

Reader Vicki S. wrote to ask:
“As a fairly new shooter, I need advice on a good way to store ammo.”
JWR’s Reply:
Standard U.S. military surplus green O.D. cans have served me well for 55+ years. If you can’t find those, then look for large used Tupperware or similar airtight containers at yards sales and thrift stores. Regardless of your choice of containers: If you live in a humid climate, then throw in a small packet of silica gel desiccant before sealing each container.

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