Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 28, 2021

April 28th is the birthday of Aimo Johannes Lahti. (Born in 1896.) This inventive Finn designed (or co-designed) an amazing array of weapons including the L-35 Lahti pistol, the Suomi M-31 SMG, the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 LMG, the famous Lahti L-39 20mm anti-tank rifle, and even the 20 ItK 40 — a 20 mm dual anti-aircraft cannon.

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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.

Salvaging Beeswax, by The Novice

The subtitle for this article is: Of Mice, Bees, Squirrels, and Beeswax

Of Mice

“. . . Mousie, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes of Mice and Men,
Go oft awry,
And leave us naught but grief and pain,
For promised joy!”

(Excerpt from “To a Mouse, On Turning her up in her Nest, with the Plough, November 1785″ by Robert Burns, anglicized and updated by the Novice)

Of Bees

Near my home is a large hollow tree that for many years has been the home to a large colony of bees. Each summer the bees busily collected nectar from flowers and made it into honey. Each winter they hunkered down snug in their hive and lived off of the honey that they had collected until spring. This past summer brought an end to the world as the bees knew it. A section of the hollow tree decayed to the point that it broke away. This loss left a large hole right at the base of the hive. As the first cold nights of autumn came, this hole allowed the frigid winds to enter the hive. The bees were unprepared for this, and quickly perished in the cold.

Of Squirrels

The local squirrels soon noticed that a hoard of honey was unguarded. A large-scale squirrel invasion ensued. Day by day, a procession of squirrels made their way into and out of the hive. Our beagle, Tucker, did his best to drive off the invaders, but without success. As a result, the squirrels in our woods were unusually fat for a time.

The bees planned to provide for themselves, but they ended up feeding the squirrels.Continue reading“Salvaging Beeswax, by The Novice”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippet

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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First, and foremost is an incredible global radio listening map, sent to us by H.L.: Radio Garden. H.L describes it: “The green dots on this Google Earth map represent radio stations all over the world. Click on any one of the dots and you will immediately hear that station with very good reception.”

JWR’s Comment: I also found this fascinating. It is obvious that NPR stations are over-represented versus Christian and small independent stations, but it is still an amazing tool. Take the time to “tour” The American Redoubt via Radio Garden.  Not only will it give you an appreciation of how vast and lightly-populated the region is, but also how delightfully old-fashioned and conservative the populace is. I randomly clicked on a station in Billings, Montana, and soon heard an ad for a hardware store extolling: “We have a good selection of ARs and stripped AR lowers.” You’ve gotta love the Redoubt!

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Our own Pat Cascio spotted this: New Gun Control Bill Expected To Pass Requires Background Checks to Purchase Ammo.

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Duane sent this note:

“Tunnel Rabbit’s informative article on solar power is helpful for someone just starting and trying to keep some lights on with minimal cash outlay.  I’ve lived off grid for 23 years and have over 4KW of panels, many on a tracker, and a large Iron Edison battery bank.  Also have 1095 watts of solar on my RV using linear actuators to raise the panels.  {Available from W.W. Grainger}  I’m writing to explain something most solar installers don’t consider.  There is a difference between AC and DC voltage.  AC starts at zero and follows a sine wave to maximum and then returns to zero and follows a sine wave to maximum in the opposite direction and returns to zero.  You can measure the area under the curve and play with the numbers, but the bottom line means you need larger wire for DC which stays at one voltage and amperage.  The wire size ratings from Underwriters Lab are for fire prevention on AC circuits, not efficiency.  They say #14 will carry 15 amps,  #12  20 amps,  #10  30 amps,  #6  60 amps.  For a continuous load, such as lights, decrease #12 from 20 amps to 16 amps.  For efficient DC, such as from solar panels to the controller, triple the wire size.  Instead of #12 for 20 amps, use #6.

A favorite trick of solar panel installers on RVs is to use small wire on the DC circuits so they can sell more panels to get enough power.  A small voltage drop from the panel to the solar controller will make a large drop in the output because batteries need a voltage above their rated voltage to charge them. Like many things in life, it comes down to money.  If you are starting with a small system and think you will add more panels later, install larger wire now.  If you are using a large enough system to wire the solar panels in series for 24 volts or 48 volts, you will save on wire because raising the voltage decreases the amperage.  Consider this when buying a solar controller.  Most people are impressed with free energy from solar and like no electric bill every month.  If the solar controller, wire, and inverter are sized properly it is easy to add a couple solar panels and more batteries later.  Prior planning prevents poor performance.”

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Reader D.S.V. wrote to mention this news: Supreme Court Takes Up Major NRA-Backed Gun Rights Case

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippet”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If you take all the machinery in the world and dump it in the ocean, within months more than half of all humanity will die and within another six months they’d almost all be gone; if you took all the politicians in the world, put them in a rocket, and sent them to the moon, everyone would get along fine.” – R. Buckminster Fuller

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — April 27, 2021

On this day in 1789, the crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.

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Take note that I’ve moved the posting day for our weekly Snippets column from Tuesdays to Wednesdays.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present an article that is not eligible for the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The author is my #1 Son, Jonathan Edwards Rawles. He operates the real estate advertising site SurvivalRealty.com and is a partner of Survival Realty Brokerage Services.

Review: 80% Arms Easy Jig 3, by Jonathan E. Rawles

I was given an 80% build kit from 80 Percent Arms just a few week before Joe “Non-Absolute” Biden announced new rules that will seek to put companies like 80 Percent Arms out of business. So, I offer this review, and encourage you to take advantage of the rules as they now stand, and support them and other companies that support our God-given rights to manufacture our own tools and weapons.

With the Biden/Harris Regime poised to issue rules requiring an FFL to buy or sell “ghost guns” such as bananas and partially-eaten Poptarts, now may be an excellent time to invest in aluminum.

As of April, 2021, 80 Percent Arms was accepting orders for 80% lower blanks, jigs, and kits. But this may change in the near future. They are currently listing their billet 80% lower blanks as shipping in 3-to-5 days, while their AR10 80% lower blanks are back-ordered 11-to-13 weeks, and orders on their multi-cal jigs are 4 weeks out.

The Product

The Easy Jig Gen 3 includes a guide plate with cutouts to guide the router in the milling operations. The guide plate also features a depth gauge to help adjust the router depth for a consistent cutting depth. The guide plate screws onto the side blocks which serve to secure the jig in the vise, and which also contain the drill bushings for the fire control pocket. The blank is secured in the easy jig at two points–with the pivot pin providing 5 degrees of constraint and the primary datum, and the buffer tube adapter providing the final degree of constraint. The jig strikes a reasonable compromise between cost-effective design, flexibility for “AR-10” and “AR-9” pattern lowers, and overall rigidity. When fully assembled, the blank feels very secure, and the jig provides a consistent and repeatable result.

I used an unbranded router that was loaned to me by 80 Percent Arms. I also used their supplied endmill and drill bits, along with their router adapter plate. The adapter features two guide pins, which can be switched out to follow the guide path for each of the three milling steps. I used 80 Percent Arms billet black AR-15 80% lower blanks. Quality seemed good, and comparable to most other manufacturers. I also had the opportunity to see a lower made with one of their FDE Cerakote lower blanks, which looked excellent.

UPDATE: The folks at 80% Arms wrote me to mention:

“Our router is actually designed and sold by us, though manufactured overseas. It’s model name is the FST-1. It hasn’t been discontinued. We plan on selling more in the near future but are simply waiting on supply lines to fill up our inventory. “

Continue reading“Review: 80% Arms Easy Jig 3, by Jonathan E. Rawles”

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, nows on the arrest of two alleged wolf poachers.  (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Over at Redoubt News, there is this piece written by Shari Dovale that includes some details that I’ve not yet seen verified: Idaho Swamp Trying To Unseat Another Conservative.

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I just heard about a Photovoltaic power systems sales and installation company that has opened a new storefront just north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho: Smith Lake Solar Electric. They cater to putting together systems for do-it-yourselfers and seem to have very competitive prices. For example: $225 for an all-weather 275-Watt polycrystalline PV panel–and presumably even lower prices per panel for large installations. They are located at 510007 Highway 95. (Directly across from the Yoder’s Amish store. ) You can call them at (208) 946-6007 or e-mail them at: slsolarelectric@gmail.com.

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Horowitz: Idaho Gov. Brad Little thinks 60 days of dictatorial power are not enough for him. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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Hadagone Corporation CEO Duane Hagadone dies at 88

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our 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 Monday — April 26, 2021

On April 26, 1986, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately.

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Here is a new property listing in the American Redoubt: Five Acre Dream – Wide Open Spaces! (With both on-grid and off-grid power, near Thermopolis, Wyoming.)

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

SAR 9 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

Turkey is producing some outstanding firearms, at great prices. I think they are making some of the best shotguns, and the prices are crazy low for these quality firearms. Make no mistake, I’m no fan of the dictator Erdogan, who is the president of Turkey. He is a “Mad Turk” if you ask me – so save the hate mail, please.  Over the years, I’ve owned several shotguns and handguns produced in Turkey, and have zero problems with them. They are well-made and priced “oh-so-right”.

I’ve been attempting to add a few more firearms to my meager gun collection now that Sleepy Joe Biden is in the White House. Biden has vowed to do away with all manner of firearms and magazines holding more than 10-rounds of ammo. And if you own any modern sporting rifle, like an AR-15 or AK-47, he wants you to be required to register them and pay a $200 federal transfer tax, so prepare as best you can. Biden also wants to do a taxpayer-funded “voluntary” gun “buyback” of black rifles. I don’t know how that works, since the government never owned my guns to start with. My wife and I are semi-retired, so we live on a very limited income. I supplement my social security pay, by writing articles. So, I can’t get all the firearms I’d like to get, as a hedge on Biden’s planned policies. So, I shop carefully – very carefully for the most gun for the least amount of money – but the guns still have to be 100% reliable.

A lot of people are totally unaware of SAR USA – they are the distributor in the USA, for SAR firearms (Sarsilmaz) out of Turkey.  SAR isn’t very well-known in the USA for some reason – and that’s strange – guess SAR USA doesn’t have a good marketing executive, but those in the “know” about firearms, know about SAR. My experience with Turkish-made firearms has been a good one – never had any problems at all, with any of them.

Our local small box store here in the Pacific Northwest, called Bi-Mart, sold handguns and long guns for many years, and stopped selling handguns many years ago for some reason. In the past half dozen years or so, they started selling handguns once again, and at prices always below retail – by quite a bit. So, I purchase brand-new firearms through them when no other FFL dealer can meet or beat their prices. Bi-Mart is my favorite store to shop at. However, since the pandemic and mask mandate, I don’t enter their stores any longer.  With that said, Bi-Mart, started carrying the SAR 9, and this is an outstanding pistol, chambered in 9mm.Continue reading“SAR 9 Pistol, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Harriet’s Banana Cake

The following recipe for Banana Cake was sent to us by SurvivalBlog reader Harriet, who posts savingfoodforeating, on Instagram.

Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups mashed bananas (about 3 really ripe bananas)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • ½ c. buttermilk (milk with a splash of vinegar)
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Cream butter, sugars and eggs
  3. Add mashed bananas and vanilla
  4. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
  5. Alternate the buttermilk with the flour mixture
  6. Pour into an oiled 13 x 9 pan
  7. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees
  8. Test for doneness with a toothpick or knife
  9. Frost with cream cheese frosting or a dusting of confectioner’s sugar

Hint: If I’m not frosting this cake, I’ll often make it in loaf pans and add more cinnamon

AlternativeS For Storage Foods

How to make this recipe from your pantry:

  1. Rehydrate dehydrated banana chips that you’ve made. I don’t know if store-bought banana chips would work. I tend to think not.
  2. Make your own baking powder from 2 parts Cream of Tartar to 1 part baking soda
  3. Use powdered butter or light-colored lard
  4. Use dehydrated eggs or egg substitute
  5. Make your own buttermilk using milk + vinegar, rehydrated milk + vinegar, canned milk or water + vinegar

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

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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

Precious Metals:

We were saddened to hear of the death of metals market analyst Peter Hug. Our condolences to his family.

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Arkadiusz Sieroń: Will A Fiscal Revolution Raise Gold To The Throne?

Economy & Finance:

At Wolf Street: Buyers’ Strike? Everyone Knows the Housing Market Has Gone Nuts: amid Wild Distortions, Prices Spike but Sales Plunge

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US economy will be ‘enormously strong’ at end of 2021: Art Laffer.  JWR’s Comments: This outward appearance of economic strength ignores the artifices of low interest rates and trillions of dollars in economic stimulus created out of thin air. This is the biggest bubble in world history. When it inevitably pops, we will probably live though an inflationary economic depression that is longer and deeper than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Equities:

The U.S. stock market is now looking very “toppy”.  Although those seemingly limitless stimulus miracle bucks may keep the markets afloat a bit longer, I consider this a good juncture to sell off any of your stocks that are not depression proof. It is better to be a year too early than a day too late.  If you don’t have the guts to sell at present, then at least put in stop-loss orders! – JWR

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — April 25, 2021

Today is the birthday of physicist, inventor, and entrepreneur Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937). He was known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission as well as for the development of Marconi’s law and a radio telegraph system. He is often considered the inventor of radio.

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Today we present a guest article. It was too short for consideration in the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

Round 94 of the 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.

Tangible Investments on the Farm, by Animal House

As many Survival Blog readers remember JWR, and other knowledgeable sources, have been recommending various ‘tangible’ investments for several years. While I am not an expert on anything, I study various reports which I consider applicable to my lifestyle. The Institute for Supply Management issued a report which got my attention:

“Things are now out of control. Everything is a mess, and we are seeing wide-scale shortages.”
Bank of America’s Chief Investment Officer, Michael Hartnett, said: “Our worldwide supply chain, and ability to provide products and services to you, is being significantly impacted by increased prices resulting from labor and raw material shortages, escalating raw material prices, manufacturing delays and transit interruptions. Stated directly, our costs are increasing and are much more volatile than in the past.”

“Supply chains are depleted; inventories up and down the supply chain are empty. Lead times increasing, prices increasing, [and] demand increasing.”

“The coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic is affecting us in terms of getting material to build from local and our overseas third- and fourth-tier suppliers. Suppliers are complaining of [a lack of] available resources [people] for manufacturing, creating major delivery issues.”

“Prices are rising so rapidly that many are wondering if [the situation] is sustainable.”

Source: ISM World

Last year I had a CD mature, which I did not renew. Instead, I put the proceeds in a safe place and made a list of tangible investments that I felt would benefit the farm. I had in mind developing a few more strings of income and expanding our tiny cottage business.

On a farm you are always building and repairing something. If you have good equipment and tools, the jobs are done faster and (usually) more safely than just using body muscle power. If you get hurt on a farm, dozens of chores don’t get done and everything suffers.

A Mid-Size Tractor

The second year on the farm I purchased a mid-sized tractor and a couple of basic implements. The end of last year I ordered more implements that could expand the usefulness of the tractor. My son uses the tractor for small jobs for homesteads nearby, such as digging trenches, holes for fruit trees using the backhoe attachment and fence posts with the auger attachment, tilling gardens, leveling farm roads with the box blade, moving dirt and gravel, bush-hogging and pushing over small trees, and so on. He charges by the job and we split the income; I keep half for maintenance expenses. FYI, I purchased the recent implements from Titan Attachments (palletforks.com) and I’m pleased with their services.

Portable Sawmills

After our last building project, when lumber prices had increased by 45%, we investigated portable sawmills. Once the brand and model were decided, I placed the order for the sawmill and found there was a three month lead time. By the time the mill was delivered, the salesman told me the lead time was 6 to 7 months for delivery, partly because of difficulty getting raw materials and partly because of increased demand. As I write this, lumber costs have gone up to 180%.  (Sources: Lesprom and Fortune.)

Our plan for the sawmill is to harvest some of our forested acreage to mill 6x6x12, 4x4x10, 2x4x8 and plank boards for use instead of plywood (which is going for $28-$32 a sheet in our location). This wood will be used for two new feed sheds, pig and goat shelters and repair of our cages and coops. Next year we may take a couple of small orders for neighbors, but right now we are still in a learning mode with the mill.

This year I replaced the propane rental tank by purchasing a 500-gallon tank for the house since it is more economical to own your tank. I have a propane HVAC and a small indoor wall heater, a kitchen range and a water heater that also run on propane. I purchase the propane on contract each year and it runs around $1.40 per pound. I use around 350 to 400 pounds a year. My plan is to purchase another 500 gal tank later this summer.

Our Kit-Built Greenhouse

A year and a half ago, I purchased a greenhouse kit from Farmtec/Clearspan. The kit was for a 20’x20′ hoop house since my location normally has mild winters. We put the building together ourselves according to the directions. We added some extra bracing and screws since we get thunderstorms and tornadoes in our area. This past winter we experimented with using propane heaters hooked to small propane containers to keep the temperature above freezing inside. We had cool weather vegetables growing such as collard greens, radishes, cabbages, broccoli, and our dwarf fruit trees inside. One heater worked well until the temps plummeted to below freezing (18°F) when we added a second heater. The two worked well (down to 0°F) until we ran out of propane during an ice storm which closed the roads and bridges so we could not get any refills.

That storm triggered my investing in a 250-gallon tank for the greenhouse. Since the greenhouse is not accessible by the propane truck, my son built a wooden cradle that he can pick up with the tractor forks. With that, he can move the tank to a point where the propane truck hoses will reach. I figured the tank will only need filling in alternating years, if temperatures only fluctuate within 10°F of what we had this past winter.

Summarizing, my tangible investments for the farm were last year’s greenhouse investment, and this year additional implements for the tractor, two propane storage tanks, and a sawmill to process our own lumber. I feel they will provide a Return On Investment (ROI)  within two to three years.

I hope each of you doing well and preparing for the difficult times ahead. My prayers go out to those dear blog friends needing comforting and encouragement. – Animal House