The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Another source of power in government is a military force. But this, to be efficient, must be superior to any force that exists among the people, or which they can command; for otherwise this force would be annihilated, on the first exercise of acts of oppression. Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.” – Noah Webster

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 24, 2021

March 24th is the birthday of Dr. Art Robinson, who was born in 1942.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 93 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. 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.
  5. 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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. 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 93 ends on March 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.

 

Post-Collapse Barter: The Value of Silver – Part 1, by Dr. Derek King

You, as an avid reader of SurvivalBlog posts, know a few things for sure: 1. That the spot prices for physical gold and silver metals have been tremendously manipulated and suppressed for decades. 2. That if a huge coronal mass ejection (CME) from our sun (similar to the Carrington Event in August of 1859) strikes our country and our planet, that ALL of the semi-conductor circuits, electrical transformers, and vehicles dependent upon those parts will instantly become inoperable. And 3. That the Dominion Voting machines would not be used in the next elections.

If an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) struck the united States of America tomorrow (heaven forbid), what would the price of physical gold and silver be the next day? And at the end of the first week?! Silver will go to $1,000 per ounce and $20 bill will go to zero.

Whether caused by a natural phenomena hitting Earth’s magnetosphere, an unprecedented cyber-hack computer virus, or a North Korea strike causing a type of geomagnetic storm, you were astute and educated enough to recognize that the power was not going to come back on any time soon (if ever…) you would instantly go into your “prepper mode” and begin to organize your preps into priorities. But without a television or Internet to tell you with a quick click what the daily trading price of an ounce of silver was, how would you know what its bartering-power is currently?

The same could be said regarding ammunition, liquor, toilet paper, cigarettes, and water-purification tablets. Those who know their actual worth and value are reading this article- and those clueless souls will only truly recognize the value in a week or so, when it is waaaaay too late! When all the 1’s and 0’s are replaced by Au and Ag (and possibly old carbon with a crystalline-lattice structure) people will still need something to do their “horse-trading” with. The survivors will need gasoline for their old cars, old motorcycles, old mopeds…and for food once the store shelves have been emptied; furthermore, since silver has been known as “the people’s money” for centuries, I believe it will become “worth its weight in gold” so-to-speak.Continue reading“Post-Collapse Barter: The Value of Silver – Part 1, by Dr. Derek King”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 23, 2021

Today is the birthday of acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He directed 30 films. His samurai films (many starring Toshiro Mifune) such as Yojimbo, Sanjuro, The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, and Ran are considered legendary in the cinema world.

And today is the anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death speech. It was delivered to the Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention meeting at St. John’s Church, Richmond, on March 23, 1775.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 93 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. 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.
  5. 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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. 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 93 ends on March 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.

AAR: Winter Storm Uri, by Rocket J. Squirrel

Editor’s Introductory Note: The following is the third After-Action Report (AAR) that we’ve posted in SurvivalBlog about the recent severe winter weather in Texas. Anyone who lives in a temperate region should read these AARs closely, and learn from their experiences. Make adjustments to your home/retreat’s backup power system, water system, heating sources, and insulation. If nothing else, these AARs illustrate that you need to now how to repair copper, PVC, and PEX pipe, and keep the requisite tools and repair pie and fittings on hand.

—

I live in a suburb south of downtown Houston, Texas. We woke up on February 15th with about 1” of snow on the ground and the power to our home was out. Power outages are common for Houston. An inch of snow is not too unusual for Houston; it may happen once every few years or every decade. What was unusual was the length of time which the temperature was below freezing and how far below freezing the temperature dropped. A “typical” winter on the Gulf Coast might have overnight temperatures dropping to 25°F but daytime temperatures hovering near or going back up over 32°F during the day. I looked at some historical weather data and an average year has 62 hours of temperatures observed below 30°F but those instances of cold temperatures would typically be spread across all of the cold winter months, not 62 hours in a row.

Our home was without power for 42 hours straight including the time when it was 11°F overnight Monday night. I estimate that temperatures were sub-freezing for about 56 hours straight. I didn’t turn on our generator. The interior of the house was down to 47°F when the power first came back on. Jackets were sufficient. Our natural gas supply was still operational but we had to break out the matches to light up the burner on the stove for cooking because normal operation is spark ignition.

Even though I grew up and lived most of my life in Southern California, I am familiar with cold weather. I spent one winter in Michigan commissioning a newly constructed power plant. I tell people that we spent the six weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day going from one spot to another thawing out frozen pipes in the power plant. The plant had started operations but the insulation of various pipes was not yet complete.

The Achilles heel for homes in the Houston area turned out to be the water piping. The pipes run through the uninsulated attic space. For information, my home has PEX piping with insulation on most of the piping. From my winter experience at the power plant in Michigan, I implemented a strategy of running the water in every faucet in the house every 4 hours to displace the water in the pipes with fresh, less cold water. There were three occurrences when I opened a faucet and the water dribbled out, then stopped completely. After waiting with the faucet open for about 30 seconds, the water started flowing again in each instance. An ice plug had started to form in the piping somewhere. What was happening was the water pressure was sufficient to push out/melt the ice plugs which were starting to form. If I had let the ice plug grow then the piping might have been damaged.

The water pressure dropped to almost zero for several hours during the second day without power. If the water had been out the whole time then my strategy would have been different and I would have shut off the water at the street and drain all of the piping in the house. That strategy would not have been ideal as there would have remained some water in low points as the plumbing was not designed with drain valves.

My home survived without freeze damage but I helped two friends deal with the broken pipes and the water damage which occurred after the ambient temperature rose above freezing. My friends who incurred damage had copper pipes that were uninsulated. I came to the conclusion that the local building code requirements only anticipate freezing temperatures overnight with warming during daylight hours. I expect that people up north in the Texas panhandle survived just fine because the construction techniques anticipate sub-freezing weather for multiple days in a row every winter. I went up in the attic of my 2-year-old home and found very poor workmanship with respect to the application of insulation to the water pipes. I observed many gaps and large sections (~10’) of insulation had fallen off. I have some work to do to get things properly insulated.Continue reading“AAR: Winter Storm Uri, by Rocket J. Squirrel”

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.

—

M. in The Redoubt wrote to ask:

JWR, 

Do you think the benefits of owning a [registered] suppressor (flash signature and sound reduction) outweigh the increased exposure of being on the ATF registry?

 

JWR Replies:
In the present-day political climate, I would advise against it.  The high profile outweighs the potential benefits.  If you want to shoot quietly, then buy a .22 bolt action or pump action with a fairly long barrel (20″+) and feed it with .22 Short or .22 CB Cap cartridges. For example, Rossi makes pump action clones of the venerable Winchester Model 62 that will reliably shoot Short, Long ,or Long Rifle cartridges from a tubular magazine in pump repeater mode. It can also be used to fire CB Caps in sngle-shot mode, fairly rapidly.

o  o  o

Daniel Beach, the proprietor of Hammers4Hunting.com,  has written a very detailed essay, titled: The Scout Rifle Has Run It’s Course.  He makes a good case for using traditional receiver-mounted LVPO scopes instead of forward “Scout” mounts on bolt action rifles. I highly recommend  reading the article.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

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 the recent Wyoming snowstorm. (See the Wyoming section.)

Idaho

Video: Elderly Couple, Dogs Rescued from Pickup Dangling over Idaho Gorge. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)
o  o  o

Idaho concealed carry bill advances; would allow some school staff to be armed at work without permission.

o  o  o

Over at Good Simple Living; First Walls Go Up On Our DIY Home Build | Building Our Home In The Mountains

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The State obtains its revenue by coercion, by threatening dire penalties should the income not be forthcoming. That coercion is known as “taxation,” although in less regularized epochs it was often known as ‘tribute.’
Taxation is theft, purely and simply even though it is theft on a grand and colossal scale which no acknowledged criminals could hope to match. It is a compulsory seizure of the property of the State’s inhabitants, or subjects.” – Murray Rothbard

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 22, 2021

This is the birthday of Louis L’Amour. (Born 1908, died 1988.) Some of his novels have survival themes. One of particular interest to survivalists is Last of the Breed.

—

Today we’re posting a review written by our resourceful Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.

SIG P239 9 TAC, by Pat Cascio

Anyone who is the least bit familiar with the SIG-Sauer line of handguns, knows that they are outstanding firearms, and in demand. The only downside to this is that all SIG firearms are expensive. They are now made in the USA – thankfully – before that, they were made in Germany, and there was a big price to pay for those guns – with import fees, currency exchange rates, and taxes. Now made in the USA, the price came down quite a bit, but they are still expensive. Keep in-mind that you usually get what you pay for, and SIG firearms are precision tools – they are “that” good.

The SIG P239 9 TAC model was a very limited run. The entire line was made from 1996 until 2018 and then discontinued for a number of reasons. Last time I checked, the only P239 9 TAC model was selling for close to $1,100. The standard (used) P239 in 9mm is selling for about $700 if you can find one. SIG jumped in on the concealed carry craze a little bit too late, with this design and with a “dated” design if you ask me. Nothing wrong with the P239 at all. Just that it was – and is – a bit too big for its intended purpose. The US Navy SEALs often carried the P239 in 9mm when operating in plain clothes. So, you know what a great gun it is.Continue reading“SIG P239 9 TAC, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Chicken & Ham Sandwiches

The following recipe for Chicken & Ham Sandwiches is from The New Butterick Cook Book, by Flora Rose, co-head of the School of Home Economics at Cornell University. It was published in 1924. A professional scan of that 724-page out-of-copyright book is one of the many bonus items included in the latest edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This 15th Anniversary Edition (2005-2020) USB stick has sold out, but another small batch should be available in a month.

Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked chicken meat
  • 1/4 cup cooked ham
  • 1/2 cup celery
  • Mayonnaise
  • Butter
  • Lettuce
Directions
  1. Mix chicken, ham and celery, all finely ground.
  2. Moisten with mayonnaise.
  3. Toast the bread.
  4. Spread between iettuce leaves on thinly buttered toast.

—

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 the current high price of reloading primers. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Here is a set of gold-to-silver ratio charts that is instructive.  JWR’s Comment: Keep in mind that the long-term trend can only head in one direction, since silver is being gradually consumed, whereas most scrap gold is recovered. I expect a gold-to-silver ratio closer to 20-to-1 within 15 years.

o  o  o

Top 10 largest gold mining companies in 2020 – report

Economy & Finance:

Half Of Americans Have Lost Income Since Start Of Pandemic, While 16% Increased Earnings

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: RV Boom Rolls Into 2021 With Record-Breaking Sales Expected

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Long Way to “Normalcy”: When Will Americans Return to Flying for Vacation and Business?
Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men. The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments. The state can be and has often been in the course of history the main source of mischief and disaster.” – Ludwig von Mises

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 21, 2021

March 21st, 1778: Just three days after Hessian mercenary forces assaulted the local New Jersey militia at Quinton’s Bridge, the same contingent surprised the colonial militia at Hancock’s Bridge, five miles from Salem. In what became known as the Massacre at Hancock’s Bridge, at least 20 members of the militia lost their lives, some after attempting to surrender. The Loyalists reputedly exclaimed “Spare no one! Give no quarter!” as they stormed the occupied house. Judge Hancock and his brother (both Loyalists) were bayoneted in the melee by the attackers even though they were both staunch supporters of the crown and were themselves non-violent Quakers.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 93 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. 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.
  5. 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. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  4. 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 93 ends on March 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.