Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 5, by J.M.

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(Continued from Part. 5. This concludes the article.)

If I’m going to be operating in a rural or wilderness area there are some changes I make to what I bring with me. I lose the Boker tool and the shove knife (since there probably won’t be many doors I need to get through), and I add in an Orion Pocket Rocket Aerial Signal Kit. That gives me 4 signal flares that will go up to 300’ and burn for 6+ seconds, which should significantly increase the odds of being spotted by rescue personnel. As I mentioned previously, when I’m backpacking I also have a smaller bailout bag attached to the outside of my backpack with a first aid kit, the flares, the rest of my emergency kit and some water in case I need to dump my backpack and run to try to stay ahead of a fire. I also make a point of always making sure I know where I am and have some possible escape routes planned out in case I need to get away or to from something. If I’m worried about a wildfire I’ll have routes planned to the closest nonflammable terrain such as a rocky area above the treeline or a local lake or river. Even if I’m only going on a short day hike I make sure I have my emergency kit and enough supplies to get by for one or two nights in the woods.

If you operate on or around any large bodies of water or are concerned about getting caught in a flood there are a couple of additional kit items you may want to consider:

  • A pony SCUBA bottle can provide you with roughly 5-7 minutes of breathable air in the event you get trapped underwater. This would be useful to have in your car if you drive over or near lakes or rivers, but it’s probably too bulky to carry with you on a regular basis.
  • A Belt Pack Manual Inflatable Life Jacket (PFD) is a compact version of a standard life jacket and can help you keep your head above water a lot longer than swimming. It’s pretty light and compact so you can wear it a lot easier than a full-size life jacket.
  • The Klymit Lightwater Dinghy is a compact inflatable one-person boat that can help you get to dry ground after a flood or tsunami without having to wade or swim through deep water filled with all kinds of nasty stuff. It packs down to about 5” x 10” and weighs a couple of pounds, so you could carry one in a backpack if flooding is a significant potential issue. You may also want to include a small collapsible paddle, or you can jury-rig one from poles, branches, etc.
  • The Orion flare kit I mentioned previously was designed for boaters, so the container is waterproof and floats.
  • I’ve mentioned several flashlights previously, but if you might end up under water in an emergency you should look for a flashlight that’s actually waterproof, not just ‘water resistant’. Lights like the Olight I5T EOS and the Petzl e+LITE have an IPX rating of 7 or higher, which means they can survive being submerged for a period of time and still work. The Petzl is an especially good option, since you’ll probably need both hands if you’re trying to get through water, and Petzl claims it can be stored for up to 10 years with batteries and still work.

Continue reading“Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 5, by J.M.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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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. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I had a very busy week, following my return from a month-long trip out of state to help an elderly relative.  I returned home to find a small mountain of mail and packages to open. Immediately after that, I started packing orders from our recent rifle sale at Elk Creek Company. Later in the week, I had a half-day at the ranch of a consulting client in an adjoining county. Then I made a five-hour drive to pick up some antique guns and ammo cans that were waiting for me. And most recently I’ve been cataloging those guns and editing the photos to go with them. (I should mention that I pay my #2 Daughter to do the photography, but the photos still need cropping, color correcting, and file renaming to match my inventory numbers.) Hopefully, I’ll be caught up with the photo work in about a week.  The packages also included some ammunition that I’d bought at auction — mostly the various Mauser calibers, some 7.5×55 Swiss, some 7.62mm NATO M118 match grade ammo, some very scarce 6.5x52mm Carcano, and a bit of 7.62x54r.  So I’ve been busy getting all of that sorted and tucked away in labeled ammo cans.  My goal is to have at least 200 rounds of ammunition for each of the guns that I have in inventory. That way, I’ll be able to give or sell them to folks, if and when the Schumer hits the fan. Ironically, I’ve found that is the formerly “scarce” obsolete calibers that are still available at gun shops. It is all the  “standard” calibers that are now chronically sold out. So owning an old Mauser now makes more sense than ever.

Now that I’m back at the Rawles Ranch, I’m resuming some of the chores that I normally handle, such as splitting kindling wood, feeding the woodstove, and keeping the woodbox full.  Especially during winter, I appreciate having an excuse to get away from my desk and get some exercise. Lily did a great job of “holding down the fort”, but we both felt a sense of relief when I got back to the ranch.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

2

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.

For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.” – Psalm 128 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — January 8, 2021

January 8th, 1931 was the birthday of Algis Budrys (he died on June 9th, 2008). He was the Lithuanian-American science fiction author who wrote the classic survivalist novel Some Will Not Die. He was also a contributing author for Mel Tappan’s PS Letter.

—

On this day, in 1835, the U.S. National Debt reached zero for the first and only time.

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My #1 Son, Jonathan Rawles, has begun a sale on the Survival Retreats and Relocation book that we co-authored, through January 19th. (It’s all over, after Biden gets in office!) In this sale, Jonathan is offering 10% off on all purchases, and 20-to-25% discounts on eBook + print bundles.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 4, by J.M.

32

(Continued from Part 3.)

One piece of kit that almost everyone has with them all the time is a cell phone, and there are a number of ways it can be useful in an emergency:

  • This may sound obvious, but if the situation warrants it and you can safely do so, call for help! If you’re trapped by a fire on the upper floor of a tall building, the 911 operator can usually connect you with emergency personnel on the scene who may be able to rescue you or provide guidance on a safe route for you to take.
  • If it’s an event like an earthquake that impacts a larger area, the cell lines may be tied up (if they’re working at all). In these instances you may have better luck sending a text message, since those require a lot less bandwidth, and many 911 services have added texting support in the last few years. The FCC maintains a list of all text message-enabled 911 locations.
  • Install a mapping application download copies of relevant local maps in case you need to find an alternate route to escape a larger-scale disaster. My preference is Osmand+ since it’s based on crowd-sourced maps, but there are a lot of other options available.
  • Make sure emergency broadcasts are enabled on your phone, and install and configure some relevant emergency alerting apps. Here are some examples:
  • Install a loud sound generator app that can make it easier for rescuers to find you.

My phone these days is a Ulefone Armor 7 that’s IP68 ruggedized, waterproof and has a battery that lasts 4-5 day of normal use, all of which should increase the chances it’ll be working in an emergency. If you don’t have a ruggedized phone you should at least look into getting a ruggedized case for your current phone, since carrying it around in the back pocket of your skinny jeans will significantly increase the odds of it being broken when you need it most. And if you’re the kind of person who waits for your phone’s battery to die before charging it, you may want to consider getting in the habit of making sure it’s at least half-charged at all times.Continue reading“Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 4, by J.M.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 recent Bitcoin rally. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

From Chartist P. Radomski: Despite Signs To The Contrary, Gold At Or Near Top

o  o  o

Modest gains for gold, silver amid bullish competing assets

Economy & Finance:

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Why M1 Money Supply (Cash) is Skyrocketing Like No Time in History. A snippet:

“As I’ve said many times on this site, the special cap-gains tax rate — more than any other cause — is why we have such huge growth in disparity between the rich and the rest. Capital gains are where the top 10% make most of their money — not in wages like the rest of the populace — yet they pay a much lower rate on that kind of income-earning than the much of the middle class pays on their kind of income.”

o  o  o

At Gizmodo: Your Credit Score Should Be Based on Your Web History, IMF Says. JWR’s Comment:  Did you do web searches on libertarian or conservative topics?  No home loan or car loan for you!

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Bond Market Smells a Rat: 10-Year Treasury Yield Hit 1.04%, Highest since March. 30-Year 1.81%, Highest since February. Mortgage Rates Jumped
Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — January 7, 2021

25

January 7th, 1963, was the birthday of Senator Rand Paul.

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This is also the birthday of Cresson Kearny (born 1914, died December 18, 2003

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And this is also the birthday of Bent Faurschou-Hviid, known as The Flame (born 1921, died October 18, 1944). The Flame was a red-haired Danish resistance fighter in the Holger Danske Group during World War II. His exploits were dramatized in the movie Flame and Citron.

—

For those who have asked:  The special 15th Anniversary waterproof USB SurvivalBlog archive sticks should be orderable by about  January 15th, and orders will be mailed starting in the first week of February.  Watch for an announcement in SurvivalBlog around the 15th. Thanks for your patience!

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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 92 ends on January 31, 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.

Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 3, by J.M.

5

(Continued from Part. 2)

Another way to reduce the impact of surprise in an emergency is to be able to detect the potential signs that something may be happening you need to be concerned about before it reaches the critical stage. Outside of sudden events like explosions and earthquakes there are almost always early indicators that something may be going wrong around you. A slight whiff of smoke, the creak and groan of a roof support, wildlife acting strangely or a look of concern on the faces of facility security personnel as they hurry by may be signs that you need to raise your alert level and begin focusing on an egress strategy. Besides the obvious approach of not having your head buried in your cell phone all of the time there are a number of exercises you can undertake to improve your powers of observation:

Your physical condition can also have a big impact on your tendency to panic and your ability to get safely out of an emergency situation. If you’re out of shape, injured, sick or have a medical condition you may be more focused internally on yourself and not on your surroundings, reducing your situational awareness and your ability to plan for emergencies. Your body chemistry may also be impacted, which in turn could amplify or skew your body’s panic response. Your physical condition can also slow you down or impact your ability to move, maneuver and clear obstacles, reducing the odds of getting clear of the situation in a timely manner. If you have a treatable medical condition, get it addressed and under control, and if you’re out of shape start working on improving your physical condition. You should focus initially on cardio-type exercises, since being able to move quickly may be the difference between life and death.Continue reading“Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 3, by J.M.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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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 Jeep-Size Mahindra Roxor SUVs.

2020 State Population Gainers and Losers

Reader H.L. mentioned this over at Zero Hedge:  Which States Saw The Biggest Population Inflows And Outflows In 2020.

Seattle May ‘Legalize Crime’ for The Poor and Mentally Ill

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Seattle Bill Could ‘Legalize Crime’ For Those In Poverty or With Behavioral Issues. This article begins:

“In what can only be described as turning morality on its head, a Seattle council member has introduced legislation that could allow courts to dismiss misdemeanor crimes, such as theft and assault, that were committed because of poverty or while a person was experiencing symptoms of a mental illness or substance abuse, reports the Seattle Times.

Introduced by city Council member Lisa Herbold in late October, the legislation is a continuation of the cities “woke” social justice efforts in the wake of the George Floyd police encounter. With the bill crafted under the label “poverty defense,” its defenders say that it aims to ease the burden of usual court rulings on lower income residents but has some worried it will pave the way for crimes like assault, harassment, communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, and more, to go unpunished.”

Car Computer Data Trove is Growing

Karen A. spotted this news item: Police Use Data from Car Computers to Solve Crimes

And here is an article with some related information from Kim Komando: Your car is watching: Here’s what your vehicle knows about you

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1
“To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods…” – Thomas Babington Macaulay, in ‘Horatius at the Bridge’,

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — January 6, 2021

11

Today is the birthday of British comic actor Rowan Atkinson (born 1955).

And this is also the birthday of musician Earl Scruggs, (1924-2012)

—

Our big rifle sale at Elk Creek Company ends at 5 PM Pacific Time today (Wednesday, January 6th, 2021.) Get your order in before 5 PM!

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 92 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 92 ends on January 31, 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.

 

Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 2, by J.M.

17

(Continued from Part. 1)

When you’re planning and evaluating your current environment for possible emergency events, don’t just focus on the immediate location and impacts – consider scenarios with a larger scope and secondary and tertiary impacts. You also should make sure you have some balance in how you approach this type of planning – I’m not suggesting that you stop and spend an hour doing disaster planning before you enter any building. If you devote some time to learning about different types of events and can develop the automatic habit of gathering some basic information on things like emergency exits, escape routes, etc. as you go about your normal activities, you’ll be a lot better prepared than the majority of people to handle emergencies.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

The biggest issues you’ll most likely encounter immediately following a disaster event are fear and the tendency to panic. When the body is under sudden stress, it moves into survival mode, better known as the fight or flight (or freeze) reflex. When that happens the body ramps up production of the stress hormone cortisol which goes to the brain and causes a slow-down in the processing of the pre-frontal cortex, which is where your critical thinking and decision-making occur. That means your rational mind is no longer in control and the amygdala, where the fight or flight (or freeze) reflex and your emotions come from, gets larger and takes over. Finally, the hippocampus, which is where learning and memory are found, temporarily contracts. Hence, humans, when faced with an emergency, are biologically evolved to react rather than thinking critically. Panic makes most people behave in an emotional manner rather than a logical one, as you react emotionally to the danger you face.

Another thing the amygdala does when danger is perceived is to send a signal to your hypothalamus, which transmits a signal through autonomic nerves to the adrenal medulla. When the adrenal glands receive the signal, they respond by releasing adrenaline into the bloodstream. The adrenaline in your bloodstream has a number of impacts:

  • It gives your muscles a boost of energy by causing the liver to break down larger sugar molecules called glycogen into a smaller, more readily usable glucose
  • It binds to receptors on muscle cells in the lungs, causing you to breathe faster and bring in more oxygen
  • It stimulates cells of the heart to beat faster
  • It triggers the blood vessels to contract and direct blood toward major muscle groups
  • It contracts muscle cells below the surface of the skin to stimulate perspiration
  • Your pupils dilate (get larger) to allow you to be more aware and observant of your surroundings

You’ve probably heard stories of people that have lifted cars off of their trapped children to free them – that’s the kind of thing adrenaline can do for your body (although not always without consequences.) There are also people that are addicted to the feeling they get from adrenaline, and undertake dangerous and extreme activities in order to get that feeling over and over again.Continue reading“Surviving the Disaster Golden Hour – Part 2, by J.M.”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. The focus is usually on emergency communications gear, bug out bag gear, tools, books, and movies–often with a tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how-to” self-sufficiency videos. There is also an emphasis on links to sources for storage food and a variety of storage and caching containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This week we’re highlighting a SentrySafe fireproof document safe. (See the Gear section.)

Books:

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach their Kids About Money. I’ve mentioned Kiyosaki’s bestselling book a few times in SurvivalBlog. It has a 4.5-star rating and incredible 37,400 ratings logged, on Amazon!

o  o  o

The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition)

o  o  o

From famed historian Barbara Tuchman: Stilwell and the American Experience in China: 1911-1945

o  o  o

I haven’t yet read it, but this book had great reviews: The Art of Resistance: My Four Years in the French Underground: A Memoir

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

2

“Though dark are our sorrows, today we’ll forget them,
And smile through our tears, like a sunbeam in showers:
There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them,
More form’d to be grateful and blest than ours.
But just when the chain,
Has ceased to pain,
And hope has enwreathed it round with flowers,
There comes a new link,
Our spirits to sink
Oh! the joy that we taste, like the light of the poles,
Is a flash amid darkness, too brilliant to stay;
But, though ’twere the last little spark in our souls,
We must light it up now, on our Prince’s Day.2. Contempt on the minion who calls you disloyal!
Though fierce to your foe, to your friends you are true;
And the tribute most high to a head that is royal,
Is love from a heart that loves liberty too.
While cowards, who blight
Your fame, your right,
Would shrink from the blaze of the battle array,
The Standard of Green
In front would be seen
Oh, my life on your faith! were you summon’d this minute,
You’d cast every bitter remembrance away,
And show what the arm of old Erin has in it,
When roused by the foe, on her Prince’s Day.

He loves the Green Isle, and his love is recorded
In hearts which have suffer’d too much to forget;
And hope shall be crown’d, and attachment rewarded,
And Erin’s gay jubileee shine out yet.
The gem may be broke
By many a stroke,
But nothing can cloud its native ray;
Each fragment will cast
A light to the last
And thus, Erin, my country, though broken thou art,
There’s lustre wiithin thee, that ne’er will decay;
A spirit which beams through each suffering part,
And now smiles at all pain on the Prince’s Day.”

– Thomas Moore, from Irish Melodies, Vol. 4
(Written for a féte in honor of the Prince of Wales’s Birthday, given by Moore’s friend, Major Bryan, at his seat in the county of Kilkenny.)