August 2020 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

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Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance and the factors that affected gold prices. This column by Steven Cochran is courtesy of Gainesville Coins

What Did Gold Do in August?

August was a volatile month for gold. Early in the month, gold extended a series of new all-time record highs that began on July 24th, when spot gold closed at $1,901.30 an ounce. Gold closed above $2,000 for the first time on August 4th, at $2,019.40. Prices hit the current all-time high of $2,063.20 an ounce on August 6th.

At this point, gold had set new all-time highs nine times over the last ten trading days. Spot gold had rallied for 17 out of 19 sessions from July 13th, to August 6th, going from $1,801 an oz to $2,063 an oz.

This spurred talk around our office that gold was overdue for a correction. The excuse for that correction showed up the next day.

The nonfarm payrolls report for July was released on August 7th, showing more new jobs than expected were created. Stocks rose on the good news. It also gave support to the US dollar, which had been at two-year lows. Spot gold fell $28 from its record high that it had scored the previous day. Treasury yields rose, as investors cycled into risk-on assets..

August 11th saw the largest dollar-wise daily loss for gold in seven years, as President Vladimir Putin shocked the world with the announcement that Russia had developed a COVID vaccine. Putin declared that the vaccine was safe, and that mass inoculations would begin in October.

The prospect that the global COVID epidemic might end before the end of the year sparked an abandonment of safe-haven assets of all types. Spot gold fell $118 an ounce to $1,910.00. This would be the monthly low. December gold futures fell $93 an ounce, but would not see its monthly low until August 25th.

Gold ground its way back to $2,000 by August 18th, before selling off to $1,946 over two days. Spot gold spent the last week of August fighting a $45 losing streak as it tried to avoid ending lower for the month.

Spot gold as tracked by XAUUSD lost 7% in August. This follows an 11% gain in spot gold prices in July, which was the largest monthly rally since 2012. Year to date, gold was 29.7% higher by August 30, and 28.88% higher year over year.

Most of the correction in gold prices that we saw in the last half of August were from speculators taking profits, and “weak hands” that bailed at the first sign of a correction.

Many gold market analysts agree that all markets will suffer from increased volatility at least through the end of the year. This makes daily swings of more than $100 more likely.Continue reading“August 2020 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 record-breaking real estate sales in The American Redoubt and in other rural regions.

Region-Wide

Initiative to expand Idaho into Oregon could be on November ballot

o  o  o

Intense competition drives a surge in offers on unseen homes. This atricle begins:

“With a low inventory and coronavirus limiting accessibility, nearly half of home shoppers made offers sight-unseen in June, according to Redfin.

In a survey conducted last month, 45% of consumers who purchased a home in the last year put bids on houses without physically seeing them. It’s the highest share since Redfin started tracking the data in 2015. Only 28% of buyers made these offers a year ago.”

o  o  o

More Space, Please: Home Sales Booming Despite Pandemic, Recession

o  o  o

The liberal Lewiston Tribune published this very slanted hit piece on August 24th: GOP leaders in Idaho have ties to extremist movement

Idaho

Idaho staying in stage four for another two weeks, approves $2.56 million in coronavirus relief for Idaho Foodbank

o  o  o

At Redoubt News: The Sandpoint Mayor Should Resign

o  o  o

Anti-government activist Bundy arrested at Idaho Statehouse

o  o  o

Bigger, heavier loads allowed on U.S. Highway 95 after road improvements

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 31, 2020

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On August 31, 1954: Hurricane Carol makes landfall on Long Island and Connecticut, taking nearly 70 lives and resulting in tens of millions of dollars in damage.

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Some good news:  More Costco stores are now displaying my latest book. (The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide.) I was able to buy some at the Reno, Nevada Costco, on Saturday, for just $14.99 each. But the bad news is that many Costco stores have reduced the size of their book sections, they’ve shifted to mainly selling children’s books, and they have moved their few remaining book tables to the periphery of their stores. So you may have to do some searching to even find their book department.  And once you are there, you may have to ask a clerk to break open a case of books (beneath the tables) for you, since their now reduced table space may have precluded putting my book up on the table.

As I previously mentioned, Costco stores will have an exclusive on the book until October 15th. Only then will it have a general release.

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Here is a new listing on 22 acres over at SurvivalRealty.com that caught my eye: Oregon Mountain Retreat.

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Today we present another Product Review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio

Kershaw Knives Fringe, by Pat Cascio

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Kershaw Knives, never ceases to amaze me, with the number of new and exciting knives they come out with each year, and what is even more amazing, are the prices on these knives – very affordable, to say the least. I like Kershaw products, they are right here in my “adopted” home state of Oregon. Actually, I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois – but I’ve lived most of my life in Oregon – it is my selected home state, even with the messed-up Liberal politics they have, it’s still a great state to live in. We have it all, ocean, forests, mountains, high desert with plenty of ranching, farming, and logging land to boot. In terms of land area, Oregon is predominantly conservative.  But unfortunately, it’s the big cities, like Portland and the tri-county area around it, Eugene and Salem, that have the highest populations, and they are mostly liberals. They represent the majority of the population, and hence they presently control the state legislature and governorship. ‘Nuff said!

Kershaw Knives is owned by the KAI Corporation in Japan, and if any country knows about making great knives, it would be Japan. But it wasn’t always like that. Right after WW2, Japan was producing some very sub-standard cutlery, but that changed many years ago, and they now produce some of the finest blades in the world. So, they know a little bit about producing great knives, and I’m happy to say, that the knives with the Kershaw name on them are outstanding in all respects, especially the price. This particular model is made at a Kershaw-contracted factory in Mainland China. The Kershaws sourced there are quite good.

I could be wrong, but I believe that, Kershaw was the first major knife company to come out with assisted-opening folders, and then many others followed suit, with their own type of assisted-opening mechanisms, and some work much better than others. Make no mistake, an assisted-opening folder is not an automatic-opening folder. You still have to touch the blade and start it to open, unlike an automatic-opening folder, where all you have to do is press a button for the blade to open. Still, some locales have banned assisted-opening folders, claiming they are “automatic” or “switchblade” knives.

With the assisted-opening folder, you have to start the blade opening with a thumb disk or thumb stud, and depending on the mechanism, you might have to actually start the blade opening, by as much as 15 – 25 percent, before the assisted mechanism takes over and opens the blade the rest of the way, until it locks in the open position. Believe it or not, some people can’t seem to get the hang of this, no matter how hard I try to explain or teach this to them. Some believe they have to follow the blade as it opens, that just hinders the assisted-opening part…once the blade starts to open, after you start it, you remove your thumb off the blade, or it won’t fully open. Really easy to do, with a few minutes of practice…just take your thumb off of the thumb stud or disk and let the assisted part take control and the blade will open and lock open.Continue reading“Kershaw Knives Fringe, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Planked Steak

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The following recipe for Planked Steak 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 will be one of the many bonus items included in the next edition of the waterproof SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick. This special 15th Anniversary Edition USB stick should be available for sale in the third week of January, 2021. The 14th Edition sold out quickly, so place a reminder in your calendar, if you want one.

Ingredients
  • 1 steak, 2 inches thick
  • Duchess potatoes
  • Various kinds of cooked vegetables
  • Butter or butter substitute
  • Finely chopped parsley
  • Salt
  • Paprika
Directions
  1. Trim the fat and make outline of the steak even.
  2. Sear it on both sides on a hot griddle or pan, using no fat.
  3. Cook fifteen minutes, turning it frequently.
  4. Oil a heated plank. (Note: The plank must be a non-aromatic wood. The size of the plank will depend on the size of the oven, but it must be at least three inches wider than the steak.)
  5. Place the steak on the plank, and arrange a border of potatoes around it. Arrange other cooked vegetables such as stuffed tomatoes or green peppers, small boiled onions, peas, string beans, or cubes of carrot or turnip around the steak, also, so that the board is entirely concealed.
  6. Place the plank in the oven until the potato border is browned and all the vegetables are heated through.
  7. After removing it from the oven, spread the steak with butter or butter substitute into which has been rubbed finely chopped parsley, salt, and paprika.

SERVING

Send to table upon the plank.

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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

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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 commodities price forecasts for 2021. (See the Commodities section.)

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: American Airlines Warns Admin: Keep Bailing Us Out Or At Least 19,000 More Jobs Are Gone

o  o  o

Reader Joe B. sent this telling news, also at Zero Hedge: Pelosi Calls Republicans ‘Domestic Enemies Of The State’. Joe’s comment:

“Isn’t it interesting that Nancy Pelosi refers to our country as “THE STATE” was this a slip of the tongue or how she views the government? If it sounds familiar that is because that is how communist, socialist, and [other statist] dictators always refer to their government because they do not believe that the people are the government. They believe their power comes from the “STATE” not the people.

For those of you that were just getting comfortable with being called a deplorable, you now have to bow down to being called a Domestic Enemy of the State.

How much longer are the people going to tolerate this abuse from elected officials?”

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Jingle Mail for Malls: Even Biggest Landlords Walk from Malls as Stores Go Bankrupt, Refuse to Pay Rent, Mall Values Slashed Brutally. But those Shorting Mall CMBS Made a Killing

Commodities:

In some web wandering, I found this from Fitch Solutions: Monthly Commodities Strategy: Lacklustre Prices For Now, More Positive Outlook In 2021. Note: Most of this article is behind a paywall.  Here is snippet from the opening paragraph:

“We are neutral on commodities in the coming months, with the exception of gold and iron ore, for which still-supportive fundamentals will keep prices in an uptrend for now. We believe oil prices will continue to range-trade in the coming months, while base metals are likely to pause and could pull back slightly following their impressive recovery to pre-Covid levels.

Looking at 2021, we are mostly positive on commodity prices, in particular towards energy (oil and natural gas) and towards softs. Oil demand will recover more strongly and more homogeneously around the world next year…”

o  o  o

OilPrice News reports: Two Major Shale Drillers Plan Layoffs

o  o  o

Here’s how grain prices could strengthen in 2021Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 30, 2020

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August 30th is the birthday of the late Joachim Rønneberg, a hero of the Norwegian resistance during World War II. He was born in 1919. His exploits earned him the War Cross With Sword, Norway’s highest military honor. In April 2013, Rønneberg was presented with a Union Jack during a ceremony at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) monument in London to mark 70 years since the successful Gunnerside heavy water plant sabotage mission. Rønneberg died in 2018, just one year short of his 100th birthday.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  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 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. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  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. 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.
  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 90 ends on September 30th, 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.

Versatile Photovoltaic Power – Part 2, by Tractorguy

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(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Refrigeration

Refrigeration will likely be one of the biggest loads on your solar power system, if not the biggest. I went back and forth for a long time on the propane vs. DC electrical discussion to run refrigeration. I finally came down on the side of DC refrigeration for two reasons: 1. The rugged terrain around my Buglout Location (BOL) would make it extremely difficult for a truck to deliver a tank and refill it; and 2. The availability of bottled gas after a grid-down or TEOTWAWKI situation would be pretty much limited to what you have on hand. Fortunately, the demand for refrigeration in the winter is much less, coinciding with the less energy you will get from your panels due to the shorter days.

12V refrigerator/freezers, such as the Whynter line, are commonly available and are a strong argument for having a 12V distribution system, or at least a 12V output on a higher voltage system.

Log Splitting

No, I’m not kidding here. I split wood with solar power. I am an aging Baby Boomer and did not have very much upper body strength even back in my prime. My BOL is wood-heated and I have eight acres of woods to support that. Sawing wood by hand is not too bad — splitting wood by hand is another story. I have read several articles here on SurvivalBlog about how splitting wood is easy, you just need the correct type of ax, or weight of ax, or wedge, etc. We cut a lot of wood last fall, and this winter, I thought I would spend an hour or so per day splitting it. I have a good axe and splitting maul, so I sharpened them up good and started on it one day. Oh My God. I spent a half-hour swinging both the axe and splitting maul with all my might and having it just bounce off the end of the log. Finally, after a half hour, I succeeded in splitting three logs. My shoulders ached and I was exhausted. Obviously, if I was going to have to split wood by hand to keep warm, I was going to freeze to death!Continue reading“Versatile Photovoltaic Power – Part 2, by Tractorguy”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her.

For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.

Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:

For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;

And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.

And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.

And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.

And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.

And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.

And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.

And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

nd he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

And they did all eat, and were filled.

And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.” – Mark 6: 1-44 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 29, 2020

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On August 29, 1862, the second Battle of Bull Run in Virginia began. This Battale is also referred to as “2nd Manassas”.   A blog reader notes:

“Not that it is very important, but what you referred to as occurring in 1862, was actually 2nd Bull Run, although it is more commonly called the Battle of 2nd Manassas. It was fought in August 1862 on the same ground as the First Bull Run which was fought in July 1861.

As for First Bull Run, the “First” is usually dropped. In the South, it was referred to as Manassas, but the Northern name is much more common in history.

As for the second battle, the Southern name, 2nd Manassas, is more commonly used than 2nd Bull Run because it helps to distinguish between the two battles, so, most commonly, they are referred to as Bull Run and 2nd Manassas.

The North named battles based on the nearest geographical feature, Bull Run (Creek) and Antietam (Creek), for example. The South named battles after the nearest town. Manassas was the nearest town to the battlefield at Bull Run. Sharpsburg was the nearest town to the battlefield at Antietam.
It is far more common for Northern names to be used in history. Shiloh and Perryville are exceptions. Shiloh was a nearby church. The battle’s Northern name was Pittsburgh Landing, which no one uses. Perryville was known in the North as Chaplin Hills, a name, again, which no one uses.”

—

August 29th is a mournful day, as we remember the anniversary of the death of “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” – Isaiah 40:3. John, the Baptist, who heralded the first coming of our Lord and stood true to his belief in the face of death, was beheaded on this day in 29 AD.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 90 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  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 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. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  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. 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.
  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 90 ends on September 30th, 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.

Versatile Photovoltaic Power – Part 1, by Tractorguy

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Solar power from photovoltaic (PV) cells is an inexpensive, plentiful source of versatile energy for off-grid locations. This piece is not intended to be a comprehensive treatise on solar power design – there are many excellent books on the subject. Rather, this is a discussion specializing on considerations for solar power in a bug out location (BOL) or homestead, especially with some thoughts toward going forward after a grid-down event. It also describes some tips on what I have found works the best at my BOL.

System Voltage – 12, 24, 36, or 48V?

The higher voltage used, the more potential power you have for a given battery capacity and wire size. However, in a BOL, an important consideration is how versatile the system is when you consider what you are going to run. While 12 Volt DC requires the biggest gauge wiring and has the potential for the most energy loss in the wiring, I feel that it is more than made up for by the variety of things you can run on it. Nearly every cordless tool you get now can be had with a vehicular charger, and so can also be charged off a 12V solar system. 12V LED bulbs are ubiquitous, both in automotive applications and in standard Edison screw base bulbs for house lighting – 12V Edison base LED bulbs are even stocked at many home improvement stores now, albeit at a much higher price than you can get them for on-line.

DC well pumps, on the other hand, require higher voltages due to the amount of power required, and the length of wire necessary to go down the well to the pump. If you are considering a DC well pump, you will probably have to go with a system voltage higher than 12V. I have a gravity-fed rainwater system that I described in an earlier article for my water needs, so my well pump is strictly for backup.

And while we’re on the system voltage discussion, the next thing to consider is controller type and panel voltage.Continue reading“Versatile Photovoltaic Power – Part 1, by Tractorguy”

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:

This week I wrapped up my wood cutting and splitting project. It feels good to be finally done–at least for this year!

On Wednesday, Lily and I took a road trip to buy an antique Winchester .30-30 saddle ring carbine (circa 1898) from an estate.

On that same trip, I dropped by a Costco store to buy some copies of my latest book. But they didn’t yet have any at the store that we visited. I’ve been told that other a few scattered Costcos have put them out before the revised Costco release date. They are being sold for just under $15 dollar per copy. For a large-format hardcover fully-illustrated 240-page book, that is a great deal.  I’ve also heard that the stores are only receiving 25 copies. Therefore, I predict that hey will sell out muy rapido. The book should be widely available by late next week.  It’s full retail price will be $24.99 USD.  Thanks for your patience!

Now on to the more loquacious Lily.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”