The Bookends of the Prepping Life: Investing and Diversifying, by Mr. B.

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I was a “closet” prepper until recently. Years ago, I began to slowly amass both long-life food and countless resources that would be necessary if basic commodities were no longer available. The spark, if you will, was in the wake of reading articles about global shifts that sought to deconstruct and reconstruct economies based on dangerous ideologies. I also purchased hard assets in case conventional means of buying ceased overnight, for I read of once strong banks and currencies collapsing or weakening with each financial year.

Recently, with the events leading up and still being felt because of COVD-19, I became more open about my prepping lifestyle, as I witnessed misinformation shut down global economies, medical assumptions stated as “facts” and differing views persecuted and suppressed, and precedents becoming policies. That is not to say that I told everyone I know that I have been quietly prepping for years and that they need to do the same, but rather, I began connecting with like-minded preppers in the online community and will slowly introduce the concept to others. I am still on this journey.

In enjoying my interactions with those who are preppers, mostly online as it is difficult to connect with other preppers locally (as it is not something one broadcasts or has a group meeting once a week), it has also been beneficial to read articles of the experiences of those who are preppers, of successes and failures. There is a lot of good material out there, but there are also poorly researched and sensational writings pieces as well. Preppers should not think of themselves as prophets, but purveyors of truth. It has been a blessing, however, to read articles from a variety of different perspectives and of not only what to buy and do as a prepper, but how to act and think as a prepper.

It is my intention in this article to share some thoughts I have in my own experiences and wide reading in relation to what I will phrase are the bookends of the prepping life; investing and diversifying. This may not be ground-breaking, but it may be new to some, while for the veteran prepper, I hope that it will refresh and even revise your train of thought.Continue reading“The Bookends of the Prepping Life: Investing and Diversifying, by Mr. B.”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

2

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.

Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” – Philippians 3 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — August 15, 2020

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On August 15, 1961, two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities began building a wall–the Berlin Wall–to permanently close off access to the West. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War–a literal “iron curtain” dividing Europe. The wall has now been torn down for longer than it stood, but the scars in memory are still there.

—

News Flash!  Here is a great headline for gun-owning Californians: 9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines. (Thanks to SurvivalBlog reader D.S. for sending that link.)  I strongly recommend that Californians stock up on magazines heavily, in case the California State Assembly finds another way to ban them.  (Most likely with another Sunset Clause.)  Readers in other states should take note: The upcoming high demand from California may exacerbate the current run on magazines. So stock up NOW, while they are still relatively plentiful and inexpensive.

And a special note directed to SurvivalBlog readers in California:  I have a small supply of magazines available, via mailorder or face-to-face delivery in Livermore, California, in the month of September:

  • Ruger Factory-made Mini-14 blued steel 20-round magazines,  new in factory clamshell pack. $30 each. SOLD OUT
  • Ruger Factory-made Mini-14 blued steel 30-round magazines,  new in factory clamshell pack. $35 each. SOLD OUT
  • MagPul Gen 2 black 30-round AR-15//M4 PMAGs, new in wrappers $18 each (16 remaining.)
  • Israeli metric FAL 20-round steel magazines VG+ to excellent condition $25 each (12 remaining.)
  • Metric FAL 20-round steel magazines from various countries VG+ condition $20 each (6 available.)
  • Original Belgian metric FAL 20-round steel magazines VG+ to excellent $35 each (6 available.)
  • Original Colt factory made M16 30-round alloy magazines, used.  $16 each (6 available.)
  • Original Glock factory Model 17/19 9mm magazines, 33-round. These are “SF” cut, but not ambi-cut. New, but not in wrappers. $38 each SOLD OUT
  • Saiga .308 25-round polymer magazines made by Surefire.  (The good ones!) New in wrappers. $38 each (5 available.)

Note that quantities are limited to stock on hand.  I will keep this post updated, as my inventory is depleted. Prices do not include postage. These are NOT listed in my Elk Creek Company store page. First dibs to any folks still trapped in California.

—

And just for fun, my buddy Commander Zero (of the great Notes From The Bunker blog, that has been around even longer than SurvivalBlog) posted this: Alexa We Need Guns – Home Automation Setup.

—

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.

Going Old School, By 3AD Scout

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As Preppers we like to use the adage of “one is none and two is one,” and there is a good lesson in those words but if we have two of everything are we really safe from the doom that will befall us when a particular piece of equipment and its spare no longer work or are gone? One of the trends I see in the survival and prepping community is trying to maintain our reliance on technology for our survival. Relying on technology for survival in my opinion is an oxymoron, at least if that technology requires electricity.

There is no doubt that technology has advantages is a grid down world but for how long? The reason we have technological advancements is to make our lives easier. “Easier” usually means it takes less time and/or fewer people. Like in our current society, our reliance on technology in a survival situation brings with it certain risks. In a non-survival situation, the loss of technology can equal nothing more than a big inconvenience but in a long-term grid-down scenario, loss of technology can have very dire consequences. If we embrace the “two is one — and one is none” saying then we need to realize that the quality and sustainability of our “two” needs to be considered. As we prepare for TEOTWAWKI, we should embrace technology but our backups should be old school.

After building two 8’x7’ buildings this summer, there was no doubt that the 20-volt DC cordless drill and saws made the job easier. But let us talk about and fully understand the logistics behind a cordless drill. We have to have a power source to recharge the batteries. Regardless of that source (solar, wind turbine, hydroelectric, or internal combustion engine-powered generator) it will involve a complex system. What happens in TEOTWAWKI when those wonderful but limited batteries no longer take a charge or our system to charge those batteries fails? Sure, we can have numerous backups but they will all have limited life even in storage. So, as we apply our “one is none, two is one” strategy we should modify our thinking. So drill number one is a handy light-weight cordless drill but our back up should be old school and I don’t mean a corded drill but instead a hand drill that is powered by you cranking or turning the handle.Continue reading“Going Old School, By 3AD Scout”

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 cut more firewood. This poke of wood was very well-seasoned, from a two-year old log pile that I had kept tarped. I also did some more ATV repairs. That necessitated three time-consuming trips into town. I also replaced two of our aging Simmons frost-free valve yard hydrants. Those seem to last 12 to 20 years, depending on how much use each particular valve gets. As my father would say:  “They definitely work, but they can’t be expected to work indefinitely.”  (Barring any unforeseen truck/tractor/ATV collisions–yes, it happens, sometimes even with a stout cedar log post carefully positioned next to each of them for both quick visual recognition and impact resistance.) Therefore, I recommend buying one rebuild kit per valve, and one complete hydrant assembly for every 3 or 4 hydrants in your water system. Thankfully, a lot of the repairs and all of the adjustments can be done from “topside”. But occasionally, I need to dig one up. We bury our water pipes 5 feet deep, so replacing those two hydrants took a lot of digging.

I’m still receiving an average two orders per day for my part-time mailorder business, Elk Creek Company.  On Friday I received orders for four guns. As I’ve mentioned before, those antique guns are now consistently selling faster than they are coming into my inventory. So, if you want any of them, then jump on this dwindling supply, soon!

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

I am thine, save me: for I have sought thy precepts.

The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.” – Psalm 119: 93-107 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 14, 2020

4

August 14th, 1945 was Victory In Japan (“V-J”) Day.

—

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.

Rural Land for an Urban Prepper, by J.D.

34

Growing up in a poor family with very little expendable income I began mowing lawns at the age of 10 in order to afford some of the luxuries in life I saw my other friends have. At the age of 10 that was video games, books, music or movies. Later it warped into motorsports and “big boy toys.” Mowing lawns at the age of 10 consisted of me pushing my lawnmower, weed eater, and gas around town until I was able to drive at the age of 16. This was no small order for a young kid growing up in a very small mountain town where everything seemed to be uphill. When I was able to drive myself and my equipment around in the back of my old Jeep Cherokee it opened a whole new market and I began to work at numerous rural properties. It was then that my love of land and real estate began. Until graduating high school I always had numerous jobs while still mowing lawns and I made good money for my age which allowed me to have expendable income and be able to help take some of the burden off my family. I dreamed of someday owning a piece of land all my own.

At the age of 18 I left for the Army with no selected duty station and was listed as ‘needs of the army’. I was blessed enough that the Army needed people in Alaska. In all my spare time between training deployments and overseas deployments I would explore the state and was immediately impressed with the sturdiness of the residents and how so many people lived off-grid in such harsh conditions. My obsession with land and real estate grew as I dreamed of owning my own chunk and building a homestead of my own.

I left the active army of 4 years and transitioned to the national guard of my home mountain state and attempted to try my hand at full-time college. I quickly learned a 22-year-old that had seen many training deployments throughout the US and a combat deployment overseas did not fit in very well with 18-year-old freshman. I began looking for fulltime work and was blessed to earn employment with one of the larger metro law enforcement agencies. This was the start of the 2008 financial collapse and I was blessed to have a well-paying job. This allowed me to purchase my first property as I saw property values crash. A small house that needed a lot of work in a small town close enough to commute to the city I worked in. While it was not my dream rural property, I saw the value in fixing the place up and being able to make some money when the market recovered.

During the financial crisis of 2008 and on I was largely protected. I had a good well-paying job that would not be eliminating positions anytime soon. It was during this time and the recovery I realized how terrible city living was and the dangerous underbelly many people never see minus the few “big” stories that made the news. I discovered preparedness and voraciously read all the preparedness fiction and nonfiction books I could get my hands on. By this time, I had a wife with a child on the way. Home values had improved and I had considerable equity in my home. I sold this home and rolled the profit into a lovely mountain house on one acre that I thought would be a good start for my homesteading dream. This mountain house was still close enough to continue working at my job and my commute was a stunning 45-minute drive through the mountains.

I quickly realized my once ideal mountain house was nothing more than another suburb despite the mountains and larger home lots. The area was quickly being flooded with other metro dwellers who still wanted to be close to work yet live in the mountains. Traffic was horrendous. The stores in the town were packed with people. My love of real estate of property remained and I was constantly looking at land. All land that met my homestead criteria (remoteness, water, land usability, etc..) was far outside of my budget, too far to realistically commute to work, and still had the same problem of just being too close to the massive urban area I worked in.Continue reading“Rural Land for an Urban Prepper, by J.D.”

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 2020 gun and ammo shortage. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

US Dollar Devalues By 99% Vs Gold In 100 Years As Gold Price Crosses $2,067

o  o  o

Can gold price see quick return to record highs after worst daily sell-off since 2013?

o  o  o

Chinese company makes agreement to buy Nunavut gold mine

Economy & Finance:

David Haggith: US In Long-term Economic Decline

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Fed Wants Inflation But Their Actions Are Deflationary. A snippet:

“Over the last decade, the Federal Reserve has engaged in never-ending “emergency measures” to support asset markets and the economy. The stated goal was, and remains, such actions would foster full employment and price stability. There has been little evidence of success.”

o  o  o

At Kiplinger: Mark Zandi: The U.S. Economy Won’t Recover Until We Have a Vaccine or Treatment

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Bite the Bullet or Extend & Pretend? Unemployment in Europe

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

9

“As early as 2010, 43% of all poor households owned their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage and a porch or patio. Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. The typical poor American has more living space than the average non-poor individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other cities throughout Europe. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have one or more color televisions — half of which are connected to cable, satellite or a streaming service. Some 82% of poor families have one or more smartphones. Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher. Most poor families have a car or truck and 43% own two or more vehicles.” – Walter E. Williams

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 13, 2020

Today is the birthday of screenwriter, director, and producer, Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) His many films spanned five decades.

—

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.

Why I Chose a .308 Winchester AR – Part 2, by Dusty

40

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

Handguard and Barrel Nut

The final parts of the upper include the barrel nut and handguard. The barrel nut is used to secure your barrel to the upper and is generally included as part of your handguard. There are some handguards that don’t supply a barrel nut so you will want to check for that when purchasing your specific handguard. You will also want to match your handguard, gas tube, and barrel to make sure they all match. Standard barrel lengths are 16, 18 or 20 inches. There are various gas tube lengths such as pistol, carbine, mid-length and rifle. I won’t go over the specifics of each of these as that could be a completely separate article. It’s just important that you know what gas system you are running so that you can match your handguard to this. If you don’t match your gas tube and handguard you could buy a handguard that doesn’t cover your gas block.

I purchased the Aero Precision M5 Atlas S-One M-LOK handguard. I’m not a fan of quad rails as they are heavy, and uncomfortable. M-LOK or Keymod handguards allow you to run as many accessories all over your handguard as wanted without the bulk and sharp edges of a quadrail. The Atlas S-One is also lighter than the other options offered by Aero Precision. There are carbon fiber handguards that are extremely lightweight but also extremely expensive. As with all things I had to weigh performance vs costs and I simply could not justify the added costs of a complete carbon fiber handguard.

Upper Receiver Considerations

There is one major advantage of using an upper receiver and a handguard from the same manufacturer. That advantage is aesthetically they line up much better than if you source parts from different manufacturers. The majority of people will select the standard A2 style birdcage for their rifle. These are very affordable and do a decent job of flash suppression and recoil mitigation. I prefer a compensator due to the greater flash suppression.

Lower Receiver Components

I will now move onto the more complex and more AR-15 part compatible, lower receiver. The lower receiver consists of a bolt stop, front and rear takedown pins, magazine release, fire control group (FCG), pistol grip, buffer tube assembly, and stock. The lower receiver is, by law, the serialized firearm. Due to the hassles of buying firearms online and a desire to support local business I typically purchase a lower receiver from my local gun store. However, these can be purchased online and sometimes in multi-receiver sets which can save you money. I have found a local FFL that doesn’t charge a transfer fee, so when I do purchase online I use them to broker the deal. I would recommend doing a little research and with some luck you might find a similar situation in your area.

At this point it probably isn’t much of a surprise for me to tell you that I selected an Aero Precision lower receiver. This is due to the previously mentioned aesthetics of having your upper, lower and handguard line up. Aero Precision also has a good reputation in the LR-308 world and in the AR-15 world for that matter. They have many options of factory Cerakote components but I purchased the black components and coated them myself to my specifications. The lower receiver does have a few components that are compatible with the AR-15 I will identify those components as I list each component of the lower receiver.Continue reading“Why I Chose a .308 Winchester AR – Part 2, by Dusty”

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 the “free” mystery seeds arriving from mainland China.

Mystery Packages From China: Seeds and Sunglasses

Arkansas man plants mystery seeds from China, says results are wild — and now other packages are inexplicably showing up. The article opens with this:

“An Arkansas man who says he received a packet of unknown seeds from China has planted them — and KSFM-TV calls the burgeoning plant “wild.”

Packages of unsolicited seeds from China began showing up in mailboxes across the country in July, stumping agriculture and commerce officials in the process.

In early statements, the USDA said it believes that the products are part of what could be a “brushing scam,” in which people receive unsolicited items to, in turn, create fake customer reviews for the purpose of boosting sales.”

JWR’s Comment:  Yes, it is probably just a “brushing” scheme. But don’t plant any of those seeds, and don’t trust their sunglasses.

Is Kamala Harris a Marxist or a Maoist?

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: GovTrack: Kamala Harris Further Left than ‘Democratic Socialist’ Bernie Sanders. Oh, and she wants your guns.

DJT Hints of COVID-19 Vaccine Before November

You’ve probably already seen this headline: Trump: COVID-19 vaccine may be ready ‘right around’ Election Day. JWR’s Comment:  Gee, a new vaccine rushed into production after only brief trials. What could possibly go wrong?

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