Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 2, by 3ADScout

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

Flea Markets

I like flea markets, since it is like attending a hundred yard sales without spending all day driving from one end of the county to the next.  I find that flea markets have basically three types of vendors. One type is the seasonal vendor who is there each week, often in the same spot.  These folks are dealers and I find that their prices are higher, they don’t haggle as much, and each week it is just about the same inventory as last week.  At the flea market I go to, these dealers are mostly up front towards the entrance and at the end of rows.  Some however, they are also in the last row.  Why is this important?  When I go to this flea market, I skip the known dealer areas at the beginning since I am familiar with their inventory and I know I won’t get the “Best” deals from them.  Instead, I skip to where the non-regular sellers are at.

The second type of vendor is a dealer but doesn’t always attend one particular flea market.  Like the regular vendors, their prices can be higher and they may not haggle as much but their inventory may be new to you if you have never seen them before.

The last type of vendor is my favorite, they are the “I just want to get rid of this stuff” vendors.  They might be looking to down size, make room in their home, or even be getting rid of a deceased family members property. Profit isn’t their main motivator.  Not wanting to pack stuff up at the end of the day is their main goal.  That isn’t to say these vendors will give their stuff away but they will haggle and their prices will be very reasonable for the most part.  This last type of vendor is who you should go to first.

A few other tips and tricks about flea markets, those vendors that are there every week well guess what?  As Ma and Pa “I want to get rid of this stuff” are setting up, those regular vendors, who are dealers, will swoop in like buzzards looking to cherry pick their wares.  Then the seasonal dealer will walk back up to their table and put a new tag on the item with double the price on it.  How can you level the playing field?  Well ,our flea market charges 50 cents per person for admission.  Dealers typically pay $5 for a space.  Pay the $5 and enter with the dealers.  Park your vehicle and start to walk around as others are setting up. When you are done looking, set up and sell your surplus goods to put back into prepping.Continue reading“Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 2, by 3ADScout”



Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in antique swords and sabers. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

News from Canada: June 1, The Hunt Is On For $100K In Gold And Silver. JWR’s Comment: This is a wild golden goose chase, but at least it beats Pokemon Go.

o  o  o

Gary Christenson: None Dare Call It Nonsense. Here is an excerpt from his essay:

The Big Picture:

  • The world has chosen to use debt-based currencies instead of gold and silver. There are consequences.
  • Debt has counterparty risk and currency risk. Gold does not.
  • Debt fails when the “full faith and credit” narrative is no longer believable.
  • Creditors of sovereign nations should realize they will be repaid ONLY if the debtor nation borrows even more. This is a flawed system.
  • History shows that “out of control” spending, excessive debt, and government corruption create consumer price inflation, currency devaluation, and wealth inequality. At the extreme, the value of your savings and retirement denominated in fiat currency units, diminishes or vanishes.”

Economy & Finance:

H.L. sent us this at Wolf Street: US Home Sales Drop, Drop, Drop Despite Lower Mortgage Rates. But Mortgage Applications Jump. What Gives?

o  o  o

St. Louis Fed Promotes Still More Free Money For Banks (And Hiding It All)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”





Preparedness Notes for Thursday — May 23, 2019

On May 23rd, 1934 Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed by police and two deputized former Texas Rangers near Gibbsland, Louisiana. This ambush and the events in the months leading up to it were dramatized in the recent Netflix movie, The Highwaymen, starring Kevin Costner.

May 23rd is also the birthday of George Lars Kellgren (born 1943 in Borås, Sweden), the founder and chief engineer of Kel-Tec. According to LeftistAgendaPedia: “He designed many firearms earlier for Husqvarna and Swedish Interdynamics AB in Sweden. He moved to the US in 1979 and his original US designs were for Intratec and Grendel brand firearms. He founded Kel-Tec in 1991.”

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any 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 (an $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 Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 82 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.



Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 1, by 3ADScout

I’ll start by saying that most of the Prepper resources in your community will probably not be advertised or presented as Prepper or Survival resources.  That isn’t to say that none will be advertised as for Preppers and Survivalist. We need to be aware that many resources that are in our community, that are Prepper or Survival related, may appeal to many people outside the Prepper or Survivalist Community.  The good news in this is, that since these resources are of interest to the “mainstream,” your use of them doesn’t automatically identify you as a Prepper or Survivalist.

Defining Community Prepper Resources

Community Prepper resources are classes, courses, lectures, places, and or events that provide Preppers with knowledge, skills, equipment or supplies.  Some of these community resources will be very obvious but others may not.  I will use the many years of working and living in my community to demonstrate various resources that you might find in yours.  The Community that I live in has a county population of about 300,000 residents with about equal urban, suburban, and rural land use.  What is available to you will be influenced by where you live, Urban or rural as well as other factors.

Grocery stores are obviously a community Prepper resource.  But grocery stores are not the only place where you can purchase food for storage.  Farmer’s markets are a great place to purchase fresh locally grown produce for canning, dehydrating or freeze drying.Continue reading“Finding Community Prepping Resources – Part 1, by 3ADScout”



The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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”.  Today, we look at preparedness and large families.

Television Hits a New Low

The ongoing churlish decline of American television culture has reached a new low. Consider, if you will: The New TWILIGHT ZONE Has A Swearing Problem. (Warning: In describing the show’s foul language problem, author Scott Wampler uses foul language.)

SSRIs and Mass Shootings

Here is some documentation for whet we’ve recognized anecdotally, for many years, over at Ammo.com: Prescription For Violence: The Corresponding Rise of Antidepressants, SSRIs & Mass Shootings

Range of Iranian Ballistic Missiles

The Countries In Range Of Iranian Ballistic Missiles

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





Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — May 22, 2019

May 22, 1859 was the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later.

After medical school, Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. Holmes enabled Doyle to leave his medical practice in 1891 and devote himself to writing, but the author soon grew weary of his creation. In The Final Problem, he killed off both Holmes and his nemesis, Dr. Moriarty, only to resuscitate Holmes later due to popular demand. In 1902, Doyle was knighted for his work with a field hospital in South Africa. In addition to dozens of Sherlock Holmes stories and several novels, Doyle wrote history, pursued whaling, and engaged in many adventures and athletic endeavors. He died in 1930.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any 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 (an $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 Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 82 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.



Mountain Man EDC, by S.J.

What figure looms larger in the prepper imagination that the rugged mountain man? Let’s examine the contents of their packs and saddle bags for our own purposes and to inspire all of us to get back to basics. In the romanticized image, the mountain man is the ultimate minimalist, with nothing but his rifle and tomahawk, but this isn’t entirely correct, as mountain men would have had quite a bit more in their kit, especially at the base camps they operated from. We’ll find that their kits remains relevant today, even with technological advances.

The Mountain Man’s EveryDay Carry

Rifle and pistol – What could be more iconic than the mountain man grasping his Hawken muzzzleloading rifle? Of course the rifle was the mountain man’s most treasured possession, as it fed him, defended him, and earned him money. In addition to his rifle and a pistol, he would have carried lead, a cast for bullets, powder, and other necessities for shooting. Romance aside, this is one part of the mountain man’s kit that isn’t directly relevant to the modern mountain man. While a .30-06 with black plastic furniture will never be as beautiful as a Hawken with walnut furniture and brass hardware, I’d prefer the former for getting meat. Continue reading“Mountain Man EDC, by S.J.”



JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on green Pelican cases. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Unfreedom of the Press, by Mark Levin. This much-anticipated book was just released yesterday (May 21st), and it is solidly ranked #1, overall on Amazon.com! (But don’t expect to see that news mentioned in the mainstream press…)

o  o  o

Reader Monica X. suggested the book No Mercy: True Stories of Disaster, Survival and Brutality, by Eleanor Learmonth.

50 States, 5,000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do

o  o  o

Gunsmithing the AR-15, The Bench Manual

o  o  o

The Gun Digest Book of the Remington 870

o  o  o

Putting Food By: Fifth Edition

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



Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in Valmet rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Allen Sykora: Sentiment Upbeat On Palladium, Less Dubious Of Platinum: UBS

o  o  o

“I’m Not a Gold Bug – You’re a Dollar Bug!”

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Is It Time To Start Worrying About China’s Debt Default Avalanche?

o  o  o

Blog reader H.L. spotted this: America’s largest cities drowning in debt, with Chicago leading the way, study finds.  The Fox News piece by Frank Miles begins:

“America’s 10 largest cities, largely Democrat strongholds, are drowning in municipal debt, according to a new report from government watchdog Truth in Accounting.

The report sought out “to determine what … overlapping financial entities mean for taxpayers’ bottom line.” Truth in Accounting said its purpose was to “calculate the various bills (and surpluses, when available) at the city government level and divide them out to determine a per-Taxpayer Burden.”

The two cities with the highest burden: Chicago and New York City; Chicago’s combined taxpayer burden: $119,110; New York City’s combined taxpayer burden: $85,600.”

o  o  o

Deutsche Bank Death Spiral Hits Historic Low. European Banks Get Re-Hammered

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”



The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It is interesting to hear certain kinds of people insist that the citizen cannot fight the government. This would have been news to the men of Lexington and Concord, as well as the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The citizen most certainly can fight the government, and usually wins when he tries. Organized national armies are useful primarily for fighting against other organized national armies. When they try to fight against the people, they find themselves at a very serious disadvantage. If you will just look around at the state of the world today, you will see that the guerillero has the upper hand. Irregulars usually defeat regulars, providing they have the will. Such fighting is horrible to contemplate, but will continue to dominate brute strength.” – Col. Jeff Cooper (born 1920, died September 25, 2006



Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — May 21, 2019

May 21st is the birthday of weapons designer John Douglas Pedersen. (Born 1881, died 1951.) His name is almost synonymous with the short-lived Pedersen Device (pictured) — a conversion kit that turned a Model 1903 Springfield bolt action rifle into a semi-automatic “trench broom.”

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any 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 (an $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 Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 82 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.



Advanced EMT for Preppers, by R.S.

Among the most valuable skills for any prepper to possess is the ability to deal with medical issues. Advanced training such as Medical Doctor, Physician Assistant, or Nurse are certainly wonderful assets, but they typically require a vocational commitment. This begs the question “what about the rest of us”?

Several years ago I requested a trauma kit from my family as a birthday present. Being the loving family that they are, they dutifully provided. However, once I opened the kit to review the supplies and tools inside I suddenly realized: ”I have no idea how to use this!” It was at this point that I began to explore options for gaining some medical knowledge that would enable me to assist my family, friends and community in an emergency.

Of course, I had heard of the “Paramedic” and “Emergency Medical Technician” qualifications, but I had no idea of the capabilities and limitations of each. I have since learned that there are four nationally recognized levels of pre-hospital care. Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) is very basic training designed for police and others who may be expected to arrive first at a serious medical event. This training is intended to enable them to manage the emergency for the first five minutes until more advanced providers arrive.Continue reading“Advanced EMT for Preppers, by R.S.”



SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. Today, we focus on William Shatner’s recent appearance in Spokane. (See the Washington section.)

Idaho

Is the Idaho state government at war with Idaho County?  The following is from an Idaho County press release:

“The Idaho County Board of Commissioners will be adding an agenda item to a future regular meeting to publicly discuss a letter received by the Board from the State of Idaho Office of the Attorney General. The letter threatens individual criminal prosecution of each current Idaho County Commissioner if the Board does not commence work within 60 days of April 24, 2019 to adopt a comprehensive plan and at least one zoning ordinance required by title 67, chapter 65 of the Idaho Code. If the commissioners are charged, they will be personally liable for their own legal defense.

The Idaho County Board of Commissioners has historically favored private landowner rights over governmental restrictive zoning and land use planning. In 1979, a county wide referendum vote was taken in Idaho County to approve or repeal Idaho County Building and Permit Ordinance No. 15. The votes were 2 to 1 in favor of repeal of the ordinance. In 1980, the Idaho County Board of Commissioners did reconstitute and established by ordinance an Idaho County Planning Commission.  However, the Commission was disbanded by the Idaho County Board of Commissioners in 1986 following a vote of the majority of the Idaho County Planning Commission to disband because of deep philosophical divides. The Board supported legislation proposed this last legislative session that would have made the comprehensive plan mandate discretionary. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation failed after multiple amendments. While the Idaho County Board of Commissioners takes the Office of the Attorney General’s threats seriously, the Board intends to give the highest priority to upholding private property rights of Idaho County Citizens while complying with the statute.”

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