Versatile Photovoltaic Power – Part 1, by Tractorguy

22

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”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.” – Psalm 49 (KJV)

 

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 28, 2020

15

August 28, 1833 is the anniversary of the abolishment of slavery throughout the British Empire.

—

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.

Living to 100: The Blue Zone Diet for Survival, by M.E.

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“Living well is the best revenge.” – George Herbert.

When I was in high school in the late 1960s, we were pretty sure someone was going to drop a bomb on us. We had graduated from duck and cover to emergency preparedness, bomb shelters and all. One day in the auditorium we watched some training on first aid and handling trauma. The films were pretty vivid and some kids left in a hurry to throw up. One thing from this that has stuck with me is: if you are sick or injured, you can’t help anyone else.

Anyone who has had major surgery or been extremely ill knows how helpless you can be and how dependent you are on those around you, whether or not they are prepared for dealing with an incapacitated person. The best way to survive and help your family and friends to survive is to not get sick or injured. There are some pretty solid strategies for doing this, the most basic including wearing personal protective and safety equipment, knowing your tools and using them properly, being conscious and aware in potentially dangerous situations and so forth. But in the long run, the best way to stay healthy is to drop bad habits, eat well, and live well.

In a November 2005 National Geographic article, Dan Buettner introduced the term Blue Zones to describe five regions where people more often than anywhere on Earth live in good health into their 100s. Although these areas differ dramatically in culture and diet, they have some very particular things in common, many of which people familiar with this web site will recognize. One is that they are mainly self-sufficient, relying very little on outside sources for their food.

The Blue Zones are Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; the province of Ogliastra in Sardinia, Italy; the community of Seventh-Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California; and Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula.
The Mediterranean Diet you may already know something about, and it is a good approximation of the diets from Ikaria and Ogliastra with a few exceptions. The Mediterraneans use milk products—people from the other zones, not so much—and they also tend to have alcohol in moderation, usually one or two glasses of the local wine daily, a wine loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants. Okinawans eat fish pretty much every day and lots of sweet potatoes, their main source of carbohydrates. The Adventists are pesco-vegetarians although some also eat small amounts of meat, and they don’t drink alcohol, caffeine or sugary drinks. The Costa Ricans thrive on the traditional corn, beans and squash of the ancestors along with regional fruits, yams and occasional eggs.Continue reading“Living to 100: The Blue Zone Diet for Survival, by M.E.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

21

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 rising price of silver. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

The shortage of physical silver in the U.S. has been continuing since market demand turned sharply in March. Consequently, dealer premiums have been high, and the available selection of coins has been pitifully small. Today’s market is a classic “beggars can’t be choosers” situation. Even old, tarnished random year “Christmas Rounds” (the familiar 1-ounce annual issue coins from commercial mints) are selling for as much as $8 over spot. And I’ve seen U.S. Mint Silver Eagles selling at as much as $15 over spot. Ouch!  When I last checked, I saw that Gainsville Coins has a more reasonable $9 per coin premium, if you buy Silver Eagles in full U.S. Mint  20-coin tubes. That works about to about $703 per tube. Meanwhile, APMEX sells the same 20-coin tubes for around $739. But be sure check shipping costs before you order, regardless of where you buy. Those costs can vary widely! And, as always, try to place your order on a “dip in the market” day.

Economy & Finance:

Euro zone, economic recovery falters in August

o  o  o

Australia’s Construction Industry Faces “Bloodbath,” Says Lobbying Group Clamoring for Bailout, after Riding up the Housing Bubble

o  o  o

The latest podcast, over at Wolf Street: THE WOLF STREET REPORT: The Zombie Companies Are Coming

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 27, 2020

40

My latest nonfiction book, titled: The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide was scheduled to be on the shelf in Costco stores beginning yesterday:  Wednesday, August 26th. But I didn’t see any when I stopped by my nearest Costco. Did any SurvivalBlog readers find any on the shelf?  If so, in what cities?  Please let me know in the comments to this post. Thanks!

The book will be exclusive to Costco club stores until October 20th, when the general release (worldwide, including all Internet vendors) will be made.

—

August 27, 1917 was the birthday of American gun designer Robert Hillberg, best known as the designer of the C.O.P. four-barrel derringer (pitured), Winchester’s Liberator shotguns, the graceful Whitney Wolverine .22, and the Wildey .44 Magnum gas-operated pistol. He died in 2012.

—

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.

 

A Physician’s Perspective on COVID-19 – Part 2, by Doctor Dan, M.D.

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

It could be argued that investing in some form of telehealth communication device is now a valuable part of a family’s medical preps, especially if a member of your family suffers from chronic serious medical conditions. iPad/iPhones seem to be the most used platforms in telehealth, but often any computer or tablet/phone can also work. Reliable internet or data plan access may be required to make the video component of this work. So that you may be prepared to stay on top of your chronic diseases if in-person visits are restricted again, I would advise querying your doctor’s office now as to what platforms they use for telehealth, and downloading the apps ahead of time. Many hospital systems offer patients the option of enrolling in services such as “MyChart” which is a portal by which a patient can communicate with their Primary Care Physician (PCP)’s office and also view test results. I suggest patients enroll in this service so that the patient has access to their own medical records. Printing backup copies of test results to keep at home would be helpful if you were forced to relocate suddenly or if the computer system housing the EMR’s goes down for any reason. 

Did Any Good Come Out of the Pandemic?

I would argue that there were some positive things that have come out of the pandemic and helped offset some of the very negative aspects of it:

  • First, this disease should remind us all that life “is but a vapor” and we need to be prepared for the fact that any day could be our last. As a Christian, it gave me pause to consider the strength of my relationship with God should I be meeting Him sooner rather than later.
  • Because we were given this reminder of the fragility of life, this served as a good aide-mémoire to have one’s personal and business affairs updated and in order (including life insurance, wills, guardianships, etc.).
  • Having been given a glimpse into how quickly an economic collapse can occur, we were given a wakeup call to prepare for a sudden job loss.
  • Many of us spent more of our time working from home than before. It became apparent that many meetings could be accomplished more efficiently over Zoom or GoToMeeting than in a traditional manner. This efficiency has saved many people hours of “windshield time” and fuel expenses that were wasted in their week prior to COVID.
  • While we were stressed about the future, one hidden blessing that many of us received was more family time at home. Extracurricular activities and entertainment events were canceled and families had little to do except for being home alone together. I know I enjoyed the days I needed to work from home and was able to see my family more than in a typical busy workweek.
  • The fear that a pandemic could wipe out a major portion of our friends and family helped us frame a better perspective about what was important and what was not in life.
  • For those who were “preppers” prior to this pandemic, it was a good practice run for a larger event that may occur in the future. I’m sure many readers took this experience and adjusted their plans for the future based on having gone through a real-world dry run of a crisis event.
  • For those who were not preppers before, this crisis has awakened many to the need to be personally prepared. There is nothing like not being able to buy toilet paper at will to make folks start thinking about what they would do if this crisis were to result in longer-term supply chain disruptions of food and other critical items. As seasoned preppers, we should welcome their newfound interest and help mentor them as they join us in preparing for uncertain times.

Continue reading“A Physician’s Perspective on COVID-19 – Part 2, by Doctor Dan, M.D.”

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 take another look at the urban exodus.

U.S. Housing Market Is ‘Booming’, Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: U.S. Housing Market Is ‘Booming’, Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels.  JWR’s Comment: Hardly mentioned in the article is that a lot of this churn in existing home sales is created by families wanting to move out of liberal coastal cities. Don’t be surprised if a year from now, you read that most of the new construction has been in rural areas.

Meanwhile, we read: “White Flight Is Real” – Hollywood’s Apocalypse Triggers Mass Exodus

A Pre-Election Takedown of Conservative Groups

Redoubt News reports:  Big Tech Takedown of Conservative Groups. The article’s opening paragraphs:

“Two more Big Tech companies have coordinated another attack on groups of Patriots and Conservatives across the United States. Facebook and Twitter have reportedly removed thousands of pages from conservative groups, including campaign pages, militia groups and personal pages of people connected to them.

The takedown of the campaign pages for these conservatives could be seen as election interference, and discussions are underway as to the remedy for this action..

Main Stream Propaganda is reporting this purge as an “effort to limit violent rhetoric tied to QAnon, political militias and protest groups.“ However, I have looked through many of the pages that were deleted and never saw any of them advocating violence, unlike many Leftist, progressive posts.

This is actually an attack on speech with which the Leftists do not agree. It is that simple.”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

6

“Yea, Buddy! We know how successful them public-private partnerships are! Think on the public-private mortgage creation motors, Fannie Mae & Freddie Mack. Both belly-upped in 2008, but not before they had glutted the mortgage market with zillions in soggy, sorry, worthless mortgages. Been under federal government receivership ever since.

Or what about another public-private partnership success, the Federal Reserve System? Now in fact it ain’t federal, and it hath no reserve, and there ain’t even much system about it. But like putting lipstick on a sow, they gussied it up in 1913 with a Board of Governors that the president appoints. The bank itself and the regional banks are privately owned by — the banks. Now there’s a set-up immune to conflict of interest, by golly! Anyhow, since 1913 the Fed and its banking cartel have been lapping, sucking, and slurping the blood out of the American economy wholesale. Another public-private partnership success!

So far Trump has done nothing but wave the same old failed nostrums at the economy. Nothing new proposed, and certainly no measure that would go to the heart of economic & political problems, like restoring gold & silver money, abolishing the Federal Reserve, prosecuting criminal Big Banks & their officers, or restoring the rule of law generally. Mercy, he isn’t even talking about stopping the ‘perpetual war for perpetual peace’ keystone of the US economy, but is proposing MORE ‘defense’ spending.” – Franklin Sanders (from a March 2017 interview.)

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — August 26, 2020

16

August 26, 1946 was the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

—

On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution.

—

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.

A Physician’s Perspective on COVID-19 – Part 1, by Doctor Dan, M.D.

70
Was the Threat Real?

I’ve been asked by skeptical friends whether COVID-19 was a hoax/conspiracy, or if this was a real threat. Based on what I saw firsthand practicing in the frontline medical specialty of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, the threat of this disease is very real. People indeed died, and the deaths were often particularly unpleasant.

The health, psychological, and economic impacts of this virus will be felt for years to come, and may impact the 2020 elections (with all of the subsequent consequences this will carry).

However serious the disease may be, it feels that we have now entered the “political” phase of the pandemic where the threats to our vulnerable populations remain at-risk, but it appears that healthy patients have a higher likelihood of surviving an infection. It has the appearance that it is now being used as a justification in many states to keep the economy shut down until after the November election, while many of the same politicians who issue shutdown orders simultaneously condone mass gatherings of protestors/rioters because of the “social good” that comes from them.

Why was COVID-19 Problematic?

While there were many similarities to influenza, there are several reasons that this virus had some concerning traits:

  • For starters, there was fear of the unknown (it was a “novel virus”) that led to heightened concern….even to the point of inducing mass panic…leading our country to near-complete shutdown for two months. Healthcare workers such as myself had no idea what to expect and found ourselves bracing for the unimaginable. The Chinese government stifled the flow of early information about the disease from their country (hence, why President Trump is engaged in a standoff with China at the moment). When other nations who are more forthcoming, such as Italy, began to disclose the massive die-offs that were occurring in some of their cities, people in the medical community woke up and began to take notice.
  • Its ease of transmission from person-to person, including without direct physical contact of people (ie- through the air and on surfaces) made the virus difficult to repress. This is especially pronounced in groups herded indoors (ie- nursing home residents, NYC urban dwellers, etc).
  • The long latency period of approximately 14 days between infection and manifestation of symptoms led to a lot of asymptomatic carriers who were infectious to others during a time they could have no idea that they were carrying the virus. (This is similar to an HIV+ patient unknowingly carrying the disease for a long period of time, at risk of infecting partners long before they notice symptoms of AIDS.)
  • Finally, the pulmonary, cardiac, and coagulation (blood clotting) effects in certain patients were particularly difficult to treat from a medical perspective and contributed to many of the deaths seen, especially until we learned more about how to appropriately treat infected patients. These patients often presented with “unique pathology” meaning it didn’t follow the textbook patterns of other viral diseases
  • This “unique pathology” and viral behavior led many to question whether this virus could have been modified in a laboratory. Whether this was manmade is outside the realm of this discussion, but I will observe that this virus acted in strangely novel ways and presented with multiple pathologic methods to cause harm (cardiac, pulmonary, coagulation disorders, etc.). I certainly would not be shocked if we learn someday that it was generated in a bioweapons lab, and that a more deadly modification of the virus exists, or will be created in the future.

Continue reading“A Physician’s Perspective on COVID-19 – Part 1, by Doctor Dan, M.D.”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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

Books:

Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods

o  o  o

Grant

o  o  o

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

o  o  o

The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies

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