1803: The Preps of Lewis and Clark, by S.K.

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Prepping is many things to a great and growing number of people. Americans have been prepping since the entire European presence was behind a wall, back there in the Jamestown Colony.  As a people, we have this written in our DNA.  The long trek west and the adversarial relationship of native and non-native is a compelling story filled with survival lessons for everyone.

And none is more spellbinding than the story of the Corps of Discovery.  How did Lewis and Clark do it, and what was in their “G.O.O.D. bags”?

Thomas Jefferson had been interested in exploring the American West since childhood.  In the ten years after the revolution, four plans were developed for its exploration.  Jefferson was behind three of them.  The Corps of Discovery was in the planning stages prior to the consummation of the transaction that was the Louisiana Purchase.  This post is an attempt to learn from their preparations.  They were not “Bugging out” or struggling to get home.  However, it was the ultimate camping trip and we can learn much from studying their efforts.  If the value of the prep is obvious, I will just leave it alone.  If obscure, I will expound on its virtue.

Continue reading“1803: The Preps of Lewis and Clark, by S.K.”

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. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I have been traveling out of state for the past week. I will have more to report, one week from today.

Avalanche Lily Reports

Dear Readers,

We had a lot of rain this week.  We had one day of sunshine.  That day, I did the deep cleaning of the chicken coop.  I sent all of the birds outside, scraped the manure and straw from the floor, brought it down to the orchard. Then I sprayed the interior with the hose: roof, walls and floors and nesting boxes to get rid all of the dust bunnies hanging from the walls and ceiling.  I scraped out all of the water with the flat-bottomed shovel and a large floor squeegie.  Then with the door and nest boxes open, allowed the coop to air dry for three hours.  When it was dry, I put in clean straw, water and feed.

That same day, I also rototilled the entire main garden.  I had spread out some piles of manure at an earlier time last week.  That also was rototilled under.  I will let the garden sit for a week or so, as it is too wet anyhow to plant anything, then will rototill it again.  I need to plant my onions and potatoes ASAP.  Sunday is supposed to be warm and sunny to plant.  I will be planting those raspberries, blackberries and some more tree saplings that were ordered and came in at the end of the week.

I started in the greenhouse, in trays, herbs for my future herb garden:  Basil, oregano, cumin, thyme, cilantro, and others.  I bought  some more seeds this week to plant and to stock up with.  I have a very large tote full of different seeds, mostly organic non-hybrids, bought and self-grown/saved from my own produce.

This week the girls and I washed, chopped up, froze and dehydrated ten pounds of mixed sweet peppers.  I also received another order of 20 pounds of peppers that we will be doing the same with this coming week.  These will be dehydrated.  We just don’t have the space to freeze too many peppers and if we lost power we would lose them.  I’m coming around to the reality that we need to dehydrate many more foods to have them available to us if and when things hit the fan. I love fresh and frozen foods the most, but, especially concerning meat, we need to dehydrate and can more of it.

May you all have a blessed Hag Sameach Pasach and Resurrection Day, Yeshua has Risen, indeed. He is the atonement for everyone’s sin and is the First Fruits of the Resurrection,  Life from the dead!  He’s alive forever more and is returning very soon.  Watch, therefore!  Get ready! Repent and Prepare your hearts and your homes to be with Him in Heavenly Places.  Great turmoil and destruction will occur on this Earth as Satan fights against the Lord’s people and demands to be worshipped as God. Christ returns to clean this world from Sin and to take up His own.  Hallelujah to the Lamb!  – Avalanche Lily, Rawles

o o o

As always, please share your own successes and hard-earned wisdom in the Comments.

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”.  Today, we focus on stress inoculation gun training.

Stress Inoculation Gun Training

I spotted this training video, over at Full30.com: Stress Inoculation Training. JWR”s Comments: I can’t over-emphasize the importance of gun training that involves plenty of physical exertion. That is realistic training. As soon as you have the basic mechanics and fundamentals down, then you shouId add stress to your training drills–both time constraints and physical exertion. Get trained to the point that you are ready to attend team tactics training, such as that offered by Max Velocity. That will be your “Finishing School.”

I can recall as a 12-year old, proudly showing my father a paper target with an unusually tight group that I had deliberately shot with a .22 pump action, at 30 yards. He said, “That looks great, Son. Now, do 20 sit-ups and 10 push-ups an then right away shoot me another ten-shot group.”  The results were predictable. I’ve never forgotten that important lesson.

I highly recommend attending competitive shooting matches. The stress of competition is only a fraction of what is felt in combat, but at least it gives you a good idea of how poorly you might shoot on a two-way range! The old saying is: “Your best day in a gunfight will be worse than your worst day at the range.”

A California Building Permit with Indentured Servitude!

H.L. suggested this article at WND: California’s newest government outrage: Forced farming!

Toxic Air Findings

Reader Henry K. sent this from Zero Hedge: Toxic Air Kills 100,000 Americans Per Year, Costs Economy Billions, Study Finds. JWR’s Comment: This is just one more reason to move to a lightly-populated region!  But don’tlive down-wind of a major farm that uses herbicides and pesticides. Here is a brief quote: 

“Air pollution is poisoning Americans: A new study links air pollution spewed from industrial factories, motor vehicles, and farmlands to approximately 107,000 premature deaths each year.

The report, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the economic toll of air pollution costs taxpayers $866 billion per year.”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.

The mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sinai from before the Lord God of Israel.

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord.” – Judges 5:1-9 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 19, 2019

April 19th marks a multiple anniversary. April 19th was the original Patriot Day in honor of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. This first battle, leading to our nation’s independence, was the then-dictator’s (United Kingdom King George III’s) failed attempt at “gun control”– an act being carried out in too many parts of our USA right now. This first gun control of the colonies was a failure, because of the will and determination of a small part of the population (about 3% actually fought for our independence actively, with many others supporting) to stand up to an oppressive, controlling government (England). Without the sacrifice by those few Patriots, we could very well still be “British subjects” rather than independent citizens. Note that due to corporate bureaucracy, the celebration has generally been moved to the third Monday in April to facility a postal/banking holiday.

It also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in 1943, the BATF’s costly raid on the Branch Davidian Church in Waco, the gun turret explosion on the USS Iowa in 1989, the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013, and very sadly also the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

April 19th is also the birthday of novelist Ralph Peters. Coincidentally, Ralph and I both have the same literary agent, Robert Gottlieb.

—

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.

The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 3, by Wingfootjr

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(Continued from Part 2. This part concludes the series.)

After a couple years of this I decided the pocket reaming operation was too labor intensive and taking too much time, so I decided to throw some money at it. After evaluating tools, I decided on the top of the line Dillon Super Swage 600 primer pocket swaging tool ($125). While a fairly expensive tool, its performance is unequaled and known to be the best for the task. It is also a “lifetime” tool. If taken care of and used properly, it should last forever. But also very important, replacement parts are available.

The swaging tool doesn’t cut away metal from the edge of the pocket like the Lyman reaming tool. Instead it utilizes a hardened steel rod and compound leverage to “swage” or mechanically press the tip of the rod into the pocket to resize the pocket by “stretching” the brass to the diameter of the tip. Also note, the Dillon tool comes with rod tips for both small and large primer pockets, and case guide rods to accommodate both .30 caliber and .22 caliber cases, and an adapter for .45 ACP. Separate options are available to accommodate other calibers as well, such as 9mm, .38 Special and .40 Smith & Wesson. I was very impressed the first time I used this tool, quickly swaging about 450 cases in a couple of hours.

Now all the cases are completely prepared, the worst of the job is over, and its time to load those cases! This is the part I enjoy the most since you finally see the fruits of your labor by producing your own custom, high quality ammo.

Continue reading“The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 3, by Wingfootjr”

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. 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 light sabers. (See the Tangibles Investing section at the end of this column.)

 

Precious Metals:

Gold Still To React To U.S. Dollar Weakness, Watch For A Move Higher — Analysts

o  o  o

A good market fundamentals article by Stefan Gleason, that dates back to late 2018: A Tale of Two Metals: One WAY More Valuable Than Gold, The Other Historically Undervalued

Economy & Finance:

Alan Greenspan says economy will start to fade ‘very dramatically’ because of entitlement burden.  A quote:

“Economic growth won’t last as the U.S. labors under the burden of growing entitlement programs and weakness around the world, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC.

The long-time central bank chief repeated his warnings about the weight that Social Security, Medicare and other programs are having on what have been otherwise solid gains over the past few years.

‘I think the real problem is over the long run, we’ve got this significant continued drain coming from entitlements, which are basically draining capital investment dollar for dollar,’ he told CNBC’s Sara Eisen during a Squawk on the Street interview.

‘Without any major change in entitlements, entitlements are going to rise. Why? Because the population is aging. There’s no way to reverse that, and the politics of it are awful, as you well know,’ Greenspan added.

While he said the economy looks ‘reasonably good’ in the short run, he expects that over the longer term, growth ‘fades very dramatically.'”

o  o  o

Goldman “Recalibrates” Fed Forecast: No More Rate Hikes Before 2020 Election

o  o  o

$2,198,468,000,000: Federal Spending Hit 10-Year High Through March; Taxes Hit 5-Year Low

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 2, by Wingfootjr

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(Continued from Part 1)

My mention of custom tailoring brings up a great point: The variety of factory ammunition loading combinations has really waned over the past 15 years, at least in my area. It used to be common to be able to purchase .30-06 ammo in bullet weights ranging from 110 grains (woodchucks/ groundhogs) 130 grains (coyotes/ medium predators) 150 or 165 grain (deer/ antelope) 180-200-220 grain (bear). These days I only see 150 and 165 or 168 grain ammo on store most store shelves, unless going to a Cabela’s, where you will pay a special premium to find a wider variety. For some, cost is not a concern, and that’s okay. But as a handoader I can customize my ammo for the game I’m hunting and the maximum clear distance I can shoot where I hunt, which is about 300 yards.

A side note: You can measure maximum shooting distances where you hunt with Google maps or Google Earth. You can also see what the government can see about your area – just multiply the Google magnification and definition shown by 20 times better resolution. That knowledge of knowing your distances, without guessing, is priceless when taking a shot. With your rifle sighted at 100 or 200 yards and knowing your bullet velocity for a given load, the bullet drop for distances is easily calculated and tables are listed in all the better loading manuals, and a custom drop calculator with graphing capability is included in Sierra’s Infinity Loading software. That is a purchase  with value that well exceeds the cost.

Knowing velocity and drop, along with practice gives you the key confidence to take a shot because you know you can make the shot. It was not mere coincidence that after I started handloading I also started filling my deer tag almost every year.

Continue reading“The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 2, by Wingfootjr”

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”.  Today, we focus on California’s Brief Magazine Flood.

Mapping Armaggedon

To start off, Reader G.P. sent us this from France24: Mapping Armaggedon: Earth’s looming tsunamis and mega-quakes. Here’s a quote: “According to David Tappin, a marine geologist at the British Geological Society who has spent years examining the causes of tsunamis, there are at least 40 active volcanoes next to oceans around the world that ‘could be potential Anak Krakatoas’.”

Million-Plus Magazines Flood California

Gun Groups: Million-Plus Extended Magazines Flood California. JWRs Comment: They shouldn’t be called “extended”, because 30 rounds is standard for an AR, and 15 rounds is now typisch for pistols.

It was my great pleasure to contribute in a small way to to that flood. I walked into a gun shop in Stockton, California on the morning of Friday, April 5th where they had customers lined up to the door. The owners of the shop were overjoyed when I told them that I had brought them nearly 200 magazines. They bought nearly every Glock, M1A, and AR magazine that I brought. And they started re-selling them even before we had completed the final tally and they had written me a check. My personal estimate is that at least 2 million magazines were shipped or carried to California in that fleeting seven day window of opportunity that is now being called California Freedom Week. Oh, and I’m confident that the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) will prevail, in the appeal lawsuit.

Tainted Chinese Electronics

A tip of the hat to Reader David R. for sending us this: Huawei: A Formidable Threat To US Telecom Infrastructure. A quote:

“Yet even as U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to limit Huawei’s expansion into the global 5G market, some experts fear that it may already too late. Defense and telecom authorities assert that Huawei may have already accomplished its biggest espionage coup of eavesdropping on America’s Strategic Nuclear forces and other major defense installations located in the Western states.

According to telecom expert Gary Frost, in the early 2000s, smaller, rural customers in states such as Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado were overlooked by equipment giant Cisco and others. These underserved states created an opportunity for a low cost, good quality infrastructure provider to step in. Huawei was happy for the opportunity to install its own cheaper versions of Cisco-type equipment—routers, switches, and other telephone and internet infrastructure—and gain customers in these rural communities.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 17, 2019

On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Due to the Cuba/Soviet intelligence network as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, which was repeated in US and foreign newspaper reports, the Cuban government knew, in advance, of the planned invasion. The Washington Post also reported that the Soviets knew the exact date of the attack, that the CIA was aware that they knew, and that the CIA did not inform president Kennedy.

—

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.

The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 1, by Wingfootjr

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Introductory Disclaimer: I am not employed by, or specifically endorse any products mentioned. I only offer what I have found works for me. Your mileage may vary. Also, this article is not intended to be an instruction course in handloading. Seek the help and guidance of a seasoned handloader when starting out, and make a conscious effort to continue to learn, indefinitely!

I apologize if portions of what follow may seem a little lengthy with tidbits of information that don’t seem relevant- I’m attempting to offer insight and convince those on the fence they are fully capable of undertaking the endeavors of handloading metallic cartridges, which can be intimidating to many.

I’ve been handloading metallic cartridges for 25 years, starting soon after I graduated from college. I had multiple reasons for doing so, the main reason being cost. I had learned from vendors at gun shows near my college campus I could purchase handloaded ammo that looked and shot better than factory ammo, for less money, as long as I could deal with their zip lock bag packaging. Some of these vendors were Combat Disabled Vietnam vets who really knew the ins and outs of the 5.56/.223 caliber, asking me what rifle I shot (a Ruger Mini-14 Stainless Ranch Rifle at the time) and recommending a certain load and projectile for the rate of twist in my barrel- selected from the various lots they had on their table.

Another significant reason was consistency of accuracy. Every year when I bought a couple boxes of factory ammo for practice shooting, sighting the rifle and having 10 cartridges left to carry for hunting, it always seemed the rifle was “just off” 1 to 1-½ inches, requiring minor scope adjustments before firing tuned shots for practice. To me, those couple of 3 shot groups to get it there was wasted ammo, and I wanted to avoid that waste and yearly inconsistency.

Continue reading“The Handloader Never Wants For Ammo, Part 1, by Wingfootjr”

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. This week the focus is on tool storage. (See both the Instructional Videos section and the Gear section.)  As always, we emphasize items that are made in the USA.

 

Movies:

Discover Planet Ocean (Blu-ray and DVD)

o  o  o

A Quiet Place. Available on Blu-ray, DVD, or free streaming for those with Amazon Prime.

 

Instructional Videos (Tool Storage):

Building a Tool Cabinet

o  o  o

French Cleat Tool Storage Wall and Clamp Rack — How To Build – Woodworking

o  o  o

From Ian McCollum: Silent Destroyer: Reimagining the DeLisle Commando Carbine

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