Preparedness Notes for Saturday — June 27, 2020

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June 27th is the birthday of economist Dr. Ravi Batra. (Born 1943.)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 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 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, which 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 89 ends on July 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.

Review: Coast FX350, HX5, and FX228 – Part 1, by The Novice

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The State where I live does not allow concealed carry of a sheath knife unless you are hunting. Since even a simple thing like putting on a jacket may inadvertently “conceal” your knife, it is usually the better part of wisdom if not valor to avoid carrying a sheath knife at all unless you are involved in outdoor pursuits.

Since the laws involving folding knives are much less stringent, and since knives are such handy tools, I usually carry a folder. For several decades, a Victorinox MiniChamp has been my constant companion.

A couple of years ago, a friend complicated things by giving me an inexpensive TG Raptor knife. I carried it for a while to express my appreciation, and discovered that it often came in handy. In many instances the larger blade of the Raptor was more useful than the smaller blade of the MiniChamp.

One problem with the TG Raptor is that it looks aggressive enough to attract some attention. I started receiving questions about it. In the interests of lowering my profile, I decided to look for something a little less conspicuous.

I eventually settled on the Outdoor Edge Onyx EDC. It has replaceable blades, is easy to keep sharp, and did not attract any attention. I has been my primary every day carry (EDC) knife for about a year. But the thinness of replaceable blade made me a little uneasy. I was concerned that it might fail under heavy use. So I kept my eye out for something more substantial.Continue reading“Review: Coast FX350, HX5, and FX228 – Part 1, by The Novice”

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:

I had a very quiet week helping an elderly relative, so I’ll be leaving most of this week’s Editors’ Prepping Progress column up to my lovely wife, Avalanche Lily.

Other than some gardening work and exercising (mainly bicycling) on most mornings, I didn’t do much that was preparedness-related. But I did succeed in finding eight antique guns for my inventory at Elk Creek Company. These include: A couple of very early Marlin pump action 12 gauge shotguns, a .38 S&W top-break revolver, two Stevens top break .22 single-shot pistols, another 1895-dated Swedish Mauser sporter, a Colt Model 1878 Double Action Frontier revolver in .44-40, and a Winchester Model 1890 pump action rifle chambered in .22 Short.  I should have all of those listed by the third week of July.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Make haste, o God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.

Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying. – Psalm 70 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — June 26, 2020

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June 26th is the birthday of Marine Corps Lt. General Chesty Puller (born 1898, died October 11, 1971). Perhaps America’s finest-ever maverick officer, Puller was part of what I call the Even Greater Generation.

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I just heard that Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is running a short term sale on a combo offering: a SIG-Sauer Whiskey 3 (3-9×40) rifle scope along with one of their Kilo 1400 laser rangefinders.  They are offering this combo at just $249.99. These would have normal retail prices of $199 and $249, respectively. So you are essentially getting the scope for free. To find this combo deal, just type 516550047 into their search box.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 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 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 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, which 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 89 ends on July 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.

I’m Unarmed — What Gun Do I Buy?, by Frog

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You’re sitting at home with your family in a suburb at what is normally a comfortable distance of 30 to 60 minutes from your nearest major city. Life feels as normal as it can — quarantine being considered — and your dinner is interrupted by the news that there is is rioting in the adjoining city. Then, the country is rioting; finally, international cities are rioting. You’ve been aware of the need preparedness for some time, but you find yourself without a firearm. What do you do?

This article will be intended for survival-minded folks living in the ‘burbs who either have no experience with firearms, or very limited experience. As a blanket statement to get out of the way right now: ANY safe, functional firearm is better than none. Doubly so, any firearm you are comfortable and confident with is (generally) better than one you don’t know how to use. I do not claim any kind of authority over the knowledge being presented, and even if this only prompts people to buy firearms I’m not recommending, I can sleep soundly knowing it helped somebody take the plunge to protect their family and property.

Also please note that, of course, firearm choice for somebody in a deep-urban versus rural setting would of course have different priorities. As someone who grew up and remains a suburbanite (though, thankfully living farther out than I used to be), this is simply the area I feel I know best.

YOUR FIRST GUN

In general, if somebody can only purchase one firearm and lives in the suburbs, my first recommendation would be for them to acquire a high-capacity semi-automatic handgun of their preferred flavor. Before anybody shouts through the keyboard, I wholeheartedly agree that it would be preferable to start with a .22; however, if somebody has a small budget and truly can only afford a single weapon while the country is in or on the edge of true unrest, I believe a centerfire option is permissible. That being said, if you can afford multiple guns, then GET a .22 FIRST!

In absolute no particular order, here are a few brands that you may wish to consider: Smith and Wesson M&P Series, Glock (19, 17, 22, 23, etc), Springfield Armory XDm, FN, CZ, HK, the list goes on. Most of these will be approximately $400-to-$550 depending on what level of dealer markup is occurring at the time you buy. Less expensive options of reasonable quality certainly exist, but if you’re only going to have one firearm, I suggest doing all you can to purchase a mainline brand to have the best parts and magazine availability possible.

Why a handgun? Succinctly: I’m a family man. If I’m called upon to defend my home, there’s a very high probability I will need to move or direct my wife and children, open doors, issue commands, or otherwise make use of my hands. A pistol with modern ammunition will offer relatively high capacity, adequate terminal ballistics, and an acceptably low risk of over-penetration through drywall. While becoming skilled with a handgun takes more practice than some other firearms, at home-defense distances, my experience lends me to believe it is intuitive enough to use for novices to achieve acceptable results – though this is, obviously, no excuse not to train! Practice every aspect of loading, unloading, pointing, drawing, reholstering, andsafely dry firing the gun.Continue reading“I’m Unarmed — What Gun Do I Buy?, by Frog”

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, a link to an essay by former congressman Dr. Ron Paul. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

Von Greyerz: History Tells Us To Own Gold When Central Banks Run Out Of Control

o  o  o

Gold price surges to 7.5-year high as coronavirus concerns mount

Economy & Finance:

The Wall Street Journal reports: Americans Skip Millions of Loan Payments as Coronavirus Takes Economic Toll

o  o  o

Dr. Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve is Getting Desperate. The article begins:

“In a sign that the Federal Reserve is growing increasingly desperate to jump-start the economy, the Fed’s Secondary Market Credit Facility has begun purchasing individual corporate bonds. The Secondary Market Credit Facility was created by Congress as part of a coronavirus stimulus bill to purchase as much as 750 billion dollars of corporate credit. Until last week, the Secondary Market Credit Facility had limited its purchases to exchange-traded funds, which are bundled groups of stocks or bonds.”

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Plot Thickens on End of QE & Start of Shedding Assets

o  o  o

And another from Wolf Street: Alitalia, Lufthansa, Condor, Norwegian, Other European Airlines Try to Survive, But it Gets Complicated

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — June 25, 2020

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On June 25th, 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The Battle of Little Bighorn–also called Custer’s Last Stand – marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. While complicated, the generally accepted reason for the battle is that the discovery of gold in South Dakota’s Black Hills in 1875 led to the U.S. government disregarding previous treaty agreements. The gruesome fate of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations.

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I just noticed that we’ve passed the 33,000 mark, for posted SurvivalBlog articles, columns, and quotes. And even though we added our Comments feature just a couple of years ago, there are now more than 55,500 posted comments. Thank you for your support, folks, in making SurvivalBlog such a success in these past 14 years! We will strive to continue to keep SurvivalBlog an “Old School” blog, with original content and genuine ethics. Unlike many other blogs, we refuse to sell out to the “paid placement” SEO mongers.

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An Observation: Have you noticed how the the American News Cycle has turned into an enormous whipsaw? First, it was 24-hour a day shouting from the rooftops: “Pandemic! Social Distancing is crucial! The sky is falling!”  Then, just as the case numbers started to fall, the mainstream media turned on a dime to: “Mass protests! No need for Social Distancing, because, well, because, well just because we said so.” Then, the protests and riots died down. So they pivoted back to: “Pandemic! Social Distancing is crucial! The sky is falling!”  I think I know what might be the next stroke of the whipsaw…  Memorize this phrase: “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.” Do they really think that the American can’t see through their smokescreen? – JWR

Oral History: A Child of the Great Depression – Part 3

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

We also raised rabbits, in a row of three backyard hutches, that my father built. These were wire mesh hutches on wooden frames that were elevated and protected by a roof. We raised white rabbits with black ears, noses, and paws, as well as some gray rabbits. I was in charge of gathering the rabbit feed. Since Dinuba was a farm town, all of the vacant lots had weeds that were mostly hay grass, or alfalfa. Once every two or three days, I would ride my bicycle around town and use hand shears to cut the grass and alfalfa. We preferred alfalfa. The lot owners never objected because I was cutting their weeds, for free. I would stuff as much as I could into the big basket on my bike. We never paid for any rabbit feed–only salt. Since we knew they’d be butchered, we never named our rabbits.

War Bonds and Scrap Drives

WWII War Bonds PosterIn 1940, with the war in Europe already in progress and American involvement looking likely, a series of Defense Bonds were issued, to help cover the enormous expenditures, as the military ramped up. After Pearl Harbor, these were re-named War Bonds. There were plenty of patriotic exhortations in newspaper and magazine ads, radio commercials, parade floats, and special events like concerts. Movie stars got involved, in the Bond Drive campaigns to sell these war bonds. There was tons of publicity, and they even pushed them on us school kids. Basically, this is how they worked: You would pay $18.50, and then at maturity the bond could be redeemed for $25.00. To make the bonds affordable to working-class people and to children, 10 cent savings stamps could be purchased and pasted in special stamp albums. Once you had saved $18.50 worth of stamps, then you’d have a full bond. Each week, a man from the local bank would come to our grammar school, to sell the War Bond stamps. I can still picture his kindly face.

One of the other ways that the citizenry got involved in the war effort was in scrap metal drives and other civic drives to collect all sorts of things: rubber bands, string,  aluminum foil, paper, and even left-over cooking fat. The kids in Dinuba all got involved, pestering adults for donations, but the kids did most of the work.  Everyone thought it was part of “Doing Our Bit” for the war effort.

Over X-Rayed

One of my father’s many weekend and summer jobs was as a salesman at the shoe store down the street– Don’s Shoes. Surprisingly, it is still in operation in 2020, at the same location! Anita and I, and sometimes accompanied by our neighbor Ruthie Gapen would walk and visit the shoe store. We got a big kick out of being there with Daddy. As little girls, we felt like we were part-owners of the store. While Daddy was waiting on customers, we were standing on the scale, or standing on the X-Ray fluoroscope machine that was used for fitting shoes. We could look at the bones in our feet, and even see our toe bones wiggle, when the machine was turned on. We thought that was fascinating, so we’d take turns doing that, over and over. Daddy would say:  “Hey girls, why don’t you let someone else use that.” This was not because it was considered hazardous, but rather because he didn’t want us distracting the genuine customers, or keeping them away from the machine.Continue reading“Oral History: A Child of the Great Depression – Part 3”

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 inflation the prices of Rawles XL Voyager knives.

Big Brother’s Tech Advances

Reader C.M. sent this: 10 Things Edward Snowden Didn’t Tell You About Big Brother – Our Beloved Uncle Sam, and his cousins – FBI, NSA & DHS.

Supreme Court Denies Hearing 10 Gun Case Appeals

Reader D.S.V. sent this: SCOTUS Rejection of 2A Cases Moves Up Likelihood of a Forced Choice for Gun Owners

Vincent James: No One is Coming to Save Us

Reader R.J. sent us this video link to conservative commentator Vincent James, describing the out of control leftist iconoclasts: No One is Coming to Save Us.  One instance that he mentioned particularly struck me: Rioters defaced a statue of a 19th Century abolitionist. I’ve often written that we are living in the age of deception and betrayal. But now I’m beginning to believe that we are living in the age of absurd logical inversion!

Washington Now Requires Face Masks

Washington state to require face masks after county runs out of hospital beds.
Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — June 24, 2020

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June 24th the birthday of rifle-toting abolitionist pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kansas that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles.

Wikipedia says of Beecher: “Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

I wonder if the monument to Henry Ward Beecher will be the next target of the BLM iconoclasts. I suppose that someone should inform them of the man’s history.

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SurvivalBlog readers who live on the west coast, take note of the prediction included in this video by amateur earthquake expert “Dutchsinse”: Another M7.4 Earthquake strikes Pacific – Mexico – Buildings sway cracks form in ground.

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Reader M.S. in England wrote to mention: “Someone is taking your posts and is re-posting in French which is odd.”

JWR’s Réponse:Que diable! Incroyable!  Reader M. from Canada notes: “L’imitation est la plus sincère des flatteries.”

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Meanwhile, in China.  (Please pray that the flooding ends in China, and for the millions who are downriver of the Three Gorges Dam.)

Oral History: A Child of the Great Depression – Part 2

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(Continued, from Part 1.)

The Principal of Dinuba High School, Walter Hellbaum, came up recruiting at UC Berkeley, because Howard Page, his Agriculture and ROTC teacher–who was another Army reserve officer–had been recalled to active duty.  Daddy was a good fit for a position at Dinuba High School because he was qualified to teach both Agriculture and ROTC classes. But then a more experienced Agriculture teacher came along. So my father ended up teaching Math, Science, Spanish, and he led the Junior ROTC program. Daddy moved our family to Dinuba in 1940. We first lived in a modest two-bedroom rental house on Park Way, very close to Dinuba High School. The rent for that house was $27.50 month.

Dinuba is in a portion of the Central Valley hat has very rich soil and a long, mild growing season. You can grow just about anything there. Both then, and now, there is a mix of row crops, vineyards (table grapes and wine grapes), nut orchards, and fruit orchards — including citrus. Other than some dangerously foggy driving conditions in the winter, the climate is just about ideal. It rarely got below freezing.

In addition to his other teaching duties, my father directed high school plays. And he was in the Toastmasters Club, which had meetings in the nearby town of Reedley. He was a jokester and always the clown, at any gathering. Daddy was a man of many interests. For example, he liked to make furniture.

In the 1930s and 1940s, public school teachers were quite poorly paid. So, to support our family, he kept very busy, working on weekends and in the summer months when school was not in session. He worked as a salesman at a shoe store, as a checker at a local grocery store, and as a Spanish tutor. Each summer, he was also hired by the government to work at a migrant labor camp, to be a Spanish Interpreter for the Bracero Program.

Meanwhile, my father DeWitt was still an Army Reserve officer.  He kept current by attending Officer Reserve Corps (ORC) camps for two weeks, each summer, in southern California. Those camps, including travel and meals, were all at his own expense. Army promotions were very slow, in the 1930s. But they accelerated rapidly, when the war began. By 1941, he had been promoted to Captain, but soon after, he became a Major.Continue reading“Oral History: A Child of the Great Depression – Part 2”

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 the Branson-based family bluegrass band The Petersons. (See the Music section.)

Books:

The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs: Use Outdoor Clues to Find Your Way, Predict the Weather, Locate Water, Track Animals―and Other Forgotten Skills

o  o  o

The Darkest Year: The American Home Front 1941-1942

o  o  o

I’m looking forward the release of this book on December 1st: The MeatEater Guide to Wilderness Skills and Survival. (It is already available for pre-ordering.)

o  o  o

Off the Grid: Simple Solar Homesteading

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