Kimber Custom II, by Pat Cascio

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I’m a sucker for well-made 1911 handguns, especially when chambered in .45 ACP. It is just hard to beat this combination. I don’t think that John Moses Browning had any idea that his 1911 design would be popular for so long. We are closing in on 109-years since the 1911’s adoption by the U.S. military. Who would have believed that a gun that was first designed around 1904 would still be alive and kicking more than a century later. In fact, .45 ACP M1911 variants are still in limited issue by the U.S. Marine Corps, as the M45A1. The USMC says that they have “plans” to phase them out, by 2024. I won’t believe that until it happens.

I’ve tried – a number of times, to count the actual number of companies who are producing 1911 handguns these days. Im sure its safe to say that there must easily be at least 60 or 70 different companies producing  M1911 variants. And, the number of different models – as they say in the current parlance: “OMG! “It is impossible to count how many different models there are – from a shorty “Officers” model, to the “Commander-sized” to the Government sized, to long slides and everything in between! I cut my teeth on a full-sized Government Model, but I knew there were Commander-sized M1911s out there – in all-steel as well as with a light-weight Aluminum frame.  I’ve surely owned several hundred M1911s over the past 50 years.

Like everyone out there, who owns and shoots a 1911 handgun, I have my favorites, and hands down, I much prefer the Commander-sized, light-weight version – that’s one with a barrel length of 4-inces to 4.5-inches – depending on which company you decide to buy from. For a lot of years, I carried a full-sized Government Model 1911 and it was very comforting on my hip. However, as I grew older – and believe me, the years start to fly by, as you grow older, I decided on the Commander-sized, light-weight 1911 in .45 ACP. I still get this question, all the time from readers, and friends, “what is your favorite gun?” And, that covers a lot of territory. I believe they are asking what is my favorite handgun, and I still struggle with this one. For many years, I would simple answer a 1911 – without picking one particular model.

If push came to shove, I would still pick the Commander-sized 1911 over all the other versions. However, I don’t believe I would pick the 1911 – in any version, as my one and only handgun for an End Of The World handgun. My choice would be the Glock 19X over the 1911, for a number of reasons. One would be, the capacity – the Glock 19X comes with 17 and 19 round magazines, and a handgun chambered in 9mm with 19+1 rounds is hard to beat, when the lead is flying in my direction. There I said it, the 1911 wouldn’t be my first choice as my one and only handgun for the End Of The World any longer. Whew, got that one off my chest – at long last. Nothing “wrong” with a good ol’ 1911, but more ammo on-tap is more comforting to this old gent these days.

My local gun shop is always getting in some great deals on firearms, since they are also a pawn shop. Many times, a gun comes out of pawn, because the person who pawned it, didn’t pay the pawn ticket off, and the shop can then sell it. And, there are fantastic guns and prices to be had. I picked-up a Kimber Custom II, two-tone Government Model for $625 and it was like-new. A steal of a deal in my book.Continue reading“Kimber Custom II, by Pat Cascio”

Safety Versus Security, by Michael Z. Williamson

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I have a few brief observations:

Your typical citizen is a pushover who’s all-in on living in a police state to be “safe.”

Example 1:

A while back, I had an Australian woman perusing the wares in my booth. She looked at a reproduction rapier. “Very nice. But we wouldn’t be allowed to own something like that. Keeps us safe, though.”*

“Oh, are random rapier duels in the street something you worried about in Sydney?”

You could almost see her neurons engage.

*Swords are not, in fact, banned in Aus. But that she assumed they were proves my point again.

Example 2:

When I had my store in the mall. Lots of people buying swords, paying by check, and I ask for ID and note their info on the check against NSF.

“I assume you need my ID so these can be registered like guns?”

“No, I’m just making sure your check is good. Swords are not registered anywhere in this country, and very few places register guns.”

But they happily performed “Papers, please” for anyone asking, assuming it was some government purpose to keep them “safe”. – MZW

JWR Adds: All of the gun and knife shows that Mike Williamson had planned have surely been cancelled, for at least the next two months. But he is still operating via mail order.  Take a look at his knives in the “Handmade Knives” section at: www.SharpPointyThings.com

Recipe of the Week: Tom’s All-in-Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

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Reader Tom in New Hampshire kindly sent us his All-in-Skillet Macaroni and Cheese recipe. You can cook it in 12″ to 14″ diameter deep skillet that is oven-safe. It serves four adults.

Ingredients
  • 4 tbsp. White or whole wheat flour
  • 4 tbsp. Butter, sliced into pats
  • 3 c. Whole milk or cream, warmed
  • 8 oz. Rigatoni, (or similar pasta noodles)
  • 8 oz. Sharp Cheddar, grated coarsely
  • Salt, to taste
  • Ground pepper, to taste
  • 10-oz. Butternut squash cubes
  • 3 oz. Baby spinach (about 3 cups)
  • 4 oz. Potato chips, crushed (about 3 cups)
  • 2 tbsp. Chives, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Directions
  1. Heat oven to 350°F.
  2. Melt the butter in a deep 12-inch or 14-inch skillet over medium heat. Once it is foaming, add the flour and whisk it, until smooth.
  3. Whisk in the milk a little at a time, making sure the mixture is smooth before adding more liquid.
  4. Add 1 cup water.
  5. Add up to 1⁄2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. (To suit your taste.)
  6. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
  7. Immediately add the pasta and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes.
  8. Cover the skillet, transfer to the oven and bake until the pasta it is just cooked (12 to 14 minutes).
  9. Remove from oven and heat broiler.
  10. Fold the cheese into the pasta until melted and smooth, then fold in the squash and spinach.
  11. Sprinkle the potato chips, chives, and Parmesan cheese on top.
  12. Broil until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

SERVING

Serve from the pan, hot.

STORAGE

Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to three days.

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Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the recent run on guns, nationwide. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

I noticed that spot silver rebounded a bit on Friday, to $12.33 per Troy Ounce. I still consider silver a strong “buy”. That is IF you can find any physical silver for sale. Most dealers have completely sold out!  Is your local coin shop sold out? Then phone around to your local pawn shops. Perhaps they still have some…

o  o  o

Rhodium has continued its nosedive–with the spot market now down around $2,500 per ounce.  I hope that folks bought some when I suggested it in February of 2016 (at $670/oz.), and sold some when I suggested it in February of 2020 (at $10,000 per ounce.) If you did, then you owe me a dinner!  A really nice dinner.

o  o  o

Jim Rickards: economic freeze is here, get gold, silver if you can and get ready

Economy & Finance:

The U.S. Congress is now poised to pass a $2 trillion emergency funding legislative package. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has committed to $4 trillion in a new round(s) of Quantitative Easing (QE). In the long run, both of these moves will be wildly inflationary. But for now they are just trying to staunch teh stock market bleeding, and deflation.  Get ready to be whipsawed by deflation and then inflation, folks. This will not end well! – JWR

o  o  o

I was asked by a reader about the DJIA rally on Friday morning (March 20, 2020.) My reply: It is amazing how high a dead cat can bounce.  Then, sure enough, the Dow dropped 913 points, before the closing bell.  We can expect continuing volatility, in the next few weeks. The Bear has arrived.   Treat any  rallies that you see as Bear Trap rallies.  Sell off most of your remaining equities, during these rallies.  The only exceptions might be a very few depression proof blue chip stocks. Oh, and shares of the makers of hospital ventilators! – JWR

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: The Crash Of 2020 Is Now Worse Than The Great Depression.  The piece begins:

“Back in December, someone in China made bat soup (at least according to the officially accepted narrative that doesn’t get you banned on Facebook, Twitter, etc), and the rest is history: in the next three months, the global equity market has lost $24 trillion in value, more than the $22 trillion in US GDP. And here is a staggering chart from BofA putting the crash of 2020 in its historic context: in the past month, the US stock market has crashed faster than both the Great Depression and Black Monday, and in terms of the total drawdown, the crash of 2020 is now worse than 1929 and is fast approaching 1987.“

o  o  o

European Banks Face Financial Crisis 2, Shares Hit 1988 Lows

o  o  o

Also at Wolf Street: After Blowing $4.5 Trillion on Share Buybacks, Airlines, Boeing, Many Other Culprits Want Taxpayer & Fed Bailouts of their Shareholders

o  o  o

Distressed debt doubles in a week in the US

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day

“I told y’all yesterday that we have a government of the banks, by the banks, and for the banks, and today proved that in spades.  Federal Reserve announced it is re-opening its Primary Dealer Credit Facility  (PDCF) through which it created $8.6 trillion in the 2008 crisis.

These bailouts follow the Garbage Can Principle, like the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the 1990s Savings & Loan Crisis.  There is a ton of bad debt, so where does the government hide it?  They create a “garbage can” to hold it until the crisis passes.  In 2008 the garbage can was the Federal Reserve balance sheet.  At 100 cents on the dollar they bought Mortgage Backed Securities and other trash debt worth about 20 cents on the dollar so they could clean up the banks balance sheet.

This PCDF is a similar garbage can scheme.  To primary dealers of the New York Fed, mostly the really big banks, they will loan money up to 90 days at 0.25% or less against the following collateral, in addition to US government securities:  investment grade corporate debt securities, international agency securities, commercial paper, municipal securities, mortgage backed securities, asset backed securities (Including CLOs and CDOs), and equity securities.”  –  Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 22, 2020

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This is the birthday of Louis L’Amour. (Born 1908, died 1988.) Some of his novels have survival themes. One of particular interest to survivalists is Last of the Breed.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 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 $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  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. 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 $100 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 87 ends on March 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.

Get Going on Gardening – Part 3, by St. Funogas

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  1. Figure out the crop timing for your exact location

The last frost date indicated on the USDA frost maps is only a ballpark figure for your area. You should have a garden journal where you keep track of the date each year for future reference and planning. Some crops such as beets, turnips, potatoes, and radishes can take some frost. Other crops like tomatoes, peppers, and sweet potatoes will be pretty upset if you plant them and they get frosted so don’t take any chances with those.

Timing is important for other reasons as well. Some crops should be harvested after a certain number of days, others should be harvested before they go to seed or they will become pithy and the quality will be greatly reduced. Other crops you want to go to seed so you will have some for next year’s planting. All of this will come with experience so the sooner you can get your garden going, the sooner you can start making mistakes and having successes and getting all of this experience under your belt.

And keep a garden journal, no matter how small and basic! Write down planting dates and harvest dates. It will come in handy in the future, you can bet on it. You’ll need to start tomato and pepper seeds indoors so write the date down when you sow the seeds. If they get too big by the time you plant them outdoors, or they’re not big enough, make a note in your garden journal so you can adjust next year’s seed-planting date accordingly.

And last but not least, the last reason why you need to get going on gardening this year is to…Continue reading“Get Going on Gardening – Part 3, by St. Funogas”

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 Red Flag Law Tyranny.

More Red Flag Law Tyranny

Headline: Maryland Man Killed in No-Knock SWAT Raid Was Shot While Asleep, Family Says. JWR Asks:  Why was this gun seizure raid carried out at 4:30 A.M.? If the goal was to simply seize weapons, and not arrest the man, then why wouldn’t they simply execute a search warrant at a time when they knew he would be at school? Let me be blunt: These “red flag law” raids are actually a form of SWATing, under the color of law. Red Flag laws are gross violations of our Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights. This was the second Red Flag raid killing in Maryland. (The first was in 2019.)

I’ll also make a prediction: Someday in the near future, some “Red Flagged” gun owner will be waiting, well-armed, and he or she will kill several police officers in a SWAT team before they even have the chance to turn around and return fire. (Yes, if that individual is clever, he will be lined up to engage a SWAT  “stack” from behind.)

The “Red Flag” law tyranny must end. The sooner that the Supreme Court hears a challenge case, the better!

Unresolved Questions About COVID-19

Our Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson recommended this thought-provoking essay by a brilliant Stanford University epidemiologist: A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data.

Updated Continuity of Government Plans Revealed

Chris posted a comment that mentioned this fascinating article: Exclusive: Inside The Military’s Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government

Coronavirus:  Ammo & Firearms Shortages

Coronavirus; Ammo & Firearms Shortages And What Is Coming In The Future. “This is much worse than the Sandy Hook scare.” Mr. GunsnGear predicting a minimum increase of 10% on ammo prices, chronic ammo shortages, including .22 rimfire. Ditto for full capacity magazines. He’s comparing this to an epidemic. Panic now and beat the rush.
Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,

Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

And when ye come into an house, salute it.

And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” – Matthew 10-:1-20 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 21, 2020

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March 21st, 1778:  Just three days after Hessian mercenary forces assaulted the local New Jersey militia at Quinton’s Bridge, the same contingent surprised the colonial militia at Hancock’s Bridge five miles from Salem. In what became known as the Massacre at Hancock’s Bridge, at least 20 members of the militia lost their lives, some after attempting to surrender. The Loyalists reputedly exclaimed “Spare no one! Give no quarter!” as they stormed the occupied house. Judge Hancock and his brother (both Loyalists) were bayoneted in the melee by the attackers even though they were both staunch supporters of the crown and were themselves non-violent Quakers.

—

Reader G.A. wrote to mention that readers might want to read her article: Setting Up A Sick Room in Your Home, by G.A. (RN). That was the First Prize winner, back in Round 51 of the writing contest.

—

Anyone who has been exiled to home by their employer might want to share their expertise and write a SurvivalBlog feature article. That sure beats binge-watching some television series on Netflix. Just e-mail us your entry. Remember: Non-fiction only, with a 1,500 word minimum.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 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 $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  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. 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 $100 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 87 ends on March 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.

Get Going on Gardening – Part 2, by St. Funogas

24

(Continued from Part 1.)

If you’re on a tighter budget, then there are inexpensive ways to create a lot of compost for next year’s garden. You can start a huge compost pile by cleaning out chicken coops, animal stalls, obtaining mushroom spawn from your local mushroom farm, adding grass clippings, Starbucks coffee grounds, dead leaves, etc. Do some googling and brainstorming to come up with ideas on how to get as much organic material as possible to get a huge first-year compost pile going. The woodier and the chunkier the materials, the slower they will compost so avoid things like wood chips and sawdust. Leaves will compost more quickly if you run over them with a lawn mower several times. If you are going to be using lawn clippings, it is best to let them dry out on the lawn before raking them up and adding them to the compost. Otherwise, they will tend to mat down and not compost well.

One thing I highly recommend, which is a super-easy way to speed up your composting, is to save all your urine and pour it over your compost pile. (Guys, you can also make what I call a “direct deposit.”) Urine is a hugely overlooked resource that I rarely see discussed in TEOTWAWKI situations, or gardening and self-reliance blogs. Urine is basically sterile so it is safe to work with. Not only that, but it is a source of free nitrogen. Since we no longer have the freedom to buy bagged ammonium nitrate in this country, there is not a cheaper, easier way to apply nitrogen to our gardens and compost piles, than urine. It also contains potassium and phosphorus, two other nutrients gardens are often lacking.

Since urine also contains salt, if you are using it directly in the garden soil then dilute it down to about 4:1 before pouring it onto any plants. If you want to see some radical results, here’s a fun experiment to try. Pour some diluted urine on the soil around every other tomato plant in your garden and take a look at them three days later. The treated plants will be much darker. You can also pour urine on tree stumps to help speed up the rotting process.

Nitrogen is going to be the limiting factor in your compost pile. If you don’t have access to a lot of animal manures (many of which will have urine mixed in) then adding supplemental nitrogen will allow you to add much more brown material (dead, low-nitrogen things like leaves, sawdust and straw) to your compost pile and still have it degrade by next year to be able to add to your garden. Urine is free, and it seems crazy to just flush it down the toilet when you can convert it into “compost quickener” and then into beautiful garden soil. Again, it’s basically sterile and safe to work with. If you are trying to create a lot of compost in a hurry and need nitrogen but are adverse to the idea of using urine, then google “garden nitrogen sources,” or check Amazon and Walmart, and see which other nitrogen sources you might be comfortable with.Continue reading“Get Going on Gardening – Part 2, by St. Funogas”

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:

Because of all of the current Mexican Beer Brand Virus turmoil, I’m cutting short my out-of-state trip. (I do not want to end up stranded out-of-state, like some character in one of my novels.) As usual, I will power my way home in two days, nibbling on baby carrots and some jerky. Here I should mention that it is only on these marathon road trips that I ever partake of any caffeine. Then, and only then, will I buy a Cherry Coca-Cola or a Dr. Pepper.)

I’m not certain about the infection safety of making multiple post office trips each week. So I may delay re-activating my Elk Creek Company store page. Thanks for your patience.

It will feel good to get back home. Pulling in our gate at the county road and locking it behind me will end some serious anxiety that I’ve had over the prospect of travel restrictions being put on cross-state-lines travel.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.

That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.

God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.” – Psalm 67  (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 20, 2020

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March 20th is the birthday of Mel Tappan. (He was born in 1933, and died in 1980.) His perennially popular survivalist books Survival Guns and Tappan on Survival have a well-deserved following. I designated March 20th as National Survivalism Day, in his honor. This year marks the 40th anniversary of his untimely death. It is also apropos that National Survivalism Day falls in March–one of the months that both Northern Europeans and Native Americans refer to as The Starving Season–when stored food runs low, but before spring bounty appears. SurvivalBlog readers are the type who plan ahead, and stock up. The current virus outbreak is a great “”teachable moment.”  I’m sure that Mel Tappan would approve.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 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 $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  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. 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 $100 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 87 ends on March 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.

Get Going on Gardening – Part 1, by St. Funogas

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If you seriously think we’re going to be facing some kind of a TEOTWAWKI situation sometime in our future then you can’t get started soon enough on learning how to garden.

Among preppers, the majority of us probably don’t have a two-year supply of food on hand, even if any friends and relatives show up. And if most states lose 18-25% of their deer population every year in a managed 10-day hunt, I’m guessing that in the free-for-all that will ensue after the SHTF, most big game will quickly become nearly extinct — like it was in most states by the 1920s. So unless you live near a well-stocked lake, or have some livestock that is safe from the roving hordes, I’m betting that anyone who makes it to the second year after a TEOTWAWKI event is really going to wish they had spent more time perfecting their gardening skills when they had the chance.

Even experienced gardeners will have regrets. I’m going to wish I had spent more time learning to depend on my garden and less on the grocery store. That would force me to maximize my garden for as many of the weeks of the year as possible, for as many different crops as possible, and to change my diet to revolve around those crops as much as possible. That’s one of my goals for 2020.

If you look at the cover of any gardening magazine, it looks like it’s the simplest thing in the world to just throw some seeds in the ground and the next thing you know, you’re harvesting enough food to feed Attila and his Huns on an extended foray across Montana. There’s nothing to it! To further perpetuate the no-experience-required myth is the concept of the heirloom seed vault. This is where you buy a #10 can, or an ammo can, sealed with heirloom seeds inside. When the SHTF, you merely break open your seed vault, throw them babies in the ground, water them in, and all is well! The Garden of Eden shall burst forth and in no time at all you’ll have so much food from your garden you’ll need someone on full-time duty just repairing the fences that keep popping at the seams from all the overflowing vegetables.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but I think those heirloom seed vaults should come with nutrition labels on the side because most folks would get more value out of eating the seeds than they would by actually planting them.

Okay, I’m exaggerating. But not by much. Buy your seed vault but like everything else, know how to use it before you need it. You don’t get your Colt 1911 out of the box and start reading the instruction manual when there’s an intruder kicking down your front door. By the same token, know how to grow those seeds you’re socking away for TEOTWAWKI.Continue reading“Get Going on Gardening – Part 1, by St. Funogas”