COVID-19: My View From The Powerhouse

23

I thought I’d give some insight on the COVID-19 impact from my perspective in the hydroelectric power industry.  As a journeyman hydro electrician, I’ll provide a “boots on the ground” tradesman’s point of view.  I’ll do my best to give a short- and medium-term interpretation of this event’s impacts insofar as keeping the lights on.  While not as prevalent throughout the entire country, hydroelectric projects (dams) are the major supplier of electricity for the bulk of those already in the Redoubt and BC.  While all the windmills along the Columbia produce more political “warm and fuzzies” than actual power, dams are the reliable workhorses that make up the Northwest’s power backbone. Reasonable steps are being taken to keep it that way.  I cannot and will not speak to the rest of the country, but I would assume CoOP (Continuity of Operations) strategies are being implemented elsewhere and my situation is not unique. Coal, wind, solar, and nuclear have other logistical issues that hopefully someone else can elaborate on.

I work for a major public utility in the Northwest.  There has been no small amount of neither literal nor virtual ink spilled over the recent virus outbreak.  It’s a big deal.  My utility and pretty much every other public and private entity is taking it very seriously.  Almost a fashion statement, I literally just got an e-mail from a car dealership in Spokane saying they’re going on the defense as well.  But think about it: These bosses, whatever we may think of them, have a vested interest in keeping things going as smoothly as possible.  Whether they answer to the shareholders, board, or voters, they’ll all have their day within the next few months.  Dams and the power they produce are a necessity for the grid and most companies recognize them for the cash cows they are.  I’m not saying “Don’t worry, the government has it under control,” but I really don’t think this virus will render my sector with its overarching implications inoperable.

Digest:  E’ry little thing’s gonna be alright.

Don’t worry. I know I’m writing to the SurvivalBlog audience. Doom and gloom may abound, but a power outage isn’t the point to get freaked out about.  Spend your energy trying to get that last corner of your pantry stocked.  I’ve been asked this so many times it prompted a quick letter to the editor that morphed into this article.  You’ll probably still have electricity.  It’s a virus we’re fighting, not electrons and for you and yours, the concerns will most likely be something other than lumens.  That said, things could change over time.  Prepare as so many other articles have instructed.  Whether for an hour, day, or year, I do believe an extended power outage will occur sooner or later but that’s not the pressing issue.  Let me reiterate, I’m writing from an admittedly myopic position at the ground level and can only confidently speak specifically of the northwestern US and possibly BC, but I feel reasonable in projecting this across the rest of the nation.  My contacts at other utilities feel the same.  After getting many late-night panicked texts, I’m relatively confident the dams will still crank out electricity with even 3/4 of the crew out on sick bed.  Let’s take a look at this.Continue reading“COVID-19: My View From The Powerhouse”

Recipe of the Week: Engineering Student Pad Thai

1

Nathan sent us his Engineering Student Pad Thai recipe. Nathan says:  “This is a simple recipe I created after some trial and error. Ingredient ratios are variable depending on taste. This recipe makes enough for two adults.”

Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter. (I prefer the stuff that is just peanuts and salt)
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon red chili paste
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger or 2 teaspoons dried ginger powder
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 pound rice stick noodles.
Directions
  1. While the noodles boil, mix everything except the noodles in a bowl.
  2. Once the noodles are done, dump on the sauce and stir until the noodles are coated.

—

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

14

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 some big Forex moves. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold futures log largest weekly loss in more than 8 years. Here is a snippet that confirms my observations:

“It seems that investors have been selling gold in order to cover losses elsewhere,” said Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics, in a Friday research note. “Ample liquidity in the gold market means that the sale of gold holdings is a relatively quick and seamless way to raise cash in times of need.”:

o  o  o

Recession fears weigh on silver, palladium prices – analysts

Economy & Finance:

So, here’s one aspect of the Plunge Protection, that I predicted:  A 0% Interest Rate: Fed takes emergency steps to slash rates and ease bank rules

o  o  o

The Baltic Dry Index does not look good. Global shipping is reaching a low ebb.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: The Last Time This Happened Was October 1929…

o  o  o

$50 Trillion in Question as U.S. Treasury Liquidity Dries Up

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Historic Volatility Tells Me This Stock Market is in the Middle of an Equally Historic Crash

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

6

“So, 61% of Italian confirmed cases are requiring hospitalization. And, low-ball figures now are claiming at least 40% of the American population can be expected to contract it (I suspect it’s higher, because I suspect there’s a lot of as-yet unidentified cases floating around out there still). The American population is 331 million. 40% of that is 132.4 million. If 61% of those require hospitalization (and remember, we’re not even looking at the case fatality rate right now…just the number of cases in Italy-—a first world nation—-that require hospitalization), that’s 80.76 million hospital cases. That’s just below 25% of the American population requiring hospitalization! You think that’s not going to have an impact on the economy?’  – The Mountain Guerilla Blog, March 9, 2020

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 15, 2020

7

President Donald J. Trump declared today, Sunday, March 15, a National Day of Prayer. Please pray for Divine Intervention in the spread and severity of the current pandemic.

—

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.

Generators for Family Readiness – Part 2, by Greg X.

8

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

Starting

Electric starting is a nice feature. An electric starter motor spins the engine faster than pull starting increasing the probability that the engine starts. The starter keeps the engine spinning longer because a starter rope always runs out of length. My wife can push the start button and if your back is hurt “the button” still works. Gasoline engines are easier to pull-start than diesels. There are some small diesel engines with compression release that can be pull started, but it can be tough even for a 3-kW engine. We put starters on even the small diesels at work, for cold weather starting. Both my snowblowers have electric start too for the cold weather advantage. I have a 2.8 kW gasoline set that starts better electrically because the rope is so short. I can quickly pull it up to speed but then I run out of rope and it starts slowing down. With a bad back I can still start my 5.5 kW gasoline set but I have to electrically start my 7 kW even though it has a pull-start rope. My 7 kW should have around a 12 h.p. engine plus additional drag from the alternator inertia. Consider electric start an advantage for any genset and necessary for gas power over 5.5 kW and diesel power over 3 kW.

SIZING

Sizing is important and tricky. The last thing a user wants is a generator that can’t carry the load or start the motor in your appliances. You also don’t want to purchase more generator capacity than you need. (As I’ll explain in a later paragraph). Lastly, you cannot trust generator name plate rating. Consumer Reports has tested consumer generators. Some produced rated capacity or more while others couldn’t do rated capacity. Some will have significantly greater motor starting (“peak load”) capability than others. We’ve tested commercial sets at work. One company’s 100 kW set might do 120 kW while another vendor’s set might only produce 80 kW using the same test method. EGSA publishes test methods but I don’t think many commercial companies follow them, unless forced to–say to meet military  specifications. Test methods and test equipment affect test results too since companies don’t have the same test equipment. I’ve spreadsheet compared specifications for consumer gasoline powered sets. The fuel consumption numbers were too inconsistent to be accurate, and should be used for no more than rough comparison purposes.

There is plenty of advice online for calculating loads and sizing generators so below are some issues not typically covered. Remember induction motors can draw 3-4 times steady state current to start. One of my set’s surge capacity is about 150% of its continuous rated load capacity. When doing your load calculations consider that not all the loads will always be running at the same time. I’ve run two refrigerators and two freezers on a 2.8 kw generator and rarely did I see more than two appliances running at the same time, and never starting at exactly the same time. Remember you can also control what is running using circuit breakers and switches to allow a smaller set to power your house loads, without overloading yoru generator. Continue reading“Generators for Family Readiness – Part 2, by Greg X.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

119

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 Good Simple Living vlogging family’s upcoming move to Idaho.

Good Simple Living’s Move to Idaho

The Good Simple Living vlogging family has found a buyer for their house in Western Washington and is making the move to their land in Idaho. The husband is a police officer and the wife is a homeschooling mom. Please pray for a safe move for them. This move will be taking place in the late winter “Mud Season”. They’ll be temporarily living in their camping trailer while they build a new house. So please also pray for patience and contentment for their family! I recommend subscribing, at their YouTube page.

Leaked Documents: 96 Million Infections & 480,000 Deaths

Over at Alt-Market: Leaked COVID-19 Documents: Hospitals Prep For 96 Million Infections & 480K Deaths. JWR’s Comment: Read that and consider this, for perspective: That 480,000 deaths prediction is about nine times the number of American servicemen killed in the 11 years of the Vietnam war.

A New York Super-Spreader

Reader H.L. sent us this news that confirm  that containing The Wuhan may prove to be very difficult: New York officials traced more than 50 coronavirus cases back to one attorney.

COVID-19 Patients May be Contagious for Weeks Longer

And here is some more bad news that adds weight to to the “this can’t be contained” argument: Coronavirus patients may be contagious for weeks longer than first thought, study says

Two Anti-Virals Have Efficacy Against COVID-19

And some good news, in this scientific journal paper: Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro. (Thanks to M.M. for the link.)

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” – Revelation 11: 1-7 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — March 14, 2020

6

This is the birthday of fighter ace Major Raoul Lufbery (born 1885). He was shot down and killed in 1918.)

This is the birthday of Marlin Perkins. He was a well-known television host (Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom). He was born in 1905 in Carthage. Missouri.

—

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.

Generators for Family Readiness – Part 1, by Greg X.

27

Many of us own a generator. But how much research did you do before purchasing yours? Generator system integration into you home power design is frequently a series of tradeoffs. I’m going to cover how generators work, potential design features, trade-offs, and strategic considerations. I actually own four generators of various capacities, fuel types, and features, each for slightly different purposes. I also work doing generator fleet maintenance.

Key Components

I like to break generators down into an alternator, and engine, a DC control system, an AC control system, a fuel system and a cooling system. Generator sets are typically powered with gasoline, diesel, natural gas or propane engines. The engines typically run at 1,800 RPM, 3,600 RPM, or are variable speed. The engines will be air cooled or liquid cooled. Alternators can be permanent magnet, brushless or they cnd bedesigns that use traditional brushes. The AC waveform can be made by the alternator or byan inverter/converter. The AC frequency can be created by the engine/alternator or by the inverter converter. The AC voltage can be controlled by a voltage regulator, the inverter/converter or by a circuit in the alternator. They can be pull-start or electric start. The generator manufacturing industry combines all these to create generator sets with different performance characteristics at different price points.

All the alternators rotate a magnetic field inside a set of wires (windings) to convert the rotating energy of the engine into electricity. The rotor is spun by the motor, and the stator is the stationary copper windings that produce the electricity. The best alternators are brushless with four sets of windings, the exciter stator, exciter rotor, and the rotor and stator windings. The voltage regulator (VR) sends a DC voltage to exciter stator which passes the energy electromagnetically to the rotor to create the rotating magnetic field. These alternators can produce high quality power, they can handle the stress of motor starting surges, and can last for tens of thousands of hours with simple bearing and diode replacement. They tend to be found in commercial generators.

A brush alternator still uses a voltage regulator, but passes the VR DC energy to the rotor via brushes. Brushes wear out, but power quality is still fairly good and brushes can be replaced. Inverter generators typically use an alternator that spins a permanent magnet as the rotor to create the voltage for the inverter. No brushes to wear. PMAs are typically smaller than other alternators, but require the inverter. Power quality is as good as the inverter. Consumer household generators may also contain a simple brushless alternator that uses an extra winding and capacitor in the rotor to somehow energize the rotor. They are reliable, inexpensive, but don’t regulate the voltage very well. My brushless consumer generator produces 129 VAC at zero load and steadily drops down to below 120 VAC by teh time it reaches 2/3 load.

I also have a generator with brushes and a voltage regulator. It produces 128-129 VAC all the time from zero to as much load as I could pull from it. The manufacturer told me they set the voltage high to allow for extension cord voltage line loss. The voltage regulator can be adjusted to a lower voltage, if that is what is wanted. I plan to order a spare pair of brushes. Voltage variability on the inverter will depend on the design of the inverters. I checked the two I own and one dropped about 4 Volts in the transition from zero load to ¾ load and the other dropped less than 2 Volts in the transition from zero load to ½ load.Continue reading“Generators for Family Readiness – Part 1, by Greg X.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

102

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:

My darling wife gets all the glory this week. Since I’ve been out of state helping an elderly relative, I haven’t accomplished a lot of prepping. Granted, I’ve placed a few re-stocking and “top off” orders–mainly for food and food prep items. I also completed a couple of deferred vehicle repairs and cleaning.

Oh, while here, I found a seller with several “ex-rental” refurbished 5-liter Invacare Platinum O2 Concentrators on Craigslist. I dickered that gent down to just $250 each. With those, I helped out three relatives with gifts or “at my cost” sales of those oxygen concentrators. (With new HEPA inlet filters, new outlet filters, new air humidifiers, and sets of five soft cannulas, for each.  That added just $17 to the cost of each machine.)  Downloading the Operator’s Manual cost nothing, and printing several copies on our ink tank type printer will cost just pennies.

My only other prepping this past week has been getting plenty of daily exercise. I’m just praying that I return home healthy. I will certainly take all of the requisite precautions!

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

7

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, saying,

What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:

To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord.

And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the Lord.

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,

And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” – Leviticus 17:1-11 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — March 13, 2020

11

On March 13, 1933, banks in the U.S. started to re-open, following a week-long “bank holiday” declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

—

Today is the birthday of the astronomer Percival Lowell, in 1855. His flawed “Canals of Mars” theories persisted from 1895 to 1909.

—

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.

The Ultimate Prepper Vehicle, by Spotlight

38

I will admit that the title that I chose for this article was mostly tongue-in-cheek. There is obviously, no ultimate prepper vehicle. What works for me may not work for you. However, I do want to take the opportunity to make the case for what I think is an excellent prepper vehicle: the minivan. Yes, the lowly, oft-mocked minivan. The “Loser Cruiser” as one of my buddies put it when I drove up one day. As I sensed he was attacking my manhood I responded that if he was getting his manhood from the car he drove, he had much bigger problems than I could help him with! Let’s take a look at why I think this type of vehicle is perfect for a prepper.

First of all, some background and personal experience: My wife and I got our first minivan in the early 2000s. It was a 1994 Dodge Caravan my brother in law was getting rid of and he only wanted $1000 for it so we grabbed it up. It was fire engine red so we called it Clifford the Big Red Van after a character from a book our daughter loved as a child. It was nice, but very basic. We kept the third row seat out permanently as we only had one child and almost never used it. The second row seat was removable but it was a bear to move it. It was unwieldy and weighed a ton. It was hassle enough that I would think long and hard about whether I really needed to take it out to put whatever large item I had into the van.

It also had an aftermarket alarm system installed by the owner prior to my brother in law. (Are minivans really hot on the stolen car circuit?!) I don’t know how this thing was wired but it had a red light and a green light. If the red light came on, the alarm was armed and it could only be disarmed by multiple presses of one of the buttons, which sometimes disarmed it and sometimes didn’t. If it turned red and you turned the car off, you could not get it restarted with the red light on so we constantly had to keep an eye on it. I had two different alarm installers look at it but they said it was so wired into the whole system they were afraid to mess with it for fear of causing other problems.

Even with those issues, Mrs. Spotlight loved it. She drove it every day and we never worried about how much stuff we wanted to take on a trip. In 2008 Clifford breathed his last and we got a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country Touring. Talk about an upgrade! This thing had leather, heated seats, folding middle and third row seats and more bells and whistles than we could have imagined. Mrs. Spotlight really loved this car and I did too. We drove it everywhere, on more trips than I can count, loaded it up with garden supplies, suitcases, wood, etc. You name it; it went into that van.

The only thing my wife did not like was the color, navy blue with grey interior. But, buyers of used cars don’t get to pick their colors. We drove that until December 2018 when we bought the same exact model only 10 years newer, a 2015 Town & Country with only 7,800 miles on it. Again, even though it’s the same model, it has many more upgrades. Heated steering wheel! I thought that was the dumbest thing ever until I tried it and it is actually kind of nice! This thing is like riding in a limousine. People laugh at us since our only child is grown and married and we still have a minivan but the laughing stops when they get in they see how roomy and comfortable it is. We like to go antiquing and the van is perfect for that. One thing my wife didn’t like: the color. It is literally the same exact color, navy blue with grey interior! Sorry, honey!Continue reading“The Ultimate Prepper Vehicle, by Spotlight”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

46

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.

Crash Alert — It Will Get Worse

Today, we look at the effects of both the new oil price war and the Wuhan coronavirus on global finance and equities markets.  I’m writing this column on Thursday evening, near the end of two of the most turblulent weeks in U.S. market history. In has been a roller coaster ride, but the general trend has been downward, albeit with some big rallies. I’ve concluded that the downtrend will continue. Any further rallies in 2020 will likely be “Bear Trap” rallies. For example, there will probably be another rally just after President DJT is re-elected. Take advantage of such rallies to unload any of your remaining equities positions. Be aware that even precious metals might suffer in the near term, as the big long options traders desperately liquidate everything, to cover their positions. My advice: Continue to get out of equities and into precious metals and firearms. In a deep recession or depression, fine art, rare wines, Swiss watches and assorted collectibles will suffer. Don’t buy any of those until you are confident that those markets are at or near the very bottom.

And what about the long term? I’m still betting on a deep deflationary recession or even a decade-long general market depression, possibly including a spasm of mass inflation and currency repudiations and/or currency consolidation into regional sovereign cryptocurrencies. All this, as governments and central banks attempt to thrash their way out of the morass that they have created with their unrealistic fiscal and monetary policies.

Precious Metals:

Just as the equities markets were taking another dive on Monday morning, the silver-to-gold ratio spiked briefly to 100-to-1. That was an all-time record. On Tuesday the ratio rebounded to around 97-to1. But then by Thursday morning, it was back to 100-to-1. So this is a great time to buy silver, or to ratio trade out of gold into silver. Any time that you can catch a market swing at an extreme point (“the end of the pendulum swing”), then it is usually a good time to shift your investments.

o  o  o

And speaking of “the end of the pendulum swing”, it is noteworthy that spot platinum just did a belly flop dive to $772 per Troy ounce. At the same time, spot gold was at $1,572. That is a more than a 2-to-1 ratio!  That is hard to fathom, since platinum has traditionally sold at a premium above gold. So this would also be a good time to trade gold (or rhodium, if you still have any), for platinum.

Economy & Finance:

For the first time in history, the entire US debt market is trading below 1%. This is an unprecedented level for interest rates in the United States. Buckle up, folks. This ride is going to get very bumpy! – JWR

o  o  o

Coronavirus updates: Fear batters the economy as U.S. death toll rises to 26

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Funding Freeze Getting Worse: Dealers Demand Record $216BN In Liquidity From Fed Repo

o  o  o

Payments on mortgages to be suspended across Italy after coronavirus outbreak

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Tourism is 10% of GDP in France, 13% in Italy, 15% in Spain. And Now it’s in Free Fall

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”