Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 11, 2020

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Today is the birthday of author Douglas Adams (born 1952). He is the author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Trapper and survivalist Claude Lafayette Dallas, Jr.  was born March 11, 1950. The subject of several books and movies, Dallas had a “colorful” life. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of two game wardens, in Idaho. He served 22 years of a 30-year sentence before being released in 2005. He reportedly now lives in the wilds of Alaska.

Also on this day, the Great Blizzard of ’88 struck the northeastern United States (1888).

March 11th is the birthday of the late actor Anton Yelchin (born 1989, died June 19, 2016). He is remembered for his portrayal of Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, and as Ensign Pavel Checkov, in the most recent Star Trek movie series. He died in a freak accident wherein his parked Jeep Grand Cherokee unexpectedly rolled forward on an incline, pinning him to a security fence.

Useful Transceivers for Most Preppers, by Tunnel Rabbit

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Preamble

The goal of this article to provide readers, the average preppers radio operator, with useful choices that may be capable of meeting a required level of performance. These are some inexpensive, or low power radio options that do not require an Amateur Radio License in the U.S..

Antenna choice is a very important to the part of providing reliable communications within a 10 to 20 mile radius using low powered radios. Terrain also plays an important role. If one located 50 feet higher than the average elevation of the surrounding terrain, the distance it may transmit and receive is much greater. The old rule of thumb in the Amateur Radio world is that ‘height is might’. Even though there will be additional loss of signal in a lengthy run of cable to an antenna that is mounted as high as possible, the additional height of the antenna that avoids obstacles and terrain in the radio wave’s path, easily compensates. In this example, extreme signal loss in a RG-58 cable intended for short runs only, can lose, say half of the signal strength, or 1.5 Dbd, is acceptable if the otherwise low in height antenna installation cannot make reliable communications possible.

Another configuration to consider is that a radio with only 2 watts output, using antenna that mounted at least 15 feet high, and transmits through an antenna with a gain of 1.5 Ddb, can outperform a 10 watt radio transmission that transmits through a 1/4 wave unity gain (no gain) antenna mounted on a vehicle roof. The radio’s frequency also plays an important role in how in negotiates terrain, and obstacles. Radio line of sight in not a straight line. Radio wave can penetrate, or follow the ground, and go around or deflect over hills by about 5 percent, and travel to it’s destination that cannot be seen with the eyes. The longer wave lengths tend to do this much better than the short wave lengths such are used in GMRS radios. GMRS radio using the 3 times shorter in wave length UHF frequencies as compared to VHF frequencies. So they will tend to penetrate some buildings and obstacles much better than VHF. CB radio waves are in the 11 meter band right next to the 10 meter Amateur band. CB transmissions can follow the ground much better than high VHF frequencies that is used in the Multi User Radio Service (MURS) that starts at 151.820MHz.

Three radios and antenna options to consider.

Option 1: SSB CB Radio

Pros:
– No license required.
– Affordable.
– Familiar format.
– No programming needed.
– Can talk with common CB radios.
– Semi-secure. Of the three choices, it provides the highest level of COMSEC.
It is semi-secure, as there a few SSB CBs in use, and standard CBs cannot receive an intelligible signal from SSB CB, when SSB mode is selected.
– Higher effective signal strength due the type of modulation as compared to standard CB radio.
The radio’s rated output is 4 watts, yet when used in Singe Side Band mode, this type modulation has an effective rating of about 12 watts. 12 watts that can provide reliable communications out to at least 10 miles, or more in average terrain. However, both radios in the network need to be CBs with SSB capability.

Cons:
– Large in 20 foot in diameter area needed for the ground plane of the antenna.Continue reading“Useful Transceivers for Most Preppers, by Tunnel Rabbit”

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 Red Feather Canned Butter. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres

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The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

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Now that Paladin Press is kaput, this is now a quite scarce book: Defending Your Retreat: A Manual For Combat After the Collapse.

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I just noticed that my book How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times is still selling well, and now has nearly 1,000 posted reader reviews, at Amazon.com. My next nonfiction book will be released on October 20th.  But please wait until the release day, to place your order. Thanks!

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

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 10, 2020

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110 years ago today, March 10, 1910, China officially ended slavery. But unofficially, China now has one of the world’s largest slave populations. These are mostly political prisoners, working in prison factories. Sadly, there is no way of reliably knowing whether or not most of the “Made In China” merchandise that you buy might originate from the laogai prison factories.

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Before I get to our feature article and regular columns, here are a few pressing news updates:

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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.

Coronavirus: More Thoughts on N95 Masks, by Survivormann99

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First, I should mention that I have no medical training beyond the first aid level. The purpose of this article is to address questions that have been of concern to me, and to toss out ideas on which others with more training and experience can comment on .

As the news about the coronavirus was gaining more attention nationally, a relative pooh-poohed the coronavirus threat by citing the annual number of flu fatalities as being a basis for comparison. In a subsequent response, he said, “Well, I’m going to keep doing what I always do. After all, what can I do about it here?” I responded, “You mean like buying a bunch of N95 masks, hand sanitizer, and avoiding crowds.” I heard only crickets after that point.

I have another relative who said, “I don’t think that we’re very threatened here in little old _________ville.” Pointing out that viruses have absolutely no respect for political boundaries and that the 1918 Spanish Flu reached remote Aleutian Islands had no effect on him. As far as I know, three weeks later he still has the same attitude, so I don’t even bring up the issue now. As someone said a long time ago, “You can only do what you can do.”

While many “panicked early” (I, myself, believe that it is more accurate to say “took precautions early”) and drove up N95 mask prices, even more people are searching for N95 masks now and are turning pale at the price tags. These efforts couldn’t be a better example of the effects of the Normalcy Bias having come home to roost for so much of the population.

Many in Europe suddenly woke up last weekend because, when the outbreak occurred in Italy, the issue was unavoidable. People around the world are accustomed to hear that bad things happen in China and Africa, but in Italy? That was too close to home for the rest of Europe and, suddenly, the head in the sand approach was no longer tenable.Continue reading“Coronavirus: More Thoughts on N95 Masks, by Survivormann99”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on Montana’s Democrat Governor, and one presidential hopeful, Steve Bullock. (See the Montana section.)

Region-Wide

Here is an article on the American Redoubt movement, written by a religion reporter who interviewed me: 20 years after Y2K, preppers ready for societal collapse.

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The 60th Annual Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show will be held March 19th to 22nd, in Spokane.  It draws attendees from throughout the Inland northwest.

Idaho

I heard that U.S. Tactical Supply has completed their move from Albany, Oregon, to Post Falls, Idaho. They have a broad line of gear, now in a PDF catalog. If you live in the Spokane-CDA region, then drop by, and check out their wares!  In particular, see their camouflaging supplies. Their address is:

U.S. Tactical Supply Inc.
1910 E. Seltice Way
Post Falls, ID 83854

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We are pleased to welcome aboard our newest advertiser: Redoubt Scout. If you are considering a move to northern Idaho, then you should definitely take a look at their web site.

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Two Nampa men arrested after fatal stabbing outside marijuana dispensary

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Deputies Turkey Wrangling (Ada County)
Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 9, 2020

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March 9th is the birthday of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man to ever travel in space. He was born in 1934 and died in the crash of a MiG-15-UTI fighter on March 27, 1968.

Today is also the birthday of writer John McPhee (b. 1931), a master of creative nonfiction. One of McPhee’s most widely read books is Coming into the Country, which eloquently describes the Alaskan wilderness.

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We are pleased to welcome aboard our newest advertiser: Redoubt Scout. If you are considering a move to northern Idaho, then you should definitely take a look at their web site!

Cold Steel AD-15, by Pat Cascio

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I’ve been an amateur knife designer since the early 1980s, and several of my designs have actually been produced by custom knife makers, as well as some factories. One custom designer went so far as to add my design to his inventory – never giving me credit for the design, nor paying me any royalties, but that’s okay, I don’t hold a grudge. Another knife company has been producing several of my designs for quite a few years now, and I actually gave them my design, to help them get their company up and running – no problem there at all – I earn nothing from the sales of those designs – like I said, I gave them the designs.

By no means am I professional “knife designer,” by my own designation. I used to love mechanical drafting when I was in high school, I was a fair hand at it – but not great at it. These days, its hard for me to draw a straight line with a ruler, but when I submit a design, either to a custom maker or a factory they somehow manage to muddle through what I want and the knives have turned out fantastic. I can visualize a knife in my mind, but its sometimes hard to put it down on a piece of paper. I’ve been blessed to have worked with some great custom knife makers, who could somehow make heads and tails out of my vision.

I love fixed blade knives, because they are so much stronger than a folding knife. However, its not always practical to carry a big fixed blade knife on my belt, so I usually carry a folding knife of some sort. Of course, we are giving up something in the way of strength, when carrying a folder, instead of a fixed blade knife, but we can’t always have the best of all worlds.

Over the years, I’ve really tried coming up with a new folding knife lock, so it wouldn’t fail me. And, no sooner do I get a good idea in my head, then someone else must have read my mind, and came out with a folding knife lock before I could even begin to get it on paper and prototypes produced. Such is life, I guess.

I still remember when the first liner-lock folding knives started appearing on the scene, and they were, and still are, one of the hottest locking mechanism to come along. However, they are not nearly as strong as you believe them to be, I’ve had more than a few liner-locks fail on me during testing, and we are not talking abuse, just serious testing. Still, they are a good design, much better than the old slip-lock designs used on many folders.

We also have various other locks for folders, from buttons, to a sliding lock, to – well, let your imagination run wild. And, everyone claims their locks are the best or strongest on the market – we call that “hype” – not a lot wrong with hype, so long as you realize that’s what it is…it sells knives, lots of knives.

Long time friend, Lynn Thompson, who owns Cold Steel Knives is always coming out with new knife designs and he has introduced us to some pretty strong locking mechanisms, one is his is the Tri-Ad lock. That was designed by custom knife maker, Andrew Demko, and it is a super-strong lock, if not one of the most strong locks on the market. We are talking brutally strong locks. I’ve yet to have one of Cold Steel’s Tri-Ad locks fail on my during testing, or regualr use.

Today, we’re checking out the new Cold Steel AD-15 – the AD stands for Andrew Demko, who designed this folder and his new lock. There’s one thing you can always count on when you own a Cold Steel knife of any kind, and that is they are strong – really strong. It took me the better part of 6-7 months to get my hands on the AD-15 – they sell out just “that” fast. I have to admit, though – the AD-15 didn’t really make me appreciate it – at first.Continue reading“Cold Steel AD-15, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Jen’s Storage Foods Brownies

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Jen kindly sent us three recipe options for small batches of brownies baked in a bread loaf pan.  Jen says: “Make a small batch of brownies when you need a little “comfort food” fix.  It will help make your supplies of these ingredients last longer.”

The traditional recipe utilizes fresh ingredients.

Both just-add-water mixes use powdered eggs and powdered vanilla extract.  You can find powdered vanilla extract in upper-end grocery stores right near the liquid vanilla extract and on Amazon.com.

Just-add-water mix #1 has straight coconut oil.

Mix #2 replaces some of the coconut oil with butter powder and water and thus the brownies are a little less oily.

Both mixes can be prepared in advance with water added later when you’re ready to bake.  However, before you make multiple mixes, make one batch to try out first.  These recipes produce fudgy brownies, not cake-like brownies.  These are not overly sweet brownies.

INGREDIENTS (Three Variations)
Traditional recipe Just-add-water mix #1 Just-add-water mix #2
¼ cup butter ¼ cup coconut oil 2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons butter powder
½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar ½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar ½ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg 2 tablespoons egg powder 2 tablespoons egg powder
¼ cup flour ¼ cup flour ¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon vanilla powder ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
¼ cup water 1/3 cup water
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Line a bread loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl just until combined.
  • Spoon the batter into the prepared bread pan.
  • Bake for 23 minutes.
  • Let cool 5 minutes in the pan
  • Then use the parchment paper to remove the brownies from the pan.
  • Let cool on a cooling rack.

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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 investing in AR-15/M16 Magazines, as a hedge of future legislation. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold price is on a path to $1,700 but volatility will be high – analysts

o  o  o

Investment demand for gold outweighs weak consumer demand

Economy & Finance:

The bloodbath continues: Dow plummets more than 1,400 points, S&P 500 sinks 5% amid oil price war. JWR Asks:  So, will this be known as “Black Monday”, or “Black Monday Through Friday”?

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File Under: I Told You So… US Airline Stocks Crushed. Southwest Warns on US Domestic Demand. UK Airline Collapses, Abandoned by Its Coronavirus-Spooked Owners

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At Zero Hedge: Negative Rates In The US Are Virtually Guaranteed Now

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The 10-Year US Treasury yield moved from 1.88% in January to 0.66% today. Here is the history of big quarterly changes in rates and the performance of the S&P 500.

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Indian Government Nationalizes 4th Largest Bank As Shadow Banking Crisis Looms

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And at Wolf Street: Stock Market Volatility Jangles Nerves. Something’s Afoot

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“We looked into the abyss if the gold price rose further. A further rise would have taken down one or several trading houses, which might have taken down all the rest in their wake. Therefore at any price, at any cost, the central banks had to quell the gold price, manage it.

It was very difficult to get the gold price under control but we have now succeeded. The US Fed was very active in getting the gold price down. So was the U.K.” – Sir Eddie George, Governor Bank of England in a letter to Nicholas J. Morrell, chief executive of Lonmin Plc, 1999

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 8, 2020

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March 8th is the birthday of revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told in his last book, Hell, I was there!  A proto-Redoubter, Keith spent the second half of his life on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. (Keith was born in 1899 and died February 12, 1984.)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $10,000 worth of 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. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. 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.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. 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.