Stockpiling Medications Inexpensively, by J.B.

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As news of the coronavirus spreads, it shocked me to learn that sixty percent of our finished medication, eighty percent of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture medication and almost one hundred percent of our antibiotics are manufactured in China. One only has to look at the news to see where we will be headed if the quarantine in China and the resulting factory closures and furloughs continue for even a few more months. Consider this quote from scmp.com:

“The United States’ ability to respond to an epidemic within its borders is critically hampered by its reliance on China for pharmaceutical products and insufficient funding for preparedness, former health officials warned on Wednesday.
The assessment came amid the growing spread of the ​deadly coronavirus that emerged in China’s Hubei province​, and just days after US President Donald Trump’s administration proposed significant cuts to the health agencies charged with leading the response to the contagion.
US drug companies rely heavily on China as a supplier of raw materials that go into the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), said Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“In many cases China is the sole source of that material,” Gottlieb, who led the FDA for two years under Trump, said during a hearing on Capitol Hill.
At a time when China would be focusing its production on domestic demand rather than international export, and amid wide scale disruption to industry across the country caused by the coronavirus outbreak, Gottlieb said the contagion had exposed “a critical choke point in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals”.

Most of the pharmaceutical chemicals are produced in China’s ​Zhejiang province, more than 600km away from the outbreak’s epicentre in Wuhan, there had been some initial confidence that the unfolding crisis would not affect supply. But when the World Health Organisation (​WHO​) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency on January 31, it led to protocols over travel and supplies being tightened globally, and the movement of materials and people becoming more restricted.

With this in mind I went to see my doctor as I take several medications daily to maintain my health. I explained to the doctor my concerns and asked for a ninety day prescription to have a backup supply should the worst occur. My doctor who believes in a prepared lifestyle stated he would not be able to write these prescriptions as he feared he might jeopardize his license and further stated that things would be fine so I shouldn’t worry.

This response led me on an internet journey to see what I might be able to do to overcome my local doctor’s hesitation.

I Found a Good Source

After a few hours of searching, I discovered HoneyBee Pharmacy. This Pharmacy is properly licensed and located in Culver City California. A short web search revealed numerous five star reviews and an excellent trust pilot score. A few more searches showed their licensing status to be good. This pharmacy is online based and has no brick and mortar store. Their business model is to cut out the middleman and sell directly to consumers. They do not accept insurance and will not sell any medication with the potential to be abused (ADHD, muscle relaxers, narcotics etc.) Once you navigate to their web site you create an account and input your current medications, there are options on some medications for up to a six month supply. The prices are transparent and clearly listed. Shipping is free for 7-10 business days or ten dollars for second day air. The prices are simply amazing.Continue reading“Stockpiling Medications Inexpensively, by J.B.”

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, more about the Greater Idaho movement. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

Move Oregon’s Border plans March rally in Roseburg on Douglas County joining Idaho. Here is how the article begins:

“Supporters of an effort to move the Oregon border with Idaho plan a rally March 7 in Roseburg.

The group Move Oregon’s Border said a cover sheet and signature page for a petition to make Douglas County part of Idaho could be ready for circulation by that time.

The group ‘is a nonprofit leading a new movement called Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho,’ according to a statement.

The group said a similar petition in Umatilla County “has passed its procedural constitutional review by the County Clerk and has been awarded a ballot title by the county’s district attorney. The petition’s cover sheet and signature page are expected to be cleared for gathering signatures in early March. 1447 valid signatures are required to qualify for the Umatilla County ballot.”

o o o

How many insults can you count in this leftist’s opinion piece? Shawn Vestal: Greater Idaho is a wonderful name for a bad idea.

o o o

From Inland NW Report: Feds reject removal of four US Northwest dams in key report

Idaho

As Firearms Industry Flees Tightening Gun Laws, States Like Idaho Open Their Arms

o o o

From the left-of-center BuzzFeedNews: The Fight to Bear Arms. A snippet:

“It’s this conservative influx of people that has earned the area — along with Eastern Washington, Eastern Oregon, Montana, and Wyoming — the moniker of the “American Redoubt,” a term that’s ultimately more descriptive of a sensibility, and a state of mind, than an actual location. One’s embrace of that state of mind can land anywhere from extreme prepping and John Birchism to simply having a big house with acreage and a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. Many Redoubt residents are evangelical or fundamentalist Catholic; some are Mormon, or atheist, or just don’t think it’s any of your business what or who they believe in.

The Redoubt is no monolith. There are myriad political and philosophical disagreements among those who broadly share the lifestyle in the region; many even reject the name altogether. But the one thing they can all agree on — and the thing they moved to Idaho, at least in part, to see protected — is their interpretation of the Second Amendment.”

o o o

Lori Isenberg arrested for husband’s murder in Kootenai County

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“So what is government? Very simply, it is an agency of coercion. Of course, there are other agencies of coercion – such as the Mafia. So to be more precise, government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices.” – Harry Browne

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 2, 2020

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Today is the birthday of Moe Berg, American baseball player and clandestine agent. (He died in 1972). His biography The Catcher Was a Spy is fascinating reading.

On March 2nd, 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. Today is coincidentally also the birthday of Sam Houston.

And this is the birthday of libertarian economist Murray Rothbard (born 1926, died 1995) His book For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto is highly recommended.

—

Several readers have e-mailed in the past three days, to ask me about protective gear handling techniques. By coincidence that was one of the topics that I discussed in an interview with Adam Taggart for the Peak Prosperity podcast that was just posted: James Wesley Rawles: Practical Coronavirus Preparation.

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.

Blackstone Griddle, by Pat Cascio

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I learned to cook at an early age. I was raised by my grandparents – mostly my grandmother, since gramps passed away from a stroke when I was 12-years old. I had a good childhood – we were dirt poor, but so was everyone else in our neighborhood – but most of my friends and I didn’t know we were poor. I don’t want to bore our readers with much of this, but as an example of being poor, my grandmother would send me to the corner grocery store – there weren’t any big supermarkets like we have today, and she would give me orders “get four slices of baloney” or “tell them you want 25-cents worth of baloney…” I had a hunch we weren’t rich by any measure. I also knew that, the grocer would give me more that I asked for, knowing we weren’t all that well off.

Looking back now, I realize we weren’t just poor, we were really poor. My own mother hardly gave my grandparents any money to help raise me, and both grandparents worked until I was about five years old – one would work the day shift at a factory, and the other the night shift, so one of them was always home to care for me. Again, not to bore our readers, but I learned to read, write and do simple math, long before I entered kindergarten – that’s how much my grandparents cared for me.

I love to barbecue, and we can usually barbecue all year round, even in the rain and snow, and we get a lot of rain in Western Oregon – but our front deck is partially covered, and I can roll the barbecue grill until the covered part of the deck and still cook – no matter the weather conditions. I was up late one night, I don’t sleep well at all – and saw an infomercial for something called the Blackstone Griddle –  and it really caught my attention.Continue reading“Blackstone Griddle, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: S.A.’s Lima Beans with Ham

Reader S.A. kindly sent us her Lima Beans With Ham crockpot recipe. She says:  “It’s all things good, and is a very hearty, filling dish.”

Ingredients
  • 1/2 large, left over heirloom tomato
  • 1/2 c ham fat, rind, and meat
  • 16 oz fresh, re-hydrated, or frozen baby lima beans
  • 1/4  pound stick of butter
  • 1/2 c Water
  • Salt, to suit your taste
Directions
  1. Dice into 1/2” square pieces the tomato and ham.
  2. Place in a crockpot.
  3. Add the frozen lima beans, stick of butter, and lightly add salt.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of water.
  5. Cook on your crockpot’s high setting, for 3.5 to 4 hours.
SERVING

Serve with cornbread for sopping and a small greens salad.

Chef’s Notes

You may think the dish might taste greasy, but it doesn’t. Butter and lima beans go hand in hand, butter being a great seasoning. A serving contains protein, carbs, fiber, vitamins, and fat. Fat is essential for the body’s metabolism and ability to do its functions. Enjoy.

If you clean out the tomato seeds before cooking, you can save them for a later planting.

DEEP PANTRY ITEMS

Dried lima beans
Red Feather canned butter
Dehydrated tomato

The Internet holds countless lima bean recipes with practically unlimited uses of vegetables and herbs. Celery, carrots, onions, cabbage, garlic, corn…an endless list for pairing with limas.I’ve found that Yummly.Com provides a good start.

a side note

Are you teaching your children and grandchildren to eat a variety of foods? If the day of Beans, Bullets, and Banda-Aids comes when we really are eating lots of beans prepared various ways, will your children refuse to eat because they are hoping to drive through Chik FilA for some nuggets?

My daughter told me she read how the French get their children to eagerly eat nutritious foods. There are no in-between snacks. Whining gets a child nowhere. So when soups, salads, vegetables, meats are set in front of them, they are delighted to be served real food. None of this cracker or pouch business for a “little appetizer.” No caving in to the tyranny of a hungry child. Apparently it’s a quick learning curve. But start early once they begin to move to table food.

Be ready. Be safe. Be prepared.

—

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 some panic buying. (See both the Economy & Finance section and the the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

I’m pleased to report that Steve Cochran has resumed writing a monthly column for SurvivalBlog. Be sure to check it out.

o  o  o

Jim Wyckoff: Why gold, silver prices seeing pressure amid global equities meltdown

Economy & Finance:

Will tourism die?  Virus spreads to over 60 countries; France closes the Louvre

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: At Stores Across The Country, The Panic Coronavirus Hoarding Begins. Pat Cascio e-mailed with this corroborating evidence:

“I heard from my buddy Kevin Swanson, who runs US Tactical Supply in Northern Idaho. He said he talked to one of his MRE suppliers a day or two ago, said they sold 10,000 cases of MREs in one day….panic buying.

My oldest daughter, who is the security/assistant store manager at a local Wal-Mart, said she had to do a walk around the store yesterday to see how much product was down. She said that all the hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes, and supplies – all gone – none to be had. Meanwhile the water filters and freeze-dried foods were completely sold out. She has worked for Wal-Mart for about 10-years, said she has never seen it this bad – even during panic buying on Christmas Eve. And my wife was at the credit union this past Friday…took her over half an hour to get in and out…people lined up in the drive-through, and people lined-up inside…tellers had to keep going into the vault to get more cash for customers who wanted cash.”

o  o  o

The Real Reason for the Shocking New Developments in the War on Cash

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Hong Kong’s Real Estate – Housing, Office & Retail Properties – Face “Tsunami-Like Shocks”

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“A Federal Reserve created digital coin could be one of the most dangerous steps ever taken by a government agency. It would put in the hands of the government the potential to create a digital currency with the ability to track all transactions in an economy—and prohibit transactions for any reason. In terms of future individual freedom, this would be a nightmare.” – Robert Wenzel, editor and publisher of the Economic Policy Journal

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — March 1, 2020

Today is the birthday of the late singer, songwriter, and cowboy poet Allen Wayne Damron. Damron was quite the Texan, through and through. (Born 1939, died August 13, 2005, in Terlingua, Texas.)

—

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.

Feeding Your Family When There Is No Meat, by S.E.

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Imagine that you are nine months into a long-term crisis. You have a garden, you’ve stored food and you have a healthy flock of chickens for meat and eggs. Then the unthinkable happens. You lose your flock to disease, thieves, or predators, or maybe your animal feed has run out. What do you do now?! How will you feed your family with no meat?   Sure, you can try your hand at hunting, but so is everyone else, and maybe it’s not safe enough for you to venture off your property due to violence or disease. This article is designed to help you think about ways of getting adequate protein into your family…  …when there is no meat.

A bit of background. Following my series of back-to-back illnesses in 2017 ranging from bronchitis and strep throat to pneumonia, I felt that my immune system was not functioning correctly, likely due to inflammation issues related to diet. I decided to undertake some nutritional research to try and fix this problem through diet. (I am not someone who likes medications). A few months later we opted to give the Whole Food, Plant Based way of eating a try. You have probably heard of this, it’s becoming quite popular – even with professional and Olympic athletes. Essentially it consists of eating only plants – fruit, vegetables, grains and beans. No added oil, no meat, no dairy, no fish, no processed sugar and minimal salt. Yes, it’s a big lifestyle change but the proven benefits to your health are numerous. People are reversing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other ailments.Continue reading“Feeding Your Family When There Is No Meat, by S.E.”

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 some disturbing coronavirus news.

Desperate to Stop Virus’ Spread, Countries Limit Travel

The AP reports:  Desperate to stop virus’ spread, countries limit travel. A pericope:

“Officials scrambled Tuesday to halt the spread of the burgeoning new virus, from northern Italy where troops were dispatched to enforce quarantines and schools were shuttered, to South Korea, where some neighborhoods in a city of 2.5 million were brought to a near standstill.

New clusters of the illness popped up far from its apparent point of origin in China, fueling apprehension in world financial markets and political institutions. The spread fueled an increased sense of urgency among officials in some of the wealthiest nations in Europe and Asia, as well as in countries like Iran, with far fewer resources to stem the disease. But many remained uncertain about how best to contain it.”

Coronavirus: Outbreak Spreads in Europe from Italy

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site, there is this from the BBC: Coronavirus: Outbreak spreads in Europe from Italy. JWR’s Comments: These reports of an asymptomatic spread now makes a global pandemic almost a certainty.  In my estimation, the remaining key questions are:  1.) What are the true morbidity (infection) rates and the mortality rates — including those who are re-infected? 2.) What will be the hospitalization rate, in the U.S.?   (There are only 900,000 hospital beds for a national population of 350 million.)  3.) Are there enough hospital ventilators, for those who become critically ill? (I’m fairly sure that there are not.) 4.) Will the China-dependent supply chains break down for antibiotics, intubation supplies, N95 masks, and so forth? 5.) What are the full global economic implications? This may very well be the Black Swan event that were warned about.

P&G Warns 17,600 Products Possibly Hit by Coronavirus

Reader DSV sent this news of supply chain chaos: P&G warns 17,600 products possibly hit by coronavirus.  The article’s opening lines:

“P&G’s CFO Jon Moeller, speaking at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in the US, said P&G used 387 suppliers across China, shipping more than 9,000 materials.”

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

February 2020 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

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Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review, where we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover gold’s performance, and the factors that affected gold prices. – Steven Cochran, of Gainesville Coins

Gold In 2019: A Review

Before we get into gold’s wild ride in February, let’s take a look at it’s performance last year. (Data for this review was supplied by the World Gold Council.)

Overall global gold demand was down 1% in 2019, to 4,355.7 metric tonnes (4,801.3 US tons). Higher prices slowed physical gold demand, but this was more than offset by a huge surge in physical gold-backed ETFs. Gold-backed ETFs added 401 tonnes (442 tons) in 2019. This was 426% higher than in 2018.

Central banks bought 650.3 metric tonnes (716.8 tons) of gold in 2019, the second-highest total since 1967. 2018 was the highest, at 656.2 t. Fifteen central banks bought at least 1 tonne of gold last year.

Retail gold demand in 2019 fell 11% due to higher prices. Gold rose in nominal terms against a stronger US dollar. A stronger dollar hurts gold demand in other countries, because it becomes even more expensive in their own currencies. This led to gold prices rising in every nation on Earth. Several countries saw all-time high gold prices in their currency in 2019, due to this currency weakness.

Higher gold prices meant that more old gold was sent to the scrappers last year — a total of 1,304 tonnes. This 11% growth in gold recycling helped the global gold supply rise 2% in 2019, to 4,776.1 tonnes.

This was a good thing, as global gold mining production fell 1% to 3,463.7 tonnes. This is the first annual drop in global gold production since the Financial Crisis in 2008.

China’s domestic gold mining (all of which remains in the country) has now fallen 3 years in a row. It would seem that they are on the downside of “peak gold” in their mining sector. This means that China has to rely more on gold imports to fill demand.

Russia and Australia are still increasing production, but how long they can keep their gold sectors expanding remains to be seen.

Gold So Far in 2020

Spot gold started 2020 at $1,516.80 an ounce. It gained $71.70 in January. As of the close of the spot market on February 27, gold had gained another $56.10.

Gold futures started the year at $1,523.10. It added $64.80 in January, and gained $54.60 by the February 27th close.

What Did Gold Do in February?

Gold started February with a $35.80 loss over the first two days of the month. This crushed prices from $1,588 to a monthly low of $1,552. Prices had worked their way back to $1,583 by Valentine’s Day.

It was when the markets came back from Presidents Day that the afterburners were lit under the gold market. Spot gold gained $20.40 on the 18th, closing at a seven year high of $1,601.20. This was the first time gold had broken the psychologically important $1,600 mark since March 27, 2013Continue reading“February 2020 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

2

“And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

I receive not honour from men.

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” – John 5:16-47 (KJV)

Seven Steps to Survival, by Allen A.

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Back in the day, when my hair was a different colour, the Seven Steps to Survival was part of the survival course that I taught.  This article will discuss those steps and how I applied them in a recent survival event that I found myself in.

RECOGNITION

Simple as it may sound the first step to surviving is to identify and accept that you have a problem and that it is serious.  Denial of your situation or the refusal to accept how serious it is can get you killed or injured.  Without acknowledging the nature and seriousness of the situation you will not do what is necessary to survive.

It was blowing about 30-40 MPH and there were soft feathers of snowdrifts forming up to half way across the road at about a 45º angle.  Suddenly there was one drift that was darker than the rest and it went all the way across the road.  It was as hard as a rock.  Hitting that drift threw my car sideways almost as fast as I was going forward. Immediately, I was pioneering my own road in the wilderness.

Trying to steer, once I left the roadway, was useless so I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  All I could so is to let off the gas pedal and wait to stop.  Luckily the bank there was rather at a shallow angle so I wound up in a wide ditch that had filled with snow.

When the cloud of snow settled I had snow just above the grill, up to the driver’s side window, and half way up the passenger side doors.   Snow had swirled around the rear effectively blocking the rear hatch.

Recognition?  Yeah, that was pretty easy for me. I was traveling along one of the more lonely stretches of road in Canada.  It was about ten miles from the Alaska border crossing and I had about an hour before the border closed for the night.  I had not seen another car or building for a couple of hours and with the border closing in an hour there was no reason for anyone to be traveling this road until the next day.  I have traveled that road many times and knew the closest help was at the border.  I also knew that the most likely scenario is that the snowplow driver would be the next person down the road and he wouldn’t even show up at the equipment barn for nine or ten hours.  I wasn’t walking ten miles in the summer let alone in -7 degrees Fahrenheit, in the dark, and with a 30-40 MPH wind.  When you do the math that works out to a windchill of dead.

INVENTORY

After accepting your predicament  the next thing you need to do is to take an inventory.  In many survival situations you only have what is on you.  For me, my EDC in Canada, is a knife, two lights, a Leatherman, two coats, gloves in each coat, military surplus winter gloves, and my fur hat.  Sorry, it’s Canada, no gun.  I felt naked but technically I wasn’t.

The vehicle I had just packed for a three week trip so I had a pretty good idea what was aboard.  Mostly it was my clothes, medical supplies, and a few odds and ends from Costco that my Mom wanted.  There was also my food, water, and emergency gear.  Each vehicle also gets two flashlights, a fire extinguisher, a tow strap, and a folding shovel.  One of these flashlights has a flashing red light option that will come in handy.

Most of my emergency gear is in a rollup tool kit. I keep various tools like a sturdy knife, crescent wrench, vice grips, and screwdrivers.  I also have three ways to start fires, large plastic bags, duct tape around the handles of a couple of the tools, a roll of quarters, a flashlight, a small water filter, space blankets and space bags.

I pack my car in what I term a “combat load” and have done so for years.  What I mean by this is that my food, water, and emergency gear are all accessible from the front seat.  All these years of packing this way finally paid off.  First of all I couldn’t get out of the car except by crawling out of the drivers window.  Second, if I had left the car it would have been life threatening in that weather. So much as walking once around the vehicle would have chilled me too much.  My best option was to stay put.  Staying warm was hard enough without trying to warm up after getting cold.Continue reading“Seven Steps to Survival, by Allen A.”

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — February 29, 2020

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On February 29, 1996, the Siege of Sarajevo officially ends.

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I’m pleased to announce the return of Steven Cochran’s monthly precious metals column, to SurvivalBlog.  Steven is with of Gainesville Coins — not one of our advertisers, but a well-established and very reputable company. Take a look at their available coins and bars.

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.