A Prepping Reality Check – Part 2, by Mama Bear

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(Continued from Part 1.)

Now that you have decided on a physical location that provides the best probability of survival for you and your family, let’s look at the next stage.

Food Production
  • Do you plant a garden each year? If not, why not?
  • When you plant your garden each year, where does your seed come from?
  • If you are ordering seed each year from a catalog or internet or purchasing seed at a local store, how are you going to plant your garden when that is not available?
  • If you are raising hybrid or GMO varieties, how will you save seed for the next season since these vegetable types will not breed true?
  • If you use a tractor or tiller, where will you obtain fuel to run the equipment?
  • How do you water/irrigate your garden?
  • Where does this water come from and will it still be available during TEOTWAWKI?
  • How will you fertilize and with what?
  • How will you preserve and store what you harvest?
  • What will you do if a third party comes to confiscate your harvest?

Personally, I purchase and grow only open pollinated varieties from which I can save seed. This also decreases the amount of money I need each year to plant the garden. And this past winter, I had fresh tomatoes for salads through December in my greenhouse. The savings I put into purchasing orchard and vineyard plants. I use raised beds and no till gardening with drip line for irrigation from the well run by solar. No fossil fuels needed and maximum water conservation.

Grains will be an issue for most after the first year. If you have a year’s supply of wheat then if society is not back together what will you do when that runs out. Having seed to grow wheat and other grains is a start. However, grains are extremely labor intensive without power equipment. Anthropologists estimate a stable community of approximately forty people in order to have enough labor to plant, grow and harvest the grain necessary to keep them fed.

Once you have planned to provide for vegetables and hopefully, fruit, then there must be provision for protein/meat.

  • Can you set a snare?
  • Can you trap?
  • Do you have supplies to set snares and traps?
  • If you do not have livestock, why not?
  • What are the rules/regulations/zoning regarding livestock at your location?
  • If you intend to hunt and live off wild meat, how long do you think that will last when everyone in the area is doing the same thing?
  • If you are sheltering in place and are prohibited from having livestock, consider having rabbits which can be easily kept in a garage, basement or spare room.
  • What about putting up shelters which can be used for shade until TEOTWAWKI and then converted to livestock shelters for the animals acquired through purchase or barter after the SHTF?
  • How will you feed the livestock?
  • How will you provide water?
  • If you are able to grow feed for livestock, how will you harvest or store the feed through the winter?
  • How will you protect the livestock from predators, both four legged and two legged?
  • Have you ever hunted?
  • Have you ever butchered an animal?
  • What will you do with the offal, hide, horns, etc.?
  • Do you have plenty of beans or other alternative protein sources?

Most areas will be hunted out within 3-4 months or less. If you do not have livestock, consider rabbits, chickens, and hogs as your first purchases. Rabbits, chickens and hogs can be fed with scraps from the garden and kitchen with some hand harvested grass for the rabbits and hogs. Remember that breeding pairs will be necessary in order to have a sustainable meat harvest over several years. When acquiring livestock, look at whether you will be able to breed them locally (within walking distance) if you do not acquire breeding pairs. Also plan for the ability to feed them with forage or grain. It also may be possible, if you do not want to have livestock, to arrange a barter agreement with a neighbor who does have livestock to provide garden stuffs, labor, or security in exchange for meat.Continue reading“A Prepping Reality Check – Part 2, by Mama Bear”

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 a new tangibles investing niche: used oxygen concentrators. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold price muted as Bank of Canada follows Fed with 50-basis-point cut

o  o  o

Steven Cochran (our Precious Metals Correspondent) sent this: Listen to how precious-metals sellers psychologically manipulate elderly conservatives

o  o  o

Charts for Gold, Silver and Platinum and Palladium, Mar. 4.  JWR’s Comments: Note that spot silver has dropped below its 200-day moving average. So this is a good juncture to buy silver!

Economy, Finance & Equities:

NPR: Wall Street’s Brutal Week Slashed Nearly 3,600 Points From Dow

o  o  o

Gary Christenson: The Care and Feeding of Bubbles

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge:“It Smells Like Panic”: This Is Not What Powell Had In Mind…

o  o  o

Fed Repo Injections Hit Record Level: Global Contagion Negatively Impacting Financial Markets

o  o  o

Stocks Sag as Fed Cures Coronavirus by Cutting Rates ½ Percentage Point. JWR’s Comment: When equities prices go down immediately after an interest rate cut, then it is clear that you’ve entered uncharted territory!  Granted, there was a substantial (1,200+ point) bounce back on Wednesday, but then a 969 point drop on Thursday. This is that wild roller coaster ride that I warned you about, folks.

o  o  o

Also at Wolf Street: Yield Curve Gets Ugly, 10-Year Treasury Yield Falls Below 1% for First Time Ever, 30-Year at Record Low, on Rising Inflation

o  o  o

And over at Seeking Alpha: Markets tank following Fed’s emergency cut

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 5, 2020

3

March 5th, 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the Boston Massacre. (March 5, 1770.) It was one of the key precipitating events for our War of Independence.

This is also the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course his most famous student: N.C. Wyeth.

—

Some anxious folks have written to check on the status of their recent SurvivalBlog archive USB stick orders. Rest assured: We did not take orders for more than we had on hand. But they won’t arrive on your doorstep overnight. We aren’t Amazon Prime. Our ordering page clearly states:  “Allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.” If your USB stick order hasn’t arrived AFTER six weeks, then ping us, and we can provide a tracking number.

—

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.

A Prepping Reality Check – Part 1, by Mama Bear

40

(How-To Think, Plan and Make Decisions in Preparation for When the SHTF)

Let’s have a reality check for all preppers, survivalists, and conspiracy theorists. How serious are you about being ready for TEOTWAWKI? I read many articles on the blogs about guns, food storage, politics, etc. But one thing that I read very lttle of is anything on the issue of decision making, attitude, commitment and how to think about surviving the coming TEOTWAWKI.

All the guns and food storage in the world will be of no benefit to you or your family unless accompanied by decision making, priorities, survival attitude and a survivable location. Preparations are very individual to circumstances and location. So, let’s discuss decision making and being committed to surviving TEOTWAWKI. Let’s look at the process of questioning in determining individual preparedness and the decisions to be made during the process of preparing. In much of this discussion I will use myself as an example. Understand that I am not trying to dictate any particular decision but am trying to illustrate my decision making process in the hopes of illuminating and expanding others’ decision making process in order to improve their chances of surviving/succeeding when the SHTF.

General Planning and Location

Recently, I have read several articles which had a common theme – the construction of a “retreat” for the writer and his family in the event of TEOTWAWKI. While I admire the writers’ commitment to providing a retreat for the family, I must question the feasibility of these “retreats.” In each article that I read, the “retreat” was located 2-5 hours away from the writer’s home. (At highway speeds, this means 100-300 miles away.) Given a TEOTWAWKI situation, I question whether the writers would ever actually arrive at their “retreats.” Consider this situation, TEOTWAWKI has occurred. Fuel is unavailable. Traffic is snarled ten times worse than any rush hour ever experienced. All major highways are blocked. Then ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you have enough fuel to drive directly to your retreat?
  • Do you have enough fuel if you are delayed in traffic or must detour or use the engine heater or air conditioner?
  • Do you know an alternate route, avoiding all major highways, to reach your retreat?
  • Do you know how long the alternate route will take and do you have enough fuel to make it?
  • How many potential obstacles exist on your direct and alternate routes? (e.g.; other communities, bridges, railroads, weather obstacles)
  • What if your vehicle is attacked while sitting in the traffic jam?
  • What if you are ambushed while driving your alternate route?
  • What if a member of your family, or you, are injured or incapacitated by attack or accident while en route to your retreat?
  • What if, because of attack, accident or malfunction, you no longer have your vehicle and must proceed on foot to your retreat which may be 75-300 miles away? At an average pace of 12-15 miles per day? (Your trip could take 6-25 days or even longer.)
  • Do you have food, water, backpacks and a way to transport children/pets who may be too young to walk that distance?
  • How will you transport anyone who was injured in the attack or accident?
  • How will you keep the retreat and supplies secure until you have need of it?

Any or all of these questions/situations could lead to disaster for you and your family before you ever arrive at your retreat. Personally, I believe that having a retreat more than one day’s hike (10-15 miles) from your current living residence is a recipe for disaster when the SHTF. Matt Bracken in his article on Civil War II and Kit Perez’s article on strategic relocation address this issue partially in assessing your current residence and whether it is sustainable during TEOTWAWKI. Continue reading“A Prepping Reality Check – Part 1, by Mama Bear”

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 more panic buying news.

Costco Panic Buying in Southern California

Video: Costco Panic Buying Takes Hold in Southern California, as Shoppers Talk of Coronavirus

People in Japan are Panic-Buying Toilet Paper

People in Japan are panic-buying toilet paper due to Covid-19 coronavirus

Wuhan COVID-19 is More Lethal than Earlier Estimates

WHO says coronavirus death rate is 3.4% globally, higher than previously thought.  A pericope:

“World health officials said Tuesday the mortality rate for COVID-19 is 3.4% globally, higher than previous estimates of about 2%.

“Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. In comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected, he said.”

California’s Carcass Problem

Reader S.B. spotted this: Kings County to hold special meeting on livestock carcass emergency.  A snippet from the article:

“The Kings County Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting Tuesday to decide how to dispose of animal carcasses on farms and dairies in the county.

Carcasses are piling up after the South Valley’s only rendering plant was forced to stop picking up dead cows, bulls and horses on Feb. 24 after mechanical issues forced a severe slowdown of its operations.”

S.B. had this comment:  “We often consider the potential effects of the failure of urban or suburban utilities and infrastructure. However, for those of us living in rural areas, we might want to think about services and facilities focused on our particular needs and the consequences of those shutting down.”

Bloomberg Tries to Defend His Armed Guards

Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Bloomberg Tries to Defend Using Armed Guards While Pushing Gun Control. JWR’s Comment: On Bloomberg’s farm, all pigs are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

Apple Settles for Throttling Back Older iPhones

DSV sent this: Apple to pay $500 million settlement for throttling older iPhones. The article begins:

“Apple has agreed to pay up to $500 million to settle litigation that accused it of slowing down older iPhones as it launched new models as a way to push users to upgrade their phones.

The settlement calls for the tech giant to pay customers $25 per iPhone, which could be adjusted up or down depending on how many iPhones are ultimately eligible.

It covers U.S. owners of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later operating system and owners of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later before Dec. 21, 2017.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 4, 2020

2

On March 4, 1902, the American Automobile Association (AAA) was founded in Chicago.

—

Do you want a really remote retreat? Here is a new SurvivalRealty listing in Alaska: Riverfront cabin on 80 acres. It is accessible only by aircraft, or a 150-mile boat ride.

—

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.

Church Pandemic Preparedness, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

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Editor’s Introductory Note: Here at SurvivalBlog, over the years, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of good doctrine, when finding a church home. We’ve also delved into discussing the role of local churches in dispensing charity. And we’ve discussed home-churching. And more recently, we’ve discussed the need for organizing and training armed security for churches. But today, we present a new wrinkle: How to keep a church group meeting regularly in times of pandemic, while at teh same time minimizing the risk of communicating diseases. Please prayerfully consider what ShepherdFarmerGeek has to say. If you then feel convicted to do so, please bring up this topic with your church elders, and take some substantive steps.

Pray the 91st Psalm, often. We are surely now living in the day of “…the noisome pestilence.” – JWR

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” – Psalm 91 (KJV)

—

“Faced with these crises in nature individually, it could be possible to fix the problems causing them. But confronted with multiple interlinked emergencies that in combination amplify one another’s impacts, people are facing unprecedented dangers and many communities cannot cope.” – Fiona Harvey

Ah, yes, this global pandemic is coming into focus. Our country will be affected. The virus is worse than the media (and government) wanted us to believe. And so here we are. And we need to give attention to our churches so that their ministry and the Good News (actually Great! News) continues to get out.

We need to break the inertia and normalcy bias and denial and outright un-Biblical theology (God will do it all for us and we “only need to pray”). The time is now.Continue reading“Church Pandemic Preparedness, by ShepherdFarmerGeek”

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 Oxygen Concentrators. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, by Jim Supica and Richard Nahas.

o  o  o

The PPE Handbook for Healthcare Facilities

o  o  o

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

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

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 3, 2020

7

Today is the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell.

Today is also the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. (He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012.) His guitar work was phenomenal.

And it is also the birthday of actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005.

—

A Special Note: We are running quite low on articles for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. So this is your chance to make sure that your entry gets into the current round. Please send your non-fiction article (of at least 1,500 words), soon!  Many Thanks!

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.

Stockpiling Medications Inexpensively, by J.B.

36

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.”

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

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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

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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.”

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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:

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“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