Editors’ Prepping Progress

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

We still have patchy snow, here at the Rawles Ranch. We are coming into what I call the late winter “Bev Doolittle Season.” (See the illustration, above.)  With this much snow still on the ground, it is an awkward time for hauling manure. A sled loaded with 200 pounds of cow manure works great when dragged by hand on the snowy patches, but it is truly “a drag” when pulling it across the bare patches. And yet it is still too early in the year to use a wheelbarrow or an ATV.  Parenthetically, I suppose we should finally train one of our saddle horses for pulling.

I have some travel planned in March, to meet family obligations. But I’m confident that when I return in early April, I’ll be able to get back into the woods to cut firewood. And I’m sure that Lily will have a list of things for me to catch up on.

Things have been going well with my new venture, Elk Creek Company. I’ve found it vary gratifying to be back in the antique gun business. It warms my heart to drop off a nice long box at the post office, knowing that it is going to someone with no government paperwork.  Pre-1899 antique cartridge guns truly are the last bastion of anonymous firearms ownership. (BTW, I have a feeling that many states will soon attempt to restrict 80%-complete receivers. I recommend that you hedge your bets, folks: Buy a few pre-1899 guns that shoot commonly available factory ammunition.)

A special word of thanks for the folks who placed orders during the short term sale that I recently ran, to raise cash for a replacement laptop computer, for Lily. Muchas gracias!

As usual, Lily has a lot to report, so I’ll turn this over to her…

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Dear Readers,

Weather-wise after an unexpected six inch snowfall early in the week, we had a beautifully sunny week in which to accomplish much stuff.

In the greenhouse, I took all of my stacked seedling trays and put in the one inch and four inch pots in preparation to receive soil.  Later in the week, I filled 16 trays with soil, in preparation for seed planting next month.  I still have about another thirty or so trays of pots to fill with soil during this coming week.

I made guacamole with the latest batch of ripened avocados, froze them in ice cube trays, and put the avocado cubes into the plastic bags with the other Guac cubes.  I bought yet another dozen avos, and am waiting for these to ripen–these also to freeze.  If you haven’t figured it out, yet, as you can see, I love avocado and want to have it for as long as we can when these crops become scarce in the future.

I spent a lot of time this week learning about a method of procuring another source of protein for our family, gathering the equipment and tools needed, learning how to use them and fix them, watching videos and studying the law.  But for OPSEC reasons at this time I am unable to tell you about it.  I’m sorry.  But later, I will be able to let you know.

We had family friends visit on Friday, so spent much time cleaning and cooking food.  We had a lovely time together with lots of good food, fun fellowship and conversation.  Spending time with good friends is like the Balm of Gilead to our souls.

May you all have a very blessed and safe week.

– Avalanche Lily, Rawles

o o o

As always, please share your own successes and hard-earned wisdom in the Comments.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.

The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.

A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.

Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.

A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.

He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.

Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.

He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.

He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.

Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” – Proverbs 17 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — February 21, 2020

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February 21st is the birthday of Group Captain Douglas Bader (born 1910, died 5 September 1982). He was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter ace during the Second World War. He lost his legs in a pre-war flying accident, but that didn’t stop him from re-entering the RAF when war broke out. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable, and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. Bader was eventually shot down and became a POW in Germany. Since the Luftwaffe ran its own POW camps, he became a celebrity with his captors. The Germans would lock up his hollow metal prosthetic legs each night to prevent him from escaping. Bader’s autobiography Reach for the Sky is a must for those studying aviation in World War II.

—

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.

Rule 1 for Survival: Fitness – Part 1, by John H.

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Introduction

Rule #1 rule of any survival situation is physical fitness. True fitness provides you the ability to respond to any situation without failing.

Based on our age, health situation, and more, physical fitness is different for each of us.

It is not a win-lose situation. You do not have to choose between being either an extreme athlete or a couch potato. Everybody’s journey is different.

However, the most important thing is that you always continue to work towards your goal, one step at a time.

Any improvement is worth it.

A Bit About Me

In this post, we will be exploring some basic advice and tips on how to get and stay physically fit. First off though, here is a little about me.

When I was 18, I broke my femur in half while snowboarding. It took three years and two surgeries to get through the chronic pain to a place of full healing.

During that time, I became interested in running and threw myself into cardio (running, biking, swimming) and weight training. It also helped that I had gained thirty pounds in college!

I am not an expert, but at my peak, I did get down to 15% body fat and clocked a 25:30 5 kilometer (“5K”) run. I did a great deal of research and really dedicated myself to being physically fit.

Now, after four years of professional life, I am nowhere near that shape, but I have begun again to dedicate myself to becoming physically fit. I will be running another 5K race in April.

There is so much advice out there, much of it contradictory or dedicated to people who are far more intense about their bodies than you or I need to be. This post is just some simple, friendly tips on how those normal people among us can reach a point of physical ability where we feel comfortable about acting in a survival situation.

Key Elements of Fitness:

Before I address the three elements of fitness as I see them, let’s just say a few things out front.

  • Anything you do is better than nothing. Do not believe you have to attain an ideal weight or body type in order to become more healthy.
  • Each personal fitness journey is different. There is no mold that fits you. Do what is right for your body.
  • All exercise should build incrementally. Never feel forced to attain everything all at once. Set a reasonable goal a few months in the future, say running a race, and work towards it.
  • Exercise does not need to be planned. You don’t have to hit the gym or put on your running shoes. It can be as simple as, “every time I get to the office, I am going to use the stairs.”
  • A “rest day” does not mean a no exercise day. In order to become truly fit, you have to think about incorporating fitness wherever you go and any time of day. Going to the gym three times a week and then vegging in front of the television on your off days will do nothing. Instead, a “rest day” means you dial back your physical activity so your body can heal. Perhaps you do a less high-impact form of cardio. Maybe you swim instead of running, but you never spend an entire day not moving.

Continue reading“Rule 1 for Survival: Fitness – Part 1, by John H.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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

Precious Metals:

Gold, silver prices see safe-haven demand on global economic worries.

o  o  o

Gold nears 7-year peak on virus economic impact; palladium hits record. A little snippet:

“Elsewhere, palladium scaled a record high of $2,841.54 an ounce and was last up 5.2% at $2,771.77.”

o  o  o

Why silver prices may climb to their highest yearly average since 2014

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: The Global Supply & Demand Shock Of The Coronavirus. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

o  o  o

CNBC: There’s now a record number of 401(k) and IRA millionaires, according to Fidelity

o  o  o

Something over at Wolf Street to file under “I told you so…”:  Coronavirus Slams Airbnb, Airlines, Hotels, Casinos, San Francisco, Other Hot Spots

o  o  o

Dominos Are Falling – China Shutdown To Crush India’s Already-Crumbling Economy

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — February 20, 2020

This is the birthday of novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson (1926–2013). He wrote many sci-fi television scripts. His novella I Am Legend later was adapted into three different movies over the course of five decades, and his story Bid Time Return became the charming movie Somewhere In Time.

—

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.

Prepping at the Dollar Store, by Ani

40

Editor’s Note: Coincidentally, I received two very similar articles from readers in two states, in the same month. But because they have different perspectives, I’ve decided to post both of them. (The other one was posted yesterday.)

—

With a lot of attention being paid in the past few weeks to the spread of the novel coronavirus in China and the potential but still unknown ramifications for both the health and economy of other countries. preparedness has been getting some attention. While many of us who have been avidly following the news on this virus are experienced preppers, there are many who are new to it. Some may have already done some prepping but are still lacking in supplies for many reasons(divorce, illness, job loss, relocation, etc). Some may be thinking that perhaps they should try to stock up on some stuff “just in case” they were to experience a “lockdown” as in China due to the pandemic spread of this virus or perhaps economic distress due to the disruption of the global economy. The possibility of experiencing a run on supplies as happens before hurricanes and other natural disasters can’t be underestimated. Although things appear to be pretty calm at present in the US(other than sporadic runs on face masks) one never knows what will happen. It could only take a local outbreak in an area such as NYC to raise the panic level here.

Reading some prepping web sites and articles could make a person give up in despair. So many people are just getting by without much in the way of income beyond meeting their basic needs. Some are on fixed incomes such as Social Security or Disability payments. They look at the web sites advertising freeze-dried #10 cans of meals, emergency generators and all sorts of prepper “gear” and they feel it is hopeless. What I’d like to do here is to point out all of the affordable stuff you can buy locally that will help with your prepping that is available to anyone who can come up with an extra $10 or $20 to spend on products that they will eventually use, whether during a disaster scenario, an extended economic downturn or just day to day living.Continue reading“Prepping at the Dollar Store, by Ani”

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 coronavirus news.

How Long Do Coronaviruses Survive on Surfaces?

Reader A.D. sent us this from MedicalNewsToday: Coronaviruses: How long can they survive on surfaces? Here is a key quote:

“The authors show that, depending on the material and the conditions, human coronaviruses can remain infectious from 2 hours to 9 days.

At temperatures of around 4°C or 39.2oF, certain versions of the coronavirus could remain viable for up to 28 days. At temperatures of 30–40°C (86–104°F), coronaviruses tended to persist for a shorter time.

At room temperature, a coronavirus responsible for the common cold (HCoV-229E) persisted significantly longer in 50% humidity than 30% humidity. Overall, the authors conclude:

“Human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces at room temperature for up to 9 days. At a temperature of 30°C [86°F] or more, the duration of persistence is shorter. Veterinary coronaviruses have been shown to persist even longer for 28 d[ays].”

Patriot Nurse: Avoiding the Coronavirus

Avoiding the Coronavirus.

Chinese is Scrubbing Their Currency

Reader DSV spotted this: Cashless Agenda? China Is Scrubbing Cash Notes To Stop Virus Spreading So Its Paper Money Won’t Kill You

Supply Chain Chaos Unfolds at Major Chinese Ports

Reader C.M. sent this: Supply Chain Chaos Unfolds At Major Chinese Ports As Frozen Meat Containers Pile UpContinue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — February 19, 2020

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Avalanche Lily recently had her Mac laptop fail unexpectedly. The motherboard is history. So she is now experiencing connectivity withdrawal symptoms. This hardware failure came at a bad time for us, because I had just recently bought eleven guns for the Elk Creek Company inventory, so our cash is tight. So, to quickly generate some cash to buy her a new laptop, I’ve just put 20 long guns and 10 handguns ON SALE. They are discounted between 15% and 25% each. I’m hoping that at least three or four of those will sell. This special sale will end on Friday evening. (February 21, 2020.) Please take a look and see if any of these guns interest you. The discounted guns will each have the notation: “For Lily’s New Laptop...” Note that no FFL is required for pre-1899 antique gun shipments, to most states.  Many Thanks!  – JWR

—

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 Dollar Store Prepping Expedition, by T. Lee

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Editor’s Note: Coincidentally, I received two very similar articles about dollar store shopping from writers in two states in the same week. But because they have different perspectives, I’ve decided to post both of them. The other one will be posted tomorrow.

—

I’m here visiting our oldest son in New York City, always an eye opening experience. After church, several of his friends have asked how to get started on building an everyday carry (EDC) bag after seeing our day bags. However, after seeing their respective apartments, we decided to start more basic (understanding we are teaching a few concepts that may be equally applicable to items within a starter level EDC bag or shelter-in-place plan). Think “just moved-into-their-first-apartment-out-of-college-basic” in terms of the problem we are trying to solve. They can build their full kit EDC bag after they prepare for the basics of shelter-in-place in the big city so to speak. To have some fun, we decided to host a grand tour of the dollar store to simply walk around with my oldest son and a few of his friends to point out items that would cost $1.00 at the Dollar Tree.

I was hoping to spark an interest in prepping with these city folks (ages 23-28) and get them thinking about how to prepare while understanding that you don’t have to spend a tremendous amount of money to make progress.   Not able to have a full game plan but the first few steps on that metaphorical long journey. On the actual physical walk over, my husband shared a 3×3 grid of probability and impact – probability marked as Low, Medium and High and then impact to you from the event happening as Low, Medium, High. We had one free afternoon – a few twenties in our wallet – and a desire to get organized for a power outage as a proxy for one of the “high probability/medium impact” events for our end users. No need to price check items at the Dollar Tree, everything is a dollar (just some humor).

These young folks just graduated from college and had literally just moved into the Big City. My husband commented that maybe instead of eight pairs of basketball sneakers, they could have bought a few cases of bottled water and I tried to sssshhhh him a bit.   We later dropped off four cases of water at their apartment and told them to stash those in the closet and put one case in their car trunk (car being kept at a local garage at some astronomical monthly fee). My son had already anticipated the “always keep your car with a full tank of gas” and we all shared a smile on that front.   We checked out their gas grill on their balcony along with propane tank and then took a good look in their freezer to gauge what type of food they cooked. Meat, check.  No soy milk, double check.

I reminded my son to keep his mini Sawyer water filter handy from camping and we took a look at their backpacking gear to ensure things were stowed in one spot.  I gently reminded him that the camping gear needs to get shoveled into the car if he needed to leave and he smiled wryly that he remembers me saying that a few times before.   We checked to make sure he had multiple choices for water storage (bottles, canteen, soft plastic and metal version that can be heated) and his Sawyer mini. They had a few leftover Mountain House breakfast packages from camping. I shared that the Mountain House meals (for example, breakfast skillet or egg varieties) work great in a tortilla wrap – and that the tortilla wraps hold up longer versus a loaf of bread in terms of shelf life). A bottle of hot sauce, tortilla wraps and Mountain House breakfast skillet inside and life is good, power outage or not.  We order our Mountain House foods from Ready Made Resources online. That works fine, and they have good prices.Continue reading“A Dollar Store Prepping Expedition, by T. Lee”

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 N95 face masks. (See the Gear and Grub section.)

Books:

The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide, Second Edition: Tools and Techniques to Hit the Trail

o  o  o

Ugly’s Electrical References, 2020 Edition

o  o  o

The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice―Crossing Antarctica Alone

o  o  o

The Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook: Classic and Modern Filipino Recipes for Your Electric Pressure Cooker

o  o  o

Plants of the Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“It’s not as if socialism is a new idea. It was tried in the 20th century. It produced economic stagnation and despair. In its purest form, it extinguished more than one hundred million people.” – Lew Rockwell (pictured  second from left.)

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 18, 2020

19

This is the birthday of Jack Palance (1919–2006), an actor known for his Tough Guy roles, such as the rebel leader Jesus Raza, in The Professionals

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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.