Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in Federally antique Finn M39 Mosin Nagant rifles. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

It is noteworthy that the ratio of silver to gold spot prices peaked at around 92.5-to-1 in mid-July, 2019, and is now down to around 82.5-to-1.  But I believe that this slide will continue, even if there is a deep global recession. The bottom may be as low as 15-to-1–although that may not come until the second half of the 21st Century. I suggest that you should still ratio trade out of gold and into silver, unless secure storage space is very limited in your home. I’ve often written that silver makes great “ballast” for a home gun vault.

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The End Of Fiat In One Chart?

Economy & Finance:

Fed at a crossroads: Rate cut likely this week, but is this the last hurrah?

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Caterpillar just flashed the latest warning sign for the global economy. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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National Pravda Radio (NPR) reports: As Growth Slows To 1.9%, The Economy Is Falling Short Of Trump’s Target

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The Demographic Depression Will Overwhelm Central Bankers Over The Upcoming Decade

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — October 31, 2019

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As Christians, our family does not celebrate the pagan Halloween. Since October 31st is also Reformation Day, that is what we celebrate, here at the Rawles Ranch. This year we’ll be having a small Reformation Day feast dinner featuring squash from our garden, something plump from our poultry house, and apple cider that we pressed.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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 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 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.
  3. 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,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. 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).
  7. 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. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 85 ends on November 30th, 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 Range on the Homestead, by 3AD Scout

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Practice makes perfect. And being able to safely practice firearms shooting could truly be a lifesaving skill.  I have been shooting since I was about four years old. Some of my earliest memories are walking out onto our back porch with the Remington .22 single shot rifle (that I still have to this day), that was longer than I was, with my dad and brothers just shooting into the backyard at tin cans.  As time went on, I joined various gun clubs and it was always disappointing that I spent more time waiting for others to go down range and back to check their shots.  I am all for post-shot analysis but doing it down range while others are waiting to shoot is rude.

I used to go to a local state game lands shooting range until some wanna-be gangsta’ showed up and had no clue about range etiquette let alone firearms safety. He loaded his .45 and started to walk back from the firing line. There were two other gentlemen shooting on the line besides my wife and I. I looked over at them and they looked at us. I just said: “Hey, guy you need to shoot from up here.” He was nice about it and came up to the line, turned the gun sideways and pulled the trigger several times. The rounds impacted only a few feet in front of the firing line and dirt rained down on us. I quickly made safe our pistols and put them in the case and beat feet back to the parking lot. That was the last time I used, and will ever use, a free and “open to the public” range.

Between risking my life at free ranges and spending a lot of time waiting to shoot, having a place to hone our skills stood high on our list of wants for our homestead/BOL. The other issue I have with public ranges and gun clubs is that their rules basically make it impossible to do drills such as moving, transitioning from carbine to pistol, and other tactical drills. Having your own range allows you the freedom to practice more than just shot placement from standing or sitting at a shooting bench.

Creating Our Range

We did not have a great backstop so one had to be made.  I have learned over the years that a little pre-planning and forethought go a long in way in helping ensure that time and money are not wasted. I scoured the Internet looking for examples of how other people made their home ranges. They were somewhat useful but I was looking for some specific information pertaining to stopping power of different types of media. Specifically, I was seeking what material had the “best” stopping power that I could afford. Was it dirt, rubber mulch, sand, or something else? Should I build a cement block wall to hold the stopping media or perhaps a log crib?Continue reading“A Range on the Homestead, by 3AD Scout”

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 the dramatic drop in winter wheat acres planted.

Connecticut State Police Now Has Firearms Sniffing Dogs

Connecticut State Police roll out firearms sniffing dogs. (Thanks to reader G.P. for the link.)

U.S. Winter Wheat Acres Drop Dramatically

Another from G.P.: U.S. Winter-Wheat Acres Set to Drop to Lowest in 110 Years. The article opens with these lines:

“America’s bread basket looks like it’s going gluten free: Dogged by lower prices and tepid demand, U.S. wheat farmers are poised to plant the fewest acres of winter varieties in 110 years.

That’s according to a Bloomberg survey. Analysts are predicting another year of declines for acreage as U.S. producers face stiff competition from global rivals gathering bumper crops. World supplies are so plentiful that futures for hard red winter wheat are down about 15% in 2019, one of the worst performances for commodities this year. In some parts of the southern U.S. Plains, wheat is now cheaper than corn, making the yellow grain a better bet.”

California Undercover Agents Staking Out Nevada Gun Shows

And another from DSV: California Undercover Agents Staking Out Nevada Gun Shows. The aricle begins:

“Undercover California law enforcement agents are prowling gun shows in Nevada, watching for attendees with California license plates on their cars. This article from the LA Times emphasizes that they’re looking for buyers bringing “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines back home.

However, now that ammunition is subject to a background check in the Golden State, you can bet that they’re stopping those buyers, too. And while not mentioned in the article, does anyone think they’re not also staking out gun stores near the border as well?”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — October 30, 2019

October 30th, 1735 was the birthday of President John Adams. (Other sources cite his birthdate as October 19, 1735.) He died on July 4, 1826–just a few hours after the death of Thomas Jefferson.

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My #1 Son, who owns and operates the popular SurvivalRealty.com spin-off web site wrote to mention this unusual 148-acre property, near Elk City, Idaho: Isolated Mountain Retreat.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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 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 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.
  3. 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,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. 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).
  7. 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. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 85 ends on November 30th, 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.

Testing My Grid Down Preps in the UK, by Culian

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I live in the UK and have been prepping for twelve months. Two things worry me: Brexit and Grid Down. I’ll mention Brexit, but this article is about testing my plan for Grid Down.

Brexit is the plan for the UK to leave the European Union (EU). Most of what we consume comes from Continental Europe and we are told that the UK government has got effective contingency plans to cope with leaving the EU. There is nothing in place, however, to import food. Panic buying will empty a supermarket within hours and the distribution hubs only hold food for 5 days. Day 6 could see us very hungry.

Since the fiasco of March 2019, it is estimated that a third of UK households have stockpiled three months of food, just in case. As a committed Prepper, I have gone beyond just three months of food: I have a few basics for water filtration, security, hygiene etc. We also practice meals based on dry and tinned food, with minimal washing up.

The UK has one National Grid, built in the 1960s. It is maintained, but has not been upgraded. We get power failures every few years, usually for about 24 hours or so and it is this scenario I wanted to test. Our last significant power failure, when we lost power for three days, was five years ago. For my wife and I, and two teenage daughters, it was an unmitigated disaster. As soon as my daughters realised that they couldn’t wash their hair or charge their phones, they left! I wanted to do better next time.Continue reading“Testing My Grid Down Preps in the UK, by Culian”

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 the new Ghost Gunner 3. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Reader Steve R. suggested the book Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, And of the Outbreaks to Come, by Richard Preston.

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Blue Moon: A Jack Reacher Novel. JWR’s Comment: This one has had better reviews than his last two.

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Food: What the Heck Should I Cook?: More than 100 Delicious Recipes–Pegan, Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, and More–For Lifelong Health

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The Pocket Guide to Prepper Knots: A Practical Resource to Knots That Can Help You Survive

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

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — October 29, 2019

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October 29th is the birthday of fighter pilot Vermont Garrison, an American who fought in three wars– WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He was born in 1915 and died on February 14th, 1994, in Mountain Home, Idaho.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  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 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 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.
  3. 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,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. 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).
  7. 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. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 85 ends on November 30th, 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.

Guest Article: Gold, Credit and the Coming Financial Collapse, by Hubert Moolman

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Since 2016, the US Monetary Base has declined by about 23.68%. This is the deepest and longest decline since the Federal Reserve was formed. This should not be ignored.

The last time there was a decline close to this magnitude,there was a sharp deflationary recession. That was the one that occurred from 1920 to 1921.

Below, is a long-term chart of the Monetary base that goes back to 1918:

During the 1920-1921 recession the decline in the monetary base eventually made it into the broader money supply and this caused a significant drop in price levels (between 13% and 18%) during the recession, with wholesale prices dropping as much as 36%.Continue reading“Guest Article: Gold, Credit and the Coming Financial Collapse, by Hubert Moolman”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on the Wexit Alberta campaign.   (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

SurvivalBlog reader TZ sent this news about our neighbors to the north: Wexit: Will Alberta Ditch Canada? Here is a pointed quote:

“The term ‘western alienation’ has entered the national lexicon, becoming just as Canadian as ‘grab your toque’ or ‘a kerfuffle at the hockey rink.’

Despite being rich in resources and contributing a great deal to the gross domestic product, this part of the country feels disrespected, shunned, unequal, and underrepresented. From the perspective of westerners, the frustration is warranted; Ottawa seemingly concentrates primarily on the economic juggernaut of Ontario and the sensitive vote-rich province of Quebec. From the vantage point of other provinces and territories, the sentiment is: What about me? There is a reason people joke that Toronto thinks it is the only city in Canada, as well as the center of the universe.”

JWR’s Comment: If the Wexit Alberta campaign is successful, then I’d be happy to see them join the American Redoubt!

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Over at the Spokesman-Review newspaper web site: Your Outdoors Photos: October 2019

Idaho

Ada County sees nearly 23-percent increase in registered voters since 2015

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Oh, Boise!  Public university tells professors not to grade based on merit. (Thanks to reader TZ for the link.)

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Over at the KBOI television news web site: Wild horses to be captured in central Idaho to reduce herd. Quoting the brief article:

“Officials say they plan to use a helicopter to capture 365 wild horses in central Idaho in early November to reduce the number of horses to about 185.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management in a news release Friday says the roundup in the Challis Herd Management Area near the town of Challis will begin on or about Nov. 5 and take up to nine days.

The agency says balancing herd size with what the 260-square-mile (675-square-kilometer) management area can support will help protect habitat for wildlife species such as sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, mule deer and elk.

The agency says mares released back into the management area will be treated with fertility control.

About 240 horses not released back into the wild will be transported to the Bruneau Wild Horse Off-Range Corral facility southeast of Boise for adoption.”

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

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 the Blackout: Two Million Californians will intermittently be in the dark.

Blackout: Two Million Californians in the Dark

Linked over at the great Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Millions face power cuts as California fires spread.  A brief excerpt:

“The state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said it expected to cut off power to 850,000 customers — a precautionary shutdown that local media say would affect about two million people.

“The weather event could be the most powerful in California in decades,” PG&E said, with dry northeast winds forecast to gust up to 70 miles per hour…”

Without Food, You Are Dead

The latest from our friends and fellow bloggers Frank and Fern:  Without Food, You Are Dead.  Here is a pericope:

“So, food. What do you have? Is it enough for everyone you need to feed? For a while? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Can you replenish the supply on your own without any outside assistance?

Food has always been used to control people. Always. Think of Joseph in Egypt. His father and brothers had to come and beg for food. They had the money to pay for it, but that didn’t mean they would receive any. It’s no different today. Look around the world. Look at how interdependent everyone is. Some countries have oil. Some have water. Some have the type of land and soil that will grow food, some don’t. If any one thing goes wrong, one spoke of the wheel breaks, all systems fail. No water, no food. No oil, no fertilizer, no commercial farming apparatus, no food. No transportation, food rots in the field. No workers, no food. “Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Monday — October 28, 2019

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I was recently passing through Bonners Ferry, Idaho and stopped by to visit the Redoubt Surplus & Tactical store.  While chatting with store owner Warren Campbell, I learned that he recently obtained a small quantity of scarce U.S. Army surplus woodland pattern Goretex over-pants. He sells them brand new at $34.95 per pair.  I was impressed with their quality, so I went ahead and bought a pair. I like the fact that they have 2/3-length zippers, so that they can be put on or taken off without removing your boots. I spent quite a while looking through the shelves of Warren’s huge inventory. I also bought a couple of U.S. Army surplus extra-tall mortar illumination round ammo cans with airtight seals. These are the perfect size for caching an assembled AR pistol, an AK with a folding stock, or an AR rifle that is broken down into upper and lower halves. Just pad up the parts and a dozen magazines in bubblewrap, throw in a bag of silica gel desiccant, and it will all be safe and dry for decades. I also spotted a big box of O.D. wool WWII mummy bag liners. He sells those for just $30 each. I hadn’t seen any of those in any surplus store since back in the 1980s. Where does he find this stuff? Amazing. Redoubt Surplus & Tactical also does phone orders that are mailed out, for many of their items. You can phone them at: (208) 772-4007 to ask if they have what you are looking for.

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Today, another product review from our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio.