Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — September 24, 2019

1

On this date in 1775, Ethan Allen was captured by the British.

And in 1493, Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second voyage to the Americas.

—

Through a friend who has an FFL, I’ve started another two-week GunBroker.com auction for one of the original pre-ban HK91 rifles from my personal collection.

To explain why I’m selling this: We still have some family medical expenses to cover.

Here is a description of this rifle, which has some unusual features:

“This rifle has a few modifications done to it that set it apart from a standard HK91. First off, the hardest and most expensive to do, the original IB date coded bolt carrier has been modified for full auto use, so if you have a sear pack, this is a great rifle for you! The stock has been replaced with a G3 military stock that has the uncommon third pin hole in it, and a recoil buffer has also been installed, along with a wide buttpad, making it much nicer to shoot. Another plus to this rifle is the original pre-ban HK commercial IC date coded magazine–not your standard G3 surplus magazine. The rifle also has a correct IB date coded wide forearm. Put this whole package together, and you have a nice rifle in your hands. These things just don’t quit!”

The opening bid is just $2,200, and there is no reserve price set!  It is noteworthy the last HK91 that I auctioned sold right at its opening bid price. (There was just one bid!) This might be another “sleeper” auction, so get your bid in early!

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 84  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 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. 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 84 ends on September 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.

Wood Cutting Made Slightly Less Dangerous – Part 1, by The Novice

26

Editor’s Introductory Note: The following are some recounted experiences, observations, and advice, earned through experience. I hope that you benefit from this, and thereby avoid repeating the author’s mistakes. – JWR

—

Incident 1

It was an unremarkable autumn day: pleasantly cool, and a trifle overcast. I had thrown some logs on top of the last load of wood that I had hauled. Those logs now needed to be bucked for splitting.

All of the proper protective equipment was in place: eye protection, hard hat with attached hearing protection and face screen, gloves, Kevlar chainsaw chaps, and sturdy footwear. As I prepared to start the chainsaw, I noticed a hole in the thumb of my right glove. I commented to my wife, “The next time we go to the hardware store, I need to pick up a new pair of gloves.” Then I started the saw.

After the first log had been bucked, I turned the saw to set it down. Something tweaked my right thumb. I looked down and saw a surprising amount of blood.

Observation: Wood cutting can be dangerous: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, logging workers have the most dangerous occupation in the United States, with a fatal injury rate of 135.9 per 100,000 workers per year and a non-fatal injury rate of 2,449 per 100,000 workers per year. A task that is so dangerous for trained and experienced professionals poses significant risks to less experienced amateurs like me.

Observation: Damaged or worn out protective equipment may not protect: Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it will. I am still not sure how the chain managed to seek out the one hole in my gloves. In a dangerous environment, being truly prepared means being prepared even for unlikely occurrences.

I put pressure on the wound with my other glove, and asked my wife to get something with which to control the bleeding. She ran into the house and grabbed one of her best dish towels. After applying direct pressure with the dish towel for a couple of minutes, I removed it to assess the wound. I saw a large flap of white, dead-looking skin. It was rapidly inundated by a rising tide of blood. I said, “I think I need stitches. We should probably go to the emergency room.”

Observation: When you or a loved one is bleeding, it may be difficult to make good decisions: Based upon an objective assessment of the injury, urgent care would have been a more cost effective solution than the emergency room. But the words “chainsaw injury” and “emergency room” somehow seemed to go together at the time.

Observation: Telling emergency room personnel that you have been injured with a chainsaw is a good way to get prompt attention.

In the treatment room, the doctor put an o-ring around the base of my thumb to stop the bleeding. He then cut away the dead skin, cleaned the wound, and glued it together with super glue. Finally he removed the o-ring and applied a dressing. With the clarity of 20/20 hindsight, I realized that I could have provided similar treatment at home. I have since used this knowledge after reaching into a tool box and grabbing the wrong end of a cutting implement.Continue reading“Wood Cutting Made Slightly Less Dangerous – Part 1, by The Novice”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

7

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 some more  grizzly bear attacks. (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

Idaho Dept. of Insurance releases Post-Disaster Claims Guide.

o o o

Readers T.Z. and M.C. both sent this: Idaho Legislator: State Considering Defunding Leftist Agenda on Boise State Campus. JWR’s Comment: Gender inclusive restrooms and Muslim prayer rooms? What has happened to academia in Idaho?

o o o

Police release name of man killed in officer-involved shooting in Coeur d’Alene. And here is the original news report. JWR’s Comment: I suspect that the “Al” part of his name was not a truncated honorific to an ancestor named Alfred.

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

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

13

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 Instagram banning photos of people at gun ranges.

Some Libertarians Moving to Fort Galt, Chile

H.L. mentioned this at Zero Hedge: Neighbors Suck? Try These Ones Instead!

Pandemic Risk Rising

The Irish Times reports: World faces increasing risk of pandemics that could kill millions, panel says. Here is a pericope:

“The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), co-convened by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), warned that epidemic-prone viral diseases like Ebola, flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) are increasingly tough to manage in a world dominated by lengthy conflicts, fragile states and forced migration.

“The threat of a pandemic spreading around the globe is a real one,” the group said in a report released on Wednesday. “A quick-moving pathogen has the potential to kill tens of millions of people, disrupt economies and destabilise national security.””

Instagram Banning Photos of People at Gun Ranges

A hat tip to reader G.P. for sending this: Instagram Now Banning Photos Of People At Gun Ranges, Claiming They Promote “Violence”Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

4

“A businessman cannot force you to buy his product; if he makes a mistake, he suffers the consequences; if he fails, he takes the loss. If bureaucrat makes a mistake, you suffer the consequences; if he fails, he passes the loss on to you.” – Ayn Rand

Preparedness Notes for Monday — September 23, 2019

5

There are just eight days remaining in the current round of our non-fiction writing contest. I’d like to make a special appeal to some of the subject matter experts who have been chiming in with lengthy comments, in our comments section. Many of you are clearly great writers, and really know your stuff. I encourage you to write just a bit longer pieces and submit them to the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. You can even use one of your posted comments as a starting point, and simply expand it.  The minimum word count is just 1,500 words. Take note that some of your comments have already been in excess of 1,200 words. So you might as well send in an article. You may be pleasantly surprised to win one of the top three prizes, which together have a more than $12,000 value, awarded once every two months.  Many Thanks! – JWR

—

September 23, 1800 was the birthday of William McGuffey, a college president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, the first widely-used series of textbooks. It is estimated that at least 122 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary.

—

Today we present another review by the tireless Pat Cascio, our Field Gear Editor.

Kershaw Flythrough, by Pat Cascio

2

Once again, Kershaw Knives is on a roll, with yet another innovation in a folder. There appears to be no end to new knife designs these days. Some are mere gimmicks. However some have some real down to earth applications. I’m a sucker for folding knives – there are so many different designs these days, its hard to pick one for the next purchase a person is going to make. Today I’m reviewing the “Flythrough” by Kershaw, and it’s a bit different, in that, you can see how it operates, without taking it apart.

Speaking of taking knives apart, I used to do that quite often when I first started writing about knives  back in 1992  – I had to know how some of those folders worked. First off, don’t ever take an automatic folder apart. You’ll find its easy to take apart but hard to put back together. I’ve heard from several Oregon knife companies that produce automatic folders, that people have taken them apart, and couldn’t put back together again – and those knives were sent back to the company for reassembly. Luckily, I’ve never had to return a knife. I always managed to get them put back together.

I’ve observed folks who work for various knife companies, and Kershaw is one of them, who can just breeze through the assembly process on folding knives. Each person sits at their station, and the partially assembled knife is passed to them, for their portion of the assembly process. However, keep in mind that, these people rotate from one station to another, so they don’t get bored with screwing down the same screws, day in and day out. And, along the way, if something isn’t quite “right” when a partially assembled knife reaches a certain station, it is returned to the previous station. Still, in the end, some knives end up assembled, and upon final inspection, the keen-eyed inspectors pull those knives and they don’t get shipped out as perfect. Some knife companies hold annual “factory seconds” sale days, where the consumer can go and buy some factory seconds with big discounts. Some just have a minor cosmetic flaw and some might have a scratch on the blade or handle. In the end, the consumer is the big winner.

The Kershaw Flythrough was designed by custom maker, R.J. Martin, and he’s been around for quite a while, and I’ve seen some of his other designs – outstanding, in every respect. What we have with the Flythrough design is a see-through pivot. This oversized pivot is hollow in the center, letting you see through it. There is also a handle cut-out behind the pivot and this lets you see the blade’s tang with it open. Really cool stuff if you’ve interested in how some folding knives work. There is a “wow” factor there, when you see how things operate on this folder.Continue reading“Kershaw Flythrough, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Newell’s Skillet-Baked Apple Crisp

1

Looking for a use for some of your baskets of recently-harvested apples? Reader Newell in Northern California kindly sent us his recipe for skillet-baked apple crisp. Yum!

Filling Ingredients
  • 6 large (or 8-to-10 small) baking apples, cored and sliced
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (either light or dark)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
Topping Ingredients
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar (either light or dark)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons (1 full stick) unsalted butter
Directions
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the topping:  flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set that aside.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and corn starch. Add the sliced apples and mix until they are fully coated. Set that aside.
  4. Place a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and let it melt until it begins to foam. Swirl the melted butter around the pan and watch it closely for it to turn golden brown. Do not to let the butter burn!
  5. Remove it from the heat and immediately pour the browned butter into the flour/oat topping mixture.
  6. Mix together until the butter is fully mixed in and starts to form clumps. Sprinkle over the apples and spread it out until evenly coated.
  7. Bake in the skillet for about 30 minutes, or until the top has browned and filling is bubbling.
Serving

Serve warm.

This is always good paired with a glass of cold milk or a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

—

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

10

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. And it bears mention that 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 the recently discontinued civilian production Colt ARs, including the 6920 series carbines. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

AG Thorson, over at Gold-Eagle: Gold Price Forecast – Preparing For An Autumn Low

o  o  o

Silver price to hit $20 in 8 weeks, says expert who correctly called $1,500 gold

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: A Clueless New York Fed Is Examining Why Banks With Excess Cash Failed To Halt Repo Panic. Here is how the article starts out:

“When it comes to occasional (or chronic) dollar shortages, and the plumbing of the overnight lending market, which as everyone knows suffered a spectacular heart attack early this week when the overnight repo rate soared to 10%, the New York Fed and its open markets desk, is the authority on any potential plumbing blockages. Yet it now appears that the most important regional Fed when it comes to maintaining market stability, is just as clueless as the rest of us as to why the repo market froze up. sending funding rates to never before seen highs.

In an interview with the FT, New York Fed president John Williams, who earlier this year unexpectedly fired not only the head of the NY Fed’s markets desk, Simon Potter, arguably the most important trader in the world, manning the world’s most important trading desk but also the second most important person at the NY Fed’s “Plunge Protection Team”, the head of the Financial Services Group, Richard Dzina, said that the New York Fed is examining “why banks with excess cash failed to lend to the overnight money market, following a week that revealed cracks in the US’s financial plumbing.””

o  o  o

Reader G.P. spotted this from the Perma-Bulls at CNBC: The next recession could crush many with credit card debt

o  o  o

And Wolf Street reports: Debt-Wracked Chinese Companies Dump US & Other Foreign Assets, Become Net Sellers Overseas for First Time

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — September 22, 2019

1

September 22nd is the birthday of the late Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly, who founded and commanded the Rhodesian Selous Scouts. He was born 1928, and he died August 9, 2010. His history of the Selous Scouts, titled Pamwe Chete, is fascinating to read, but it is a very hard-to-find book.

September 22nd is the birthday of survivalist writer Joel Skousen. (Born, 1946.) Skousen authored the excellent books Strategic Relocation and The High Security Shelter – How to Implement a Multi-Purpose Safe Room in the Home.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 84  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 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. 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 84 ends on September 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.

Practical Survival Chemistry – Part 2, by 3AD Scout

9

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Apple Cider Vinegar

This is one of the examples of where biology and chemistry cross over. Apple cider vinegar is mostly Acetic acid and is easy to make. The process starts with fermenting apples (biology) and ends with acetic acid (chemistry). Like baking soda there are many uses for vinegar, both in cooking and other applications. I now stock several gallons of white vinegar for cleaning rust off of items, especially if they are going to be used around food. For the price, this is the best method for getting rid of rust. If you want to know how powerful of an acid white vinegar is, just put a little steel wool into a jar and cover it with vinegar and watch it disappear over the next few days. Considering how versatile and easy to make vinegar is we should all know how to make it since at some point our stored vinegar will run out. Vinegar is also one of the few easy to come by acids.

Water Glass

Also known as Sodium Silicate. Water glass is basically a mixture of sand (quartz) and caustic soda and water. Probably the best survival use of water glass is in the long-term preservation of eggs without refrigeration by covering the eggs in a solution of one-part water glass to seven parts of warm water that has first been boiled to ensure there is no bacteria in the water. The water glass will stop air from penetrating the egg shell thus not allowing it to rot. Water glass is also a useful solution to help reduce water penetration into and through cement and stucco. Water glass can simply be made by dissolving 8 grams of sodium hydroxide by heating it in about 10 milliliters of water and then adding about 6 grams of crushed silica. Using distilled water helps keep the mixture from reacting to any impurities that could be found in well water.

Sulfuric Acid

Sulfuric acid is readily available as drain cleaner .  (Note that not all drain cleaners are sulfuric acid based). Sulfuric acid will come in handy post-TEOTWAWKI by helping to maintain and rejuvenate lead-acid batteries. Another survival use of sulfuric acid is to rejuvenating metal files. Putting your dual files into sulfuric acid will in effect re-sharpen them by eating away softer metal filings. One simple way to produce a solution of sulfuric acid is by burning sulfur mixed with saltpeter (dry powder) and allowing the burning fumes to mix with water vapor/steam. This is where lab glass and stands will come in handy so that the fumes and water vapor can be caught and funneled to mix together. When the steam/vapor mixture is cooled you will have a sulfuric acid. Use Ph paper to test the strength of the mixture.Continue reading“Practical Survival Chemistry – Part 2, by 3AD Scout”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

35

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 a new weapon in the war on Yellow Star Thistle. The photo above shows a field of mustard, and a patch of yellow star thistle.

Update: The War on Yellow Star Thistle

Reader S.B.  spotted this: Federal Government Approves Release Of Non-Native Weevil In California To Combat Invasive Thistle.  (Also to be used in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and possibly Nevada.)

Special Sale on Basics of Resistance Book

Claire Wolfe posted:  “Sunday, September 22 at 8:00 a.m. (presumably PDT), the Kindle edition of Basics of Resistance will be on sale for $0.99. Every 50 hours the price will increase until it’s back up to its normal $3.99 after a week.” This great book was co-authored by Kit Perez. Get a copy!

Booker’s Bill Would Require Gun Owners to Get Federal License

Reader DSV sent this: New Bill Would Require Gun Owners to get 5 Year Federal License. The article begins:

“‘If you need a license to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and possess a gun,’ said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Presidential candidate, and the bill’s author.

The measure, dubbed the Federal Firearm Licensing Act, would require individuals who want to buy or receive a firearm to first get vetted by and be issued a license from the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition to an extensive background check, applicants would have to complete firearms training “which must include a written test and hands-on training to ensure safe use and accuracy,” and submit fingerprints. Further, the licensee would have to report to DOJ the make, model, and the serial number of the gun being transferred.

The license would have to be renewed every five years, to include refresher training and a subsequent background check. No license, no guns.”Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.

And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.

And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.” – Mark 8: 22-29  (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — September 21, 2019

7

On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold met with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word “traitor”. It’s too bad the current crop of politicians are not held accountable for their treasonous acts.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 84  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 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. 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 84 ends on September 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.