Gardening When It Counts – Part 1, by A.K.

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Many of us have had a garden at one time or another given the space to grow one. We’ve had good gardening years with seemingly endless buckets of tomatoes filling all of the kitchen counter- top space not to mention the dilemma of what to do with all of those zucchini! Then there’s been the years when other things took priority. Maybe we didn’t get the soil prepared in time and finally got around to planting whatever seedlings we could find at the garden center in mid-summer. Perhaps we went away on a summer vacation and returned to find the garden engulfed by weeds. And then there’s the question of just why we planted “vegetable X”; it seemed like a good idea at the time and the picture on the seed package was so pretty but it turns out no one in the family actually likes radishes, or bok choi. And what on earth do we do with kohlrabi anyway?

While this sort of situation isn’t a big deal in normal times, in an emergency situation where our survival depends on what we’re able to grow, hunt or forage in addition to whatever food storage we have, our gardens can make the difference between life and death. At the very least having a well-performing garden that produces food that our family will eat and thrive on means that we make it through tough times with adequate calories and nutrients not to mention tasty meals!

As a market grower for 17 years (fruit and vegetables) I think I have a good grasp of which annual vegetables are solid performers, produce well, provide a high level of nutrients and are worthy of the space, time and effort needed to grow them when it really counts. When the lives of our families are dependent on our ability to grow solid producers, this isn’t the time to grow finicky crops, gourmet baby vegetables, esoteric veggies your family has never eaten etc. You get the picture. When your garden production is critical you want to grow food that will feed your family both during the growing season and through proper storage and preservation, year-round.Continue reading“Gardening When It Counts – Part 1, by A.K.”

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. This week the focus is on Can Sealers. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables

o  o  o

Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present

o  o  o

Black & Decker: The Complete Guide to Sheds, 3rd Edition: Design & Build a Shed: – Complete Plans – Step-by-Step How-To (Black & Decker Complete Guide)

o  o  o
Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation, by Candace Owens

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

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 27, 2019

1

August 27, 1917 was the birthday of American gun designer Robert Hillberg, best known as the designer of the C.O.P. four-barrel derringer, Winchester’s Liberator shotguns, the graceful Whitney Wolverine, and the Wildey .44 Magnum gas-operated pistol. He died in 2012.

—

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.

Re-Post: Becoming a Savvy Pre-1899 Gun Buyer

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JWR’s Introductory Notes: It is very unusual me to re-post any of my SurvialBlog articles.  But I am doing so today, because we are living in very unusual times.

I wrote the following article in February of 2019.  I am re-posting it now, as it appears that the Republican leadership of the Senate is caving in to the demands of the mass media and some liberal constituents.  The word inside the D.C. Beltway is that plan to fast-track the passage of a “compromise” Universal Background Checks law, before the end of October.  Signing by President DJT could come as soon as early November, with an effective date on or before the end of calendar year 2019. Yikes!

Please take this article to heart. In addition to contacting your Senators to stop this, and stocking up on ARs and PMAGs, you should beat the rush and find yourself some pre-1899 cartridge guns, pronto.

The Senate returns from their summer recess on September 9th. The clock is now ticking. If this private party transfer ban legislation passes, then the window of opportunity to privately buy used modern guns will close in 37 states. At that point, pre-1899 guns will then become the last bastion of firearms ownership privacy. – JWR

[Re-Post:]

After posting my recent warning about potential passage and enactment of H.R. 8 / S.42 and an interview about this on the Reluctant Preppers podcast, I’ve had several readers and consulting clients contact me.  They’ve been asking these questions:  “How do I actually find pre-1899 cartridge guns in good condition?”, “Where can I find antique guns at reasonable prices?”, and “How do I know what I’m looking at”? Here is my summary on how to get savvy:

1.) Do your research. Visit a local gunsmith and have him show you how to spot a gun that has been reblued. (Blurred patent date markings on barrels are a sure sign of buffing and rebluing. And recently-reblued guns literally have the distinctive smell of bluing salts.) Have him describe how to spot and test for revolvers that have been “shot loose.” Also research your state law before you buy anything. A few states treat antique guns just like modern ones. Research the pre-1899 gun makers. Develop a list of makers and cartridge chamberings that makes sense for your locale.

2.) As a prepper, you should probably shun most oddball-chambered guns, unless you are already an experienced handloader and have a ready supply of brass. Some sure picks include: .30-30 Winchester (“.30 W.C.F.”), .25-35 Winchester, .30-40 Krag, .303 British, .45-70, 6.5 Swedish Mauser, 7×57 Mauser, .38 S&W, .44-40, and .45 Colt (commonly but incorrectly called .45 Long Colt).

Continue reading“Re-Post: Becoming a Savvy Pre-1899 Gun Buyer”

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 Washington State Rep. Matt Shea. (See the Region-Wide section.)

Region-Wide

The UK’s Guardian posted this hit piece about Matt Shea and The American Redoubt movement: Revealed: Republican lawmaker aided group training young men for ‘biblical warfare’. The piece was written by Jason Wilson, a liberal Guardian stringer who was born in Australia, but who now lives in Portland, Oregon. Wilson employs the classic Guilt By Association whitewash. But the plain fact is that Matt Shea is not a racist. One of Shea’s closest political allies is Alex Barron (the Bard of The American Redoubt), who is black. But reading Wilson’s smear piece, the average non-discerning reader would think that Shea is some sort of radical racist neo-confederate.

The Guardian piece was picked up and amplified by Chad Sokol of the leftist Spokane Spokesman Review. And of course Sokol felt obliged to once again dredge up some 1988 news about the founders of the Marble Fellowship. Sokol smeared them by misstating that in the present tense they are “attempting to distance themselves” from an ill-advised association that they made 32 years ago. I have news flash for Sokol: They’ve long since disassociated themselves. Using some ancient association of an association to demonize someone is not legitimate journalism. It is propaganda. These pseudo-journalistic tactics were developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). These repeated smears are all-too transparent!

Idaho

Grizzly predation tour in Boundary County

o o o

This Is the Marine Corps’ 1st Female F-35B Fighter Pilot. (She’s from Boise.)

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 a new Ebola cure.

In Atlanta, There Is a Free Lunch

Reader H.L. forwarded this: All students to receive free lunch regardless of family income in Atlanta school district. H.L.’s Comment: “Creating more welfare mentality, that someone else owes you…”

Bosnian Survivor Warns America to Never Give Up Their Guns

Reader Larry H. spotted this: A 1992 Bosnian Holocaust Survivor Warns America to Never Give Up Their Guns.

An Ebola Cure is Heralded

A Zero Hedge piece: “The Success Is Clear”: We Finally Have A Cure For Ebola. Here is a quote from one troubling portion of the article:

“Drugs based off of monoclonal antibodies have become popular in modern medicine, helping fight off diseases like cancer and lupus.

On the negative side, it takes years of reverse engineering to create these types of drugs. ZMapp, for example, was created by infecting mice with Ebola and then collecting the antibodies that the mice produced against the virus. From there, those antibodies had to be engineered to look more like human ones, so as not to provoke an immune reaction.

Since Ebola infiltrates victims cells using spiky proteins on the virus’s outer shell, researchers look for antibodies that do a good job of binding to these proteins. From there, if access is blocked, the virus can’t replicate and spread. Ebola is especially difficult because it is large and has the ability to change shape, making it difficult for any one antibody to block its infection. This is why a drug cocktail approach is in favor, like the Regeneron product, which is a combination of three monoclonal antibodies first generated in mice.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 26, 2019

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August 26, is the official anniversary of the invention of toilet paper by the Chinese, in the year 526 AD. We celebrate this, though not because of its convenience. In fact, it has many shortcomings, some which are described within the articles and letters of SurvivalBlog. Our celebration of it is primarily because we now have an official metric of just how hard core of a prepper you are as well as a metric for just how economically unstable your country is.

—

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

Glock 19X, by Pat Cascio

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I can just hear it now from our readers:  “Another Glock! Don’t they make enough different models?” Well, quiet honestly, this Glock – that they are calling the 19X is quite a bit different in many ways, so hang in there, and read this article to the end. This isn’t your everyday Glock 19.

Several years back, the US military decided it was time for a new handgun for our troops, as the Beretta M9 is reaching the end of its service life. The Beretta M9, and its civilian version, the M92, are very good guns – Yes, I know, they are big guns, not especially designed for concealed carry, but many folks do carry these guns concealed. I have, with the right holster and covering garment. In any event, it was decided that our military needed a new handgun. However, this time around, there wasn’t a lot of “hoopla” about it for some reason. It was an open competition, and anyone who could build a gun to the specifications, could enter the trials. Strange as it may seem, several big gun makers, like Smith & Wesson, pulled out on their own accord, after entering the game.

Of course, all the rage these days is for striker-fired polymer frame handguns, and I can understand that. It seems like there are a lot less parts involved in building these types of guns, and fewer parts means, less things to break or go wrong. Glock handguns have been around since the mid-1980s, and has a proven track record of reliability and accuracy. So it comes as no surprise that Glock entered the trials for a new US military handgun. Honestly, the Glock line of handguns are being used all over the world by military and law enforcement agencies. It is hard to put a number on this, but last I heard is that, about 70% of US law enforcement agencies are using a Glock of some type, for their duty handguns. The security detail at the UN building carry Glock 19s. Even the US FBI has been using Glocks for some years now – and they are the premier law enforcement agency in the world. Many state and local law enforcement agencies emulate what the FBI does – right down to the same ammunition that the Feds use.

For a lot of years, I carried either a Glock 19, or a Glock 23 – same frame – different calibers. The 19 is the 9mm version, and the 23 is the .40 S&W version – both very good guns. I love the size of the 19 for duty use as well as concealed carry – it is “just right” if you ask me for both purposes, not too big, and not too small. Over the years, Glock made several changes to the 19 and 23 models. Some changes were subtle, some were obvious in each generation. I believe the guns got better and better.

Continue reading“Glock 19X, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Karen D.’s Carrot Bread

Reader Karen D. kindly sent us her recipe for a Carrot Bread that is a great use for your stored hard red winter wheat, if you have a grinder available to make whole wheat flour.

This recipe can be baked three different ways: In loaves, in a Bundt pan, or as muffins.

Ingredients
  • 2 C. Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1 C. Cooking Oil
  • 3 Eggs (or substitute 3 T. powdered eggs and 1/3 C. Water)
  • 2 C. Carrots, Finely Grated (or substitute 1 C. dehydrated carrots. Chop them in a blender before re-hydrating to reduce their size.)
  • 1 C. Crushed Pineapple, Drained
  • 3 C. Whole Wheat Flour, preferably freshly-ground. The flour need not be ground fine.
  • 1 tsp. Salt
  • 1T. Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1 C. Raisins (first soak them in warm water, and drain)
  • 1 C. Walnuts, chopped to medium-sized pieces
Directions
  1. Grease and flour 2 bread pans, 1 Bundt pan, or 2 muffin pans (12 muffins per pan) with oil or vegetable cooking spray.
  2. Beat together brown sugar, oil and eggs. (There is no need to separately reconstitute powdered eggs in advance before adding to this mix).
  3. Stir in the pineapple and carrots.
  4. Blend together the other dry ingredients; stir this mixture into the batter thoroughly.
  5. Add vanilla, moistened raisins, and nuts.
  6. Stir again.
  7. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
  8. Bake in bread pans for 45-40 minutes, or in a Bundt pan for 60 minutes, or in muffin pans for 20 minutes. With any of those methods, check to be sure the baking is complete, with a toothpick. If the toothpick doesn’t come out clean, then give it a few more minutes of baking, and then re-test.

SERVING

Makes 1 Bundt pan loaf, 2 bread pan loaves, or 24 muffins.

Best served hot. But also great served cold, along with a glass of milk.

STORAGE

This stores for several days, refrigerated.

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

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. 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 pre-1899 cartridge guns. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Silver To Push To $22 An Ounce, Drive Gold Higher – Bloomberg Intelligence

JWR’s Comments: When the silver market starts to catch up to gold (normalizing the silver-to-gold ratio), I can see that things will get really exciting. I recommend that you hold on to all of your silver until the silver-to-gold ratio is under 75-to-1. In fact, if you have the chance, this is a good juncture to swap some of your gold for silver. Then, after the ratio reverts, swap back out.

o  o  o

Gold Price’s Next Target Could Be $1,600 Says Peter Hug

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: Midwest Farm Loan Repayment Issues Hit Highest Level Since 1999

o  o  o

Wolf Street reports: Freight Shipments Suffer Steepest Drops since Financial Crisis, Overcapacity Balloons

o  o  o

At IWB: China is in worse shape than the US in this trade war, possibly cause or start of the next global meltdown

o  o  o

The yield curve inversion panic, explained

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 25, 2019

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August 25th is a birthday shared by humorist Bret Harte (born 1836), novelist Frederick Forsyth (born 1938), and the late American humorist Patrick F. McManus (born 1933 – April 11, 2018). Forsyth was the author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil’s Alternative, and many others. McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho, so his books could be classified as American Redoubt humor.

—

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.

Solutions to Post-Event Problems, by Old Bobbert

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Post-event situations can be surprisingly difficult to discuss.

Let’s first cover more positive and productive word usage. We can all readily agree that there is nothing positive, enabling, or uplifting about the acronym WTSHTF. The Editor of this blog euphemistically uses “When the Schumer Hits The Fan”, in defining it.  But we all know what these letters really stand for, and that is often felt to be negative or low class language. Moving up in the world of solution communications, we can instead choose to say or write “Event.”

Our newly adopted word (much more expressive) can convey a disaster date, a dangerous situation, a current environment, and a correction starting point. Using the word event will immediately include those folks who have maintained a sense of honor and personal standards. They have demonstrated positive proprieties in the new world we will be attempting to make more usable. Such positive and generative people will help make a better life for ourselves, our families and our many others.

Now, moving forward to our favorite topic, preparing to survive any disaster that happens to smack us directly, affecting the pantry and in the medicine cabinet located in the utility room right next to the useless circuit breaker box opposite the suddenly defunct food freezer. Ah, you saw right through my not so funny description of a sudden regional power outage.Continue reading“Solutions to Post-Event Problems, by Old Bobbert”