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 that have any tie-in to disaster preparedness, and links to “how to” self-sufficiency videos. There are also links to sources for both storage food as and food storage containers. You will also note an emphasis on history books and historical movies. This week the focus is once again on Neccos. (See the last item in the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Reader Tom in Ohio wrote to recommend:  “Never make yourself dependent on GPS. Always have a backup atlas.” The 2020 edition is now available: Rand McNally 2020 Large Scale Road Atlas

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Reader “Doc Strange” suggested James Rickards’ new book: Aftermath: Seven Secrets of Wealth Preservation in the Coming Chaos

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And speaking of updated 2020 editions: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2020: The Official Red Book.

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I just noticed that for some reason, Bill Cooper’s 1991 book Behold a Pale Horse just jumped back up to #432 in overall sales on Amazon.com. I’m guessing that it was mentioned in a syndicated talk radio show. Although I disagree with some of his UFO assertions, overall I find Cooper’s book some very interesting reading!

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

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — August 13, 2019

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Today is the birthday of screenwriter, director, and producer Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980). His many films spanned five decades.

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This is also the birthday is shared by sharpshooter, entertainer, and folk heroine Annie Oakley (1860–1926.)

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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.

Common Summertime Medical Ailments, by Dr. J.

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I’m a board-certified family physician currently working as an urgent care provider in the southeastern United States. I really enjoy the work and split my time between a larger urban urgent care center and a small rural ‘fast-care’ facility about an hour outside the city. I grew up rurally and having always enjoyed country living and the self-sufficiency that comes with it, this also led to my interests in preparedness and survivalism. One of the most important aspects of preparedness is being comfortable in dealing with the variety of medical issues that will inevitably arise, ranging from inconveniences to emergencies. In this article, I plan to discuss some of the most common medical complaints I come across during the summer months in urgent care, as well as their background and first-line treatments. I also plan on writing a similar article in a few months covering fall/winter common complaints and treatment strategies.

While is it prudent to be prepared and supplied for significant or life-threatening injuries, you’re much more likely to encounter these more commonplace injuries and annoyances in day-to-day life, perhaps even moreso in a survival situation. Proper and prompt treatment of these conditions can shorten their duration and prevent them from progressing to more dangerous and debilitating conditions. So while I’d encourage you to hang onto your CAT tourniquets and Israeli pressure dressings (and learn how to use them!), keep some room in your med kit for more commonplace medications and supplies. You’ll likely need them more often than you think. For convenience and ease of acquisition, I’ll try to keep treatment strategies mostly to medications and supplies you can get without a prescription. Let’s get started!Continue reading“Common Summertime Medical Ailments, by Dr. J.”

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 a grizzlies court ruling (see the Wyoming section) and the aircraft collection of Jim Smith. (See the Montana section.)

Idaho

US gives initial okay to predator-killing sodium cyanide

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Man sentenced for violent rampage called ‘the face of methamphetamine’ by judge

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Idaho Judge in 16-Year-Old Medical Kidnap Case Orders Video and Picture of Doctor Removed from MedicalKidnap.com as Cell Phones of Supporters are Confiscated

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 focus on concealed carry.

The Second Civil War Is Coming Into Focus

I often recommend getting the LBRY app. It is a viable un-censored alternative to YouTube. Once you have the app installed, I recommend this video by Tim Pool, one of the left-wingers that I consider quite credible: The Second Civil War Is Coming Into Focus, Reza Aslan Blames ALL Trump Supporters.

Is Someone Bugging or Tracking You?

At Kim Komando’s web site: How to tell if someone is bugging or tracking you.

5G Technology Versus Weather Forecasting

High-stakes dispute turns nasty, pits 5G technology against weather forecasting. A quote:

“The National Academy of Sciences planned a two-day summer workshop to address a high-stakes question: Could the development of next generation 5G wireless undermine the accuracy of information gathered by weather satellites?

On July 16, less than a week before the scheduled start, the event was canceled because many of the “most knowledgeable about the topic” were reluctant to participate, according to a statement released by the National Academy of Sciences.

The science workshop was a casualty of a nasty dispute within the federal government that has pitted Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials who say the 5G technology can be safely developed against NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials who say tighter restrictions are needed to prevent a serious threat to data collection by polar-orbiting satellites.”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Beware, I pray thee, of presuming that thou art saved. If thy heart be renewed, if thou shalt hate the things that thou didst once love, and love the things that thou didst once hate; if thou hast really repented; if there be a thorough change of mind in thee; if thou be born again, then hast thou reason to rejoice: but if there be no vital change, no inward godliness; if there be no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then thy saying ‘I am saved’ is but thine own assertion, and it may delude, but it will not deliver thee.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Preparedness Notes for Monday — August 12, 2019

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This the birthday of country singer/songwriter Buck Owens (1929–2006). His songs typified what has been called “The Bakersfield Sound.”

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We are pleased to announce that an new prize has been added to the third prize package, for our bi-monthly nonfiction writing contest. The fine folks at Good2GoCo.com are now 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.

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Listen up, folks: Just as I warned you back in January, a legislative onslaught is now upon us. The gun grabbers simply waited until there were two orchestrated massacres in one weekend. Now President Trump is caving in. And the Senate Republican leadership is likewise caving in. This is looking a lot like a replay of 1968 and 1994. Please repeatedly contact your Senators and remind them that they swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. All of this proposed feel-good “gun control” legislation is patently unconstitutional. Magazine bans? Unconstitutional.  Red Flag laws?  Unconstitutional.  Universal background checks (banning private party sales)? Unconstitutional. Assault weapons bans? Unconstitutional.

Make those calls, folks! If we remain silent, then we’ll surely lose our rights!

And, just as a hedge: stock up. Stack those ARs and PMAGs deep. Someday soon, you may be very glad that you did.  Mark my words: I fully expect the price of complete AR-15s and AR-10s to TRIPLE in the next few months. Stripped lowers will probably quadruple or quintuple in price. Palmetto State Armory (one our affiliate advertisers) has very good quality ARs — and build parts, and magazines. They are well-known for their very competitive prices.

 

S&W Model 4006, by Pat Cascio

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All stainless steel handguns, are quite the marvel – well, at least they used to be. I still remember the very first stainless steel handgun I ever saw, it was the Smith & Wesson Model 60, a little 5-shot snubby revolver – it sold like crazy. However, when it came to semi-auto pistols, there were some serious issues with a stainless steel frame and slide – if the two parts were made from the same formulation of stainless steel, it would “gall” – after a few shots if the gun wasn’t heavily lubed, the two same stainless steels would mesh together in such a way, that the gun would jam – the same stainless steels – would rub against one another, causing friction in short order, and the slide wouldn’t move back and forth on the frame. Not a good thing.

I owned a then Safari Arms sub-compact 1911 – and it was quite the work of art back in 1980, and it was a great carry piece. I now wish that I had kept it – if for no other reason than nostalgia. However, the frame and slide were made out of the same stainless steel and if the gun wasn’t kept heavily lubed, the slide would stop moving back and forth on the stainless steel frame. It didn’t take gun makers long to figure this out – I don’t know why they didn’t realize this problem, before guns were shipped – surely, they tested those firearms. Now, when you see a stainless steel semi-auto with a slide and frame that are made out of stainless steel, it is slightly different types of stainless that they are using – and it solved the problem of galling.

Some of our long-time readers have requested, once again, that I do more articles on all-steel firearms, especially semi-autos. We try to not let our readers down, and if I have firearms in my meager collection, that qualifies for an article, I’ll sure do some testing on it. Today, we are looking at the S&W Model 4006 – and it was quite the handgun when it first came out in 1990, chambered in the then fairly-new .40 S&W caliber – it was all the rage, back then!Continue reading“S&W Model 4006, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Lisa’s Pecan Pie

Reader Lisa in Wyoming kindly sent us a pecan pie recipe that uses honey.  There are chopped pecans in the pie filling, and pecan halves in the topping.

Pie Filling Ingredients
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inch diameter)
Topping Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1-1/2 cups pecan halves
Directions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
  2. Prepare the pie filling ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, pecans, corn syrup, sugars, butter, vanilla and salt.
  3. Pour into a 9″ pastry shell.
  4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
  5. Prepare the topping: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and honey until well-combined. Stir in the pecan halves until coated.
  6. Remove pie from oven.
  7. Spoon the topping over the top of the pie, and gently spread it evenly, so that the pecan halves lay flat.
  8. Return the pie to the oven, and bake it an additional 15-20 minutes — until a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.
  9. Cool completely on a wire rack.

SERVING

Best served cool or cold.

STORAGE

Any unlikely leftover servings can be kept refrigerated for up to five days.

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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 Buying Land. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

We’ll start out with this at Zero Hedge: Goldman Sees Gold Rising To $1,600 “Or Even Higher” On Escalating Trade War”

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Gold Is Too ‘Pricey’: Look At Platinum and Silver – Wells Fargo

Economy & Finance:

At Wolf Street: Financial World Gone Nuts: $15 Trillion Negative Yielding Debt

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Martin W. Armstrong:  The Next Lehman Moment.

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PIMCO Warns Negative US Treasury Yields “Swiftly Change From Theory To Reality”

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Depositors Are Next as Nordic Banks Buckle Under Negative Rates

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — August 11, 2019

On August 11, 1857, N. H. Wolfe and Company, the oldest flour and grain company in New York City, failed. This failure shook investor confidence and began a slow selloff in the market which continued into late August. Several other failures followed, and this cascaded into what was later called the Panic of 1857.

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On this day in 1807, David Atchison was born. He was president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, and president of U.S. for one day (March 4, 1849), the Sunday before Zachary Taylor was sworn in. So, technically Donald J. Trump is the 46th U.S. President–not the 45th.

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And on August 11, 1942 Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.

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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. 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)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. 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.

Methods of Attachment, by J.D.

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This article is all about attachment. But I don’t mean the girlie kind…

In austere conditions there is often a great need to attach objects. Sewing, tying, gluing, and press fitment are always basic options. For more secure attachments man has developed more robust means of Chemical (various glues and epoxies), Physical (nuts and bolts, nails, rivets and pins) and heat-based attachment such as welding, forging, brazing, and soldering.

This article will not go over the types of welding which require a forge or inert gasses, since those resource intensive topics are beyond the scope of even a single book.

Physical attachment such as with nuts bolts, rivets, nails, and pins should be familiar to anyone in the survival community. While there is not much to say about austere application of bolts, nails, and pins, one thing to note is a drilled hole past a nut particularly if you have a castle nut is a great place for a cotter pin to prevent loosening of the nut. With a bit of careful grinding of notches any nut could become a castle nut, please note that to prevent loss of threads you must be leave some good threading on one side to thread it back onto the bolt and re-establish the thread, and don’t heat till there is any chance of melting or spalling, go slow if you need to particularly with plastic or white metal nuts.Continue reading“Methods of Attachment, by J.D.”

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 start out with an article about a Canadian woman who used a sonic weapon against a mountain lion.

Metallica Versus Mountain Lion

Ian sent us this: Alone on a hiking trail, B.C. woman scares off prowling cougar by blaring Metallica. Fittingly, the song that she played was: “Don’t Tread On Me.”

The Root Cellar Capital of the World

Reader Tim. J. sent us the link to this fascinating article at The Natural Building Blog: The Root Cellar Capital of the World.

An OnStar Remote Car Shutdown

By way of Whatfinger.com: OnStar shuts off car’s power, helps state police stop two car thieves. Here is a snippet:

“A little after 8:15 on Friday night, a Troop E trooper attempted to stop a motor vehicle traveling north on Route 12 in Preston that was reported stolen out of Waterford.

The trooper was alerted by the Ledyard PD who were attempting to catch up to the car. Officials have identified the driver of the car as 21-year-old Isaiah Rivera of New Britain and the passenger as 18-year-old Ariana Orkney of Mansfield Center.

Yesterday, Ledyard PD, Troop E and OnStar worked together to stop car thieves. 2 individuals were apprehended after a pursuit causing a crash, stealing another car, located by an off duty Trooper and OnStar shutting the power off.”

JWR’s Comments:  The implications of this technology go far beyond just fighting crime. For those with an interest in privacy who believe that the risks of keeping OnStar outweigh the benefits of vehicle tracking technology, a web search on the phrase:  “Disabling OnStar” could prove useful.

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