My Solar-Powered Dankoff Slow Pump System – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit

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This article is essentially a poor prepper’s guide to the affordable solar-powered Dankoff Slow Pump. In my case, I put together a portable DIY solar water pump for only $1,500, including photovoltaic panels.

Water is life and the more ways we can get it, the better. For surface water, the Dankoff Slow Pump is what I would use in many situations.  There are so many pumps to choose from, but to make a simple and easy choice; if I could only afford the least expensive, and most reliable solar pump for all surface water sources, it would be this pump. I have the Dankoff Model #1308-12, but I now recommend the #1303-24 as the best for the money for most folks, for several reasons. I learned by doing, and found that I should have got the #1303-24 instead. Learn from the mistakes of others, we’ll likely not live long enough to make all of the mistakes ourselves. [JWR Adds: Dankoff also makes a 48 VDC model.]

That said, the Dankoff Model #1308 is actually not all that bad a choice. It works reliably too, but it only pumps about half of the water volume of the #1303.  The #1308 is a better application when used for pumping longer distances, or up mountains as high as 450 feet. And because photovoltaic panel prices have dropped significantly since I purchased the #1308, the #1303 now makes more sense. I have also built many ram pumps that perform well in certain sites with enough ‘head’, but the Dankoff Slow Pump will pump from all surface water sources.

Ram Pumps?

A good quality ram pump will cost about the same, plus the galvanized drive pipe, stand pipe, long feed pipe, and fittings, but it requires flowing water, and a minimum amount of head, or drop in elevation, given a specific lift, or distance to be pumped. However, ram pumps are not a plug and play device, but requires some real engineering to get it right. It is technically more difficult.  If you have the right kind of water source, then the ram pump could be a much better choice. The Dankoff Slow Pump is, fortunately, much easier to use. It can be used for all surface water situations.  The YouTube vlogger Engineer775 has many excellent videos on the development of many types of water resources, including the Dankoff Slow Pumps that can be used for creeks, ponds, springs, and cisterns.  He prefers these over other types of pumps for these situations. The slow pump is the best ‘tool’ for the job when it comes to surface water that is no lower than 15 feet from where a slow pump can be mounted.Continue reading“My Solar-Powered Dankoff Slow Pump System – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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

Jim Reports:

This past week was typical for our summers: busy! 

In addition to my regular writing tasks and ranch chore and projects, I helped a neighbor repair a piece of his haying machinery. As is typical in this country where it is a long drive to the nearest hardware store, this turned into a multi-day project.  Life in the country does have its own set of frustrations. But overall, it is a joy, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other sort of life.

Lily will describe how our new heifer is getting settled in. Other than doing the driving (with our horse trailer in tow), I was only peripherally involved in that little rodeo.

This weekend I’m attending a gun show, so my input to this column is brief. Prepping for the gun show took just a few hours.

Now, over to Lily…

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” – Psalm 77 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — August 2, 2019

August 2nd was the birthday of Peter O’Toole (1932–2013). When his name is mentioned, Lawrence of Arabia immediately comes to mind.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present the first 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.

Predictors of Urban Riot Behavior, by E.M.

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Many behavioral psychologists and sociologists have a saying: The best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior. When politicians, particularly those on the Left, refer to “civil unrest,” they are referring to what the man on the street calls a riot. Civil unrest is simply a “politically correct” or a “Liberal-friendly” euphemism for a riot.

Survival web sites also frequently mention the need for preparing for “civil unrest,” particularly in urban areas. While not civil unrest, as such, the identical behavior involved in civil unrest was seen in the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and every American who was of age in 2005 saw it and understood it for what it was, riotous looting that was a clear attempt to steal from others when the chances of being punished for it were minimal. (I am not particularly critical of those who were desperate for milk, bread, etc., and who took food to feed their starving families–if they were, in fact, starving. The televisions, sofas, $150 Nike running shoes, and bottles of Maker’s Mark being carried away were in an entirely different category.)

The reality is that, on any given day, the denizens of many urban neighborhoods, in particular, are kept in check only because of the fear of punishment. As in the case of mobs, in general, anonymity provides a protective cloak to looters. As the likelihood of punishment diminishes, the likelihood of anti-social behavior increases significantly until law enforcement is able to obtain a certain “critical mass” in gaining control of the situation. After that, their offense does not involve a violent major felony, looters understand that as long as there are enough looters, and as long as they keep their looting below a certain threshold, the urban criminal justice system will issue “misdemeanor permits” or what is almost a “get out of jail free” card when court proceedings take place later.
Continue reading“Predictors of Urban Riot Behavior, by E.M.”

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 autographed books. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold and Silver Shine During the Race to Debase

o  o  o

The view from India: ‘Gold will be the best asset class to invest in 2019’

Economy & Finance:

At Zero Hedge: The $6 Trillion Pension Bailout Is Coming

o  o  o

Ultra-Low Mortgage Rates No Relief for Home Sales

o  o  o

US consumer sentiment hits 98.4 in July, vs. 98.5 estimate

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — August 1, 2019

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August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291, which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2014, Switzerland has been free and independent for 723 years. Having a well-armed populace has assured that.

—

August 1st is also remembered as the election day in 1946 that sparked the Battle of Athens, Tennessee, when returning World War II veterans took up arms to oust a corrupt local government that was rigging an election.

—

Today is also the birthday of Lt. Colonel William B. Travis (born 1809, died March 8, 1836, at The Alamo.)

Rounding-Out Your Baofeng UV-5Rs

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Final implementation of the dual-band UV-5R importation and sales ban (previously detailed in SurvivalBlog) is now just one month away. I’m confident that the majority of SurvivalBlog readers in the U.S. were cognizant of this and have stocked up on these radios, in quantity. But now I must ask: Are you ready to operate them, practically, long-term? This will surely require a few spares and accessories. The good news is that the accessories fully interchange, and most of them are quite inexpensive. By the way, this runs contrary to a SurvivalBlog aphorism: “Life is cheap, but the accessories will kill you.”  Thankfully in this case the accessories won’t  break the bank.

Here are what I’d recommend, for UV-5R Handie-Talkie (H/T) spares and accessories:

    • One spare H/T, for every three that you plan to operate. (Inevitably, some will end up getting dunked, stepped on, lost, stolen, or otherwise meet their fated doom.)
    • One spare earpiece/mike, per H/T,
    • One “speakermike” handset, per H/T, but only if you plan to operate with a H/T strapped to your belt, harness, or plate carrier, and you prefer a handset over a earphone/mike.
    • One or two spare battery packs, per H/T. (Particularly important in cold weather, where you’ll want to keep a spare in a warm inner coat pocket, enclosed in a small zip-lock bag.)
    • A possible upgrade to an extended battery pack, for each H/T.
    • One spare back belt clip, for every 2 or 3 H/Ts. (These are fairly fragile!)
A Note on 12-Volt Chargers

You should also consider getting a few voltage-regulated 12 VDC vehicular chargers. Set them for 9 volts, since Baofeng UV-5Rs can be damaged or destroyed by excess charging voltage. (Their maximum is 10 volts.) One of the several plugs that come with these will be compatible with your existing charging cradles. Once you’ve selected the correct plug, confirm the correct polarity and then securely tape it on, so that it doesn’t get lost or reversed. And I recommend taking this a step further and replacing the charger’s cigarette lighter plugs with Anderson Power Pole connectors.Continue reading“Rounding-Out Your Baofeng UV-5Rs”

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 death of newspapers.

The Truth About Gun Buy Back Programs

A brief video with some sage observations from Colion Noir: The Truth About Gun Buy Back Programs

New EMPShield Variant for RVs

I just noticed that EMPShield.com (one of our affiliate advertisers) has added a new RV protection module to their product line. (You can see it by clicking “Shop” at their site.) If you foresee having to bug out in your RV, then I highly recommend adding one of these!

The Death of Newspapers

By way of Whatfinger.com, there is this: RIP: Newspaper circulation lowest ever recorded. A snippet:

“After a long total high of over 60 million subscriptions from the 1960s to the 1990s, circulation has dropped to 28 million daily and 30 million for Sundays.

“Those numbers were down 8% and 9%, respectively, from the previous year…”

LBRY App Updates

I often recommend getting the LBRY app. It is a viable un-censored blockchain-based alternative to YouTube. They recently  switched to a “bottomless” stack (similar to YouTube) and added several other new features including comments and “Customize Your Homepage” buttons. (You can add categories to your list such as “survival” “homestead”, “privacy”, “self-sufficiency”, “guns”, and so forth. Once you have the LBRY app installed, I recommend you start with this video: Why I Quit YouTube.  (Warning: Some vulgar language.) The same video has been deleted several times at YouTube, but a new copy just went up there.)Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 31, 2019

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July 31st, 1921, was the birthday of Army Air Corps veteran David Thatcher, one of the Doolittle Raiders. Thatcher was the tail gunner in the rear of the Mitchell B-25 medium bomber christened the Ruptured Duck, the seventh of 16 planes. Returning from the raid, the bomber crashed into the sea from low fuel and the crewmen survived, in no small part to Thatcher’s heroic efforts. The five airmen washed ashore and were given aid by Chinese fishermen who found them. Thatcher bound their wounds and being the only crewman able to walk, joined with armed guerrillas to carry the other crewmen to a hospital while evading Japanese troops. David Thatcher was born in Bridger, Montana, and later lived in Missoula, Montana. He died in 2016, at age 94.  Only one other Doolittle Raider outlived him: Dick Cole.

—

July 31st  was also the birthday of noted libertarian economist Dr. Milton Friedman.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 83  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 83 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Some IFAK Facts, Part 2 by MtnDoc in Washington

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

Pressure points are areas where major arteries are closer to the surface of the skin than normal and utypically over hard/boney areas of the anatomy. Pressure points are areas of the body where arteries come close enough to the surface for pressure points to work. They are common areas where pulses are felt as well. You can practice locating them by feeling for the pulse on friends or family members, using your index and middle fingers together. I will be discussing the easiest points to identify and have labelled their general location with blue dots on the attached picture.

Working down the body, the first pressure point is where the brachial artery transits past the armpit (axilla) and down the arm over the humerus/biceps area. The pressure point is located on the inside of the arm over the area where the bicep muscle and humerus (upper arm bone) meet. The second point is also the brachial artery, but further down the arm. It is typically very visible in healthy, well hydrated individuals at the crease of the elbow, or antecubital area of the arm. This is the area that is commonly accessed for IV access.

The next point is the Radial artery, probably the most recognizable pressure point. The Radial pressure point is on the underside of the wrist on the thumb side, where the pulse is felt and measured most frequently. The next point down the body is the Femoral artery. The easiest way to identify Femoral Pressure Point is in the area where the leg meets abdomen close to the genitalia. To access the pressure point, you may need to cut away the clothing to expose the area to properly feel for the pressure point. This is where trauma shears would come in handy. When accessing the femoral pressure point, do not be shy. To reach the pressure point you will need to get close to the genitalia. I made sure to tell my sailors and Marines this, and in a life and death situation where there is a legitimate chance of bleeding out, the patient will not care. Continue reading“Some IFAK Facts, Part 2 by MtnDoc in Washington”

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 on Red Cross Training. (See the Commo Data and Training Web Pages section.)

Books:

The classic book series by Dave Gingery: Build Your Own Metal Working Shop From Scrap

o  o  o

How to Build a Natural Swimming Pool

o  o  o

If you want to try a ketogenic diet, there is now this cookbook: The Easy Keto Meal Prep: 800 Easy and Delicious Recipes – 21- Day Meal Plan – Lose Up to 20 Pounds in 3 Weeks

o  o  o

Beginners Guide to Mastering the Art of Sewing: A Visual Step By Step Guide to Using Sewing Machine for Kids & Grownups

o  o  o

War of the Flea: The Classic Study of Guerrilla Warfare

Movies:

With “predictive policing” and “red flag” laws now in the news headlines, the script of this movie was prescient:  Minority Report.

o  o  o

Now in 4K Blu-Ray format: Black Hawk Down 

Instructional Videos and Vlogs:

This is a good option for folks that live in semi-auto rifle-deprived countries or states, or for Over The Road  truckers and others who regularly pass through many state jurisdictions: Marlin 1894 CST upgrade w/ Midwest Industries Handguard

o  o  o

Max Velocity: The Combat Reload.

o  o  o

10 Things You NEED For Hiking | ESSENTIAL HIKING GEAR

Commo Data and Training Web Pages:

Ethrane wrote: “This site is from the DHS but they have done a good job of aggregating a large volume of communications information.  They include frequencies, modes, wiring and pin out diagrams, organizations and a host of other information. I think people will find it is a good resource.”

o  o  o

Most SurvivalBlog readers have already visited it, but in case you haven’t:  The American Red Cross has an Online Learning web site.  (Note: Registration is required.)

o  o  o

Greg e-mailed me this:  “My safety guy at work sent me the link to FEMA’s training web pages. I suggest that you look under the Independent Study category.”

Gear and Grub:

Tool Aid SG SGT18980 Ratcheting Terminal Crimping Kit (Quick Change with 9 Die Sets)

o  o  o

3-Outlet Surge Protector with 2 USB Ports

o  o  o

Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System

o  o  o

Keto Snack Box (20 Count) – Ultra Low Carb Snacks, Ketogenic Friendly, Gluten Free, Low Sugar – Healthy Keto Gift Box Variety Pack – Protein Bars, Pork Rinds, Cheese Crisps, Nuts, Jerky

o  o  o

Thai Kitchen Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk, 13.66 fl oz.

Make a Suggestion

Want to suggest Recommendations of your own? Then please send them to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“We cannot make Events.  Our Business is wisely to improve them.  There has been much to do to confirm doubting Friends & fortify the Timid.  It requires time to bring honest Men to think & determine alike even in important Matters.  Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by Reason.” – Samuel Adams, Letter to Samuel Cooper, April 30, 1776