Preparedness Notes for Monday – June 04, 2018

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On this day, June 4th, in 1944 United States Navy Task Group 22.3 captured U-505, a German submarine and with it an intact Enigma cypher machine. This was the first time since the USS Peacock seized HMS Nautilus in 1815 that the USN had captured an enemy vessel at sea. The sub, reunited with its periscope a decade ago, is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

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Ready Made Resource is having a sale on the new Goal Zero Yeti 3000. This system features lithium batteries, includes a true sine wave inverter and uses an MPPT charge controller. It’s big enough to run your refrigerator and you can save $150 this week.

Kershaw’s Vedder, by Pat Cascio

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Kershaw Knives never ceases to amaze me each new year, with the number of new knife designs they come up with, most of which are designed in-house. Today we’re taking a look at Kershaw’s Vedder assisted-opening folder.

No One Knife Can Take Care of All Cutting Tasks

Many people, and I mean many people, just don’t seem to understand that there is no one knife that can be designed to take care of all the cutting tasks we expect a knife to do. It’s just impossible. Ditto is true with firearms. There is no one firearm or caliber that can do everything we expect of it. That’s why there are so many different knife (and gun) designs on the market. Plus, there are many knife collectors out there who, rightfully so, simply love the different knife designs and the artistic talent that goes into designing knives. They are, every last one of them, a work of art. I would love to own just one knife and one gun that could take care of all the tasks I would ask of it. However, no such products have been designed, nor do I expect they will be.

I Am Not a Collector

I am not a knife or gun collector, far from it. I’m an end user. Besides, I couldn’t afford to be a collector like my late mentor, Col. Rex Applegate, was. He had the funds to collect any guns and knives he desired. I was merely his right-hand man for close to three years. During that time, I constantly drooled over his collections.

Continue reading“Kershaw’s Vedder, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Corn Pudding, by C.L.

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Ingredients:

  • 3 slightly beaten eggs
  • 2 cups cooked or canned whole kernel corn, drained
  • 2 cups milk, scalded
  • 1 tbs instant minced onion
  • 1 tbs melted butter
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Combine ingredients and pour into a greased 1/12 qt baking dish.
  2. Cover with foil or lid (do not use plastic).
  3. Set baking dish on oven rack with a pan of water below it.
  4. Cook on 250 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until done.

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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest 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 JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the economic implications of the Eddy Grand Solar Minimum. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

 

Precious Metals:

Precious Metals Update 6-1-2018

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Monday’s Predicted Daily Price Trends for Gold and Silver

 

Forex:

Reuters reports: Sterling hits five-day high as data picks up, Italy concerns persist

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Daily FX: EUR/USD Weekly Technical Report – Euro May Have Put In a Low (For Now)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – June 03, 2018

On June 3rd, 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto claimed Florida for Spain.

June 3rd can also be considered the “birthday” of the U.S. Army. (It was established by Congress on June 3rd, 1784.)

Also on this day, in 1911, actress Ellen Corby was born. She is often remembered for her role as Grandma Walton, in the television series The Waltons.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  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, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 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.

VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 2, by Informed Consent

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This article is written to expose the broken VA system and provide a forum for veterans to share their story in the comments. Furthermore, at the end of this article, I will share information and resources for alternatives to the VA system. Let’s continue.

Grumpy-Pants Who Do Not Care About Veterans

I’m sure there are some grumpy-pants who do not care about veterans reading this article. I probably won’t be able to change your mind. Perhaps your heart runs cold and your eyes are scaled over. Or, perhaps you are someone who has illogically made the conclusion that all veterans are evil for participating in unjust wars.

Let me make this point as clear as I possibly can. Those soldiers who you have such a deep hatred for never desired to witness the horrors of battle. They mourn, often silently, over their lost brothers and sisters. They never desired to be exposed to live nerve agent chambers, cesium-137, cobalt-60, Monsanto’s PCBs, leaking DS2 containers, ungodly viruses/toxins in the Middle East, et cetera. Some would argue that this is the nature of serving in the military, suck it up! Okay, I can accept that. However, keeping a promise to take care of veterans after they serve is also something to consider.

Let me be the first to break it to you; soldiers are the last people who want to fight and die in war. Their families feel the same way, but they sign up to go anyways, because they are not the typical citizen. I will grant that our military has been abused (particularly by previous administrations) and sacrificed in many ways, but that does not mean these men and women are not exceptional and worthy of respect and expert medical care. This is what a love for country does to a man; it makes him selfless! You should try it sometime. It might make you less of a grumpy-pants.

Continue reading“VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 2, by Informed Consent”

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 “HJL”. Science Fiction has once again predicted where we would be today.

Firefox vs Chrome

Reader P.L. sent in this link comparing the business models of Google (Chrome) and Mozilla (Firefox). While Chrome owns about 60% of the browser market, Firefox has slipped to about 10%. But you should really consider changing your browser from Chrome to Firefox. With Chrome (and Google), you are the product. The company collects and resales your personal data to third parties on a regular bases. You agree to allow them to do this simply by using their software. Firefox, on the other hand, uses a subscription method where Google (and other companies) pay them to be the default search engine. Since you can simply change the search engine preference to whatever you want, you can bypass Big Brother. Firefox is inherently better for you privacy.

55 Gallons of Water

The legislature has passed a new law that limits indoor household water use  to 55 gallons per person per day. Nope, we’re not talking about South Africa and it’s devastating drought again. We talking about California now. By 2022, the state will mandate that each household is limited to no more than 55 gallons of water for all activities. Water districts that don’t comply will face fines up to $10,000 per day.  While usage rates that low are really easy to achieve if you’re concerned, the concept of the government mandating it and installing/checking water meters is just more big brother nonsense. Thanks to F.M. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. – 1 Corinthians 10:6-13

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – June 02, 2018

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On June 2, 1774, Parliament renewed the quartering Act allowing British military to stay in private homes if necessary, completing the Coercive Acts. The Quartering Act, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Boston Port Act, were known as the Coercive Acts. These Acts were Parliament’s way of asserting their control over the colonists after the Boston Tea Party and were one of the main motivations for the 3rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  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, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 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.

VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 1, by Informed Consent

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In honor of Memorial Day, I thought it fitting to expose the broken Veterans Administration (VA) system to those who are not aware. This is not a sob story or victim card lecture. It is simply sharing the reality of the current VA system and the consequences of such on real lives. Most veterans will have no problem accepting the premise of this paper. However, some still believe that the VA is the ultimate savior, when it comes to their failing health. Oh, and the VA money, well, that money seems to come with strings attached, doesn’t it? “Nothing is free,” as the old-fashioned saying goes. Bottom line, a veteran is faced with two choices; do what the VA says and your monthly disability check will be left unscathed, or disobey the VA and risk losing your benefits. In other words, follow our rules and live or disobey and die.

Don’t Need More Money

Veterans don’t need any more money! You could throw a million dollars at a dying Ft. McClellan veteran, and it wouldn’t change a thing for him. The government has already made its conclusions about Ft. McClellan veterans and others exposed to toxic substances elsewhere. Passing a bill in Congress will not save one single veteran’s life. On a side note, Monsanto has absolutely no interest in helping the veterans who served at Ft. McClellan. In fact, the organization has been working fervently to do the exact opposite. So, for those of you waiting for your government/Monsanto lottery ticket to pay out, take a seat and a number; it’s going to be a while.

Continue reading“VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 1, by Informed Consent”

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. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, 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!

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers:

This week I did some fence building, firewood hauling, and some more slash hauling.

I also did some gear organizing in JASBORR–preparing for a long drive to the gun show in Helena, Montana. Lord willing, today I’ll be at the show selling some autographed books, a few pre-1899 antique guns, ammunition, full capacity magazines, radios, a Panasonic CF30 Toughbook ruggedized laptop, and some sundries, at rented tables. I’ll be joined by my #2 Son, who is a Montana resident. He plans to sell a lightning-fast six core PC tower, two rifles, and a Saiga 12 gauge shotgun. Note that we won’t be at the show on Sunday.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

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 “HJL”. We are reminded today of why a surveillance state is so bad.

Surveillance State

Orwell, Solzhenitsyn and others have warned society of the dangers of a surveillance state for many years. While in the past, the technology necessary to wrap up every single citizen in its reach didn’t exist, that hurdle no longer exists. With the advent of smart phones, we willingly give out private information to not just the state, but private corporations and organizations that profit from the data. Cameras and the computing power to process the billions of images are relatively inexpensive and prolific now as well. Reader H.L. sent in this article on the dangers of becoming a society that is so heavily monitored with the people being so completely oblivious

Million Gun Owner Blitz

The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) to email every member of the legislature at least once every single day between now and June 7, demanding that pending magazine language be defeated or that at least real grandfathering be added. If you live in New Jersey, you can find a list of legislature’s emails online and you can use this sample message as a template for your own:

I am one of New Jersey’s million law-abiding gun owners who will be turned into a criminal with the flip of a switch if you vote for S102 or A2761 (firearms magazine ban) when it comes up for a vote in the coming days. Criminals and madmen laugh at hardware bans like this and ignore them – the only ones who follow them are honest citizens like me, who are not part of the problem and who are ironically made more vulnerable and less able to defend themselves by bans like these.
Please don’t turn me into a criminal for keeping property I legally purchased in the past, and please don’t force me to destroy, give up, or modify my legally owned property. Vote NO on S102 or A2761, or amend to add meaningful grandfathering that protects the property I have lawfully purchased.

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

Preparedness Notes for Friday – June 01, 2018

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On June 1st, 1942, seven months after the extermination of prisoners began, the Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, made the public announcement of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland. The story came from a young man, Emanuel Ringelblum, who had escaped the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as they were thrown out of the gas vans. The West now knew the horrific truth about the slaughter of Jews.

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We have finally caught up with the orders for the 2005-2017 SurvivalBlog USB Archive. If you are one of the few that haven’t seen your archive order yet, you should be getting it shortly. We appreciate your patience while we worked through the problems with our ordering system. The few remaining archive USB sticks are now available for purchase. This will be the last batch of sticks this year, so get yours while you can!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features the first entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. 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,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  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, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 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.