Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 3, by SoCal9mm

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(Continued from Part 2.)

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT: 
  1. Radios – both Motorola radios AND handheld ham radios were left behind that would have helped us stay in contact between our 2 cars. Cell phones worked (thankfully), but I noticed bad connections nearly every call.
    1. NOTE: if we had a better means of communication, W. could have taken her car to the other neighborhood exit to see if traffic was flowing better and reported back to me to either follow her or stay where I was (oh well, hindsight and all that).
  2. Scanners, or even scanner apps – having access to information from the FD might have given us information a bit sooner.
  3. Extra clothes – it sucks to have only 1 pair of pants to wear continuously for several days when they’re full of smoke and you’re sleeping in them (yuck).
  4. We needed backup pet items (food bowls, water bowl, litter box, and litter) all in 1 bag and added to the checklist (a pet-BOB, if you will).
  5. We have monthly poker nights and our small “bank” doubles as part of our emergency cash “stash”. It got left behind the first night (grabbed later) – needed to be added to checklist.
  6. Power cords – we had micro-USB cords for the cell phones, but my laptop power cord was missed.
Tuesday, 12/05/17

~6:00am

The night finally ended but the winds were still howling, and we couldn’t find any good information on where the fire was or where it might be heading. We went to the County Gov’t Center to try to find some answers (W knows some people there).Continue reading“Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 3, by SoCal9mm”

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”.  Today, we look at the California Chicken Cull.

U.S. Farms in Worst Crisis in a Generation

Michael Snyder: U.S. Farms Are Facing Their Worst Crisis In A Generation – And Now Here Comes Another Monster Storm. Snyder says:

“By the time it is over, we may look back and say that this was the worst farm crisis that the U.S. has ever seen.

The biggest problem for farmers so far in 2019 has been endless rain and flooding.  Farmers kept waiting for a break in the weather that never came, and at this point the number of acres that have not been planted with crops is “unprecedented”…”

California Chicken Cull

The latest on Newcastle Disease: To stop a virus, California has euthanized more than 1.2 million birds. Is it reckless or necessary?

Boston Dynamics Robot Dog

Boston Dynamics prepares to launch its first commercial robot: Spot. I’ll offer a snippet:

“Boston Dynamics’ lifelike robots have been delighting and terrifying the internet in equal measure for years, but the company has a much bigger milestone ahead: its first ever commercial product — a quadrupedal robot named Spot — is nearly ready to go on sale.

Spot is currently being tested in a number of “proof-of-concept” environments, Boston Dynamics’ CEO Marc Raibert told The Verge, including package delivery and surveying work. And although there’s no firm launch date for the commercial version of Spot, it should be available within months, said Raibert, and certainly before the end of the year.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — June 12, 2019

11

On June 12, 1987, during a visit to the divided German city of Berlin, President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

—

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

Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 2, by SoCal9mm

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(Continued from Part 1.)

So we put this plan together on paper, that’s all that we needed to do, right? Um, no. Practicing an evacuation drill is probably at least as important as having an evacuation plan. After I had revised our plan into the checklist format, I knew that we needed to practice it to see if the timeframes were correct (i.e., could we actually do all the stuff that I’d written down on the 1-minute checklist in 1 minute?). Shortly after the Tubbs Fire (in October, 2017) we did a walk-through of the house and pointed out all the items on the checklist and where they were located. We planned to do a dry run on November 5th – but something came up and we had to postpone it… We never did get the chance to do that dry run before we had to “do it live.”

Of course it goes without saying that this is my checklist – it (mostly) works for me and my family, and it’s always undergoing tweaks and revisions as new items get added, as things get moved around for better storage, or if my wife (henceforth, “W.” in this article) has a better idea than one of mine. Should you decide that a checklist could work for you, yours will likely be different (and may be very different) from mine. That’s great – customizing any plan to fit your family’s needs is exactly what is should happen; just like my dissatisfaction with the “generic emergency-fair” list is what prompted me to make one that was a better fit for us.

So that’s the story of how our checklists were supposed to work out. How did we do during the actual evacuation?Continue reading“Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 2, by SoCal9mm”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

6

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on One Time Pad Generators. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777

o  o  o

SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam

o  o  o

Reader B.K. wrote to recommend this book: Appear To Vanish: Stealth Concepts for Effective Camouflage and Concealment

o  o  o

The 10 Bushcraft Books

Movies:

Tortured for Christ. Based on the life story of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand.  He spent 14 years in Romanian prisons. For three of those years he was in solitary confinement. The movie was filmed on location in Romania–including the prison where he was held.

o  o  o

Knox. A recent documentary on the life of protestant reformer John Knox.Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

5

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 the fickle lumber commodity market. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Stefan Gleason: Five Big Lies About Precious Metals Investing Exposed

o  o  o

“In Gold We Trust”: Waning Confidence In US Sends World’s Central Banks On Buying Spree

Economy & Finance:

Like something out of a survivalist novel:  With Venezuela in collapse, towns slip into primitive isolation

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Profits Plunge As Home-Flipping Hits 9-Year-High

o  o  o

Hedge Fund Analyst Admits Soliciting Fake Bond Quotes In $200 Million Investor Fraud Conspiracy

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: Fed Balance Sheet Drops by $42 Billion in May, Sheds MBS at Fastest Pace, Starts the Reverse of Operation Twist

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

6

Ironically, however, the question [of soil conditioning] is mostly academic. The cure for heavy clay soil is to add organic matter to break up the clay and improve drainage. The cure for sandy, dry soil is to add organic matter to retain water. The cure for acid soil is to add organic matter, particularly bird manure, to bring the pH up and make more nutrients available. The cure for alkaline soil is to add organic matter to buffer it. The cure for hardpan [soil] is to add organic matter to feed earthworms.” – Linda Woodrow 1996, Permaculture Home Garden

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — June 11, 2019

6

John Wayne, the iconic American film actor, died forty years ago today. (On June 11th, 1979.) While John Wayne is probably best known for his westerns like True Grit (released 50 years ago, today), The Shootist and Fort Apache, we remember him best for his roles in The Alamo and The Green Berets, both of which reflected his patriotic, conservative leanings.

—

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

Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 1, by SoCal9mm

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Editor’s Introductory Note:  At nearly 10,000 words, this is one of the longest multi-part articles ever to appear in SurvivalBlog. It will be presented in five parts, concluding on Saturday. Despite its length, this is some fascinating and detailed reading. The author’s insights and “lessons learned” are quite valuable, and they go far beyond just the particular concerns of wildfire evacuation.

—

On the evening of December 4, 2017, the Thomas Fire started in Ventura County, California. By the time it was over, about 440 square miles had burned across Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, more than 1,000 structures were lost, and at least 23 people had perished (2 directly from the fire, and another 21 [plus 2 missing] from subsequent mudslides caused by denuded hills). This fire resulted from the combination of a long-term drought (very dry brush) and a very strong Santa Ana wind condition (a semi-routine wind pattern that blows from the deserts of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona and pushes warm and very dry air into SoCal). Temperatures, even on this December evening, were in the 60s – 70s, humidity was in the single digits, and winds were blowing up to 70 mph. A spark was all that was needed to set off this firestorm, and that was provided by a downed power line.

The Thomas Fire came right on the heels of the devastating Tubbs Fire in and around Santa Rosa, California, which burned so quickly that entire neighborhoods were engulfed before people could escape. One heartbreaking news story told of a trapped couple who had to shelter all night in a swimming pool, just briefly exposing their mouths and noses to get air before going back down to escape the heat / flames. The husband survived, but the wife did not. The only thing to come out of the Tubbs Fire that could be called “good” was that such terrible stories from Santa Rosa were fresh in the minds of many of us in Ventura County – and we knew that we had to get out NOW when the evacuation was called for. I firmly believe that without the “lesson” that the Tubbs Fire taught many Californians, the death toll from the Thomas Fire would have been higher.

On the first night of the Thomas Fire, somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 people were forced to evacuate from our homes. Over the course of the next 3-to-4 weeks, as the fire spread across Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the number of people displaced rose to over 100,000. We were out of our home for a little more than four weeks.Continue reading“Our Wildfire Evacuation, Part 1, by SoCal9mm”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. Today, we focus on the C-47 Miss Montana’s flight to Europe, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. (See the Montana section.)

Region-Wide

The Conservative Move web site is still getting a lot of inquiries about the Inland Northwest and Northern Rockies. Which States are the biggest magnets for conservatives who are fed up with liberal coastal politics?  Texas and Idaho.  But substantial numbers are also heading to Montana and Wyoming.

o o o

This article…

Exodus: As Bay Area moves left, these conservative voters move out

…lends credence to this brief article that my #1 Son Jonathan wrote:

Who is Moving to the Redoubt?

o o o

Thanks a bunch, Kate – that’s 60+ people out of work. A quote:

“Portland-based Stimson Lumber announced today that it will lay off at least 60 people at its Forest Grove mill—40 percent of the workforce there—and move some of its operations to Idaho and Montana.

Stimson CEO Andrew Miller presented the layoffs as a direct response to three environmental and tax policies championed by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. He cited a $1 billion-a-year tax increase to fund schools passed by the Oregon Legislature this month; a 2015 Clean Fuels Program requiring reduced carbon emissions, and a cap and trade package currently under consideration.”

Idaho

Video: Rep. Heather Scott on Idaho Administrative Rules

o o o

Spring chinook season closed on two rivers

o o o

Yo, red stater: Worried Idaho could turn blue? Stop blaming Californians moving here.

o o o

A new SurvivalRealty listing in Idaho: 60 Off-grid Remote Acres

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

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

33

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”.  Today, we look at warnings of a second civil war.

Civil War II?

Some pundits are suggesting that a second civil war is ineluctable.  For example, there is this piece published a few days ago at Daily Kos:  How do we avert the inevitable plutocrat-driven civil war?

Fake Videos of You Using Facebook images

Reader DSV sent this: Samsung can now create fake videos of you using Facebook images

A New Balloon Eye in the Sky

Reader G.P. sent this: A New Surveillance Tool Is Coming to U.S. Skies. A pericope:

“An Arizona company developing a new type of high-altitude, long-range surveillance platform just completed a 16-day mission during which massive balloons floated over four western U.S. states, all part of an effort to someday keep them aloft for months at a time.

World View Enterprises Inc. builds what it calls Stratollites, a system designed to offer the type of coverage satellites afford but without the need to launch incredibly expensive rockets into space. Effectively unmanned balloons, the untethered platforms operate with surveillance equipment payloads of as much as 110 pounds (50 kg) at altitudes of 50,000 feet to 75,000 feet, the company said, far above commercial air traffic.

They will be able to monitor mines, pipelines, transit infrastructure—and perhaps the contents of your fenced-off backyard—in hyper-accurate detail.”Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:”

Kel-Tec CMR 30, by Pat Cascio

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The debate seems to have no end, when it comes to rifles (and handguns) for the End Times, or a SHTF event. Everyone has an opinion on this subject, and we are all entitled to our opinions – and I don’t think there is a right or wrong opinion – it’s just that – an opinion. Not everyone wants an AR-15 type of rifle or carbine, nor does everyone want an AK-47 type of rifle. These are probably two of the most popular firearms when talk turns to defending oneself and their family, in a very bad situation, where there is no Without Rule Of Law (WROL) and we have to depend on ourselves and our weapons to stay safe.

My preferred weapon for the bad times are AR-15 types of rifles or carbines. However, I have no problem whatsoever, with a quality-made AK-47 type of rifle for the same purposes. When push comes to shove, I’ll pick-up an AR first if I have that choice.

Those in the AR camp, feel that the AR is the better weapon for combat or survival for many reasons. Number one is the quality of most ARs, and secondly, they are light-weight, and the ammo .223 or 5.56mm is more readily available, and you can pack a lot more of this light-weight ammo, than you can the 7.62X39 round – that most AKs take. Plus, if you want a reliable AK mag, you really need to go with the steel mags. I’ve not been pleased with some of the polymer mags that are available for AKs. Steel mags add weight – a lot more weight. Most AR 30-round magazines are made out of polymer or aluminum alloy and are much lighter in weight. And  because they have a less pronounced curve they are also more compact – and thus easier to carry in your web gear. Yeah, I know, there are some steel mags for ARs, but I don’t like ‘em – my preferred AR mag is the MagPul PMags – polymer – and they are the best mags on the market – end of story.

Spare parts are easy to come by for ARs, not so easy for AKs – and when the chips fall, you may not be able to find spare AK parts. But AR spare parts are readily available all over the place. There are lots of reasons to pick an AR over an AK if you ask me.

However, this article isn’t about AR versus AK for the End Times or any serious SHTF scenario. Instead, we are looking at an alternative to both the AR and AK, and that is the Kel-Tec CMR-30, and this is one fine weapon. First off, this little carbine is chambered in .22 Magnum – not .22 LR – and the .22 Mag has a lot more power compared to the .22 LR. Plus, we are looking at magazines – it comes with two, that hold 30 rounds each. Yeep, 30-round .22 Magnum magazines – that’s a lot of firepower.Continue reading“Kel-Tec CMR 30, by Pat Cascio”