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”. Rio de Janeiro provides an excellent example today of why vigilantes are frowned on.

War on Cash

Reader DB shared an email that that he received from Wells Fargo Bank with us that is truly disturbing. The bank has decided that they will no longer allow anyone who is not a signer on a bank account to deposit cash in that account. The person wishing to deposit money can transfer money or deposit a check, but not cash. In addition, anyone depositing cash must present a valid ID (which may include a Wells Fargo ATM or debit card). At least here, you can still purchase a Postal Money order using cash with no ID and they will accept that as a deposit.

Monitoring Gun Purchases

Reader P. shared this article that show how credit card companies are exploring ways to track and monitor gun purchases by applying a new classification code to the merchant that sells firearms. There is still ongoing discussion on how the new code would apply and to whom. For example, does Walmart have to have the new code or does it just apply to your local gun store. The WSJ reminds us that banks have at times, already blocked purchases that they deem risky and have stopped doing business altogether with politically unpalatable groups. Note that Citigroup is already restricting gun purchases to users who are over 21 years-old.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I take a very balanced approach to prepping that is decidedly reason-based. Many people, after prepping for some time, begin to realize their preps are covered in the food and weapons arenas, but the ‘band-aids’ area looks lean. Select individuals realize that medical preparedness is decidedly less glitzy, but it is integral to a well-rounded plan for thriving during times of difficulty. My work fills that void for the average person, equipping him with the knowledge and the skills to thrive in times of difficulty and disaster alike.” – The Patriot Nurse

CRKT Minimalist, by Pat Cascio

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As the name implies, the CRKT Minimalist is a very small knife. There isn’t anything fancy about the design, but just wait until you hold one in your hand. We are reviewing one of the CRKT Minimalist this time around.

Little Knives

Long time SurvivalBlog.com readers will know that I’m just not very “big” on little knives. Yeah, they have their place in the knife line-up. However, I’ve always felt that bigger is better and can do more than any little knife can do. Well, I still stand by that statement, but there sure are exceptions to this rule of mine. Enter the Columbia Rive Knife & Tool Minimalist line-up. There are actually three different blade designs. I’m checking out their Bowie fixed blade knife this time around.

Minimalist Line By Alan Folts and CRKT

The Minimalist line was designed by custom knife maker Alan Folts of Melbourne, FL. He has been designing and building knives for over 20 years now. And as a part-time knife designer myself, I know how hard it is to design knives. As to making knives, I’m a lost cause. I just can’t make knives. However, I have several of my designs out there being made by a couple different knife companies. One is CRKT, which is producing my OC3 double-edge fighting knife. (This is a shameless plug!) I respect custom knife makers and designers, because I know the work that goes into producing a new design. And, let’s face facts, there are tens of thousands of knife designs on the market. So it takes some thinking and designing to come up with something new and different.

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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 food storage as an investment.

 

Precious Metals:

I’m still expecting a Reversion to the Mean for the gold-to-platinum ratio. Even if higher interest rates slow the sales of new cars later this year, platinum is still so undervalued (in relation to gold) that a price breakout is likely. If you want to expand your existing precious metals hedge, then buy platinum!

o o o

I just noticed that David Morgan’s book The Silver Manifesto is now available as a Kindle e-book for just $6.99.  If you are having trouble convincing your friends or relatives to hedge into silver, then this is the book for them to read.

Stocks:

At Seeking Alpha: Stock Market Way Ahead Of Economic Growth

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“If these precedents are to stand unimpeached, and to provide sanctions for the continued conduct of America affairs-the Constitution may be nullified by the President and officers who have taken the oath and are under moral obligation to uphold it….they may substitute personal and arbitrary government – the first principle of the totalitarian system against which it has been alleged that World War II was waged – while giving lip service to the principle of constitutional government.” – Charles A. Beard

An Unsung Prepper, by J.M.

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During the early summer of 1963 as a small child growing up in Chicagoland, I was fascinated when one day as a construction crew showed up at our suburban home. Right outside the kitchen wall a huge digger began to tear up the ground right next to our house. I watched for hours out of the kitchen window as the hole grew larger and deeper. Over the next couple of days I watched as plastic sheeting, wood forms, and plumbing was put into place. What I remember most though, were the cement trucks coming in and pouring yard after yard of concrete and filling in the hole to make our new “patio”. Now a 5 year old knows little of geopolitics, but from that day on, I couldn’t talk about our new secret room in the basement.

Bozo

Weeks later our family took a long Saturday drive west from the city to Wheaton, Illinois. There in a small wood frame store were tables loaded with camping gear, cots, lanterns, and survival supplies. As I turned around, a chubby, balding man bent down and stuck out his burly arm for a handshake. I was in shock! Gone was the top hat, red coat and tails. In its place a short sleeve shirt and slacks. His jovial look, chubby cheeks and toothy grin betrayed him though…it was Ringmaster Ned from Bozo’s Circus! (Ned Locke) Not handsome by the Hollywood standards of today, he was a media icon during those early days of TV. To children throughout Chicagoland he and the Bozo show were HUGE!

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Letter Re: The Slippery Slope: Proposed ATF Rule Redefining “Machinegun”

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I very much enjoyed the write-up you provided on the proposed rule-making. The more people that are aware of the issues and comment the better our chance of getting the issues addressed.

I had a couple of additional issues that I thought I would share.

  • The proposed rule does not properly account for the monetary losses of each individual currently in possession of a “Bump Stock”. Not only is an individual losing the initial money spent on purchase and shipping of the product, they are now being placed under the additional burden of having to purchase a new stock to replace the one that is being lost. There is a cost associated with the time spent shopping for a new stock, purchase, tax, shipping, and also a value to the time that the existing gun has been made unusable while the new stock is obtained.
  • Your statement that “Because these bump-stock-type devices allow multiple rounds to be fired when the shooter maintains pressure on the extension ledge of the device, ATF has determined that bump-stock-type devices are machinegun conversion devices, and therefore qualify as machineguns under the GCA and the NFA” indicate that the “extension ledge” makes the stock function as an automatic. Therefore, simply removing the ledge would allow a user to legally maintain ownership of the stock.

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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”.

What’s in Your Water?

Reader H.L. sent in this article on a public database that has been setup to allow you to find out what’s in your tap water. The information contained on the municipal water supply (that we disconnected from six years ago) is the same as what the water company routinely sends us, but the information is much easier to read. You can enter your zip code and it will give you a list of public water supplies that serve that zip code. Clicking on any of those listed will immediately tell you what contaminates the supply contains that are above acceptable limits. You might want to check it for areas that either serve you or areas close by. Even if you have your own well, you at least know what the problems are for that area and can get your water tested.

Gun Homicide Rate (Again)

Ignoring the fact that guns don’t commit homicide (people do), this article delves into how media and anti-gun organizations manipulate data to make the problem seem like it is worse that it really is. When you look at the corrected data tables, you see how the homicide rate has never been as bad as media has claimed it is. In addition, the data is skewed heavily by male suicide rates. Even more astounding is the fact that you can see a clear correlation between homicide rates and government interference in private lives (prohibition, war on drugs, et cetera.) It’s refreshing to see accurate data finally presented.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,  ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” 1 peter 2:4-5 (KJV)

Guest Post: How The Globalism Con Game Leads To A ‘New World Order’, by Brandon Smith

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When globalists speak publicly about a “new world order” they are speaking about something very specific and rather sacred in their little cult of elitism. It is not simply the notion that civilization shifts or changes abruptly on its own; rather, it is their name for a directed and engineered vision — a world built according to their rules, not a world that evolved naturally according to necessity.

There are other names for this engineered vision, including the “global economic reset,” or the more general and innocuous term “globalism,” but the intention is the same. The ultimate goal of the new world order as an ideology is total centralization of economic and governmental power into the hands of a select and unaccountable bureaucracy made up of international financiers. This is governance according the the dictates of Plato’s Republic; a delusional fantasy world in which benevolent philosopher kings, supposedly smarter and more objective than the rest of us, rule from on high with scientific precision and wisdom. It is a world where administrators become gods.

Such precision and objectivity within human systems is not possible, of course. Human beings are far too susceptible to their own biases and personal desires to be given totalitarian power over others. The results will always be destruction and disaster. Then, add to this the fact that the kinds of people who often pursue such power are predominantly narcissistic sociopaths and psychopaths. If a governmental structure of high level centralization is allowed to form, it opens a door for these mentally and spiritually broken people to play out their twisted motives on a global stage.

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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,

We’ve had great weather for the past week. It is great seeing the transition from Mud Season. Our pastures are greening up. It is now joy to get out in the woods here at the ranch with my chainsaw, cutting up deadfall trees. I prefer larch and red fir, but when clearing deadfall, I of course can’t be choosy.  So inevitably there are several other types of fir and some western red cedar mixed in. The cedar trunks make awesome fence posts, while their smaller diameter tops make great kindling, when I split them small.

My other tasks at the ranch this week included:

  • Decanting some stored gasoline into smaller containers for our quads and rototiller.
  • Mixing a fresh 2.5 gallon batch of 2-cycle gasoline for our chainsaw.
  • Putting out some D-Con in the straw shed and under the house. (Both are places that the local wood rats can get to, but our barn cats can’t.)
  • Organizing and coiling our assortment of AC power extension cords. (I use the contractor method.)
  • Pulling the first of the garden hoses out of storage, to get ready for irrigating.
  • Constructing a reinforced wire mesh lid for the chick enclosure. (To prevent the adult chickens from destroying the lid.) The new lid uses a stiff hog panel as backing for small mesh poultry wire.

This week I also took advantage of a jump in Bitcoin (to over $9,100 USD) to buy some more guns, stripped AR lowers, and gun parts. Many of the parts were sold to me by BOLD Arms–a small company in Arizona that gladly accepts direct crypto currency payments. In the past five months, I’ve liquidated 90% of my Bitcoin holdings. Half of that went to my kids and to church donations. For the rest of the liquidation, I waited for “up” days and then bought tangibles directly, rather than selling BTC through exchange services. FWIW, I’ll still hold on to “a bit of Bitcoin”, but I’ll sleep better knowing that I’m more firmly invested in tangibles.  I should also mention that my kids subsequently chose to turn about half of the Bitcoin that I gifted them into silver. They made no mention of a desire to blow it on clothes or gadgets. That never even entered their minds. I marvel how practical homeschooled kids can be!

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