Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 investing in High Standard pistols. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Stocks:

Last Friday’s 572-point sell-off in the Dow made headlines. With higher interest rates ahead, this is probably not anywhere near the bottom.

Economy & Finance:

Reading a headline like this is troubling: Subprime Mortgages Among Fastest Growing Investments for US Banks

o  o  o

The Irish Times reports: China pledges to fight ‘unilateral’ US trade tariffs ‘at any cost’.  Of course what is not mentioned is that the tariffs didn’t come without provocation. Trump Administration officials have alleged that Chinese trade practices and policies have forced U.S. companies to transfer technology in order to to compete in the mainland China market. They have also pointed out that American intellectual property and patent rights have been repeatedly trampled.

By the way, I have personally been the victim of this:: There have now been more fake Chinese copies of the Rawles XL Voyager knife sold in the U.S. than there have genuine ones produced by Cold Steel. What Cold Steel produced was a genuine Limited Production knife. But what the Chinese are producing is an unlimited glut of cheap shanzai copies, with my signature on them!  The Chinese government has done almost nothing to stop the flood of fake merchandise pouring out of their factories. The rapidity with which these counterfeits are produced is amazing.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The First Question is Always Jurisdiction

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Earlier this month, I posted an article about the ATF’s recently-opened comment period on the planned Federal ban on bumpfire stocks. In it, I recommended that SurvivalBlog readers post their comments with the ATF, and I suggested several major areas that should be individually addressed:

    • Constitutional issues (Under the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 14th Amendments!)
    • Imprecise Terminology
    • Agency Over-Reach (creating new legal definitions, bypassing congress)
    • Vague Wording
    • Technical and Historical Inaccuracies

These were all sound recommendations. However, SurvivalBlog Reader Richard T. reminded me that I had left out a fundamental law issue in my list of objections, namely: Jurisdiction. I suggest that folks study this issue because the implications go far beyond the attempted restriction of plastic rifle stocks.  Jurisdictional challenges are apropos in any case where various levels of government have over-stepped their bounds.

Proviso: Keep in mind that I am not a Juris Doctor nor an attorney, and hence I do not give legal advice. So the following is based on my research as a layman that therefore purely informational. If you have legal questions, then consult an attorney.

When most people have interactions with the law, they usually fail to ask the key preliminary question: Does this law apply to me, and where I live? That is, does the agency or court have the proper jurisdiction to establish their nexus to me and my affairs?

Continue reading“The First Question is Always Jurisdiction”

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”.

It Started with a Potluck

Community is an inextricable part of prepping. As the famous book title states, “No man is an Island”. To attempt to go it alone is a guarantee of extremely hard times when the going gets tough and you may live right on the edge of survival. Just ask the Lykov family how that goes. Patrice Lewis, of the Rural Revolution blog has an interesting article how her community of preppers got started. When hard times come (and they will, even if only for a short time), these neighbors know who to turn to. And it all started with a potluck meal.

War, Famine & Disease

The Patriot Nurse has a good video on those hard times that will eventually hit. War, famine and disease have been with us for thousands of years and will continue to be part of human history, no matter how much the left claims that it will eventually be eradicated. In this video, Patriot Nurse discusses some of those conditions that result in those things and show how they are typically tied together. History shows that these are things that need to be planned for by the average family. Those that don’t plan will suffer the most. Thanks to reader T.J. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” – Acts 10:34-35 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – April 07, 2018

April 7th is the birthday of Colonel Bob Denard (born 1929, died October 13, 2007). He had an amazing life as a mercenary, including four attempted coups in the Comoros.

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 76 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 76 ends on May 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.

Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 2, by Grey Woman

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The focus of this article is on prepping for children and adolescents on the mid to lower functioning end of the autism spectrum. If you are the parent or caretaker of an autistic child, I’m sure you have already considered your child’s or adolescent’s special needs and planned accordingly. This article is intended to serve as a general overview and resource for those who are less familiar with the needs and capabilities of these unique individuals.

Autism- A Prevalent Disorder

Based on the prevalence of Autism spectrum disorder and autism, it is likely that either your family or a family in your close community is living with autism. With the consolidations of communities, families, and neighbors that many believe will occur in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, it is quite possible that a child or adolescent on the autism spectrum will come under your care at some point in the future and likely under less than optimal circumstances. Understanding what autism is and how we can enhance our prepping to accommodate the needs of those living with autism will help to ease what may be a difficult transition.

In part one of this article series, autism was defined and the subject of meltdowns and how they should be handled was addressed. Additionally, suggestions for ways to minimize meltdowns, including supplies that can help a child and prevent this event, were outlined. Now, let’s move on to lifestyle matters.

Continue reading“Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 2, by Grey Woman”

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,
The weather took an unexpected cold turn and plunged the northern part of the American Redoubt back into a round of spring snow showers. This week, in all, we’ve had nearly three inches of snow. If this weather pattern keeps up much longer we may need to go down the road and buy some storage hay. That would be storage hay from last year’s crop, at an inflated price. It would be sad and frustrating to pay a premium price for 10 month old hay with reduced nutritional value. Arrrgh!

My main prepping tasks this week were some reorganizing in our garage and down in JASBORR. I also ran the GhostGunner milling machine a few times, cranking out some more AR-15 lowers. My goal is to have several extra lowers for each member of my immediate family. In recent weeks I’ve also been busy mail-ordering complete upper receiver groups, Lower Parts Kits (“LPKs”), and full capacity magazines so that our family will have everything we need, in the event of another Federal ban. I’ve found many of these items on my favorite gun board, called The FALFiles Marketplace.  It is a great group of shooters with a fraternal spirit who are mostly congenial, knowledgeable, and helpful. Thankfully many of them like to swap, and a few of them will take payment in Bitcoin.

Avalanche Lily Reports:

This week, in addition to all of the animal and gardening chores, I reorganized and our collection of gardening seeds. Most of them are heirloom varieties. I now have nearly all of them stored in a large opaque plastic bin.  This will hopefully protect them from any sunlight degradation.  Most of the seeds were well-marked by variety and year, but there were a few containers of “mystery seeds”.  Some of those might be planted just to see what comes up. (Don’t worry, we don’t store any Amaranth seeds!)

Please continue to post comments about your own preps.

Thanks, – Jim Rawles and Avalanche Lily, Rawles

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”.

I Am the Majority

Mark Robinson gave an unprepared speech to the Greensboro, North Carolina city council meeting on representing the majority. Mark tells it like it is. Every time there is a shooting, the media and politicians do not blame the shooter, but blame the law abiding gun owner and try to whip the politicians into bringing in gun control. It’s a passionate speech and well worth the five minutes it will take you to listen to it.

Firearms Parts Ban

California gun owners are getting pressure again. A firearm parts bill (A.B. 2382) is being introduced in California. The bill refers to the parts as “Precursor Parts” like barrels, ammunition, feeding devices, speed loaders, molded or shaped polymer frames, unfinished receivers, metallic castings, metallic forgings and much, much more. If you live in California and are not fleeing the state, you need to contact your legislatures and urge them to reject this assault on your second amendment rights.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:4-6 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – April 06, 2018

This is the birthday of Lowell Thomas

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 76 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 76 ends on May 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.

Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by Grey Woman

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“How a society treats its most vulnerable is always the measure of its humanity.” Ambassador Matthew Rycroft

A fair amount of literature has been devoted to prepping for the needs of babies and children in general and for the elderly, but there seems to be far less information available to guide decision making in prepping for the developmentally disabled members, including those on the autism spectrum, of our communities. According to the latest analysis by the CDC, between 6% and 7% of children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed as having a developmental disability. These disabilities are separated into a number of categories with the most prevalent being Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

This article will focus on prepping for children and adolescents on the mid to lower functioning end of the autism spectrum. If you are the parent or caretaker of an autistic child, I’m sure you have already considered your child’s or adolescent’s special needs and planned accordingly. This article is intended to serve as a general overview and resource for those who are less familiar with the needs and capabilities of these unique individuals.

A Few Quick Facts

Autism is more common than you may realize, so let’s take a look at a few quick facts:

Continue reading“Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 1, by Grey Woman”

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 investing in odd silver coins.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Stocks:

The tumble in the U.S. stock markets (down 10% since January 26, 2018) is partly attributable to the business cycle, and partly attributable to the Fed raising interest rates. (Ironically, the Fed Governors claim that they are “forced to raise rates” because higher inflation is emerging. But they are the ones who created the inflation!)  With even higher interest rates forecast for the rest of 2018 and 2019, it is safe to assume that the equities markets will continue to get pounded.

My advice is to minimize your exposure to stocks and mutual funds. Panic now, and beat the rush. For those of you who are enrolled in pension plans: good luck.  Odds are that your pension fund managers have heavily invested in stocks. But if you are in a 401(k) plan or an IRA, then it is probably not too late to transition to a self-directed IRA. I suggest that you make that a silver-backed IRA. (IRAs backed by U.S. Mint Silver Eagles are allowable.) Ideally, you should hold that IRA silver at home.  With silver now under $16.50 per Troy ounce, it is a sound, affordable alternative to stocks!

 

Going Cashless:

Commander Zero recently posted some astute observations in his Notes From The Bunker blog: Cashless society. JWR’s Comments: Those of us who share concerns about the advent of a cashless society should plan ahead. It is wise to start forging relationships with those who willing to serve as intermediaries for us, to make food and fuel purchases and to make tax payments for us. It is also crucial to invest heavily in silver coins, so that we’ll have something truly valued available for barter.  Silver coins fill all of the requirements for a day-to-day barter money: They are fairly compact, durable, fungible, divisible, easily recognizable, and almost uniformly desirable.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Never mind, we can do without them. But if we get out of here, you must send a message to Gibbs, the Hall Porter at Claridge’s in London, telling him on no account to allow the servants in the hotel to touch some dangerous medicines in my bathroom.” – OSS Director William J. Donovan, June 7, 1944, on Utah Beach, upon realizing that he left his cyanide pills behind, before the D-Day invasion