Preparedness Notes for Friday – March 30, 2018

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On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a District of Columbia police officer. Known for his quips and unaware of the injury to others at the scene, President Reagan walked into the hospital, despite his wound, and was heard telling his wife, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 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 Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 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 75 ends on March 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.

Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 1, by Snow Wolf

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Like many preppers, I love disaster movies, whether Godzilla stomping a city, asteroids hitting the earth, pandemics, earthquakes, or volcanoes. After all, any of these things could happen, except maybe Godzilla, and useful ideas can come from anywhere, regardless of the style of disaster. The disaster movies were good for a laugh, but they also convinced me that any major disaster—asteroid, pandemic, or nuclear attack—will make societal recovery lengthy and perhaps impossible and survival difficult.

Then, I happened to watch the first episode of a 1975 British TV series called Survivors. Two conversations rearranged everything I’d assumed about survival and the continuation of civilization after a catastrophic disaster. I began to think from a perspective of thirteen century style survival.

Surviving, Like Survivors

The plot of Survivors begins with a world-wide pandemic, and the series follows the survival of a few people in Britain who are genetically able to recover from the virus. The heroine of the series is an ordinary upper-class British housewife named Abby Grant whose worries, before the pandemic, went no further than her immediate family and her tennis game. She survived the virus; her husband didn’t. In the first episode her main concern is to find her son, who was away at school and whose fate is unknown. When she reaches the school she finds only one person still alive, a teacher who has been pondering the unprecedented situation.

Continue reading“Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 1, by Snow Wolf”

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 tangible Bitcoin hedges.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Prices See Little Movement As Inflation Rises To Highest Level In A Year

Stocks:

Trade war watch: These are the U.S. companies with the most at stake in China

o  o  o

Amazon’s stock set for worst week, month in two years

Commodities:

BNN (Canada) video:  Commodities Update

Forex & Cryptos:

As predicted by SurvivalBlog, conintinuing U.S. Dollar weakness: Euro / Dollar Rate on Course for 1.25 and Beyond: MUFG and TWP

o  o  o

The price of one Bitcoin (BTC) rose to around $8,900 USD last week, but since then it has sagged to around $6,850.  If it tests $6,500 in the next week then we might see a plunge to somewhere south of $4,500 per BTC. The upside, you ask?  Not much for now. Every time Bitcoin has approached $9,000 in the past few weeks, it has been hammered down by concerted selling. It has been reported that fewer than 1,000 people own more than 40% of all the Bitcoin in circulation. When one of those BTC Billionaires has an automatic sell order in place, then Bitcoin has a firm ceiling. And I’m fairly confident that at least one of these rich technogeeks presently has a $9K automatic sell order set. My suggestion: Keep your BTC positions small, at least for now. For those holding more than a few BTC, it is probably time for some tangible Bitcoin hedges.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, below.)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Thus the steel serpent becomes an automatic governor upon the upward and downward movements of the ship due to meteorological changes. Hence the name ‘equilibrator’ or ‘stabilizator.’ The huge snake and its valuable stuffing is really ballast which may be used over and over again without ever losing it.

It is unnecessary to carry sand or water to throw overboard. Our serpent, if he behaves as well as a well-made reptile ought, should hold the [dirigible] America at an altitude of from 150 to 250 feet above the ocean, save us ballast ‘which means fuel’ on one hand, save us gas on the other, and enable us to prolong the voyage from the forty-eight hours practicable without a serpent to the seven or nine or ten days which may be required for crossing the Atlantic.” – Explorer and pioneer aviator Walter Wellman, describing his equilibrator design for his blimp, in The Aerial Age; A Thousand Miles by Airship Over the Atlantic Ocean; Airship Voyages Over the Polar Sea; The Past, the Present and the Future of Aerial Navigation

Ghost Gunner Review- Part 2

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Yesterday, we started looking at the Ghost Gunner, running it through its paces and turning out the first completed lower starting with an 80% completed unit. Today, we’ll finish up that review and look at the problems we encountered while running the machine.

First Completed Lower

The only real test of the Ghost Gunner is whether or not a decent trigger control group fits in the receiver after that first lower is completed. I’m happy to report that, yes, it does. This receiver wasn’t as fulfilling to make as my first one on a milling machine (using a Tactical Machining lower and milling template), but it was sure a lot faster and easier. When you look at the finished product, you can see milling marks (lots of them) because the machine takes such small bites. However, all such marks are interior to the receiver. Furthermore, while cosmetically not pleasing, they make no difference to asthetics of the assembled firearm and do not impede the function. If you are a perfectionist, I suppose you could remove them with some careful filing, but I chose not to go to this extra, unnecessary effort.

GG Lower vs. Others

The early-production 80% lowers from Defense Distributed have more surface machining on them. (The more recent ones have bead blasted exteriors for a much more smooth appearance.)These were not the only ones that have this level of machining, but lowers like Tactical Machining’s are obviously from a more advanced mold with not much exterior machining, as you can see in the photos. The corners are more rounded and the surface is a bit rougher but with no machining marks. With the TM lower, you can pretty much finish the job with little more than a file to remove burrs and end up with a clean, cosmetically clean lower, ready for anodizing. The GG lower requires more surface preparation to remove the machining marks. Both are excellent lowers.

Continue reading“Ghost Gunner Review- Part 2”

Letter: The Disturbing Trend of the Disengaged Prepper

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JWR, Hugh, SurvivalBlog Readers,

In case you haven’t noticed, our 2nd Amendment rights are being stripped before our very eyes. As uncomfortable as it was, I chose to participate in the local pro-gun side of the recent #MarchforOurLives protest on March 24, 2018. The only thing more disappointing than the turn-out for “our” side was the complete absence of any members of my circle of preppers.

I’m not sure when it became the apparent modus operandi of so many in the self-reliance and prepper movements to stop participating in chances to voice our opinions and stand in the here and now to fight for our rights. For some, it has become much easier to rationalize that nothing can be done to right the ship, retreat to their mental or physical hidey-holes, caress their firearms and dehydrated food, and wait for the collapse. If we are to have any hope for the future, that must change.

Continue reading“Letter: The Disturbing Trend of the Disengaged Prepper”

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”. Once again, the statists are foiled by the ingenuity of the average man. (pun fully intended – read “knife, foiled” to see how.)

Politics

Apparently the “Roseanne” reboot blew up the TV ratings this week. I don’t know, because I didn’t watch it. It would appear that many conservatives are cheering because ABC finally put a pro-Trump character on that wasn’t a total idiot. There is just one problem. If you thought this was a right-leaning TV show, you would be wrong. Producers think that the only difference between the right and the left is economics and all they have to do is have a middle-class working woman be a Trump supporter to “click” with the rest of fly-over America. Of course that ignores the fact that the TV show is pro-gay-marriage, pro-abortion, feminist and pro-transgenderism with the implication that the main character is good because of these views. Nope. They missed it again. Hopefully, conservatives won’t bite on this one.

Firearm Sales Demographics

From Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large:

I have noticed, as have several others, that the last few weeks have had a huge upswing in black attendance at gun shows. I saw a significant increase in black families–middle class, respectable–coming into the local show and leaving with purchases. Most were buying AK and AR platform rifles, pump shotguns and Glock or Smith and Wesson handguns. These are all practical, reliable defensive tools.

Clearly, they’re aware of the threats they will face during civil unrest, and are insuring against it. Anti-gun rhetoric to the contrary, they were of course welcomed by the rest of the firearm community and the vendors.

It will be interesting to see if this presages any shift in the upcoming elections.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I am happy now, to recall that I was not only his son but his companion, and whenever there was a hunting expedition or any other pleasure, I was always with him.” – John Philip Sousa, reflecting on the influence of his father. (Sousa was an avid hunter and target shooter.)

Ghost Gunner Review- Part 1

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Last year, SurvivalBlog decided to find out exactly what all the hubbub was about, and we bought a Ghost Gunner along with a number of AR-15 80% lowers. We wanted to know just how easy the unit was to use. We also wanted to make a determination as to whether the unit was worth the money or if it was just an exercise in declaring your inherent right. What we found was interesting to say the least.

Delivery, Packaging, and Setup

The first impression of a product is dependent upon the time it takes to receive it and the condition in which it arrives. Packaging is a key part of this. Then, there is the ease in which it is assembled for use and instructions that are easy to follow to aid in this endeavor.

Delivery

The box that came was sturdy enough to handle the USPS delivery without any issues. It arrived within the expected amount of time with the box in good condition.

Packaging

The package was heavy, with the Ghost Gunner weighing in at a hefty 50+ pounds. However, the cardboard was obviously designed to handle its weighty contents.

I’m one of those people who saves the packaging/packing materials for most small- to medium-sized things. While storing empty boxes does require some storage space, when it comes time to resell the item, original packaging can go a long way towards getting a premium price. If you have the original box something came in, people know that you tend to take care of things. One of my gripes is when a company skimps on packaging. In their short term thinking, some believe that the goal is to just get the product to you and then their obligation ends. A company that produces cheap packaging on a product that is likely to pass through many hands of ownership is shortsighted.

A Carefully Designed Box

Once the box is opened, you can see the care that they put in the design. The packing is obviously designed to be reused. About the only way they could really improve it would be to move to a wooden crate or wooden framed box. However, I don’t think that is necessary in this case. If the product pushed north of 75 pounds, I might expect that, but the current packaging fits the product quite well. The foam is the same closed cell foam you find in upper-end cases like Pelican.

You’re going to want to find a place to keep this box in good condition. Depending on your needs, you will need it to pass the Ghost Gunner on to the next owner, or you may need it to have it upgraded to the newest improvement, like we did.

Following Directions

There is a written manual, but you really don’t need it. The whole process is about as simple as you can get. I used a 15 foot USB cord so that I could set the Ghost gunner on my dining room table and still reach my main computer. However, you could also use a laptop sitting right next to the machine. Connect the machine up to your computer, power it on, insert the included USB stick, and run DDcut straight off of the USB stick. No installation is required.

Windows and Linux Computers

My particular setup was a bit more complicated because DDcut is designed to run off of the Windows operating system, though all of my computers in house are run as Linux computers. I could have borrowed my son’s computer, but instead I had a contingency. Every once in a while I run across software I need that requires Windows, so I keep a copy of VirtualBox on my system with Windows 10 loaded on it. I only boot it up on occasion, but some programs don’t like to be run in an emulator. Thankfully, DDcut had no such issues and ran just fine. Once DDcut is started, it tells you exactly what to do, when to do it, and is easy to follow. I do like the fact that it is self contained on the USB stick and no installation of software is required.

Setting the Jig Up

I had two different sets of AR lowers. The first one I ran was the lower, purchased from Defense Distributed. This lower has had more machining operations done on it than the others I’ve had from Tactical Machining. While both lowers provided an excellent finished product, the Tactical Machining lowers required some modifications to the jig in order to work. There were a few places on the lower that had more material on it than did the Defense Distributed (DD) lower. I actually prefer the Tactical Machining lowers because they have a cleaner look with subdued edges right out of the box. There are fewer finishing operations required on these lower to achieve an excellent look, but it’s only cosmetic. Structurally, the lowers are the same, and both are easy to use.

Continue reading“Ghost Gunner Review- Part 1”

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 Winchester Rifles.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Sprott Gold Report: Gold Resilient Despite Market Volatility

 

Credit Card News:

Citibank has shown its true anti-gun colors. It is high time for American gun owners to cancel their Citibank credit cards and to close their Citibank accounts. For maximum effect, I recommend cutting your Citibank card in half, and mailing the left half of it to Citbank with a terse (but polite) “nastygram” letter explaining why you are closing your accounts. Mail them to: Citibank, Attn: President James A. Forese, 99 Park Ave., New York, NY10022

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

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. This week the focus is on the Rosenstrasse protests in Berlin during World War II. (See both the Books section and Movies section.)

Books (Rosenstrasse):

Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany

o  o  o

I haven’t yet read it, but this newly-released novel (for Kindle) looks like it would be of particular interest to SurvivalBlog readers: The Divide (A Great State Book 1). It is the first book in a planned trilogy, and comes recommended by John Jacob Schmidt of Radio Free Redoubt.

Movies (Rosenstrasse):

A recommended movie: Rosenstrasse. This poignant film is loosely based on true events. It is available on DVD. It is also available for free download for Amazon Prime members.

o o o

I also highly recommend this 2016 documentary on the monumental struggle between collectivism and individualism: Agenda 2: Masters of Deceit. Available on DVD. It is also now available for free download for Amazon Prime members.

 

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“The strategic plans of our armed forces for the defeat of Japan, as they stood in July, had been prepared without reliance upon the atomic bomb, which had not yet been tested in New Mexico. We were planning an intensified sea and air blockade, and greatly intensified strategic air bombing, through the summer and early fall, to be followed on November 1 by an invasion of the southern island of Kyushu. This would be followed in turn by an invasion of the main island of Honshu in the spring of 1946. The total U.S. military and naval force involved in this grand design was of the order of 5,000,000 men; if all those indirectly concerned are included, it was larger still.

We estimated that if we should be forced to carry this plan to its conclusion, the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946, at the earliest. I was informed that such operations might be expected to cost over a million casualties, to American forces alone.” – Secretary of War Henry Louis Stimson, from: The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb (February, 1947)

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – March 27, 2018

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March 27th is the birthday of the late Robert W. Ford (born 1923, died 20 September 2013). He was an amazing man who had a remarkable life. His book, Wind Between The Worlds (an account of experiences in Tibet, captivity by the communist Chinese, and his fight against brainwashing), is highly recommended. It is available for free download.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 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 Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 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 75 ends on March 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.