Camouflaging Techniques, by Concealed Prepper – Part 2

13

(Continued from Part 1. This part concludes the article.)

Vehicles

Vehicles are a little more difficult to camouflage. The easiest way to get at least some camouflage on your vehicle is just to repaint it a flat earth tone. If you want to go more serious than that you will need some Hessian poles. These are long poles that stick in the ground and are draped with camouflage netting. They are designed to break up the distinctive outline of a vehicle. If you have any large length of scrap metal or smooth branches around , you can use them  or “spreaders” at the ends of the Hessain poles. If your vehicle is small enough–such as a traditional “ride astride” ATV–then you may use some old clothes hanger T-bars fro spreaders. The netting doesn’t have to be as covered as heavily as your ghillie suit is. Just enough to break up the vehicle’s outline. Caution: Don’t merely drape the netting over the vehicle. Otherwise the shape of the vehicle will still remain.

Sniper Hides and Foxholes

Sniper hides are similar to a foxhole, but generally they aren’t deep in the ground, so they don’t provide much ballistic or indirect fire protection. You can use many of the same rules for these as you do a foxhole. To construct a sniper hide, you will need some sturdy, natural vegetation. You will be building this sniper hide in a dense wooded or brushy spot. (But not too dense!)

Continue reading“Camouflaging Techniques, by Concealed Prepper – Part 2”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

14

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!

Avalanche Lily Reports

Dear Readers,
This week Jim was still traveling, to help an ailing relative. His only prepping this week was helping that family stock up. Jim says: “Costco rocks!” But we try to only buy American-made goods there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the weather, this week has been cold and very rainy with only a few breaks in the weather, here and there.  It was a week of doctor appointments for the girls, and wrapping up classes and studying for exams. So therefore, not too much prepping occurred. No exercise for any of us, or our horses, either, sadly. I did get the asparagus planted, but not the raspberries.  I was able to spread some rotted-down cow manure on a section of garden that didn’t receive it last fall.  And I did do some stocking up shopping while in the towns.  One stop was at Costco for paper items, laundry soap, fresh fruit, and veggies.  I bought five bags of mixed sweet peppers to chop up and freeze. I also bought a bag of large onions.

In the greenhouse the broccoli and cabbage are already sprouting.

May you all have a blessed and safe week, – Avalanche Lily Rawles

o o o

As always, please share your own successes and hard-earned wisdom in the Comments.

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

25

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 focus on Your Sift Score — your secret tustworthiness score. This is the latest manifestation of a Big Brother mentality.

Floridians Can Now Garden in Their Front Yards

Florida Will Generously Allow Homeowners to Garden in Their Own Yards. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)

Google’s News Blacklist

Documents Detailing Google’s ‘News Blacklist’ Show Manual Manipulation Of Special Search Results.

A New CBD Oil Vendor

SurvivalBlog’s newest advertiser, Touchstone Essentials, sells CBD oil–commonly called Hemp Oil. This is a semi-controversial product.  At least for now, the low-THC variety that they sell is reportedly legal in all 50 States. Given it’s many uses, I recommend stocking some for your retreat medical supplies. It also makes a very compact barter item–so consider stocking up on some for barter, as well. Touchstone Essentials also sells Zeolite for detoxing and Super Green Juice.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.

And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.

And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.

And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?

And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.” – Deuteronomy 31: 1-23 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — April 12, 2019

April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre. Coincidentally, Tom Clancy’s first literary agent was my agent, Robert Gottlieb.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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. 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 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. 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.

Round 82 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.

Camouflaging Techniques, by Concealed Prepper – Part 1

13

When times get bad, and you feel unprotected and exposed, you will want to have camouflage to keep you and your family safe. For some people that may mean just a simple set of BDUs or even just the first camo clothing you see at Walmart. However, that may not be enough. There is a lot more to camouflage and concealment than just these.

Get proper camouflage: you will want some proper mil spec BDUs. These are sturdy and will come in handy for making ghillie suits, holding extra supplies, and recognizing your fellow group members. It is not necessary to get matching camo patterns for your family, but it helps. Be careful of going “Camo Crazy” where you only get camo clothes–even underwear.

Make Your Ghillie Suits

If you get good at concealment, a ghillie suit helps a lot. They take a notoriously long time to make. You may buy ghillie suits, but they will either be very expensive (several hundred USDs) or of low quality. I recommend making your own. You will need a sewing machine or some very strong glue and BDUs (or flat earth tone garments) in a size slightly bigger than you. Including a boonie hat. Even better is to start with a set of oversize military surplus olive drab overalls. They hold on to you very well and in my opinion, are more comfortable. You will also need some tough fish netting or similar material. Try to get the netting holes more than 1 cm in diameter. Find a source for a lot of jute thread or burlap that is in the same tone of your local environment. You may end up using many rolls or just a few depending on how thick you want your jute. Sew or glue on the netting to the BDUs; this will take a long time, but don’t worry if the netting is messy or not straight. Then tie on the jute thread, you should have a large brownish, greenish lump now. Then for a final touch, if you want, drag it around in the dirt a bit. (Be careful not to damage it too much). It will be hot, heavy, and smelly. But it may save your life.
Continue reading“Camouflaging Techniques, by Concealed Prepper – Part 1”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

4

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 gun auction realized prices. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Citi: Gold to Hit $1,400 on China, Central Bank Buying

o  o  o

Russia Dumps U.S. Dollars And Buys Gold As “Safety Metal”. A pericope:

“Vladimir Putin’s quest to break Russia’s reliance on the U.S. dollar has set off a literal gold rush. Within the span of a decade, the country quadrupled its bullion reserves, and 2018 marked the most ambitious year yet.

And the pace is keeping up so far this year. Data from the central bank show that holdings rose by 1 million ounces in February, the most since November.

The data shows that Russia is making rapid progress in its effort to diversify away from American assets. Analysts, who have coined the term de-dollarization, speculate about the global economic impacts if more countries adopt a similar philosophy and what it could mean for the dollar’s desirability compared with other assets, such as gold or the Chinese yuan.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with CNN in November that European corporations and entities are too dependent on the U.S. currency, calling it “an issue of sovereignty.” Last year, Poland and Hungary surprised analysts by making the first substantial gold purchases by a European Union nation in more than a decade.”

 

Economy & Finance:

At Wolf Street: Market is Delusional: This is Not a Rate-Cut Economy

o  o  o

In San Francisco, making a living from your billionaire neighbor’s trash

o  o  o

From Wolf Richter: A Simon Property Group Mall Generates Largest Loss Ever for Retail CMBS

 
Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

4

“Is rapid population [growth] by as great importations of foreigners as possible founded in good policy? They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These principles, with their language, they will transmit to their children. In proportion to their number, they will share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its direction, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass. If they come of themselves, they are entitled to all the rights of citizenship: but I doubt the expediency of inviting them by extraordinary encouragements.” – Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — April 11, 2019

5

I just heard that Richard Cole passed away on April 8, 2019, at age 103. Cole was the last living Doolittle Raider. He was the co-pilot of General Doolittle. (Pictured.) My condolences to Cole’s family. Cole’s passing marks the end of an era.  The great generation that fought World War 2 just about gone. Rest in Peace, Dick Cole!

—

A Special Note From JWR: We’re Running Out of Articles!

A most of our readers know, SurvivalBlog has been posted with daily new content, since 2005. One thing that we point to with pride is the number and quality of our feature articles. SurvivalBlog simply has the most and the best–in fact nearly as many feature-length articles and columns as all of our six major competitors, combined. Perhaps it is because we’ve been around for so long that most of our readers have already shared their knowledge and hard-earned wisdom on most of what they know about preparedness and self-sufficiency. But I doubt that. You folks have a tremendous wealth of knowledge. And we appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

A year ago, we had a hefty backlog of articles. But the number of articles being sent in has dwindled in recent months. Does the Trump Slump really have people feeling safe, secure, and invulnerable?  I hope not!  Presently we are in great need of articles for our non-fiction writing contest. I now have only three articles waiting in the queue. Please, please write an article. You’ll get the chance to have your article judged, and share in more than $12,000 in prizes, once every two months. With one recent noteworthy addition, the combined value of the prizes is now greater than ever before.

In order to keep the pipeline of articles coming in at a steady rate, I’d like you to consider all of the following:

1.) If you won one of the top three prizes more than one year ago, then you are eligible to win one again!

2.) Because the number of entries in the past few months has been small, your chance of winning one of the top three prizes is now better than ever.

3.) If you’ve written and posted a nonfiction article in your own blog or at your own website and it hasn’t been re-posted at any Third Party sites, then it is still eligible as an entry in our writing contest.

4.) If you wrote an article a few years back for SurvivalBlog, but it only won an Honorable Mention prize, then that topic is a prime candidate for a re-write, expansion, and adding more links and a few photos. (Keep in mind the we only run HORIZONTAL format photos or illustrations, and that they must be at least 600 pixels wide.  (2,000 pixels wide, and 1.2 MB file size is ideal.)  A thoroughly re-vamped, expanded article will be eligible to win any of the top three prizes.

5.) Just because you’ve “said your piece” on one topic in SurvivalBlog does not mean that you are “finished.”   You certainly have other knowledge and experience to share.

6.) Folks who have their survival, preparedness, firearms, and self-sufficiency videoblogs (“vlogs”) have a lot of knowledge that they can share in written form. A side benefit is that publishing an article here at SurvivalBlog will help generate visits to your own site.

7.) You can’t be judged a Top Three prize winner if you don’t try. If you know a subject well, then write about it!

8.) Even though SurvivalBlog has been around for 14 years, there are still lots of topics that have not yet been covered in detail. For example, we haven’t yet received articles on mushroom farming, how to build up a communications rack, how to lift stumps with explosives, life in the arctic or sub-arctic, how to run a fish farm, gardening in the tropics, or a good explanatory article on the various types of welding, with the best uses for each. And those are just a few examples.

9.) A lot of the material in the first few years of the SurvivalBlog archives is now a bit dated. There are new technologies and new techniques out there. So if you see a topic from our early archives where you have expertise, then please write us a big “update” article!

10.) Your article doesn’t need to be perfect. By all means, have a friend of relative proofread it. But keep in mind that we do take the time to format articles to match our style sheet. We can handle that. So please, just write what you know, and send it in!

12.) If you haven’t seen our writing contest guidelines in a while, then please read them before you start writing. Pay particular attentions to the 1,500-word minimum article length, and our warnings about plagiarism. Then get busy writing!

Many, Many, Thanks! – JWR

 

Round 82 of the Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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. 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 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. 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.

Round 82 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.

Home Repair of Pre-1899 Guns – Part 3, by SwampFox

4

(Continued from Part 2. This part concludes the series.)

Pre-1899 Shotguns

Shotguns from the late 1800s cartridge era are typically of a break-open design. There were pump action and lever action shotguns available such as those produced by Winchester, but they often command a high price. Old farm guns are easy to obtain and simple to work on. Often available online for under $300 or even as little as $100, they can be shipped to your door. Almost every hardware store in rural areas would have carried shotguns, and some even had their own locally produced models. This can make finding original parts a real chore.

One unique type of shotgun action is the trapdoor. Unlike the Trapdoor Springfield rifles that were an original design, the trapdoor shotgun is usually a conversion of an older muzzleloader such as an Enfield. They were often sold to native tribes in the United States and in Africa. I recently saw one of these at a local gun shop for an affordable price, was quite tempted to pick it up. I have also seen them on Gunbroker.com, often labeled as a “Zulu gun” or as a “Native shotgun” or “trade shotgun.” To repair these, you will need to be more familiar with muzzleloader parts than shotgun parts, as the only new part of the gun is the trapdoor and firing pin that were placed into the breech of the old muzzleloader. Springs will be of the type found in an Enfield muzzleloader, or whatever donor gun was used. While somewhat slower to load than other shotguns, a trapdoor conversion shotgun will do quite well for hunting, and is an interesting window into history.

Continue reading“Home Repair of Pre-1899 Guns – Part 3, by SwampFox”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

23

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 focus on Model Legislation.

From Self-Reliance to Community Resilience

Reader Jim L. recommended this: From Self-Reliance to Community Resilience: Jacqui Riordan & Robb Worthington at TEDxHickory. Jim’s L.’s Comments: “I am impressed.  Note especially the comments after minute mark 13:00. They seem to be our kind of folks.”

Copy, Paste, Legislate (Model Legislation)

From Reader H.L.: COPY, PASTE, LEGISLATE. You elected them to write new laws. They’re letting corporations do it instead.  I’m posting this quote:

“Each year, state lawmakers across the U.S. introduce thousands of bills dreamed up and written by corporations, industry groups and think tanks.

Disguised as the work of lawmakers, these so-called “model” bills get copied in one state Capitol after another, quietly advancing the agenda of the people who write them.

A two-year investigation by USA TODAY, The Arizona Republic  and the Center for Public Integrity reveals for the first time the extent to which special interests have infiltrated state legislatures using model legislation.

USA TODAY and the Republic found at least 10,000 bills almost entirely copied from model legislation were introduced nationwide in the past eight years, and more than 2,100 of those bills were signed into law.

The investigation examined nearly 1 million bills in all 50 states and Congress using a computer algorithm developed to detect similarities in language. That search – powered by the equivalent of 150 computers that ran nonstop for months – compared known model legislation with bills introduced by lawmakers.

The phenomenon of copycat legislation is far larger. In a separate analysis, the Center for Public Integrity identified tens of thousands of bills with identical phrases, then traced the origins of that language in dozens of those bills across the country.”

Court of Appeals Ruling on Sleeping on Public Property

Peter forwarded a PDF link: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a ruling on sleeping on public property. A snippet:

“Judge M. Smith stated that the panel’s reasoning will soon prevent local governments from enforcing a host of other public health and safety laws, such as those prohibiting public defecation and urination, and that the panel’s opinion shackles the hands of public officials trying to redress the serious societal concern of homelessness.”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

8

“This geopolitical recession is something really simple — it’s the end of the US-led global order. And we don’t know what is replacing it yet.” – Ian Bremmer, President and founder of the political risk consultancy firm Eurasia Group

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — April 10, 2019

April 10th, 1796 The birthday of James “Jim” Bowie. He died March 6th, 1836 at the Battle of the Alamo.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 82  of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 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. 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 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. 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.

Round 82 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.

Home Repair of Pre-1899 Guns – Part 2, by SwampFox

1

(Continued from Part 1)

When other parts on revolvers break, fixing them can be a hassle. If a bolt or a hand breaks, you will need to be an expert at welding, brazing, filing, and fitting if you cannot find a replacement. Even if you do find a replacement, be prepared to hand fit the part, as quality control today is greater than it was back then. Fitting a hand precisely is essential! The length of the hand determines how far a cylinder rotates, and how the chambers align with the barrel. Misalignment can cause poor accuracy, or can become a safety hazard if a bullet enters the forcing cone improperly.   If a cylinder cracks, there is little that you can do but purchase another.

Hammers and triggers, however, can be repaired by brazing. You can also purchase blank hammers and triggers on eBay, and then file them to the proper dimensions. The key to doing this is patience – it is much easier to file metal away than it is to add it back on! I recently did this on a National Arms .38 break-top revolver. I picked up a blank hammer on eBay, and notched it to install a new mainspring that I made from a Pietta 1863 mainspring. It is somewhat stiff, but it fires. I also had to create a new firing pin, as the old one was bent and worn. I used a section of an AR-15 firing pin carefully filed to the proper shape, and polished with very fine emery cloth and a buffing wheel. Firing pin length is important. Too short, and you will fail to strike the primer with enough force. Too long, and you can pierce the primer and release metal particles and hot gases back toward you.

Ammunition for centerfire revolvers is usually easy to find. For rimfires, it is much more difficult. Several calibers are commonly used for centerfire revolvers – .32 S&W short, .32 S&W long, .38 S&W, .38 Long Colt, .41 Colt, .44-40, and 45 Colt. Most of these are available at many gun stores or online. The .41 Colt is an exception, although at the time of this writing it is available from AmmunitionToGo. One common pocket revolver caliber is .32 rimfire. Ammunition is almost impossible to find, although Dixie Gun Works makes a reusable conversion cartridge that uses a .22 blank and black powder inside a lathe-turned brass .32 case. They are costly, but it is one way you can get a rimfire revolver working.

Continue reading“Home Repair of Pre-1899 Guns – Part 2, by SwampFox”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

16

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

 

Movies:

The Passion of The Christ. Long available on DVD and BluRay, this great movie is also now available for streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

o  o  o

The Conversation. This is a classic film starring Gene Hackman. It makes an interesting companion piece to his much later film on a similar theme, Enemy of the State. My, how surveillance technology has advanced! The Conversation is now available for streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

 

Online Videos:

Klein Tools Serrated Duct Knife – A Cool Knife With Possibilities! JWR’s Comment:  These knives are well-made, and surprisingly inexpensive (around $15.) This knife might skirt the restrictions on carry of double-edged knives, in some states. (Consult an attorney licensed in your state!) If you want one, then please order it through our Amazon link, so that we get out little piece of the action.  Thanks.

o  o  o

The Patriot Nurse: Why I Don’t Trust Ammo Hoarders

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:”