The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Some nations and some people melt in the heat of crisis and come apart like fat in the pan. Others meet the challenge and harden. I think you’re going to harden.” –  Pat Frank, Alas, Babylon

Preparedness Notes for Monday — January 29, 2024

On January 29, 1964, the British film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, a landmark Cold War farce directed by Stanley Kubrick, was released in theatres.

On this day in 1845 Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” was published.

Today is the birthday of actor Tom Selleck (born 1945), best known for playing the title role of Magnum, P.I. He is an avid shooter and quite pro-gun.

Today is also the birthday of journalist and inventor Thomas Paine (1737–1809.)

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Update: We’ve received an unexpectedly large number of orders for the waterproof 2005-2023 Archive USB sticks.  Many readers are placing orders for 2, 3, or 4 sticks. Apparently, folks are feeling anxious about Joe Biden engaging the Internet Kill Switch. Or, perhaps it is the Texas border Constitutional crisis. The first batch of sticks sold out in less than two weeks.  We have another batch scheduled to arrive this week. That will then probably be all that we’ll be selling in 2024.  Orders are being shipped “first come, first served.”  Thanks for your patience. Again, please order only through our automated system, with a vaild e-mail address.  If you are paying by check, please be sure to write your order number on your check’s memo line. – JWR

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The feature article for today’s blog was written by Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson.

 

Savage Model 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor, by Thomas Christianson

After a search lasting more than three years, I recently settled on a deer rifle to replace the Remington 742 in .30-06 that I inherited from my Father. The old 742 is still a dandy gun, and I have passed it along to my brother-in-law for continued use. But as the years have passed, I have become somewhat recoil-adverse, and I wanted a rifle that is a little kinder and gentler to my shoulder.

My new rifle is a Savage Model 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor. It is accurate, sturdy, weather resistant, well balanced, and chambered in a cartridge for which a wide variety of ammunition is readily available. With a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $959 it represents an excellent value for the money.

I initially borrowed the rifle from Savage for testing and evaluation in preparation for this review. I liked it so much that I decided to buy it. It is only the second firearm that I have ever ended up purchasing after testing and writing a review. (The other was my MAPP from Rock Island Armory. Here is my MAPP review, Part 1 and Part 2). It was fun to recently take the information stickers off the stock of the Storm, and place the rifle in its permanent place in my gun cabinet.Continue reading“Savage Model 110 Storm in 6.5 Creedmoor, by Thomas Christianson”

Update: Letter from a Kansas Consulting Client

Introductory note from JWR: I just received this update letter:

“I wanted to write to the readers of SurvivalBlog about the search for a family to live on our family farm. The opportunity is still open.

Many areas in the United States are deteriorating, but our conservative area remains safe and prosperous. We are willing to consider letters from readers anywhere in the country as we are not concerned about the distance, but we are about finding a quality family to eventually join our family in living on our farm.

There is still time in the preparedness window in which to purchase supplies for your family if you are invited to our farm. We are not concerned with the amount of supplies you currently own and we are even willing to purchase supplies for your family, with our family’s resources if we are able to add a family to our farm through marriage.

We are concentrating our efforts on finding a quality family. We are praying and trusting in God’s providence that He has a family who is reading this and will respond to our letter.”

If you have been praying about finding a safe place to live, then please read the original post. If you meet those qualifications, send a message to jamesATrawles.to (Change the “AT” to an @ sign)

Recipe of the Week:  Chicken & Rice with Golden Sauce

The following simple recipe for Chicken & Rice with Golden Sauce is from Good HouseKeeping’s Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries (253 pages, copyright 1925, now in public domain). That is one of the 11 new bonus books included in the new 2005-2023 edition of the SurvivalBlog Archive USB stick.

Ingredients
  • 1 fowl
  • 1 cupful milk
  • 1 cupful chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoonfuls butter
  • 2 tablespoonfuls flour
  • Salt
  • 1/4 teaspoonful pepper
  • 1 egg-yolk
  • 1 teaspoooful lemon-juice
  • 1 cupful rice
  • Minced parsley
Directions

Cook the fowl until very tender aud. cut into neat attractive servings, rather small, using only the white meat for this dish if you wish it particularly delicate in appearance.

Meanwhile, prepare the Golden Sauee as follows: Melt the butter, add the flour and when bubbling, stir in milk and chicken broth gradually. Cook until smooth and thickened, stirring constantly. Add the pepper and salt as needed, this depending upon the seasoning in the stock. Just before removing from the fire, add the egg-yolk beaten and the lemon juice, stirring rapidly.

Reheat the chicken in a little of the sauce placed in a double-boiler. Arrange it on a hot deep platter
or chop plate, and surround it with a ring of the rice cooked until tender and flaky in plenty of boiling salted water.

SERVING

Pour more of the sauce over the chicken and serve with minced parsley sprinkled over the rice.

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Do you have a well-tested recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column, we place emphasis on recipes that use long-term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven recipes, slow cooker recipes, and any recipes that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

SurvivalBlog Graphic of the Week:

Our graphic of the week is an interesting annotated satellite photo montage of city lights. This NASA graphic has circulated on Reddit. It shows that 80% of the US population lives east of the annotated yellow line. This adds credence to my long-standing advice to live west of the Mississippi River. Generally, fewer people will mean fewer problems in the event of a societal collapse.

Take a close look and note that the cluster of orange dots over western North Dakota and eastern Montana are not city lights.  Rather, those are natural gas flares in the  Bakken oilfields — a still lightly-populated and energy-exporting region. More and more gas is being captured, with each passing year, but the flares still dominate the night sky in the region. Other natural gas flares can be seen in orange in Texas and off the coast of Louisiana. – JWR

US Population Density—

Please send your graphic ideas to JWR. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form.) Any graphics that you send must either be your own creation or uncopyrighted.

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — January 28, 2024

On January 28, 1887, In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world’s largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick

January 28th, 1855 was the birthday of William Seward Burroughs, who invented the adding machine.

January 28th is the anniversary of the rescue of General James L. Dozier from his Italian Red Brigades kidnappers. Tangentially, Colonel Jeff Cooper created a shooting drill in honor of those who freed him – The Dozier Drill.

And on this day in 1986, the U.S. space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff from Florida, killing all seven aboard, including a schoolteacher who had been chosen as the first American civilian to travel in space.

On January 28, 814, Charlemagne, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, died at Aachen (Germany).

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

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More than $870,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 110 ends on January 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.

 

Storing Valuable “How to” Digital Data, by Slate Creek

I am constantly collecting data from the web and I save it to several USB memory sticks that I carry with me daily. If I’m in the office and happen to run across something of value I often pull the USB stick out of my pocket and save a copy. I have sub-directories organized on my stick such as “Food Storage”, “Water Supply”, “Topo Maps” or “Ham radio related” and then sub-category that into say “Antenna Builds”, “Local Repeaters” or “Radio Manuals”. I’m not advocating saving everything on a USB stick because nothing beats having the piece of paper in your hand explaining what to do. I still will hard copy print important papers like  radio manuals, the AmRRON SOP manual, recipes, engine manuals, and medical manuals.

I typically create USB archives of good books I have run across online such as one that I recently read about “The Great Taking”, or The Modern Survival Retreat by Ragnar Benson (which both can be found for no cost on the web) or just any good prepper books. If you web search the phrase: “Good Prepper Manuals PDF” the search results will give you a plethora of free manuals such as Nuclear survival, first aid, and military survival guides. Once you begin finding and saving PDF references and files you will be surprised by all of the resources available on the web for your library.Continue reading“Storing Valuable “How to” Digital Data, by Slate Creek”

JWR’s Meme Of The Week:

The latest meme created by JWR:

Meme Text: 

Wake Up, You Sheeple!

We Are The Carbon That They Want To Reduce!

Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks!

Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

 

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.

Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” – 2 Corinthians 9:1-8 (KJV) 

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — January 27, 2024

A news update and constitutional law analysis, related through a video commentary from Mark W. Smith of The Four Boxes Diner:  BORDER WARS: The Constitutional Issues you need to know about in Texas v. Biden Admin. Two days ago, it was 11 states, but now, 25 states have signaled support for Texas Governor Abbott’s position. And at least 10 of those States have now pledged to send National Guard or State Guard/Militia troops to Texas, to assist. Tucker Carlson interviewed Abbott, on Friday.

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On January 27th, 1967, a launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral, Florida, killed astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. An investigation indicated that a faulty electrical wire inside the Apollo 1 command module was the probable cause of the fire. The astronauts, the first Americans to die in a spacecraft, had been participating in a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch scheduled for the next month.

January 27th, 1945 is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviet Army.  January 27th is commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Today is the birthday of singer-songwriter Kate Wolf. (Born 1942, died December 10, 1986.) Her untimely death at age 44 cut short an amazing career and robbed America of a great songwriting talent.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
  5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. 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).
  3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
  4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $305 value),
  2. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
  3. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $870,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. We recently polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 110 ends on January 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.

 

Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 5, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 4. This concludes the article.)

I’ll refer the reader to My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 4 for the details of how my system works and what I am able to do with it. In a nutshell, during sunlight hours I can take the available 1,500 watts and feed them into my home/shop wiring system and run nearly everything including the freezer.

On Day One if the SHTF, the actual switchover process from grid-tie to off-grid takes just a few minutes. In a simplified explanation, I activate the SPS switch at the inverter and plug a suicide cord (male plug on both ends) into the 120-v outlet next to that switch. I plug the other end of the cord into the nearby 120-v outlet where my air compressor is plugged in. At the breaker box just above that outlet, I install a short jumper wire to connect the two bus bars. With that, the SPS back feeds electricity into the breaker panel and the system is up and ready to power my house and shop.

[JWR Adds This Safety Warning:  See the many warnings that have been published in SurvivalBlog over the years about the risk of backfeeding the grid. Readers should consult a qualified electrician to install a safe and approved transfer switch. The lives of utility company linemen depend on this precaution!]

Update: St. Funogas Added:

As per JWR’s warning about accidental backfeeding into the grid in a non-TEOTWAWKI situation, it’s not only unsafe if the proper safety measures aren’t followed but also illegal and you can be hit with heavy fines, liability lawsuits, and the power company can disconnect your service permanently. Before electric providers will allow grid-tied solar panels to be activated, they require installation of their approved shutoff right below the meter which has the capability of being bolted or padlocked in the off position. The comments in my article were referring to a TEOTWAWKI permanent grid-down situation and the safety steps were outlined: the main shutoff is locked in the off position, then the main breaker turned off before backfeeding solar panels into the home wiring system.  All of these precautions apply to home generators as well.  To be prepared ahead of time for backfeeding if the SHTF, adding a transfer switch as mentioned by JWR is recommended. A less-expensive option is a generator interlock plate ($15-50). These are approved by the National Electric Code and consist of a plate which attaches to the breaker panel and makes it physically impossible to have both the main breaker and a backfeed breaker on at the same time.  Also safer than a suicide cord is a code-approved generator cord and inlet box used for home generators and RVs.  Mine are already on order and anyone prepping for a long-term grid-down situation may want to consider doing the same.

Since it only works when the sun is shining there are some inconveniences. These inconveniences become negligible compared to having no electricity at all. While the sun is shining water tanks can be filled, washing machines operated, laptops and batteries recharged, shop tools can drill, cut, and sand, electric chainsaws can make firewood, sewing machines and kitchen appliances can work, and the electric mower can be used to maintain that firebreak around the house and trim the garden paths. As a huge service to neighbors, you can also recharge everything from their car batteries to their laptops.Continue reading“Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 5, by St. Funogas”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, 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 your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

We had a quiet week here at the ranch.  I was busy with taking orders for USB blog archive sticks, and mailing out a few to family and friends. Just making extra trips into town to pick up mail and logging in the 5% of USB stick orders that were paid by check took a lot of my time, this week.

I’m pleased to report that the waterproof 2005-2023 Archive USB sticks are now being mailed, a full week ahead of schedule. We expect to mail out about 150 sticks each weekday.  We’ve already received more than 750 orders, and dozens of new orders are coming in daily. So it may take up to three weeks to clear the order backlog. Thanks for your patience.

It is good to see that our stock water tanks have thawed out.  But our corrals and our barnyard are now great big messy slushies. They are no fun to walk in, even in mud boots.

Now, Lily’s report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;

And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.

And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.

And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.

And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the Lord commanded Moses.

And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.

And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.

And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.” – Leviticus 8:1-12 (KJV)