Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 3, by Pete Thorsen

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(Note: This is the third and concluding part of this article.)

Garden seeds should be included in your preparations. So in theory, unless you live in an apartment you can then grow at least some of your own food, in desperate times. Garden seeds are very inexpensive and take up very little storage space. And if you select non-hybrid (“heirloom”) seeds then you can harvest the seeds from so you have some to plant the next year again. At a dollar store, you can often buy four packages of seeds for a dollar.

Growing a large garden takes a lot of work, a lot of water, and some amount of knowledge and skill. Once you try growing your own food, you will no longer call anyone ‘dumb farmers’ ever again. Obviously, some things will be easier to grow than others and some things you will not eat. If the only thing out of a garden that you would consider eating is some watermelon, then don’t bother buying any turnip seeds.

Some things like potatoes you grow from the potato itself. You cut them up, and you can get three or four or more new plants from just one potato. A single potato plant may produce a dozen or more large tasty potatoes.

A garden can be any size from one square foot to a hundred acres. You can even have a hanging garden to save space. You can grow many things in pots. Many people now often grow some herbs in their homes in simple flower pots to have a fresh supply. Growing things inside your house or apartment in pots keeps it safe from animals and from raiding by pesky humans.

Continue reading“Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 3, by Pete Thorsen”

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 “JWR”.  Today, we focus on gun ownership in California.

The Murderous Malware of the Middle East

Reader “F.” forwarded us this from MIT Technology Review: Triton is the world’s most murderous malware, and it’s spreading. Here is the article’s teaser:  “The rogue code can disable safety systems designed to prevent catastrophic industrial accidents. It was discovered in the Middle East, but the hackers behind it are now targeting companies in North America and other parts of the world, too.”

Hard Lessons: Hurricane Florence

Reader C.F. recommended this article: Hard Lessons: Hurricane Florence. Here is a key quote:

“In the wake of Hurricanes Florence and Michael, a few things do become clear. First and foremost: if you decide to evacuate, make every effort to leave early. We’re a coastal community in a state defined by a large number of sizable rivers. Every path to safety led over a bridge or six and the roadways got crowded quickly. Gas was available, but lines were occasionally lengthy as folks rushed to get on the road. This got worse during that brief period when we were anticipating a Category 4 landfall…”

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“As long as you have your wealth in the form of paper claims, you are prey to swindlers and con men, both those who work through government and those who work outside the law. Since almost all of the manipulation, subterfuge, and theft of your wealth occurs while it is in paper claims, you have a simple and obvious defense; keep your wealth in real goods instead of paper claims. The only safe, rational investment program for the average person in today’s turbulent economy is to eliminate the intermediate step. Instead of converting labor into money, money into investments, investments back into money, and money into real goods, simply stated, invest your savings in those real things that you will be consuming in the future. Save only real wealth.” – John A. Pugsley, The Alpha Strategy

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 13, 2019

Today is the birthday of the astronomer Percival Lowell, in 1855. His flawed “Canals of Mars” theory persisted from 1895 to 1909.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 81 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. 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 Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  5. 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 81 ends on March 28th, 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.

Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 2, by Pete Thorsen

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(Continued from Part 1.)

Keep in mind that if there is no grid power, there will be no refrigerator or freezer to store that meat. [JWR Adds: That is, unless you have an alternative power system.  A generator is only viable in a short term disaster.  For a situation lasting months to a decade or more, then photovoltaic power or perhaps a micro-hydro system is what you will need to provide power for refrigeration. An old-fashioned Spring House can also provide refrigeration, in some climates.]

And how are you going to be cooking everything? Plan ahead. If you have an all-electric house then how will you cook with no electricity? Even if you have natural gas (city gas) that will likely stop flowing to your house if the power is down for a while, so then what?

Do you have a propane gas grill with extra propane tanks? That will work. But if the neighbor sees you cooking on the grill (or smells you cooking up some barbecued cat, mmm!) He’ll be hungry and come over to eat your food.

A propane (or other gas) camp stove can be used inside your house to cook on, in private and in comfort. Remember to have extra fuel on hand for it. Yes, you can always cook outside with a campfire (or inside with a fireplace or wood stove). But you will need firewood, and the smoke will show everyone nearby that supper is cooking!

Many are afraid to use a camp stove to cook in their homes because they will be asphyxiated by the fumes or it will use up all the oxygen in the room, and everyone will die. That is hogwash!

Continue reading“Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 2, by Pete Thorsen”

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 BedBunker Gun Vaults. (See the Gear & Grub section.)

Books:

Blog reader Phil J. suggested this best-selling book: The Case for Trump.

o  o  o

Reader C.G. recommended this book on the controversial “Q” material: QAnon: An Invitation to The Great Awakening

 

Movies & Television:

Polycarp. Available on DVD or for free streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

o  o  o

Sahara. The classic Humphrey Bogart movie, made in 1943. Available on DVD or for free streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

o  o  o

The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams. Although it was produced on a modest budget, this film is well worth watching. It is even fairly family-friendly. (There are some battlefield scenes, but not much gore.) Interestingly, the film was written and produced by descendants of the protagonist.  I wish that were more films like this!  Available on DVD or for free streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

o  o  o

A long-running television series recommended by blog reader Charles K.: NCIS. Available on DVD or Blu-Ray.  Charles describes the show: “NCIS is a great show (CBS Tuesday at 8:00 PM), one of the very few on television. The Gibbs character, played by Mark Harmon, is a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, now team leader for NCIS home office in DC. Gibbs (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) has 51 rules, so far, we don’t yet know what all the rules are. Oh, and the character oozes masculinity. No wonder it usually ranks #1 in the ratings every week.”

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

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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’s focus is on Kyle Bass and the Big Yuan Short. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Niels Christensen: Gold Has Room To Move Higher But Don’t Expect A Breakout Rally – Analysts. Here is a quote:

“The rally in gold comes as the U.S. dollar remains resilient, trading at its highest level since mid-December. Looking ahead, many analysts have said that strength in the greenback is less of a headwind for gold because of global central bank action.

George Milling-Stanley, head of gold investments at State Street Global Advisors, said that there is a “race to the bottom” among central banks as they try to stimulate their respective economies. He added that the U.S. dollar is strong, not because of any significant resilience in the domestic economy, but that it the best option out there.
“I am looking past all this short-term volatility. I see a general atmosphere of higher uncertainty, more equity market volatility and a weaker U.S. dollar, which will all be good for gold,” Milling-Stanley said.”

o o o

When “face value” is much different: Florida Man Redeems Rare Stolen Coins Worth $33,000 In Supermarket ‘Coin Star’ Machine

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Punctuation is the art of dividing a written composition into sentences, or parts of sentences, by points or stops, for the purpose of marking the different pauses which the sense, and an accurate pronunciation require.” – Grammarian Lindley Murray

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – March 12, 2019

March 12th is the birthday of science fiction author Harry Harrison, who is best known for his Deathworld trilogy. (Harrison was born in 1920 and died in 2012.)

On March 12, 1850 the US Mint issued the first US $20 gold piece.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 81 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. 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 Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  5. 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 81 ends on March 28th, 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.

Budget Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 1, by Pete Thorsen

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(This is the first part of a three part series.)

Food storage is a very important part of any preparedness, and thoughts on food storage vary widely. Some people store buckets of wheat, corn, beans, and rice. For many people, they would only know what to do with maybe the rice. With the prepper/survivalist fad right now many companies are selling long term storage (LTS) food.

Some of these LTS foods are just as is, so to speak, like beans or wheat. Some are dehydrated, and some are freeze dried. And of course, some is your standard canned goods. Advice commonly given is ‘store what you eat and eat what you store.’ That is very sound advice. What they mean is buy stuff that you normally eat and then always eat the oldest item first, so you rotate through your stored food supply.

The great thing about storing food for survival is that it is easy to start, and not expensive. Cans of vegetables can often be purchased on sale for about fifty cents per can. Most people have an extra buck so they could buy two cans for storage. You don’t have to buy a whole year’s supply all at once. You buy a little extra each week. Like when you are planning on eating spaghetti soon, so you buy a box of the pasta, just buy an extra box. Pasta has a long storage life and it is very reasonable to purchase. Start slow and just buy extra of the regular foods you always buy.

So if you eat canned green beans and you buy twenty cans when it is on sale then store it with the oldest cans to the front, so that is what you use first. And the next time they are on sale again buy more but put the new cans in back behind the older cans. This way you rotate your stock of food. And you are only storing food that you will actually eat.

Continue reading“Budget Food and Sundries Storage – Pt. 1, by Pete Thorsen”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on CB radio sales and service businesses in the American Redoubt.

Region-Wide

Yellowstone begins capturing bison to control herd numbers

o  o  o

US Plans End to Wolf Protections; Critics Say It’s Premature.  JWR Says: This change is long past due!

o  o  o

Wolves reach Oregon Coast, accused in ‘probable’ kill of 22 sheep

Idaho

CB Shop of Boise is a the go-to place, in southern Idaho. They are still located at 3353 South Federal Way.  Don’t look for a web page–they don’t have one. Phone: (208) 850-0684.

o o o

Rooster CB Radios in New Meadows is open up shop again, this summer.  Their sales and repairs will be online only. (No storefront.)

o  o  o

A new one, at my #1 Son’s SurvivalRealty.com site: Home on 10 acres, north of Sandpoint Idaho, on Sand Creek

o  o  o

Over at The Charles Carroll Society, on the lighter side: Charlie Kirk visits North Idaho — Talks CPAC, President Trump, Jussie Smollett and more

o  o  o

Reader SPD sent us a link to a point of view piece on “geospatial division” from a Red Ice TV commentator: Outlawing White Neighborhoods & Freedom of Association. Idaho is specifically mentioned at the 7:40 mark. JWR’s Comments: Personally, I lean toward separation on religious lines.  Many of the black Christians that I know would be great neighbors. But atheists or Muslims of any skin tone? Not the best neighbors. Choose your neighborhood carefully.

o  o  o

This company in Ketchum, Idaho makes some a great sliding cargo drawer system for several brands of pickups and SUVs:  Decked.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

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 “JWR”.  Today, we focus on Caching Cash.  (See the last item in this column.)

Fire Departments Becoming Scanner Opaque

Here is some important news from H.L., for those of us who own public service band  scanners: Fire Departments Are “Going Dark” and Becoming Secret Public Safety Organizations.  The article starts out with this:

“Across the country fire departments in Connecticut, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Illinois have begun encrypting their radio transmissions, effectively turning them into secret public safety organizations.

The latest fire department to ‘go dark’ and hide its communications from the public is the Denver Fire Department in Colorado.

The Denver Post reported that once the fire department learned that they could no longer communicate with the Colorado Police Department which also went dark; they decided they had to do the same thing.”

Making DNA Records and Samples Go Away

The latest from tech guru-ess Kim Komando: How to delete your data from home DNA test sites

Oh, and speaking of DNA data, don’t skip reading this:  A New Method of DNA Testing Could Solve More Shootings.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 11, 2019

March 11th is the birthday of the late actor Anton Yelchin.  He was born in 1989 and died June 19, 2016. He is remembered for his portrayal of Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, and as Ensign Pavel Checkov, the most recent Star Trek movie series. His untimely death came in a freak accident wherein his parked Jeep Grand Cherokee unexpectedly rolled forward on an incline, pinning him to a security fence.

Today is also the birthday of author Douglas Adams (born 1952). He is the author of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Also on this day, the Great Blizzard of ’88 struck the northeastern United States (1888).

—

Today we present a regular product review by our Field Gear Editor, Pat Cascio. The review is of a quite-reasonably priced yet powerful crossbow. I’m a big believer in crossbows. They can be mastered much more quickly than a traditional bow. When hunting, they can be carried in a string-drawn position for short periods of time. However, for safety, a bolt should not be nocked until just before you shoot. – JWR

 

Cold Steel Cheap Shot 130 Crossbow, by Pat Cascio

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We often only think about firearms when we discuss hard-core survival. And of course, we need a good knife for various chores. But archery is often overlooked. Today, we’re taking a close look at Cold Steel‘s Cheap Shot 130 crossbow. I quickly found that it is a joy to use.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, a friend and I used to hunt rabbits in a field – a big field – down the block from where my mother and step-father lived. I didn’t live with them, but would spend some weekends at their house. The field itself was outside the city limits of Chicago, Illinois. Believe it or not, my friend and I got a lot of rabbits with our bows. That is the extent of my use of a bow and arrow. I had no experience with a crossbow, until long-time friend, Lynn Thompson, who owns Cold Steel, sent me his newest product to test.

Some Assembly Required

Look, I don’t like to open a box, only to find out that the product inside of it, needs to be assembled, and more often than not, the instructions are not clearly written. So, I pass this chore along to my oldest daughter, and she has the patience to follow the instructions and assemble whatever it is that I need to have assembled. When I gave her the Cheap Shot 130 crossbow box, I got “that” look from her, however, inside of 5-minutes, she handed me the completely assembled crossbow. Wait? What? Huh? Can’t be!!! Sure enough, she assembled the Cheap Shot 130 and even read the instructions on how to use and it, and explained it all to me. Everyone knows that their dad isn’t the brightest tool in the shed, right?

Continue reading“Cold Steel Cheap Shot 130 Crossbow, by Pat Cascio”