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).

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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”

Recipe of the Week: Avalanche Lily’s Dairy-Free Biscuits

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Avalanche Lily’s Dairy-Free Biscuits

Here is a favorite that we bake nearly every week here at the Rawles Ranch, especially in winter months.

Ingredients

2 Cups Flour
1 TBS Baking powder
2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup of the thick portion of a can of coconut milk. (Or use butter or shortening, for a traditional recipe)
2/3 cup the watery portion of a can of coconut milk. (Or use cow milk, for a traditional recipe)

 

Continue reading“Recipe of the Week: Avalanche Lily’s Dairy-Free Biscuits”

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 discontinued SIG pistols. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

This is a good piece to start off today’s column: Trade the Gold to Silver Ratio.

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Fund Manager: Gold Is Historically Cheap When Compared To The Stock Market

 

Economy & Finance:

Wolf Richter: Another Global Financial Crisis, with China at the Epicenter?

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At The New American: China’s Super Rich Exiting as Economy Fades

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Eric Peters: The Rise of the Family Kenworth

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe. And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land.” – James Monroe

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – March 10, 2019

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On March 10, 1910, China officially ended slavery. But unofficially, China now has one of the world’s largest slave populations. These are mostly political prisoners, working in prison factories. Sadly, there is no way of reliably knowing whether or not most of the “Made In China” merchandise that you buy might originate from Chinese prison factories.

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Today, we’ve selected a guest post from Ammo.com. It is posted with their permission.

Gun Background Checks Explained

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Editor’s Note: This article was first posted at Ammo.com, and is re-posted with permission.

How the State Came To Decide Who Can and Cannot Buy a Firearm

Prior to 1968, most adults in the United States could purchase a firearm without state interference. Guns were available in local retail stores, as well as mail-order catalogs, and as long as you hadn’t been convicted of a felony and you had the funds, there weren’t any questions asked.

Things are different now. Depending on where in America you are and what type of gun you want to buy, there’s a good chance you’ll need to pass a NICS-mandated background check to complete your purchase.

Although many people hold a strong opinion for and against gun background checks, they’ve proven to be an integral part of the state’s gun control apparatus – and they don’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.

Since background checks are such a requirement for today’s gun enthusiasts, it’s important for gun owners (and those who may someday be gun owners) to understand everything they can, including how the current system works and how it came to be.

Continue reading“Gun Background Checks Explained”

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 Constitutional Carry (aka: Permitless Concealed Carry.)

Kentucky Becomes 16th Constitutional Carry State

We’ll start out with some quite good news:  Matt Bevin to Sign Bill Making Kentucky 16th Permitless Carry State.  JWR’s Comment:  The polarization of gun laws is becoming more pronounced.  Freedom-loving interior states are restoring firearms freedom. Constitutional Carry is a rising tide. But meanwhile the mostly coastal leftist Nanny states are restricting freedom with a panoply of new gun laws. I can see that if this this polarization continues, we will witness mass internal migrations between states–people voting with their feet. There will also be calls to partition more than a dozen states that have geographically-fractured politics.  (Such as partitioning eastern Washington–the proposed State of Liberty–and eastern Oregon from their leftist “Left Halves.”) The American Redoubt movement was just the beginning.

Our Medical Police State

T.Z. sent us this: Family Raided by Cops, Their Children Kidnapped—for Not Bringing Son to ER for a Fever

Majority of New Mexico Counties Refuse to Enforce Gun Laws

The new trend: ‘Second Amendment Sanctuaries’: 21 of New Mexico’s 33 Counties Refuse to Enforce Gun Control.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 24:1-51 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – March 9, 2019

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March 9th is the birthday of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – the first man to ever travel in space. He was born in 1934 and died in the crash of a MiG-15-UTI fighter on March 27, 1968.

Today is also the birthday of writer John McPhee (b. 1931), a master of creative nonfiction. One of McPhee’s most widely read books is Coming into the Country, which eloquently describes the Alaskan wilderness.

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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.

Time and Planning, Pt. 2, by 3ADscout

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(Continued from Part 1.)

Learning from history about older technology and ways people lived is great knowledge but having the knowledge without the “tools” still leaves a gap in your preparedness. Finding the tools and devices of bygone eras will also take time. Scouring antique shops, flea markets, garage sales, estate sales and attending auctions takes time but again the time spent can be productive use of your time in several different ways. It can be quality time spent with the family. It can also be used to teach our children about the past and what “things” were used for. Negotiating a price is developing or practicing a skill that will be needed in a post-TEOTWAWKI barter economy.

If you attend an auction knowing what “things” are, makes your time there more productive. Looking at a bunch of “Junk” lined up in boxes on the ground is not a productive use of your time. However, if you used some of your time to research and learn prior to attending auctions and other second-hand markets you won’t necessarily always see “Junk” but an old piece of technology that will save you and your family lots of time post-TEOTWAWKI.

I was at an auction a few months ago and happened to find a box of M1 Garand rifle ammunition clips that I picked up for $7 and then a medium size tackle like box filled with hundreds of older military firearm parts for $65. I saw two older gentlemen looking at the M1 Garand clips and asking each other if they knew what they were. I picked up a reproduction Sear’s and Roebuck catalog several years ago and use it to learn what older things are that are no longer used or produced.  Knowledge truly is power. Make sure you are using your time to gain some.

Continue reading“Time and Planning, Pt. 2, by 3ADscout”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily, we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities. They also often share their planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, property improvements, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR Reports

It was a beautiful winter week here at the Rawles Ranch, with mostly cold and clear or partly-cloudy skies. This coming week is expected to be substantially warmer, with highs in the mid-30s. Lily will be sad to see her good skiing powder snow turn to slush. She’ll soon need to turn her attention to sprouting our greenhouse seedlings.

I did some snowshoeing this week. I got down to the the Unnamed River  that runs through the back of the ranch, on Tuesday, March 5th. I was surprised to see that the river was mostly frozen over. In my 12+ years here at the ranch, this is the most ice that I’ve seen on the river in the month of March.  Thanks for that “Global Warming”, Al Gore!

Although I also have some larger snowshoes, my current favorites are what are commonly called modified bear paws. They measure about 9″ x 30″. With any that are any longer, I have difficulty on steep hillsides, and/or in dense woods. And I’ve tried using smaller ones. With those, I sink in too deep, and that is too tiring for long hikes. I’ve found that there is a requisite minimum surface area, especially with the extra weight of carrying a pack. I also often use a pair of very lightweight white ski poles when snowshoeing.  Those are particularly important when carrying a pack, for balance.

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”.  Today, we focus on the announced retrial of Tommy Robinson.

Photobucket Web Site Compromised by Malware

SuvrvivalBlog’s Editor-At-Large Michael Z. Williamson, sent this warning:

“Photobucket has been having ongoing issues with service and security. Quite a few of the “featured” photos link to dangerous malware that can damage your files.

Today, I got hit with an annual charge, only three months after my previous annual charge. Clicking the FAQ button immediately started downloading malware that my system and my wife (an IT security expert) managed to block this and delete it.
We’re not sure if it was an invisible overlay that clicked to the malware site, or if their entire system is compromised.
The Facebook page for Photobucket is full of complaints, with their canned response of, “We are aware of this problem and are working on it.”
I had been slowly porting images elsewhere. I’ve now made it a crash priority to finish moving them today.
I would suggest anyone with an account pull their images at once, host elsewhere, and permanently close your account. Photobucket is increasingly unreliable and malware ridden–and has been for close to a decade.”

Tommy Robinson to Face Trial Again

I just heard that British anti-pedophile grooming gang activist Tommy Robinson will face trial again. His new trial is scheduled to begin on March 22nd, 2019.  If he is convicted, he will almost surely be imprisoned, for up to two years. And given the death threats and physicaI attacks he has already endured whilst in prison, that could very well be a Death Sentence. I believe that his cause is just, that the charges are almost entirely contrived, and that he is being singled out for prosecution for purely political reasons. Just days before the re-trial was announced, Tommy Robinson caught undercover police officers parked in a specially-equipped electronic surveillance van parked near his home. This smacks of Stasi tactics. Freedom of speech in England is in serious peril! Please help Tommy Robinson with his legal defense expenses, if you can.
And a special note for our readers in England all around the world: Order yourselves optic yellow safety vests. You may need them, quite soon! The turmoil caused by a Brexit “no deal” may seem mild, compared to the scale of public protests that will explode in England, if Tommy Robinson is re-sentenced.

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