The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Zimbabwe is crashing and burning this week…again.

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight will provide an excellent view of the only full lunar eclipse in 2019. The eclipse is notable because it will be happening during what is called a “super moon”, a time when the moon is closest to the earth, making the moon look larger. Technically, “super moon” is not an official term, but it rolls off the tongue a whole lot easier than “perigee syzygy” which is the proper name. In any case, 12:12 a.m. EST (9:12 p.m. PST) is totality. North and South America will have a great view of this one. Have fun viewing it.

Top Five Lies on YouTube Gun Channels

Reader T.J. sent in this excellent video from Reid Henrichs of Valor Ridge that deals with some of the more egregious lies propagated on YouTube channels. I’ve heard these lies myself many times, but usually from YouTubers that I no longer watch because I recognize them as mostly ignorant trying to pass themselves off as experts. Some of these lies will get you hurt or killed in a critical situation. Reid addresses each of them with actual facts.

Additional Gun Ban Legislation

The NRA has sent out an alert to its members about Washington’s new push for gun ban legislation. Senate Bill 5340 and the companion House Bill 1286 were filed at the request of the attorney General. They would ban possession of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms based solely on cosmetic features along with a list of firearms, and magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds. This legislation is in addition to the already filed SB 5062 and HB 1068 which will ban standard capacity magazines. Yep, thanks to the American voters, we are in for a wild ride for the next two years. Thanks to reader P. for the link.

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Preparedness Notes for Saturday – January 19, 2019

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January 19th is the birthday of the late Carla Emery (born 1939, died October 11, 2005). She is well known in self-sufficency circles as the author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living. (This book re-released in a 40th Anniversary edition.)

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 80 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 gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  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 80 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.

Raising Chickens For Meat- Part 1, by Michele Cooper

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This past year, for the first time, I raised chickens for meat. The reason I did not previously is that I do not like killing animals. I can butcher them after they are dead, but I don’t like killing them. Yes, I know, I’m such a wimp.

Informed of Chicken Processing Plants

I have a good friend, Tami, who works for the local feed store, and in the spring, they have lots of chicks. I mentioned to Tami that I would like to raise my own chickens for meat but cannot kill the chickens (or rabbits, or whatever). She informed me that, in Idaho (much closer to us than the Willamette Valley or the coast), there are chicken processing plants where you bring in live chickens and return a few hours later and have chickens that have been killed, cleaned, cooled, and sealed in plastic.

Going To Raise Meat Chickens

Well, that settled it for me; I was going to raise my own meat chickens.

I had done a lot of research on growing meat chickens, and I had decided if I ever raised my own fryers they would be Red or Freedom Rangers or the equivalent, and not Cornish Cross or Franken chickens, as I call them. Cornish Cross chickens are what are grown commercially because they grow from baby chick to fryer size in 6-8 weeks. In fact, they grow so fast that their legs often cannot keep up and you have a bunch of chickens that can’t, or can barely, walk. Further, many of them die of heart attacks due to their massive growth rate.

Red rangers take about twice as long as Cornish Cross. It takes twelve weeks instead of six to eight.

Continue reading“Raising Chickens For Meat- Part 1, by Michele Cooper”

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

We are in full Winter Mode, here at the Rawles Ranch. After a couple of glorious sunny (but chilly) days early in the week, we transitioned back to snow. This time it was a fine dry powder that refuses to clump together when pressed in your palm. This made Avalanche Lily quite excited, because she likes getting some of that on top of an established snow base, for cross country skiing.

I’ve been busy outlining a book for a publisher in England. The book contract is pending. I’ll post more updates on that is a couple of weeks.

I’ve also been frantically ordering parts and magazines for my current AR builds. These are all being assembled for my grandchildren. I say “frantically” because I’m starting to see prices creep up. I believe that we’ve seen the bottom of the Trump Slump. I expect AR parts and 11+ round magazines to positively gallop in price, in the next few months. Buy low and sell high, folks! Fair warning: The new U.S. Congress has been meeting. This famous quote bears repeating:

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” – Gideon J. Tucker

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 “HJL”. Today features a pair of videos that explain how nuclear bombs work, but in language that a person can truly understand.

How Nuclear Bombs Work

I was looking for a short tutorial on how nuclear bombs work when I ran across this two-hour lecture series on YouTube. People understand how normal explosives work and the fear factor just isn’t there because there isn’t much “unknown”. But with regards to nuclear bombs, that “unknown” factor is often off the charts. While the politics in this two part lecture are somewhat dated (2013), the technical stuff is brought down to a reasonable level and you walk away with a rudimentary understanding of how they work, how they are made, and what the significant dangers are.

As an example, it becomes apparent that enriching uranium 235 to the low yield of 4.5% required for peaceful nuclear reactors is actually about 75% of the work required for weapons grade U-235. Bringing it to 20% is about 90% of the work to get it to weapons grade quality. At this stage, the uranium is stored as a gas called uranium hexaflouride and can be enriched to weapons grade with comparatively very little effort. When a country acquires the ability to have “peaceful” nuclear reactors, the remaining industry to build nuclear bombs is relatively minimal. You don’t even need “weapons grade” to build a bomb either. The series also points out that if your delivery system is a container on a ship or a truck, you don’t even have to worry about the miniaturization required to fit it on a ballistic missile. This is a very informative series on the difficulties (and simplicities) of building nuclear weapons.

Nuclear 101: How Nuclear Bombs Work Part 1/2 – Making nuclear bombs

Nuclear 101: How Nuclear Bombs Work Part 2/2 – Making the material for nuclear bombs

Companion Planting

By this time, we’ve all heard of companion planting – the method of plantinig certain garden plants together to gain a synergistic benefit. Sometimes that benefit is in the areas of pest control and sometimes the benefit is growth or fruit/seed production. But did you know that some plants should never be planted together because the opposite happens? Reader H.L. sent in this interesting article on plants that should never be planted together (or even in the same area as you rotate your plans around your garden.)

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” – Exodus 13:17-19 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – January 18, 2019

Kevin Costner, who starred in Open Range, was born on this day in 1955.

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We are coming up on the end of of Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog Non-Fiction Writing Contest. You only have two more weeks to get your entry in before it ends. By the way, this round of the contest has been somewhat light on entries so your chances of winning are better than ever! Send your entries to us. You can also include original pictures (no stock photos please) of your project. Just include them as a jpg or png attachment to the email.

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We are also looking for scrumptious recipes that you may be willing to share with the SurvivalBlog community. If you have a family recipe, especially one that is made from your food stores, send it in to us as well.

Guest Article: The Whispered Prepper Necessity: Feminine Hygiene, by Patrice Lewis

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An unspoken but critical need for any prepper family with women is feminine hygiene. Sorry to bring up an awkward and indelicate subject, but every woman reading this is nodding her head in agreement.

Phasing Out Disposable Products

A number of years ago, our family started phasing out disposable products. We did this for a number of reasons, including environmental and financial; but the biggest reason was our interest in reducing waste. If the bleep ever hits the fan, waste disposal will be a huge issue. Better to tackle that aspect now rather than later.

Washable Feminine Hygiene, A High Priority

During this process, obtaining washable feminine hygiene was high on our priority list for myself and our two daughters. Therefore I purchased three full sets of washable hygiene products for our monthly use. That was almost 10 years ago and I’ve never looked back.

Reasons For Being Dissatisfied With Store-Bought

Before switching to washables, I’d long been dissatisfied with store-bought sanitary napkins for a number of reasons. One, I don’t like what they’re made of. Two, I don’t like the price. Three, I don’t like that they’re non-biodegradable. Four, I don’t like the idea of being, say, trapped in a blizzard and unable to make a dash for the store for emergency supplies. Five, I don’t like things that aren’t reusable.

Continue reading“Guest Article: The Whispered Prepper Necessity: Feminine Hygiene, by Patrice Lewis”

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 investing in farmland. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Prices To Rally 13% In 2019, Silver Up 12% – MKS PAMP Group

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Turbulence And Brexit Make Safer Options Like Gold And Cash Essential

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If Gold Tops $1,350, Wells Fargo To Turn Negative On The Metal

 

Global Economy:

RTE Italy: Signs of global economic gloom looming

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News from Thailand: ‘Election a key factor’ in 2019 growth

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And at Wolf Street: Four Months of Carmageddon in the EU Wipe Out Gains for 2018

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

A Sure Gain of 10% in 10 Days: Forever Stamps

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There are very few investments that can earn you a sure 10% profit in one year. But what about one that will earn you 10% in just 10 days? That’s not just wishful thinking. It is a certainty that the cost of “forever” U.S. postage stamps will increase in cost by 10% on January 27, 2019. The cost of a First Class Forever Stamp will go up from 50 Cents to 55 Cents. This is one of the largest rate increases in the history of the USPS.  (The largest in Dollar terms and one of the largest, in percentage terms.)

I am recommending that all SurvivalBlog readers who live in the U.S. and U.S. Possessions stock up on Forever Stamps, as soon as possible. There are likely to be shortages of these stamps as soon as January 21st, 2019.

Who Should Buy Them?

All Americans should buy a two or three year supply for their general correspondence. And anyone who runs a mailorder business and that ships their small packages via U.S. mail should consider buying and even larger supply.

Continue reading“A Sure Gain of 10% in 10 Days: Forever Stamps”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Today has an interesting article on the arms buildup of Turkey along the Syrian border.

Brexit Preppers

It may be for the wrong reason, but at least it’s moving people in the right direction. Fear that they won’t be able to get their favorite foodstuffs anymore have driven many of Britain’s housewives to stockpiling food and medicine. In a first world country like Britain, separate trade agreements outside of the EU will obviously be made once Britain has exited the EU, but these housewives don’t trust that they will still have access to things they need and want. Many who wanted to stay part of the EU have formed a group called “48% Preppers”, so named after the vote percentage who wished to remain in the EU. In a way it’s kind of silly, but hey, whatever it takes to get people to get out of the “Just in Time” mentality. Thanks to H.L. for the link.

Cracked on TSA

Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, dredged up this old article from Cracked, a typically liberal organization. However, they’ve hit this one on the head and it’s still just as valid today as it was six years ago. “7 Reasons the TSA Sucks (A Security Expert’s Perspective)” is an excellent short treatise on why the TSA is one of the worst security organizations in existence. It’s proof that even a humor organization can get valid information from an expert.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten. The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday. The hand entrusted with power becomes, either form human depravity or esprit de corps, the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continued oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot; only by unintermitted agitation can a people be sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.” – Wendell Phillips