My Longer Lesson, by D.D.

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This is the sequel to my submission published 9/11/15. I am temped to follow in the steps of Larry Niven’s unfinished short story in which he said, “There are some things man was not meant to know.”, and simply write “I should’ve learned.” However, that won’t help you. So, let me expound.

Those You Think Most Likely To Become Prep Allies Probably Won’t

My piece of three years ago basically concluded, with some level of frustration, that the people you think are most likely to become your prep allies probably won’t. So save yourself the disappointment and stop trying to farm your way to a resilient team. (Kit Perez explains this with greater eloquence in her piece over at American Partisan1.) Here is my sad, unlearned version.

New Neighbors Met in New Town

About 18 months ago my wife and I moved to a new town and began to meet new neighbors. Some were met through the local Oath Keepers chapter, some at church, and some while walking our dog. Our neighborhood is fairly remote, somewhat off-grid and adjacent to a national forest. As chit-chat usually goes, the “Where did you come from?” and “What are your politics?” questions quickly down-selected those we were willing to have over for dinner.

We’re not ones to talk about the Kardashians over a meal (or over anything else), so the topics hovered around politics, economics, and eventually settled on the lack of resiliency in our current way of life. I brought up books like One Second After and A Failure of Civility to illustrate both our dependence on electricity and the thin veneer of politeness in society. Here’s where the story goes bad.

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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”. Goodbye, France. It’s been nice knowing you.

Goodbye, France

France has a significant population of Islamic people. Every day, the significant number of those parents send their kids to a local mosque where they spend half of a three hour lesson learning Arabic and the other half learning about the Quran. Now, the president of France wants to introduce a program into public schools to offer Arabic to kids as young as six. President Macron believes the lack of Arabic resources in public schools has forced the Islamic community into communautarisme (creating a social divide between Islamists and the rest of the country). He also believes that teaching Arabic in public schools will reduce the tendency of the community to use the private schools are recruiting centers for jihadists. See, America’s liberal/progressives don’t have a lock on stupidity. (Note: This link may require a membership.) Thanks to reader P. for the link.

West Nile Virus

Reader G.P. sent in this article showing that there have been a record number of West Nile virus infections reported this year. The warming temperatures and flooding that much of the country has experienced recently have created massive breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Every state except Hawaii has reported cases of the virus and Georgia has reported deaths due to the infection. Pennsylvania has had a massive surge in infections and Massachusetts has record numbers. Texas is also expecting large numbers of infections. Last year, there were 2,097 cases reported and this year is on track to surpass that number.

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Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – October 24, 2018

October 24th is the anniversary of the firing squad execution of Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling, in 1945. His ignominious place in history was to have his surname become a noun. “Quisling” is now a moniker synonymous with treason and alliance with an invading army. Something tells me that the popularity of “Vidkun” as a boys’ natal name in Scandanavia dropped precipitously after about 1942. Ditto for “Adolf”, in Germany, and “Benito”, in Italy, after 1944.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 79 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. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  6. 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).

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 79 ends on November 30th, 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.

G.O.O.D. Skin Care, by TK

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Market research studies reveal that the skin care industry anticipates sales of $121 billion in 2018. It is a huge industry, with creams and potions promising much and not always delivering. Practicing good skin health costs less and has a better payoff.

Skin Care

Practicing proper skin care now, in preparation for economic, natural, and governmental disasters, will pay off in the long run with overall better health. Our skin is our largest organ and is vital to survival and health. It protects everything inside our bodies, regulates temperature and water loss, communicates external environmental factors through the nerve endings, and is our first line of defense in environmental and chemical exposures. Maintaining healthy skin will pay off in large returns.

Stressed Skin

When we face day-to-day stress, our bodies, including our skin, will show signs. The typical first presentation of stressed skin is a rash, hives, redness, or itchiness. That can lead to scratching that itch, possibly breaking the skin and leading to the introduction of bacteria. Adrenaline causes decreased blood flow and, therefore, oxygen to the skin. A weakened skin barrier can lead to infections and injuries.

Dry Skin

While most of us would say we have dry skin, that isn’t always true. Dry skin is defined by a lack or low production of oil (sebum). If you have any shiny spots on your skin, you have adequate sebum production. Dry skin may be helped by Omega 3 or Omega 6, which contain lipids that can increase sebum production. Clinically dry skin may require medical intervention to keep it healthy. Prescription moisturizers containing urea or lactic acid can be helpful.

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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 JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on Stock market turbulence. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

Precious Metals:

First up, from Clint Siegner: How The Midterm Elections Might Affect Gold And Silver Prices

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Palladium Spikes to All-Time High: The Long View

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Money Managers Slash Bearish Positioning In Gold

 

Economy & Finance:

From Wolf Richter: It’s the Banks Again. “US bank stock index down 17% from January. EU bank stocks crushed, crushed, crushed since Financial Crisis.”

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Three reasons so many Americans are getting the hell out of of the northeast. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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At Zero Hedge: ZIRP Blowback: Savers Flee Banks’ Zero Interest Deposit Accounts

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A piece worth reading by Brandon Smith: Trump vs. The Fed: When Markets Crash, Who Is To Blame?

 

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on some Electrical How-To videos. (See the Instructional Videos section.)

Books:

On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Note: I’ve mentioned this book in SurvivalBlog, but the subject matter and the quality of the writing both warrant another mention.

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Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution, by Tucker Carlson

 

Movies & Television:

Escape from Firebase Kate. Available on DVD or free streaming for those with Amazon Prime.

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The Way Back

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Last Best Hope – A True Story of Escape, Evasion, and Remembrance. (This is unfortunately a hard-to-find DVD.)

 

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“A man must know his destiny… if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder… if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it.” – General George S. Patton

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – October 23, 2018

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On October 23rd, 2002, around 50 Chechen rebels stormed a Moscow theater, taking 700 hostages during a popular musical. After 57 hours, during which two hostages were killed, Soviet Special Forces pumped a powerful narcotic gas into the theater knocking the terrorists and hostages unconscious before breaking in through the walls and roof. When the dust settled, most of the rebels and 120 hostages had been killed.

The Well-Balanced Gun Collection

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A topic that comes up in more than half of my consulting calls, is firearms. Most survivalists gravitate toward guns for obvious reasons. If anything, SurvivalBlog could surely be labelled a “guns and groceries” oriented blog, and most of our readers are like-minded. We tend to have large gun collections. We aren’t entirely gun-centric, but our concept of preparedness includes owning guns and having full proficiency in their use.

The greatest difficulty vis-a-vis guns for those in our community is not hand-wringing about whether or not we should own them. We’ll leave that pseudo-question up to the leftists. Rather, our difficulty is knowing which assortment of guns and how many to buy.

Getting balance in a gun collection is a worthy goal. One key to this is recognizing that guns just by themselves have little utility. You will also need:

    • Training
    • Ammunition
    • Magazines. (Buy plenty.)
    • Cleaning Equipment
    • Holster, Cases, and Magazine pouches
    • Optics

I listed training first, because it is crucial. Owning a gun without also getting good training makes a gun little more than just a voodoo talisman.  As I’ve often written:  With a limited budget, it is better to have fewer guns and more training. Train, train, and then train some more!

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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 the new crypto mining restriction in Ephrata, Wasington. See the Eastern Washington section.)

Idaho

Fish and Game: Idaho outdoorsmen to have some of the best elk hunting conditions of all time

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Coeur D’Alene Police Department evacuated after man brings in explosive found in car

 

Montana

Reader Cathy N. sent us this news about College Town Leftist Loonies: Missoula, Montana City Council Passes Emergency Ordinance Banning Guns in Most Public Places. Of course because of Montana’s State Preemption clause, this ordinance will surely be stricken by the courts. But there will be much angst there, in the interim.

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Video: Trump pre-election rally in Missoula, Montana

 

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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”.

Robots

The governments of the world continue their march towards robotic weapons. It really only makes sense. A robot is considerably less expensive to replace than a trained person if it is a casualty of a battle. Robots can also make decisions much faster than humans can. The danger, of course, is that a robot has no conscience and no sense of right and wrong. If you make a robot designed to kill, it will be an efficient killing machine. The U.S. has pledged to keep a human in the decision loop, but other countries have not, mostly due to the advantage that gives them on the battlefield. The robots are also getting quite good at things. I’m embarrassed that this robot from Boston Dynamics has more moves than me on the dance floor.

On a serious note, the main battle tank as we know it may soon be a thing of the past. Reader G.P. sent in this article on how smaller robotic vehicles are being armed with the Javelin anti-tank missile (and a .50-caliber machine gun) turns the 1.6 ton, 8 foot long robot into a lethal tank killer. This robot, made by Milrem Robotics of Estonia. The thinking is that tank killing is such serious business that they become high priority targets making it a dangerous job. So why not put a remote console on it to remove the operator from the majority of danger. Again, Milrem promises to always have a human in the loop, but I wonder how quickly that would be removed if the operators are on the losing side of a battle.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Today, you people are no longer maggots. Today, you are Marines. You’re part of a brotherhood. From now on until the day you die, wherever you are, every Marine is your brother. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But always remember this: Marines die. That’s what we’re here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means you live forever.” – R. Lee Ermey, as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, in Full Metal Jacket.

 

Jeep Shovel, by Pat Cascio

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I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some kind of compact shovel in my vehicles. Some are better than others. Today, we’re taking a close look at the “Jeep Shovel” from Major Surplus. It is quite the little tool.

Haunting Army-Navy Surplus Stores When I Was a Kid

I grew up haunting army-navy surplus stores back in Chicago, IL when I was a kid. I could, and I did, easily spend hours and hours in those stores. Two, in particular, were just a couple of blocks away from one another in downtown Chicago, so it was easy visiting both surplus stores. Back then, almost all the surplus in those stores, was USGI. Today, it’s hard to find genuine U.S. military surplus gear and equipment. Instead, we find a lot of foreign military gear. While, in most cases, that military gear, even used, is better than most civilian camping/outdoor gear and clothing though not always better but in many cases, I’ll take military gear over civilian gear for survival.

Though I don’t remember the name of one of the army/navy stores in downtown Chicago, it was at the south end of “The Loop” on State Street, and I recall that it was fairly small. It had a great selection of bayonets and other USGI military equipment. The other store, called Bailey’s, was just a couple of blocks away. I believe they’re still in business. They were a much larger military surplus store with a lot of military uniforms upstairs and other military gear and equipment downstairs. I was in heaven when I visited those two stores.

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