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

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers:

We finally have the last of the hay for this winter stacked in the barn!  Weather delays and down equipment had plagued us through much of summer. ıut finally, it is all in!

My most labor-intensive project this week was mucking out the chicken run.

This past week was dominated by tomato harvesting, ripening, processing, and gifting. My wife (“Avalanche Lily”) will provide the details on that…

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”. Yet again, up to nine million webcams are at risk.

Robotic Parkour

Over the last two years, we’ve been tracking the progress that Boston Dynamics has been making with their robots. Unlike the simple movements that robots like the Japanese Asimov is capable of, Boston Dynamics has been targeting “off road” use. These robots do not require level ground to operate on and are becoming quite capable of very human-like movements. Watching Atlas perform some basic parkour like jumping over a large log and leaping up multiple level platforms while not missing a beat on it’s jog is quite amazing. Atlas is a man-sized bipedal robot that has an on-board power source. Only a year ago, it was struggling to maintain balance when pushed. Thanks to G.P. for the video link.

DNA Registries

Apparently, more than 60 percent of Americans with European ancestry can be identified through the various DNA registries and databases, even if they have not submitted their own DNA. This is according to a report issued Thursday. Because of the registries ability to track relatives, even if a cousin submits their DNA and lists you as a cousin, there is enough information present that you can be tracked.

This information can be used for good like tracking a long lost relative or family tree or tracking a criminal. It can also be used for evil, like tracking those who have genetic defects that would raise insurance rates. What happens when a particular race of people are suddenly deemed sub-human and pursued for extermination? After watching the recent mob scenes over the confirmation of Kavanagh, I have to wonder how far our society is from something like this. Thanks to H.L. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.” – Isaiah 54:6-7 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – October 12, 2018

Today, in 1492, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted a Bahamian island, believing he had reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.

Guest Post: Americans Are More Radicalized Than Ever As The Country Literally Spirals Toward Civil War, by Michael Snyder

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Now that Brett Kavanaugh has officially been confirmed, it is a good time to reflect upon where we are at as a nation. And where we are at is a nation that is rapidly moving toward a state of civil war. At one time we were a nation that was united by shared values, a shared purpose and a shared destiny, but now all of that has been replaced by anger, frustration, bitterness, strife and discord. The left hates the right and vice versa, and both sides are becoming increasingly radicalized. And without a doubt we are in a life or death battle for the future of America. Eventually one side or the other will emerge victorious, and their ideology will become dominant in this country.

Up to this point, there has been a lot of screaming, yelling and protesting, but it isn’t going to take very much to push the nation over the edge into violence.

On a daily basis the pot is being stirred by our leading politicians and the mainstream media, and it is very difficult to see any way that this story is going to end well.

Early on Sunday, the Drudge Report was being headlined by an Axios story about “the radicalization of our public lives”…

Continue reading“Guest Post: Americans Are More Radicalized Than Ever As The Country Literally Spirals Toward Civil War, by Michael Snyder”

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 crypto volatility. (See the Cryptos section.)

 

Stocks:

We’ll start with this at Seeking Alpha: What Is Behind The Market Sell-Off And Should We Worry?

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Also at Seeking Alpha: Tesla: The Cracks Are Showing

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At Zero Hedge: Trump Blames Market Rout On Fed, Says Won’t Fire Powell

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Also at Zero Hedge: How Much More Do The Quants Have To Sell?

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – October 11, 2018

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On this day, in 732, at the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France, Frankish leader Charles Martel, a Christian, defeated a large army of Spanish Moors, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe. Abd-ar-Rahman, the Muslim governor of Cordoba, was killed in the fighting, and the Moors retreated from Gaul, never to return in such force.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by Hurricane Michael. Let’s continue to pray for their safety and wisdom in the choices they make.

Guest Article: Seven People You Don’t Want in Your Group, by Kit Perez

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Editor’s Introductory Note: This article first appeared in the American Partisan blog. It is re-posted with permission.

I get a lot of questions about recruiting. How to do it, when to do it, when not to. While the best way to answer those questions is in an actual class (and there are still a few spots open in the webinar class I’m teaching on it), there are some hard and fast rules about the type of people you want and don’t want in your group. In fact, there’s a list of automatic disqualifications that I tend to use and teach others. If someone is on the disqualification list, they’re an automatic no-go. It doesn’t mean they aren’t friends, or that I suddenly see them as not worth having in my life; I’m talking about purely an ally standpoint. The 0300 call for assistance. The people who I can count on no matter what. After all, what’s the purpose here? If your goal is just to go to rallies and be seen “doing patriot stuff,” then don’t even bother reading the rest of the article, because it’ll fly right over your head.

The rules tend to make people uncomfortable or even angry. “Well, my friend Jack might meet one of those automatic disqualifications but you don’t know him. I do. He’s solid.” Here’s the thing: your knowledge of him doesn’t trump your adversary’s knowledge of how to take a person like Jack and manipulate him into doing things he would not normally do. The bottom line is, are you willing to trust the rest of your life, to be spent in a prison cell, to every person in your group? If you have a “group” of 30, 50, or even 100 people, the answer to that is no; at least, it should be — especially in this age of social media “groups” where you haven’t even MET half the people in the group, let alone had an opportunity to observe them in a variety of situations. In fact, that’s one of the reasons we advocate for such small groups in Basics of Resistance. There’s nothing that says you can’t network with other groups for specific one-time purposes, with the proper compartmentalization.

Continue reading“Guest Article: Seven People You Don’t Want in Your Group, by Kit Perez”

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”. A SurvivalBlog reader updates us on his preparations for Hurricane Michael today.

Orwell’s e-dress

Yet another leaked “internal document” from silicon valley shows that the tech giants are indeed attempting control of free speech in their desire to make Trump and the populist movement that elected him a mere blip in history. This time the the document admits that Google and other tech platfroms now control the majority of online conversations and have undertaken a shift towards censorship in response to political events around the world. Despite Google’s claims to the contrary, evidence is mounting that Google (and other tech companies) do indeed wish to control the narrative. Of course you knew that just because conservative voices are so easily squashed online, yet liberal/progressive voices shout louder than ever. Thanks to D.S. for the link.

The U.S.S.A.

The United States appears to be morphing into the United States of Soviet America according to this article sent in by reader H.L. We are seeing an ever growing amount of surveillance by the government over its own citizens along with a lessening of trust towards both sides. The writer clearly shows how America’s news outlets are clearly being used as propeganda just like the Soviet news outlets like RT and Sputnik. Now with the Department of Homeland Security’s media monitoring program, all that is left is monitoring private conversations of U.S. citizens…oh wait, thanks to Edward Snowden, we already know about those.

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – October 10, 2018

On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific when the Gamboa dike was demolished with dynamite charges.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been 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 transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

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, 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).

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.

The Dragon’s Breath Nonlethal Home Defense for the DIYer, by AJS

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Persons in their own home may encounter an intruder who intends to take what they have and do them harm. They might run away, if they could. What if there is no way out? They may have no choice but to stand their ground, and unfortunately many people in a situation like this are reluctant to use deadly force, even if they stand to lose their possessions and possibly sustain personal body harm or even death. So what can these, who desire a nonlethal solution do if they have been forced into a confrontation when the time for talking is over?

A Home Defense Shotgun Load That’s Nonlethal

Imagine you are in your own home under threat by an intruder and you must survive the next two minutes and protect family members. What can you do? May I suggest a home defense shotgun load configuration that may deter intruders, even very nasty ones and even if there are several of them, yet save you from having to use deadly force… at least at first. You might consider using the “dragon’s breath” device, which you can make yourself, as it is not available in stores.

I happened upon the “dragon’s breath” while experimenting with shotgun reloads at my local range. As I am old and feeble now, I find the noise of a large report and the kick of a full 12 gauge recoil to be increasingly annoying. So, I have been experimenting by reloading full buck shot with lighter loads. I would use the same primer and powder measure but use less mass for the business end. It is interesting, but even removing just one of the nine 00 .32 caliber pellets actually makes a noticeable difference in recoil. One of the commercial manufacturers sells lighter loads with just that change; however, you pay more for them because of the extra effort of taking one pellet out, I suppose. I have tried those, and I think my way is better, as I take out one, two, or maybe all of the pellets. I have a choice.

Continue reading“The Dragon’s Breath Nonlethal Home Defense for the DIYer, by AJS”

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 Peak Real Real Estate. (See the Economy & Finance section.)

 

Precious Metals:

Gold Faces New Headwinds As Bond Yields Hit 7-Year High

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A Bottom In Gold Price But Not THE Bottom

 

Economy & Finance (Peak Real Real Estate):

It appears that with rising interest rates, most of the United States may have already reached to point of peak real estate–that is, the precipice of a housing market crash that may make the 2006-2010 real estate downturn seem mild, by comparison. As of this writing, I’m now recommending that my readers and consulting clients sell any vacation or rental property that they don’t consider viable for use as a retreat. With silver and gold presently low, this is now a good juncture to turn some of your real estate wealth into physical precious metals wealth. Silver is still my  favorite. Remember: “Buy low, and sell high.” 2018 will most likely be remembered as a high point for home and land prices.

I recently found this fascinating article about the California real estate market: More Disappointed Sellers Are Offering Discounts.

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And along to those same lines, there was this, over at Wolf Street: Red Ink: Housing Inflects Further in Bay Area’s Sonoma County

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Venezuela’s annual inflation hits 488,865 percent in September: congress

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

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 kitchen grinders. (See the Gear section.)

Books:

The Winter Survival Handbook: 157 Winter Tips and Tricks (Outdoor Life)

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

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Gut It. Cut It. Cook It.: The Deer Hunter’s Guide to Processing

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The High Security Shelter – How to Implement a Muti-Purpose Safe Room in the Home, 5th Edition, by Joel Skousen

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Lastly, “I may have a biased, but…” This is still one of Penguin’s bestsellers: How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times

 

Movies, Television & Music:

Victory at Sea: The Complete Series

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Snowden. Available on DVD, or for free stream to those with Amazon Prime.

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Braveheart (Widescreen Special Edition)

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