The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

21

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”. Did you know that pistols can kill you? And I’m not talking about the bullets either.

Never Trust a Politician

The Democrat candidate who won New York’s 23rd Congressional District primary election supported a national gun registry during the campaign. Of course, you would expect that. The left is fully on board with the Marxist, socialist policies that include major gun control. There is no surprise there. However, now that the primaries are over and the campaign is shifting towards the main election, this candidate has suddenly dropped support for the national gun registry, claiming that it was not her “official” position. Uh, yeah. Right. I’d like to talk to you about a bridge in Manhattan that you might be interested in buying too. I have to wonder sometimes just how stupid these politicians think we are?

Stolen NBC Equipment

According to this article sent in by G.P., the Army Criminal Investigation Command is reporting that it is investigating a serious equipment and ammunition theft from the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood base. Apparently, a significant quantity of ammunition along with Chemical, Biological, Radological and Nuclear equipment has been taken. Note that NBC equipment is personal protection and detection gear, not weapons. The overall cost is relatively small with 61 M50 masks ($150 each) and three AN-UDR-13 radiation detectors ($700 ea), but it’s obvious the military is struggling with the same loss of moral compass that the general population is.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” – Isaiah 6:1-4 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – August 31, 2018

August 31st, 1992 is the day that Randy Weaver surrendered to the Federal Authorities, ending the 10 day siege on Ruby Ridge. This is the incident that preceded the Waco siege and is known for the unconstitutional rules of engagement and overzealous actions by the jack booted thugs of the federal authorities that resulted in the death of two innocent people– Sammy and Vicki Weaver, Randy’s son and wife. It is notable that Randy was acquitted of all charges except missing a court date and violating bail conditions on an ATF sting operation where it is suspected that Mr. Weaver did nothing wrong but that the ATF informant altered the shotguns sold to him by Weaver resulting in Weaver’s arrest. In addition, the missed court date was due to clerical errors on behalf of the court. All involved Federal agencies were publicly reprimanded, and the state of Idaho attempted to press charges against some individuals for their actions but were stymied due to federal interference.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 78 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 78 ends on September 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.

Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 4, by The Grumpy Gunfighter

5

Without water, survival is impossible, even if you have a storage facility filled with bullets, bandaids, beans, and batteries. My family and I prep in the desert southwest and have taken action so that we won’t find ourselves thirsty in the event of a crisis.

In parts 2 and 3 of this article series, I thoroughly covered both professional drilled and hand dug wells. But once you have access to the water, you need to be sure it is safe to drink. So, let’s look at methods for survival water filtration, purification, and disinfection.

Survival Water Filtration, Purification, and Disinfection Methods

There are a variety of ways to filter, purify, and disinfect water. We will look a several of these and compare them.

Boiling

What Boiling Is and What It Does

At a very basic level, boiling is a simple way to sterilize water. Bringing water to a rolling boil for one minute will kill most bacteria, protozoa, and viruses; however, boiling water will not remove chemicals, such as herbicides, pesticides, and solvents from the water. Additionally, boiling will not remove any heavy metals from the water.

Continue reading“Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 4, by The Grumpy Gunfighter”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

9

Here are the latest 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 Mint Error Coins. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

 

Precious Metals:

Gary Christenson: Inflation Is A Policy Decision

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Video, over at Kitco: Jim Rogers: “Before This Is Over, Gold Might Turn Into A Bubble”

 

 

Stocks:

Tesla Motors (TSLA) appears to have had a le empereur sans culottes moment.

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For any readers still in stocks: Watch the upcoming earnings reports very carefully.  If any  companies that you hold stock in are showing weakness, then get out of them, soon!

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

3

“Gentlemen! I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time, and am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I have determined to rout you out, and by the Eternal, I will rout you out!” – President Andrew Jackson

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – August 30, 2018

Today is the 99th birthday of Joachim Rønneberg, a hero of the Norwegian resistance during World War II. His exploits earned him the War Cross Wtth Sword, Norway’s highest military honor. In April 2013, Rønneberg was presented with a Union Jack during a ceremony at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) monument in London to mark 70 years since the successful Gunnerside heavy water plant sabotage mission.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 78 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 78 ends on September 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.

Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 3, by The Grumpy Gunfighter

5

Without water, survival is impossible, even if you have a storage facility filled with bullets, bandaids, beans, and batteries.. My family and I prep in the desert southwest and have taken action so that we won’t find ourselves thirsty in the event of a crisis.

In parts one and two, I’ve gone over some of the basics of a well and how professionals put one in while machinery is available to do so. However, that may not always be available.

Building Your Own Emergency Well 101

Knowing how to building your own well without access to professional machinery is a skill that could save your life and the lives of your friends and family. Unfortunately, building your own well can be more challenging because the location you do it in is exponentially more important, since your drilling capabilities are severely hampered with the use of strictly hand tools.

Challenges With Building Well By Hand

There are quite a few challenges involved with building your own well by hand. One key thing to note is that you will likely not be able to do this process in extremely dry and arid climates where the water table is deep underground. Additionally, it will be extremely difficult to build a well where there are a lot of buried layers of rock, as it is almost impossible to hand drill and chisel through solid rock several feet down into the earth. I am not saying it can’t be done, but it is extremely difficult.

Continue reading“Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 3, by The Grumpy Gunfighter”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

17

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”. Paraguay has missing rifles.

School Shootings

Remember those 240 school shootings in 2015-2016 that the Department of Education claimed? Neither do we. Reader BDG sent in this article from NPR that fact-checked the Department of Education. They contacted every single school that the Department had listed in their report. it turns out that they were only able to confirm 11 incidents (either directly with the schools or by media reports). In 161 cases, the schools or districts attested that no incident took place or couldn’t confirm one. The Department claimed that they would update the data later this year, but have no intention of correcting or republishing the report. So much for accurate data.

Britons Under Fire

Britain’s counter-terrorism police have released a new video advising people on vacation what to do if they experience a terrorist attack. The advice is summed up as “run, hide, and tell,” in that order. Yep, run and hide, hoping that the bad guy doesn’t notice you. You know, it kind of sounds like they’ve been taking advice from the Florida, Broward County Sheriff’s Department.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

7

“Whenever someone must buy a license or pay a fee to exercise a right, then it is something less than a right. It is in fact a mere privilege, subject to the whim of petty bureaucrats. Fundamental rights are not abstract tokens that are given or sold by other men. They are in fact primary liberties bestowed upon us by God, our maker. Rights are not substantially secured by asking, ‘Mother may I?’ of any government agency. Rights are more properly demanded or boldly seized and then conspicuously exercised regularly. This secures the liberties that have legitimately belonged to us since birth. If need be, lost rights can and must be restored through proscriptive use. If you live in a land where your rights have been marginalized into privileges, then it is either time to change your government, or to change your address. Much like a muscle that atrophies with disuse, any right that goes unexercised for many years devolves into a privilege, and eventually can even be redefined as a crime.” – James Wesley, Rawles

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – August 29, 2018

August 29th is a mournful day, as we remember the anniversary of the death of “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” – Isaiah 40:3. John, the Baptist, who heralded the first coming of our Lord and stood true to his belief in the face of death, was beheaded on this day in 29AD.

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The prepper holiday “Paratus” will be celebrated on September 21st. Paratus was originated by “Commader Zero”, the pen name of the editor of the long-running Notes From The Bunker Blog.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 78 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 78 ends on September 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.

Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 2, by The Grumpy Gunfighter

16

Without water, survival is impossible, even if you have a storage facility filled with bullets, bandaids, beans, and batteries. My family and I prep in the desert southwest and have taken action so that we won’t find ourselves thirsty in the event of a crisis.

Well Drilling 101 (continued)

Methods and Techniques Used to Find Groundwater

Ideally, you want to have year around dedicated water access. However, not everyone has access to a fresh lake, spring, aquifer, pond, or stream. Many people have to drill a well, and that’s what we are talking about now– Well Drilling 101. Specifically, we left off just beginning to discuss the methods and techniques used to find groundwater. I mentioned the scientifically proven ones but then referenced Dowsing, which should be approached with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Dowsing

For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, a method called Dowsing has been used by individuals called “dowsers” or “water witches”. These individuals claim to have the ability to detect significant amounts of groundwater below the earth’s surface. Dowsers often use a method involving two “L” shaped rods or a Y shaped tree branch. The “water witches” will then hold the rods or tree branches between their finger and walk over an area. They claim that if the rods or branches twitch or cross in a certain way, it is because they are sensing water below the surface in aquifers, veins, or faults.

Now while personally I try and stay clear of anyone holding a stick and calling themselves a witch, there are many people all over the world who claim that this is a viable way to locate ground water. A close family friend of mine works for a professional well drilling business here in the Southwest, and he states that they use a water witch who is correct about 95% of the time. Ultimately, it is unclear if these individuals are able to sense something abnormal or if they just happen to get lucky, as some form of groundwater is common in most places if you dig deep enough.

Continue reading“Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 2, by The Grumpy Gunfighter”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

4

Here are the latest 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 the future of cryptocurrencies. (See the Cryptos section.)

 

Precious Metals:

It is noteworthy that when I last checked, spot silver was at $14.73 and gold was at $1,207 per troy ounce. That is a ratio of 81.94-to-1.  A ratio this high is unusual. We saw roughly this same silver-to-gold ratio in June of 2003 and again in December of 2008. (The lowest ratio in the past 10 years was in April of 2011, with a ratio of just 31.5-to-1.) For those with any interest in ratio trading, I believe that now is great time to swap gold for silver. In my estimation, the upside for silver is substantially better than for gold.

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Money, Fake Money And Sound Money

 

Cryptos (Future of Cryptocurrencies):

This was published back in April, but is still largely accurate: Cryptocurrency regulation in 2018: Where the world stands right now

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Cryptocurrency Regulation Update (August 2018)

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Video at CNBC: Ten experts debate bitcoin’s recent declines and the future of cryptocurrency

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

2

Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on 80% SIG P320 Trigger Group Modules. (See the Vlogs & Instructional Videos section.)

Books:

Bob Brownell’s Gunsmith Kinks

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition)

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I’ve mentioned this very practical book before: What to Expect When You’re Expecting

 

Movies & Television:

My old friend Fred The Valmetmeister recommended this BBC documentary: Empire Episode 1: A Taste for Power

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The Ninth Day.  The true story of a Catholic priest from Luxembourg who was imprisoned at the Dachau death camp. Available on DVD, and also for free streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

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Patriot Games. Available on DVD, and also for free streaming to those with Amazon Prime.

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”