Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“To me, the most terrifying form of warfare would be if there was some simultaneous cyber attack on our grid, on the banking system, and on our transportation system. That would be quite a devastating thing, and yet in theory, absent some real protective measures, that could happen.” – Wilbur Ross

The Novice And The Expert- Part 2, by Old Bobbert

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Today, we are continuing to learn, whether we are a novice or an expert in preparedness. If experts, we can learn how to guide a novice in their preparation planning.

Confidence Key Words

We left off yesterday with a group in a pandemic situation going grocery store shopping in teams with lists and cash. We had a reference to use confidence key words at checkout to help avoid being a victim. What are these confidence key words? I know that you know them. Read the following out loud: “Please and thank you. Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. We appreciate your help.”

“We” is used often and especially if you are actually alone. These are the key words and this is the style of the type of person that the bad guys want to stay away from. You will then easily look to be the confident non-victim. You will most likely be safe.

Continue reading“The Novice And The Expert- Part 2, by Old Bobbert”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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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 investing in hairspring watches.

Precious Metals:

First, at Seeking Alpha: Mining stocks’ valuation attractive, led by copper and zinc, BMO says

o  o  o

India’s Demonetization Policy Takes a Turn for the Worse

Commodities:

Sanctions On Venezuela Could Push Oil Into The Mid-$50s

o  o  o

China’s threatened scrap import ban jolts copper into life: Andy Home

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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 stainless steel wool. (See the Gear section, near the end of this column.)

Books:

The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun by Matt Bracken.  (Recommended by long-time blog reader P.T..) Matt Bracken is a former U.S. Navy SEAL. His thought-provoking novels always include a lot of practical and tactical goodness woven into the storylines. (Matt’s better-known Enemies Foreign and Domestic” novel series is widely read, for good reason!)

The Shoestring Girl: How I Live on Practically Nothing and YOU Can Too

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Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – August 01, 2017

August 1st is celebrated as Swiss Independence Day, in recognition of the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291, which united Switzerland’s first three cantons. As of 2017, Switzerland has been free and independent for 726 years. Having a well-armed populace has assured that.

August 1st is also remembered as the election day in 1946 that sparked the Battle of Athens, Tennessee, when returning World War II veterans took up arms to oust a corrupt local government that was rigging an election.

Round 71 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

Any article submitted but not published will automatically be rolled over to Round 72. Here are the winners:

First Prize goes to J.E. for “Horizontal Relationships: The Key to True Independence- Part 1” and “Part 2” published on July 4th and 5th, 2017. He will receive the following prizes:

  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 $1,195 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. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Continue reading“Round 71 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!”

The Novice And The Expert- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

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This article will not make you an expert prepper, but it can help you as you help a newbie prepper get started, It can also help the newbie get a good start, even if they’re without a expert to pick up the broken pieces of a poorly prepared preparedness plan.

A Little Pretending As We Plan

Let’s pretend today. You are one of the two primary types of preppers. You are either an experienced very competent prepper, one who genuinely cares to help others, or you are the inexperienced newbie who desperately wants someone to help you survive and make it all good again. This article is motivated by the proven maxim that if we do not help each other, no one will be helped. Assume that our SHTF incident was early this morning and you are the newbie guy who is terrified and not prepared for anything much more than “your neighbor’s dog is in your backyard”. So, what will you need to do right now for the first time?

First Thing– Situation Report

First, you need to assess your situation and make a “situation report” to the guy in the mirror. That’s right. Make your sitrep to the guy/lady in charge. Here’s what the report needs to include: answers to “what”, “when”, “where”, “who”, “how”, and “why” plus any other pertinent data needed to make it a serious report enabling you and others to know your situation and to know what is needed next. This has been a proven method for many, many years.

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. The emphasis today is on net metering.

Idaho (Net Metering)

First up: Idaho Power seeks changes for solar customers. JWR’s Comments: The power utilities don’t like seeing home power meters running backwards.  Doing away with net metering is a slap in the face of thousands of customers. These are folks who each invested tens of thousands of dollars. They did so in anticipation of the equipment gradually paying for itself. Without net metering, their investment would probably be a net loss. Changing the rules in the middle of the game is just disreputable.

o o o

Also in Idaho: Boise neighbors tackle, pin driver after hit-and-run spree

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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”. Venezuela is again making the news with their constitutional assembly.

Your Money — Frozen

Imagine your hard earned money, deposited in a bank and frozen— right when you need to pay your mortgage. Are you prepared for such an eventuality? The European Union states are considering measures which would allow them to temporarily stop people from withdrawing money from their bank accounts to prevent bank runs. The given reason is to keep banks from failing, but it may have the opposite effect. Would you keep your money in a bank that is on the verge of failing? I wouldn’t! If I know my bank is on shaky ground, pffft, I’m gone! Thanks to reader D.S. for the link.

Building a Bridge Over a Creek

One of our favorite vloggers, Wranglerstar has wrapped up his series on building a bridge over a creek that is strong enough to drive a tractor over. It is a nine part series starting on June 29th. If you have a similar problem, you definitely need to watch this series. Note that if it will hold a tractor the size of his, you can drive a car over it as well.

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Springfield Armory’s XDe 9mm, by Pat Cascio

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The newest handgun in the XD line-up of Springfield Armory line-up is the compact XDe 9mm. I’ve been a huge fan of their XD line since the first one came out well over a dozen years ago. I purchased the first one I saw. It was used, and it looked “oh-so-GLOCKish” with a green polymer frame. But it was much more overbuilt than a Glock. And none of the parts will interchange with a Glock either. My first, but not my last, XD functioned with everything except Remington UMC bulk .40 S&W 180-gr FMJ ammo. I had numerous rounds that would not even chamber in that XD. And this isn’t an isolated case, either. Other handguns in 9mm and .45 ACP also had problems with this Remington ammo. I’ve even had primers installed backwards and sideways in this ammo, so I steer completely clear of it, period!

The Springfield Armory XD Line-up

Springfield Armory has a complete line-up in the XD line, starting with the original XD, which was a full-sized handgun. Then, there is the XDm. The “m” supposedly stood for “More”, I guess. Then we hand the XDs, which was a subcompact gun available in 9mm, .40 S&W, and even .45 ACP. The “m” model was also chambered in those calibers, and all were striker-fired, too, because that’s been the trend for quite a few years now. The “m” model has a better feel to it in the grip area than the original XD, and the trigger reset was shorter, too. With the XDs line, the trigger pull was short and a bit stiff, and all guns have the trigger bar safety in the face of the trigger. We also have the XD Mod.2 now, which is a very, very nice gun!

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Recipe of the Week: Squash for Breakfast, by M.R.

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Hang in there. Don’t gag on me. If you like yellow squash, you will love this. These are a low carb version of potato pancakes or potato hash browns. If you know me, I say that these are amazing! It’s much easier to pick squash than dig potatoes. When the squash are making, we are usually overrun with them. I usually cook six strips of bacon and use the grease from those to cook my squash pancakes.

Ingredients

  • 12 cups yellow squash, grated
  • 3 eggs
  • onion powder, to taste
  • flour (enough to make squash stick together; depends on how wet your squash is)
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • butter or bacon grease (for pan frying)

Continue reading“Recipe of the Week: Squash for Breakfast, by M.R.”