Gunsmith Training: Pistolsmithing – Week One, by R2

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Design, Function, and Repair

This week I started on the core of the course. One of the things emphasized heavily in this course, according to the introductory material that I reviewed last week, was the essential of design, function, and repair (DFR).

Design, Function, and Repair (DFR)

To be anything more than a rudimentary parts swapper, you have to have a complete understanding of how the firearm was designed to work, how it functions, and what your courses of action are to make any sort of repairs or changes to it. Without understanding the design, it’s just a black box that works magic when you pull the trigger. Very few firearms are so simplistic that you can instantly understand why things are designed the way they are. In fact, many firearms are literally works of art. The ability to see and understand how the parts fit together and their relationship in a three dimensional space is a critical skill.

This is where I found AGI’s cutaway views inside of functional firearms to be invaluable. It amazes me how sensitive some of these parts. Changes of only a few thousandths of an inch can have a huge impact on the reliability or whether or not the firearm even functions. This is also where I wish that there were some three dimensional depictions or animations of the parts, but I suspect that if/when these videos are updated, that will make it in. In the meantime, the primary instructor– Bob Dunlap– does very well at explaining the “how” and “why” using these cutaway views, disassembled parts, and working firearms.

Continue reading“Gunsmith Training: Pistolsmithing – Week One, by R2”

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 video of simple rainwater collection in a semi-arid location.

Defense Distributed

There has been a lot of news coverage of the Defense Distributed legal settlement. (The Federal government finally conceded the case and agreed to pay DefDist’s court costs.) But now the State of Washington has filed an injunction against DefDist releasing the milling code. Not to worry: The controversial code has popped up on numerous mirror sites not named in the injunction, including this one: Codeisfreespeech.com

Meanwhile, Shopify suddenly, and without cause, shutdown Cody Wilson’s online store with no explanation. After successfully running the store in good standing for over two years, Cody received an email on August 10th that notified him that his online presence was shut down effective immediately in violation of the one-year contract that Cody had with them. He immediately responded with a demand for an explanation, but they have not responded. Cody plans to sue them for breach of contract and a return of the fees that they kept from his sales through them. Thanks to DSV for the link.

Amir Tsarfati

Amir Tsarfati’s upcoming book The Last Hour: An Israeli Insider Looks at the End Times will not be released until September 4th, but it has already sold more than 10,000 copies in pre-orders! Tsarfati is an Israeli believer in Jesus and a reserve IDF intelligence officer. This promises to be a fascinating read. – JWR

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – August 11, 2018

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On August 11, 1857, N. H. Wolfe and Company, the oldest flour and grain company in New York City, failed. This failure shook investor confidence and began a slow sell off in the market which continued into late August. Several other failures followed, and this cascaded into what was later called the Panic of 1857.

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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.

Adaptation is Key to Survival, by B. L.

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Over the years what it means to be a prepper and how to prepare has changed quite a bit for me. I have learned that adaptation is key to survival.

Grew Up With Mentality and Heart of a Prepper

I haven’t been a “prepper” my whole life, but I have had the mentality and heart of one due to the way I was raised. I grew up in a blue-collar family where if you wanted something you worked for it. If something was broke, you tried to fix it first before spending money on it, and where everything had a second purpose. I smile as I write that, because it reminds me of gardening with my dad and using milk jugs as little greenhouses for tomato seedlings.

Stay Quiet and Observe Surroundings

My dad was big into hunting, so I spent a lot of time outdoors. He taught me a lot. He taught me how to hunt, fish, process game, and preserve food. The most important thing that he taught while hunting was how to stay quiet and to really observe my surroundings. It might sound simple, but it was hard for a little kid to always remain still and quiet. However, I did succeed in learning this and have been amazed at how well that ability has served me in my life.

First Big Mistake

As a young man I got more interested in the life style of self-reliance and started to learn as much as I could about sustainable ways of living and long-term disaster planning. Like most young people, I lost my way and became fixated on fads and things that were popular. I was set in the “lone wolf” mentality of survival, thinking that I could conquer the world.

Youth really is wasted on the young. Rather than learning skills and gathering information, I spent too much time on obtaining gear and supplies. Since I took that popular route of prepping, the bulk of my stores were made of weapons, expensive tools, and easy food prep, such as MREs and freeze-dried food. This was my first big mistake because in a way I was relying on others for some of my survival capabilities while at the same time wanting to be a loner.

Continue reading“Adaptation is Key to Survival, by B. L.”

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:

It was exceptionally hot in our part of the American Redoubt on Thursday and Friday. Temperatures above 100 Fahrenheit are quite rare at our latitude and elevation, and few houses in our valley are air conditioned. There was also some haze from distant fires. At least the  humidity was mercifully low. Needless to say, in this weather I did most of my outdoor chores and projects either in the morning or in the evening.  The 2018 crop of mosquitoes are still with us, so the evening chores were a bit “slap dash”.  (That is: With me slapping mosquitoes and dashing around to try to keep them off of me.)

My earthworks project is nearly done.  It has been gratifying to see the result.  It also helped me build some muscle and get back down to my target body weight. Like many other men in their late 50s, I have to watch my weight closely.

This week I also took a few useless items to the county landfill. I hate clutter around the ranch. Thankfully, there is no charge to use the landfill. That is covered by the “modest” taxes on our land.  Since we’ve always homeschooled our children, I feel a bit over-taxed by the county. I suppose it is natural to grumble about being forced to pay for a service that I do not use.

I dropped one more dead-standing tree this week. This will probably be the last of the felling for this year.

Lily and our kids have been busy stacking the firewood that I’ve been gradually crosscutting and splitting. (I did that in my spare time between other projects.) Their stacking project will probably go on for another week–since the kids also want work in the cool of the morning.

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”. As hyper-inflation takes down the economy, Venezuelan Gas remains a constant.

Alex Jones

In light of the much-discussed August 6, 2018 mass banning/deletion of Infowars, I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers take a look at this article that I posted on July 10, 2018: The Internet Gulag: Demonetization, Demonization, and Deletion. – JWR

South African Kleptocracy

Alex Barron (The Bard of The American Redoubt) just posted this warning about the potential plans of Julius Malema, in South Africa: To the best of my knowledge we are the first to show this video.

Venezuelan Gas

Inflation has become such a problem in Venezuela that a single United States dollar will currently buy you 925,000 gallons of gas. Despite the deepening crises, Venezuela has maintained its famous fuel subsidies that allow the population to get an entire tank of gas for less than the cost of a soda. This is less than five percent of the cost of production, but the country refuses to give up those subsidies. A single egg costs 200,000 bolivars, yet a liter of 91-octane gasoline costs just a single bolivar. Thanks to DSV for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” – Isaiah 54:17 (KJV)

A Review of OnPoint Tactical’s Off-Grid Medicine Course, by JR

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OnPoint Tactical’s off-grid medicine course is not your typical first aid class. It’s not EMT school. I mean no disrespect towards them at all, but those first responder classes are like baby aspirin. What Dr. Steve provides is more like dilaudid or fentanyl. (No, he does not sell these or tell us how to get them. It’s just for comparison between the types of courses. However, there does seem to be the possibility of developing an addiction of sorts. Three of the people from the February class repeated the August class and brought family members with them.)

The Man Behind the Course

A Special Forces Battalion surgeon, University of Utah Medical School faculty member, Utah Emergency Physician of the Year, paramedic– the list goes on. This is Dr. Steve Pehrson, the man behind OnPoint Tactical’s Off-Grid Medicine course. The list of credentials might be as intimidating as it is impressive and could scare some potential students away. However, what isn’t mentioned in his biography and course description is that Dr. Steve Pehrson is this kind of cuddly-looking grandpa with a great sense of humor and surprising lack of the God-complex that seems to afflict some doctors.

When asked what he likes to do for fun he replied, “Teach this class.” It must be true because Steve starts at 8:00 to 8:30, and he’s usually still going strong 12 hours later. Then he’s ready to start again the next morning! And the students are, too.

Continue reading“A Review of OnPoint Tactical’s Off-Grid Medicine Course, by JR”

Letter: South Africa – It Begins

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Hugh,

Here it is– the test project to seize land without the amendment.

From what I have researched, the reasoning behind this is they are testing the words “Fair and Equitable” which is contained in the seven principles behind the four requirements concerning land seizure in the SA constitution. Their argument is to dispute the words “Fair and equitable” contained within their constitution. Their reasoning is to seize the land without compensation because it is “Fair and Equitable to the SA Government” because, the White farmers stole the land in the first place. Bullocks. I will send an accompanying link detailing the exact wording of the SA constitution concerning land grabs.

This is obviously a calculated test to see the levels of resistance by the Farmers before the current SA government “officially” greenlights their openly discussed plans of mass invasion and genocide upon the Farmers of South Africa.

Danger Close for South African Farmers.

If you have relatives in this area, please relay this information.

The first wave will be mobs. These are “Rent-a-mobs”, sent by the current SA government. These are in fact front-line troops in their invasion.

Continue reading“Letter: South Africa – It Begins”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 condition grading antiques. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

 

Commodities:

$90 Oil Is A Very Real Possibility

o o o

Cobalt demand still there, says BMI’s Rawles. (Clarification Note from JWR: Although he is probably a distant relative, I don”t know Caspar Rawles. We’ve never met or corresponded.)

 

Cryptos:

The Crypto Market Just Hit a New Low for 2018

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Bitcoin the ‘Best House in a Tough Neighborhood’: Wall Street Strategist

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U.S. Judge Slaps Bitcoin Fraudster with $1.9 Million in Penalties

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – August 09, 2018

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August 9th, 1831was the birthday of James Paris Lee (August 9, 1831 – February 24, 1904). He was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles.

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Video from Alex Barron (The Bard of The American Redoubt) I stand with Alex Jones and so should you

o o o

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.

The New Urban Fortress- Part 2, by M.H.

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Pulling from the fortress concept and the family of Anne Frank, who hid in an attic for two years, I am considering an idea of an urban fortress in the event of SHTF. My idea is based upon the construction of a multi-story commercial building, where the top floor is unmarked on the elevator and unknown and inaccessible to those who do not have a passcode. The idea is creating a large area that is totally overlooked because the construction is such that people cannot identify from the outside how many floors are within the building since there will only be windows around the lower level front entry.

The space must truly be sustainable also. Below are my thoughts regarding options for shelter, water, power, food, sanitation, and security. I look forward to your feedback on any flaws in my thinking.

Shelter

During the “happy path” days, the 10,000 square foot “office space” on the upper floor would be the headquarters for my family-based small business (with very attractive commute). In addition, it will also provide a heavily subsidized permanent “penthouse” residence for my wife and me. Though devoid of “curb appeal” of most homes, the center courtyard could become a very pleasant and secure living space. In time of duress, it could easily morph into an accessible bug out location for my extended family and close friends. It would include living space with kitchen, laundry, and private sleeping and bathroom facilities for between 10 to 30 people.

Continue reading“The New Urban Fortress- Part 2, by M.H.”