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”. The Venezuelan government has effectively taken control of the water distribution now.

Walking on Water

The Odds ‘n Sods entry last week on using a paddle board as an emergency water crossing device created a few interesting comments. What happens when you have more than just yourself to get across the body of water? What if it’s your entire family or your gear? Reader G.P. sent in this video that he found on a non-inflatable mat that literally lets you walk on water. The mat is made of a closed cell foam and rolls up for relatively easy transportation. While not as small as an inflatable raft in the stored position, the closed-cell foam will support up to 1200 pounds of people and/or equipment and doesn’t suffer from puncture problems. Hey, this might be a fun water toy to have that doubles as an emergency life raft.

Ransom Demands

Hackers are now heavily targeting municipal computer systems across the U.S. Large cities like Atlanta, tiny towns and even a library system in St. Louis have all been hit by the ransomware hacking. Local governments are forced to spend money on data recover, insurance and in some cases online extortion if the IT department can’t recover the data. Public-sector attacks are outpacing private-sector attacks at this point. It is generally thought that hackers don’t target specific cities, rather they simply search for vulnerabilities. It is also not believed that this is the work of nationstates. Instead, is is just cybercriminals. make sure you have changed any default passwords on any computer or device that you have control over!

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“The left has created a macabre myth that runs counter to the whole experience of mankind.  The left has persuaded the gullible masses of America, including, sadly, most conservatives, that ‘discrimination’ by individuals and businesses is wrong and that it violates the Constitution.

Precisely the opposite is true.  All serious cognition and all honest moral judgments involve discrimination.  When individuals and businesses are not free to discriminate, then the power to determine what is true and false and good and bad becomes the sole property of the state – or that even more odious creature, that lobotomized Frankenstein monster, ‘society.’

Instead of diverse opinions and actions freely manifest, which are what happens when the state and society are denied the power to force a certain viewpoint down the throats of private citizens and enterprises, what happens is that all debate, all differences, and all individuality are crushed based upon what those who run the state or manipulate society deem sacrosanct.” – Bruce Walker, in The American Thinker

Preparedness Notes for Monday – June 25, 2018

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On June 25th, 1876, Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeated the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The Battle of Little Bighorn–also called Custer’s Last Stand –marked the most decisive Native American victory and the worst U.S. Army defeat in the long Plains Indian War. While complicated, the generally accepted reason for the battle is that the discovery of gold in South Dakota’s Black Hills in 1875 led to the U.S. government disregarding previous treaty agreements. The gruesome fate of Custer and his men outraged many white Americans and confirmed their image of the Indians as wild and bloodthirsty. Meanwhile, the U.S. government increased its efforts to subdue the tribes. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations.

Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 – Gov’t Model, by Pat Cascio

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We’re taking a close look at an updated classic 1911 with some enhancements, making it ready for the range, competition, or self-defense. It’s the Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 in .45 ACP.

Thanks for Reminding Me

I think we have some of the smartest readers out there, and you all have a great memory.  I promised to review the Springfield Armory Range Officer, full-sized Government Model after reviewing a different model Range Officer. Somewhere along the line, this gun review was pushed back. My bad! I have more than 30 products on hand awaiting their turn on our editorial page, so I manage to keep extremely busy all of the time. Thanks for reminding me to review this handgun!

Far From Ordinary 1911

The Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 comes in different flavors, from the smallest to the full-sized .45 ACP handguns. We’re checking out the full-sized gun this time around. At first glance, it might look like any ordinary mil-spec 1911 because of the parkerized gray finish, but it is far from ordinary in a number of ways.

Continue reading“Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 – Gov’t Model, by Pat Cascio”

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 the renewed HELOC Bubble. (See the Economy and Finance section.)

 

Precious Metals:

NYMEX: Precious Metals Prices Up

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Gold price extends gains on positive global cues, jeweller-buying

 

Forex:

CANADA FX DEBT-C$ near flat after hitting near 1-year low on lower oil

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OMF FX update – Phillip Lindberg, 19th June 2018

 

Derivatives:

Brexit Update.  Here is brief quote: “As also noted in our previous Delta Report Brexit update, one of the key concerns arising for derivatives documentation in light of Brexit was in relation to the governing law and jurisdiction clauses in the documents that govern the vast majority of cross-border OTC derivative transactions —the Master Agreements.”

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CFTC Issues Guidance on Listing Virtual Currency Derivatives
Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“With a good script a good director can produce a masterpiece; with the same script a mediocre director can make a passable film. But with a bad script even a good director can’t possibly make a good film. For truly cinematic expression, the camera and the microphone must be able to cross both fire and water. That is what makes a real movie. The script must be something that has the power to do this.” – Akira Kurosawa

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – June 24, 2018

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June 24th the birthday of rifle-toting abolitionist pastor Henry Ward Beecher. (Born 1813, died March 8, 1887.) He and his adherents from his church smuggled so many Sharps rifles to Bleeding Kanasas that the Sharps rifles picked up the nickname Beecher’s Bibles. Wikipedia states: Several of his brothers and sisters became well-known educators and activists, most notably Harriet Beecher Stowe, who achieved worldwide fame with her abolitionist novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

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SurvivalBlog is looking for more entries for the SurvivalBlog Non-Fiction Writing Contest. Now that summer is here and you are working on those projects you put off all year long, don’t forget to document them and write them up. You have an opportunity to win some amazing prizes! Get that article finished up and submitted to the contest.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. 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 77 ends on July 31st, 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.

A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 6, by X. Liberal & China Doll

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This is the final part of this article series, As the title indicates, reviewing our family’s move to the American Redoubt and building our log cabin. We have the majority of the work behind us at this point and are now at the final steps and finishes.

Plumbing

(Plumbing required two weeks.) I’ve never done plumbing before, so I became acquainted with Mr. YouTube for over a score of hours. I sat inside a McDonald’s restaurant to utilize their free Wi-Fi, as I don’t have it so remotely out in the boonies, to gain an understanding of the ins and outs of plumbing.

Three Parts to Plumbing

There really are three parts to plumbing. The first is the internal organs of the drainage and venting system from roof to septic tank. Then the second is the PEX water lines feeding every fixture in the home with hot or cold water. Third is the gas lines, which I didn’t attempt and hired a licensed plumber.

Plumbing Venting System

After filling up my hot cup of tea with honey at McDonald’s, I waved goodbye to the cashier and realized I was going to tackle the plumbing venting system for myself. This was because it had to be accomplished prior to the roof being installed. (See roofing step above.) The code called for a four-inch venting PVC pipe to exit the roof and must be higher than the highest peak; then I was to couple it down to a three-inch PVC pipe inside the home. The reason for the large four-inch PVC pipe to penetrate the roof (the portion visible outside of the home) is due to the cold weather and ice building up as cold air and moister entered.

The venting system ran down the entire length of the loft and bottom floor and terminated just below the floor joist in the crawlspace. It was one vertical length with no elbows but just connected with sleeves. I would come back to it later after the roof was on.

Continue reading“A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 6, by X. Liberal & China Doll”

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”. The Patriot Nurse has an important message for you today regarding survival medicine reality. This is a video that you need to watch.

Survival Medicine

Reader T.J. sent in this video from the Patriot Nurse that goes over the three most important factors in knowing when to use your Survival/Disaster medical protocols.

  1. Normal medical infrastructure is degraded or non-existent.
  2. Household medical supplies are scarce.
  3. Medical knowledge is limited.

Remember that even if you have planned for survival medicine and are prepared to perform your own surgery or whatever, if the current medical infrastructure is up and running, you are far better off seeking that professional care. You need to know when the appropriate time to use your skills in a real life situation.

Escape from New York

Reader J.W. sent in this comment:

Just saw a news clip on the Drudge Report of a man crossing the Hudson River (about a mile wide at that point) on a paddleboard, wearing a business suit. He was trying not to be late for a meeting. It was hilarious, but also made me realize that for people trying to get out of large cities that are located on rivers, or even just trying to get across rivers when bridges are blocked or too dangerous, a paddleboard is a portable, fairly lightweight, and cheap method. It should work for small lakes too. This is one form of prepper Get Out Of Dodge training that should be fun.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – John 3:12-18 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – June 23, 2018

On July 23, 1942, The Nazis continued their reprehensible and criminal behavior by making the first selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz on a train of Jews from Paris.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 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. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. 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 77 ends on July 31st, 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.

A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 5, by X. Liberal & China Doll

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As the title indicates, my wife and I are outlining our family’s move to the American Redoubt. At this point, we have the exterior of the home finished– the basement, the log walls, the gables and the roof, and also the porch. Now, it’s time for some of the added necessities to make it liveable.

Septic Tank

(Four days were required for putting in the septic tank. This included the time to dig and also grade after it was completed.)

YouTube For All Construction Phases of This Project

Many videos on YouTube will explain how to do things and also how not to do things within just about any subject matter. I used YouTube for all of the construction phases of this project. Since I have zero prior experience in construction, I was able to complete the entire project myself, with the exception of running gas lines and the work to power trawl the basement floor.

Rented Bobcat, Permits, Inspection

I rented a Bobcat mini-backhoe for the day. It had a plow attached to the front and a long digging arm with bucket on the rear.

Check with your state/county laws for the proper filing of permits. I needed inspection on a number of things, and this septic tank was one of them.

Leach Field Trenches

Once you have been signed off on your design, proper paper worked filed, and a stamp of approval given, the leach field trenches were first to dig. The number of square feet you have for your building structure as well as the number of bedrooms determines the length of the leach field. The plastic chambers come in five-foot lengths by three-feet wide, so you want to plan accordingly. For instance, it is feasible for your leach field runs to be four-feet wide and have an extra three-feet at the back ends where they terminate.

Continue reading“A Memoir On One Family’s Move To The American Redoubt- Part 5, by X. Liberal & China Doll”

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:

This week I was busy in our woodlot.  We had heavy snowfall this winter. This resulted in a large number of downed trees. These were most small Tamaracks, and few of other species–mostly firs. (we have a half dozen types of fir on the ranch.) In another week or two I should have all the rounds hauled to our woodshed. Some of the small diameter logs were cut 4.5′ long. That pile still needs to be crosscut to nominal 19″ lengths that will fit our wood stove’s firebox. I like to split everything over 6″ in diameter in advance of stacking it inside the wood shed. Anything under 6″ in diameter gets burned as full rounds.

I also rented some tractor time from my neighbor this week. I had few stumps and one large project saved up that required a back hoe. His larger machine with back hoe handled all of it, quite quickly. As my paternal grandfather was fond of saying: “There is nothing like power tools!”

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”. Today contains a great link on dehydrating chicken.

Facial Recognition

According to this article sent in by reader R.K., a group of Amazon employees is asking Jeff Bezos to stop selling facial recognition to law enforcement. The group claims that the software will be used to harm the most marginalized ethnic groups. Of course, the letter notes that the police are targeting black activists and those who would be deported. While I certainly agree that the spread of facial recognition is troubling, I find it equally disturbing that those willing to stand against it’s use are the same ones who support illegal activity by those who they claim it is targeting. Oh, the web that we weave! In the end, the letter will probably have very little impact on Amazon. It’s just kind of interesting to see the left eating its own.

Dehydrating Chicken

Reader H.L. sent in this article on storing chicken for survival. Chicken is a relatively inexpensive source of protein and is easy to raise just about anywhere in the world. Chickens also generally don’t take a great amount of care to raise and can be brought from hatchling to butcher age in as little as six weeks with some breeds. They can also forage for their own foods if you don’t live in an arid location. This article covers three different methods of preserving this protein source. Of the three methods presented, dehydration or chicken jerky is probably the most known. I would add that freeze drying is also a viable alternative and probably my favorite method, though the equipment required to freeze dry foods is a significant investment.

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