VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 1, by Informed Consent

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In honor of Memorial Day, I thought it fitting to expose the broken Veterans Administration (VA) system to those who are not aware. This is not a sob story or victim card lecture. It is simply sharing the reality of the current VA system and the consequences of such on real lives. Most veterans will have no problem accepting the premise of this paper. However, some still believe that the VA is the ultimate savior, when it comes to their failing health. Oh, and the VA money, well, that money seems to come with strings attached, doesn’t it? “Nothing is free,” as the old-fashioned saying goes. Bottom line, a veteran is faced with two choices; do what the VA says and your monthly disability check will be left unscathed, or disobey the VA and risk losing your benefits. In other words, follow our rules and live or disobey and die.

Don’t Need More Money

Veterans don’t need any more money! You could throw a million dollars at a dying Ft. McClellan veteran, and it wouldn’t change a thing for him. The government has already made its conclusions about Ft. McClellan veterans and others exposed to toxic substances elsewhere. Passing a bill in Congress will not save one single veteran’s life. On a side note, Monsanto has absolutely no interest in helping the veterans who served at Ft. McClellan. In fact, the organization has been working fervently to do the exact opposite. So, for those of you waiting for your government/Monsanto lottery ticket to pay out, take a seat and a number; it’s going to be a while.

Continue reading“VA Nightmares and Real Resources of Hope for Veterans- Part 1, by Informed Consent”

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 did some fence building, firewood hauling, and some more slash hauling.

I also did some gear organizing in JASBORR–preparing for a long drive to the gun show in Helena, Montana. Lord willing, today I’ll be at the show selling some autographed books, a few pre-1899 antique guns, ammunition, full capacity magazines, radios, a Panasonic CF30 Toughbook ruggedized laptop, and some sundries, at rented tables. I’ll be joined by my #2 Son, who is a Montana resident. He plans to sell a lightning-fast six core PC tower, two rifles, and a Saiga 12 gauge shotgun. Note that we won’t be at the show on Sunday.

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”. We are reminded today of why a surveillance state is so bad.

Surveillance State

Orwell, Solzhenitsyn and others have warned society of the dangers of a surveillance state for many years. While in the past, the technology necessary to wrap up every single citizen in its reach didn’t exist, that hurdle no longer exists. With the advent of smart phones, we willingly give out private information to not just the state, but private corporations and organizations that profit from the data. Cameras and the computing power to process the billions of images are relatively inexpensive and prolific now as well. Reader H.L. sent in this article on the dangers of becoming a society that is so heavily monitored with the people being so completely oblivious

Million Gun Owner Blitz

The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) to email every member of the legislature at least once every single day between now and June 7, demanding that pending magazine language be defeated or that at least real grandfathering be added. If you live in New Jersey, you can find a list of legislature’s emails online and you can use this sample message as a template for your own:

I am one of New Jersey’s million law-abiding gun owners who will be turned into a criminal with the flip of a switch if you vote for S102 or A2761 (firearms magazine ban) when it comes up for a vote in the coming days. Criminals and madmen laugh at hardware bans like this and ignore them – the only ones who follow them are honest citizens like me, who are not part of the problem and who are ironically made more vulnerable and less able to defend themselves by bans like these.
Please don’t turn me into a criminal for keeping property I legally purchased in the past, and please don’t force me to destroy, give up, or modify my legally owned property. Vote NO on S102 or A2761, or amend to add meaningful grandfathering that protects the property I have lawfully purchased.

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

Preparedness Notes for Friday – June 01, 2018

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On June 1st, 1942, seven months after the extermination of prisoners began, the Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, made the public announcement of the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland. The story came from a young man, Emanuel Ringelblum, who had escaped the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as they were thrown out of the gas vans. The West now knew the horrific truth about the slaughter of Jews.

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We have finally caught up with the orders for the 2005-2017 SurvivalBlog USB Archive. If you are one of the few that haven’t seen your archive order yet, you should be getting it shortly. We appreciate your patience while we worked through the problems with our ordering system. The few remaining archive USB sticks are now available for purchase. This will be the last batch of sticks this year, so get yours while you can!

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features the first 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.

Round 76 Non-Fiction Writing Contest Winners Announced!

We’ve come to the end of Round 76 and these are the editors picks for the winners. If you are one of these winners, please make sure you have sent in your UPS and USPS addresses to SurvivalBlog so that the prizes can be shipped. Any article submitted but not published will be automatically rolled over to Round 77 of the contest.

First Prize:

First Prize goes to A.&J.R. for “Bring Your Own Bandaids- Part 1”, “Part 2”, “Part 3”, “Part 4”, “Part 5”, and “Part 6”, published on May 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. They 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 $1,095 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:

Second prize goes to Patriotman for “How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 1”, “Part 2”, and “Part 3”, published on April 10th, 11th, and 12th. He will receive the following prizes:

  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:

Third Prize goes to A.E. for “Birth- Part 1” and “Part 2”, published on April 16th and 17th. She will receive the following prizes:

  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).

Honorable Mention

Honorable mention prizes ($30 Amazon.com gift certificates via e-mail) have been awarded to the writers of these fine articles:

“Caring for Children on the Autism Spectrum During TEOTWAWKI- Part 1” and “Part 2”, by Grey Woman

“Medical Supplies, Principles of Use and Purpose”, by J.V.

“Getting Home In The Event Of An EMP- Part 1” and “Part 2”, by B.M.

“Homesteading or Prepping with Very Little Money- Part 1” and “Part 2”, by M.C.

How To Safely Heat With Wood, by W.S.

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Let’s talk about how to safely heat with wood. I’ve been in the alternative heating business for more than 15 years. During that time, I’ve put heaters in remote tiny houses, large cabins, barns, and even a geodome!

Winter is Coming – Plan Now

Winter is coming. Please plan now, if you are not ready or if you need to make some revisions to your heating configuration. This year, most of the country was hammered with harsh winter storms. Make sure to plan now.

The Wood Stove

Just as the foundation of a home is what everything is built on, the same goes for the wood stove you are heating with. Choose a quality heater and the reward will be years of reliable off-grid heat with little maintenance.

Most freestanding heaters do not require electricity to heat a home sufficiently. Additionally, they can serve as your back up cooking surface as well. I highly recommend looking at a quality, used heater instead of buying an inexpensive one online, if you are needing to save money.

Purchase a stove with a long burn time. Most of the cheap, “made in China” heaters won’t be a good choice. You don’t want to be constantly tending to the firebox for reloading, and you certainly don’t need to waste firewood. The heater in my off grid cabin has a large firebox with more than an 8-hour burn time.

I made the mistake in the beginning of having a heater with a smaller firebox and it would not last through the night, which meant I woke up to a cold cabin a few too many nights. My new stove is a little larger than I need at the moment. However, I plan on adding to the overall footprint of the cabin soon, so keep that in mind if you plan on doing the same thing eventually.

Continue reading“How To Safely Heat With Wood, by W.S.”

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 silver. (See the Precious Metals and Tangibles Investing sections.)

 

Precious Metals (Silver):

“Hi Yo, Silver!”  I’m now shifting my recommendation to a Strong Buy, for physical Ag. I firmly believe that another global financial crisis is nearing and that the white metal is grossly undervalued. Silver will prove to be both a safe haven and an opportunity to gain on your investment.  And, as I’ve noted many times previously, 90% Ag coins may also prove quite useful for barter, in the event of a Dollar collapse.

o  o  o

How to Buy Silver Below Its Spot Price

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Video: ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COIN ROLL HUNTING HALF DOLLARS, TIPS, RARITIES, ERRORS

 

Forex:

At Alt-Market a discussion of currency inevitability for the EU’s Southern Tier: This Is The End Of The Euro

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Here’s why markets are worried about Italian politics — again

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – May 31, 2018

1

May 31st, 1895 was the birthday of George R. Stewart. Prior to his death on August 22, 1980, he was a novelist, university professor, and toponymist. In the preparedness community, he is best remembered as the author of the classic post-pandemic novel Earth Abides.

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Seed for Security, LLC is having an exceptional sale. Their Colossal Pack is now 15% off. This Pack is a total of 7 pounds of vegetable, herb and grain seeds. All are open-pollinated,and non GMO. Included are their 3 most popular collections: the Super Survival Pack, the 4 grain Collection, and the Heirloom Herb Collection. Each Colossal Pack comes with a 4 page Seed Saving Guide as well. This offer is for a limited time.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 76 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 76 ends on May 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.

Remain Anonymous Online and Protect Information- Part 2, by Contributor

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I’m going to show you how you can remain anonymous online and protect information and communications. We have already gone through the purchase of a computer and its setup as well as establishing a virtual private network (VPN) and virtual machines. Now, let’s continue on our journey for online anonymity.

Firefox

Don’t forget to have your VPN up and running as you continue to setup your virtual machine (VM). Now, download and install Firefox from mozilla.org. Open the Options and go to Privacy and Security. Under History, set it to Never remember history, and restart the browser. You’ll probably be prompted to set a default browser; instead, change it from Microsoft Edge to Firefox.

Go back to Options and Privacy and then uncheck Remember logins, address bar suggestions browsing history, bookmarks, and open tabs. Under Tracking Protection, select Always for both “block known trackers” and “send do not track signal”. For Firefox data collection and use, you should uncheck “Allow Firefox to Send Technical Data to Mozilla”.

DuckDuckGo, Default Search Engine

Now go to the search tab in the options window and change your default search engine to duckduckgo. Install the add-on NoScript for Firefox. Now you can use the same VPN testing sites, plus a few others under Browser Privacy to test your settings. If everything is working well, there should be very little identifying information, like your ISP and browser settings.

Continue reading“Remain Anonymous Online and Protect Information- Part 2, by Contributor”

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, let’s put the South African murders in perspective.

A is for Antifa

Going right along with JWR’s definitions outlined in Terms of Temerity: Why The Left Loathes The Words We Use is this new series on The Leftese Dictionary by Andrew Klaven of The Daily Wire. Only the first letter of the alphabet is posted on YouTube right now, but they promise to post one new letter every two weeks over the next year or so till they have all the alphabet. I can’t imagine that this will stay up long with all the progressive/left snowflakes that seem to roam the halls of YouTube these days, so view it while you can and enjoy.

More on Tommy Robinson

Alex Barron (The Bard of the American Redoubt) has posted some pointed video commentary on Tommy Robinson’s incarceration and the larger issue of radical Islam. For those that are still unfamiliar, Tommy Robinson was protesting at a trial of an Islamic street gang that was on trial for sex trafficking. The protest was over how easy the government is going on these criminals with full knowledge of their deeds over the fear of being called racist. Tommy was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 13 months of hard time in the same prison with Islamic bullies who have sworn to kill him. It is effectively a kangaroo court with a death sentence.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Gold and silver are always in demand, regardless of clime, century, or government in power. But public confidence in and, hence, demand for paper money depends on the ultimate confidence – or lack thereof – of the public in the viability of the issuing government.” – Murray Rothbard

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – May 30, 2018

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By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance was held on May 30th, 1868 to honor those who died “in defense of their country” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 76 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 76 ends on May 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.

Remain Anonymous Online and Protect Information- Part 1, by Contributor

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Would you like to remain anonymous while online? Would you like to protect your communications and information? Well, I’m going to show you how you can accomplish this. This is intended to be a comprehensive, full paranoid guide. So use everything or just some to get the protection you deem appropriate. It might be best to read through this guide, determine everything you’ll need, and then go step by step. At the end, I’ve provided some resources for additional help, if this doesn’t provide enough in-depth guidance.

Start From Nothing, Remove Everything

Let’s start from nothing. You need a computer, preferably a laptop. I would recommend a gaming laptop from Amazon. If you want absolutely no traces, you’ll want to buy it used (such as on Craigslist) with cash or have an acquaintance buy it from Amazon. You could buy something from a local store with cash, or get a prepaid credit card and use that.

If the laptop has Windows 10 Professional, then you are good to go. However, it probably does not. So, you need to buy and install that. Again, you can buy this from Amazon, a local store, or through a private purchase. When you are installing it, ensure you select to “Remove Everything”. This just makes sure you have a fresh install without any of the extra software that is usually included.

Windows 10 Professional Required for Bitlocker to Encrypt Drive

Windows 10 Professional is required for bitlocker to encrypt the drive. Now encrypt your entire hard drive. To do this, go to the start button, settings, and manage bitlocker. Select your C drive, and turn on bitlocker. The setup will walk you through what you need to do. You’ll be setting a password.

Continue reading“Remain Anonymous Online and Protect Information- Part 1, by Contributor”