The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

6

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”.

Sent in by JMC: Putin Warns Russian Students Living In Britain: “Come Home Immediately”

Following in London’s footsteps: Knife Control Movement Crosses Atlantic – DSV

CDC, in Surveys It Never Bothered Making Public, Provides More Evidence that Plenty of Americans Innocently Defend Themselves with Guns – G.G.

o o o

An interesting take on Newsweek’s article on South Africa: Newsweek Says White South Africans Should Just “Stop Panicking”. Thanks to S.M. for the link.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” – Romans 10:8-11 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – April 21, 2018

April 21st is Aggie Muster Day, for all Texas A&M Corps of Cadets graduates. Aggie Muster celebrations/meetings are held as far away as Japan, Germany, and Afghanistan. I should mention that Jim’s grandfather (a U.S. Army Cavalry LTC) was an Aggie– something mentioned so often that everyone in his family felt like de facto Aggies, too. Other than the officers that matriculate though West Point, the four institutions that seem to have the greatest ongoing esprit de corps for graduates are Texas A&M, The Citadel, Norwich University, NMMI, and VMI. Jim felt almost obliged to include an Aggie character in his novels Survivors and Founders, even though his connection to Texas A&M is two generations removed.

The photo above was taken on Muster Day at the command bunker at Correigidor Island, Philippines. Lt. Col. William A. Hamilton, Jr., the last of the survivors of the 1942 Correigidor Muster passed away in January of this year.

o o o

Some Sad News: Humorist outdoors writer Patrick McManus passed away on April 11th. He was 84 years old. He was born in Sandpoint, Idaho on August 25th, 1933. His books are much beloved by many Redoubters. Our condolences to his family.

o o o

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.

Creating Your Own Secure Messages– Part 1, by DaytonPrepper1

11

I am an experienced programmer with a lot of time spent in Excel everyday for my paying job. East Sierra Sage’s article on Cipher Security got me thinking again about One Time Pads and other secure message techniques. I really enjoy automating things with Excel’s powerful formulas and macros. So I set off to create a tool for a One Time Pad spreadsheet that would create the One Time Pads and also encode and decode the messages being sent.

How to Use a One Time Pad (OTP)

You will need a Shift Chart and an OTP Chart as the basic components for this type of message security. The Shift Chart is used to look up a character in your message and then offset or shift to a position in the Shift Chart using another character found in the OTP Chart. Your message will be encoded one character at a time.

To Encode Your Message

To encode your message, you take the first letter of your message and go down the left most column of your Shift Chart. When you find that letter in your Shift Chart, you will then find the next character available in your OTP Chart. To do that, go to the row of your OTP Chart and find the next unused character. If you have already used all of a row, just go down to the next available row. With your OTP character you find it by going across the top row of the Shift Chart. Use the character where the column and row intersect as your encoded letter. Cross off your OTP character in the OTP Chart, so that you will not ever use it again. Continue with that process until you have your entire message encoded.

Continue reading“Creating Your Own Secure Messages– Part 1, by DaytonPrepper1”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

5

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 finally feels like spring!  We had three days of nice sunny weather this week. Our order of baby chicks arrived in the mail from Murray McMurray.

With all this good weather, I was able to finish scraping and hauling manure from the barnyard. There are still two large corrals to be mucked out, but at least the barnyard now looks presentable.

I was also able to get out and cut some firewood. I should mention that I plan to cut one additional cord this year, since last year I hadn’t cut quite enough for a hard winter, and we had to use a bit of our reserve pile.

Avalanche Lily Reports:

This week I did some more work in the garden by spreading some fertilizer to boost the soil’s nutrition. Maybe more on that later. Our nights are at the freezing mark. But the forecast is for warmer temperatures for the end of April. So I’m thinking about planting our main garden plots in the first two weeks of May. Hooray!

I did move cucumber seedlings, broccoli and some tomatoes out to the Greenhouse last week.  The tomatoes and broccoli and cucumbers were all put under the hoops in the “greenhouse within a greenhouse”, but the temps got too low out there and the cucumbers died.  The broccoli and tomatoes have survived it.  Thus I will be again, planting cucumber seeds in the bedroom greenhouse, this coming week.

I brushed our horses, again, to help rid them of their winter coats.  They adore me for giving them this kind of attention.  One of our horses in particular, is a hairy monster.  This horse sheds boxes and boxes of hair every spring.  It takes me a month and a half of regular brushings every year to get it’s hair level to it’s summer coat.  It’s amazing.  The others are just about to their summer coats by this time.

Picking up the baby chicks at the post office, setting up their enclosures (we use old “leaker” low sheep stock tanks), setting up heat lamps, and training them all to drink (dipping their beaks in electrolyte water) took half a day.

With the recent good weather and upcoming fishing season, I’ve decided to learn a new skill: fly fishing for trout in our local streams and rivers.  I bought a basic fly rod  this week and spent a few hours watching a group of YouTube Beginner Fly Fishing tutorials (produced by Orvis) and personal trout fishing expeditions in the Northwest. Then I went outside to practice my dry fly casting in one of our pastures. It didn’t take me too long to get the gist of it. Now to perfect it and to study up more on flies and baits.  I can’t wait for the opening of the 2018 stream and river fishing season!

The children are still working on schooling, but took some time out this week to practice their shooting aim with their bows and arrows and slingshots.

Please continue to post comments about your own preps.

Thanks, – Jim Rawles and Avalanche Lily, Rawles

Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

10

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”.

Not a joke: Fortune names David Hogg and cohorts the world’s greatest leaders of 2018 – Reader H.L. notes: “This is surreal – had I a subscription to Fortune, I would be canceling it with a letter to the editor!”

The City of Vancouver just moved to let permanent residents vote in civic elections – No need to be a citizen. Thanks to AnotherGal.

o o o

From G.P.: Will the World Cup 2018 create a Russian Ammo Shortage?

There’s an Epidemic of Low-IQ Arguments Against Guns. Thanks to H.L.

Defiant Op-Ed Author Refuses To Comply With City’s Proposed Assault Weapon Ban

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” – Ezekiel 20:19-20 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – April 20, 2018

2

On April 20th, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months, creating the worst known offshore oil spill.

April 20th is also the day that we remember the victims of the Columbine High School tragedy, where two students stormed into a suburban high school in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, at lunch time with guns and explosives, killing 13 and wounding dozens more in what was, at the time, the nation’s deadliest school shooting.

o o o

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.

The Four Things I Missed Most In Urban Survival Mode, by J.C.

14

Did you ever picture putting all your survival know-how to the test in an urban environment, in a giant city? Did you think about all the piles of rubble you’d have to work around to “put rubber to the road”?

Mexico City Earthquake, September 19th, 2017

I know I didn’t, until I found myself in Mexico City on September 19th of last year, that is. This was the day a 7.2 earthquake shook Central Mexico, toppled buildings, and killed nearly 400 people. This also happened to be the anniversary, to the day, of the hugely destructive 1985 Guerrero Earthquake that shook the city to its knees and claimed an untold number of lives. (Estimates range from 10,000 to 45,000 people.)

First Alarm- Just a Drill and Reminder of 1985 Earthquake

September 19, 2017 didn’t exactly have an auspicious start when the seismic alarm sounded throughout the city in the late morning. But, this first alarm was just a drill– a reminder of 1985 and the shaky soil on which the city sits. It’s a drill that’s sounded every September 19th. Schools, offices, and hospitals throughout the city practice a mock evacuation, so it was nothing to worry about.

Second Alarm, Not a Drill

However, just after 2 PM there was plenty to worry about, as the alarm sounded once more. I knew that this time it was definitely not a drill, as I observed my environs swaying from side to side. I was at the mercy of nature.

Buildings mere blocks from me had crumbled to dust. Critical infrastructure was knocked out or overloaded, as thousands desperately tried to make their ways home. I felt like I was in the beginning scene of a SHTF scenario, and I was kicking myself for not being prepared.

Sure, I had the beginnings of a bug-out bag, but prepping had been a neglected hobby to this point. It had not been a priority.

Continue reading“The Four Things I Missed Most In Urban Survival Mode, by J.C.”

Letter: A Good Word About One of SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Sponsors

7

Mr. Rawles,

Recently I was pleased to hear that I had won second place in round 75 of your writing contest for my Inevitable American Gun Ban article. As part of that prize, Emergency Essentials promised to provide a 3 day deluxe emergency kit. Thought grateful for the prize, I didn’t really want the kit because I have multiples of every item in that kit already. What to do?

Hesitantly, I contacted them and asked if I might order something else from the website and pay the cost difference between the items I chose and the 3 day kit. I didn’t expect that they would honor my request and I fully understood that the actual cost of the kit was their financial liability – not the MSRP of the kit. I expected and offered to pay any difference and selected a rocket stove and a grain mill – both of which I needed. Together the items were $220 plus shipping and I expected to pay AT LEAST $150 but left the amount up to them entirely. Truly, any amount would have been fine with me.

Continue reading“Letter: A Good Word About One of SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Sponsors”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

6

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 recent Bitcoin price rally. (See the Cryptos section.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Down Slightly After April Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Rises To 23.2

o  o  o

Silver Breaking Out; Gold Finds Higher Low

Stocks:

In a discussion about the likelihood of a recession, I had a friend ask me: “What stocks do you think will be recession proof?”  My reply: “Precious few are recession proof. And virtually none are Depression proof.”  I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. To paraphrase: Interest rates are rising, and we are long over-due for a recession. Be ready for a bear market in equities and a long, deep recession or full scale depression. Sell some of your stocks and diversify into tangibles. For a point of reference, my net worth is presently divided (approximately): 60% in ranch land, 25% in precious metals, 14% in guns and ammunition and 1% in cryptocurrencies. I now own no stocks or mutual funds.  If you do hold any stocks, I recommend that you either put in stop loss orders or reduce your stock holdings to no more than 15% of your net worth, until the end of the upcoming recession. Furthermore, you should hedge by shifting your stock portfolio into some hopefully recession-proof stocks. Two time-proven winners seem to be Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Clorox (CLX).

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – April 19, 2018

4

April 19th is the original Patriot Day which marks the multiple anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”. This first battle, leading to our nation’s independence, was the then-dictator’s (Britain King George III’s) failed attempt at “gun control”– an act being carried out in too many parts of our USA right now. This first gun control of the colonies was a failure, because of the will and determination of a small part of the population (about 3% actually fought for our independence actively, with many others supporting) to stand up to an oppressive, controlling government (England). Without the sacrifice by those few Patriots, we could very well still be “British subjects” rather than independent citizens. Note that due to corporate bureaucracy, the celebration has generally been moved to the third Monday in April to facility a postal/banking holiday.

It also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in 1943, the BATF’s costly raid on the Branch Davidian Church in Waco, the gun turret explosion on the USS Iowa in 1989, the capture of the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013, and very sadly also the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

April 19th is also the birthday of novelist Ralph Peters. Coincidentally, Ralph and JWR both have the same literary agent, Robert Gottlieb.

I’m pleased to see that Basics of Resistance: The Practical Freedomista, Book I, by Claire Wolfe and Kit Perez is selling quite well, on release day. (April 19, 2018.) It was ranked around #2,400 on Kindle and  4,500 in print books. It is ranked #1 in a couple of sub-categories! Get a copy!

 

America’s Gun Grabbers Have Accelerated the Mass Exodus to The American Redoubt

29

Do you live in The American Redoubt? Be aware that you have some friends arriving soon. The great Redoubt Exodus has begun!

For the past two months the newspapers and electronic media all around the country have been filled with headlines such as these:

Voting With Their Feet

The anti-gun rhetoric and legislation is almost certain to accelerate the already vigorous exodus to The American Redoubt. The political and social differences between the liberal coastal States and the conservative interior States are becoming more and more stark. These differences are now so great that traditional God-fearing and gun loving folks are no longer just considering  relocating. Rather, they are making firm plans, reserving their U-Haul and Ryder trucks, and counting the days until their planned escape. This trend is particularly pronounced in Northern California.

From some anecdotal indications related to me by my friends, relatives, and consulting clients, the local buzz is: It is the liberal coastal Californians are planning to move to Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. But it is mostly the conservative inland ones who are planning to move to Idaho and Montana. A gun owner fleeing California’s civilian disarmament laws is not likely to flee to place like Colorado, which is becoming more restrictive. And a liberal one is not going to place that the liberal mass media has warned them is “hostile” to liberals, like Idaho. (Even though in truth it isn’t.)

This is all just common sense demographic settling–round pegs fitting in round holes, and square ones in square holes. For several years, it has become apparent that the American Redoubt internal migration movement has been catching on. But now the Redoubt Exodus will be getting into full swing. As the old saying goes: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Continue reading“America’s Gun Grabbers Have Accelerated the Mass Exodus to The American Redoubt”

Letter: HF 3002: Welcome to The People’s Republic of Minnesota

28

Hugh,

They Never Stop. And they never will. The latest bid to punish the innocent for arms abuse by the guilty— but really to make sure that no sheep-dogs remains protectively collared when the left later disposes of the sheep—is arising in MN. And it’s a doozy:

HF 3022 is now in the Legislature.

  • Permit required to own a gun
  • Permit required to buy a gun
  • Permit required to sell a gun
  • Local law enforcement gets to deny all types of gun permits
  • Local law enforcement gets to deny permits to carry
  • Personal medical information must be shared with law enforcement
  • All firearm transfers must be reported
  • All guns must be registered (fees set by local law enforcement)
  • Registration must be renewed annually
  • Local law enforcement may conduct warrantless “safety inspections” of gun owner’s homes

Continue reading“Letter: HF 3002: Welcome to The People’s Republic of Minnesota”