CMMG Banshee 9mm AR Pistol, by Pat Cascio

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Today, we are taking an exclusive look at the all-new CMMG “Banshee” 9mm pistol. Some might even call it a Personal Defense Weapon (PDW). SurvivalBlog was the first to receive this new pistol, and it has been a confidential project.

Hush-Hush Five-Week Test

We conducted a five-week test on this new AR 9mm pistol. I had originally planned on running about 500 rounds of 9mm ammo through the Banshee, which is a more than a fair test. However, I had so many volunteer testers helping me that we ran more than 1,500 rounds of ammo through this new AR pistol. It was difficult keeping this project hush-hush, and I had to keep the name of the gun and company covered over with duct tape, so no one knew what they were shooting.

Quick Specs on 9mm Banshee Pistol

Some quick specs on the 9mm Banshee pistol are in order, then we’ll get into the meat of this outstanding firearm. The Banshee has a 5-inch barrel, and the muzzle is threaded at ½-28 for a 9mm flash suppressor or registered sound suppressor (“silencer”). The handguard is actually made by CMMG, as is most of the parts. Furniture consists of a MagPul MOE pistol grip, and a Tailhook Mod 2 brace, an ambi sling plate, ambi safety, and a very unique ambi charging handle. The upper and lower receivers are Billet 7075-T6 forged aluminum, and the trigger is a CMMG single stage mil-spec design. CMMG was very good at listening to folks, and this Banshee takes any double-column Glock 9mm magazines. It comes with one 33-rd mag. Weight of the gun is 4.6 lbs, but it feels lighter. Overall length is 20 inches with the stock closed and 23 inches opened.

Continue reading“CMMG Banshee 9mm AR Pistol, 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 we have an update on the prices of registered machineguns. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

First up, some analysis by Christopher Aaron: Silver Price Forecast: Continued Lagging Signals Caution

Stocks:

Stocks Rise as Trump Shakes Up Trade Landscape: Markets Wrap

Economy & Finance:

Several readers sent me this frightening headline: US Deficit To Soar Over 40% In 2019, Exceed $1 Trillion By 2020: CBO

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Next, over at Fortune, some commentary from Gary Shapiro: We Need a Reset With China, Not a Trade War

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Reader J.F. suggested this: How the Cult of the Colossal Imperils American Agriculture

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – April 12, 2018

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April 13, 1743 The birthday of Thomas Jefferson. (He died on July 4, 1826 just a few hours before the death of John Adams. How patriotic of both of them to pass away on the Fourth of July.)

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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.

How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 3, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members and guide another 21, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series. In Part 2, I went over how I am resolving these problems and my specific plans as well as began outlining the details of steps I’m taking. I just began with a summary of how I am dealing with food and water and provided tables that consider the various sizes of groups I might have to support.

Let’s continue looking at the details of my plan. Food had been classified as Tier One and Tier Two. Let’s take a look at the items in these tiers and their estimated expense and then move into other categories.

Continue reading“How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 3, by Patriotman”

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”. Patriot Nurse needs your help today.

Patriot Nurse

YouTube strikes again! Patriot Nurse is yet the latest example of the liberal/progressive agenda on social media platforms. On April 11, she woke up and checked her channel and found that practically all of her videos had been demonitized including those that had nothing to do with firearms or patriotism. Even the video with medical training had been demonitized. Of course, there is no recourse for her as some libtard at YouTube has now decided that her work is worthless. Thankfully, she has her Patreon channel. If you enjoy her videos, please consider supporting her through Patreon.

Government and Guns

The government hates your guns. Bill Buppert over at Zerogov.com has a blog post out that examines the history of the U.S. government and it’s views on the Second Amendment. The government doesn’t care about the Second Amendment and shows it’s contempt for it by passing things like the 1934 NFA, the 1938 NFA, 1968 GCA and so on. Those who run the government not only don’t believe in your right but feel that their discomfort over you having a gun merits the wholesale confiscation of property. I wonder how many of these gun control advocates have actually studied the outcomes in history that always follow such moves?

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.” – Judge Learned Hand, in his dissenting opinion to Commissioner v. Newman, 159 F.2d 848, 851 (2d Cir. 1947)

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – April 11, 2018

April 12th is the birthday of the late novelist Tom Clancy. (Born 1947, died October 1, 2013). It was Clancy who almost single-handedly created the modern techno-thriller genre. Coincidentally, Tom Clancy’s first literary agent was my agent, Robert Gottlieb.

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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.

How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 2, by Patriotman

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I’m a man in his mid 20s trying to prepare for when SHTF to care for 21 family members, none of which are really contributing in any significant way. I’m also part of a fireteam group, but they are not walking the walk on preparations either. My girlfriend is supportive, but I feel generally alone in my preparations. I’ve outlined the problems I have in each group– family and fireteam– in Part 1 of this article series.

How Do You Overcome These Barriers to Success?

Now that I have laid out my problems, which are substantial, I want to talk about the general steps I have taken to try and mitigate the problems. These concepts will be better exhibited when I delve into each subject area and talk about the specific approaches and steps I have taken.

Keep the Concept in Their Minds

I try to keep the concept front and center in their minds. To do this, I have a weekly email that goes out to all of the members. The email includes several different pieces. It includes:

  • relevant news stories about preparedness items (such as signs of fiscal instability, grid penetrations, et cetera),
  • articles about preparedness topics and techniques from sites such as this (SurvivalBlog),
  • other relevant cultural articles (from sites such as Western Rifle Shooters Association or View from the Porch), and
  • excerpts from Sam Culper’s Forward Observer Intelligence Briefings, which I look forward to every week.

Continue reading“How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 2, by Patriotman”

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 Pre-1965 Silver Coins. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Clive Maund: ‘The Most Bullish Set Up for Silver that I Have Ever Seen’ (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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Precious Metals Weekly Report – April 09 2018 : Motilal Oswal

 

Forex:

China Is Studying Yuan Devaluation as a Tool in Trade Spat

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What Next for Pakistan After a Second Currency Devaluation?

Economy & Finance:

We Understand The Chinese Government Has Halted Purchases Of US Treasuries”: SGH. JWR’s Comments: Think this through, folks: This change could be the tipping point ending stable, artificially low interest rates. The People’s Republic of China has been the single largest foreign buyer of U.S. Treasury paper. Once the You’re-a-Peons realize that they can hold out for a higher yield from the U.S. Treasury, then they’ll get it. And that could  start a very ugly sequence of events: 1.) A stairstepping of interest rates, leading to…  2.)  A dampering down of our economy, leading to… 3.) Spiking interest rates, leading to.. 4.) The U.S. National Debt becoming unserviceable– at least without more monetization (QE), leading to.. 5.) A full-blown credit crisis, leading to…  6.) Wholesale Monetization (“QE to Infinity”) , leading to… 7.) A Dollar crisis, leading to… 8.) Mass inflation, leading to… 9.) A Dollar collapse, leading to… 10.) Something like a novel I once wrote.

Watch U.S. Treasuries yields very closely, folks. Those will be the barometer of the entire global economic weather system, for the next couple of years.

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U.S. inflation expectations flat after gains: NY Fed

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on the new generation of rechargeable batteries.

Books:

Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen

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How to Stay Alive in the Woods: A Complete Guide to Food, Shelter and Self-Preservation Anywhere, by Bradford Angier

Movies:

A Wing and A Prayer (2017). This great documentary about Al Schwimmer and the founding of the Israeli Air Force is available for free download to Amazon Prime members. Also available on DVD.

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They Live (1988). Now available in a multi-format collector’s edition.

Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“They treat me like a fox, a cunning fellow (Schlaukopf) of the first rank. But the truth is that with a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to deal with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.” – Otto Furst von Bismark, speaking with Gyula Andrássy in Salzburg on September 18, 1877. As quoted in Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question. A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics (1935) by Robert William Seton-Watson, p. 224

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – April 10, 2018

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April 11th is the birthday of John Milius, who was born in 1944. He both wrote the screenplays and directed the films Dillinger, The Wind and the Lion, Big Wednesday, Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn, Farewell to the King, and Flight of the Intruder. He also wrote the screenplays of the first two Dirty Harry movies as well as the first draft of the screenplay for Patton (before Francis Ford Coppola turned it into a vaguely anti-war commentary laced with references to reincarnation). Milius is JWR’s favorite Hollywood writer and director, in part because he stands for everything that Hollywood doesn’t.

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You can now follow SurvivalBlog with Bloglovin

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 75 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 75 ends on March 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.

How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 1, by Patriotman

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I think this article will resonate with many of the SurvivalBlog readership, because I suspect that many of us are in a similar situation of being the only one preparing. While some of you may be lucky to have complete buy-in and participation with prepping from your family or survival group, many others, like myself, may find that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Before I speak about my experience with this issue and the steps I have taken to attempt to mitigate this, let me provide some background on myself as well as what the composition of the group looks like. The group is divided into two sections– family and fireteam. Each one of these groups is proving to have their own frustrations and issues with them. Just as a disclaimer, I am not affiliated with any sites or individuals mentioned in this article.

My Background

I am male and in my mid-20s living in a Mid-Atlantic occupied state, and I have a Masters of Science degree. I have been preparing since 2012 when I first read Mr. Rawles’ book How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It. I unfortunately still live at home while I bank money to simultaneously pay off some of my loans, save money for moving out (hopefully within the year), and purchase some preparedness supplies. I have set myself an absolute baseline of readiness that I am trying to achieve and will soon hit that baseline. This baseline is the bare minimum that I want to have in hand should a disaster occur. I am also working on practical skills as well and not just acquiring “stuff” – weapons manipulations and individual tactics, medical skills, fitness, and communications.

My beautiful girlfriend of nearly seven years is 100% bought into the concept of preparedness. She has become my main companion in the pursuit of these skills, which is such a blessing. The only downside is that the relationship is long distance at the moment, but that will hopefully change within the year. And if you are wondering, yes, it stinks, but it is worth it.

Continue reading“How to Prepare When You’re The Only One- Part 1, by Patriotman”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

Here is SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt. This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies of interest to preppers that are located in the region. The emphasis this week is on the upcoming Oregon gun restrictions ballot initiative. (See the Oregon section.)

Idaho

Over at Redoubt News there is this piece from an Idaho legislator: End of Session Review, by Representative Christy Zito

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The 25th North Idaho Veterans Stand Down is scheduled for May 12, 2018, at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, in Coeur d’ Alene.

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18 months after Idaho’s Pioneer Fire, less than 10 percent of forest being salvage logged

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”