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”. More Social Media news today.

Social Media

Reader S.M. sent in this article on how the State Department has unveiled new rules that require most visitors or immigrants to the United States to turn over their recent social media histories. This is part of President Trumps “extreme vetting” national security enhancements. Given that social media is a primary means of communication among radicals, this is certainly a step in the right direction. Also encouraging is the mandate that visitors from countries who practice female genital mutilation will be directed to information sources that ensure that they know the practice is illegal in the United States.

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Do you know of people who announce that they are going on vacation on their social media accounts? I know of several families who have teenagers that regular post their current location along with photos, especially when they are traveling with their families. Note in this story that the house was robbed and the car stolen due to the social media presence of the family. We hate social media, but also understand that there are many who must use it. If you have to, at least use good OPSEC practices and don’t mention that you aren’t home, inviting burglars to visit you.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” John 20:19 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – March 31, 2018

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March 31 is the birthday of economist Dr. Walter E. Williams, PhD., who was born in 1936. His book American Contempt for Liberty is highly recommended.

o o o

Ready Made Resources is having a great sale on PVS-14 Autogated 3rd gen white phosphor night vision with a 10 year warranty. It you’ve been waiting for the right time to pick one up, this is an excellent opportunity.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been 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 Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 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.

Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 2, by Snow Wolf

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After I happened to watch the first episode of a 1975 British TV series called Survivors, I began to think differently about survival. Two conversations rearranged everything I’d assumed about survival and the continuation of civilization after a catastrophic disaster. I began to think from a perspective of thirteen century style survival.

I watched as the character in the show named Abby interacted with others and concluded that no one person had the knowledge to make much of anything in our modern society and she needed to learn how to master the old crafts. You might know some part of the process, but we struggled to make anything all by ourselves through the entire process. We depended upon a tool made of metal from ore that was mined or wood that was cut with an axe that is made from metal that is mined. We might depend upon glass. What happens when our tools and supplies are gone? Do we have the knowledge and skill to replace them?

Some think they’ll be able to read a book and know what to do. Let’s continue on with this thought.

Download Book After Book

Preppers who blissfully download book after book on an electronic device with the conviction that it’s now preserved forever are making another dangerous mistake. The further we get from the tangible, paper preservation of knowledge, the more precarious our knowledge base becomes and the more likely it is to be destroyed beyond recovery.

Continue reading“Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 2, by Snow Wolf”

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 last week was mundane and bucolic. Mostly, we did a lot of manure hauling.

I also replaced a Marey brand compact 220 VAC tankless hot water heater in our tiny house style guest cabin. I discovered (the hard way) that simply draining the pipes in the cabin was insufficient. The heater retained some water, and it froze this winter. It began leaking profusely when I turned the water back on at the tap and drain valve. So the new heater now has an air compressor valve fitting installed, which will allow me to blow out any residual water, each fall. This is just one more item to add to my seasonal checklist. Oh well, that is just life in a northern climate.

I also bought a few dozen more full capacity magazines, just in case there is another Federal ban enacted. Why? I do not trust Paul Ryan and his RINO cronies. They seem all too willing to “compromise” away our right to keep and bear arms.

Avalanche Lily Reports:

I spent some time brushing our horses during the past three weeks, to help them rid themselves of their winter coats. This week’s brushing yielded a box measuring more than 1 cubic foot of horsehair!  We also recently trimmed their hooves. They are now almost looking as good as the horse in the featured image above.

Our garden preps are continuing well. Once every other day I’ve watered our garden seedlings in the greenhouse bedroom which are now between 2″ and 10 ” tall. Some of them are putting out their third sets of leaves. They are almost ready to be moved to the greenhouse.

Most recently we’ve been preparing for our annual Passover celebration. The first night is Friday night.

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:

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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.  Today, the focus is on some firearms headlines.

Build Your Own AR-15 Class in Michigan

Sometimes a dose of reality creeps in to the mainstream news. This was aired by ABC News: ‘Build Your Own AR-15’ class in Michigan draws a crowd just days after protest. Our thanks to H.L. for the link.

 

New ATF Regulations Expanding the Definition of “Machinegun”

Adam Kraut  of The Legal Brief has some details on the new proposed rulemaking by the BATFE that would redefine the word “machinegun” under Federal law. See his new five minute video: NEW ATF Regulations!

In essence, it would ban bumpfire stocks (and possibly  more) at the stroke of pen.  Worst of all, they would be declared unregisterable “contraband”, with a destruction order that would not compensate the roughly 350,000 owners in the United States. Can you spell “Taking”? This is an unconstitutional slippery slope, folks!

Next week in SurvivalBlog we’ll post some more details, including how to post your public comments on regulation.gov website, with some suggested wording that might help.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” – 2 Samuel 7:12-16 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – March 30, 2018

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On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a District of Columbia police officer. Known for his quips and unaware of the injury to others at the scene, President Reagan walked into the hospital, despite his wound, and was heard telling his wife, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”

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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 Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 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.

Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 1, by Snow Wolf

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Like many preppers, I love disaster movies, whether Godzilla stomping a city, asteroids hitting the earth, pandemics, earthquakes, or volcanoes. After all, any of these things could happen, except maybe Godzilla, and useful ideas can come from anywhere, regardless of the style of disaster. The disaster movies were good for a laugh, but they also convinced me that any major disaster—asteroid, pandemic, or nuclear attack—will make societal recovery lengthy and perhaps impossible and survival difficult.

Then, I happened to watch the first episode of a 1975 British TV series called Survivors. Two conversations rearranged everything I’d assumed about survival and the continuation of civilization after a catastrophic disaster. I began to think from a perspective of thirteen century style survival.

Surviving, Like Survivors

The plot of Survivors begins with a world-wide pandemic, and the series follows the survival of a few people in Britain who are genetically able to recover from the virus. The heroine of the series is an ordinary upper-class British housewife named Abby Grant whose worries, before the pandemic, went no further than her immediate family and her tennis game. She survived the virus; her husband didn’t. In the first episode her main concern is to find her son, who was away at school and whose fate is unknown. When she reaches the school she finds only one person still alive, a teacher who has been pondering the unprecedented situation.

Continue reading“Survival, Thirteenth Century Style- Part 1, by Snow Wolf”

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 tangible Bitcoin hedges.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)

Precious Metals:

Gold Prices See Little Movement As Inflation Rises To Highest Level In A Year

Stocks:

Trade war watch: These are the U.S. companies with the most at stake in China

o  o  o

Amazon’s stock set for worst week, month in two years

Commodities:

BNN (Canada) video:  Commodities Update

Forex & Cryptos:

As predicted by SurvivalBlog, conintinuing U.S. Dollar weakness: Euro / Dollar Rate on Course for 1.25 and Beyond: MUFG and TWP

o  o  o

The price of one Bitcoin (BTC) rose to around $8,900 USD last week, but since then it has sagged to around $6,850.  If it tests $6,500 in the next week then we might see a plunge to somewhere south of $4,500 per BTC. The upside, you ask?  Not much for now. Every time Bitcoin has approached $9,000 in the past few weeks, it has been hammered down by concerted selling. It has been reported that fewer than 1,000 people own more than 40% of all the Bitcoin in circulation. When one of those BTC Billionaires has an automatic sell order in place, then Bitcoin has a firm ceiling. And I’m fairly confident that at least one of these rich technogeeks presently has a $9K automatic sell order set. My suggestion: Keep your BTC positions small, at least for now. For those holding more than a few BTC, it is probably time for some tangible Bitcoin hedges.  (See the Tangibles Investing section, below.)

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Thus the steel serpent becomes an automatic governor upon the upward and downward movements of the ship due to meteorological changes. Hence the name ‘equilibrator’ or ‘stabilizator.’ The huge snake and its valuable stuffing is really ballast which may be used over and over again without ever losing it.

It is unnecessary to carry sand or water to throw overboard. Our serpent, if he behaves as well as a well-made reptile ought, should hold the [dirigible] America at an altitude of from 150 to 250 feet above the ocean, save us ballast ‘which means fuel’ on one hand, save us gas on the other, and enable us to prolong the voyage from the forty-eight hours practicable without a serpent to the seven or nine or ten days which may be required for crossing the Atlantic.” – Explorer and pioneer aviator Walter Wellman, describing his equilibrator design for his blimp, in The Aerial Age; A Thousand Miles by Airship Over the Atlantic Ocean; Airship Voyages Over the Polar Sea; The Past, the Present and the Future of Aerial Navigation

Ghost Gunner Review- Part 2

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Yesterday, we started looking at the Ghost Gunner, running it through its paces and turning out the first completed lower starting with an 80% completed unit. Today, we’ll finish up that review and look at the problems we encountered while running the machine.

First Completed Lower

The only real test of the Ghost Gunner is whether or not a decent trigger control group fits in the receiver after that first lower is completed. I’m happy to report that, yes, it does. This receiver wasn’t as fulfilling to make as my first one on a milling machine (using a Tactical Machining lower and milling template), but it was sure a lot faster and easier. When you look at the finished product, you can see milling marks (lots of them) because the machine takes such small bites. However, all such marks are interior to the receiver. Furthermore, while cosmetically not pleasing, they make no difference to asthetics of the assembled firearm and do not impede the function. If you are a perfectionist, I suppose you could remove them with some careful filing, but I chose not to go to this extra, unnecessary effort.

GG Lower vs. Others

The early-production 80% lowers from Defense Distributed have more surface machining on them. (The more recent ones have bead blasted exteriors for a much more smooth appearance.)These were not the only ones that have this level of machining, but lowers like Tactical Machining’s are obviously from a more advanced mold with not much exterior machining, as you can see in the photos. The corners are more rounded and the surface is a bit rougher but with no machining marks. With the TM lower, you can pretty much finish the job with little more than a file to remove burrs and end up with a clean, cosmetically clean lower, ready for anodizing. The GG lower requires more surface preparation to remove the machining marks. Both are excellent lowers.

Continue reading“Ghost Gunner Review- Part 2”

Letter: The Disturbing Trend of the Disengaged Prepper

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JWR, Hugh, SurvivalBlog Readers,

In case you haven’t noticed, our 2nd Amendment rights are being stripped before our very eyes. As uncomfortable as it was, I chose to participate in the local pro-gun side of the recent #MarchforOurLives protest on March 24, 2018. The only thing more disappointing than the turn-out for “our” side was the complete absence of any members of my circle of preppers.

I’m not sure when it became the apparent modus operandi of so many in the self-reliance and prepper movements to stop participating in chances to voice our opinions and stand in the here and now to fight for our rights. For some, it has become much easier to rationalize that nothing can be done to right the ship, retreat to their mental or physical hidey-holes, caress their firearms and dehydrated food, and wait for the collapse. If we are to have any hope for the future, that must change.

Continue reading“Letter: The Disturbing Trend of the Disengaged Prepper”

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”. Once again, the statists are foiled by the ingenuity of the average man. (pun fully intended – read “knife, foiled” to see how.)

Politics

Apparently the “Roseanne” reboot blew up the TV ratings this week. I don’t know, because I didn’t watch it. It would appear that many conservatives are cheering because ABC finally put a pro-Trump character on that wasn’t a total idiot. There is just one problem. If you thought this was a right-leaning TV show, you would be wrong. Producers think that the only difference between the right and the left is economics and all they have to do is have a middle-class working woman be a Trump supporter to “click” with the rest of fly-over America. Of course that ignores the fact that the TV show is pro-gay-marriage, pro-abortion, feminist and pro-transgenderism with the implication that the main character is good because of these views. Nope. They missed it again. Hopefully, conservatives won’t bite on this one.

Firearm Sales Demographics

From Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large:

I have noticed, as have several others, that the last few weeks have had a huge upswing in black attendance at gun shows. I saw a significant increase in black families–middle class, respectable–coming into the local show and leaving with purchases. Most were buying AK and AR platform rifles, pump shotguns and Glock or Smith and Wesson handguns. These are all practical, reliable defensive tools.

Clearly, they’re aware of the threats they will face during civil unrest, and are insuring against it. Anti-gun rhetoric to the contrary, they were of course welcomed by the rest of the firearm community and the vendors.

It will be interesting to see if this presages any shift in the upcoming elections.

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