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 South Africa’s new President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Precious Metals:

Forget the Stock Market. Investors Are Trading in Gold for Bitcoin

Stocks:

European shares recoup losses as miners, financials rise

 

Commodities:

Offshore Oil Is Poised For Significant Growth

 

Global Economy (President Cyril Ramaphosa):

South Africa’s incompetent president Jacob Zuma was recently forced out of office. That would normally come as great news. But the bad news is that Zuma was just replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa. The New Guy is a hard core leftist who has repeatedly gone on record as in favor of forced land redistribution without compensation. That is exactly what Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe did, with disastrous results. This does not bode well for crop farmers, cattle farmers (ranchers), game farmers, or miners in South Africa! Nor does it bode well for the future of the South African Rand, as a currency. (Astute traders are probably already shorting the Rand.) Keep in mind that South Africa’s population is almost four times larger than that of Zimbabwe. So we may see human suffering on a grand scale, under Cyril Ramaphosa.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday – February 22, 2018

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On this day in 1732, George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the second son from the second marriage of a colonial plantation owner. An initially loyal British subject, Washington eventually led the Continental Army in the American Revolution and became known as the father of the United States.

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It is with a sad heart that we learned of the passing of Evangelist Billy Graham yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Graham family today.

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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.

Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 3, by J.M.

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I am sharing experience and ideas about surviving in an urban environment in the event of short-term or major, long-term emergency situation. We just wrapped up the Get Home Bag, list of recommended contents, and explanations. Let’s look at skills.

Skills For the Trek Home

You’ll need to develop some skills necessary to survive a trek home under potentially difficult circumstances. These include:

Physical Fitness

Your physical fitness is fundamentally important. If your only regular exercise is from walking to and from the subway, you’re going to have a hard time walking 20 blocks to your apartment in any reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, you won’t be able to run away from danger if you need to. Remember that rule #1 is cardio! There’s a lot of good information available on basic survival fitness. It’s something you can do for little or no cost.

Situational Awareness

A lack of situational awareness can get you killed. A normal urban environment is a cacophony of sounds, sights and smells, which you’ve probably gotten pretty good at tuning out; however, in a disaster scenario, things will change quickly and you need to be aware.

Continue reading“Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 3, by J.M.”

Letter: How to Use Precious Metals

Hugh,

Assuming that my ability to travel after SHTF will be severely limited, how can I use or sell my precious metals? – J.A.

HJL’s Response:

Precious metals are really designed to carry your wealth through a crises and be used on the other side – especially if you have large chunks of PMs. Traditionally, PMs always have intrinsic value simply because people recognize the rarity of the metal and have always attached some value to it. However, during a crises in which the economy collapses, you can’t eat them. That’s why we always recommend filling out your preps with things that have a more immediate value first like food, medicine, and ammunition (beans, bullets, and band-aids). During an economic collapse, you will get more value when dealing with items that people actually need and can use. The PMs only come in when dealing with someone who really has everything they need and is willing to barter for PMs.

If you have all the food, medicine and ammunition that you need plus a bit extra, then you can barter that sort of item for more PM’s. When the crisis is over and the economy begins to stabilize, the value of PMs as a store of wealth comes back. If you have stored part of your wealth in PMs (or if you have bartered for PMs during this time) you get the benefit of seeing that wealth return. Basically, you don’t really want to spend the PMs during a crises, but you want to collect them then.

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”. Economic crises is the focus of today’s edition.

E-Books on Homesteading

Patrice Lewis of the Rural Revolution blog has greatly expanded her Country Living Series of How-To e-books. There are now over 60 titles available in these low-cost e-books that cover unique aspects of rural living, livestock care, preparedness, simplicity, frugality and rural businesses. All the books are in PDF format and can be purchased individually or bundled together for more information on broader topics. The bundles are 25% less expensive than if purchased individually. If you want to homestead, you need to look into these. By the way, SurvivalBlog readers can use the discount code “RAWLES” for 10% off, at checkout.

Florida Legislature Stands Up

Less than a week after 17 people were fatally shot in a Florida high school, the state House had to vote down a bill that would ban assault rifles. The proponents of the bill had politicized the event and publicly paraded survivors of that shooting before the House in an emotional appeal that suggested if the legislature did not vote their way, they stood against these children. I believe I heard one student in a public state claim that if you didn’t stand with them, you stood against them. Really? I don’t know of anyone that wants any children shot dead, yet they are claiming that if I don’t agree with them, I do?

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – February 21, 2018

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February 21st is also the birthday of Group Captain Douglas Bader (born 1910, died 5 September 1982). He was a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter ace during the Second World War. He lost his legs in a pre-war flying accident, but that didn’t stop him from re-entering the RAF when war broke out. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable, and 11 enemy aircraft damaged. Bader was eventually shot down and became a POW in Germany. Since the Luftwaffe ran its own POW camps, he became a celebrity with his captors. The Germans would lock up his hollow metal prosthetic legs each night to prevent him from escaping. Bader’s autobiography Reach for the Sky is a must for those studying aviation in World War II.

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“Pro-2nd Amendment” DJT Unfurls His True Colors

This headline hit the news Tuesday afternoon: Trump pushes ban on ‘bump stocks’ — devices that turn weapons into ‘machine guns’. President Donald J. Trump (DJT) has clearly made a major political compromise to his promised pro-gun stance. Take the time to re-read my October 2017 SurvivalBlog article: The Legislative Entrepreneur: Investing in Some Key AR Parts. If you have any interest in owning a binary trigger, then get a couple of them on order TODAY. The chances are now quite high that the BATFE will ban their manufacture. But if they do, there will probably be a Grandfather Clause, allowing folks to keep what they already own. I predict that if they are banned, that “pre-ban” (grandfathered) binary triggers will skyrocket in price.

Most gun parts dealers sold out of binary triggers yesterday evening, but I noticed that Valley Food Storage has some Franklin Armory BFS-III binary triggers for AR-15 in stock, at $429.99 each. And I heard that Ready Made Resources still has a few Tac-Con 3MR triggers for AR-15/AR-10 in stock at $379 each.

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.

Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 2, by J.M.

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I am sharing experience and ideas about surviving in an urban environment in the event of short-term or major, long-term emergency situation. We’re currently talking about getting home, whether from work or campus, since home is where our supplies are most likely stored.

Get Home Bag

On the subject of equipment and supplies, you’ve probably heard the term “Get Home Bag” (GHB). A lot of the discussion you can find regarding GHBs deals with handling a multi-day trek through the wilderness. Most of the time, the recommended content focuses on things like starting fires, building shelter, finding water, et cetera. Most of that shouldn’t be necessary for an urban trek of any more than (hopefully) a few miles. Below is my recommendations for urban GHB items you should have with you whenever you go out.

Spare Keys

Always have spare keys with you. Getting home safely doesn’t make any difference, if you can’t get in once you’re there. You should always carry a complete set of spare keys necessary to get into your apartment (outside door, deadbolts, et cetera). Use something like a belt with hidden pockets, your wallet, or wear a spare set around your neck on a dog tag chain. But always have them on you. Don’t depend on hiding a spare set near your apartment, since there are very few nooks or crannies that will stay undisturbed for very long in most urban environments.

Continue reading“Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 2, by J.M.”

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 Bitcoin taxes.

 

Precious Metals:

Mike Maloney’s Update On the Gold/Silver Ratio

 

Stocks:

At Reuters: Dow, S&P snap winning streak as Walmart weighs

 

Taxes (Bitcoin Taxes):

SurvivalBlog reader Janet X. sent us a scary little snippet from Martin W. Armstrong: Cryptocurrency Maybe Become a Tax Nightmare. JWR’s Comments: While there could indeed be accurate tax tracking of Bitcoin purchases (or sales) through exchanges, what about Bitcoin fractions that are gifts, trades, or personally mined?  Can you imagine what a tax audit would be like for someone who trades, gifts, or sells such BTC at a later date? Imagine this series of questions:  “What was the US Dollar value when you mined it?” “And what was the US Dollar value on the day that you received it?”  “And what was the US Dollar value on the day that you spent or traded it?” Yikes!

With Bitcoin prices all over map in a wild rollercoaster ride for the past three years, who is to say what this crypto’s relative Dollar value was at those precise “taxable event” days or hours?  This would be especially confusing for Bitcoin mining, which is often done very gradually. When is the taxable event Dollar-value benchmark for miners?

Consider that from 2014 to 2017 the Dollar value of a Bitcoin ranged from $4 to as high as $20,000. Then In January 2018 it was back down to $6,000. Now (as of February 20th, 2018) it is back up over $10,800. Those tax calculations might be almost impossible to make accurately!

 

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 a course for military surplus waterproof Hardigg and Pelican cases  (See the Gear section.)

Books:

Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan

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Guerrilla Camping: Getting Off the Beaten Path

Movies:

I found a documentary on economics that is definitely worth watching. It is: End of the Road: How Money Became Worthless. (Available on DVD, also available free streaming to those with an Amazon Prime membership.)  SurvivalBlog readers will recognize the names of a lot of the Hard Money economists who are interviewed.

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And I just noticed that the 1997 documentary Waco – The Rules of Engagement is now available on DVD or for free download via Amazon Prime.
Continue reading“JWR’s Recommendations of the Week”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – February 20, 2018

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This is the birthday of novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson (1926–2013). He wrote many sci-fi television scripts. His novella I Am Legend later was adapted into three different movies over the course of five decades, and his story Bid Time Return became the charming movie Somewhere In Time.

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We are still looking for more contest entries. Make sure you get your’s finished and sent in soon!

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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.

Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 1, by J.M.

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Let’s talk about surviving in an urban environment. In my younger days, one of my first jobs was in a mid-sized city in the Midwest. Being young, I wanted to enjoy all of the virtues and vices that the city had to offer. So, I got an apartment that was close to the city center. I had camping gear, and I always made sure to have a decent stock of food, water and medical supplies. However, with the knowledge and experience I’ve picked up in the ensuing decades, I look back and realize how unprepared I really was to survive an even moderate disaster.

The Goal of This Article

The goal of this article is to share some of what I’ve learned over the years in order to help folks who want to be prepared to survive for a few weeks or months and are, for whatever reason, living in an urban environment. For the purpose of this discussion, I consider “urban” living to mean you are living and working within 20 miles of a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants. It’s critical to understand that urban environments are not a good option for long-term survival. Between the population densities (average is around 4000 people/sq. mi.), criminals/gangs, and lack of sustainable resources, you can probably plan on surviving on your own resources for a few weeks or months at most. After that, you’d better hope things either go back to normal or have a “Phase 2” plan to get to a better survival location.

Since many folks who live in urban areas tend to be younger and not have a lot of disposable income, I’ve tried to provide the least expensive recommendations that could still meet requirements. I’ve provided online links for ordering where I could. But keep in mind you may be able to find many items (or equivalents) less expensive in your local Walmart, dollar store, second-hand shop, or even on eBay. Since living spaces in most urban areas tend to be smaller multi-story apartments, I’ve also tried to minimize storage requirements. These conditions could also apply to college students living on or near a campus.

Continue reading“Surviving in an Urban Environment- Part 1, by J.M.”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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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 Rep. Matt Shea’s recent presentation on the proposed State of Liberty. (See the Eastern Washington section.)


Region-Wide:

Here is a good summary of demographics for the Inland Northwest region.

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11 Stunning Places To Visit In The Inland Northwest

 

Idaho

Writing in Redoubt News, Rep. Christy Zito reports on some pending legislation: Idaho Stand-Your-Ground / Castle Doctrine. Here is a quote from her article:  “The stand your ground section of HB444 states that one has the right to use deadly force and not retreat if you are not the aggressor and you feel like your life is in jeopardy. HB 444 provides that one can use deadly force to defend life in their home, yard, place of business, or any place where one has a legal right to be. Also included is the presumption of innocence when deadly force has been used. That means that you are innocent until proven guilty. Current laws state that the criminal who broke into your home is the victim until you can prove you needed to shoot in self-defense. Additionally, H.B. 444 includes ‘criminal immunity’ which says that if you are charged and tried for your justifiable homicide, and you are found not guilty by reason of self-defense, you are entitled to have reasonable court costs reimbursed.”

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Also from Redoubt News: A Testimonial of The American Redoubt: A Look Inside

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