Preparedness Notes for Monday – November 06, 2017

November 6th is the anniversary of the day that B-24 Liberator co-pilot Al Millspaugh was shot down over Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1944. He ended up in a Luft Stalag, until 1945. I got to know Al at some John Birch Society chapter meetings back in the late 1970s. Hearing his stories was fascinating. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in the California Air National Guard. He passed away on November 24, 2014 in Kelseyville, California. My 2014 novel Liberators was in part dedicated to Al Millspaugh.

 

Cold Steel’s Chef’s Knife, Commercial Series, by Pat Cascio

10

Surviving the kitchen with the Cold Steel Chef’s Knife is our topic today.

People Talking About “Surviving”

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard it repeated; people are talking about “surviving” whatever it is that is coming our way. More often than not, I hear people telling me they are going to bug out to the mountains or the wilderness and survive there without giving it any thought or preparations. I’m sorry, if you believe that you are living a lie or a fantasy, or you are misguided. I used to live in Chicago, and I couldn’t tell you how many times I heard people say if “something” happens, they are heading to the “hills”, the mountains, or some place remote, without even having can of beans to eat. It’s not real. Wake up!

Misguided People Plan To Bug To Mountains

I hear from preppers all the time. Many of my friends are preppers, too, and some of them are misguided in their belief that they will bug out to the “mountains”. Well, I live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, and I’m here to tell you it is very rugged terrain no matter how you look at it or how well trained and equipped you might be. It would be my last resort for surviving “whatever” may come my way.

Continue reading“Cold Steel’s Chef’s Knife, Commercial Series, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: Italian Pot Roast, by G.L.

1

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 4 pound beef chuck roast
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 (1 1/2 oz) package spaghetti sauce mix
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper and then dry spaghetti seasoning mix.
  2. Place in a crockpot and top with chopped tomatoes.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours or until meat is tender.
  4. Slice and serve on hot spaghetti; spoon sauce over all.

Makes 6 to 7 servings.

o o o

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

1

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 Antiquarian Books. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Moor Analytics: Gold Downside May Finally be Exhausted

Commodities:

Why Are The British Paying So Much For Energy?

o  o  o

Next, some commentary from OilPrice.com: BP Boosts The Bullish Case For Oil. 
In a clear sign that BP has adjusted to oil’s new normal, the company is buying back shares to cover its dividend payout amid the price crash
.

 

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday – November 05, 2017

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been another entry for Round 73 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. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value), and
  8. 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 73 ends on November 30th, 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.

Is Stealing From The Corporation Really Stealing?, by S.C.

56

Every day I encounter people, at my workplace, at my church, with friends going out to dinner, et cetera, who are doing something I find questionable, to say the least. For some reason, otherwise ordinarily honest people who you could trust if you left a stack of twenty dollar bills out on your table do not consider that taking money or goods from a corporation is stealing at all. This has been driving me crazy for the last several years as I see more and more people doing it.

Thou Shalt Not Steal

I go to what I would consider a “strict” church, and my preacher never preaches on matters such as these. All he seems to talk about is how if you drink or cuss you are going to hell. Well, shouldn’t we start with the Ten Commandments and then work our way down from there, namely “Thou shalt not steal”? Okay, I’m not a big fan of drinking or cussing, I have to admit. But why are those the number one priority?

Lying On Hours Worked

I know people who lie on the amount of hours they work every week just to get some overtime. They need some extra money, so they falsify their hours in order to get those extra dollars on their paycheck. How is that not stealing? I think that is stealing from every other employee in the company through lost raises, lost profits, bonuses, et cetera. Oh yeah, they will justify it by things such as “I am underpaid.” My response is, you agreed to work for the dollar amount you are working for when you took the job, and by staying at the company you are agreeing to work for the amount you are being paid.

Continue reading“Is Stealing From The Corporation Really Stealing?, by S.C.”

Letter: Prepping with Cancer

14

Hugh,

I’ve just started chemotherapy and would like to ask your readers about resources for preparing while working through cancer? – J.

HJL’s Comment:

Having been through that exact same scenario myself, I can tell you that I didn’t change much. I was more careful in what I chose to eat (and store for future eating) and I learned more about taking care of myself while avoiding things in our society that are detrimental (like fast food), but overall, my goals stayed pretty much the same.

During chemotherapy, you will most likely be exhausted so plan accordingly. Learn to be flexible in what you plan. I’m sure that many more of our readers have also been through health crises like this.

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

18

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”. The Lone Wolf concept has got to go. Today there are a number of articles showing the absurdness of this philosophy when describing terrorist actions in the U.S.

Reason #5048 to Leave Public School

Fox news is reporting on a 29 year-old High School English teacher in Florida who was arrested for having sex with a 17 year-old student. Apparently the teacher sent a text to a third party claiming she “cheated” on her friend. When the person asked if she meant “sex”, the teacher confirmed it. When authorities met with the student, he confirmed the story. The school district said she was hired in 2014 and had a clean record.

Pets on the Menu

Reader H.L. wrote in:

“Every American who wants Socialism or Communist needs to read and see the photos on the internet of what both forms of government do to the people. Only the free market can provide enough wealth for citizens, and yes, enough extra wealth for people to help others. American schools teach that Capitalism – the free market – is bad, and that sharing and giving to everyone, even those who are lazy and do not want to work, is taught. That is how a free country dies, just as America is dying now! When knowing where prosperity comes from – the free market – is not taught, it rarely ends well.”

Unsurprisingly, while Venezuelans eat their pets to keep from starving, Maduro is caught eating an empanada on live TV, flaunting the fact that he certainly isn’t starving.

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

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” – 2 peter 2:4-9 (KJV)

What We Have Done So Far- Part 2, by N.F.

21

In part 1, I provided the foundation of our move to Northern Arizona, where we have lived for five years. I defined the seven most important elements I would like to see in the property, and these seven items form the building blocks for a sustainable life that we are trying to live. I’ve already covered our water plan, which is the first, and began discussing our food plan. Now, let’s continue with the food plan as we wrap this article up today.

Chickens

When we first arrived here, we were befriended by many people, one of which was really insistent that we must have some chickens. I kept telling him I wasn’t ready for animals. He persisted and one day told me of someone he knew who was selling six-month old pullets for $5 each. We bought 20, built a coop and a 50 x 50 foot yard, and as of today we have 40 or so laying hens. The wife has a couple of local restaurants that buy as many eggs from us as we can provide. I have learned how to butcher chickens, and although I am by no means very good at it I get better every time I do this.

Rabbits and Other Meat

We also ended up raising and harvesting rabbits. This is something I plan to expand next year. Also, our goal next year is to do either perma culture fish farming or to get a few sheep. That will probably be the extent of the meat we raise here, as we don’t really have the space for cows. I have, however, left the back part of our place undeveloped. It borders a swamp and a neighbor’s mature orchard. It is also an ansectoral home for a dozen or so deer that spend most of the year at or within a short distance of our property. I am by no means a deer hunter and I have never killed anything larger than a wild turkey. I have, however, come into possession of a recurve bow and am becoming proficient in its use, so there is always that.

Continue reading“What We Have Done So Far- Part 2, by N.F.”

The Editors’ Preps for the Week

15

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,
Whew! It’s been a very busy week getting ready for the first snow of the year. It arrived on Wednesday afternoon. According to the forecast, with this snowstorm by midnight Saturday the possible amount of snow that we could receive could be nearly 2 feet (54 cm). The minimum amount could be about 12 inches (30cm). We’ll just have to wait and see what God gives us.

We’ve mostly have been ready for it. But we did a “final” walk-through of the ranch, on Monday. We found several last-minute projects to do. For instance there were still a few extra hoses out around the stock tanks. The wheelbarrows needed to be put in the barn. (We seasonally exchange them for our work sleds.) We pulled the snow shovels out of storage and made them readily accessible. We found a few unused pet dishes, buckets ,and salt block trays that needed to be consolidated into one place in the barn. All the four-wheelers, trailers, the weedwhacker, and rototiller had long since been brought in under cover.

Lily chopped some more wood for kindling. (It’s usually Jim’s job but, she enjoys doing that chore once in a while). We cleared an open porch of all objects to make shoveling snow easier. I cleaned up manure around the the ranch from free ranging beasties. Jim drained and rolled up the hose from the greenhouse and the one still in the garden and stowed those in the greenhouse.

Winter Preps

As usual for each November, Jim rigged heavy gauge extension cords and stock tank heaters for our stock tanks. These will keep the stock water from freezing this winter. Together, we mounted the snow plow onto our pickup truck. (We had the snow tires put on our vehicles a couple of weeks ago). Jim also placed markers around the property for protection from the plow such as a concrete pad, an RV septic dump station, and the locations where the meadow irrigating hoses and lumber piles are stored for the winter. Those markers prevent damage to them from plowing the snow. We also discussed snow pile placement for this year to maximize accessibility to things, come spring. Last year we had so much snow and such large snow piles blocking the garden and barn that we couldn’t bring out some equipment and go into the garden as soon as I would have liked. Therefore, this year we hope to mitigate that problem. We already have by planning ahead and preparing everything and placing it where we want it ahead of time.

Continue reading“The Editors’ Preps for the Week”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

23

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”. Pay particular attention to the Bad Survival Strategies today. You really don’t want to be depending on any of these when things go south.

Car Jackings

Reader P.S. sent in this link showing a rise in car jackings in Chicago – even in the more trendy neighborhoods. Last year Chicago recorded 663 carjackings (almost double the previous year). We are only in October of this year and 661 carjackings have already been recorded. Reasons for the increase are unclear, but some feel that the shooting of Laquan McDonald and subsequent public furor has led officers to have less aggressiveness on the street resulting in emboldened criminals.

The Plague

Reader G.P. points out that the airborne plague in Madagascar is now at a crisis point and is being listed as the worst outbreak in 50 years. Cases are up by 40% and are expected to hit 20,000 in just a few weeks. Apparently, one of the causes of the spread of the plague is a ritual where residents exhume the bodies of their loved ones and dance with them. Additionally, forest fires have driven rats into the rual communities. The plague season still has another six months to run.

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