Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – September 19, 2017

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On September 19th, 1778, the Continental Congress passed the first budget of the United States. While the budget may have passed, the states responded poorly to the call for taxes to fund the government, and the government resorted to printing paper money to cover debts. In effect, the first budget was a failure, due in large part to the states not responding to the demands of Congress and the depreciation of fiat paper money. Are we talking about 1778 or 2017 here?

Also on this date in 1796, George Washington addressed the nation in his farewell address as president.

On a less serious note, Mickey Mouse made his first screen debut in 1928 (Steamboat Willy at Colony Theater NYC).

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A Strange New Language With Old Words Used in Strange New Ways, by Old Bobbert

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I’m writing about a strange new language and its effect on others. We are told that a SurvivalBlog contest entry essay that is a “how to do it type” topic will get extra recognition in the judging. This is my best effort at writing an essay that is truly a “how to do it”. It’s on the topic of how we preppers can easily regain our lost positions within our families and communities, positions that were lost, or perhaps that we threw away thoughtlessly, back when we first began to think and speak in this new language that we have created for ourselves. It’s the language of intolerant words and changing concepts that strain the relationships so very necessary in our over-stressed lives– our preparedness language.

The Town “Nons”

We are the preppers. Strange people with strange new uses for old words with our new meanings. We don’t seem to even care that they don’t really understand what we are talking about. We are strange to them, and the “nons” appear to wonder about the preppers living among them and being around the “nons” children. The number of preppers here in our town seems to be growing very quickly. They seem to be wondering what we are trying to do to them.

Preparedness Community Questions

I have observed that among the members of our “preparedness” community there are always the same nagging types of fretful questions in our conversations. They ask, “How much is enough?” “Should we talk to the neighbors about our preparations for the ‘big, bad problems’ we are expecting soon?”

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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 the court order following the Gary Hunt trial  (See the Eastern Oregon section.)

Idaho

First up: Stargazers eye the nation’s first dark sky reserve in Idaho. Yep, that is a big dark patch. (You can click to zoom in.) You’ve gotta love such low population density!  (A hat tip to Peter S. for the link.)

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Man pulled over on I-84 found driving van belonging to missing person, sheriff says

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Porsche plows into spectators at Idaho car show; 11 hurt

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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”. Of note today  is the survival shotgun. this looks like a handy tool.

Survival Shotgun

Reader W.W. sent in this video reviewing the Chiappa X-Caliber Survival Shotgun. This is basically the old M6 survival shotgun, but instead of a .410 and .22 barrel, you get a 12 ga and .22 barrel. Then they add a series of pistol adapters which are drop in barrel bushings that will allow the shotgun to fire a variety of pistol ammunition as well. It’s a neat concept. Though it is a break-open single-shot type of weapon, so you don’t get a high rate of fire. However, the pistol adapters make it so you can fire just about any caliber of round that you might find laying around.

Flood Recovery Advice

In this Video, The American Gunsmithing Institute’s (AGI) president Gene Kelly, provides immediate Flood Recovery Triage Advice for Firearms owners to prevent further damage to their guns.. Please share this information with others to help the victims of the storms recover their firearms. Our thoughts and concerns are with the People of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Caribbean Islands and all others that affected. May God Protect and Bless them.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself anti-Fascism. My own belief, more than once set afloat from this spot, is that it will take us, soon or late, into the stormy waters of Fascism. To be sure, that Fascism is not likely to be identical with the kinds on tap in Germany, Italy and Russia; indeed, it is very apt to come in under the name of anti-Fascism.” – H.L. Mencken (1938)

Cold Steel’s Frenzy II, by Pat Cascio

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Cold Steel never ceases to amaze me, and this time around they sent me their new Frenzy II folding knife for testing. Long time friend and owner of Cold Steel, Lynn Thompson knows that our readers at SurvivalBlog keep asking me to review large folding knives.  Lynn is only too willing and ready to show us some of his newest and coolest blades.

Knives

Cold Steel Knife and Tool Company  is a knife and tool company dedicated to creating the world’s strongest and sharpest knives. They also create swords, tomahawks, machetes, cutlery, and tools for every day use. One of the things that always catches my attention with most of the very large folding knives that Cold Steel produces is that most of them are light weight, believe it or not, so they’re easy to carry in pants pockets. However, keep in mind, that some pants don’t have deep pockets. It is a bit difficult to tuck a long folding knife in the front pocket. Many people will tuck a folder in their waistband of their pants. The pocket clip holding the knife in the pocket.

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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 fickle collectors.  (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals

First off, over at Zero Hedge: Mexican Congress Debates Monetization Of The “Libertad” Silver Ounce

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Silver forecast for the week of September 18, 2017, Technical Analysis

Stocks:

S&P 500 closes at record high; Dow posts best week since December

Commodities:

The latest USDA food and feed commodities numbers: World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates

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Identify And Secure Your Retreat Like An Engineer, by JAD

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Area assessment and planning is a key component of determining where to establish your secured retreat location. Establishing a retreat is not enough; you need to have clear objectives for what that area will accomplish for you or for those in your network. In order to establish your secured area and to determine the objectives necessary to allow it to function, you must assess and plan. Your planning must consider varying threats, uncertainty in threat duration, and likely enemy strength. Effective planning requires beginning at a macro level and reducing the scope until all details are captured.

The work in determining areas for a retreat has already been done by people with a higher level of knowledge than myself. An example is Joel Skousen’s book Strategic Relocation. His analysis is extremely in depth and is a wealth of knowledge, but it does not offer much information below the State level. The following principles are used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to assess the feasibility of locations for FOB site selection.

I will be breaking these tested principles down to assist with retreat site selection. The following can be referenced in a multitude of U.S Army field and technical manuals, but I will direct your attention to USACE publication EP 500-1-2, which is open for public distribution. My favorite resource is GTA 90-01-011 (JFOB 6th Edition). This publication is For Official Use Only but is an amazing resource for everything referenced in this article, blast wave mitigation, tower construction techniques, and much more.

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Letter: Water After Irma, by RV

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HJL,

It was 4 am and the flow of water from the tap conspicuously lacked vigor as I begin the tooth brushing process. We just had Hurricane Irma visit as a tropical storm. Many, including schools, are without power. My mind leaps to the conclusion that the water treatment plant is also out of power and I am in a real fix. No way I am filling my 50-gallon barrel on such a tentative flow. I curse the utility for not warning us that they could not process water. I also think, “Of course.” So I start thinking about hauling. All my collapsible 5-gallon bladders are stored at a secondary location. I come up with two urns totaling 7.5 gallons of capacity and a 5 gallon capacity plastic jerry can. There is a stack of bottled water cases.

A Plan

I do the math, and all my toilets are older, 2.5 gallons flushers. There’s not enough capacity in my hauling capability. I resolved to replace those two 2.5 gallon water closets with low use models. One point three gallons is the current standard in Georgia. I further resolve to have a five gallon jerry for each water closet and a 5 gallon collapsible cube with spigot for each sink to facilitate hand washing. Maybe I don’t fill the cubes all the way. A 12vdc water pump that I can run from my truck parked next to a creek or lake is another gadget that might be worth having for filling that barrel this weekend and looking for a hand pump to go with it.

Turns out, there was a main break just outside my subdivision so my apocalyptic assumptions were all wrong. We had water that afternoon. What was apocalyptic about it all was the nasty sticky red clay and silica sediment left all down the street, my yard, and drive way as well as my neighbor’s. Pressure washer to the rescue. My weekend, however, is shot!

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”. I found the Family Information Binder article particularly useful today.

2008 EMP Report

Reader P.S. sent in this link to a PDF version of the 2008 Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. This is the report that is so often referenced. Yet people have typically not read it or even looked at it. You may want to grab a copy of this for reference. The report is pretty comprehensive in looking not just at the immediate effects of an EMP attack, but also at the secondary and tertiary effects. This is also the report that gives the 90% fatalities comment due to aftereffects.

Family Information Binder

Reader P.S. also sent in this link to an article on creating a Family Reference Binder that will contain critical information. Having a hard copy of critical documents that can be accessed quickly and easily when you have to bug out is a tremendous advantage. You will find that the binder will be your go-to information source even when you are living normally at home. It’s similar to these articles that have run on SurvivalBlog before so you may want review them as well:

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