Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on raccoon traps. (See the Gear section, near the end of this column.)
Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence (Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Series)
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Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival
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Blade Runner: The Final Cut – Blu-ray
“An efficient and valuable man does what he can, whether the community pay him for it or not. The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder, and are forever expecting to be put in office.” – Henry David Thoreau
On October 10th, 1913, the Panama Canal officially linked the Atlantic to the Pacific when the Gamboa dike was demolished with dynamite charges.
Continue reading“Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – October 10, 2017”
Let’s talk about practical, tactical, and agricultural survival principles and details that pertain to developing land in a way that will facilitate agricultural productivity, sustainability, and security.
Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. Prov. 24:27.
First of all, we are likely to be constrained by property boundaries. Therefore, in selecting property, what are our priorities?
Not everyone has the same priorities, and priorities change as the world around us changes. For example, a property that is perfectly usable today may become untenable if grid power is cut off. This occurs because the ample well water is too deep to access effectively by primitive means. Or, it may be too public, or too inaccessible.
Agriculture being our focus, the first priority is soil. Meadow silt, especially when found on a bench partway up a mountainside, is nice. However, less hospitable ground can be utilized if it offers other advantages.
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 B.A.S.E. Camp USA
I recently heard about an ammo loading company in Idaho. It is called B.A.S.E. Camp USA. They make a wide range of ammunition–both newly manufactured and reloaded. The majority of their offerings are handgun calibers. They even make special subsonic loads. They recently opened a third retail store at 415 South Challis Street, in Salmon, Idaho. Their other stores are in Post Falls, Idaho, and in Murray, Utah. They also sell their loaded ammunition through distributors, and directly to the public at gun shows throughout the Intermountain West region. At their retail stores they stock long term storage food, body armor, water purification and storage supplies, essential oils, and a variety of other survival supplies. Phone: (208) 303-7470. Stop by and check out any of their stores. Or contact them by phone for their gun show schedule. That way you can make a private cash purchase closer to where you live. That will avoid both a paper trail and shipping costs. Contact: Heidi Zender, at (801) 550-2243.
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Meridian church helps one of their own after deadly home invasion, fire
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One man and 20 cows killed in semi crash
Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”
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”. Yet another company is caught violating your electronic security and privacy.
Reader T.J. sent in this article from Wranglerstar on chainsaw cutting for beginners. Many of us don’t really want to admit that we don’t know how to handle a chainsaw. Some of us think we know how to, but really don’t. This is a great little primer for getting started with this most useful homesteading tool. Even if you are an experienced faller, you might want to get this video link to give to those whom you know need it.
Yet again, a company is caught red-handed, collecting user information and selling it without notifying the users that they are doing so.
Dictionary.com made several updates to their app that snuck in the data collecting code and did not make it obvious to it’s userbase that it was doing so. The only way these companies will learn that this is not OK is if people just quit using their apps. In the meantime, there is no way to disable the data collection and to ensure the code does not collect information, you have to delete the app entirely. Thanks to DSV for the link.
“A society that puts equality … ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.” – Milton Friedman
On this day in 1992, 18-year-old Michelle Knapp was watching television in her parents’ living room in Peekskill, New York when she heard a crash in the driveway. Alarmed, Knapp ran outside to investigate. A sizeable hole in the rear end of her car and a matching hole in the gravel driveway underneath the car. In the hole was what looked like an ordinary, bowling-ball–sized rock. It was extremely heavy for its size (it weighed about 28 pounds), shaped like a football and warm to the touch; also, it smelled vaguely of rotten eggs. The next day, a curator from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City confirmed that the object was a genuine meteorite.
SOG’s Power Grab Multi-Tool is under review today, and it is one of their newest and stoutest multi-tools they have produced to date.
I’m always interested in some of the TV programs that show the top 100 tools or inventions that have made our lives easier. Some of the products featured are inventions that I’ve never heard of or used; some are strange, to say the least. I’m sure today’s generation probably thinks that the cell phone is the best invention ever! I would sure disagree with that. I wish the cell phone had never been invented. Just think of the untold lives that have been lost in car accidents because someone was busy trying to text while driving. Nothing is so important that you have to take your eyes off the road. Pull over to text or talk on your cell phone, but don’t do it while driving. Enough said!
Continue reading“SOG’s Power Grab Multi-Tool, by Pat Cascio”
The recent terrorist attack in Las Vegas is spurring Federal lawmakers to introduce new legislation. These laws would ban any device or combination of parts that can “accelerate” the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm. This includes bumpfire stocks, Gat Crank triggers, Autoburst trigger, Hellfire and other gadget triggers, binary triggers, light match grade triggers, and 3 mode triggers. Sadly, the U.S. National Rifle Association (NRA) gave up on this issue without a fight less than a week after the tragic massacre. This means that there is now a strong likelihood that some legislation will be passed within a month. Once passed, I suspect that it will be signed by President Trump and possibly go into effect on or before January 1st, 2018. The clock is ticking, folks!
In my blog writings, I’ve often mentioned the futility of so-called “gun control” legislation. In a country like the United States, with more guns in circulation than there are adult Citizens, enforcing gun laws is a Fool’s Errand. Liberals are now in the habit of calling gun control laws “Gun Safety laws”, which is disingenuous. They don’t want safety. They want disarmed peasants. I refer to these laws as “civilian disarmament” laws. Because in essence that is what they truly are: An attempt to rob the citizenry of their God-given right to keep and bear arms.
I’ve also gone on record for my opposition to all government mandated “bans” and “freezes” as well as any attempts at wage and price controls. History has repeatedly shown that legislated or dictated bans and freezes don’t work.
Continue reading“The Legislative Entrepreneur: Investing in Some Key AR Parts”
Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!
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 binary triggers. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
To begin, at Gold-Eagle News: Gold Prices This Week And Next Week’s Forecast.
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Gold rebounds above 2-month low on North Korean concerns
Breakout – Value Line Geometric Index. The article begins: “The Value Line Geometric Index ($XVG) is an equal weighting of all the stocks on the NYSE. It has been consolidating sideways for almost 20 years. In the last several months it has broken out to the upside. This suggests a powerful and sustained move higher in the stock markets is likely to take place, and soon.”
IEA: “Era Of Expensive Renewables Is Over”
The coming “Great Liquidity Crisis”: JPMORGAN: Here’s what could cause the next financial crisis
“My only advice: Reporting that makes the publisher uncomfortable from time to time is one sign of a newspaper doing its job. Something to guard against is the temptation to think that rewriting press releases and regurgitating the words of politicians qualifies as news coverage. It’s really an invitation to irrelevancy.” – Dermot Cole
October 8th is the birthday of economist and libertarian commentator J. Orlin Grabbe. (Born, 1947, died March 15, 2008.)
Continue reading“Preparedness Notes for Sunday – October 08, 2017”
Yesterday, I began writing about the post-SHTF conditions that may make a wandering nomad type lifestyle much more practical and reasonable. We are talking about considerations for this and continuing with this further today.
Situational Awareness – You need to always be aware of your surroundings, where you are and where you can quickly get to for cover and concealment.
If a medical emergency occurs, you probably won’t have anyone to rely on but yourself and/or your group. You’ll need to learn how to handle common injuries and illnesses with what you have available.
Since you won’t have a house to live in, you’ll need to be able to survive in the wild. This includes shelter making, fire starting, et cryrts. If you’re traveling in a vehicle or RV, you can always sleep inside that.
You won’t have access to a farm, garden, livestock, etcetera, so you’ll need to be able to forage, hunt, fish, and trap in order to keep yourself fed.
Because you won’t have access to the wonderfully accurate weather forecasts we enjoy today, you’ll need to be able to read your environment and understand how it affects you. Is there a storm coming? When will winter move in? Could a thunderstorm turn that gully you’re sleeping in into a raging river?
Continue reading“Wandering in the New World- Part 2, by JMD”
