The Editors’ Preps for the Week

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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 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 week we were amid much smoke from regional fires. We were trying to homeschool, but harvest time chores got in the way.

Jim gang cut piles and piles of five- to seven-foot long larch and red fir logs with the chainsaw. He alternated days, splitting several cords of wood. Meanwhile Lily and the children stacked it in the woodshed. We had to get them in before the expected rain comes. We still have yet a bit more to split. But we got this stacked and covered with tarps. Getting in our own wood supply really is an all summer-long affair, I’ve realized.

Harvesting the Garden

The weather forecast is about to make an abrupt change this coming week. We can officially say “goodbye” to summer weather and it looks like even sunshine, after Sunday. There appears to be a river of clouds developing over the Northern Pacific. That pattern looks like it won’t break much in the foreseeable future. Bummer! Lily loves the sun. Parts of Idaho and Montana at elevations higher than 5,500 feet are receiving their first winter snowstorm at the very moment I’m writing this.

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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”. Are you planning on upgrading to a new iPhone X? You may want to think twice about that.

U.S. Customs

We are all familiar with the abuses of customs agents and the so called “Constitution Free Zone” near the Canadian or Mexican border. We’ve all heard stories of people who attract the attention (willingly or unwillingly) of the agents at these entry points and get beat up, tasered, abused and even have their property confiscated. But this is a new one for me. Reader G.G. sent in this article on a U.S. Citizen who was exiting the U.S. into Mexico and ran afoul of agents. He subsequently had his truck confiscated under the civil asset forfeiture laws. Apparently, he had a magazine containing 5 .380 rounds that he forgot about and was accused of weapons running. So far, it’s a two year running legal battle because he has refused to give in.

Is This Racist?

SurvivalBlog reader D.B. sent in this Paul Joseph Watson video asking the question “Is this racist?” The media gives a pass to rappers hanging white children, yet censures an accidental bad word uttered by a vlogger. Interestingly enough, the full video can be shown on YouTube, but a conservative vloggers comment can’t have an excerpt without the commenter’s video being censured. It’s a crazy mixed up world.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day” Deuteronomy 29:10-12 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday – September 15, 2017

Happy Paratus Day!

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On this day in 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division lands on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans, but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai.

Hidden Storage For Strategic Tools and Security Items- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

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The following are some hints and instructions on making a storage space for locating your backup strategic tools and varied security items within your home. This space also makes them nearly impossible to find and confiscate. While reading, please note that my strong belief that we are usually far too serious about most everything even remotely classed as preparedness activity has strongly influenced how this article has been worded. Every word has been considered both for humor potential (very subtle and low key) and for serious value.

This article, as titled above, will be presented to the readers with as much innocent humor and smiles as may be possible. Remember as you read, laugh, and smile that this is actually a very serious topic. It could very easily save a life someday, perhaps your life or that of a loved one. So let’s us start at the starting point, and the humor may well go downhill from this point.

The Location

In your bedroom in a clothing closet with double doors, empty the closet completely. Step into the now empty closet and turn to look at a side wall. It will be easy to discern which wall is the side wall as it will be one of the two shorter walls. Do not look at a side wall that is actually a side wall that is also a part of the building’s exterior wall. Go for the other side wall. It will be the side wall that you can readily see a part of something else. However, if you actually did start in the closet with your wife’s clothes, stop everything right now. Put everything back exactly where it was and never admit to anyone what you nearly did to ruin a good marriage…yours.

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Freeze Dried Friday:

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Welcome to Freeze Dried Friday on SurvivalBlog! We’ve been making so many things in the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer that we want to share some of them with you. If you have something wonderful you’ve prepared in your freeze dryer that you would like to share with SurvivalBlog readers, take a photo of it and send it in along with a description. We might just feature you here!

Tomatoes!

Man! We are in the tomatoes now. Two standard size freeze dryers are working 24/7 overtime this week and they are clearly not capable of keeping up with Mrs. Latimer’s Heirloom Roma tomatoes. We produced 32 quarts of freeze dried tomato sauce and another 40 quarts of canned tomato sauce. We are still anticipating about another week of harvest at this rate before it slows down.

I included a picture of both the freeze dried product and the canned product for comparison. All four of these jars came from the same batch of tomatoes. By the way, this is strictly tomato sauce with no other ingredients. The tomatoes come from the garden, get washed, cut in half and then run through the KitchenAid strainer. The sauce is then boiled in large pots on the stove to reduce the water content by roughly 50%. The goal is to have tomato sauce that doesn’t separate out into a weak watery tea with clumps of tomato pulp. Rather, it should stay well blended, even when canned. This makes it easy to create delicious tomato based sauces that don’t drown your plate in water.

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Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 market watcher Nick Giambruno and his comments on the looming U.S. pension crisis.  (See the Troubling Trends section.)

Precious Metals

Kitco video: As Bitcoin Plummets More than $500, Will it Mark a Return to Gold?

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Gold iPhones: Weight of Gold & Silver Recycled by Apple is Eye Popping

 

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Preparedness Notes for Thursday – September 14, 2017

Today is the birthday of actor Clayton Moore (1914–1999). His name is almost synonymous with Lone Ranger. It is also the birthday of James Wilson, a lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1742 – 1798).

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If you are looking for an off-grid home that is ready to go, Survival Realty has a new listing in Washington that borders state land. It is on 40 acres and is capable of being self-sufficient. It was constructed with ICFs and has a 6,000 watt PV power system.

Tires As Part Of Basic Vehicle Preparations, by D.K.

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It’s easy to overlook an important item, such as tires, for those planning different bugout scenarios, getting home after an event, or just driving home from work. I was reminded of this during a recent trip moving my daughter to California. We rented a 5’ X 8’ U-Haul trailer, hooked it up to my Chevy Avalanche, drove it to her apartment, and loaded it for the move the next day. She had bagged up trash, and as I was taking it out I noticed some 8” zip ties. I pulled them out of the trash and threw them in the truck. The weather was hot and windy on the way from Arizona to California. The drive was long but uneventful. The next morning we ate breakfast, dropped the trailer (a long story), and headed home.

A Recent Event

Driving through the San Gorgonio Pass on I10, I felt a vibration and thought it was the center line reflectors. Then I heard flapping getting louder and louder and felt a shimmy in the front. I knew I had a flat tire. We were in a left lane, so I pulled to the left shoulder and turned on the flashers. I got out and saw that the flat was on the right front and knew there was no way I wanted to change a tire on the traffic side of a multi-lane highway on a downhill. I got back in the truck and waited about five minutes for a gap in traffic and slowly drove over to the other shoulder. (“This will be a piece of cake now,” I thought. My son was with me, and he could help. “It would be a good learning moment for him, too.”)

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Letter Re: Search Engine Privacy and Security

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Good day, Hugh,

I recently switched over to TOR as my web browser. I am now using Proton mail as my email address, and I now use Signals as my SMS text messenger. My bases are covered. These are also recommended actions by Snowden himself:

  • TOR sends your search through a relay of servers, making it extremely difficult to find your true IP Address.
  • Proton mail is an encrypted server that prevent your messages from being intercepted.
  • Signals is an app that prevents text messages to other persons, other than the person you sent the message to, from being read.

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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”. Another of Bloomberg’s anti-gun minions bites the dust this week.

Bloomberg Anti-Gun Mayors

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray resigns after fifth child sex-abuse allegation. Once the poster boy of the LGBT movement, Yet another of Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun Mayors is resigning in disgrace. (Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) was re-named Everytown for Gun Safety. It is ironic that so many of Bloomberg’s “crime fighting” mayors are criminals—or in the case of Murray, an alleged criminal.)

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Reader B.M. sent in this article: At Least 11 Mayors Accused Of Child Sex-Related Crimes Since 2016 . The lack of moral fiber of these people shows the underlying motivations of this movement. It has nothing to do with the safety and security of the people that elected them. It has everything to do with the overlords maintaining control of the peasants and making sure that they can’t rise up in force to confront them.

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A Proposal for a Better System for Sleeping in the Wilderness, by ACC

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In my youth, I was a pretty avid camper and hiker. I spent many a night in a sleeping bag with a pad of some type underneath. Some of the pads were foam, others were inflatable. Probably the best over the years was the Thermarest brand, which is a self-inflating type. However, they were only an inch or so thick, and the ground was always hard. I learned that comfort was relative. If you hike ten miles with a 30-pound pack beforehand, you can sleep in pretty austere conditions.

Looking For A Better Sleep System

However, now that I’m in my sixties, I’m not as tough as I once was. I started looking for a better sleeping system. It has taken a couple of years to work out the details, but I’ve developed a hammock based system that works really well, is light enough to carry, and is amazingly comfortable.

I am going to describe the system and discuss why it works. I will recommend specific brands, but I have no connection to any of these companies, except that I like their products.

The Hammock

The beginning point is the hammock. In the past, they were typically made from canvas and were just too heavy for backpacking use. More recently, several companies have developed hammocks made of lightweight nylon with fabrics similar to that used in parachutes. My favorite is made by Eagle Nest Outfitters, sometimes referred to as “ENO”. They come in two lengths. If you are under six feet, the smaller one is plenty big and saves a few ounces of weight. They also come single nest or double nest. The double nest is big enough that they claim two people can sleep together in one, but in my experience they had better be really fond of each other. The single nest weighs just 16 ounces and is rated to hold a 400-pound load. That’s what I bought. It costs about $60 street price.

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