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 love “scientific studies”! Apparently coffee is the key to long life and happiness.

Occupy D.C.

Reader T.P. sent in this article detailing a movement that started in Charlottesville and is marching to Washington D.C. over a 10 day period. They expect to end the march on September 6th and the march will then turn into an occupy movement. There is no scheduled end date for the occupation. Of course, since it’s a snowflake march, you can bring bags and they will shuttle them for you so you can have access to them at the end of each day. We are still not sure what the goal of the march is. They claim anti-white supremacy, but it sounds more like an anti-Trump rally. I wonder who can take 10 days off of work to do this? Do they even have a job?

Firewood

Reader S.P. sent in this nineteen minute video on identifying different types of wood along with instructions on which ones are best to use and which ones to avoid for cooking. If you are considering using wood for heating or cooking, you’ll want to watch this video to get an idea of what resources are available in your area and what you can use them for.

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Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.” – John F. Kennedy.

Springfield Armory’s Range Officer Elite Champion, by Pat Cascio

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The all-new and improved Springfield Armory Range Officer Elite is under review today, and Springfield really went out of their way to update/upgrade this line of fine 1911A1 handguns.

Springfield Armory 1911 Range Officer Review Plans

I’ve been a huge fan of the Springfield Armory line of 1911 handguns since the mid 1980s for a number of reasons. Their very first 1911s were mostly mil-spec in nature, and they were priced extremely “right”; they still are. Springfield Armory offers great value for your money. I had recently received the Springfield Armory full-sized Range Officer (R.O.)1911A1 for testing and review and ran quite a few rounds through it. I was all set to sit down and do my review on this fine handgun, until I got an e-mail from Springfield, announcing their Range Officer Elite line-up. I had to have one, and in a few days, one was in my hand. The Original RO review will be a little later in coming, as we want SurvivalBlog readers to know about the hottest and newest products first, if at all possible.

Favorite Handgun Question and Answer

People are always trying to nail me down as to what my favorite handgun is, and there is no easy or simple answer to this question. It depends a lot upon what your use will be for a handgun. In the case of a handgun for hunting big game, my answer would be different than my answer for plinking on a Saturday afternoon. However, when it comes down to it, my number one choice for self defense is still the grand ol’ 1911 pistol in .45 ACP. In particular, I like the “Commander-ized” version—a 4–4.25” barrel length. This sized slide/barrel just seems to balance better for me, and I can shoot it faster than the full-sized Government-sized 1911. And, to top it off, I much prefer a light-weight version with a frame out of forged aluminum, for weight saving, all-day carry.

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Recipe of the Week: Yeast, by Mama B

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This recipe is not mine, but I thought it would be of interest to your readers especially in a time when yeast is not readily available.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ounce hops (seed hops are available online)
  • 8 ounces flour
  • 4 ounces white sugar
  • 1 quart potatoes, mashed
  • 3 ounces salt
  • 3 quarts cold water

Directions:

  1. Simmer the hops and water together until the water is reduced to 2 quarts and 1 pint.
  2. Strain and divide the liquor, placing one half in a vessel with the flour, sugar and salt, and half in another vessel containing the mashed potatoes.
  3. Heat each portion twenty minutes, then stir all together, and put away to ferment.
  4. Shake it frequently. It will be ready for use in twenty four hours. Two tablespoons or half a gill will be sufficient for a quart of flour.

– from “The Little Gem Cookbook” 1882

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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

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

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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  investing in rare books. (See the Tangibles section, near the end of this column.)

 

Precious Metals:

First up: Silver Prices in 2017: This Chart Shows Silver Prices Could Hit $100

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Cramer Would Invest 10% Of Power Ball Winnings Into Gold

Stocks:

Investors pull billions from US stocks in longest outflow streak since 2004

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And here is the latest over-weekend stock market news at Nasdaq.

 

Commodities:

Next, Jon Yeomans of  The Telegraph reports: Antofagasta on a roll as copper prices surge

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Nickel surges on strong Chinese demand, falling stocks

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Survival To Go, Revisited- Part 4, by JMD

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We have revisited my survival supplies carried on the go in travel, by airplane or otherwise. It’s been an extensive list. Now, let’s look at how we might use these in a survival scenario.

Survival Scenario

So let’s take a look at how this kit can support you in a potential travel survival scenario. Let’s say you’re traveling on business in New York City when the power goes out. You pull out your radio and start scanning to figure out what’s going on. You hear bits and pieces on various Ham, CB, and radio channels. Suddenly, you realize that a massive coordinated terrorist attack using explosives has apparently occurred. They’ve taken out the power grid for big chunks of the U.S. Experts are saying it’ll be weeks or even months before power can be fully restored.

You realize that in a day or two people will start panicking, looting, and rioting. They realize the food and clean water are running out, and they can’t access their social media accounts to complain. The police and National Guard are also trying to set up “temporary relocation camps” to keep everyone fed and sheltered, but they’re stuck in total gridlock. Since this is the People’s Republic of New York, you obviously don’t have a firearm. It’s late spring, and the temperatures are in the 70s-80s during the day and 50s-60s at night.

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Letter: Questionable Ammo in Storage

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HJL,

Just a quick heads up. As most like minded folks I’ve been storing food and ammo for some time now. Lately .22 ammo has been more readily available so my son and I decided to do a little plinking with our pistols. We each had two mags with our pistols that have been loaded for some time. When we started to shoot 16 of the 20 rounds didn’t discharge. After a bit we reloaded with some ammo that had been sealed and stored and had no problems.

The ammo in question wasn’t cheap quality, but rather decent grade. I’m planning on going through all my weapons that I have loaded and check to ensure the ammo will respond when I need it the most. I don’t know if this is a problem with .22 only or with any round that hasn’t been stored in an air tight container. Before someone asks; the ammo didn’t have any oxidation on it either. Thoughts? – K R in Kansas

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”. The 2017 Eclipse reports continue to be sent in and some of our readers had some amazing experiences.

Medical

Survival Medicine will be having a couple of classes on “Survival Wound Care with Hands on Suturing and Stapling” coming up very quickly:

September 3rd, 2017 at the RK Prepper Show, Camp Jordan Arena in Chattanooga Tennessee at 9:30am and again on September 10th, 2017 at the RK Prepper Show in Knoxville Tennessee. You can find more details about these classes on their website.

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Also noted on Survival Medicines website in this interesting article. If you don’t have access to or sufficient Potassium Iodide pills to treat people exposed to radiation, a Povidone-Iodine solution (brand name Betadine – a common medical disinfectant you should stock anyway) painted on the abdomen or forearm daily should provide equivalent protection. Thanks to reader J.N. for the link.

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Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” – John 1:22-23 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday – August 26, 2017

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August 26, 526, is the official anniversary of the invention of toilet paper by the Chinese. We celebrate this, though not because of its convenience. In fact, it has many shortcomings, some which are described within the articles and letters of SurvivalBlog. Our celebration of it is primarily because we now have an official metric of just how hard core of a prepper you are as well as a metric for just how economically unstable your country is.

August 26, 1946 is also the official release date of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

Survival To Go, Revisited- Part 3, by JMD

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Today, we are continuing with the revised list of items to carry for survival when traveling, carrying a pack on a flight or otherwise. We are in the midst of going through the content of the main zippered backpack compartment. We’ve covered solar panels, light shelter, lighting, clothing, water, food/energy, and now we’re moving on down the list.

Main Zippered Backpack Compartment (continued)

  • “Repair” pouch (because something always breaks when you’re traveling):
    • Assorted sizes of zip ties, including reusable ones, twist-tied together.
    • 8′ of regular paracord
    • 6′ of steel wire
    • 20’ of 400lb Kevlar line
    • 20′ of 1″ Gorilla tape, rolled onto a small dowel (also useful for medical repairs)
    • Gear Aid Tenacious Tapefor Fabric Repair – This stuff is fantastic for making “low visibility” waterproof repairs on almost any kind of fabric.
    • 3′ of rubber latex tubing (Can also be used as a long straw/siphon, cut up to make slingshots, et cetera. By sheer coincidence, I also have a couple of leather slingshot pouches in the bottom of my pack)
    • Small sewing kit
    • A couple of long heavy-duty EPDM rubber bands, twist-tied together.
    • Ranger bands, twist-tied together
    • A couple of split rings, which double as handles for the wire saw in the fishing kit
    • I also have small tubes of E6000 and Super glue in my liquids bag

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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!  This week’s focus is on early harvest time.

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers,

This past weekend the Rawles family traveled to a very remote area of Eastern Oregon to rendezvous with relatives in order to watch the Solar Eclipse in totality. It was spectacular! We saw the corona feathering out from the sun at totality. It was so beautiful, the Diamond Ring phenomenon, which was the highlight for us, the near total darkness, which came on in seconds at the height of totality and lasted a little more than two minutes. We could see blue skies on the edges of the darkness far away, and the stars and Venus.

Just before totality the children played with objects that made pinholes to see the sun’s partly occluded shadows (crescents) on the ground. We saw the crescent shadows of the sun through the leaves of a Locust tree, through the mesh of some Crusher hats, and through making a lattice by interlocking our fingers. It was an awesome lifetime experience. The children were amazed and all of the children said that it was indeed a Lifetime experience that they’ll remember forever.

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