Planning For Success During And After The SHTF- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

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Success requires a plan, and that is true if you want to have success during and after the SHTF. You can have a great deal of knowledge and ideas but not have organized and applied any of this. Remember, only applied knowledge is power, and this is especially true of financial power.

Plan For Reality As It Exists Today

Success without an action plan is dumb luck in action. So, get your plan well documented! Your plan should be, must be, based on your specific reality– reality as it exists today and never based on some pipe dream. You can’t plan on your dream of locally finding a fully-equipped FEMA storage point unguarded and complete with instructions, how-to videos, and weapons with tons of ammo that you know how to use and maintain. It just ain’t gonna happen that way, no how, not ever, and not for anybody anywhere. It just won’t happen. I say again, it will not happen.

Your reality action plan will be limited to those points and items that you have thought about, discussed with other preppers, and gotten ready for, and with all of these indivisible parts finalized in advance of necessity.

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Letter: Storing the Right Seeds for Your Climate Zone

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Hugh,

I wish that seed storage recommendations touched on what agricultural climate zone they are best used. Seeds that work in Idaho might not do so well in Georgia. – R.V.

HJL’s Reply: SurvivalBlog has long been a proponent of gardening now rather than waiting until TEOTWAWKI. This is a prime example of why this is important. You might live in an area where you can stick any ol’ seed into the ground and not care for it. But my guess is that you don’t. Gardening is difficult and you have to learn what works in your area and what doesn’t. Climate zones can be tricky, and that makes seed selection crucial. I highly recommend that anyone starting out read our extensive collection of gardening articles for more information.

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”. Take a look at the article featuring the .22LR in actual combat!

Safe Water

SurvivalBlog reader G.P. sent in the link to this interesting product: Eco poly Glu. It is a small water purification system that uses a flocculant. This causes colloids and other suspended particles in the water to aggregate and settle out. Combined with a small amount of chlorine, you can get workable water from muddy water fairly easily. According to Business Insider, it is made from fermented soybeans.

Concrete

Living next to a volcano isn’t all bad. Reader P.S. sent in this article showing how Ancient Rome’s concrete actually got stronger by interacting with seawater. Contrast this to modern concrete made from Portland cement that weakens with such contact. The strength and longevity apparently has something to do with the volcanic ash that was used to create the concrete though the process is not fully understood yet.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

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“We in this country have a rather unique heritage written into the basic documents of our government. We as Americans hold that we receive our fundamental rights…from God, not government. And it is the purpose of government to protect God-given rights.” – Congressman Lawrence P. McDonald (1935-1983)

Basic Handgun Marksmanship Skills- Part 2, by Mark Bunch

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In “Part One of Basic Handgun Marksmanship Skills”, we looked at some firearms 101 and gave instructions for a test to determine if you are right eye dominant or left eye dominant. We also went over bone support and stance as well as safety procedures and basic rules to prevent accidental shootings. Today, we will dig into the basics of handgun selection, ammunitions, and becoming proficient in the use of your handgun. I will also share my recommendation for how to train under pressure. This is a means to prepare for the stressful situation of a self defense scenario.

Choosing a Handgun

For many people, choosing a handgun is confusing. I always ask people who are interested in buying a handgun for the first time, what they are interested in using it for. Most people I encounter in my gun store tell me that they are looking for a gun for concealed carry purposes. They are typically interested in something in the .380 class or slim single stack 9mm or .40. I always make sure to explain what they are getting. They are then not surprised the first time they pull the trigger on that compact concealed carry gun. The smaller the gun, the larger the felt recoil is going to be. As a general rule, accuracy is not going to be spectacular either. Although for typical ranges that you would be in need of defending yourself, these small guns are more than acceptable.

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


Precious Metals:

First,  here is an essay from Daryl Robert Schoon: The Bankers’ Endgame And The Rise Of Gold And Silver Prices

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Next, this from David Luo, at Seeking Alpha: Gold Falling In Tandem With The Dollar – Bet On Gold To Survive


Commodities:

Now, on to this news: Oil Price Rally Unwinds As Markets Doubt OPEC’s Intentions

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Oil Prices Fall Amid Rising U.S. Production

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

Here are JWR‘s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week’s emphasis is on thermal imagers.

Books:

Mark Levin’s latest book is causing a stir: Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why

A memorable Robert Heinlein sci-fi novel: Friday

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

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“The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights. He will claim that the state is obligated to protected and encourage his particular industry; that this procedure enriches the state because the protected industry is thus able to spend more and to pay higher wages to the poor workingmen.
Do not listen to this sophistry by vested interests. The acceptance of these arguments will build legal plunder into a whole system. In fact, this has already occurred. The present-day delusion is an attempt to enrich everyone at the expense of everyone else; to make plunder universal under the pretense of organizing it.” ― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

Basic Handgun Marksmanship Skills- Part 1, by Mark Bunch

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These days, we “evil gun owners” are blamed for all sorts of despicable acts. Acts such as the horrible terrorist shooting/mass murder in California.  Muslim extremists used legally purchased weapons that they had been given by a friend of theirs. Typical of our leftist, non-American former President and his liberal communist-minded minions, their message was to blame gun owners, the NRA, and the ease of availability of firearms for that senseless incident of terror. To their way of thinking, it couldn’t possibly be because some Muslim terrorist hated our culture and simply wanted to kill as many of us as he could.

Basic Handgun Marksmanship

Most Americans could benefit from some basic “firearms 101” education, if only to better understand firearms. Guns do not kill people; people kill people. And every firearm that I possess, combined, has been used to kill fewer people then Ted Kennedy’s car. Firearms are simply tools that are used for all sorts of sporting purposes as well as self defense and target shooting.

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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 often mention companies in the region of interest to preppers. Today’s focus is on the recent Earthquake in western Montana.

Idaho

Officials may know where missing man is, but can’t get to him

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On to this news story from southern Idaho: After spending 9 months alone in mountains, lost dog is home.

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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”. Leading with a couple of articles on “slingshots” today.

Slingshots!

One of our SurvivalBlog Writing Contest sponsors, Montie Gear, is having a 25% off sale on Slingshot Accessories. If you haven’t looked at this site, you need to. There are some pretty neat slingshots available on his site. I have a friend who recently found himself having to deal with city restrictions on firearms with no help on dealing with roaming critters. His rural community suddenly decided to incorporate and now his .22 can’t be fired in the city limits. You might be surprised how effective a good slingshot can be in this situation. Use the coupon code “july201799”

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Speaking of slingshots, I find myself spending time on Joerg Sprave’s Sling Shot channel on YouTube lately. This guy weaponizes everything from slingshots, to fidget spinners. Slingshot cannons and Cold Steel’s 2.2 lb Torpedo launchers are the norm. Just for fun, a working Minions “fart gun” is one of his latest projects. Many projects are just for fun, but some are deadly serious. After a couple of hours, you may find yourself saying “…let me show you it’s features…ha ha ha!” in your best German accented English.

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The Editors’ Quote of the Day

“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know what no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.” ― George Orwell, 1984

Preparedness Notes for Monday – July 10, 2017

July 10th is the birthday of British novelist John Wyndham. (His full name was John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, but Harris shortened that to just John Wyndham for his pen name.) He we was born in 1903 and died March 11, 1969. Harris was a good friend of fellow novelist Samuel Youd (1922-2012), who wrote under several pen names, including John Christopher. Both men were famous for writing what are often called cosy catastrophies. Several of Wyndham’s novels and short stories have been adapted to film, with varying degrees of success. One of the best of these was a parallel universe story called Random Quest.