USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 2, by E.T.

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Rabbits

On the evening of the first night of being in the instructional phase of our USMC Mountain Survival Course, we were handed a pet shop rabbit. The Marine Corps had bought a batch of larger farm raised rabbits, only to find out they carried the nasty Tularemia (rabbit fever). They discovered the disease after looking at the first rabbit’s liver, which was spotted white/yellow and/or swollen. They weren’t willing to accept the risk of disease transmission. So, they searched all the nearby pet shops and bought up all the pet bunnies they could find. Those bunnies were small and cute instead of large and fluffy and full of meat. Mine was black and white. I had always wanted a pet rabbit. Just the same, I didn’t bother naming him since he looked tasty.

Butchering a Rabbit

Using one as an example, the instructors showed how to kill, skin, and butcher them. A large portion of the class had never hunted anything except humans. Therefore, eating what they killed was new to them.

The instructors taught us the “broomstick” method for killing the rabbits. First, we pet the rabbit to calm it. Then, we put our boot on its head and snapped the spine with a clean jerk. This looked easy when they showed us and seemed easy in theory. I tried it. Mine just got really scared and angry. I couldn’t get it to hold still enough to put my boot back over its head to try again, so I used my Tanto. There was a lot of neck breaking failure going on around me. It seems brutal. But it is much more humane than how animals die in the wilderness– eaten alive.

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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”. Today’s focus is again on Islam.

Second Amendment

Reader W.W. sent in his Christmas wish list for the year. St Louis Police are upgrading their hardware and will be selling 27 Thompson Sub machine Guns. These were purchased 100 years ago for $125, but they will be selling them for $22,000 each. One does have to wonder how much of that is due to ATF restrictions and how much is inflation.

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Once again, the liberal progressive media demonstrates that they are above the law. The judge in Katie Couric’s anti-gun documentary debacle has dismissed the case against her even with the evidence showing how she and her producers edited the piece to make the members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) look unsure of their answers. The judge determined that even though they did have answers, none of them answered her question. Thanks to H.L. for the link.

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Preparedness Notes for Wednesday – June 07, 2017

On June 7th, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence.

June 7th, 1967 is also the day of Jerusalem’s redemption from foreign governments in the Six Day War, placing it back under Israeli sovereign control after having been occupied for more than 2,500 years and in accord with the UN General Assembly’s vote in 1948.

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Seed for Security is now including US Postal shipping on all products at no additional cost. Now is the time to stock up on fresh seeds and benefit from included shipping costs too!

USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 1, by E.T.

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Preparations For Mountain Survival

I spent June of 2014 in Bridgeport, California at the USMC’s School of Mountain Warfare undergoing the grand reopening of their Mountain Survival Course. Over the span of 13 days, I lost 31 pounds while in training. Here’s my story and lessons learned.

I left an elevation of 3,300 feet in the mountains of North Carolina for Bridgeport, which is at 6,500 feet. The first morning we ran our PFT with less than 12 hours of acclimation to the new elevation. We were required to score a First Class PFT before continuing the course. We had one Marine fail to achieve first class score twice and was shipped back to his unit. That left 26 students with three instructors. Our class consisted of all NCO’s, with a 1st Lieutenant and a Captain thrown in. We were a handful of Scout/Snipers, a Polish Commando, a Headquarters guy filling an empty slot, a Navy Corpsman, a Navy Doctor, a ROTC officer, and a handful of infantry grunts, like myself, who looking for fun and adventure.

Classroom Preparation

We spent a total of five days in a classroom setting going over wilderness survival basics. In class we learned to read the weather, learn shelter types, and identify edible plants, critters, and insects, as well as develop skills in signaling, fire starting, fishing, trapping, hunting, land navigation, path finding, and traversing mountains and rivers. Essentially we covered everything you can hit fast and hard. The smart ones studied at night and practiced starting fires with a bow and drill. Being a former Boy Scout, a hunter, fisher, and someone who grew up in the woods playing with fire and building forts, I had a good base knowledge to build upon.

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JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR‘s Recommendations of the Week. This column is posted every Wednesday.  It covers various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers:

Books:

The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior

The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story

Movies:

Too Big To Fail (a 2011 Docudrama on the 2008 financial crisis, available through Amazon Prime)

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

 

Instructional Videos:

Building a shed by yourself

How to Field Strip and Clean Your AR-15 (Shooting USA)

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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, and derivatives, and obscura. Today’s focus is on the weak Dollar. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor):

Precious Metals:

First of all, let’s look at this: Deutsche Bank Calculates The “Fair Value Of Gold” And The Answer Is…

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Over at Kitco, we read: Gold Hits Highest In Over Six Weeks As U.S. Jobs Data Disappoints

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India To Hit Gold Market With 3% Tax On July 1

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The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

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“Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.” — Annie Besant

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday – June 06, 2017

The 6th of June is remembered for the intense human drama of D-Day on the coast of France.

This is also the birthday of Dieudonné Joseph Saive (born 1899.) He was the designer of many well-known firearms including the Browning Hi-Power, the FN49 and co-designer (along with Ernest Vervier) of the very popular FN-FAL. The FAL (in metric and inch variants) was issued to the militaries of more than 90 countries.

Essential Communications on a Budget, by TCM

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Communications within a survival group and with the surrounding area is not just important; it can be a matter of life and death. The lack of communications taken to the extreme can be illustrated by imagining yourself with your eyes and ears covered. Now, try to defend yourself and your family. We all know it is not possible. Being without, at least, basic communications is almost that dangerous. I’m not suggesting that you should blow your entire prepper budget on high dollar electronics. There is a low-cost, but effective solution. This article will offer some practical solutions for emergency communications, using low-cost Baofeng transceivers. Some of the suggestions are not legal except under emergency conditions. The best approach is to get your ham license and do everything legally, but your circumstances may not permit that approach. If not, this article is for you. First, we will talk about equipment then how to configure and use it.

The Ubiquitous UV-5R

Probably, the most popular hand held radio for those preparing for WTSHTF is the Baofeng UV-5R. It is a dual band (VHF and UHF) hand held with four watts output and is available for under $30. Two of these will offer you the most basic radio communications. Depending upon your environment, you can expect to reliably talk about a mile or two (I know, the theoretical distance is six miles but only with perfect conditions. I wouldn’t bet my life on it). Distance is largely a product of the antenna height of both radios. Two people with hand held radios with standard antennas will be very limited in range of coverage. Therefore, the best thing you can do to increase the distance of your coverage is to raise antenna height. Secondly, a good antenna will provide a gain in the effective radiated power (gain is measured in dBi).

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SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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This column is posted every Tuesday. Here, we present news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. We also mention companies in the region of interest to preppers. The Redoubt region is perhaps the safest and most free place to live in these United States. Today’s focus is on Hermiston, Oregon.


Idaho

First, we read: Hundreds of bikers roar down the road for Idaho Patriot Thunder

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I’d like to mention a small family-owned business located in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho:  North Idaho Heat.  They specialize in woodstoves and are dealers for Blaze King and Hearth Classics. And they also sell the excellent Toyotomi oil heaters. From what I’ve heard from blog readers, North Idaho heat has excellent customer service. They also offer installation and repair services.

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Next, I hadn’t noticed before, but Alien Gear Holsters (proudly made in Idaho) has revamped their web site and it now includes a variety of videos.

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And here is an interesting Idaho headline: Lt. Gov. Brad Little served as acting governor 373 times

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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. It is a collection of news bits and pieces. They are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper.  Today’s column was compiled by  JWR.  This column is posted each Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. (This alternates with our Economics & Investing column. That is posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.) Today’s focus is on Qatar.

Qatar

First, Bloomberg reports: Saudi-Led Alliance Cuts Ties With Qatar. JWR’s Comment: This move should have been made five years ago! Oddly, this article hardly even mentions Great Britain. For many years the Brits pulled the strings in Qatar. Many billions in Qatari natural gas money have gone to Britain.  But the revulsion point has clearly been reached.

Czech Republic

Next, Pat Cascio suggested a bit of common sense, as reported by the leftist Washington Post. Czech government tells its citizens how to fight terrorists: Shoot them yourselves. JWR’s Comment: Note the blatantly condescending tone of this biased article. (“Never mind that there are fewer than 4,000 Muslims in this country of 10 million people …”). But the Czech government’s push for self-preservation cannot be faulted. The Prague Daily Monitor‘s reporting on this topic is much better.  The Czech Republic’s response to the Islamist invasion has been sound. “Don’t let them in.”  Ditto for their neighbor Hungary. Meanwhile, most other European nations have opened the floodgates. And yet they wonder why their streets are getting wet, with blood.

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The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

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“I must say this now about that first fire. It was magic. Out of dead tinder and grass and sticks came a live warm light. It cracked and snapped and smoked and filled the woods with brightness. It lighted the trees and made them warm and friendly. It stood tall and bright and held back the night.”  – Jean Craighead George, My Side of the Mountain

Preparedness Notes for Monday – June 05, 2017

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On June 5th, 1899, Alfred Dreyfus was acquitted. Although well-remembered in France and her colonies, this landmark trial is now largely forgotten by the American public. It deserves study.

On June 5th, 1912, U.S. Marines invaded Cuba for the third time. (One of what are commonly called The Banana Wars.)

On this day in 1661, Isaac Newton was admitted as a student to Trinity College, Cambridge.

Also on this day in 1942, the Elwood Ordnance Plant (near Joliet Illinois) exploded, killing 54 people, and injuring at least 40 others.

Mexican revolutionary Francisco Pancho Villa was born on June 5th, 1878.

This is also the birthday of novelist Ken Follett, in 1949, in Cardiff, Wales. He is best known as the author of Eye of the Needle, and Lie Down with Lions. – JWR

The Editors’ Preps for the Week of June 5th, 2017

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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 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 also welcome you to share your planned activities for increasing personal preparedness in the coming week.  (Leave a Comment with your project details.) Let’s keep busy and be ready!

JWR

Dear SurvivalBlog Readers,
We are looking at another very busy week, here at the Rawles Ranch.  Our Good Lord-willing, these are our plans for the week:

Now that the main garden is planted, we plan to help the children put in their own gardens in another area of our property.

We’ll be teaching number one daughter how to use the rototiller.  She’ll be tilling the new garden areas and transporting composted manure to them with some help from us and will plan what she wants to plant and where. The other younger children will be helping and developing their own gardens, once big sister has tilled them.

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