Preparedness Notes for Friday – July 06, 2018

July 6th is the anniversary of the 1994 Storm King Mountain wildfire that took the lives of 14 firefighters. Weather changes, resulting in 45 mph wind gusts, caused a modest wildfire to erupt into a blazing inferno, which threatened homes in and around the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Firefighters from around the country were called to assist in fighting this wildfire. We will never forget the young men and women who lost their lives battling this fire:

Prineville (Oregon) Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso

Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey

McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash

Helitack firefighters: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler

o o o

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today features another entry for Round 77 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value), and
  8. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 77 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.




4 Comments

  1. This is only a symptom of the disease: Extreme leftist ideology which has infected a sizable portion of our population for, oh going on 40 or more years, now. I’ll spare readers the narration of where this has led. It’s all too obvious as we go about our daily lives.

    Our media have become, like our educational system, simply tools for the indoctrination of our youth. This has led to a politically polarized, intellectually stagnating, morally desensitized and apathetic nation whos inhabitants in many cases have lost all inhibition, empathy and sense of right and wrong. The indignities, insults and indeed violence we are now all too willing to inflict upon each other seems to reach new levels of depravity daily. The institutions of civilization seem unable/unwilling to deal with the mounting threat. Ordinary citizens try to tell themselves it won’t affect them if they just ignore it; or they throw up their hands in disgust and confusion not knowing what to do. Or, perhaps they try to flee to some supposed “safe” place to escape the madness. In fact, the only people that I’m aware of in my everyday life who seem willing to admit there’s a problem and are preparing themselves to deal with its increasingly threatening effects are the so-called “preppers”.

    Because of this continued pulling apart of the fabric of our society and the continual assault by its enemies on the institutions, laws and morals that allow it to operate; and the widening chasm if you will, between these two factions within our nation, I’m afraid I see no hope for compromise; no middle ground. No my friends, it’s as if a giant tectonic shift has occurred in our populace causing us to drift further and further apart. I’m sorry to lay this rather doom & gloom view on you, but I think the time has passed where our differences can be settled easily. To put it bluntly, if present political, social and moral trends continue in this nation, I see only one end result: A second Civil War. Moreover, I believe the timeline leading to such and event is accelerating so swiftly that we could see such a conflagration erupt within the next five to ten years.

    Many of you reading this I know will think me wildly pessimistic, maybe even crazy. Whether or not I’m right remains to be seen, but those of you who wonder, might it be possible?…well, you know what to do. Keep your heads down, your preps ongoing and your friends and relatives engaged and encouraged. And together, we’ll weather the coming storm.

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