Preparedness Notes for Friday — July 10, 2020

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 “cozy 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.

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 89 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their 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. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  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 Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  4. 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).
  5. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  2. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  3. Naturally Cozy is donating a “Prepper Pack” Menstrual Kit.  This kit contains 18 pads and it comes vacuum sealed for long term storage or slips easily into a bugout bag.  The value of this kit is $220.
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. A transferable $150 purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Round 89 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.




2 Comments

  1. Affordable, secure, and battlefield tested tactical commo gear.

    Baofeng DM-1701 Dual Band Tier I & II DMR Analog Radio, $83.00.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HDN1DP9/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?smid=A1CKPYDYD09W7C&psc=1

    Bowman headset, milspec. $23.88
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XF9YC5N/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=A1UBCR8ASYQ3V&psc=1O

    Headset adapter. NATO plug to Baofeng radio with PTT and volume control. $13.99
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083ZGYFVL/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AHBR978U40XQG&psc=1

    Finally an affordable DMR radio that this country boy can consider. Although 3 times the price of a typical Baofeng UV5R, this Baofeng DMR radio is without doubt a huge step up in secure commo. It can also talk to the Baofeng UV5R. It is also said to be lots tougher, or durable and weather resistant than the Baofeng UV5R. Having only a few of these could be a game changer, an additional and top tier in a secure commo plan. Headsets are an underappreciated piece of necessary equipment. Ear piece and throat mics may, or may not stay in place when needed most, but are they not rugged enough to last. The milspec headset is exactly what is needed, and is also affordable. Ditch the flimsy Baofeng ear and mic piece, and all other attempts, for something that is battlefield tested.

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