Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 19, 2019

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December 19th is the birthday of physicist Albert A. Michelson (born 1852, died May 9, 1931), who was the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize in science, for measuring the speed of light. I’m distantly related to him, by way of my great aunt, Zelpha Rawles Michelson.

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On Dec 19, 1776, Thomas Paine published “American Crisis”. “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” These words were an inspiration to Washington’s dispirited men, having suffered humiliating defeats and encamped at McKonkey’s Ferry on the Delaware River. The beleaguered troops mustered their remaining hopes for victory, crossed the Delaware, and defeated the hung-over Hessians. The revolution had been salvaged.

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Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) is continuing their AR-15 Days of Christmas sale.  They have their 16″ 5.56 NATO 1:7 Freedom Classic Upper with Bolt Carrier Group & Charging Handle in Olive Green on sale for just $219.99. Just type “7780181” in their search box, to find this item. Meanwhile they have matching Olive Green complete lowers on sale for $129.99. Just type “7779347” in their search box, to find this item. If you slap that upper on that lower then–aside for a magazine and a rear sight (or optic)–you’ll have a complete OD furniture M4gery!  That is a great deal. If you can afford to, then I recommend that you buy several sets.

They also have their Nitride MPI Full-Auto AR-15 Bolt Carrier Groups on sale again at just $49.99!  Just paste item number 516446953 into their search box. If you own two or more ARs, then you should keep at least one compete spare Bolt Carrier Group on hand!

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 86 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 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. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second 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 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.
  3. 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,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  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).
  7. 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. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. 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)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 86 ends on January 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.


3 Comments

  1. This YouTube channel is one of several that is keeping close tabs on the potential flash point that could be Virginia, yet the Movement is growing. This good to have on the radar.

    2nd Amendment Sanctuary Movement Spreads To Another State
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmcKKF6tkOg

    Ammunition, the ‘mostest for the leastest’.

    If the cheap ammo is all you can afford, there are some that are better for self defense than others. In fact, some of these choices I would put high on my cost/benefit ratio as a can do all choice at a rock bottom price. Steel case ammo in AR-15 actions is not the best, yet it will work in a good running rifle that is kept clean. Remember to use a chamber brush to remove the tiny mild steel particles that might be present where the locking lugs, and bolt lugs cam.

    The best round I can find for the lowest cost that is the most accurate, yet creates a respectable wound channel in ballistic gelatin is the 5.56×45 Tula 75 grain FMJ, and surprisingly enough, 1 MOA accuracy in some rifles. If you can step up to the Sierra Match King OTM (Open Tip Match) bullet, you would have one of the best. Of course the price is much higher. For reloaders, the bullet alone, runs around .30 cents, yet there are less expensive choices for reloaders(see link below). Black Hills produces a cartridge with this SMK bullet, that is hard to beat, ideal for those that do not reload. The SMK bullets are probably similar to the less expensive 75 grain Hornardy Amax bullet that are essential soft lead in cased in a thin copper jacket, that even at slow speeds of extended ranges, perform as well as soft point bullets, and bullets designed to expand quickly, such as the Spear Accubond, Nosler Ballistic Tips, or Honady SST bullets. These long and heavy for caliber bullets not only flight straighter, resist the wind, and penetrate better, the longer bullet also tumbles in soft tissue. At the end of the day, energy on target counts, especially in a light round, and 5.56 needs all it can get out passed 100 yards. Ideally, if you can defend at a greater distance than the attacker can accurately return fire, the defender has fire superiority, a priceless advantage. This make the 75 to 77 grain 5.56 bullets of any manufacturer, worth having.

    For reloaders, Midsouth has a sale going:
    https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/dept/reloading/rifle-bullets/-point-224-dia/75-gr

    Here is a ballistic gelatin test by a popular You Tube channel that specializes in this sort of thing. I believe his analysis is solid. Here is the 75 grain Tula in .223 in action. Price is about .20 cents at SG Ammo at case rates, plus about 25.00 for shipping for the first case.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESC46wTlhw

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