Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — February 18, 2020

This is the birthday of Jack Palance (1919–2006), an actor known for his Tough Guy roles, such as the rebel leader Jesus Raza, in The Professionals

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 87 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $10,000 worth of 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 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 $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. 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).
  6. 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. 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.
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. A transferable $100 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 87 ends on March 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.




19 Comments

  1. For what it is worth or not, watch this video from a Paul Cottrell, Phd. on YouTube. It appears the CDC is lying. It seems that there is over 1,000 cases of confirmed Coronavirus in the U.S. in approximately 32 states.

    Part 1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dw_68tV6c0

    Part 2
    https://youtu.be/0_XikVI-CJg

    I discovered Paul Cottrel on this latest Doug Hagmann Report, a 3 hour interview last night. Cottrel is up to speed on the virus. He has more information not discussed here:

    https://youtu.be/54M3MeRVqqk

    1. It is in regards to the CoVid-19, or the Wuhan strain. They developed their conclusions from some of the same and different sources, and so in confirms the general assessment found on this blog, and goes beyond.

  2. Here’s the most up to the date numbers from China’s CDC, published yesterday.

    Overall fatality rate is 2.3% and 81% of cases are classified as mild. Keep in mind that fatality rate is for confirmed cases only, and it doesn’t count mild cases of people who never went to the doctor. For comparison, the American flu this year for people who end up hospitalized has a mortality rate of 5.6% as of February 15th CDC numbers.

    Lots more info in their report based on age groups. The older you are, the worse your chances.

    http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9a9b-fea8db1a8f51

    1. You make an important point, friend. The “normal flu” is killing people at a much higher rate than Covid-19. Much higher. I think I heard on Monday, over 12,000 fatalities from Type-A flu.

      So, practice precautions, no matter what the status of Covid-19, folks. Even if it doesn’t kill you, several weeks of misery will follow the first symptoms.

      Carry on

  3. The link appears to be responding slowly today, probably lots of people trying to access it. The most interesting portion is under the blue link “Results” then scroll down to Table 1. Here you can see what the mortality rates are for people with different preexisting conditions.

    For otherwise healthy older people, the mortality rate is 0.9% (American flu = 0.1%). The mortality rate goes up significantly if you have other conditions such as cancer (5.6%), hypertension (6.0%), diabetes (7.3%), cardiovascular disease (10.5%), etc.

    The best news in the report is, for those under 40, the mortality rate is 0.2%, only double that of the American flu. But that is probably an artificially high rate, only counting diagnosed cases and not those who stayed home because they did not get sick enough to go to the hospital. So in all probability, if these Chinese CDC numbers are correct, for those under 40 the news looks good.

    Here’s the link again:

    http://weekly.chinacdc.cn/en/article/id/e53946e2-c6c4-41e9-9a9b-fea8db1a8f51

    1. One of the issues now being discussed by those who are pursing the topic, is that re-infection causes a severe and deadly cytokine storm. This is occurring regularly during this first wave. A healthy person successfully fights it off, yet is reinfected with a mutation of the same COVID-19, that causes a massive cytokine storm and the person suddenly dies as a result. The mechanism is apparently understood and explained in the video below. As the virus mutates we could be in for further surprises. There is also the problem in ‘severe’ cases that recover. Some persons who recover may have debilitating amount of scaring in the lungs and heart, and will not return to normal levels of health. The percentage who may suffer from a ‘severe’ case, might be has high 20 percent. Of that group, 5 to 15% may die.
      https://youtu.be/BAGZmHA0ug4

      Early and unverified numbers, especially from China, are intended to mislead by design, and any numbers, including those from the cruise ships likely does not yet reflect this new information about the deadly reinfections, and life long debilitating effects. 80% may not suffer much during the first infection, yet may die quickly during a second infection, during a first wave, or perhaps a second wave. Video from China showing people suddenly and utterly falling to the ground, and quickly dying while screaming, and violently shaking, presents to us a whole new aspect to this disease.. We actually know little about how this virus behaves longer term. I believe that we will soon conclude that this virus is worse than the Spanish Flu in several important ways. I am becoming highly motivated to isolate myself as I digest this new information.

      It pays to pay attention to this thing.

  4. Tunnel Rabbit,
    Thank you, just listed to the last link you provided.

    If people haven’t stocked up like has been suggested, people might start getting rather salty.

    As I said in my post yesterday, I’m glad that I have continued to gather so I can possibly help others if needed

  5. Article and video by Mike Adams, Feb 18, 2020

    Why are 712 people in Washington State being “monitored” for coronavirus infections, but NOT TESTED?
    https://www.newstarget.com/2020-02-18-why-are-712-people-in-washington-state-monitored-for-coronavirus.html
    Mike Adams:
    “Based on these revelations, we now believe that Seattle and Honolulu will be among the first coronavirus outbreak hubs in America. In fact, based on the evidence we’re seeing so far, it seems abundantly obvious that sustained outbreaks are already occurring in both of those cities.”

    (This is consistent with the demographics posted the other day. Assessing the extreme NW corner of Washington, should also include the very high percentage and numbers of Vancouver, B.C. metropolitan area that is approximately 48% Asian, almost half of the 2.5 million that borders the greater area surrounding Seattle Washington. The metropolitan area of Seattle is comprised of 11.4 % of Asian descent in a population of almost 4 million. Tunnel Rabbit)

    For visionary types, here is another thought provoking video from Mike Adams about a potential bio-warfare scenario. This is not for those who already have enough to ‘chew on’.
    blob:https://www.brighteon.com/4a9ed527-17c1-46bc-8e20-1ba9a1226a84

  6. MEDCRAM Corona virus updates 19 and 20 point out that the doctor has found half his serious cases hospitalized in CA are due to H1N1 Influenza A infections, including intubation for several, and EKMO required for a teenage patient with no other issues.

    We already have deadly flu at work, so take preventive measures now.

    The Dr points out that we have more than two months left to go in the “traditional season”. It is not too late to get vaccinated.

    I just ordered another 12-pack of 8oz hand sanitizers. They aren’t in shortage now, so you can still stack them deep, but their price is inching upwards.

    1. I practiced business ‘at a distance’ when programming a radio, and used 91% alcohol in a fine mist spray bottle that fits into a pocket. This handy tool allows one to spray down equipment, gloved hands, clothes, and surfaces. The customer places the item in the bag to be programmed, and left the area when it was to be retrieved. The money quickly dried after being sprayed with alcohol. Cumbersome, yet not all that awkward. However, it is easy to make a mistake, and I will not risk again unless the transaction is substantial. I made mistakes, but fortunately the spray bottle quickly took care of the risk. This was a practice run.

    2. Re: Med Cram Episode 20, Feb 18, 2020

      Although the paper focuses the evolutionary, Scripps Research Institute of La Jolle, California could not determine conclusively the origins of COVID-19.

      1. Excellent find Tunnel Rabbit. Can you forward a copy to Senator Cotton and please cc Mike Adams? 🙂 /S

        They present good detailed evidence as to why it’s not a mand-made virus, or bio-engineered in any portion, and explain how it’s highly unlikely that it escaped from a lab in the section titled “Selection during passage.”

        They do present the best theory I’ve heard yet on how it may have gone from bat to mammal to human to epidemic. Nobody else has proposed what they do and their theory finally answers all the questions. It sounds very plausible to me.

        Here’s the link: http://virological.org/t/the-proximal-origin-of-sars-cov-2/398

        1. They provide an excellent, lengthy, and plausible argument for their hypotheses, yet in their closing analysis, they state that they could not determine conclusively the origins of COVID-19. In other words, they do not know whether COVID-19 is man made, or not.

          1. Hey Tunnel Rabbit,

            “genomic evidence does not support the idea that SARS-CoV-2 is a laboratory construct”

            That’s sounds pretty clear to me. There is no evidence at a molecular level that this was created in a lab.

            “it is currently impossible to prove or disprove the other theories of its origin described here”

            That part is referring to their discussion under “Theories of SARS-CoV-2 origins” about their own theories (not the conspiracy theories) on mutations before or after moving into humans, bats vs pangolins, etc. Those may never be possible to prove or disprove since the zoonotic event is usually a one-time event. They go on to point out that the best we can hope for is to find the closest related CoV still existing in nature, residing in a bat or other animal yet to be collected. When it is collected, sequenced, and catalogued in the database at some future time, then we’ll finally get some better answers.

            Pangolins are one of the wild animals that were being sold in the fish market in Wuhan so that is an interesting twist. They could possibly be the intermediate mammal between bats and humans just as the civets and camels were in SARS and MERS.

            Beneath the paper, they had all kinds of interesting links in case you missed those. There was one of CoV mutation rates that was particularly interesting.

          2. St Funogas,

            I am unable to reply directly and hope you will respond. As we are flooded with information about this topic. and can miss important detail, we need clarification. Question: Is SARS-CoV-2 also known as CoVid-19? I do not believe so as they refer to CoVid-19 specifically in the closing statement.

            We need not explore their extensive research that justifies their method, or debate the merits of their argument, but should accept their closing remarks. That is why there are closing remarks. It is their conclusion about what their discovered, or did not discover. Their impressive status as a respectable institution. and their impressive effort to disprove the idea that COVID-19 is man made, failed. Their time was not wasted, as it succeeded to strength the likelihood that competing scientific opinion, and unsubstantiated claims that COVID-19 is man made might have merit. Their data is useful, and their conclusion is justification for additional research. Ultimately we hope to one day have a peer reviewed scientific work that is definitive.

          3. Hey Tunnel Rabbit, the name has evolved over the past 2½ months but they’ve now settled into their final forms. Covid-19 is the disease and SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the actual virus. I wish they would have been more creative, that’s going to cause confusion. And of course, people are writing Covid-19 four different ways too but at least the meaning is still clear.

            SARS = SARS-CoV-1
            MERS = MERS-CoV
            Covid-19 = SARS-CoV-2

          4. St Funogas,
            I believe that those are related and useful in their study as these are variation of the Corona Virus, yet they are not the same as COVID-19. In the conclusion they specifically use the term COVID-19 as the subject in the sentence as they stated that they could not conclusively determine it’s origin. They do not know. I would not confuse SAR-CoV2 with COVID-19.

Comments are closed.