Survival Sunday Roundup #12

With the week off for Thanksgiving, I’ve got many items on my growing to do list:

• Make a batch of soap
• Add some venison to the freezer
• Help DRG decorate with Christmas stuff
• Try on my old kilt and take up the waist
• Rake leaves did it yesterday (most hated job of all time)
• Winterize our BOB’s
• Double my efforts with my bow drill on training wheels – fire from friction

I’ll do my best to keep the wheels spinning on this site in between tasks.

Today’s Survival Sunday Roundup hopefully adds value to our busy lives. Take a deep breath and keep the stress low. That can be a challenge with some family gatherings. The links below are focused on health – you want to actually live through the zombie apocalypse, right. So health and fitness should take a priority. I will definitely indulge in some non-primal/paleo fare. It’s not falling off the primal wagon, it’s a cheat day for me. And I plan on savoring every morsel, guilt free. So here goes:

Sleep is absolutely essential to happiness, health, and longevity. Here’s why.

Size matters…when it comes to your brain. A new study finds physical exercise, more than mental exercise, protects your brain against age-related changes; people who engaged in the most physical exercise showed the least brain shrinkage.

Karen De Coster, an ambassador for primal/paleo, freedom, and a general stirrer-upper, has a great piece on the benefits of the going primal on LewRockwell.com. She inspired me to get in touch with my inner caveman after reading a similar article of hers three years and 50 pounds ago.

Take a peek at my primal pantry here.

Dr. Daniel Stickler wrote a guest post over at SurvivalBlog a while back that deals with optimizing your health before Sh*t Hits The Fan.

As always, DRG and I are so thankful for the kind words of encouragement and supportive prayers sent our way from people we’ve never met face-to-face. You folks are quality, value-adders to our life!

Doing the stuff,

Todd

 

 

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #11

Good morning folks! Today’s roundup includes two ladies and a guy (me). Here’s what’s on the plate:

• Building community
• Why carry a gun if you trust in God?
• MacGyvered cigar tube = fishing kit

Circle of Friends: The importance of other people in our preparedness plans

By Claire Wolfe

Source: Backwoods Home Magazine

Hardcore survivalists cherish what I call the “George Romero Scenario.” It goes like this: The proverbial poop has hit the propeller. Cities collapse into chaos. But we, the prepared, are…well, we’re prepared. We hunker in our rural bunkers, clutching our Super Whiz-Whacker 3000 combat arms, eagle-eyed and ready for any eventuality. We boldly fend off wave after ravenous wave of starving city folk who stagger at us like unstoppable zombies in a Romero horror flick. These zombies crave not our living flesh, but our six-gallon, mylar-lined superpails of dried lentils, our root cellars full of last year’s carrots, and our genuine, federally issued Meals Ready to Eat.

Well…maybe.

Seriously, it could happen. I can laugh about it now only because I spent so many years envisioning it myself.

We buy into the Hollywood-fed lone-wolf image. Our society is no longer built on everyday trust and neighborly reliance. The world is full of unfriendly strangers. If the other guy doesn’t take care of himself…well, then to hell with him. It’s dog eat dog. Survival of the fittest.

Us or them!

And it’s true; in any major, long-term disaster, prepared people genuinely could face “zombie” threats from the desperate unprepared. But those threats—as we shall see further down—are likely to take a form that George Romero wouldn’t find very cinematic.

Read the rest here

Winchester Jesus

Trusting God and Self-Defense

by Kathy Jackson

Source: Cornered Cat

Is trusting God at odds with defending yourself? If I am armed and willing to protect myself, does that mean I don’t have faith?

One common ethical/moral question Christians face is the apparent contradiction between trusting God and carrying a gun.

After a lot of soul-searching on this issue, I’ve come to the place where I realize that trusting Him to protect me isn’t at odds with having the tools to defend myself — not any more than having a fridge full of food is at odds with trusting Him to provide my daily bread.

God created human beings as tool-users with creative minds. Built right into the human body is a very deep seated desire to defend your own life. Try holding your breath until you pass out, for example. It is very hard to do, and even if you succeed, your body takes over and starts breathing again as soon as you lose consciousness. Self-protection is a design feature the Creator gave us.

The Creator also set human beings into a universe governed by cause and effect, in a world where our actions have consequences. Although He undoubtedly could have made the world some other way, He designed it so that human actions would affect what happened next.

Read the rest here

DIY Preparedness: Cigar Survival Fishing Kit

(I dusted this one off from June 2012)

by Todd Walker

Source: Survival Sherpa

Improving on a great idea is what I tried to do.

The idea for my last fishing kit for my bug out bag came from Dave Canterbury. It was made of PVC, which was very sturdy, but weighed more than I liked. This summer I wanted to trim the weight on my BOB. It’s not going to be ultralight, but every pound I trim only makes humping that thing easier. So the first piece I tackle is my…um…my fishing tackle.

Step A: Assemble materials. I looked for a lightweight tube for a couple of weeks. I didn’t want glass. Plastic would work. Aluminum would be even better. I found a plastic tube that held a watch on a shopping trip with my wife. I bought it for $5.oo and ditched the cheap watch. The problem with the plastic tube is I would not be able to use it for boiling water in a survival situation.

Then we stopped by the adult beverage store for some wine. This place also has a nice humidor with a great selection of cigars. *Aha Moment*

We spent the next five minutes rummaging through stogies looking for the perfect candidate. I needed it to be long enough and with sufficient diameter to hold the necessary fish-catching supplies. I found a cigar, which I enjoy from time to time, with a great tube. It measures 1 inch in diameter by 6 1/4 inches long tube. Being aluminum, I can use it to boil water in a pinch. The picture below shows the difference in sizes of the old PVC kit (bottom) and the new one completed.

Old PVC kit (below) vs. New Cigar Kit (top)

Here’s what I used to assemble my kit: Cigar sleeve, duct tape, bank line, electrical tape, 10# fishing line, strike anywhere matches, fire starter (more details about this item later), dry flies, artificial lizard, non-lead weights, 3 types of fishing hooks, metal leader, swivels, 2 floats/bobbers, and a snack size zip-lock baggie.

Read the rest here

______________________________

I really appreciate you visiting today!

If you find any information on this site helpful, please don’t hesitate to share it with as many people as possible. All I ask is that you please include a direct link back to the original article. Thanks for spreading the word.

You can follow me here and on Twitter @SurvivalSherpa – or contact me via email at: SurvivalSherpa (at) gmail (dot) com

Doing the stuff,

Todd

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #10

I had to skip last Sunday’s post. Life happened. Let’s try this on today.

Don’t read Bracken’s essay below and think he’s a racist. He’s making a sobering assessment of human nature. The grouping is evident in the suburban school in which I teach – staff and students. Forced association by coercive statists has left more than a few scars on school students and society.

Mr. Bracken offers a very realist view of things to come. Prepare accordingly.

Doing the stuff,

SS

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Bracken: When The Music Stops – How America’s Cities May Explode In Violence

Source: Western Rifle Shooters Association

Posted on September 3, 2012

Illustration: Bracken’s CW2 Cube; click to enlarge

From Matt Bracken:

In response to recent articles in mainstream military journals discussing the use of the U.S. Army to quell insurrections on American soil, I offer an alternate vision of the future. Instead of a small town in the South as the flash point, picture instead a score of U.S. cities in the thrall of riots greater than those experienced in Los Angeles in 1965 (Watts), multiple cities in 1968 (MLK assassination), and Los Angeles again in 1992 (Rodney King). New Yorkers can imagine the 1977 blackout looting or the 1991 Crown Heights disturbance. In fact, the proximate spark of the next round of major riots in America could be any from a long list cribbed from our history.

Read the rest here

A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place

Source: The Art Of Manliness

by Brett & Kate McKay

As “Heading Out on Your Own: 31 Basic Life Skills in 31 Days” draws to a close today, we’d like to use the final post in the series to discuss a saying your grandfather was probably quite fond of: “A place for everything and everything in its place.”

Your great-grandfather likely used that maxim too, and his grandfather as well. It actually first appeared in print way back in 1640. The saying was born among sailors, who needed to both keep things orderly in the tiny galleys and cabins below deck, and to make sure all their tools and ropes were placed and secured properly up above, so that things didn’t wash overboard when the ship was rocked by storms and waves.

“First then, while you are little boys, let there be order in everything. Try and have a place for everything and everything in its place. If your father has things in that way, see that you place everything back after using it. Hours, days, yea, months and years, are wasted by too many in hunting tools and farming implements; time thus wasted is time needlessly lost, precious time that will never return…I mention this first because it is first in importance. It governs your every act through life. If you start life thus and have a place for everything, you cannot fail to make good farmers.” -Report of the Secretary of the Iowa State Agricultural Society, 1865

“A place for everything and everything in its place” came ashore in the 19^th century, and was adopted most rigorously by farmers, who owned and used a wide variety of tools and pieces of equipment, and who couldn’t afford to leave them to rust in the rain or exposed to elements during winter. Keeping track of their tools ensured they could get to work when they needed to, and there was always plenty of work to be done.

The maxim was subsequently taken up by men in all trades and businesses, white and blue collar alike, who saw how having a set place for their tools and papers, both at home and at work, contributed to their success. The standard espoused in old books was for a man to be able to dress himself in the dark or find any tool in his shed with his eyes closed.

Read the rest here

Overcoming the Insurmountable

Source: Mark’s Daily Apple

I never thought I would be writing or sharing a success story. Not because I didn’t’ think there would be success, but because I am really not the sharing type. But what happened to me and my wife is important, and I want you to know. I have been telling anyone who will listen:

First, a little background. I was and still am an active person. I used to work out daily at the gym for an hour, played hockey twice a week and was an avid skier, but I was really starting to loathe my workouts. I ate well, or at least I thought I did, but I also had a sweet tooth and we had no shortage of cookies, candy and everything in-between stocked in the pantry. I would go through phases of what I would call the Atkins diet if I felt I was getting too flabby. I would cut out refined sugars, bread and pasta, but was still keen on items like Diet Coke and anything a grocery store would classify as meat. My weight and body composition fluctuated regularly.

Read the rest here

Homemade Cottage Cheese, 1839 Style

Source: Rural Spin

In 1839, making cottage cheese was just a matter of leaving raw milk sit out until it formed curds, then strain overnight.

First, let me say that this won’t work unless you have raw milk available to you. The reason is that raw milk never really goes “bad,” it just sours. You can use it months after it’s left the cow (properly handled, of course). Pasteurized milk, on the other hand, has had its molecular structure altered, and because of that it doesn’t ever sour, it putrefies. This means if it goes bad, it’s not edible. I know, I know, this happenstance eliminates the possibility for many to make cottage cheese using this method, but it’s still interesting to see how people made food 175 years ago.

But if you do have access to raw milk, this makes a wonderful creamy cottage cheese that I love. It’s creamier than store-bought cottage cheese, and the “lumps” are very small. The flavor is a combination of cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese. It doesn’t taste like store-bought cottage cheese because the store-bought stuff is cultured, which gives it a specific flavor. You can make cultured cottage cheese at home, too, if you purchase the culture from an outside source, but this recipe allows you to make your own like folks made it at home long ago. And, it’s easy as pie!

Read how to here

The worst of all deceptions is self-deception. – Plato

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #9

SS Note: As autumn rolls around many will hit the woods for hiking, camping, and hunting in the great outdoors. Sensible Survival offers a helpful three-part series on staying found in the wilderness: 72 Hour Survival I-III.

A Hat Tip goes out to Prepography, Packing Pretty, Gary North, and Tess Pennington in this edition of Survival Sunday Roundup!

Doing the stuff,

SS

≈

72 Hour Survival

 Source: Sensible Survival

The next few posts will be a reprint of a small booklet that I wrote to use in wilderness survival classes.  This booklet outlines the things that you need to do to keep from getting into a survival situation to begin with; but if the worst happens, it tells you the things that you need to do to survive for the first 72 hours and the things that you need to do to aid your rescuers in finding you.

WHY 72 HOURS?

Read the rest here

72 Hour Survival – Part 2

Source: Sensible Survival

STAYING WARM AND DRY

There are two main ways of staying warm in the wilderness:

Number 1 – retain the heat that your body is already producing. Your body is a natural furnace.  It is producing a near constant 98.6 degrees of internal heat. If you prevent this heat from escaping, you will stay warm.

Number 2 – create an outside source of warmth (i.e. fire) that will replace any heat that radiates away from your body.

Your first layer of defense against heat loss is your clothing.

Read the rest here

72 Hour Survival – Part 3

 Source: Sensible Survival

SIGNAL FOR HELP

There are four ways you can signal for help.  These are:

1. Building signal fires

2. Using your signal whistle

3. Using your mirror to signal aircraft

4. Constructing ground-to-air rescue symbols.

Read the rest here

Using a Watch to Determine North/South Infographic

Source: Prepography

Posted August 25, 2012 | By Andrew J. Jackson

Northern Hemisphere. Point hour hand at the sun:  South is halfway between the hour hand and 12 o’clock position.

Southern Hemisphere. Point the 12 o’clock position on your watch at the sun. North is halfway between the 12 o’clock position and the hour hand

Note:  Digital watches. Visualize a clock face on the watch.

From:  SURVIVAL, EVASION, AND RECOVERY:  MULTISERVICE PROCEDURES FOR SURVIVAL, EVASION, AND RECOVERY
FM 21-76-1, MCRP 3-02H, NWP 3-50.3, AFTTP(I) 3-2.26,
JUNE 1999
DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION:  Approved for public release

THE HEART OF THE MATTER – WHY WE CARRY

Source: Packing Pretty

I know that everyone wants to hear about the holster fashion show, and I  promise to get that up as soon as possible. This is an article I wrote a few weeks ago, but haven’t had the time to publish until now. I hope this holds you over…

__________________________________________

There is a subject that I have been kicking around in my head for about a month now. It has been written about many times in the past in one form or another, and a few times lately on various gun blogs.  Authors of these said articles have delved into the topic of why they own and carry firearms. There are a ton of entertaining quotes floating around social media and blogs pertaining to this matter; I could list a bunch of them here (as one writer did), and call it good. But, seriously, why? You are reading gun blog for goodness sake – which means you probably spend a decent amount of time reading other gun blogs, forums, and following gunners on social media.  You have already heard the clever remarks and read the quotes. While I feel that these little slurs and sayings as to why we carry are entertaining, and at times, somewhat accurate; I also feel that they only scratch the surface and that the heart of the matter is lost amidst all the hype and controversy surrounding not only the act, but the idea of individuals arming themselves.

Read the rest here

Whose Interests Will the Fed Always Protect?

Source: LewRockwell.com

by Gary North

Some predictions are easy. Here is mine: “The government of the United States will default on the vast bulk of its debts, which are mainly debts of Medicare, and to a far lesser extent, Social Security and the federal pension system.”

This prediction is easy to make when you have Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff of Boston University doing your research for you . . . free of charge.

He and long-term financial columnist Scott Burns recently wrote an article on the unfunded liabilities of the United States government. The article is based on the figures produced by the Congressional Budget Office. Here is their assessment. Over the past year, the debt of the United States government increased from $211 trillion to $222 trillion. This is the fiscal gap.

The fiscal gap is the present value difference between projected future spending and revenue. It captures all government liabilities, whether they are official obligations to service Treasury bonds or unofficial commitments, such as paying for food stamps or buying drones.

This led to their policy analysis.

Read the rest here

Week 50 of 52: Bartering and the Community

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
August 2012

One of my favorite chapters in Patriots was when the main characters were invited to a community market where they bartered with other like-minded individuals for supplies. Personally speaking, that chapter expressed hope – hope that our civilization would not crumble, hope that a community would flourish, that business exchanges would still carry on and ultimately, it was the beginning of a community coming together. If a long-term emergency causes an end to our existing monetary system and an end to the exchange based on fiat currency that our world currently operates in, people will resort back to bartering for skills and services in order to make transactions.

Living in a bartering environment means one must possess certain goods or skills that others find value in. As Brandon Smith writes on the subject:

Read the rest here

 

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #8

In this edition of Survival Sunday Roundup, I can’t encourage folks enough to download, print, and implement Alpha Strategy. It’s not too late to start. Every tangible item you purchase now will only increase in value due to the Fed’s addiction to printing faith-based green backs. Here’s a sample of how to start.

Doing the stuff,

SS

—————-

Tangible investments … that lick your hand

Exclusive: Patrice Lewis explains strategy
for weathering expected collapse of dollar

Published: 03/26/2011 at 12:00 AM

by Patrice LewisEmail | Archive

Patrice Lewis is a freelance writer whose latest book is “The Simplicity Primer: 365 Ideas for Making Life more Livable.” She is co-founder (with her husband) of a home woodcraft business. The Lewises live on 20 acres in north Idaho with their two homeschooled children, assorted livestock, and a shop that overflows into the house with depressing regularity. Visit her blog at www.rural-revolution.com.

This past week my husband and I had a wild hot date. It consisted of driving three hours north to a remote farm and buying a 5-month-old Jersey heifer, then driving three hours home again. Oooh yeah.

A Jersey is a cattle breed that gives rich, creamy milk. A heifer is a young unbred cow. A date is something my husband and I rarely experience.

The reason we bought this little girl is because our older Jersey is down to two out of four working quarters on her udder, and we’re not getting nearly as much milk as we’d like. We thought buying a young, healthy animal was a worthwhile investment.

Investment, you ask? Why would we “invest” in a heifer rather than stocks or treasuries?

It’s because we feel stocks and treasuries are worthless, and money isn’t far behind. But a heifer grows. Bred to our bull, she will give us calves we can breed, sell, or eat. She will produce abundant milk from which I can make butter and cheese and yogurt. She will have a productive life of about 15 years.

Not a bad investment after all.

And this is the tactic my husband and I have decided to take from now on. During the rare times we have surplus money, we are not putting it in the bank. We are buying tangibles such as heifers or building materials or fencing or canning jars or storable food or fruit trees.

Read the rest here

Shifting to Tangibles in an Age of Inflation

 Source: Survival Blog

by James Wesley Rawles

I’m often asked by my consulting clients why I put so much emphasis investing in tangibles rather than in traditional investments that are denominated in United States dollars. The problem with dollar-denominated investments is that they are vulnerable to inflation of the currency unit itself. The U.S. governments over-spending and deep indebtedness is bound to catch up with it someday. And when it does, inflation and economic ruin will be the result.

But there is protection from inflation. If the majority of you assets are in tangibles and they are in your immediate possession, then you will be insulated from the searing heat of mass inflation. And, in the event a total collapse of the dollar, many tangibles can be used in lieu of cash, for barter transactions.

Which tangibles? I recommend buying farm land, common caliber ammunition, guns, hand tools, good quality knives, silver bullion coins, and gold bullion coins.

To spell this out in greater detail, I recommend:

Read the rest here

Cash is Out, Bartering is King

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
April 2012

 Reality tells us that we may soon be coming to a point in which cash is no longer king.  The economy has been drying up for years.  Over one million Americans filed their initial unemployment claim over the last month.  The dollars we bring home are buying less on every trip to the grocery store.

Few of us are completely self-sufficient.  There are always going to be a few things that we cannot make for ourselves.  If your personal preps are in order, consider investing your prep dollars in a new way: purchase barter items!

A lot of things that are inexpensive now will be invaluable later.  As the economy collapses even further, people will be focused on survival and the barter system will reignite.  Barter items will be far better than cash – you can’t eat a dollar!

What kind of items will be worth their weight in gold?  Check out this list for a few suggestions:

Read the rest here

Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills

Source: Alt-Market

Thursday, 09 June 2011 00:47 Brandon Smith

The concept of private barter and alternative economies has been so far removed from our daily existence here in America that the very idea of participating in commerce without the use of dollars or without the inclusion of corporate chains seems almost outlandish to many people. However, the fact remains that up until very recently (perhaps the last three to four decades) barter and independent trade was commonplace in this country. Without it, many families could not have survived.

Read the rest here

 

Pillaging is NOT Preparedness

Posted August 7, 2012 by Bprep4

I have often heard people respond to preparedness with the comment that they are going to pillage preppers stores.

Mad Max (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Let me elaborate a little more on this topic.

I understand this macho comment is a very narrow view of what is going to really happen if the SHTF as we know it and we really find ourselves in a Mad Max society.

I am sure I am not the only one who has heard this one. Trusted friends who say they are just going to rob and kill people who have set up a back up. This statement has me really looking at the reasoning behind this attitude.

Read the rest here

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #7

Can you feel the squeeze yet? “Not in your neck of the woods,” you say. You’re not gasping for air? It’s only because Leviathan hasn’t constricted the coils earmarked for you yet. But you’ve got to be hearing the hissing, right?!

Lies, Damned Lies and Government Statistics

by Jim Karger

Source: The Dollar Vigilante

My grandmother grew up in the backwoods of Arkansas.  She had a fourth grade education and worked in the fields. When she was 12 years old she threw down her cotton sack and took a train to Texas to live with an aunt she had never met.  She lived a hard life, never had much of a chance, and yet she was one of the wisest people I have ever known.  

She taught me many life lessons that have served me well, one of which went like this:  ”Jimmy,” she would say as she waved her finger in my face, “most folks will lie even when the truth works better.”
Not a particularly rosy view of humanity, but it was, and is, deadly accurate.

Nowhere is the truth of her admonition better seen than when man is collectivized and given authority.  Whether government, corporate or union, the simple fact is that most people are liars. Liars lie. Good liars rise to the top. And when good liars are collectivized they lie more frequently and more effectively.  When they have control of the numbers, it makes their deceit more difficult to discover.  When they can make up the numbers, it can make unwinding them a near impossibility.

Read the rest here

Seven Times I Was Glad to Have an Emergency Kit Just Last Week

by Angela over at Food Storage and Survival

I took a short notice road trip with the kids last week.  Approximately 1100 miles round trip to see some family for the holiday.  Of course, my vehicle emergency kit was not removed when we packed our suitcases around it.  And it’s a good thing, because even though we didn’t meet up with any zombies or get stranded on the road, we needed it a few times.

Read the rest here

How to Paint Your Rifle Digital Camouflage

Source: SHTF Blog

by Ranger Man on April 17, 2008

I found this article about three years ago and used it to paint a Remington Model 710, 300 mag. It turned out great, but I had to go and trade it. Remorse followed.

Here’s a pic of my rifle with a paracord sling I made.

I followed Ranger Man’s DIY article on camouflaging a rifle here.

Shooting Bare Bow – Back To Basics

Source: SHTF Blog

by Jarhead Survivor on May 11, 2012

Over the years I’ve owned several compound bows.  If you’ve done any archery you know that people will try to sell you every gizmo under the sun to add to your bow:  stabilizers, string silencers, quivers, sites and peep sites.  You can shoot with a special trigger so that you never even have to touch the string with your hands.

After shooting my Bear Bow (as opposed to shooting bare bow) for awhile, it got to the point where I could shoot the nocks off my arrows at 20 yards and still be hitting the target out to 50 or 60 yards with fair accuracy.  At one point I had a range in my back yard with different stations starting at five yards going out to about 30 that required different types of shooting.  I’d run from spot to spot and shoot on one knee at the first station, around a tree at the next, through some bushes at the next and so on.  My target was a plastic coffee can lid on a hay bale and the best I ever did was all 12 shots in the plastic.

Read the rest here

 

Hope you have a productive week doing the stuff!

SS

Sunday Survival Roundup #6

Who knew camping could make your kids smarter?

By Lisa Bedford, The Survival Mom

Last month I challenged you to schedule a family camping trip. My family went on a 3100 mile road trip and camped about half the time. One night we arrived late at our reserved campsite, only to discover in was a concrete RV parking lot! There were generators running all night long and a streetlight glaring through our tent window. Live and learn.

Read the rest here

Buy A Farm

Source: Guerrillamerica

Jim Rogers:

There’s going to be a huge shift in American society, American culture, in the places where one is going to get rich. The stock brokers are going to be driving taxis. The smart ones will learn to drive tractors so they can work for the smart farmers. The farmers are going to be driving Lamborghinis. I’m telling you. You should start farming.

America produced 200,000 MBAs last year and fewer than 10,000 agriculture school graduates.

Read the rest here

Update on Michael Schmidt Farm Raid

Source: Karen De Coster

This is an update to my earlier post about Michael Schmidt and Glencolton Farm. Dave Gumpert has posted that Michael Schmidt’s Ontario farm was raided by three different agencies in connection with a scrapie sheep case.

He could be looking at 14 years in jail in connection with conspiracy charges in connection with the scrapie sheep case from last April.

Read the rest here

Oregon criminalizes permaculture; claims state ownership over all rainwater – ponds and swales restricted – jail time for violators

Source: Natural News

(NaturalNews) There’s nothing more refreshing than standing in a cool, summertime rain shower. Or bathing in the warm sunlight on a crisp spring day. Or inhaling the cool autumn air, fresh with the scent of turning leaves and pine needles. These things — rainwater, sunlight, air — have long been assumed to be not only free, but un-claimable. You can’t claim to own the sunlight that falls on my front yard, for example. A corporation can’t claim intellectual property ownership over the air that you breathe and demand you pay a royalty for inhaling.

But these days, Jackson County, Oregon says it owns YOUR rainwater, and the county has sentenced a man to 30 days in jail and fined him over $1500, for the supposed “crime” of collecting rainwater on his own property.

Read the rest here

Hope y’all have a great week!

Doing the stuff,

SS

Survival Sunday Roundup #5

This is the last week of summer for me before I head back to the salt mine to start another school year. I’ll try to keep up with my furious posting schedule in spite of school and Dirt Road Girl’s battle with cancer. With all that’s on my plate, someone suggested that I should take a break from blogging. It’s a great outlet for me and I enjoy it – whether anyone else enjoys my rantings or not – what counts is that I do. I’m humbled and surprised that anyone stops by here anyway. That is simply a bonus. Thanks to those who do!

This was my Must Reads:

My focus this week, with bow season approaching, has been primitive skills. There’s also some other preparedness/self-reliance/SHTF stuff you might find interesting from around the PrepperSphere. So here’s a recap of what I’ve been viewing in this edition of Survival Sunday Roundup.

Down and Dirty DIY: Fletching Arrows with Duct Tape (in case you missed my earlier)

10 Reasons Why Building a Community is Key When the SHTF

by Survivor Mike over at The Home For Survival Blog

Clearly, having more mouths to feed and more variables in the equation will be a challenge.  However, a unified front when the desperate folks come calling is clearly the best long term approach.

Getting Prepared Month 5: Sanitation Supplies and Establishing a Community of Like Minded Folks

by Survival Woman at Backdoor Survival

One important reason for sharing your knowledge with a group is that they will share back and you will learn so much more than you could on your own.  You will learn what skills they may have that you don’t have and when the time comes, working together you can spread the burden of chores and duties among each other.  Another important reason is that by being friendly, you will begin to establish a trust that translates in to watching each other’s back, keeping a collective eye out for bad guys or simply watching for zombies trying to get to your stuff.

When It Comes to Survival, Don’t be a Purist

by Hank at Sensible Survival

Remember, your mind is your most important survival tool. Learn to think outside the box, and use anything that you can find, natural or man-made, to help you survive.

 

Preparedness, Survival, and Primitive Skills

by Hank at Sensible Survival

Everyone should be prepared for disasters, natural or man-made. The posts on preparedness are about being ready for things like temporary power outages, unemployment, natural disasters, biological accidents or attacks, civil disorder, or the complete breakdown of society. The social order may endure forever, but everybody’s power will go out sooner or later, so be prepared.

Prepping on a Budget

by Off Grid Survival

Those who prep with knowledge will be far better off than those who rely solely on their gear to survive.

 

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #4

Thanks for stopping by today. Here’s seven reads/views I liked this week.

Doing the stuff,

SS

Preppers are going to die

Video by MainePrepper

Self Defense Without Firearms, by Daniel W.

Source: Survival Blog

Now I know y’all like your guns, and that’s fine. I like mine too. I once heard someone say, “If you don’t have gold and silver you’re doomed.” Now these two things are also very important, but I question how this man planned to defend his precious metals without a well-stocked armory.

As Mr. Rawles himself has said, guns are tools much like those found in a carpenter’s tool box. Each fills a different role. But although guns are good at a great many different things, there are some roles which are difficult for them to fill. For instance, here in the United States you have to pay the BATF a $200 tax for each suppressor you purchase. But knives, bows and crossbows are silent by their nature [although the arrow and blade recipients are often quite noisy]. And in the most of the gun-restrictive states you are better off carrying a knife than trying to smuggle a pistol. [JWR Adds: Be sure to check your state and local laws. For example in California is is a felony to carry a concealed double-edged knife on the first offense!]

Read the rest here

Emergency Items: What Will Disappear First

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition
November 2009

 Do you ever wonder if a major emergency situation occurred what would disappear first?  Due to the overwhelming nature of prepping for a emergency situation, many do not know where to even began, let alone think of emergency situations they would need to prepare for.  Having a ready supply of food, water and batteries are a good start, but not enough.  There are many more items to have on hand besides beans, band aids and bullets.

Read the rest here

16 basics for your car’s emergency kit

• Posted by Atticus Freeman on July 18, 2012 at 10:31am
• View Blog

The Practical Prepper

Having a general, basic emergency kit in your house is essential, and putting together an evacuation kit is important too. However, for those of us that drive an automobile, preparedness also means keeping a dedicated emergency kit our vehicle. Here are things that we’ve included in our car kit:

Read the rest here

3 Types of Survival Books You Should Read and Why

Source: SurvivalCache

There are a million and one survival books out there and they all claim to teach you how to become Jeremiah Johnson over night. It’s hard to figure out who to trust and what kind of survival books you should read. Here are 3 types of survival books you should read and why:

Read the rest here

10 Tips for Preppers to Prepare for SHTF Situations

Source: Off Grid Survival

Being prepared really isn’t that complicated, it just takes a willingness to do something about your situation. If you haven’t started prepping, it’s time to start taking the decisive actions you need to take, to keep yourself and your family safe.

Here are 10 ideas that can help get you started:

Read the rest here

The Art Of The Bug-Out Bag

Source: Survival Spot

By Giordano Bruno
Neithercorp Press – 09/22/2010

The bug out bag is probably the most clichéd emergency preparation in the history of survivaldom. Some people focus so much on compiling their BOB that they lose track of much more important survival matters, while others are so biased against the ‘bug out’ concept that they refuse to even consider putting one together. In the world of survival research, preppers sometimes position themselves on the far ends of the opinion spectrum. To be sure, some strategies simply do not work and will never work, and to be uncompromising in those instances is reasonable, especially when you are dealing with such extremes as economic collapse. However, in my endless war against ‘assumption’, I would point out that rigidity in thinking often leads to tragedy for those in the midst of a social breakdown. Adaptability is the key to survival, and because of this, we cannot discount certain options out of hand.

Read the rest here

 

Survival Sunday Roundup #3

Hi folks, today’s Survival Sunday Roundup for your prepping pleasure. Abbreviated version…see note.

NOTE: I’m is getting some much-needed R&R with my Dirt Road Girl (please keep praying for her complete healing) this week. I’ll be back blogging in about a week. Miss me yet? Kidding. Keep doing the stuff by checking out all the other great info in the Blogroll & Resources page at the top of this site.

First things first. I am humbled and so grateful to Gaye (AKA SurvivialWoman) at Backdoor Survival for adding me to her Recommended Sites!

I just added Survival Sherpa to Recommended Sites.  Want to know more?

“At Survival Sherpa, our vision is simple: Helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time.

Whether you are a newbie or a veteran prepping in today’s uncertain times, we all need help navigating the uphill journey to self-reliance and preparedness. I’ll try to help show you the route, help with the gear, and guide you on your journey.”

If you haven’t stopped by her place, please do. She’ll keep you coming back for more. Like…

34 Ways to Use Duct Tape for Survival

July 12, 2012 SurvivalWoman

I have always claimed – and not altogether jokingly – that you  could build a house with Elmer’s glue and Duct Tape.  Both items are readily available, relatively inexpensive and easy to tote around.  I will set aside the Elmer’s for another time, though.  Today, I thought it would be fun to look as some of the practical uses of duct tape around the house, camping and of course, in a survival situation.

First a bit of history

This miracle stuff was created during World War II when the US military needed a flexible, durable, waterproof tape to use making repairs in the field. A strong tape was created by Permacell, a division of Johnson and Johnson for this purpose. As the story goes, the GIs called it “duck tape” because it was waterproof – like a duck’s back.

Enough of the boring details.  Just how can you use this miracle tape?

Read the rest here

Have You Reverted to Being a Sheeple When You Vacation?

reThinkSurvival.com (New add to Blogroll & Resources page)

We, as preppers, tend to pride ourselves on being aware and prepared individuals. We don’t like to be as herd animals are and given the answer without question. The thing is that this is basically what happens to you when you go on vacation. Think about it for a moment… were you really in charge the last time you were on vacation, or was the hotel, the amusement park, the locals? You’re in their world buddy, not yours.

Obviously, it’s just natural that I’m more prepared for emergencies at home; I would suspect that you are as well. After all, this is where most of our supplies, gear, food, and plans are. It follows, therefore, that you will be less prepared for an emergency when you are away from home, such as at the office, in the car, when traveling for business, and especially on vacation.

Vacations, in my humble opinion, are a very specific concern for three primary reasons: (1) you’re likely to have a bare minimum of emergency supplies with you–if any at all, (2) your fire safety and personal security may be sub-par (or even non-existent), and (3) your situation-awareness radar is probably turned off because when you’re on vacation you’re there to relax.

Read the rest here

Staying Cool: How will you stay cool when the lights go out??

 The Retreat

This recent heat wave we have been having across the United States has got me thinking about how to stay cool when the temperature goes up and the lights go out.  We have become so reliant on electricity for almost all our needs that when the lights do go out we are lost without it.  Our air conditioners stop working and our houses start to heat up.

Back before electricity people still managed to stay cool.  Most turn of the century houses had transom windows above the regular windows allowing heat trapped near the ceiling to get out.  Most households also used their windows and doors to create air flow throughout the house.  They also shut curtains on the sunny side of the house to keep the heat out.

Read the rest here

That’s it today. As always, thanks for taking time to stop by. We appreciate your support of our vision of Helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time.