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Reasons for Rawhide, by Pat in Oregon

From SurvivalBlog.com

This time of year we have a lot of hides on hand – deer, elk, and even cow hides when we are butchering.  We’ve tanned them, traded them for gloves, given them away to others, but usually we just dispose of them.  Not anymore.  This last year we’ve been experimenting with using rawhide, and after a year, we are convinced having rawhide on-hand is one of the more valuable items for regular or emergency use.  It is quite easy to process, unlimited in its use, and readily available to most of us.  Hopefully some of our experiences get others thinking and considering how to make use of rawhide.

Tanning a hide for leather is quite a laborious activity, and while leather is very valuable and useful, its manufacture is intimidating.  Rawhide in comparison is quite easy to produce, and provides many of the values and versatility.  Rawhide is simply an untreated animal hide.  Any animal hide is useful, and I would recommend trying out rawhide from a smaller animal, preferably a road kill, as your first foray into this product.  The only tools needed are a plastic garbage can or barrel, and a good stick for stirring.  We are currently processing several hides and you can see pictures and follow the progress on our blog.

The best part of working with rawhide is that you can set it aside for long periods of time and not worry about taking care…

Results from September 26th “Commitment” post…..

From ModernSurvivalOnline.com

[NOTE from Rourke: sorry for some of the test being so small. I had a heck of a time trying to format this post. Importing formatting/HTML from varying sources was horrible and time consuming.]

I received a couple of responses to my “Make a commitment for one month” post from September 26th.

In that post I challenged everyone to spend a small amount of extra money on preparedness supplies every time a store is entered. These small items could be rice, water, a candle, fish hooks, band-aides, dried beans, a can of soup – whatever.

Here are some results:

From Wyzrd  -

Click to enlarge

Background: I already have 8 Rubbermaid totes of mostly food, so I tried to be
 a little bit more balanced. Not certain I succeeded. 

(2) 6-packs bottled spring water (16.9 oz. (house-brand))  @ $  2.19
(2) 1lb bags dried white beans @ $  1.59
(1) 1lb bags dried small red beans @ $  1.29
(1) 2.9 oz. sea-salt grinder and (1) 1.4 oz black pepper grinder @ 2/$  3.00
(2) 4.4 oz 'Pasta Alfredo Sides' (house brand) @ $  1.79
(2) 15.5 oz can white beans @ $  1.92
(1) 100-pack 'restaurant disposable' bamboo chopsticks  @ $  3.25
    (eating utensils, skewers, blowpipe darts, shims/wedges, dry tinder (paper
    sleeves), dry kindling (sticks) -  very all-around useful items to have)
(1) 2-pack Scripto butane lighters  @ $  1.59
(1) 6oz bottle "Texas Pete" hot sauce @ $

…

Letter Re: Guns for a Tight Budget Minimalist Survivalist

From SurvivalBlog.com

James,
The response letter to Guns for a Tight Budget Minimalist Survivalist by S.M.O. caught my attention.  While S.M.O. makes some valid points, I would like to expound on some of his points and offer some other observations. 

I agree that the Ruger Model 10-22 semi-auto .22 Long Rifle carbine is a fine tool for the survivalist.  In fact, I believe that this rifle is such an asset that it should be the first gun that everyone buys.  It has been around for years and has proven itself to be dependable, accurate and reliable.  It is arguably the best quality for the money of all the comparable semi-auto .22s on the market.  In addition, due to it’s popularity, it has a wide array of accessories (both Ruger and aftermarket) to allow the owner to customize it to his/her own tastes.  It’s even produced in a compact version for women, youth or any body who just wants a more compact rifle.  Ruger has recently begun producing a 25 round magazine for the 10-22 which is based on the design of the original 10 round magazine.  As opposed to some of the aftermarket magazines, the Ruger BX-25 works.  It typically gets five star reviews on all of web sites that sell it.  I recently purchased one to see for myself.  It functioned perfectly in my rifle as well as in my brother’s 10-22.

Although S.M.O. did not say as much, I have heard others imply that the .22…

Priorities: Wants Vs. Needs

From SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA

Ferfal,

Thankyou for dedicating your time to educating others on survival. 
I have heard you on some podcasts and have followed your blog.  I
am a American with a large family.  I have 6 young kids and live in
a city of about 20 thousand population.  I make a modest income
with only a few hundred a month to spend on preparations.  Given
the current state of the U.S. Economy can you help me prioritize
with some?  I already have guns not enough ammo yet. 
This is what I am planning:
Buy 3 steel doors with door jamb kick proof plates
Buy a bullet proof vest
Buy 6 months to a year of food
Buy more filters for my water filter
Buy a generator propane
Plant 10 fruit trees
Buy 2×4 studs and plywood sheets for windows
Buy extra propane tanks
Buy cheap gold wedding bands
Put a chain link fence around house
Buy German shepard dog
Buy rabbit hutch and breed rabbits for meat

If I can get all that done before the dollar crashes I will be very
surprised.  That said what would you do priority wise.
Or what else would you do if you think I am missing things?
…

Letter Re: Guns for a Tight Budget Minimalist Survivalist

From SurvivalBlog.com

James Wesley:

I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendation to seek affordable training through the Appleseed program. My wife and I were privileged to participate in the Appleseed event presented at the NRA Whittington Center a couple of years ago, and found it to be excellent marksmanship and safety training as well as a wonderful historical learning experience. At the end of the program, the range master told the story of a "dangerous old man" in the Revolution, and presented Rifleman patches to me and another "seasoned citizen". One of the many Boy Scouts in attendance blurted out: "Wow, look, two dangerous old men!"

I also agree with the recommendation to consider a WWII era bolt action military rifle as a cost-effective Main Battle Rifle. However, such weapons, while powerful, are also heavy, bulky and may be difficult for a new shooter to master. I’d like to propose some other ideas:

For a primary learning, small game hunting and "survival" tool, I’d propose a semi-automatic Ruger 10/22 rifle. I’d look for a used rifle in good condition, which should be available for under $ 200. A used rifle may be found with a scope already mounted for little additional expense, although a scope is not really a necessity. A simple nylon strap sling is an important accessory, as are extra magazines. I’d recommend sticking with original Ruger factory magazines rather than after-market, for best reliability. The 10/22 will function fine with inexpensive "bulk box" Federal or Remington…

Recent preparedness poll results providing interesting results……

From ModernSurvivalOnline.com

Back in September I threw some questions at everyone via some “Preparedness Polls” and received a great response. Figured I would publish the results summarizing the data.

Lets take a look:

What rifle would you prefer?

AR-15     67.34%

AK-47     32.66%

Which pistol if you could choose just one?

1911 variant    41.66%

Glock                  58.34%

Most stocked up battery?

AA              80.73%

D                 9.03%

C                 2.14%

9V             1.3%

CR123A  6.8%

Favorite Campbell’s soup?

Chicken Noodle     55.38%

Tomato                     20.53%

Bean & Bacon          24.09%

Will the US National Debt Counter ever go backwards?

Yes      10.56%

No        39.2%

Are you kidding me with this stupid question?     50.24%

How much food do you have stored?

Less than a month   21.05%

1-3 months                 34.98%

3-6 months                 17.00%

6+ months                   26.98%

Skill set you need to improve the most?

Gardening                          …

Moving? Consider the State Firearms Laws

From Modern Survival Blog – surviving uncertain times

Guest post: by ‘Be informed’

So you are considering a new home to move to, or staying where you are at. The place for you seems like a good area, plenty of fresh air and clean water, away from the hazards of manmade and most natural disasters, good growing conditions, etc, etc. The question though arises about your right as a human being to defend yourself and your family. Does this area and the state let you possess and carry means of self defense weapons to safeguard yourself, or do the laws help to empower the criminal over potential victims (you)?

If you feel as a person that you have the basic right to defend yourself and family against someone attacking that could hurt, rape, or murder you and or your family, then careful considerations needs to be weighed in where you choose to live. As absurd as it may sound, there are places that unbelievably prohibit even “non-lethal” means of self defense or make it excessively difficult to obtain and use of self protection. Being aware of extremely restrictive or prohibitive state and local self defense laws can save a person much grievances and problems with these regulations, as a person can choose to move to somewhere better suited for them personally.

Forewarning and advanced knowledge ahead of time is a key element of preparedness. Lets look at state laws governing firearms, stun guns, and defense sprays.

 …

Ammo

From Notes from the bunker…

Mmmph…I’d been putting off doing an ammo inventory for a while. What can I say? Those ammo cans are heavy. But, as our lives continue towards who-knows-what, it seemed a good idea to just re-affirm what was and was not available. The good news was that there was plenty of .22, 9mm, .38 and 7.62×39. The fair news was that .45 ACP (a low-priority) could use a little boost in its numbers. The bad news was that .223 and 12 ga. were a little thin and need some timely attention. It also occurred to me that I need to stockpile a few thousand rounds of .357. While the .38 ammo can be shot out of the .357 pistols as well as the .38’s, and thus the reason it makes sense to be heavy on .38 ammo, it would still be good to have enough .357 ammo on hand to take advantage of the performance of the longer cartridge.

One thing I find irritating about discussing stockpiling ammo on forums is that one person will post about how they have stockpiled a zillion rounds of ammo and someone will then comment saying thats stupid because you can only carry xxx ammo with you or ‘if you need that much ammo in a gunfight, youre in bigger trouble than you thought’.

Let me ask you something, you have a couple hundred pounds of rice or wheat in your storage, right? Well, you can’t eat…

Random pix

From Rural Revolution

I’ve been so busy writing lately that I haven’t taken the time to post any of the photos that I’ve accumulated over the last couple of weeks. So without further ado…

Turkeys crossing a street in Coeur d’Alene. Lots of turkeys. To my way of thinking, this is the best place to be so close to Thanksgiving. You can’t hunt within city limits!

Speaking of Coeur d’Alene, I spotted this glorious tree of yellow and stopped to take photos.

These magnificent oaks are in a Coeur d’Alene park.

Chickens in the barn.

Rooster Snap in all his glory.

A chipmunk on a roll of fencing…

…secure in the knowledge that Lydia (the white blob of fur in the background) can’t get to it.

A cool carving in a vet’s office, made from a single burl.

As the parents of daughters, Don and I appreciated this bumper sticker.…

Pat’s Product Review: U.S. Tactical Supply

From SurvivalBlog.com

For much of my adult life, I’ve lived in rural areas – and I prefer it that way. Even now, I live halfway between two small towns in Oregon, and I don’t especially enjoy going to town for much of anything. I prefer to do a lot of mail-order shopping for many things I need or want. Over the years, I’ve been disappointed in many mail-order companies, their products and their customer service. I’ve done a lot of mail-order shopping from one particular company for the past 15-years or so, and that company is CDNN Sports and they have excellent service and their products are as-advertised. And, in most cases, orders ship the same day. So, it took a lot for me to look at another mail-order company.

I’ve probably driven past U.S. Tactical Supply in Albany, Oregon hundreds of times over the past 5-1/2 years, and yet I never stopped in their small walk-in store. U.S. Tactical Supply is only about three blocks for one of the gun stores I regularly haunt, but for some reason, I never stopped in this neat little store. I recently purchased a S&W M&P 9mm handgun, and I like to get plenty of spare magazines for any new guns I purchase. Only thing is, no one had any spare 17-round magazines for the M&P 9mm – not even Smith & Wesson! Believe me, I called all over the place, and no one had these mags.…