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The Sunday Survival Buzz – Volume 81
Welcome to this week’s Sunday Survival Buzz – a roundup of preparedness news, tips, articles and recommendations from around the web. But first, an update on my own preps.
All of my fellow procrastinators need to give me a cheer since the big task I took on this week was to organize my storage area. Things were getting to the point that I did not know what I had and where – it was a big mess. I set aside two hours and in that two hours I was able to get rid of the excess carton boxes that were cluttering up my space, organized food by type and put all of my gear into one section all of its own.
Did I get a lot done? Yes! It was easier than I thought but I still have a long way to go. I now need to put things up on the Harbor Freight shelves I set up months ago and take an exhaustive inventory. Luckily, I have been diligent about packaging food items in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers plus I have lots of buckets so I know my food supplies are in good shape.
While sorting through everything, I momentarily thought that I might have become a hoarder but I let go of that right away. I am simply being prepared, or, as the older generations used to say, saving up for a rainy day.
I may not have mentioned it but a couple of weeks ago I purchased a cast iron “drop biscuit” pan. What the heck is that? It is a cast iron pan with round impressions that hold your dough – sort of like a fancy, cast iron muffin tin but larger.
I have to tell you – this makes great biscuits. Using the Provident Pantry Buttermilk Biscuit Mix which I already knew was good, the biscuits cooked up higher and lighter than on a flat baking sheet. I was impressed enough that I want to try making individual meatloaves and pizzas in this pan and maybe some poached eggs.
Sometimes you just have to have a bit of fun in the kitchen, you know?
I used Provident Pantry Buttermilk Biscuit Mix
but plan to make my own biscuit mix next time
BTW, I made these cloth napkins in
1970 and they are still going strong.
Speaking of fun in the kitchen, sitting on my counter are the ingredients I need to make a big batch of DIY biscuit mix. I will let you know how that goes but it may not be until next month when I get back from my travels.
With the big sale going on with Mountain House products this week, I ordered some stew, beef stroganoff and chicken a la king. I also ordered a Tote-able Toilet. My plan is to fill it with hygiene and sanitation supplies such as TP, alcohol and alcohol wipes, and some of my own tea tree wonderful. This would be a good place for ladies to store their emergency feminine products although I am too old to need them myself.
Okay, enough about me. Let’s get on to the Sunday Survival Buzz.
SURVIVAL NEWS & ARTICLES FROM AROUND THE WEB
Google Defends Scanning Users’ Emails Because Humans Aren’t Actually Reading Anything: Google is not the only email provider guilty of privacy violations but they certainly rank up there as an email behemoth. I would be wary sending anything truly confidential via Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail (now outlook.com) but truly, at the end of the day, nothing sent by email is safe from prying eyes.
The Polio Vaccine Myth: “The Vaccine Stopped Polio”: I was actually surprised – no shocked – by the words of Dr. Jonas Salk that were quoted in this article. I recently took a pass on getting the shingles vaccine – for all of the reasons cited here and more. I share this not to convince you to do something (or not), but to encourage you to be educated so that you can come to your own well-thought decision on the vaccine or no-vaccine dilemma.
Why Most Disaster Preparedness Experts Have No Clue what the Hell They’re Talking About!: Rob at Off Grid Survival recently posted this excellent article. Remember, you will be your own first responder in an emergency. That is why we prepare.
The Worst Book Review You’ll Ever Read: I personally spent over five hours this week chasing down site owners that had either plagiarized my articles or gave someone else credit for writing them. I was and am still livid about this. In this article, Daisy Luther writes about a no-name author that ripped off another prepper’s cookbook. Please, if you are looking for a good cookbook, consider the original The Prepper’s Cookbook
Do You Have a Post Economic Collapse Trade?: MD Creekmore writes about the need to have a marketable skill that you can put into place if there is massive unemployment sometime in the future.
6.6 magnitude quake strikes Guatemala: planet reeling from series of powerful earthquakes: Since the beginning of September, the planet has been reeling from a series of major earthquakes striking across the globe from Canada to Japan. Given that I live in Washington State, this definitely has my attention.
Amazon To Give Discounts On Kindle Versions Of Books You Already Own: This is good news for all of you Kindle owners. Of course it all gets down to the pricing – let us hope they keep the cost down to a dollar or two.
BACKDOOR SURVIVAL READER TIPS
A really important tip came in from “Mark”:
Tried one of our magnesium fire starters today… I am not a stupid person but I could NOT get the thing to work. I could barely get any magnesium to scrape off and they would not light.
Got on YouTube and discovered that the Chinese made, which this turned out to be, are known for this. Hell, the magnesium wouldn’t even light with a butane lighter. We had bought two of these from a well known survival supply. The YouTube video suggested a ‘Doan bar’ which is issued to the military.
TRY YOUR FIRE STARTERS!
Kevin has a tip related to the Blocklite flashlight that I love so much (I now own six – you know me and my flashlight fetish!):
Did you know that the Blocklite comes in two types, linear switch and push button?
The push button type can be turned on easily and in a pack, glove compartment or other tight space like a pocket, can turn itself on and go dark in the process. It may take a week, but all batteries will eventually exhaust the power available.
As a result, I only buy the linear switch type. The push button type can be saved from this problem by storing it without the battery connected.
From Ken (related to the article How to Sharpen Razor Blades for the Long Term):
To dry a blade pour a little alcohol on it.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
The recent WonderMill giveaway is closed and I hope to announce the winner on Wednesday. It is taking me quite a bit of time to go through the 708 entries and weed out those that are not eligible. As with the last round, some folks entered six or more times. Jeesh.
Not to worry though. Starting in late October, I have more fabulous giveaways planned including (DRUM ROLL PLEASE!) a Royal Berkey compliments of sponsor LPC Survival and a Kaito Voyager Solar/Crank Up Emergency Radio compliments of sponsor Camping Survival. I also have some emergency food giveaways and a lot more lined up so be sure to check back here and on Facebook for the announcements.
BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BLOOPERS
Yay! No bloopers this week unless you count the three hours the website was down due to technical issues at my host. Thank you everyone for reporting the outage. Luckily it was not something I did and gurus at Parcom Cloud Hosting got things up and running quickly.
THE FINAL WORD
For many different reasons, lately I have been doing a daily happy dance. One reason has to do with an article that I have been working on that is tentatively titled “What Prepper’s Get Right”. There is so much negativity these days, I have started to focus on the positive. In addition, boring for you but important to me are the Backdoor Survival Alexa rankings that tell the world how how popular a site is as well as how authoritative – meaning credible. It is all good news and as always, I thank you for being so loyal.
Now tell me. How about you – what did you do to prep? Until, next time, remember to make every day a prep day!
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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In addition, when you sign up to receive email updates you will receive a free, downloadable copy of my e-book The Emergency Food Buyer’s Guide.
Bargain Bin: For your discernment, here are the some of the items mentioned in today’s Buzz plus a preview of the Amazon Top 10.
Lodge Logic Cast Iron Pre-Seasoned Drop Biscuit Pan
Tote-able Toilet: I could have put this together myself but by the time I added it all up, it was cheaper to purchase this kit for $14.95. Plus, my order was large enough that I got free shipping so it was an all-around good deal.
The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals: If you are looking for a decent prepper cookbook, this is a good one. It is written by a prepper for preppers.
The Survivalist Cookbook – Recipes for Preppers: This kindle only eBook is also a good one.
Phoenix Island
FordEx Group 300lm Mini Cree Led Flashlight Torch Adjustable Focus Zoom Light Lamp
Ultralight Backpacking Canister Camp Stove with Piezo Ignition
2 Pack Survival Kit Can Opener, Military, P-51 Model
EMERGENCY ESSENTIALS Mountain House SUPER SALE! 40-50% off all cans!
This month Emergency Essentials is having a huge sale on Mountain House Products. The selection is huge. Not only that, for a limited time shipping is free on all orders of $150 or more.
One of my personal favorites is the Mountain House Chili Mac (shown below) which is 40% off at $15.89 for a #10 tin. And for a snack or dessert, the Mountain House Ice Cream Sandwiches are one of the Survival Husband’s favorites. I am more of a fruit person myself.
This is by far one of the best sales I have seen on Mountain House. The only problem I am having is deciding how to spend my $100 Emergency Essentials budget this month!
Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials
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Survive Any Food Crisis is a complete A-Z guide on food prepping during uncertain 
times. You’ll discover everything you need to know and do in order for you and your family to be safe in the event of a food crisis. It addresses the essential foods to store, how to store them and how to create a long term survival plan. You will also learn how you can start stocking up on vital food supplies for pennies on the dollar.
I have been working with Rod for over a year and can honestly say that he is the real deal. I provided some input into the content of this e-book and thought so much of it that I provided Rod with a personal testimonial that he uses on his web site.
In addition to the core manual, “Survive Any Food Crisis”, you will get some pretty nifty bonus books on water, medicinal plants, and food preparation. The price for everything is $9.95.
BONUS #1: Actionable Checklist for Food Preparedness
BONUS #2: How to Use Local Plants for Medicine
BONUS #3: How to Purify Water Fast and Easy
And of course, there is a no questions asked money-back guarantee if you change your mind.
The Sunday Survival Buzz – Volume 81 is the latest article from the Survival Woman at Backdoor Survival.
Source: http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/sunday-survival-buzz-81/
