Prepper Blogs

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EP. 309 â€“ Special Episode: Building a Blackout Kit
	Date: 8 May 2018 3:59 am
	Episode 309 Article: How to Put Together a Prepper Black-Out Kit https://omnystudio.com/d/clips/ac9c2100-5c0b-467f-a8f8-a7170050f8cc/f276f82e-dba1-4c37-947b-a71900433c17/ac909097-5711-41e8-a60f-a8da00408165/audio.mp3 Â Mentioned in this Episode: First Aid Kit Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 105 Piece Kit for $11.99 Micro Biz. Biz Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Finally Advance YourÃ‚Â Preparedness Goals Survival for the Common Man Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Where to Start Items of Interest: Legacy Foods Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Quality Long Term FoodÃ‚Â Enroll in [â€¦]

How to Make a Faraday Cage in 4 Easy Steps
	Date: 7 May 2018 8:13 pm
	â€œIf youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been in the prepper world for long, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve probably read some horrifying books about what can happen after a disaster called an EMP. And if youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve done that, you know you need to protect vulnerable electronics. Today, weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll talk about how to make a Faraday cage to do just that. DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t worry Ã¢â‚¬â€œ â€¦ Continue reading "How to Make a Faraday Cage in 4 Easy Steps"

Turning Components Into Ammo

Date: 7 May 2018 12:56 am

Over the past few weekends I have been busy turning components into ammunition. I dipped into my stash of empty .38 Special brass and loaded up several different varieties:

50 rounds of 178 Keith semiwadcutters (SWC) on top of 3.8 grains of Unique.
50 rounds of 178 Keith SWCs on top of 5.0 of Unique.
100 rounds of 195 grain lead round nose bullets (LRNs) on top of a 5.0 grains of Unique.
100 rounds of 148 grain Lee tumble lube wadcutters on top of a 2.7 grains of Bullseye.
100 rounds of 148 grain Hornady hollow base wadcutters (HBWC) on top of 2.7 grains of Bullseye.
100 rounds of Speer 158 grain lead SWC hollow points on top of a 4.5 grains of Universal Clays.

DO NOT USE ANY OF THE ABOVE LOADING DATA WITHOUT VERIFYING IT IN ONE OR MORE LOADING MANUALS!!! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT OCCURS TO YOU OR YOUR GUNS IF YOU RELY ON IT.

The Keith SWCs, 195 grain LRNs, and Lee TL WCs came fromÂ Matt's Bullets. I ordered 100 count sample packs of each and was impressed with the projectiles. They are sized to .359 and loaded with Carnauba Red lube, except for the 148 TL WCs, which appear to be lubed with Lee Liquid Alox.

I was quite pleased with the service from Matt's Bullets, BTW. My order shipped in about a day and a half and was sent in a USPS flat-rate box. I received 2 days after I got the shipping notice. The bullets all looked good.

The Hornady 148 grain HBWCs have been laying around since I bought 1250 of them at the end of 2016. I've had the 500 count box of the Speer LSWCHPs for years.

So what prompted this binge reloading? First, the weather has been nice and it has been neither too hot nor too cold to work out in my backyard shop. Second, my gun interests go in phases andÂ something rekindled my interest in revolvers. It's been too long since I shot one of my K-Frames, S&W Model 28, or 50th Anniversary Ruger Blackhawk.

And frankly, the state of the political left in this country is really starting to worry me. As far as I'm concerned, they've been acting completely batshit crazy since Trump's election. I want to get in some more practice in case the left decides to take their attempt at a soft coup hot.

I was pleasantly surprised that the .38s loaded with the Keith SWCs feed well in my Rossi 92 .357 carbine. I'd figured the SWCs might hang up during feeding, but they seem to be held at just the right angle to slip right into the chamber. (Testing was done with 3 dummy rounds, not live ammo.)

I got the 195 grain bullets because I thought it would be neat to try and duplicate the old .38 Special Super Police load, which had a 200 grain LRN at mild velocity. I wound up loading them over enough Unique, though, that they will only be shot in my .357s. If nothing else, they should make steel plates jump around nicely.

The Speer 158 LSWCHP loads should run about 850 FPS from a 4" barrel, very similar to the old FBI load. I can bump the powder charge up a little to get over 900 FPS but at +P pressures. These would be good for defense from any of my K-Frames, and should also work well in my J-Frame S&W Model 640.

To measure the powder charges I used both my Redding Model 3 measure and my RCBS Little Dandy. I don't like how Unique meters in the Redding, although it seems to meter a little more smoothly in the Little Dandy. In contrast, Universal Clays seems to meter very nicely in the Little Dandy -- smooth and extremely consistent. I haven't tried it yet in the Redding but I expect it to behave similarly.

Of course, the proof will be in the shooting of this ammo. I'm hoping to get to the range in the next week or two to dirty up some wheelguns.

How To Choose A Rifle Scope â€“ 7 Things You Should Look Out For

Date: 4 May 2018 5:10 pm

So you are in the market for a rifle scope? Whether you are a hunter, target shooter, survivalist or a weekend range regular, buying a rifle scope can often be a dangerous venture if you donâ€™t know exactly what you are looking for. When I first bought my rifle scope, I was shocked at how [â€¦]

The post How To Choose A Rifle Scope â€“ 7 Things You Should Look Out For appeared first on The Prepping Guide.

Sewing & Mending Kit Essentials For Preppers (And Everyone Else!)

Date: 26 April 2018 9:28 pm

One of those basic skills everyone should know how to do is to sew and mend their own clothes. It is still a skill I am learning, but one that I feel strongly about improving when I can. We have saved a lot of shirts by sewing the seams back up so my kids could wear them again. I have sown more buttons on than I care to think about.Â

However, those small little kits sold in the stores are good in a pinch, they will not cut for most sewing and mending. You need better kits than that!Â

Since I still have the basic sewing kit that my mother put together when I got married, I thought I would ask her what should be in a sewing and mending kit! She has been sewing her own clothes, sewing items for other people, altering clothes, and mending clothes most of her life. She has altered prom dresses, made doll and Barbie clothes, and still does some of my hemming! She has got experience!Â

I asked her what she would have in a sewing kit and a mending kit and what she couldn't live without. To her, these kits would probably be one and the same. You will notice some crossover between the two kits. I asked her what she would have if she had to be off-grid also. As you can see, she would use a lot of hand sewing and mending. There is nothing on this list that couldn't be done by hand.Â

A basic sewing kit (with her recommendations) should include:

Needles Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. lengths and needle eyes
Thread Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. colors [or can do just the basic color hues]
Straight Pins Ã¢â‚¬â€œ I like big headed long or quilters pins, but sometimes the smaller shorter ones are necessary
A pin box(es) or pin cushion or magnetic tray [easy to make Ã¢â‚¬â€œ glue magnets to the bottom of a pretty saucer]
Safety pins Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes
Tape Measure Ã¢â‚¬â€œ I prefer cloth, but plastic works Ã¢â‚¬â€œ do not use metal
Small ruler Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 6 inchesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ long
Scissors Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Pinking Shears; Material cutting Ã¢â‚¬â€œ long blade; material cutting -standard; snips
Rotary Blade cutter and mats of various sizes
Seam Ripper Ã¢â‚¬â€œ with a sturdy handle
Thimbles Ã¢â‚¬â€œ to fit at least two fingers
Beeswax Ã¢â‚¬â€œ to coat difficult thread
Material marking pencils or pens that wash out

A basic mending kit (with her recommendations) should include:

Needles Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. lengths and needle eyes
Upholstery Needles Ã¢â‚¬â€œ can get them by the packs that have long and curved needles
Thread Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. colors [or can do just the basic color hues]
Heavy Duty Thread Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Black and/or Brown
Straight Pins Ã¢â‚¬â€œ I like big headed long or quilters pins, but sometimes the smaller shorter ones are necessary
A pin box(es) or pin cushion or magnetic tray [easy to make Ã¢â‚¬â€œ glue magnets to the bottom of a pretty saucer]
Safety pins Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes
Small ruler Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 6 inchesÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ long
Scissors Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Material cutting - standard; snips
Seam Ripper Ã¢â‚¬â€œ sturdy handle
Thimbles Ã¢â‚¬â€œ to fit at least two fingers
Beeswax Ã¢â‚¬â€œ to coat thread
Material marking pencils or pens that wash out
Patches Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes and material [can also use iron patches or tape
Buttons Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes and colors
Snaps Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes
Hook & Eyes Ã¢â‚¬â€œ asst. sizes
Zippers Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Jean size, Jacket size, skirt size
Repair parts for zippers

While sewing by hand is a great skill, most people would still like to have a sewing machine. Learning to use a sewing machine is a great skill to learn. I asked her about sewing machines in an off-grid or no power situation. If you are interested in a off-grid sewing machine, you need to find a treadle powered sewing machine (using foot powered pedal). Lehman's carries one that is a treadle powered modern sewing machine. (not an affiliate link) Most modern electric sewing machines cannot be converted to treadle power. Older sewing machines may be able to be converted to treadle power, but you will need to check on that.Â

If you have these sewing and mending kits already, I would check them over for anything you might have missed or have used up. If you do not have anything for these kits, I would start at the top of these lists, find a good container to hold the items, and start buying!Â

Thanks for reading,
Erica (with a lot of help from my mom!)

What is happening?

Preppers watch the news for disasters, and alerts. Here are a few of the latest items that @prepperbot is monitoring.

Lava Drives Wine Country <b>Wildfire</b> Survivors From Hawaiian Home
	Date: 8 May 2018 4:30 pm
	LEILANI ESTATES, Hawaii (CBS SF) Ã¢â‚¬â€� It's a nightmare that Kelana Kealoha thought he had escaped when he fled the devastation of Santa Rosa forÂ ...

4.5-magnitude <b>earthquake</b> shakes Southern California
	Date: 8 May 2018 3:45 pm
	PALM SPRINGS, Calif. Ã¢â‚¬â€� A magnitude 4.5 earthquake shook the Coachella Valley in California on Tuesday morning and it was followed by a smallerÂ ...

Montana <b>Flood</b> News Roundup For May 8, 2018
	Date: 8 May 2018 6:56 am
	Missoula Health Department Officials warned Orchard Homes Residents that if their wells were fully submerged by flood water to assume those wells are now contaminated. Septic systems covered by flood waters are no longer treating wastewater. The mood in the room grew tense last night withÂ ...

Believe it or not, the deadly E. Coli outbreak is still ongoing and officials can't pinpoint the source
	Date: 7 May 2018 7:52 pm
	It's hard to believe that it was over four months ago that the CDC issued a warning to stop eating romaine lettuce due to fear of an E. coli contaminationÂ ...

Help Find Missing Children

Missing: KHALEESI MORALES (AZ)
	Date: 7 May 2018 4:00 pm
https://api.missingkids.org/photographs/NCMC1327677c1t.jpg	KHALEESI MORALES, Age Now: 1, Missing: 05/07/2018. Missing From PEORIA, AZ. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT: Peoria Police Department (Arizona) 1-623-773-8311.

@prepperbot automatically votes on steemit for posts related to #preppers, and similiar topics. For #alerts see Dan Wolfe. (@wolfeblog)