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The post VIDEO: We Found 4 Hidden Military Gun Collections That Rival Museums! appeared first on Ballistic Magazine.

How bad do things have to get before people start realizing that we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis?  The “experts” on television are endlessly debating about whether or not we are going to have a “recession” this year, and meanwhile economic activity is imploding all around us.  The number of homes being sold in this country each month has already fallen by a third.  The number of job cuts in November was 417 percent higher than it was during the same month a year earlier, and at this point even Amazon is laying off thousands of workers.  The Federal Reserve has declared war on inflation, but prices continue to spiral out of control.  In fact, vegetables are 80 percent more expensive now than they were 12 months ago.  Meanwhile, the financial markets continue to plunge.  A third of the value of the Nasdaq has already been wiped out, and more than two-thirds of the value of all cryptocurrencies is already gone.

After everything that has already transpired, everyone should be able to clearly understand what is happening.

So many people have been waiting for an economic nightmare to come, but the truth is that it is already here.

The following are 11 signs that the economic “tipping point” that everyone has been waiting for has now arrived…

#1 U.S. manufacturing is declining at the fastest pace that we have seen since the early days of the COVID pandemic…

The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell at the fastest rate since May 2020 in December, a continuing sign that the manufacturing sector is on the decline, S&P Global reported Tuesday.

The U.S. Manufacturing PMI posted a 46.2 in December, down from 47.7 in November and solidly below 50, which signals that the sector is contracting, according to S&P Global. Production levels contracted in back-to-back months, with new sales plummeting at the end of December at the fastest pace since 2007, as companies cited weakening demand amid “economic uncertainty” and inflation weighing on customers.

#2 U.S. services PMI has now fallen for sixth months in a row.

#3 We just witnessed the largest one day drop in the Baltic Dry Index since 1984…

The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index crashed on Tuesday in the worst decline on record, sinking on prospects of a global recession.

Baltic Dry Good Index is a measure of global shipping and economic health. The overall index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels carrying dry bulk commodities, plunged 17.5% to $1,250, the most significant daily decline since 1984.

#4 Thanks to rapidly falling imports, we just witnessed the largest monthly decline in the trade deficit since the last financial crisis…

According to the BEA, the November trade deficit narrowed to $61.5b from $77.8b in prior month, coming in below the median estimate of $63.0BN (and just barely missing the top end of the range of $61.3BN to $80.5BN from 42 economists).

Remarkably, the 20% one-month decline in the deficit was the single biggest drop in the US trade deficit on a percentage basis going back to the global financial crisis!

#5 In 2022, U.S. auto sales were the lowest that we have seen for a full year in more than a decade…

Industrywide, U.S. auto sales totaled 13.7 million vehicles in 2022, the lowest figure since 2011 and an 8% decrease from the prior year, according to the research firm Wards Intelligence. Sales had topped 17 million vehicles for five straight years before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, unleashing supply-chain problems that have bogged down deliveries ever since.

#6 The average rate on a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage is more than twice as high as it was this time last year…

Mortgage rates inched up again last week, after a slight increase the week before interrupted six straight weeks of falling rates.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.48% in the week ending January 5, up from 6.42% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate was 3.22%.

#7 According to CNN, sales of apartments in Manhattan were 28.5 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2022 than they were in the fourth quarter of 2021…

Higher rates and still-high housing prices cooled demand at the end of last year, causing sales to tumble. Sales dropped 28.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

#8 Overall, existing home sales in the United States have fallen for 10 months in a row and are now down by more than a third since January 2022.

#9 Bed Bath & Beyond is warning that the company is literally on the verge of declaring bankruptcy…

Bed Bath & Beyond warned Thursday it’s running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy.

The retailer, citing worse-than-expected sales, issued a “going concern” warning that in the upcoming months it likely will not have the cash to cover expenses, such as lease agreements or payments to suppliers. Bed Bath said it is exploring financial options, such as restructuring, seeking additional capital or selling assets, in addition to a potential bankruptcy.

#10 It is being reported that Amazon has decided to lay off approximately 18,000 employees…

Amazon.com Inc. is laying off more than 18,000 employees — the biggest reduction in its history — in the latest sign that a tech-industry slump is deepening.

#11 Overall, the tech industry has already laid off more than 150,000 workers over the last year.

Many more American workers will lose their jobs as economic activity slows down even more throughout 2023.

So if you currently have a good job that you value, try to cling to it as hard as you can.

The times that we are moving into are going to look completely different from the times that we have enjoyed over the past decade.

Our leaders were able to keep the party going for a long time by absolutely flooding the system with money, but now they have lost control.

We are literally careening toward disaster, but most Americans still don’t understand what is taking place.

Most Americans just assume that those in authority know exactly what they are doing and that a “return to normal” is inevitable.

I wish that was true, because the ride into the economic abyss that we are facing is not going to be fun.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post 11 Signs That The Economic “Tipping Point” That Everyone Has Been Waiting For Has Now Arrived appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Impulse sealers are a great tool for speedily sealing large quantities of stored food. Preppers and homesteaders know the value…

This article %3 Best Impulse Sealers in 2023% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

Wireless Intel – for Hunting or Surveillance This post is somewhat of an uneasy departure for me since the subject…

This article %Spartan Cellular Trail Cameras – My Experience% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

The Federal Reserve giveth, and the Federal Reserve taketh away.  In a desperate attempt to help the U.S. economy recover from the horrific economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates all the way to the floor and kept them at or near the floor until 2022.  During that same time period, the Fed also created trillions of dollars out of thin air and pumped it into the financial system.  All of this new money had to go somewhere, and it created colossal financial bubbles that were unlike anything we had ever seen before.  There were a few voices that were warning that all of this foolishness would end very badly, but those voices were mostly drowned out by those that were super happy that asset values were absolutely exploding.  The Fed had essentially created the ultimate “get rich quick scheme”, and countless Americans were more than happy to take advantage of it.

But in 2022 inflation started to become exceedingly painful, and the Federal Reserve went into panic mode.  The flow of free money stopped, and the Federal Reserve began to aggressively hike interest rates.

Everyone knew that this sudden change of course by the Fed would crash the housing market, and that is precisely what is happening.  In fact, even the Wall Street Journal is now admitting that we are facing “a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09”…

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases have brought on a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09, inflicting pain on prospective buyers, homeowners, builders and other industries linked to real estate.

For the Fed, this is a feature, not a bug: Slumping housing could help deliver the lower economic activity and inflation that the Fed wants in the coming year.

Home sales have been falling month after month, and it is being projected that they could soon fall below the levels that we witnessed during the last housing crash…

Sales of existing homes fell in November for a record 10th straight month. Economists at Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs forecast they will drop below 4 million in 2023, lower than during the 2006-11 housing bust.

On Wednesday, we got some more bad news.

Pending home sales are one of the best leading indicators for where the housing market is going next, and at this point pending home sales have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded…

Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell far more than expected in November, diving for a sixth straight month in the latest indication of the hefty toll the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are taking on the housing market as the central bank seeks to curb inflation.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 4% to 73.9 last month from October’s downwardly revised 77.0. November’s was the lowest reading — aside from the short-lived drop in the early months of the pandemic — since NAR launched the index in 2001.

With interest rates so high, very few people want to buy homes right now.

So home prices are going to have to come down.

A lot.

In fact, George Gammon has demonstrated that we will need a crash in housing prices even larger than we witnessed during the last housing crash just to get back to the long-term trend line.

Do you think that our system will be able to handle a housing crash of that magnitude?

Of course not.

Meanwhile, the absurd cryptocurrency bubble that was created by the Fed’s easy money policies has already imploded.

I really like how Wolf Richter described what we have been witnessing over the past year in one of his most recent articles…

And then come the copycats since anyone can issue a crypto currency. Suddenly there were a dozen of them, and then there were 100 of them then a 1,000, and suddenly 10,000 cryptos, and now there are over 22,000 cryptos, and everyone and their dog is creating them, and trading them, and lending them, and using them as collateral, and all kinds of businesses sprang up around this scheme, crypto miners, crypto exchanges, crypto lending platforms, and some of them went public via IPO or via merger with a SPAC.

And the market capitalization of these cryptos reached $3 trillion, trillion with a T, about a year ago, and then when the Fed started raising its interest rates and started doing QT, the whole thing just blows up. Companies go like POOF, and the money is gone, and whatever is left is stuck in bankruptcy courts globally possibly for years. Cryptos themselves have imploded. Many have gone to essentially zero and have been abandoned for dead. The granddaddy, bitcoin, has plunged by something like 73% from the peak. The whole crypto market is also down about 73%.

More than two trillion dollars of “crypto wealth” has already been wiped out.

Less than a trillion is left.

But the party was fun while it lasted, right?

Sadly, all of the bubbles are starting to burst, and 2023 is going to be a really painful year.

Normally, major economic downturns take just about everyone by surprise.  But this time around, almost everyone can feel that really bad times are coming.  The following is what Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics recently had to say about this…

“Usually recessions sneak up on us. CEOs never talk about recessions,” said Zandi. “Now it seems CEOs are falling over themselves to say we’re falling into a recession. … Every person on TV says recession. Every economist says recession. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He is right.

We’ve never seen anything like this before, and that is because the coming crisis is going to be really bad.

Many among the elite can sense that what is approaching will be truly nightmarish, and so they have been feverishly preparing for the worst…

Though a recent poll found that four-in-ten Americans believe we are ‘living in the end of times,’ it’s not just the everyman who is fearing the apocalypse these days – billionaires have been prepping themselves for the apocalypse with elaborate doomsday bunkers for years.

As the world still reels from the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change-driven storms lash American coastlines and flood inland cities, and Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to talk of using nuclear weapons to devastate Ukraine, a Pew Research Center survey of more than US 10,000 adults found that 39 percent called these the ‘end times.’

The world’s wealthiest are among those cautious of a coming calamity, including billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman, who have famously laid down routes in remote New Zealand with the express purpose of riding out the end of days.

Yes, things will soon get really crazy as global events spiral completely out of control.

But that doesn’t mean that you should curl up into a fetal position and throw a pity party for yourself.

When I was growing up, I was told that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

So get prepared for some really rough years ahead.

The clock is ticking, and just about everything that can be shaken will be shaken in 2023 and beyond.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post The “Mega-Bubbles” Have Started To Burst, And That Could Mean Unprecedented Financial Chaos Is Ahead appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Lots of Great Choices – But One Size Won’t Fit All The U.S. Military is now into their second generation…

This article %1911 Sights – A Guide for 1911 Pistols% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

This article was originally published by Ethan Huff at Natural News under the title: After DECADES of Denial, Corporate Media Admits Chemtrail Terraforming is Happening Right Now to “Fight Climate Change”

To keep natural sunlight from reaching planet earth and supporting life, a geoengineering startup company called Make Sunsets has begun deploying massive weather balloons to blast the stratosphere with reflective sulfur particles, all for the claimed purpose of “fighting climate change.”

A phenomenon also known as chemtrails, these sulfur blasts stop the sun’s ultraviolet rays from reaching the atmosphere and ultimately earth’s surface. The result is a dimmed sun that no longer functions as designed to sustain life on earth. (Related: It was known in 2018 that climate fanatics were pushing a “global dimming” agenda to block out the sun and “save the planet.”)

Much like how natural volcanic eruptions flood the skies with pollutants that darken daylight for days or even weeks at a time, chemtrail blasts like the ones occurring at Make Sunsets mimic these sun-blocking effects to fight “global warming.”

Numerous test launches have already taken place at sites across Mexico with no public input or scientific debate. The goal, according to the company’s head, is to eventually commercialize the technology for widespread use.

“We joke slash not joke that this is partly a company and partly a cult,” said Luke Iseman, the co-founder, and CEO of Make Sunsets. “It’s morally wrong, in my opinion, for us not to be doing this … (and we need) to do this as quickly and safely as we can.”

Iseman wants to sell “cooling credits” to pay for his chemtrail operations

Before Make Sunsets was incorporated in October, the company performed two balloon launches, the outcomes of which are unknown. Neither of those launches had any approval from government authorities or scientific agencies, and were done to boost Iseman’s own ego.

“This was firmly in science project territory,” he said. “Basically, it was to confirm that I could do it.”

In essence, it was a do-it-yourself geoengineering scheme that Iseman hopes to develop into a full-fledged terraforming operation that uses reusable balloons to dump loads of sulfur into the skies on a regular basis.

There is also talk of developing a revenue generation program through “cooling credits,” which will sell for $10 a pop and cover the release of one gram of particles into the stratosphere. The claim is that these one-gram releases offset the warming effect of one ton of carbon for a full year.

“What I want to do is create as much cooling as quickly as I responsibly can, over the rest of my life, frankly,” Iseman added, noting that in 2023, the plan is to deploy as much sulfur as “we can get customers to pay us” for – meaning it is all about the money.

There is no actual science behind cooling credits, though. So little is known about what sulfur particles actually do to the environment that claiming they offset carbon based on per-gram outcomes is deceptive at best.

“From a business perspective, reflective cooling effects and risks cannot currently be quantified in any meaningful way, making the offering a speculative form of ‘junk credit’ that is unlikely to have value to climate credit markets,” said Kelly Wanser, executive director of SilverLining, a nonprofit research group that deals with climate issues.

Solar geoengineering expert David Keith is of the belief that small amounts of sulfur at the levels being released by Make Sunsets are trivial and pose no real threat to the environment. He is, however, concerned that efforts to privatize these technologies are misguided because “commercial development cannot produce the level of transparency and trust the world needs to make sensible decisions about deployment.”

Taking A Look At The Best Survival Lighters On The Market Today

I can’t imagine what it was like for the first human beings to harness fire.

There’s no way they fully understood the revolutionary implications.

Because they didn’t know it at the time, but harnessing the power of fire changed us forever…

Without fire, there’s no telling where humans might be today.

But it’s undeniable that fire has set us ahead of the pack.

It’s put us in a different survival league.

Today, fire remains as essential to our survival as it ever has.

We harness fire throughout our modern lives, from heating our homes to powering our vehicles.

And fire still holds the keys to our survival.

So without a lighter (or some stormproof matches at the very least), no survival pack or camping bag is complete.

It’s a staple of outdoor living and emergency survival.

It’s become such a valuable resource; we’ve figured out how to put this mighty power in the palm of our hand.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our #78 Item Complete Prepper Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

Survival Lighter Uses

Lighters are a simple yet incredible device that allows us to:

• Stay warm
• Cook food
• Boil (and sterilize) water
• Illuminate areas
• Keep predators away

These powers all lie in the simplicity of lighters. Fire equals heat energy, and with a lighter, we can tap into this energy anytime, anywhere!

But you should invest in a survival lighter you can depend on.

Now, cheap conventional lighters do work most of the time. Disposable lighters will make fire. But they’re a terrible choice for survival.

You can’t refill them; they’re not durable or water / wind-resistant.

Disposable lighters serve their primary function, but they’re NOT good enough for serious survivalists – like you and me.

And, as with most cool survival gadgets, the market is now full of much better options. Thousands of new badass flame-makers claim to be “the best” or the “highest-rated” survival lighters…

So to cut through the smoke and get to the flame of this topic, Skilled Survival decided to find out once and for all which survival lighters are the best and why…

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

What Is A Survival Lighter Anyway?

No matter the exact style of lighter you prefer, there are a few common aspects all survival lighters share.

Refillable

Disposable lighters, by definition, are of the use and toss variety.

The goal for disposable lighter manufacturers is to make a tiny profit on each sale. And they compete by making their product so cheap you buy and toss, buy and toss, over and over again.

But you can’t refill them. Otherwise, you’d keep the lighter and refill it, and the companies would lose money.

So while it’s true you can buy 5 or 10 cheap disposable lighters to a single survival lighter, it’s not worth it in the long run.

Not only are you sacrificing quality and durability, but you’re wasting money over time.

With a survival lighter, you can ensure your lighter is never empty.

You can top it off before and after every adventure you go on and always keep a near-full lighter on you. Never having to worry about your lighter dying on you in the middle of a trip again!

Plus, you’ll save money over the long haul with refillable lighters. Using a refillable lighter means you’ll buy a can of fuel every few months instead of new lighters all the time.

The cheap nature of the disposable lighter means low-quality complements.

Durable

The great outdoors is not kind to cheaply made tools – especially in survival situations. In my younger years, I broke several cheapo lighters scrambling over rocks or dropping them on the trail only to get crunched underfoot.

Knowing your survival lighter can handle outdoor abuse is a major comfort. And since there are lots of durable survival lighters out there, there’s no reason to risk it.

You get what you pay for when it comes to lighters, and durability is a significant survival advantage.

Water-Resistant

Water is fire’s ultimate enemy. And the enemy of fire is the enemy of your survival lighter.

If you drop a non-waterproof lighter in the snow or a puddle or try to use it in the rain, you’re out of luck. And regular lighters take a long time to dry out and start working once they’re soaking wet.

Wind Resistant

A direct flame is like a torch, whereas an indirect flame is more like a match. BIC lighters use indirect flames, which can be a real pain when in a windy area.

The wind will puff your flame out like it’s nothing.

But a direct flame is less susceptible to blowouts. Making it more efficient to start a fire fast.

Direct flame windproof lighters make far superior survival lighters.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

9 Best Survival Lighters On The Market Today

The sheer number of survival lighters you can buy is overwhelming. But we’ve whittled the masses down to just nine top-notch survival lighters. Survival lighters, we feel, stand above the rest.

They’re all water-resistant and durable, most of which are refillable and use direct flames.

They’ll serve your survival needs well and will become one of your best companions in the wild.

The bottom line is these lighters are dependable and will bring you peace of mind.

1. The Zippo

Zippo lighters are iconic and have been dependable choices since their creation.

They’re small, slick, and made of metal (which speaks to their durability). Plus, Zippos come in tens of thousands of colors and designs – some options allow you to choose a personal design.

Their unique chimney design makes them particularly resilient lighters in windy conditions. And their adjustable wick allows users to control the size of the flame.

They also come with a rare lifetime warranty.

However, they are not waterproof, but this flaw can be overcome with a slight addition.

Zippos are a classic lighter and have been a great survival option since the 1930s. And that’s why they made the top of this list – seniority and experience.

However, they do not use a direct flame, nor are they as lightweight as some of the following options…

2. UCO Stormproof Torch Windproof Lighter

The UCO Stormproof Torch Lighter “emergency survival accessory” has a lot going for it:

• it’s refillable
• has a triple jet windproof flame
• waterproof
• and adjustable
• built-in duct tape

It carries enough butane for 700 ignitions, and its striker is guaranteed for 30,000 uses.

But this lighter take survival one step further by including 3 feet of built-in survival tape.

UCO Stormproof Torch is more than just an excellent survival lighter; it’s a survival multi-tool.

4. Windmill Classic Stormproof Lighter

The Windmill Classic Lighter is built for rugged survival. This lighter is second to none when it comes to durability.

It comes with an elastomer armor outer covering for extra protection.

A window is built into its center so you can track fuel levels. And because it uses a steel wire closure system fitted with an o-ring, it’s watertight and even floats!

The best part, though, is the two-year warranty that comes with buying one of these. So even if you do manage to break this tough little lighter in the first 730 days of using it, you can get it replaced.

5. Everstryk Matchpro Lighter

This minimalistic butane lighter has a replaceable striker and a replaceable wick. So it can last you indefinitely!

It’s a very simple design – fill the reservoir with lighter fluid, replace the starter, and go.

The lighter case is watertight with a small O-ring as well.

It’s extremely small, a tiny silver tube that fits in the palm of your hand, and comes with a keychain clip.

6. AWL All-Weather Lighter

The AWL All Weather Lighter will light even in heavy winds and high elevations.

When closed, the lighter becomes waterproof as the “O” ring gasket prevents any moisture or water from getting inside the burner.

This is an excellent genuine Windmill lighter worth buying.

7. Vertigo Cyclone Torch Lighter

This is a durable triple-flamed windproof torch lighter.

It has a clear fuel tank, so you can easily see how much fuel it has left.

It’s also very lightweight, making it easy to stash in your pocket or your bug-out bag.

A highly rated torch lighter at a price point.

8. Xikar 9660BK Stratosphere II Lighter

You can count on the XIKAR Stratosphere II for high performance in windy or wet conditions. Easy-grip rubber body and wind-proof flame.

It also has an easy-grip case so that it won’t slip out of your hands even in the middle of a torrential downpour.

The Xikar 9660BK also comes with a lanyard hole and a bit of rope to attach it to your pack’s outside if needed.

9. Tough Tesla Electric Lighter

Welcome to the future, where flames have been replaced with electric plasma bolts.

That’s right; this Tesla Electric Lighter uses a battery and the power of electricity to start fires instead of a flame.

The key with this Tesla Lighter is to pair it with a Solar Power Bank.

Skilled Survival highly recommends the Anytime Charge Solar Power Bank.

Why? Because it’s one of the most durable, compact, and cost-effective portable solar chargers on the market today. But don’t let its compact size fool you; it’s also got a massive battery capacity!

The massive battery storage is enough to charge any of your devices multiple times. Plus, with dual charging outputs, you can power multiple devices simultaneously!

Simply plug in your devices via the supplied USB cable (you can use any USB cable) and press the power button.  Your device will begin to take power from the Anytime Charge right away.

Recharging the Anytime Solar Bank couldn’t be easier – leave it in the sun, and it will automatically fill the large battery bank back up ANYWHERE.

Plus, it’s splash resistant and comes with an emergency flashlight with a strobe function.

NOTE: When this article was published, you could snag some bonus Tactical Flashlights For FREE when you buy multiple Anytime Solar Chargers. Click here now to see if this deal is still available!

The Concept of Fire Starting

Yes, lighters are simple tools. They all use the same fundamental principles: heat and fuel.

The idea of creating a spark as a flame heat source and fuel to sustain it is an ancient one that’s still harnessed today in modern lighters.

Take the Zippo lighter as an example; it has a canister full of butane and a wick that sticks out of the top. When the striker sparks, the wick ignites. Voila! Fire.

The same idea is achievable even without a lighter. Of course, having a lighter on you makes it much easier to produce a flame, but only if you know what you’re doing.

Holding a large hot flame against a water-soaked log is futile. So you still need to understand the basic principles of fire starting.

Here’s a rough and dirty guide:

1. You need to start with a dry, fibrous fuel source called tinder (start with something like dried leaves, dried grass, cotton, or juniper bark, feather sticks, or just tiny branches). You never want to try and light large chunks of wood to start – you have to work your way up to that.
2. Now put this tinder in a dry location as much out of the wind as possible. While these survival lighters can produce a flame in wind and rain, catching flame to tinder is another problem in these conditions.
3. Now before you light your tinder, you need some kindling ready. If you light your tinder and try to find kindling, you’ll likely return to expired tinder. Then you’ll have to start over. You want tinder to start working on the kindling immediately as soon as it’s lit.
4. Now it’s time to light the tinder. Hold the flame to the tinder until it’s lit. Then move the flame to other parts of the tinder to get another section of it lit. The more places you can get the tinder lite, the better chance of moving the flame from the tinder to the kindling.
5. Finally, once the tinder is flaming, you may want to gently blow some fresh air into the base of the flame. This will provide some extra burst of heat and help get your kindling to catch fire.
6. If you’ve done this all right, you’ll now have your kindling starting to catch. Now it’s just a matter of adding more kindling and working in larger logs over time.

Easy enough, right? If you experience this, it’s a no-brainer.

However, you’ve likely learned this from your father, grandfather, or mentor. This isn’t something we know how to do when we’re born. So if you’re a novice fire starter, it can be a challenge, especially in a stressful survival situation.

So practice with your lighters, stormproof matches, Ferro Rods, sticks, and rocks.

As A Way To Introduce You To Skilled Survival, We’re Giving Away Our Ultimate Survival Gear Checklist. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

The Final Word

“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” – Dylan Thomas

Do not go unprepared into the night – ensure you’ve got a trusty survival lighter at your side!

Going into an emergency or the wilderness without one is dangerous.

Even if you can make sparks without one, your chances of survival go up when you pack a survival lighter in your bag.

I would recommend getting more than one. Keep one in your Bug Out Bag at all times, keep another in your car, and a third on your person.

That way, no matter where you get stuck in a survival situation, you have got a survival lighter.

Exclusive Bonus Content – Skilled Survival’s 104 Item Bug Out Bag Checklist – the only bug out checklist worth using. Click Here To Get Your FREE Copy Of It.

Fire is one of our most important survival resources, making survival lighters one of the most important survival tools you can ever own. Do not take fire starting lightly.

Did we miss one of your favorite survival lighters? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe it’ll get added to the list.

Will Brendza

P.s. Are you ready for the tough times ahead?

Find out now by taking my short Readiness Score Quiz – it’s absolutely free.
Once complete, you’ll know exactly where you stand on the “fragile” vs.” resilient” spectrum.

So click here to start the Quiz….And don’t worry, the questions are so easy a 3rd grader could answer them.

Click on the image to begin the Quiz and find out once and for all if you’re part of “The Fragile Masses” or “The Resilient Few.”

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I suppose that this is a fitting way to end the year.  2022 has been a year of war, plagues, natural disasters, shortages and severe economic troubles, but up until this month we had not been able to add “an apocalyptic winter storm” to the list yet.  Unfortunately, what we have just been through over the last week definitely qualifies.  A “monster storm” that covered almost the entire country at one point brought blizzard conditions to much of the U.S. over the past several days.  Temperatures dipped down to minus 50 degrees in some areas, and extremely high winds and heavy snow combined to create truly nightmarish conditions in certain cities.  For example, we are being told that this was the “most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long storied history”…

“We had to send specialized rescue crews to go get the rescuers,” Poloncarz told “CNN This Morning” Monday, adding it was the worst storm he could remember. “It was just horrendous, and it was horrendous for 24 hours in a row.”

“We’re used to snow here, we can handle snow,” he said. “But with the wind, the blinding views – it was complete whiteouts – and the extreme cold, it was some of the worst conditions that any of us have ever seen.”

The storm has drawn widespread comparisons to Buffalo’s famous blizzard of 1977. Poloncarz said in Monday’s news conference the current storm’s “ferocity … was worse than the blizzard of ’77.” And in a news conference Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called this storm the “most devastating storm in Buffalo’s long storied history.”

Buffalo has had a lot of really bad storms over the years.

But this one takes the cake.

According to a local news report, Buffalo has already received about 4 feet of snow, and snow is going to continue to fall until the middle of the day on Tuesday…

The blizzard began Friday, dumping nearly 4 feet of snow in the Buffalo area and making many roads impassable.

The snow is still falling. Some parts of the county could see another 8 to 12 inches by 1 p.m. Tuesday.

I have never seen anything quite like this.

Of course I have been using that phrase a lot lately.

So far, at least 27 people have been killed by the storm in Erie County, and the overall national death toll from the storm is up to 55.

But both of those numbers will inevitably go much higher because right now there are countless drivers stranded in their vehicles on highways all over the United States.

What part of “don’t drive during this storm” did people not understand?

Many others are without power and are slowly freezing as they find themselves trapped inside their own homes by colossal mountains of snow.

Those that are in need of rescue could use our prayers right about now.

Sadly, it seems like whenever there is some sort of a major natural disaster in this country there are hordes of looters ready to take advantage of it.

On Monday, the rampant looting that we just witnessed in Buffalo made headlines all over the globe…

Videos posted online show brazen thieves taking advantage of the chaos, trudging over mounds of snow to get into abandoned storefronts — like a Dollar General where shelves were overturned and items were scattered across the ground.

Residents filmed some of the thieves as they entered the store and left with handfuls of items like paper towels and toilet paper, as one shameless woman even posted a Facebook Live of her and her friends grabbing items from the store.

Others were filmed hauling televisions out of stores, and security footage caught one man breaking the glass of a liquor store door, where he allegedly stole $500 worth of goods.

Zero Hedge has posted lots of videos of the vicious looting, and those videos are prime examples of just how far we have fallen as a society.

As I have said so many times before, the thin veneer of civilization that we all depend upon on a daily basis is rapidly disappearing.

If a truly horrific long-term disaster were to erupt that causes law and order to break down on a widespread basis, we will devolve into a “Mad Max society” very quickly.

Speaking of crime, someone just attacked four more electrical substations in Washington state…

Thousands of homes were left in the dark after four electrical substations in western Washington were vandalized on Christmas Day, local authorities said on Sunday, adding that it was unknown if the incidents were connected.

The attacks on Sunday cut power to more than 14,000 utility customers in south Pierce County, near Tacoma, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.

The burglaries were reported at two substations belonging to Tacoma Public Utilities and two belonging to Puget Sound Energy.

In a previous article, I discussed the fact that the number of these attacks has reached an all-time record high this year, and they are happening all over the nation.

Utility companies are going to have to start hiring 24 hour security to guard their equipment, because this is a problem that isn’t going to go away.

And that will mean even higher utility bills for all of us.

I truly wish that our society was not coming apart at the seams all around us.

But this is where we are at, and denying reality is not going to make things any better.

So why is our society in such bad shape?

And why do so many bad things keep happening to us?

The end of the year is often a time of self-reflection for individuals, and it should also be a time of self-reflection for our nation as a whole.

Because if we stay on the path that we are currently on, the pain that we will experience in the years ahead will be far more severe than what we have been through already.

Good decisions lead to good consequences.

And bad decisions lead to bad consequences.

Wake up America, because time is quickly slipping away.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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