What did we think was going to happen?  We allowed liberals to run most of our major cities for decades, and now those cities have degenerated into drug-ridden, crime-infested hellholes.  Forty years ago, my elderly grandmother lived in one of those major cities, and she would take us on very long walks through the heart of her city without any concern for our safety whatsoever.  And that was because the city was safe.  But now everything has changed.  The worst areas of our largest cities now look like something out of a post-apocalyptic horror movie on a permanent basis, and the rest of the world is laughing at us.

Needless to say, we didn’t get here by accident.

What we are currently experiencing is the inevitable result of decades of liberal policies.  And when I use the term “liberal”, I am not just talking about Democrats.  I personally know some Republican politicians that pretend to be “conservative” to get votes, but in reality there is very little that sets them apart from the other party.

Over time, we have allowed our politicians and our courts to push traditional American values almost completely out of public life, and that includes our system of public education.

But that doesn’t mean that our kids aren’t being taught any values at all.  New “values” that are diametrically opposed to the old values are being relentlessly pushed on our children, and as a result the way that they view the world is being deeply warped.

Meanwhile, the quality of the education that our children are receiving has gone into the dumpster.  At this point, a very high percentage of U.S. kids cannot even read “at a basic level of comprehension”…

About one in three children in the United States cannot read at a basic level of comprehension, according to a key national exam. The outcomes are particularly troubling for Black and Native American children, nearly half of whom score “below basic” by eighth grade.

“The kids can’t read — nobody wants to just say that,” said Kareem Weaver, an activist with the N.A.A.C.P. in Oakland, Calif., who has framed literacy as a civil rights issue and stars in a new documentary, “The Right to Read.”

Our system is producing vast numbers of young people that lack the skills necessary to function in society at even a very basic level, and they have also been endlessly indoctrinated to see the world from an extremely liberal point of view.

Of course the consequences have been absolutely horrific.

For example, just consider what has happened to the city of Philadelphia.  If Benjamin Franklin could see what has happened to his once great city, I am sure that it would make him want to vomit.

In the worst areas of Philadelphia, you literally need to watch every step that you take so that you won’t step on discarded drug needles, human feces or human blood…

In this sort of an environment, anything that is not nailed down is likely to get stolen.

In fact, someone just stole approximately two million dimes from a Walmart parking lot in northeast Philadelphia…

Police are investigating after someone broke into a trailer containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of dimes in Northeast Philadelphia.

The discovery was made around 6 a.m. Thursday in a Walmart parking lot on the 4300 block of Byberry Road.

Police on the scene say an estimated two million dimes, worth $200,000, were stolen. That’s an increase from an earlier estimate of one million dimes.

Philadelphia didn’t have to turn out this way.

But it has been run by liberals for ages.

The same thing has happened to Chicago.

Once upon a time, it was such a beautiful city, but they just kept electing one liberal after another.

In the most recent election, the citizens of Chicago kicked out Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

That was a good thing.

But then they replaced her with someone even more liberal.

Brandon Johnson is a “defund the police” advocate who wants to have “health professionals” respond to 911 calls…

Johnson was the only candidate who did not support “hiring more police officers” or “filling the about 1,600 vacancies” in the Chicago Police Department, Block Club Chicago reported. Rather, he backs efforts to “dismantle systemic racism,” erase a database of gang members, and “have health professionals, not police, respond to crisis calls.”

When Lori Lightfoot took office, she had similar ideas, but obviously they didn’t work because the murder rate in Chicago went up about 40 percent during her tenure…

The incoming mayor’s crime platform is startlingly close to the current mayor’s. Lightfoot also took office as a progressive criminal justice reformer, saying in 2019 that the city must “go to neighborhoods and provide supports to community, not just with law enforcement.” In her failed reelection campaign this year, she emphasized providing “resources and services to address the root causes of violence” and employing mental health providers “to respond to 911 calls.”

The city’s homicide rate has jumped nearly 40 percent since Lightfoot took office in 2019, the watchdog group Wirepoints reported.

At this stage, the city of Chicago is a complete and total nightmare.

I don’t know how else to say it.

On Saturday night, hundreds of teens violently rampaged their way through the city…

Hundreds of teenagers flooded into Downtown Chicago on Saturday night, smashing car windows, trying to get into Millennium Park, and prompting a major police response. At least one person in a car was attacked.

Shots were fired near the corner of Madison and Michigan, and FOX 32 Chicago decided that it was unsafe to keep our news crew on the scene.

We have reaped what we have sown.

These kids are acting a certain way because they have been trained to view the world a certain way.

If they had been raised with different values, they could have turned out much differently.

Theft is another colossal problem in our major cities.

Do you remember the looting that we witnessed during the BLM riots a few years ago?

Well, at this point looting has become a way of life in some of our largest cities, and it is costing retailers billions upon billions of dollars every year.

And “progressive” district attorneys empower the looters by putting them back into the streets time after time…

Progressive district attorneys in cities like Chicago, New York, Portland and California have also been blamed for effectively legalizing shoplifing with either not prosecuting thefts under $950, or letting criminals off with a slap on the wrist.

In New York City, 327 serial thieves have been “arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times”…

Nearly a third of all shoplifting arrests in New York City last year involved just 327 people, the police said. Collectively, they were arrested and rearrested more than 6,000 times, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. Some engage in shoplifting as a trade, while others are driven by addiction or mental illness; the police did not identify the 327 people in the analysis.

If law enforcement authorities would just get those 327 people off the streets for good, that would go a long way toward turning things around.

But they just won’t do it.

And so thieves will just go on looting.

And violent criminals will just go on hurting people.

On Saturday night, there was a mass shooting in Alabama that resulted in over 20 people getting shot…

A high school football standout was among four killed in a mass shooting in small-town Alabama where more than 20 people were shot at a Sweet 16 celebration for the victim’s sister.

Phil Dowdell, a senior set to graduate in a matter of weeks, had been celebrating his sister Alexis’ birthday Saturday night at Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville when the first shots rang out following what police suspect was a fight.

My guess is that this mass shooting was probably committed by someone that has been arrested multiple times already.

As more information comes out, we’ll see if my hunch is correct or not.

Over and over again, horrible crimes are being committed by people that should have been put behind bars a long time ago.

But being tough on crime is simply not a priority for most of the people that are running our society.

However, if you are an Amish farmer that believe in traditional farming methods, you are likely to have armed federal agents show up at your door…

Armed federal agents were used to threaten a traditional Amish farmer just 150 miles outside Washington, D.C., who does not use pesticides, fertilizer, or gas to run his farm.

So what was his great crime?

Well, it turns out that he was organizing “food clubs” where people could buy food that was grown in a traditional manner…

Miller has helped organize private food clubs where individuals can purchase produce, dairy, and meat from traditional farmers; the Department of Justice (DOJ) seems intent on stamping them out.

The feds don’t seem to care about the horrific crimes that are being openly committed in our major cities.

But if you threaten the profits of the big food corporations, they are going to crack down really hard.

We live in a society that has been turned completely upside down.

If we choose to stay on the path that we are currently on, things will not end well for us.

Sadly, liberal politicians in both parties just keep winning elections over and over again.

We have gotten to such a low point as a society because we deserve to be here, and hopefully we can get this country to wake up while there is still time to do so.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

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 also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates.  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 Chaos In Our Streets Is The Inevitable Result Of Decades Of Failed Liberal Policies appeared first on End Of The American Dream.

Today We Will Go Over An Incredible Fire-Making Tool, Fire Pistons

When it comes to survival skills, making fire is one of the most important.

Fire gives us the ability to:

• Keep warm and dry,
• Cook food and sterilize water
• Make signals during the day and at night

Humans also show a psychological boost from fires. This moral booster can help to increase your odds of surviving an emergency.

With all these benefits, it’s easy to see why we spend a lot of time (and money) to ensure we can always make a fire.

Today, there are hundreds of tools designed to ensure your fire-making skills. Tools range from survival lighters to solar mirrors.

They each have their benefits and drawbacks. Some firestarters are better suited to certain situations than others.

Most experienced adventurers plan on carrying at least two different firestarters. A primary and a backup, just in case.

But what did people do before all our modern technology made fire so simple?

Our ancestors didn’t have access to mass-produced plastic lighters. They also didn’t carry boxes of waterproof matches or have Ferro rods.

So if your primary source of fire is a bow drill, what can you carry for backup?

A fire piston is a smart option.

Here’s an awesome video showing a slow-motion fire piston in a transparent cylinder:

↓ Fire Piston Demonstration: Phantom Flex Slow Motion ↓

So today, we’re going to cover the following topics related to the fire piston:

• Best Fire Pistons On The Market Today

• What Is A Fire Piston?

• How A Fire Piston Works

• How To Use A Fire Piston

• Best Tinders To Use With A Fire Piston

• How To Make A Fire Piston

Are You Ready For The Tough Times Ahead? Take My 60 Sec Quiz To See If You’re Part Of ‘The Fragile Masses’ Or Not… Start Quiz Now!

Best Fire Pistons On The Market Today

Let’s now take a look at a few of the best fire pistons on the market today.

I want to show you various types, styles, and prices to choose from:

↓ Hickory Fire Piston Review ↓

↓ PSKOOK Fire Piston, A True Ancient Technology Tool! ↓

↓ Wilderness Solutions FireStarter Fire Piston ↓

↓ SXTL Fire Piston Fire Starter Instruction | Review ↓

What Is A Fire Piston? 

The fire piston is a proven fire-starting device that’s been around for hundreds of years.

It is also referred to as a fire syringe or a slam rod fire starter.

Fire pistons use the fundamental laws of physics to heat and ignite a small piece of tinder. A small piece of tinder can light a tinder bundle or fine kindling to start a fire.

The design is simple – there are only two parts!

1. a hollowed-out cylinder
2. and a piston rod

The first is a hollow cylinder with a smooth interior and one sealed air-tight end.

The cylinder size can range from a few inches in length and less than 1/2” wide to the size of a bicycle tire pump.

The second part is a piston rod that’s a fraction smaller in diameter than the cylinder. It’s also about an inch longer.

The piston rod includes a small cavity for the tinder to sit. It also has an airtight O-ring seal on one end and a comfortable handle on the opposite end.

These parts can be made out of nearly any material. However, metal and plastic are the most common nowadays. That’s because they allow for incredibly smooth surfaces.

Smooth surfaces are essential for a very tight seal between the two parts. The piston rod must be tight to the cylinder walls to prevent air from escaping.

This tight tolerance between the cylinder and the rod is what creates the magic of the fire piston.

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.

How Fire Pistons Work

A fire piston works on the principle of the Ideal Gas Law.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because you heard about it in high school chemistry or physics class.

The Ideal Gas Law defines the relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature.

The basic premise is this:

For a given amount of a gas (i.e., air), quickly compressing it to a smaller volume results in a dramatic increase in both pressure and temperature.

In the case of a fire piston, this can result in a spike in the air temperature of over 400deg F.

Plenty of heat to instantly ignite a fine piece of tinder without a spark!

If this seems far-fetched, it’s not. It’s the same law of physics that allows diesel engines to work.

↓ How To Use A Fire Piston ↓

How To Use A Fire Piston

Using the fire piston is simple in concept but takes some practice to master.

↓ Black Scout Tutorials – The Fire Piston ↓

First, take the time to create a nest of tinder and small kindling.

This is where you’ll put the ember produced by the piston once it’s lit.

So make sure it’s easy to reach and have all the fire fuel at the ready before you begin.

There’s nothing worse than running out of fuel just as your fire starts to take off.

Next, place a small amount of tinder in the cavity on the front of the piston.

Don’t pack it in there, as it needs exposure to air to heat and combust. If you pack it too tightly, it’ leaves no room for air to comingle with the tinder.

Start the piston into the cylinder, but don’t compress it too far. Just enough to hold it in place should be fine.

Brace the cylinder against a solid object and grab the handle end of the piston.

Now, quickly push the piston in, compressing the air and (hopefully) lighting your tinder.

Once you’ve compressed the air, it’s important to quickly get it out of the cylinder.

The tinder needs immediate fresh air – before the oxygen is consumed and the ember dies out.

So as soon as the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder, pull it back out just as rapidly.

So in and out FAST!

Now work quickly to transfer the tiny ember on the piston’s end into the fine tinder’s nest. Once it’s transferred, gently fan it (or blow on it) to encourage the flames to grow.

If you’re successful, work your way up to larger kindling and fuel to build a roaring fire.

Practice all these motions until they’re smooth and consistent. Soon you’ll master it and increase your efficiency and success.

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.

Best Tinders To Use With A Fire Piston

While the fire piston can reach high temperatures, it can only maintain them for a very short time.

This means that easily lit tinders work best.

Fine cotton and dryer lint both combust with ease. However, they burn too quickly and produce no usable embers.

By contrast, char cloth and fine bark fibers light with ease.

And this tinder burns more slowly and allows you time to remove the ember from the piston and use it to start a fire.

You can make char cloth by burning denim or cotton cloth in a closed metal container with limited oxygen.

I use a metal breath mint container with a pinhole vent.

↓ How To Make Charcloth! ↓

How To Make A Fire Piston At Home

Like most tools in this world, you CAN do it yourself if you have enough ingenuity, skill, and patience.

They’re fairly simple tools to build once you understand the principles behind them.

It also doesn’t have to cost much money (but it will cost some “time”).

Watch this video to learn how to make a fire piston for just 1$:

↓ Slam Rod Fire Starter – Ignition By Air!! ↓

And here’s another good video on how to make a fire piston and some char cloth to go with it:

↓ Making A Fire Piston And Char Cloth ↓

Final Thoughts

Nothing is going to replace a survival lighter as a primary firestarter. Sorry, it’s just too cheap, easy to use, and readily available.

But I must admit a fire piston is an exciting and reliable way to start a fire!

It does take practice to master, which I found both fun and challenging.

I like the durability of the build and the lack of moving parts.

There are no batteries and no fuel to run out. This means it’s a fantastic long-term option that doesn’t rely on modern technology.

For most people, it’s an ideal backup firestarter. And for anyone into survival or self-reliance, it’s an excellent primary firestarter.

All in all, the fire piston is worth checking out. Can you ever have TOO MANY ways to make a fire? I don’t think so.

Jason K.

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.”

The post Best Fire Pistons You Can Count On In A Pinch appeared first on Skilled Survival.

When the name of the game is self-reliance and survival, there is one resource you must have a plan for Water. If you look throughout history, people settle and build cities on – or very close to – water sources. Yes, this later became advantageous for shipping purposes in some areas, but our need for…

The post How To Dig A Well appeared first on Survival Cache.

@media (max-width:576px) { .read-more-content { height: 570em; } }

The post UPDATE: Ruger Mark IV 22/45 Lite Optic-Ready With Co-Witness Sights appeared first on Ballistic Magazine.

Imagine for a moment that you are taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. You decide you need to get away from it all and disconnect for a bit, and that the best way to do so is to get out into nature. So, you grab a pack of supplies and…

The post How To Use Bear Spray And What Is It? appeared first on Survival Cache.

Are you protecting your ammo storage? Doing so is not complicated, but it’s also not optional.

Are you treating it like the critical survival investment it is?

I sure hope so because…

If you can afford stock ammo, you owe it to yourself to store it properly.

You should treat your ammunition like you treat precious metals.

Both investments require good practices to maintain for the long haul.

If you don’t properly maintain your ammo (and neglect it), your ammo’s useful shelf life will be cut short.

This is a travesty because ammo will be the lifeblood when SHTF.

Remember, in a long-term survival scenario, he who has the most firepower; often wins.

Ammo is arguably the most important item you can stockpile.

It provides the ability to hunt, barter, defend your home and family, intimidate others, etc.

And these are all critical survival and preparedness tactics.

But to rely on these survival tactics, you must:

1. Purchasing large quantities of ammo
2. Store it for the long haul

It’s obvious, but worth saying again, “Firearms a just poorly designed baseball bats without ammunition.”

At this point, you’re probably asking a simple question –

“How fast can poorly stored ammo become compromised?”

Today, I’ll be covering the following ammo storage topics in detail:

• Is There REALLY An Ammunition Shelf Life?

• Old Ammo Vs. New Ammo

• How To Store Ammo The Right Way

• Best Ammo Cans On The Market Today

• More About Humidity Control and Desiccants

• A Step By Step Ammo Storage Action Plan

Is There Really An Ammunition Shelf-Life?

Let me start out by saying ammo does, in fact, have a shelf life.

But unlike food, which has a shelf life measured in days or weeks, ammo’s shelf life is measured in years and decades.

It all depends on how you store it.

If you store it right, ammo will easily outlive you, probably outlive your kids and possibly even your grandkids.

In near-ideal conditions, modern ammo will last centuries.

But if you store your ammo improperly, degradation starts on day one.

Slowly at first, but over a few years or decades, you may find your ammo useless.

And even if it still fires, the accuracy will likely be jeopardized.

↓ Does Ammunition Expire? ↓

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.

Old Ammo Vs. New Ammo

Modern materials, design improvements, and automated manufacturing processing have helped improve today’s ammo’s shelf life.

And that’s great news for those of us who started stockpiling ammo over the last couple of decades.

When we talk about older ammo, I’m primarily referencing ammo that was manufactured after the 1930s; when smokeless powder was introduced.

↓ Black Powder Vs. Smokeless Powder – Education! ↓

Older bullets had a much shorter shelf life unless they were meticulously stored, and regardless they are quickly reaching the end of their reliable shelf lives.

Today, the risk vs. reward of shooting older ammo may not be worth it.

And the risk vs. reward equation keeps getting worse as each year passes.

↓ Will These 90-Year-Old .22 Rounds Still Function? ↓

The bottom line is your ammo stockpile is an investment in your future.

You want to protect this investment as long as humanly possible. So let’s learn how to do that.

How To Store Ammo The Right Way

Properly storing your ammunition is not complicated.

You only need to follow some simple storage principles and take meaningful action.

Yes, that’s it.

Here’s the first primary storage principle:

Store your ammunition in a cool, dry, dark location.

Let’s break that down; if you keep your ammo in a:

• Cool
• Dry
• Dark

place, you win.

Follow this, and you’ll extend your ammunition stockpile from decades to centuries.

Now, once we begin analyzing these principles, we discover there’s a bit more to it.

So let’s deep dive into each of these ammo storage principles.

↓ How To Store Ammunition – Long Term ↓

Keeping Your Ammo Cool

You want to keep your ammunition cool. Not cold but cool.

You also want to avoid warm or hot storage locations.

Constant warm temps or consistently cool temps are not the main concern.

It’s the extreme temperature swings that are the real problem.

The integrity of ammo is compromised if it’s subjected to extreme temperature cycles. It’s hard on ammo to go from 100 degrees to 0 degrees and back to 100 degrees, year after year.

Why is this bad?

These temperature swings tend to invite humidity.

And as we’ll discuss shortly, humidity is the real threat to your ammunition.

That’s why garages, attics, unheated cabins, and vehicles are such poor ammo storage locations.

Now it’s highly dependent on your local climate, but these storage locations move through extreme temperatures seasonally for most of us.

In winter, overnight temps can reach sub-zero degrees in garages, attics, etc. And in the summer, north of 100 F.

Ammo stored in these conditions for a few years won’t hurt it much.

Your ammo won’t typically go bad in a matter of a couple of years.

But if left in these locations over several decades, the temperature swings will begin taking a significant toll on your ammunition’s shelf life.

So, where should your ammo be stored?

Traditionally, basements are popular ammo storage locations.

Why? Because basements are located below ground level.

Ground temperatures change much less than air temperatures.

So while air temps will change from 0 degrees to 100 degrees seasonally, ground temps 10 feet below the surface tend to stay in a range of 20 degrees.

So, for example, if soil temps 10 feet underground average 50 degrees, it may rise to 60 degrees in the summer and drop to 40 degrees in winter.

This is significantly less variation than air temps.

And at 30 feet below the surface, temperature swings become negligible.

At this depth, ground temps stay constant regardless of the air temps.

So we can take advantage of the earth and support the “constant cool” principle of ammunition storage.

That’s why basements tend to be popular ammo storage locations but also have downsides.

Which we’ll cover next…

Keeping your Ammo Dry

Moisture (a.k.a. humidity) is even more dangerous to your ammunition than temperature swings.

Moisture is corrosive to metal. And the ammo is made of metal (casings, primers, and bullets).

Hence, moisture exposure will eventually rust your ammo.

It will begin with small amounts of surface rust, which you can sand off, and your ammo will still fire, but even this may affect your ammo’s accuracy.

And if this rust is allowed to fester, it will eventually (over several decades) render your ammunition useless.

So we need to control moisture exposure to our ammunition.

But guess which part of our homes tends to have the highest humidity levels?

You’ve probably guessed it, basements.

Rain soaks into the ground. Ground contacts your home’s foundation. This ground moisture is dangerous to foundations if allowed to accumulate.

That’s why ensuring your gutters and downspouts are working properly is important to avoid foundation problems (i.e., cracking, settling heaving, etc.)

Many homes have sump pumps to help manage basement moisture issues.

Basements and humidity are a big concern for your ammo.

When massive flooding occurs, which area will get wet first?

Your basement.

So from a moisture standpoint, basements present a bit of a problem. However, there are solutions to help manage these risks.

First, if you do store your ammo in a basement, don’t set it on the floor.

Keep it in cabinets or racks. The higher, the better.

That way, if your basement floods, your ammo will likely remain above the water level.

Another way to manage the increased humidity in the basement air is to get a good dehumidifier.

This dehumidifier unit will continuously pull moisture out of a damp basement.

Keeping Your Ammo “In the Dark”

UV light is also a destructive force.

Over long periods of exposure, the sun’s harmful UV rays will break down nearly everything.

You’ve seen this process with vehicles. Leaving a vehicle out in the sun for years will deteriorate the exterior metal and paint.

Now compare that vehicle to one that’s stored in a garage when not in use.

Over long periods of time, UV ray exposure will take a toll on your ammo.

The good news is most indoor storage locations will do just fine.

So a closet, pantry, and basement are all protected from UV rays. Plus, the inside of your ammo cans will be dark as well.

So if you store your ammo in a windowless location in ammo cans, UV rays will not cause you any ammo problems.

Organization Matters…A Lot

Good ammo storage takes organization and discipline.

Remember, you’re potentially stockpiling your ammo for decades.

So it’s important to stay organized and maintain control of your ammo storage efforts.

It’s not ‘set and forget’. You must maintain a process.

↓ How I Organize My Ammo Cans | MTM Ammo Can Organizers ↓

First, you should label your ammo cans.

You want to identify what’s in your ammo can without opening it.

Labels will help quickly inventory your stockpile and save you time in an emergency.

If you need ammo for your 22 survival rifle right now, you want to avoid dumping out several ammo cans on the floor to find which one has your 22 LRs.

So get yourself a quality labeler.

A labeler is one of my favorite prepping tools.

It comes in handy for more than just your ammo.

It’s also a perfect tool for food stockpiles and rotation practices. It also helps keep my gear and survival supplies organized.

I also label key areas of my home for emergencies.

I’ve labeled the main water shutoff valve, the natural gas shut-off valve, etc.

As the head of the household, I must know how to find and shut these components off in emergencies.

But for my family, it’s less intuitive.

But by adding labels, it’s easy to walk them through the process and for them to recall and find them in an emergency.

I can’t assume I will be available when emergencies happen.

Worth every penny for my peace of mind.

Next, create a desiccant check schedule.

Every few months, open up each ammo can and check your desiccants.

Create an email reminder, write it on a calendar, and make sure you check your ammo storage regularly.

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

Best Ammo Cans On The Market Today

The third way to manage humidity is storing your ammo in ammo cans.

The key is to ensure the rubber gaskets are in good shape and create an airtight seal when latched.

That’s why I steer clear of used ammo cans. I don’t trust used seals. They are often dried out and cracked.

It’s not worth the risk to me. Fresh seals ensure a quality airtight seal.

Quality ammo cans will completely isolate the internal air (inside the can) from the external air (outside the can).

I also tend to steer clear of plastic ammo cans as well:

↓ Ammom Box Plastic Vs. Steel…What Should You Buy ↓

Ok, with all that said, let’s review a few of the best ammo cans on the market today:

↓ Unboxing – Solid Tactical 50 Caliber and 30 Caliber Ammo Can ↓

And just for fun, here are 25 survival uses for ammo cans!

↓ Why Buy Ammo Cans? 25 Survival Uses ↓

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.

More About Desiccants

Good ammo cans keep the air inside the can from co-mingling with the air outside the ammo can. Allowing for complete control over the air inside the ammo can.

When you isolate and control the ammo can air, you can now 100% control the humidity.

How so? Using something called a desiccant.

With Silica Gel Dehumidifier Desiccants.

Toss one of these desiccant canisters into each air-controlled ammo can, and they will remove the moisture from the air.

Silica Gel Desiccants use particle physics (osmosis) to attract air moisture particles.

By trapping the moisture in the desiccant, the remaining air inside the ammo can will remain dry.

So the surrounding ammo can air that touches your precious ammo will be arid with little to no moisture.

And as we discussed earlier, moisture is what causes metals to corrode.

So by removing moisture from a controlled box of air, you eliminate ammo corrosion.

It’s simple math.

• No moisture equals no rust.
• No rust equals no corrosion.
• And eliminating ammo corrosion extends your ammo’s shelf life, reliability, and accuracy.

In this process, you’ll occasionally find desiccants that need a recharge.

I like these particular desiccants for four reasons.

1. First, they’re designed for up to a 3-square-foot area.

Three square feet is more than enough for a regular-sized ammo can.

So I can standardize on one desiccant style and size for all my ammo cans.

I prefer to use universal parts and components whenever possible.

It’s always a headache to use several styles of desiccants and then have to keep track of backups for each can. No thanks.

2. Second, they include a color code.

If you see an orange color, they are still doing their job.

If it’s no longer orange but clear, it’s time to recharge them. This color coding makes it simple.

Open your ammo can, look at the desiccant color, note the ones with clear color, and replace them.

Easy peasy.

3. Third, they are rechargeable.

They pull moisture from the air continuously until they “fill up.”

At some point, the desiccant can no longer draw more moisture from the air because it’s reached its moisture capacity.

It’s at this time that the color turns clear. But they are not one and done.

You get to reuse them over and over again.

These desiccants just need 3 hours in an oven at 300 degrees to reset them.

So these amazing desiccants are a nice little investment and worth every penny.

4. Fourth, they don’t use cancer-causing chemical agents.

They don’t use the nasty chemical Cobalt Chloride.

This chemical has become classified as Group 2B, which states Cobalt Chloride is possibly carcinogenic to humans.

No way I’m handling a carcinogen and putting them in my oven.

With these desiccants, you never have to worry about that.

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.

Ammo Storage Action Plan

1. Decide on a cool, dry, dark, and safe location.

Put some serious thought into your ammo storage site based on what we discussed earlier.

The best advice I can provide is where NOT to store your ammo.

Don’t store your ammo in an:

• An unheated/cooled garage
• An unheated/cooled attic
• Your vehicle

2. Purchase high-quality ammo cans and put all your ammo into them.

I recommend you dedicate each ammo can to only one caliber size for sound organizational practices.

Don’t mix and match.

Then label each ammo can so you know exactly what’s inside without having to open it.

↓ How Much 9mm Fits Into An Ammo Can? Surprisingly HEAVY ↓

3. Add fresh desiccants to each ammo can.

4. Create a master schedule and reminders to check your ammo can’s desiccants.

Then replace and recharge as necessary.

See, that wasn’t so hard!

Here’s a short video overview of your ammo storage plan:

↓ Ammunition Storage 101 ↓

And finally, keeping all your ammo cans stashed away in a large gun safe is a good idea.

That way, everything is double secure from intruders, fires, or kids.

Congratulations!

You are now on your way to protecting your ammo storage investment correctly.

The way that maintains your precious ammo investment for years, decades, and centuries to come.

Prepare, Adapt, and Overcome,

“Just In Case” Jack

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.”

The post Ammo Storage: How To Avoid Common Amateur Mistakes appeared first on Skilled Survival.

How To Disappear Completely Without A Trace…

I’m not here to question the reasons why you want to disappear.

I’m sure your interest in disappearing is complicated, diverse, and very personal.

• Maybe you are a curious surfer casually perusing the Skilled Survival site.
• Maybe you owe the mob a fortune in money you don’t have, and they’ll break your legs and feed you to the sharks.
• Or perhaps you are preparing to do something so dastardly – so sinister – so illegal – you’ll need to vanish from the face of this earth.

Whatever your motivation, be it for good or evil, the following is a guide to disappearing entirely.

Are You Ready For The Tough Times Ahead? Take My 60 Sec Quiz To See If You’re Part Of ‘The Fragile Masses’ Or Not… Start Quiz Now!

Disappearing IS A Big  Deal

It’s an action not to be taken lightly. It scares people and raises a lot of attention among authorities.

In some special cases where your life is in danger, government agencies and professional services can help you legally obtain a new identity.

However, if circumstances require it, and you must take matters into your own hands, then this guide is for you.

It’s a last desperate measure, but if you are really getting ready for the Great Vanishing Act, all on your own, then I wish you Good Luck.

You’re going to need it.

How To Disappear Completely Without A Trace Advice – Former CIA Agent

Preparation Is Key

Disappearing takes time. If you were hoping to split town as soon as you are done reading this guide, get ready to be disappointed.

There are multiple steps involved with disappearing, and the more time spent preparing, the better your chances.

But, sometimes, the choice to disappear is forced upon us in a rush, for which case this section has been broken up into two parts.

The Long Game – Creating Your Master Plan

First off, start distancing yourself from others.

You need to start cutting ties to your old life slowly. This means seeing friends and family less and less over time.

Continue this process slowly until you don’t see each other at all. They won’t have any reason to expect to hear from you at that point.

This process will require you to lie a lot.

Get used to it.

Making excuses and weaseling from family plans will seem like child’s play once you start lying about your character.

This venture requires you to constantly fib, deflect, and mislead for the rest of your life until the lie becomes your new reality.

You’re not ready to disappear if you aren’t prepared for that.

Start withdrawing all your money.

Your days of Visa, PayPal, and Venmo are over.

You are a cash or crypto-only person now and must get all your money out of the banks.

Become unbanked or convert everything to cryptocurrencies.

Do this slowly so as not to raise any eyebrows.

Over several months, convert your fiat to cryptocurrencies and withdraw varying amounts of cash from all accounts under your name.

Do this until they are all completely drained.

When done, you should have a fat stack of crypto on a hardware wallet and cash tucked away in a diversion safe, some closet, or crawlspace.

Having no money to your name makes the disappearing process much more challenging.

So if you’re truly broke, start saving now.

You’ll want to save as much money as possible between now and the vanishing day.

Kill your social media accounts.

Deleting these accounts won’t truly erase your information.

They have databases of your past information that authorities can obtain. However, it’s still a smart way to start detaching yourself from the information grid as best you can.

So say goodbye to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tinder, and even email accounts – it is wise to delete everything.

↓ How To Remove Your Personal Data From The Internet | Tutorial ↓

Once again, do this SLOWLY; otherwise, people will take notice.

Provide an excuse to your closest friends like “I’m addicted and need a break” or “I just don’t have the time or energy to keep up with it anymore.”

The excuse doesn’t even need to be that good as long as you have one.

Do you have any pets?

You’ll probably need to take them to a shelter. Or allow a friend or neighbor to adopt them under some other pretext.

Pets cannot come with you on your disappearing adventure.

They will raise your attention and make you more recognizable.

However much you love your animals, they’ve got to go, and it is more humane to put them up for adoption/give them away than it is to abandon them entirely.

It is one of the many harsh realities of the Great Vanishing Act, but you must accept it.

Quit your job or request time off.

Before your big breakaway, you’ll need time to make last-minute preparations.

You’ll also want a head start before anybody begins questioning your absence.

If you don’t quit ahead of time, your current employer will be the first to notice your missing.

So make certain your employer thinks you quit or you’re on a nice long, much-needed vacation.

Be as thorough as possible.

Try to avoid a lease on your residence if you rent so landlords don’t come looking. Or start paying a couple of months in advance to buy time when you do leave.

You’ll want to do this well ahead of time to get them used to you paying several months at a time.

Tell your neighbors you’ll be on vacation for a while (also perhaps even give them a false lead as to where).

Tie up any and all loose ends you can think of to give yourself more time to travel and escape before the search is on.

The Short Game – How To Disappear

Compile all of your identification.

Get every school ID, driver’s license, birth certificate, social security card, and bank statement.

Collect anything with your name and definitely your picture, all in one place.

There are different theories as to what you should do with these documents once they’re collected:

Some sources say you should keep them. Some say you should get rid of them.

Whatever you choose to do with your IDs and personal documents is up to you, but once again, be thorough.

Don’t leave anything behind, whether you take it all with you or burn it in a bonfire: leave no trace.

Destroy your pictures and avoid new ones.

It sounds drastic, but photos of you will be your own worst enemy.

Family members may start going door to door and store to store carrying a recent photo of you from the life you’re trying to flee.

The process of eliminating photos and avoiding getting your picture taken also makes it clear to family and authorities that you want to disappear.

That this was a conscious decision.

You weren’t murdered or kidnapped – you chose to vanish.

It may seem counterintuitive but trust me; it will work in your favor. If the cops think you disappeared from some malicious or accidental incident, they will search harder for you.

If they get the sense that you left on purpose and went to great lengths to plan it, they won’t search as hard.

Cancel your mobile phone plan.

It’s of no use to you now.

You are more like a fugitive, not a social participant.

However, if you really need one, buy a cheap burner phone (like this one) under an assumed name.

Just don’t hesitate to break it in two and ditch it if someone starts catching on.

Ditch your car.

You probably had some good times together, but few things are more traceable and recognizable than a person’s car.

Sell it for cash.

And if it’s not worth much, leave it running, unlocked, in a bad part of town, with the deed in the glove box, and let some thief do all the work for you.

Once your old car is gone, it’s time to buy a used car with cash.

This car shouldn’t be flashy or unique. Find something in a neutral color, a few years old, with some dings and dents.

You want it to be boring but reliable.

Speaking of reliability, the last thing you can afford is a dead battery while on the move.

So make sure to get this one critical piece of “disappearing gear,” like a portable jump starter.

It’s small, powerful, and worth every penny to prevent getting stuck on the side of the road.

Just toss something like a Powertech 8k in your bug-out bag, and you can thank me later…

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.

More Tips & Tricks On How To Disappear

In the book, “How To Disappear Completely and Never Be Found” by Doug Richmond, he suggests the following…

Search for babies who died the day you were born and contact the government requesting their birth certificate. He emphasizes that this is normal because people always lose birth certificates.

Now use that document to acquire a social security number, driver’s license, and other personal documentation.

With that, move to a busy city, rent a small apartment, and spend several months developing a short employment history. Mainly with temp jobs or construction gigs.

Then once that is established, walk out the door and never return.

He calls this Pseudocide – or faking your own death.

↓ How To Fake Your Own Death – EPIC HOW TO ↓

Remember that government controls are on the rise; now, more than ever, they’re using electronic surveillance and looking for terrorists.

↓ America’s Surveillance State: The Surveillance Machine ↓

They will take notice of anyone who is trying to falsify identities and get into the country to wreak havoc.

This book was written in 1995 – a lot has changed in the last two decades.

Requesting personal documentation under a false identity from the federal government is highly illegal.

This behavior will have some immense repercussions today, should you get caught.

Instead of disappearing on your own terms, masked special forces might blast through your window late some night, bag you, tag you, and ship you off to Guantanamo.

That’s called disappearing on their terms.

Not good.

Getting The Hell Out Of Dodge

You thought the preparation was complicated? Well, to do this right, you need a good bug-out bag when you make your break.

Limit what’s in your “go bag” to the bare necessities.

Such items include essential medical supplies, personals, small multi-tools, maybe a portable solar charger (or a solar-powered phone charger), a change of underwear and socks, a lockpicking toolset, et cetera.

This post is a checklist of 104 go items.

Read it carefully, then decide what to take and what to leave.

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.

Changing your appearance.

As much as you treasure that favorite t-shirt and jeans combo, ditch them.

Go to a cheap clothing store and buy several outfits that you would NEVER normally choose.

Dye your hair, but don’t pick a crazy color.

If you’re a natural blonde, go brunette, and vice versa. Wear a new hat – hats are great for concealing faces.

Choose a hat that you’d never be caught wearing in your old life; maybe for you, that’s a Fedora.

Also, practice using new mannerisms and try to mask your old mannerisms as best as possible.

Likely, people will already look for you – and someone might recognize you anyway.

You need to make a stranger of yourself.

But don’t make yourself strange; you must blend into a crowd and mask your identity.

This means you can’t stick out or be remembered.

Be the background. Stick to the shadows.

Act absolutely normal.

Travel on your own terms.

Covering distances on foot or by bicycle is your best option.

These transport forms cannot be easily tracked and do not require licenses or IDs to use.

Public transportation (i.e., buses, trains, subways, etc.) is acceptable; remember, many of these are under constant video surveillance.

And under no circumstances do you take a cab or hitchhike.

When you get into a car with someone else at the wheel, you have just put your entire situation in their hands.

They may recognize you and contact the authorities, or crash the car and get the police or EMTs involved.

Travel on your own terms; never let someone else manage your great vanishing act.

↓ How to travel the world with almost no money ↓

G.T.F.O.

The further, the safer – the more isolated, the better.

Head for the border or get way out of town.

If you are in the US, your best bet is the South. And I’m not talking about Mexico.

While it may be a developing country, and it may even be “easy” to get to without an ID, Mexico is a lousy safe haven and is currently rather tumultuous.

Keep moving. Go to Central or South America. There are plenty of ideal towns, cities, and villages you can access down there.

If crossing the border is out of the question or outside the realm of possibility, travel as far as possible. 

Many isolated or busy locations do not require a passport to get to; just be warned: it is usually easier to find someone on the run if they haven’t left their home country.

But whether you flee the country or hide amongst us, you must go somewhere people will not expect.

If you’ve always dreamed of visiting Jamaica, do not hide there.

If your family is from South Africa, that’s off-limits to you.

Find someplace unpredictable.

It doesn’t have to be a place you’ll be unhappy or uncomfortable; it just has to be a place you’ve never spoken to anyone about before.

This is a good point to lay some false leads.

When you leave home, place clues like road atlas maps or do extensive internet research that leads investigators in the completely wrong direction.

If your destination is Nome, Alaska, leave books, maps, and research for Los Buzos, Panama, all over your house when you split.

False leads will buy you time.

Another important decision is a big busy city or a tiny isolated town.

There isn’t really an in-between option here. The easiest place to disappear is either in the midst of a throng or the emptiness of the natural world.

Rent a small studio under an assumed name in a city of hundreds of thousands.

Or vanish into the woods and build a house on the outskirts of a tiny town.

Maybe you even go full Jeremiah Johnson and live off the fat of the land in the heart of the wilderness.

Whatever you decide, remember: this may be your home for a while, so choose wisely.

The New You & Your New Life

Disappearing is more than just running away and covering your tracks.

If you want to disappear forever and never be found, the implication is that you, your character, your mannerisms, your likes and dislikes, hobbies, and ideas ALL DISAPPEAR.

This is undoubtedly the most difficult and most important step of the process.

Be an actor.

Your identity must change to its core.

Create a character history.

You must learn to answer all the following questions naturally should anyone ask:

• Where did you come from?
• What did you do before?
• Where is your family?
• What kind of food do you like?
• What is your favorite beverage?
• Who’s your favorite author?
• What is your favorite musician?
• Favorite food?

Bottom line:

Recreate everything!

Of course, making new friends will eventually be necessary.

No matter where you end up, neighbors and locals will become a part of your life, and it isn’t wrong to make friends with them.

Just make sure to do so under your assumed identity.

Hell, having people who can confirm your name and backstory might even be helpful in this situation.

Especially should the relevant authorities come snooping in your new location.

So don’t be afraid to meet people, be afraid of revealing your true identity.

Becoming Comfortable and Falling Into Old Habits.

Don’t do it!

Stay on your guard at all times – paranoia can be both a curse and an invaluable tool.

Watch yourself, and do everything you can to avoid old habits.

Contacting people from your past.

NEVER DO IT.

I guarantee the urge will grip you at some point.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you to visit, call, write, email, IM, or otherwise contact your family or friends to let them know you’re okay.

They are not part of your life anymore. And any form of contact between you is a step towards discovery and ruin.

The lure of personal success.

I can understand the appetite for success.

Some people cannot stifle this hunger – to be better, have more, and be recognized.

It is something that man cannot bury, cannot completely suppress.

Maybe you went from being a successful stockbroker or businessman before your life on the run. Or maybe you used to write books.

Whatever your draw, people are driven toward success, and avoiding it isn’t entirely necessary.

You can still be successful in your life on the run.

Your new identity can still find prosperity and recognition – just not for the same talents or reasons you had in your life.

Find new hobbies, interests, and skills you never knew you had, and exploit those.

Stay under the radar but don’t be confined by your exile.

Moving is OKAY.

Moving is even encouraged after a while.

If you can, change your name for the first few moves.

This should become easier in less developed countries, but travel by nickname if it is an issue.

Make following your trail as confusing as possible: are we looking for Juan? Or John? Or Peter?

The more you move, the harder it will be to find you.

Above all – stay safe, stay alert, and stay disappeared.

Next Steps

One article isn’t nearly enough information to prepare for an effort of this scale.

I’ll reiterate:

Disappearing is a big deal.

It has repercussions that reach beyond your own life.

Someone will eventually notice no matter how detached you may feel from the world around you.

Once they do, it’s a countdown to a pursuit.

The better prepared you are, and the more you have studied, the more time you will have to complete the Great Vanishing Act in its entirety.

Good luck, friend.

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.”

The post How To Disappear Completely: The Great Vanishing Act appeared first on Skilled Survival.

This article was originally published by Patrick Barron at The Mises Institute. 

The Soviet Empire started to crumble around 1989. The time period between the forming of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the late 1940s and the retreat of Russia from Eastern Europe with the eventual collapse of communism in Russia is known as the Cold War. There was a great power confrontation in Europe that did not result in war.

Essentially, US-led NATO stood its ground to prevent further Soviet expansion from the territory it occupied at the end of World War II and waited for the inevitable collapse. Now, perhaps not everyone saw the collapse of the Soviet empire as inevitable. But all one had to do was view the Soviet empire for oneself, up close and personal, which is what I did in the early 1970s as a young Air Force officer.

The State of the Communist Economy

The Russian economy at that time is painful to describe. Moscow and Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), the so-called jewels of the Soviet Union, were depressing. Everything was shoddily built. There were very few cars on the streets. There were no retail shops deserving of the name. Lines formed in the middle of the night awaiting the opening of the few bakeries. I saw this for myself from my hotel window on the Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad. GUM, the “world’s largest department store” near Moscow’s Red Square, sold nothing that was equal to what could be found in any garage sale in the West.

Actually, that should not be a surprise since at one time all those garage-sale goods were marketable. I did not visit Berlin, but those who did say that crossing the Brandenburg Gate from West Berlin to East Berlin was shocking. The very idea that the Soviet economy and lifestyle was in any way superior was ludicrous. It took brutal police power and the infamous Berlin Wall to prevent mass exodus to the West.

The Peaceful Collapse of the Soviet Empire

I’m sure that life only got worse in the years between my visit to the Soviet Union in the early 1970s until its final collapse. And the collapse occurred without a shot fired between the Great Powers. The collapse came very quickly and without warning. Author Amity Shlaes was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal Europe at the time.

Returning to New York from Berlin, Shlaes called her boss between planes in London and was told to return to Berlin. Something was happening. She told her boss that she had just left Berlin and that nothing was happening. Her boss told her to go back for a few days anyway. She did as ordered and witnessed the German people tearing down that despicable insult to humanity.

How the US Enforces the American Empire

The American empire is not enforced by walls with armed guards to prevent its citizens from escaping but, instead, by the almighty dollar. Since the enthronement of the dollar as a reserve currency in 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference and then the establishment of the petrodollar in the early 1970s, almost all international trade has been conducted in dollars. Thusly, dollars are held by every country’s central bank to settle international trade flows. Alasdair Macleod of Goldmoney calculates that foreigners hold around $31.8 trillion in US liabilities, of which $5.8 trillion is held by “official” institutions. (Refer to US Treasury International Capital figures.)

But the US has abused this “special privilege” by printing dollars out of thin air. It has funded its empire of hundreds of bases worldwide with excess dollars. Furthermore, it has enforced compliance with its expansionist foreign policy by freezing dollar accounts held by foreign central banks, foreign businesses, and foreign individuals whom it dislikes. By cutting them out of the international financial messaging system known as SWIFT, it has created great hardship on nations held to be offensive to the US.

Today the Roles Are Reversed

But these nations have discovered America’s Achilles’ heel and are doing something about it. The almighty dollar rests on a base of sand known as fiat money, which is not redeemable in a desirable commodity such as gold or silver. This characteristic has led to the inflation of the dollar over the past fifty years at an ever-accelerating rate. Such inflation causes the exchange value of the dollar to shrink.

Since President Richard Nixon took the US off what was left of the gold standard in the fall of 1971, the dollar’s value against gold has shrunk by 98 percent. No one believes that this debasement will end or even slow down. In fact, the US seems determined to accelerate the dollar’s depreciation to pay for its military adventures and expanding welfare programs. Combining the debasement of the dollar with the trade sanctions has created an intolerable situation for those currently in America’s bad graces.

But these nations are countering American hegemony by deploying their own arsenal—not nuclear weapons but gold. Like America and NATO during the Cold War, these nations are standing their ground and arming themselves with an alternative and better reserve currency; i.e., a currency backed by gold and to be used at least initially for settling international trade.

Russia has been working on the framework of a new trade settlement currency for quite some time, and now China and others—such as Iran, India, Brazil, and South Africa—are joining the project. There is nothing nefarious per se about establishing an alternative trade settlement system. One may call it rational self-interest.

It is a peaceful project, but its results may be devastating for countries that depend upon a stable dollar. Those who join the new system will no longer need to hold dollars. This fall in the demand to hold dollars will lead to an inevitable fall in its purchasing power, perhaps even to its total collapse. This could happen literally overnight and without warning, just like the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Blinded by Fallacious Ideologies

Of course, no one in a position of power in the US understands anything about real money and real finance. They are blinded by the promise of Keynesian economics and modern monetary theory, which posits that creating aggregate demand (Keynesianism) funded by massive money printing (modern monetary theory) is the sure path to economic progress. They fail to acknowledge that the steady fall in the purchasing power of the dollar and the rise of an alternative trade settlement system are the inevitable consequences of their blindness.

I see nothing that can stop the continued debasement of the dollar, now coupled with arrogant and harmful financial sanctions, that will prevent the peaceful establishment of an alternative international reserve currency and all the consequences that it will bring to an unprepared US-dominated world.

When disaster strikes and the SHTF (sh*t hits the fan), the time for planning has passed, and you need to be ready to rock and roll. Buying stuff and putting together kits is easy, but having supplies doesn’t ensure your survival. A good emergency plan and survival skills will give you a huge headstart. As…

The post SHTF Plan: Step-By-Step Guide To Surviving Any Disaster appeared first on Survival Cache.

@media (max-width:576px) { .read-more-content { height: 720em; } }

The post 10mm Glock Pistols: Enough Gun And Then Some appeared first on Ballistic Magazine.