Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.
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A quite informative video: Off-Grid Internet + Emergency Comms? Starlink Mini Might Be The Piece Of Tech You’ve Been Missing. JWR’s Comments: For storage, I’d recommend using a big milsurp 20mm ammo can with an RF gasket retrofit, for some EMP/solar flare Faraday cage protection. I’m hopeful that the promised next generation of Starlink Mini units that will be manufactured to cater to the RV crowd will allow more efficient DC-to-DC operation. (Rather than the present-day inefficient DC-to-AC inversion and then back to DC kludginess.) All that you will need to worry about is providing a stable 12-volt DC power source. When that generation is released is when I plan to make the switch and retire our First Generation Starlink with the round antenna. Starlink: The Next Generation will be better suited to the off-grid power system at our ranch, and it will also give us the option of going mobile, in our RV/bugout vehicle. (Even folks like us, who live at our retreat year-round, need to have a bugout plan. We had to evacuate our ranch for two weeks a decade ago, because of some local forest fires. As serious preppers, we see the need to have contingency planning. We never know when we might have to evacuate again, for whatever reason.) – JWR
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Carney says Canada in talks to join Trump’s Golden Dome defence system.
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Outdoor Life: The Best Solar Chargers of 2025, Tested and Reviewed.
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Video: 12-Year-Old Boy with ‘Heart of a Fireman’ Rescues Family from Burning Home. (A hat tip to D.S.V. for the link.)
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SaraSue sent this snippet:
“Another extremely busy week and tons of rain. We have had much more rain than normal in April, May, and now June. As a result, my barn flooded. With continued rain, there’s no chance of it drying out. Unfortunately, the barn is at the bottom of a hill rather than at the top of a hill as it should be, or at least in an area where the rain will drain away from it. I believe the reason for its placement, originally, was because it was in a shady area and away from the main house. I have no idea why anyone would put a barn at the bottom of a hill, but there it is. The barn has a dirt floor that looks like, at one time, it had a gravel floor. Now, it is just dirt. It’s a lovely little barn with three good-sized stalls and a run-in area. The stalls have sturdy locking gates and I have used them for pig farrowing, for calves, and for storing hay. The run-in portion has been good for cows to get out of severe weather, which we’ve had plenty of. Up until now, it has never flooded. Right now, it is completely unusable. Fortunately, the hay delivery for the year fit in another small barn I have, which is at the top of the hill.
I was able to move the steer calf out of the barn to pasture with another calf and her mom. I was afraid the cow would reject the calf and push it around, but my fears were not realized. He will still be on the bottle unless, by some miracle, the cow accepts him for nursing as she nurses her own.
I harvested about 100 lbs of potatoes out of the garden, with two more beds to go when they are ready. I planted Viking Reds, Red Norland, Yukon Gold, and Kennebec white potatoes. I have a room in the house in the northwest corner that I can keep cool and that has become my “root cellar” and storage room in the absence of other options. I layered the potatoes with pine chips in cardboard boxes to keep them dry. I have used that method before and it works. I’m very happy with the quantity and quality of the potatoes after changing over to raised bed gardening. The zucchini and squash plants are exploding with fruit, the cabbage eaten up by cabbage moths (note to self: cover them next year), and all the other plants are seemingly fine. It’s nice to start eating out of the garden!”
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After some well-publicized ka-booms, three lots of Magtech 5.56mm have been recalled.
Specifically:
Lot Number: CBC546/24
Lot Number: CBC591/24
Lot Number: CBC601/24
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“Mostly Peaceful” riots? You’ll Have to Hear It to Believe It.
Also see on the street reporting: Los Angeles Has Fallen… Anti-ICE Protesters Takeover the City.
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Meanwhile, in Italy: Violent riots during pro-Palestinian protest in Rome: Local Team’s full coverage.
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Reader “Toby” had these comments:
“My 2 cents on water testing:
Leaving Canada? What Canadians and Albertans Think About the Prospect of Alberta Sovereignty.
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