More Subscribers?

I notice this blog is getting more subscribers!  At the time of this posting until Friday, I will be importing (or attempting to import) subscribers to our website.

Please subscribe at our new blog post until then!

ghillieandmongo.com

And please read our last update for more info:

We’ve Moved!

After this week, subscriptions will be closed at this URL, as well as commenting and more.  All the old posts from here have been moved over to the new site where the commenting feature is enabled.

At the new site, you will find things like…

1. Latest project/items for sale:
   
2. Latest product we love:
   
3. Most recent posts by Mongo:
   Spring and the seed catalogs are on the wing
   17th Century Style Tallow Production
4. Upcoming posts by Ghillieman:
   Apocalypse Currency
   The Paracord of all Paracords
5. Our store will soon be live!!!

So, please head on over.  You’ll be glad you did.

Cheers,

Dharmachick.

We’ve moved!

ghillieandmongo.com

We’re currently live over at our new official website.  As we settle into our new home, please note that we’re undergoing a lot of changes.

What to expect:

1. We’re having some difficulty importing comments to the website.  If we’ve lost any, I apologize.
2. We manually re-added links.  We are trying to be far more organized, so links have their own subcategories.  If you don’t see yours there, please e-mail me at oldageandtreachery@gmail.com.
3. We’re still tweaking the website quite a bit, so we’re working on twitter badge, facebook, social share, template, and various other plug-ins.
4. Some of our pages are funky looking, unfortunately.  In fact, suffice it to say that we’re a bit of a mess at the moment.  Those good ole moving blues where it’s kind of like we have unpacked boxes sitting around.  We’re keeping the old theme, though.
5. All old posts have been imported into the new website, but we are keeping the old posts here as well.  Reason for that is to keep an archive and to re-direct repeat visitors from this URL to the new URL.  New posts will continue over there, without any update to this one.  Don’t miss it!
6. Good news: We’re still the crazy crew of Ghillieman, Mongo, and Dharma!

So, hurry your booty over to that new website! I’m still basking in the glow of having our own brand new domain site.  Remember that new car smell?  Yeah, novelty hasn’t worn off yet.

Cheers and see you there,

Dharmachick.

ETA: It would be very helpful to me if you pointed me in the direction of the best themes to use.  You can share in the comments below! I wanted something like PageLines and Themia for:

1. Option to change font type, style, and sizes for post titles, subtitles, and content.  That was cool.
2. Sleek and professional lay-out, while maintaining a personal feel.
3. Variety of lay-out and templates within the theme, as well as varying color schemes.  It would be nice to have a bit of Elegant Grunge w/ a Pageline or Themia layout! Lol.
4. When pressing a nav button (pages, subscribe button, etc), it looks squishy.  I love that!
5. They didn’t quite have this for me (or I was too dumb to figure it out), but I wanted awesome social buttons lined up at the top of the site.
6. Any sizes of customizable header.
7. Both Pageline and Themia are premium themes, but they had options to get free/lite versions of those themes.  I couldn’t find that for the others.
8. Oh, and works within my budget! That includes free to $30.

What do you say?

It’s Six Feet of Cord, Dummy!

At school yesterday, my oldest son corrected a classmate that paracord bracelets are not just “fashionable”.

“It’s six feet of cord, dummy!” he said.  After he told me that, we talked about paracord bracelets for awhile.  I came away with a request to make one for my son.

I can’t explain just how proud and happy that makes me.  My sons are well-known for their love of all things army and preparedness.  My youngest son has a cross-body EDC bag that resembles my wife’s black bag.  It’s simple things like their awareness of prepper lifestyle in little things, as well as their curiosity, that makes me happy.

Fear of Fire is the Beginning of Reason.

There’s little in the world that I fear more than fire.  An irreplaceable tool when contained, an unbelievably destructive force when allowed to run free.

While many people have Fire Insurance on their homes and an extinguisher somewhere in the house, it is often under the kitchen sink or in the garage, out of sight and neglected until necessity demands it work immediately and perfectly.  When was the last time you looked at yours or the last time you actually inspected the extinguisher?  Do you even remember the last time you had preventative maintenance done?

The trigger finger, all that separates us from the animals

The United States Federal Government as currently constituted exists solely to wield force against the individual by creating laws to control behavior it deems unacceptable or contrary to the common good.  Common Good being defined by those in positions of authority who are most often interested in their own good rather than that of the people.  To that end, they are ever ready to impose onerous restrictions on the ability of the citizenry to possess firearms. As any politician knows, an armed citizen can not be threatened or intimidated into submission he can only be reasoned with or the politician having failed to securing compliance through honeyed words, killed.  A less than optimal outcome for a dead slave is a poor slave.

When one is armed, one is capable of resisting coercion and force.  Unarmed, one is incapable of resistance in any meaningful way.  Citizen versus subject can be defined as the ability to offer resistance in the face of compulsion and the surest tool of resistance is the modern firearm.  Not since the first rock was tied to a stick has such power been concentrated into the hands of a single individual as the alchemy of gun powder, pipe, and lead.

Knots and Ropework – Or Mongo ties one on.

One of the most useful and inexpensive skills to acquire is knot tying.

From the complex and beautiful Turks Head to the utilitarian Trucker’s Hitch, knowing how to correctly secure cord or rope can save you from much embarrassment.   That includes expense when your truck borne load goes flying into oncoming traffic.  Yes, it’s happened to me.  Thankfully, no one was hurt, but there were a few moments of sheer terror followed by well deserved cursing, at me and by me.

S has H the F. What Now? Excerpt

Below is an excerpt of my post that may be showing up on Preparedness Blogs.  Look for it on Thursday, March 1st, 2012.  Update: It is now live!  Link is below.

3 options for Redundant Communication Plans for any contingency | Rural North Carolina

Rating for this blog by Rural North Carolina: 4 1/2 Stars.

3 options for Redundant Communication Plans for any contingency | Rural North Carolina.

Communication is highly important.  Granted, for this deaf girl, it would be a difficult obstacle to overcome in a survival scenario.

When SHTF, I would have to generate sort of verbal codes that I can quickly hear and understand with others, especially if we are going to be communicating via redundant communication.

American Dream has Changed

Reading this will spark some sort of passionate response in you — either a total disagreement or a total agreement: Death of The American Dream? America 1950 v.s. America 2012 – Mr. Conservative.

After you’ve read that, let me for a moment turn your attention towards this piece of art by Terry Downs, which is $60 if you were interested in it.  A click of this image will take you to where credit is due.

The American Dream of Bounty

That picture alone makes me yearn for those kind of days.  If you dig around, however, there’s some families in the South that’s keeping this reality alive everyday.  More and more people are looking at a return to this lifestyle but in looking forward with having it hand in hand with modern technology.  Should modern technology fade away, they would still have their homestead.  More people are looking at a Prepper lifestyle, too.  Still, some things from that article  should be considered.

If knowing is half the battle, we’ve got them whooped already, they just ain’t figured it out yet.

You will have noticed several of the books on my last list were U.S. Army training manuals.  Some of you may be asking yourself why this particular source of information for S.R.S. or Self Reliance and Survival training.  As I’ve had occasion to answer that question before, I thought I’d go ahead and explain my thinking.