Month: December 2005


Billionaire Richard Rainwater Concurs with Peak Oil Assessment

An interesting piece recently ran in Fortune magazine, regarding billionaire Richard Rainwater’s views’ on Peak Oil.  (The “Hubbert’s Peak” in global oil production, expected sometime in the next few years or perhaps 20 years, or perhaps 100 years, depending on who you talk to.) See:  http://www.fortune.com/fortune/investing/articles/0,15114,1139979-4,00.html SurvivalBlog reader Chuck, who first mentioned the Fortune article to me commented:  “I had the opportunity to review several of Richard Rainwater’s oil deals while at Mitchell Energy. His projects were always well conceived and forward-looking.”


David in Israel: More About Rifle Slings and Magazine Duplexing

The Israeli sling is the product of requiring most Chaileem since the surprise Yom Kippur war in 1973 to carry their personal weapon everywhere they go until they exit active duty. This leads to a design for a sling that is as comfortable in a bus terminal hitchhiking or walking in town but still quick to bring into action. The only thing I can think of to improve the Israeli sling is to replace the front cord with Kevlar boot lace threaded through parachute cord to resist UV, Kevlar is very heat resistant. Here with semi-auto being the general rule …



Letter Re: M1911 Pistols–What Constitutes “Over the Top”

Mr. Rawles, I’ve just finished reading your novel “Patriots”, and wish to thank you for providing such an insightful guide to preparation and the survival mindset, and a pretty darn entertaining read, to boot! My question concerns your preference for the M1911 .45 ACP pistol as a sidearm for one’s survival preparations. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the round’s advantages over lesser-powered cartridges such as 9mm or .40 S&W. And, since the ergonomics of the 1911 design in particular tend to suit me well personally (indeed, to whom does it not), I was wondering what your thoughts were regarding …


Mr. Bravo on HK91 Rifles

Jim, I agree about getting a real HK91 and not a clone. The HK91 is a great rifle with a few easily corrected but serious weaknesses. The trigger is heavy and poor, but an inexpensive and excellent fix is available from www.williamstriggers.com. The sights are mediocre, but the “1200 meter sight”, which can be found on the gun boards such as www.hkpro.com or www.sturmgewehr.com is much better, and can be drilled or fitted with an insert to provide the ideal aperture. The narrow, hard plastic butt stock can be punishing, but the butt end piece can be replaced with a …


Two Letters Re: SAR-8 HK91 Clone Rifles

Jim: A note on you post of 12/15 about the SAR-8. I wish I could point you to a single place on the Web where you could verify this, but there isn’t one. I gathered this info from a number of gun discussion boards after my (opportunistic) purchase of an SAR-8 at a gun show. There are two distinct SAR-8s, both handled by Springfield Armory. One is a steel receiver, made in Greece on original HK tooling. Known there as the SAR-3, it was changed to the SAR-8 by over striking the markings on the gun. Being an import, there …


Jim’s Quote of the Day

“…there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can. The best swordsman in the world doesn’t need to fear the second best swordsman in the world; no, the person for him to be afraid of is some ignorant antagonist who has never had a sword in his hand before; he doesn’t do the thing he ought to do, and so the expert isn’t prepared for him. – Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court


Note from JWR

Today we present another entry in Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best article will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries is the last day of January, 2006.


Discipline and Balance by Hamilton Tyler

There is always talk about the ‘survivalist mindset’ and how important it is to anyone who is going to prepare themselves and their family for whatever crisis they foresee. Some people get this mindset from previous experience (like Katrina survivors who we can hope will become advocates of personal preparedness), others from their religious convictions (Mormons, awaiting the Tribulation, etc), others get this mindset from objectively viewing world events and decide the world is risky place, and many others get this mindset from other places. All of these people, however, have at least one thing in common in their survival …


Rourke on The Survival Retreat Condo Development Concept

When most people think of a “condo”, they usually picture a flat or apartment in a high rise. Think instead of a more rural a recreational condo like a multi-family mountain ski chalet or some vacation condos on the beach or lakeside. Now consider the possibility of putting such a condo development in some rural rolling hills countryside adjacent to some farm land and combining the concept of a recreational retreat with a survival retreat. In this way, your survival retreat becomes a group endeavor, which offers several cost-saving advantages, establishes clear rights and responsibilities, and, also importantly, an operating …


Letter Re: Why Hollow Points For Barter?

Jim, I read today your recommendation to stock hollowpoint pistol calibers for barter. Why, exactly? I typically have been buying and storing inexpensive but name brand ammo for barter purposes, and usually in solids – 158gr .38, 230 grain .45 ACP, etc. I also use this sort of ammo for practice, and save the high performance ammo for defensive use.  Thanks for your time, – Flighter JWR Replies:  I anticipate that only half of my post-TEOTWAWKI customers will be knowledgeable about guns.  To the uneducated, hollow-points seem tremendously more deadly than full metal jacketed or soft led loads.  So, with that …


Letter Re: Geysers in Kingfisher, Oklahoma and the New Madrid Fault

James: I just watched the video of the geysers in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Just downright amazing what I saw. No, not the geysers ….. the people and what they said: Newsgirl …… “Something never seen here before and will never be seen again.” ??? Lady on the street …. “I’m just concerned that it may pollute our water supply.” Newsgirl … ” State officials say that fast moving natural gas underground is forced into pushing upwards.” Newsgirl ….. “State officials are trying to determine what the source of the natural gas is.” Do any of these people have any clue what …


Jim’s Quote of the Day

"To be ignorant and simple now–not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground–would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered." – C.S. Lewis


Note from JWR

Today, I’m catching up on replying to some older e-mails that included multiple questions. Because of time constraints, those are the ones that end up at the bottom of my “to do” list.  So if you’d like to see your questions answered  promptly, please limit your question e-mails to a single subject. Thanks!