Month: April 2006

Book Review: The Hunt for Confederate Gold by Thomas Moore

I recently read the novel “The Hunt for Confederate Gold” by Thomas Moore. (Published by Fusilier Books, ISBN 0976998203) It may sound cliched, but I couldn’t put it down! I am not surprised that it has a perfect five star rating on Amazon.com. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that it is three intertwined storylines wrapped into one. (One of which takes place in the closing days of the Confederate States of America.) This is Moore’s first novel. It is a thoroughly captivating, thought-provoking novel. I found it both entertaining and educational. Much like in my novel …


Letter Re: Tornado Damage and Retreat Construction

Hello James, It has been a busy weather pattern for this early in the spring in our area. Two weeks ago tornadoes, yesterday, snowflakes! I have been surveying some of the damage in our area and have been surprised at the damage a F1 category tornado can cause. It is imperative to understand that while a large percentage of homes built today are constructed to withstand 120 mph sustained winds, that this does not take into consideration that flying debris (like entire oak trees, cars, etc…) with large mass [that] cause enormous damage when faced with a sudden stop. There …


Letter Re: The Army and Marine Corps New “Digital” Pattern Camouflage Uniforms

Jim, I have to highly recommend AGAINST the Army’s new ACU uniform. Officially, there are only a few detergents “approved” for cleaning them, to avoid excess wear on the fabric. The running complaint from people with ACUs (a mere few months after issue) is that they wear out within a few washings. Soldiers are wearing them to look strack, but wearing their old BDUs in the field for durability. Also, ACUs are expensive. I got to see a firing line full of troops a couple of weeks ago. At less than 100 yards, both ACUs and the new MARPAT Marine …


Letter Re: Springfield Armory XD Series Polymer Frame Pistols are the Ars Nova

Hi Jim, A quick comment on the Springfield XD– a friend of mine purchased one recently and has been completely unable to acquire spare parts for it! Springfield will only sell spare parts to certified XD armorers– and word is that there are none of those yet. As of now, the market is limited to (Wolff) recoil springs, spare mags, and components such as replacement sights. So if something breaks, you have to ship your pistol to the manufacturer. Now, random parts breakage is fairly rare, but this is the death knell for these guns, in my opinion, as a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A reader mentioned this site with some good general information, particularly on assembling survival kits.    o o o SurvivalBlog reader B.T. found this link to a PDF of The U.S. Army Survival Manual. (19 chapters and eight appendices, each as a separate PDF file.)    o o o A lengthy but informative piece on Peak Oil.  


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It was on the Rütli Meadow that the Swiss Confederation was first formed on 1 August 1291. For 650 years, Swiss fighting men had earned the reputation as the most ferocious in Europe. Their determined refusal to live under the rule of foreign kings, was legendary. Most people know the story of William Tell, the hero who refused to bow before the Austrian governor Gessler. He was condemned to shoot an apple off the head of his 6-year old son at 120 paces. If he refused, both father and son would be executed. In a remarkable display of archery skill, …


Note from JWR:

A reminder that the deadline for entries for Round 4 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is May 31, 2006. The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. There haven’t been may entries yet for this round, so your chances of being judged the winner are better in this round. Please e-mail me your entries, and I will post them.


More About Those Pesky CC&Rs

I’ve been doing some research this week for a consulting client this week, trying to find her an ideal retreat property. One 10 acre parcel I found looked promising, so I made some inquiries. I was told that the land was in a Homeowner’s Association (HOA) and that there were “a few” CC&Rs. So I asked, “How many?” and “Can you FAX me the CC&Rs to review?” The agent called back an hour later, and sheepishly told me: “I can’t FAX them to you, because I found out that the CC&R document runs 207 pages.” Needless to say, my client …


Letter Re: Update on Asian Avian Flu, by Rourke

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1716820 March 22, 2006 – why it’s not going human to human (yet) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4829858.stm Where is it now (map) http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_threats/com/Influenza/ai_recent_en.htm and http://www.birdflumap.com/ Note that there is a Yahoo group on this that John Locke hosts: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BIRDFLUWATCH/ I should also mention that a person on my group alerted me to this site on bird flu: http://www.fluwikie.com which has the most forthright presentation of what you can do and should consider as to hygiene that I have seen: http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Consequences.PersonalHygiene Regards, – Rourke


Letter Re: Springfield Armory XD Series Polymer Frame Pistols are the Ars Nova

Dear Jim: Well the Glock may finally have been outclassed in the self-defense pistol category! A diehard 1911 guy sings the praises of the XD for ergonomics and reliability, see this post at 1911.com. …and rates it BETTER than the Glock: “Both have polymer frames, are square and blocky, and have the little trigger flange safety thing. The sights and trigger on the Glock are plastic; they are steel on the XD. I think the trigger and grip on the XD is better. The XD has a grip safety like the 1911; the Glock does not. The XD pistols tend …


Odds ‘n Sods:

As a follow-up to our recent item on surplus Titan missile bases, a reader spotted this fly-in dream home/bunker for New Yorkers: http://www.silohome.com. The asking price is a cool $2.3 Million. OBTW, please don’t bug Bruce James with any questions unless you are a sincere, qualified, potential buyer. And if you do you buy the place, tell Mr. James that Jim Rawles from SurvivalBlog sent you, and hopefully I’ll get a nice little “non-agent” commission.)    o o o Financial analyst Puru Saxena warns “Cash is Trash.”    o o o It is hardly a news flash for SurvivalBlog readers, …



Letter Re: Accelerating Prices for Copper and Zinc–A U.S. Penny Now Costs 1.4 Cents

Jim, Just one more note regarding the rising cost of metals, especially copper in the market – I sent an earlier message regarding recycling cartridge brass (which contains copper) instead of stockpiling copper, but now the New York Times notes in a Saturday brief: “Price of a Penny Could Exceed a Cent – What happens if a penny is worth more than one cent? That is an issue the U.S. Mint could soon face if the price of metals keeps rising. The cost of the metal in a penny has climbed to almost one cent. Add in the cost of …


Letter Re: Countdown to Collapse

Jim: I think we now have another way to compute the countdown to the collapse of our society as we know it. Several months ago I read on one of the economic web sites, we both visit, that for every penny the price of fuel goes up $1,400,000 per day is sucked out of the consumer economy. With oil at $74 per barrel today and the PENAC people pushing for another Middle East war, this one with Iran, we are looking at oil reaching $125 per barrel or higher as soon as this dumb war starts. This translates to $5.25 …


Letter Re: A Good Source for Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs)

Jim: Here is the best place by far that I have found when it comes to quality BDUs and good prices: www.BDU.com. I have ordered from them in the past, and the next time I order I’m going to tell them about SurvivalBlog.- Gung Ho JWR Adds: For any SurvivalBlog readers that live in sagebrush country, I highly recommend the new U.S. Army gray-green “digital” camouflage pattern. You will blend in very well in sagebrush. The only drawback is that these uniforms have some Velcro closures which are noisy.