Month: May 2006

David in Israel Re: Buckshot’s Survival Attitude Versus the “Commando” Survival Attitude

James: Just a quick response as I expect such responses after the pro .30-30 posts. 1- Outfit with a basic defensive firearm .30-30, SKS, 12 gauge, etc. 2- Take care of other more important survival purchases 3- When your budget allows upgrade to better defensive weapons 4- Don’t let ownership of exotic/military utility weapons make you believe you are a SEAL (the point of the .30-30 post) Unless defense is the most pressing danger, then don’t sink your whole survival budget into guns if you can already accomplish that mission with existing arms. Most of us enjoy firearms and we …


Letter From Buckshot Re: Housing Bubble Schizophrenia

Hi Jim, I was over on Realtor.com and checking on housing prices for the bubble. On the right hand side was books advertisements. The first one listed was Cash in on the Coming Real Estate Crash, the second book was Learn How to Profit from Foreclosures Without Risking Your Savings! the books are from Wiley real estate.   Talk about Wiley Coyote stepping off the cliff on part of the page they are trying to sell houses and the other part they are saying Real Estate is going to crash. Only in America. Here’s the link to Wiley


Letter Re: Firearms Training and Subsequent Practice

Jim: Reading the letter from the gentleman who mentioned on all the western states instruction opportunities compared to the eastern ones, I noticed my all-time favorite instructor was not mentioned: Pat Goodale, of Practical Firearms Training. His primary range is located in West Virginia, and I wholeheartedly recommend his courses. Last year I decided I was slacking off with my practice and signed up for a full summer of his courses (he also owns a company in Montana, so there are courses offered here as well). I took Defensive Handgun I, II, and III, Precision Rifle, Tactical Rifle, and will …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Trading on the new Russian RTS oil and gold bourse begins June 8th. The transactions will be denominated in Euros. Sound familiar? This does not bode well for the U.S. Dollar.    o o o The US DoD Upgrades its Assessment of the Chinese Military Threat.    o o o Here in the U.S., the unsold house inventory backlog jumped to 565,000 in April. The housing bubble has popped. There are no more bidding wars for houses. Now its price cut after price cut. In the coastal markets, I anticipate a race to the bottom, most likely starting in September …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Jake: What’s this? Elwood: What? Jake: This car. This stupid car. Where’s the Cadillac? The Caddy? Where’s the Caddy? Elwood: The what? Jake: The Cadillac we used to have. The Blues Mobile! Elwood: I traded it. Jake: You traded the Blues Mobile for this? Elwood: No. For a microphone. Jake: A microphone? Okay I can see that. Well, what the h**l is this? Elwood: This was a bargain. I picked it up at the Mount Prospect City Police auction last spring. It’s an old Mount Prospect Police Car. They were practically giving them away. Jake: Well, thank you pal. The …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another article for Round 4 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up up to $2,000!) Round 5 of the contest begins on June 1st.


Using Rechargeable Batteries, by Northwest Huey

There have been a number of comments on SurvivalBlog about rechargeable batteries. The majority of these expressed the feeling that rechargeable batteries were expensive and ineffective for a long term storage plan. Before anyone gives up on rechargeable batteries I would like to share a plan that has proven effective for my family. One day I sat down and assessed my family’s state of preparedness. Like many others, we needed more beans, bullets and band-aids. Turns out, we also needed more batteries. Before I started buying batteries, I tried to think of creative ways to minimize the number of batteries …


Letter Re: Growing Dwarf Fruit Trees Indoors?

Dear Jim: I was wondering if any green thumbs out there have actually grown dwarf fruit trees indoors? Regards, – Rourke The Memsahib Replies: Yes, fruit trees can be grown indoors but each flower must be hand pollinated unless you have a house full of bees, butterflies, and/or flies. That means for each piece of fruit that you hope to produce, you must transfer pollen from one flower to another. Fruit will not develop unless the male pollen enters the female ovum. This can be done with the tip of a feather. If you have only room for one tree, …



From The Memsahib: Lessons Learned from The Black Death

The following are some interesting quotes that I found when doing some of genealogy research. (One of my ancestors was a Norseman who died of the plague in Avignon in 1349.) In Parma, Italy, the poet Petrarch wrote to his brother: When has any such thing been even heard or seen; in what annals has it ever been read that houses were left vacant, cities deserted, the country neglected, the fields too small for the dead and a fearful and universal solitude over the whole earth?… Oh happy people of the future, who have not known these miseries and perchance …


Letter Re: Request for Advice on Dog Breeds

Hi, Jim. I wanted to reply to the thread about Advice on Dog Breeds. Here is my main point:  Dogs are are like guns, in that there is no one true “all purpose” dog breed.   The very qualities that make a dog a good herding dog will make for a poor protection dog.  Sometimes even, the qualities that make for a good watch dog will make for a poor guard dog.  (A watch dog’s purpose is to alert you to a potential intruder.  A guard dog’s purpose is to hold, bite and stop and intruder.)   As the former owner of …



Getting Out of Dodge Convoy Operations, by Seand406

Introduction One of the greatest areas of risk for many of the regular readers of SurvivalBlog will come about while taking our exfiltration routes from current locations to safe areas/hidey holes following a TEOTWAWKI situation. While this topic has come about to some extent in previous postings, (and covered to great extent in the novel, “Patriots”.) I feel that a greater discussion is called for in regard to the seriousness of this event for group travel preparations. The following information is based upon a year-long stint in Afghanistan throughout which my three-man team conducted daily un-armored convoy patrol/recon operations while …


From David in Israel: Home Birth Report–Twin Mitzvahs

James My wife just delivered twins–one boy one girl. Blessed is Hashem who is good and does good. They were delivered in our home by a very competent French doctor. (French medical school has a much wider scope in traditional medicine.) Both babies were breach position but were delivered by allowing the baby’s to exit in a sitting position from a one leg out position (the assistant described it like a twisting motion), sadly I did not see exactly how this was accomplished and is beyond the scope of my [previous EMT] training. Childbirth is hopefully the most common major …


Letter Re: An Urban/Suburban “Stay Put” Survival Strategy

Hi again Jim, I felt I must respond to David’s earlier post regarding self defense weapons and Buckshot’s suggestion of a .30-30 lever action as being your sole means of self defense. While many of your readers may live in rural areas with ready access to hunting and lower population densities there are many millions more like myself who live in major urban areas and make our living here. Many of us have a dream of some remote survival retreat well stocked and self sufficient with water and food but its not a reality at the moment.  Depending upon the …