Day: August 3, 2006


Letter Re: Solar Panel Shortage — Caused By Oil Price Shock

Hi Jim. Just a quick one on [photovoltaic] solar panels. My brother and I had to put an order in for three 80 Watt Sharp brand panels that are usually just sitting on the shelf here at a major distributor. A container full arrives in two weeks but it’s already sold out! We have to wait a month. I did a little investigation with Google and found that the shortage is worldwide, is due to people, mostly Europeans, gearing up due to energy/oil cost. Silicon [photovoltaic panel] demand is beginning to outstrip supply and the foundries are running at maximum …


Letter Re: Six Versus Eight Plies for SUV and Light Truck Tires

Hello, I’ve been enjoying reading your blog for several weeks now and wanted to add a bit on truck tire ratings from the perspective of somebody who used to own a small tire shop in truck country (rural Alaska). The whole thing with rating a tire by the number of plies dates back to the days of bias ply tires when the tires actually were load rated according to the number of plies. That system has been obsolete for years with the advent of radial tires, which are not constructed the same way to achieve the same strength. The letter …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader R.H. recommended this site with product reviews on flashlights–both traditional and LED type.    o o o It is nice to see that gold have silver are bouncing back from their summer doldrums, with gold at over $650 per ounce and silver at around $12.10. I believe that this coming fall and winter may show some impressive gains in precious metals prices.    o o o Front Sight is currently running its own writing contest. The prize is a Front Sight lifetime membership! For any of you that who would like to put your thoughts about Front Sight, …