Day: November 10, 2006

Notes from JWR:

Fall, in all its glory, has come to the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Here at the Rawles Ranch, the aspen and tamarack trees recently took on a brilliant golden hue. With last week’s storm, the aspens shed all of their foliage, but the tamaracks still look resplendent. This is my favorite time of year. I love feeling the crisp air, the smell of wood smoke, the pleasant sights of venison hanging and cordwood stacked, and the taste of freshly made applesauce. All is well here. We are nearly ready for winter. The high bid is still at $100 …


The Forgotten Survival Skill: Physical Fitness, by Ron D.

Most of the people of the world and especially Americans are urban dwellers. We commute to an office every day and sit at a desk. Just as the skills needed to do this don’t prepare us for a shortage of water or food, they don’t prepare us to evacuate on foot or run from danger. But unlike other parts of preparedness, they actually work against us in a future survival situation. When I was a freshman in college I was returning to school in Oklahoma with a friend. About three miles outside a little town in the middle of no …


Two Letters Re: Alcohol and Tobacco as Barter Items

Mr. Rawles: Thanks to Warhawke for his very well written article. There are two items conspicuous in their absence, tobacco and alcohol. I seem to remember reading somewhere, perhaps in the novel Lucifer’s Hammer, that people will always want to smoke and drink no matter how bad things are. I am wondering if you and/or Warhawke have any thoughts? Would it be prudent to stock an occasional can of Plowboy tobacco and some of the little airline bottles of booze? I’m very Interested in your thoughts. – Carl In Wisconsin Sir: Greetings and thanks for the great web site. In …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Bad news for American ex-pats in Nicaragua? “Former Communist” Daniel Ortega won the Nicaraguan election. Ortega says he wants an end to “savage capitalism”.    o o o The folks at Ready Made Resources mentioned that they only have a few pair of AN/TA-1042 field telephones left in stock. They are late issue full duplex digital field phones.They even come with a trickle charging photovoltaic panel. I highly recommend these field phones for coordinating retreat security.    o o o John the Bowhunter recommended both our Quote of the Day and this article: Veteran CIA hand is choice for Secretary …