Note from JWR:

The high bid is still at $260 in the current SurvivalBlog benefit auction, This one is for a big batch of 16 survival/preparedness reference books, courtesy of the fine folks at Ready Made Resources. (They are one of our first and most loyal advertisers. Be sure to visit their site and check out their huge inventory of preparedness-related products. BTW, they have additional copies of each of the titles listed below, as well as more than a hundred other titles.)




Letter Re: Minimum Safe Distance From The Big City for Retreat Locales?

Dear Jim: Re your recommendation that a retreat for TEOTWAWKI needs to be “at least one tank of gas away from the big cities–preferably at least 300 miles, if possible” to escape at least the worst of roving looter gangs. I agree 100% — I see getting out of the [path of the] flow of looters as the # 1 problem. Just like real estate – LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. You can store food, and learn how to grow food in time (or barter stored wealth) but no matter how good you are, sooner or later you’ll take casualties if you …




Letter Re: Is Radio Direction Finding a Potential Threat for Survivalists?

Mr. Rawles: Hey, I was just wondering what everyone with radios is planning in order to conceal the location of their transmissions from people who could potentially use the signal as a beacon to guide them right to your antenna. It might be fairly difficult to build a tracker, but I suspect there are pre-made devices to direction-find a fairly strong signal (e.g. ham radio). Thanks, – James D. JWR Replies: The only people that have effective radio direction finding (“DF“) equipment and the requisite expertise to operate it are A.) The NSA and a few other government agencies such …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Dr. Geri Guidetti of The Ark Institute mentioned that she still has a good inventory of her book "Surviving A Bioterrorist Attack: Prevention, Treatment and Management." I highly recommend that you get a copy. It could be a life-saving resource!    o o o Denver digs out from an early winter storm. Governor Bill Owens is advising motorists to stay off of the state highways. Meanwhile, Christmas travelers are stranded at the Denver airport.    o o o Reader B.H. sent this one: Report Reveals 2.2 Million Borrowers Face Foreclosure on Subprime Home Loans. It looks like and ugly end …