Year: 2006

Letter Re: Source for the Full Text of the Web Novel “Lights Out”

Jim,
In your Saturday Blog of March 4th. you responded to a reader asking where to obtain David Crawford’s two fine stories. Your answer for “The Bug-Out” was okay, but your response for “Lights Out” of Frugal Squirrel’s site was not really a good one. Frugal has only about a quarter of David’s story available. The place to go is: a target=”_blank” href=”http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/LightsOut-Current.pdf”>http://www.giltweasel.com/stuff/LightsOut-Current.pdf This will get a full 600 odd page page PDF. document with the full story plus a title page, table of contents, prolog and epilogue.





Getting a Spouse “On Board” with Preparedness

James Wesley Rawles; I wanted to respond to the letter about how to get your spouse involved in preparedness. For several years I have been working as a preparedness consultant for individuals, families and groups who have an interest in preparing for disasters. I guide each group through a series of exercises to help them decide how prepared they want, choose and can afford to be. I like to start with a discussion to see if everyone is on the same page. Sometimes there are reluctant participants. I note that one usually learns to craw before they walk and walk …


Letter from Michael Z. Williamson Re: Body Armor, Ancient MREs, and Federally Exempt Handguns

Mr Rawles: Thanks for your review of The Weapon. I get a lot of feedback on it, regarding the risks of attack and terrorism. I’m glad to see people thinking about the subject more. Currently, I’m gearing up to do a nonfiction work about medics in combat in the current conflict. If any of the SurvivalBlog readers are or know anyone who is, do please have them contact me. I’ve got approval from the various branches public affairs, and I’m Guard myself. I’ll be treating the subject and troops as they deserve to be, and not looking to misquote for …



Note From JWR:

Note from JWR: We were hoping to provide searchable archives and RSS feeds. However, because of difficulties in getting our revised blog template (created in Blogger) to display properly in some versions of Internet Explorer, we have temporarily switched back to the old blog format (using Dreamweaver.)   Firefox and Netscape worked fine, but the glitches in I.E. thusfar elude us.  Once we get the bugs worked out, we will switch back to Blogger or perhaps another piece of blogging software. Today we feature another entry in Round 3 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best …


Making a Living in a Rural Environment, by JD

  If there were one factor that prevents people from living at their retreat more than any other, I would guess it to be employment. This isn’t surprising, as the very qualities that make a particular locale ideal for a retreat — rural, small population, away from major cities — also make it far less likely to find employment there. What little employment is available is often snapped up by locals who have been around far longer than any Johnny-come-lately carpetbaggers (and rightly so!) When my family moved to our tiny town from our fairly large city, I knew from …


Letter Re: Why “Invest” In Gold or Silver?

Jim: I came across some links that may help “clarify” why Gold/Silver for some readers. Keep up the good work! http://www.bambooweb.com/articles/h/y/Hyperinflation.html http://www.kitco.com/ind/Wiegand/feb142006.html http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_03/waltzek091003.html http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/ConfederateInflation.asp


Letter Re: Alternative to Creosote for Preserving Wood?

Hello Mr. Rawles, Had a question that you might be able to answer. Looking to do some preserving of wood that will be stuck in the ground. I used to work for a telephone pole repair company. We used a very plastic Creosote and Tar paper ( keeps dirt from soaking up the creosote ). I have been trying to figure out a way to create an alternative to creosote. The best I can think of is used motor oil and soap ( gas and soap being napalm ) this seemed logical to me. Wondered if you had any thought. …


The Recent “Opening” of the 6 Meter Band

Jim: The first two weeks of February were spectacular for us hams working the 6 meter band. From my home in Northern California, I worked all western states using only 10 watts on an Icom IC-560.  No power amplifier was needed. One QSO [two way conversation] that I did lasted for 30 minutes to a gentleman right outside of  Tombstone Arizona on 52.525 Mhz FM [mode]. What was so unusual about this, is that is was not in SSB mode. The QSO was nearly as good as a local 2 meter simplex contact. The gentleman was using an Alinco FM-only …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green." – Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse



Letter Re: “Group Standard” Firearms Standardization

James, I live in the Pacific Northwest, in an urban area and in the event of TEOTWAWKI, my wife and I will most likely bug out and retreat to a friend’s ranch just outside our urban growth boundary. The location is not ideal, but better than us attempting to retreat in place. The ranch is somewhat hidden and has a few acres of cleared fields around the house. My friend is retired and his immediate family will probably reside there too. He’s got a large house and there will be eight adults and two children living together. I’m a firearms …