Year: 2006

Excerpts from Seven Reader Letters Re: Sources for Canned Hams

…The Army Aviator might want to track down Plumrose ham. I’ve bought the cans at Sam’s Club in 3 packs, and at CVS in singles. No refrigeration needed, but they are only one pound cans. They are not an American product, they are an import from Denmark… The DAK brand Danish canned hams are…   …at Walmart on occasion. I also like supporting our friends in Denmark… …PLUMROSE makes a 3 pound ham in a sealed metal can… …I buy mine at SAM’s Club, WalMart, and Publix….SAM’s have them in a 3 pack, and I usually get 2 or 3 [of  …



Letter Re: Making a Living in The Country

James, Going back to the subject of, “Well now I live in the middle of nowhere, how do I make a living?” The middle of nowhere is surrounded by farms, small towns and older townsfolk. What does this mean? Antiques! Old store signs, auto parts signs, gas pumps, oil can racks and tools will bring in a nice price from eBay or other auction houses. Just think of the estate sales or farm sales! Generations of old furniture and other household goods! Yes it’s sad to watch our farms and farmers die off (I’ve read that the average age of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The mainstream media pundits keep saying that “inflation remains low”, yet Uncle Sugar’s own statistics show that the aggregate supply of U.S. dollars in circulation (both printed and electronic) grew from $2.5 trillion in 2000 to $4.5 trillion by the end of 2005. So is it any wonder that price of gold and gasoline have nearly doubled?  One might conclude that we are not so much seeing commodities going up in value as we are seeing the dollar going down in value. I recommend that you protect yourself from the mass price inflation to come. There could even a full …



From The Memsahib: Do You Know Where Your Gardening Seed Comes From?

This is the time of year when all those inspiring colorful seed catalogs are arriving. I have been spending too much time dreaming of my Spring garden and comparing the offerings of all the different catalogs. That was until the latest issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal (March/April ’06) arrived. There, I read the article by Jerri Cook on page 60 entitled “Do You Know Where Your Seed Come From?” According to this article, just six companies: Dupont, Mitsuri, Monsanto, Syngents, Aventis, and Dow control 98 percent of the world’s seeds. Monsanto holds over eleven thousand U.S. seed patents. …


Letter Re: Defensive Shotguns on a Budget

James: Jake at The Armory brings up a good point to expand on, regarding the feeding of a Mossberg pump shotgun with a Sidewinder detachable magazine. [His premise was correct that] you don’t have a mag tube to feed anymore. So, if you don’t have a spare detachable magazine, you throw in a new round through the ejection port. From a Sidesaddle this is very fast with practice. It’s fastest to load the shells in the Sidesaddle with the rim (primer end) up. Keep the weapon at the shoulder, grab the shell, go over the top of the receiver and …


Letter From The Army Aviator on Various Topics

James: To catch up on several topics… On Satellite Internet: As you all probably know from previous letters, I do both motor home living and the ranch, out in the country without common city amenities. For the last 10 years or so, I’ve been using Direcway satellite for the internet and TV at both locations. I put in a real T-1 at work back in 1996 and honestly, other than the fact that uploads do take a little longer through the satellite, I don’t see any obvious difference at home via satellite. Perhaps it’s the fact that I have a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Readers on the East Coast should make plans to attend the specialized Tactical Lifesaver Course on April 15-16, 2006, in Douglas, Georgia. A Iraq war vet Physician’s Assistant will teach you a lot of skills that the American Red Cross doesn’t. (Such as: how to prep an intravenous infusion, how to insert and orthopharyngeal airway, wound debridement, suturing, how to treat a sucking chest wound, and much more.)  Don’t miss this one. In fact, SurvivalBlog readers from Canada or the West Coast ought to seriously consider burning some of their accumulated frequent flyer miles to attend this course. See: http://www.survivalreportblog.com/Tactical_Lifesaver_Course.html    …



Letter Re: Road Blocks

Jim, One point that should be made regarding obstacles around the retreat such as ditches barricades etc. Be sure to look at them from the “other” side as well. You don’t want to give your adversary firing positions and areas you can’t put fire into. Ditches may keep vehicles out, but it gives the opponent some place to run to and get out of the field of fire. Walls, barricades, road blocks and other obstacles can do the same. Perhaps you can go into more detail on that later on. Enjoying your blog and learning quite a bit.Good luck! – …



Letter Re: Changing The Retreat Locale Paradigm: Cellular Phones and Two-Way Satellite Internet Systems

Survival Communications, Cellular Phones, Satellite Internet Service Hello James, I was faced with making decisions on how to connect to the Internet at a faster connection as the city technology has not reached me yet. I looked into DirecWay and Dynamic Broadband, and I can’t find the other company off hand. In my research, there was a hefty out of pocket to acquire the equipment, and bulkier fees per month with contracts running years. I found in looking further that claims of download speeds were just that–download only. It turns out that the upload speed,(at least to residential isolated candidates) …


Letter Re: Defensive Shotguns on a Budget

Sir: I’m not sure about one letter you posted on February 10th. While I have no direct experience with them it is my understanding that the conversion for the [Mossberg 500] Knox drum and magazines do not allow the use of the gun’s original magazine tube. Thus, the Sidesaddle and shell carrier on the butt COULD be used to “combat load” through the ejection port with the Knox drum/mag conversion [in place] but otherwise it only adds weight to the gun. The conversion (I believe) only allows feeding from the box mag/drum). Hopefully someone with hands-on experience will be able …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I just finished reading the science fiction novel “Freehold” by Michael Z. Williamson.  It is a fast-paced Libertarian think piece. “Freehold” is a tale of interplanetary colonization, set some 500 years in the future. The descriptions of the bureaucratic totalitarian central Earth government are contrasted with the “Freehold” colony planet, Grainne. The main character is an Earth army logistics soldier that is unjustly accused of embezzlement. Realizing that she can never get a fair trial on Earth, she flees to Grainne. There, she finds a new world with a minimalist government and the sort of freedom that is only dreamed of. …