Year: 2006

Letter Re: Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic

Jim: [In your article on Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic] you mention: “Stock up on Acetominophen (Tylenol) and Ibuprofen (Motrin) as well – for treating fevers.” Some of us know that a mild fever is a good thing. [It is part of the] immune system response to fighting the virus. Aspirin is a symptom treater and can cause a virus to live longer in it’s host. See: http://survivalmonkey.com/forum/a-fever-is-a-good-thing-to-a-point-vt1842.htm?highlight=fever JWR Replies: Yes, a mild fever can be a good thing, but a high fever can cause complications. A high fever should definitely be knocked down quickly.  Hence my advice …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible." Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (D.) Minn. "Know Your Lawmakers" Guns magazine, …



Army Upgrades Interceptor Ballistic Armor With New Side Panels

(Quoting the American Forces Press Service, Jan 10, 2005, by Jim Garamone) The Army will continue to improve body armor issued to soldiers, and will begin manufacturing side-panel inserts to the Interceptor ballistic armor (IBA), officials said here today.  The side panels, which weigh three pounds, will be made of the same material as the small-arms protective inserts. Army Col. Thomas Spoehr is in charge of fielding body armor. He said the Interceptor body armor now issued to servicemembers protects against most of the threats they face in Iraq and Afghanistan today. “It’s the best body armor in the world,” …


Letter Re: What is The Big Deal About Pre-1899s and 80% Complete Receivers?

Jim – I guess I am thickheaded and missing something here. What difference does a pre-1899 or a 80% finished firearm make? Are you trying to tell me that the jackbooted thugs of the ATF will stop, examine the rifle, determine that it is legally not a firearm, and not steal/confiscate it from you? Got it, no 4473/record of it, but neither is there one between private individuals either, so why pay $120 for a pre ’98 barreled receiver, when I can get a complete working Mauser for that? I’m not trying to be ugly here – just really don’t …


Letter Re: Truck, Auto, ATV, Motorcycle, and Bicycle Tire Repair

James, When I was in high school (in the early 1980s) I had no money and would find tires for my car by the side of the road. If it said E78-14 on the side and had more tread than the worst tire on the car, it came home. I could change a tire by breaking the bead using the bumper jack on my Sister’s Dodge Dart. Flip it over, break the other side. Remove from the rim with a pair of tire spoons that my Father had, then repeat in reverse to get the new tire on the rim. …


Letter From Rourke Re: Insulated Concrete Forms for Home/Retreat Construction

This is in response to a letter from B.V. (posted 1/12/06) on Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) and http://www.polysteel.com. As I said in my 1/7/05 letter, the major shortfall of this type of construction is the roof. Otherwise, this a good idea, in particular to insulate the concrete wall from the elements so it acts as helpful thermal mass for heating and cooling efficiency. Also, reinforced poured concrete is far superior to block, just try drilling through each sometime. There are several companies that make these systems. I happen like the hanger system (for joists and trusses, etc.), and the system …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. This gives exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball are too violent for the body and stamp no moral character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walk." -Thomas Jefferson


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 2 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. This one is excellent. Don’t just read this article, folks. Implement it! The writer of the best contest entry will win a four day course certificate at Front Sight. (An up to $2,000 value!)  The deadline for entries is the last day of January, 2006.


Getting Your Group to Buy In: The $20 Medical Kit, By EMT J.N.

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Overview After the Katrina fiasco, a lot of my friends started to get interested in preparedness. Having some experience as an EMT and SAR volunteer, I decided to take the initiative and organize a group buy on medical supplies. This article is intended to help others who would like to put together low-cost, practical medical kits, particularly for a group. For the short version, skip down to The Kit: Part I. Otherwise, read on. Background For any kind of preparedness project, it’s best to have a set of goals in mind at the outset. The goals I came up with …


Letter Re: Survival Gun Selection

JWR: As to your post on “Survival Gun Selection” in reference to having spare parts. If you have one or two of the same “tool” and have spare parts, it would be best to check that the spare parts fit. Make sure they both fit and function. It would be best to do your fitting beforehand whenever possible. Richard, KT Ordnance JWR Replies: If any of you readers have not yet visited the KT Ordnance web site, then you should.  Richard sells gunsmithing goodies with an interesting angle: He makes 80% finished rifle and pistol receivers, as well as jigs, …


Five Letters Re: Poor Man’s Generator Power Transfer Switch

Note from JWR: Posting all five of the following letters is probably over kill, but I’m doing so to illustrate the power of the collected wisdom represented on this blog!  You folks really know your stuff. Dear James and all concerned, I believe that a safer and more efficient way [than the backfeed rig suggested by Monty is] to power a home via generator is to build a cord much the same way as was previously posted, but instead of having a male plug on both ends, ( which is extremely dangerous and also requires more wire to reach the …


Note From JWR:

If you enjoy reading this blog and you have have your own web site, then please establish a link to our site. Doing so will help promote the blog–both directly and by raising it in search engine rankings.  (The search engines give the greatest ranking weight to sites that are heavily cross-linked by other sites.) We will be happy to reciprocate, at our Links page. Thanks!


Three Interesting Recent Economic Commentaries on Gold-Eagle.com

When doing some recent web research, I ran across three very interesting commentaries posted by the fine folks at at Gold-Eagle.com. The first was by Peter Degraaf.  See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/degraaf010806.html The second was by Emanuel Balarie on The Real Estate Bubble. See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/balarie011006.html The third was by Kevin DeMeritt, the president of Lear Financial, titled: “Greater Fools, Stocks, Real Estate and Gold.”See: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/demeritt010906.html


Letter Re: Insulated Concrete Forms for Home/Retreat Construction

James, Have been reading your Blog on Dome Homes. Was wondering if you have considered/ reviewed Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs). They appear to have several uses, good thermal factor, ballistic protection, and they look fairly do it yourself. See:  http://www.polysteel.com. Can you comment on these? – B.V. JWR Replies:  ICF is an excellent construction method.  ICF houses are very well insulated and offer above average ballistic protection.  There are several competing makers, of whom PolySteel is the best known.  See the Survival Blog Archives for previous discussions on this topic.