Year: 2006

Letter Re: 20 Pound Propane Tanks and Differing Valve Designs in the U.S.

Jim, I have seen discarded 20 pound propane tanks discarded by the road for a couple years now. The trash guys don’t pick them up, either. (At least not in my area) They are tossed out because they have the “old style” valve in them. At Wallyworld [Wal-Mart], they were swapping the old tank for an up-dated one for a pretty reasonable price. I discussed this with my local propane guy, and he said they are losing about $1.00 each doing what they are doing. Now I found out why. The local Indian reservation has gas stations, and one of …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From the New York Times Op-Ed page: Leafy Green Sewage    o o o There is an interesting thread over at The Claire Files: Gulch Housing–A Taste for the Primitive    o o o Our friend Kit in Missoula currently has some well-penned commentary–including some on the new Jericho TV series–at her blog site.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." – Sun Tzu, (the 6th century B.C. Chinese general) in "The Art of War"


Note from JWR:

Today we present the first article for Round 7 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. If you want a chance to win Round 7, start writing and e-mail us your article. Round 7 will end on November 30th. Remember that the articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the …


What to Expect at an Appleseed Shoot, by MKH

Revolutionary War Veterans Association (RWVA) Appleseed Shoot. What in the world can that possibly be? Well if you don’t know, you need to read on. What you can learn from those “Revolutionary War Vets” could save your life! The Appleseed Program is one that is dedicated to preserving our American heritage as a Nation of Rifleman. So what is a Rifleman? The RWVA web site tells us that “The obvious answer is that a Rifleman is an individual with a rifle and the skill and experience to use it, presumably well.” But let me tell you from experience it is …


Odds ‘n Sods:

P.H. flagged this web page of scary stuff for us: Planning Scenarios. These are executive summaries created by the The Homeland Security Council planning group for the Department of Homeland Security, in 2004. The scenarios were developed “for use in National, Federal, State, and Local Homeland Security Preparedness Activities.”    o o o The bidding is still at $180 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a fully tested and recently professionally calibrated U.S. government surplus Civil Defense CD V-717 fallout survey meter with remote sensing capability. The meter was donated by Ready Made Resources (one of our first and most …



Letter Re: Questions on the Pickup Truck as a Multi-Purpose Retreat Vehicle

Hello James, I have much to say about plow trucks, and so do many of your readers I see. I must preface the following with my history. I am born into the Ford bloodline, therefore I cannot successfully discuss alternative pickup truck durability except by that of close acquaintances. I have been plowing for 22 years. All but the past seven years have been strictly gasoline powered F-150s, F-250s, and Ford Broncos. The only difference between the F-150 and F-250 is the weight rating for cargo. There has not been a time, or snow condition that I have plowed in …


Letter Re: Anonymous Web Surfing Resources

Dear Jim, Tor (“The Onion Router”) has been up and running for some time. It’s a free and highly secure system for anonymous browsing. It requires installation of free, open source software on the host machine. Also of potential interest is the current release of Freenet, which supports a “scalable darknet:” A freeware, open source distribution of PGP (named, appropriately, GPG). A GPG for Windows front end. TrueCrypt (a freeware/open source hard drive encryption/steganography program) The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) tools page Hushmail: secure, free web mail Secure, free hard drive/file erasure Disclaimer and warning: Strong cryptography isn’t legal …



Odds ‘n Sods:

“Florida Guy” pointed us to a neat new shotgun variant from Mossberg for the nautical types among us.    o o o A SurvivalBlog reader mentioned that he sells surplus VHF portable two-way radio that operate in the Multi Use Radio Service (MURS) allocated frequencies. These radios come complete and ready to use with antenna, battery, belt clip and drop in charger for only $49 each. Yes, they have a few scratches and they’ll have a sticker that covers the original emergency service department engravings, buy hey, just $49 for a 2 Watt transceiver is a great deal. MURS frequencies …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Discrimination is simply the act of choice. When we choose Bordeaux wine, we discriminate against Burgundy wine. When I married Mrs. Williams, I discriminated against other women. Even though I occasionally think about equal opportunity, Mrs. Williams demands continued discrimination.” – Dr. Walter E. Williams, George Mason University


Note From JWR:

The winner of Round 6 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is R.E.M., for his article “Maximizing Food Storage Life.” The second prize goes to R.J.C. of Pennsylvania, for his article “Water, Water Everywhere.” Congratulations to both of them. You gents will be contacted by e-mail to arrange for delivery of your contest prizes. Round 7 of the contest begins to day, and end on the last day of November. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is another copy of my …


Letter Re: Legality of Converting Replica Blackpowder Revolvers to Fire Cartridges?

Jim, I recently watched the 1985 movie ‘Pale Rider‘ with Clint Eastwood and noticed in the movie that he used what appeared to be a 1858 Remington pistol, I didn’t notice if it was a cap and ball or if it was converted to use conventional ammo. Where can you get those cylinders you mentioned? Seems like a very cool pistol advertised at Cabela’s. But wouldn’t BATFE be all over a loophole that allows a non-FFL firearm to be converted? Just curious..- Jason North Idaho JWR Replies: Here in the U.S., if it is the end user/owner (a non-FFL holder) …


Two Letters Re: Chevron’s Deep Oil Strike in the Gulf of Mexico

Mr. Rawles I read your blog often, thanks for the entertaining and informative site. I would like to comment on David from Israel’s post regarding Chevron’s oil strike in the gulf. I work for a very large E & P company and have many years experience in drilling and production. There is nothing holding back the exploitation of this field except time to build the facilities and and acquiring the drill ships (cost $500,000+ per day for the ship) to punch the holes. We routinely produce gas and oil from 24,000′; the depth of the water does not really matter …