Month: February 2007

Note from JWR:

Tomorrow is the last day of bidding in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a pair of MURS band handheld transceivers, with extended range flex antennas. The high bid is still at $175. These radios were kindly donated by Rob at $49 MURS Radios. Check out his products. What Rob sells are a lot of radio for the money. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from the SurvivalBlog readers that have bought these. As previously mentioned in the blog, Kenwood 2 watt MURS handhelds have far better range than FRS radios, they require no license, and can be custom programmed for, …


State and Federal Lands–Poor Choices for Short Term Retreat Locales

I often have people ask me if state or Federally-managed forest land or BLM land would be a viable place to take temporary or long term shelter in the event of of a societal collapse. There might be exceptions, but my blanket assertion is no, that is a bad idea for even a temporary retreat locale. Here is my rationale: Access: Access is a huge issue. Public lands are intended for visits, not residence.Odds are that if you make camp on state or Federal land, men with badges and guns will arrive within a couple of weeks and forcibly send …


Letter Re: Observations on the Recent Missouri Ice Storm

Mr. Rawles, I live in Southwestern Missouri. Did you followed the ice storm that buried the Midwest? We got hit pretty hard. We get hit hard every four or five years. Which brings me to my point. I have never seen so many unprepared people in all my life. After day two of the ice storm power was out (for a month in a lot of places like Springfield). There were no gas cans to be found at any store. Batteries, disposable propane bottles, flashlights, milk, and meat were missing from the shelves of every store. Even Wally World [Wal-Mart] …


Letter Re: Supporting SurvivalBlog

Jim, I’d just like to exhort readers to invest whatever modest sum they can in helping to keep SurvivalBlog up and running–stepping up to the Ten Cent Challenge or whatever other means of providing support they feel up to. There’s nothing else of this type and quality out there on the web, and if folks think that anyone can live on the paltry ad fees you collect for the site, then they are obviously not aware of the details. It’s to all of our benefit that you have given this your best shot–committing your full attention to making sure your …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I don’t know how I overlooked it for so long, but I should have mentioned that there is a great web resource on post-Peak Oil living at Life After the Oil Crash (LATOC), hosted by California attorney Matt Savinar. They also have their own Forums, which are quite active. See: The LATOC Forums.   o o o Mike F. sent this article link: Mystery Ailment Strikes U.S. Honeybees. Apiary expert “The Bee Man, Jr.” tells SurvivalBlog: “The CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) is a real and devastating threat to our nation’s food supply and economy. At this time, there are few …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The monastic communities for survival will be located in high places, because in dangerous times it is heights that are easiest to defend. They enable the advance of hostile hordes to be seen from a distance and prepared for; and they favor the traditional counter- attacks that are helped by force of gravity — the rolling down of rocks and stones against assailants. Further, hilltops are naturally protected against floods; they are also very likely to be left alone by the large masses of people on the move, since migrant hordes are inclined to go after easy prey rather than …


Note from JWR:

I’m continuing my special “support our troops:” sale on copies of the new expanded 33 chapter edition my novel “Patriots” through the end of the month. If you place an order directly with me, and you have us mail it to an APO or FPO address, then the price is just $12 per copy, plus $3 postage. (That is $10.99 off of the cover price–right near my cost.) OBTW, speaking of supporting our troops, be sure to visit the AnySoldier.com web site, and “do your bit.” As previously mentioned, some young enlisted troops that are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan …


Kanban: America’s Ubiquitous “Just in Time” Inventory System–A Fragile House of Cards

When I give lectures or do radio interviews, I’m often asked for proof when I mention that we live in a “fragile society.” Here is one prime example: kanban. The kanban or “just in time” inventory system was developed in Japan, and became popular in America starting in the 1970s. It is now ubiquitous in nearly every industry. The concept is simple: Through close coordination with subcontractors and piece part suppliers, a manufacturer can keep its parts inventory small. (Kanban is a key element of “lean manufacturing.”) They only order batches of parts as needed (“just in time”), sometimes ordering …


Letter Re: Pondering Some Personal Consequences of Global Climate Change

Jim, The subject of Global Warming is one that creates an intense reaction in people who have a political investment in opposition to it. As you can see by the letters my comment generated, it made the writers so angry that it actually interfered with their ability to read! We, as survivalists, need to be acutely aware of when this happens to us, as the ability to react to any information coolly and logically is a cultivated adaptation that will give us a leg-up in stressful situations. In reply to M.W.A., I should probably expand on something about CO2 that …


Letter From David in Israel Re: Blue Water Sailing as a Retreat Option?

James: Anyone near any body of salt water should consider purchasing something like the Navy/Coast Guard [approved] Manual Reverse Osmosis Desalinator (MROD) They are sold on eBay and as far as I know are only made by PUR. They can provide drinkable water at sea for one to two people with quite a bit of work but PUR also makes a larger bicycle pump model. I have tested mine in both the Med (not as salty as ocean) and the Salt Sea (the saltiest water in the world). More salt just means more work. A creative person might make a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Another indicator of inflation ahead? SurvivalBlog reader Bill H. notes: “A trend that I have not seen mentioned on your web site, apart from gold and silver investment, is that [fine] “art” is going through the roof. Most of us cannot afford to invest in art, myself included. However, we can still see the writing on the wall when the moderately wealthy are flocking to acquire art at record prices. You don’t have to buy thousands of pounds of gold when you can pay $20 million for a painting that will only appreciate. That’s a fairly extreme example, but you …



Note from JWR:

The SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a pair of MURS band handheld transceivers, with optional extended range flex antennas ends on February 15th. The high bid is currently at $175. These radios were kindly donated by Rob at $49 MURS Radios. Check out his products. What Rob sells are a lot of radio for the money.


Letter Re: Advice on a 12 VDC Fuel Transfer Pump

Mr. James Wesley; Rawles: I keep a lot of extra gas in five gallon jerry-cans around my new farm/retreat wanna-be, for emergencies. (Stabilized with PRI-G, of course.) Yeah, I know that siphoning–especially if you prime it “by mouth”–is not safe. (Gag!) To make it easier and safer to transfer gasoline into or out of vehicle gas tanks, is there any transfer device that I can use use? Perhaps something that would plug into my pickup truck’s cigarette lighter [12 volt DC power] jack? What can I buy that is cheap off-the-shelf, or cheap to cobble together myself? Oh, and its …


Letter Re: Smoke Damaged Firearms

Greetings, In January, our home burned down. The family made it out safely thanks to our dog waking us up. The fire started outside and once it entered the house it was engulfed in minutes. My question is how to restore books, firearms, et cetera that have been damaged by smoke and fire. Since getting burned out is a possibility in survival times this information could be quite handy. BTW Smoke eats the finish on guns. My Mini-14 got eaten up pretty badly, but the CETME in the rack next to it came out just fine. I guess they used …