Today’s first letter is from “FerFAL”, SurvivalBlog’s newest volunteer correspondent, in Argentina. I find his observations cogent and credible. With the recent economic and social turmoil in Argentina he has certainly “been there and done that.”
Many people tend to think about survival as if it where an on/off switch, black or white reality. You have a relatively nice, normal life, such as the world most first world citizens live in these days, and suddenly you have a SHTF event and you go into Post-SHTF mode all of a sudden, meaning people start carrying their load bearing vests full of mags, with their SHTF rifle of choice, scavenging around the ruins of the city, shooting trespassers and burying them in the back yard. This is all very cool to talk about, its fascinating in a Hollywood …
James: For those looking to create stable and “passively” cool storage in a basement, the book “How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar” by Richard Gold is a well-thought, meticulously engineered solution to many of the same issues faced by those seeking to store food at stable, cool temperatures. Regards, – Ben JWR: I have spent much of my adult life in the construction industry and through experience and educational seminars, etc. I have acquired a substantial amount of knowledge concerning moisture intrusion into structures. Water is the main source of problems in construction. Keeping it in, keeping it …
Dear Jim and Family, The latest episode of [the US CBS network television series] Jericho has finally built up into something significant. A battle between towns, using mobility, rifles, mortars, and negotiation. It was actually pretty good. While my faith in the idea of the show is not exactly restored from its initial low opinion, this is a major improvement in direction of the story. CBS offers streaming viewing of the whole season via their web site. If you open the viewer in a proper player via right clicking on the window, you can stop, pause, and select scenes to …
A new low-cost firearms training organization is up and running: The Western Rifle Shooters Association. Check out their blog site. They have lots of free resources, such as downloadable rifle training videos, and training manuals in PDF. o o o S.F. in Hawaii and RBS both sent us this one: Man dies of thirst during survival test o o o RBS also mentioned these two articles US Housing Bubble Meltdown: “Is it too late to get out?”, and Hedge fund risks worst since ’98 crisis, Fed says o o o When a reader sends me a link, …
"Calling an illegal alien an undocumented immigrant is equal to calling a drug dealer an unlicensed pharmacist." – Big John at the RightNation.us Forums
I just got an update from Rob Ashton at Green Mountain Gear about the “SurvivalBlog Group Buy” for new-in-the-wrapper military contract C-Products M16/AR-15 30 round magazines that was announced in late March: The Group Buy orders should be shipping next week. This matches the original ETA that was given by the manufacturer. For any of you that have never been involved in a group buy before, be advised that it often takes two months before you will receive your merchandise, since all of the group buy orders must be paid for before the deal can be finalized. Thanks for your …
The recent discussion on dental care started me thinking, and I had to again survey and inventory my supplies. My medical supplies are in good shape but my dental supplies were sadly lacking. Consisting of only Eugenol, temporary filling material and dental wax. So I started by downloading “Where There is No Dentist” from this site: http://www.inteldaily.com/. It is on the right under free books. After reading a bit and seeing the book advises the same tools as the previous post. I started searching for dental tools. The auction sites, and supply houses have some high prices. $45-to-$90 per tool. …
JWR, I was having a discussion tonight with a friend of mine who has his own plans. One of the things that came up is those other things we may be missing from our “duty equipment”. It’s great to have rifles, pistols, magazines, bullet proof vests, gas masks and all the other kit. But the one thing we were both missing was hearing protection. While some people may argue that the damage done to the ears during a gunfight is “minimal”. If you are firing your MBR in indoor conditions, you will be in some very serious pain in a …
Sid mentioned the Space Weather web site, which had been mentioned at least once before in SurvivalBlog. This site has great information on close-call asteroids, solar flare predictions, and so forth. o o o Rookie found a link to an interesting story about firearms ownership in Switzerland: An Armory in Gun-Shy Europe. Rookie’s comment: “It’s good to know that in at least one country it’s considered normal to keep a high power defensive rifle in your closet. And that the government gives it to you for free, for life! Of course, it’s no surprise that the Washington Post spun …
“The greatest threat facing America today is not terrorism, or foreign economic competition, or illegal immigration. The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation. It is this one-two punch – Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Fed printing money to make up the difference – that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.” Congressman Ron Paul
Jim: I run synthetic motor oils in all of my vehicles, it’s barely any more expensive any more and it reduces engine wear, especially on tight-tolerance Japanese motors. Mobil (for example) recommends a 5-year shelf life for unopened quarts, but I wonder if any of your readers have any more info on whether this is CYA on Mobil’s part or, failing that, a lead on long-shelf-life synthetics? Also, speaking of oil, if you’re looking for very high mileage on diesel trucks (and I know we all are), bypass oil filters are the holy grail. A quick explanation, they’re very fine …
Mr. Rawles: I’d like your advice on gardening. What skills should I concentrate on, pre-Crunch? What crops should I plant to be ready for a major Crunch? (If it makes any difference, I live in the Midwest.) What is the best source of seeds? Thank you, – T.D.W. JWR Replies: I recommend concentrating on organic gardening and composting. (This is in anticipation of a long term scenario where commercial chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not available.) Learn seed gathering and saving. Concentrate on vegetable crops that grow well in your climate zone. Practice using all–or nearly all–non-hybrid (“heirloom”) annual seed …
“The Wrench Spinner” sent us the link to a British government web site from “The Respect Task Force”. Mike’s comment: “How Orwellian can we get.?” My comment: The Brits are incredibly naive to think that their bureaucratic system of ASBOs will keep the yobs in check. Law and order is clearly breaking down n England. Disarming the citizenry, and making self defense a crime has been wholly counterproductive. o o o Michael Z. Williamson pointed us to this “report card” web page from The Brady Bunch on state firearms laws. Note that California and New Jersey both have “A-” …
"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows." – Doug Larson