Notes from JWR:

Wow! We’re about to surpass the 1.5 million unique visits mark. Thanks for making SurvivalBlog such a huge success. Your SurvivalBlog graphic links (at your web sites and in e-mail footers) are helping tremendously. The high bid is still at $350 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a selection of 17 survival and preparedness books. The auction ends on June 15th.




Letter Re: What if I Can’t Leave WTSHTF?

Mr. Rawles: I have been reading your blog for some time. I have found it quiet interesting and informative. I’m a former combat vet and security professional for most of the 1990s. I moved back to North Carolina and started a company. I was raised by parents and grandparents that were survivalist long before the term became popular. I have made extensive preparations for the upcoming events that will befall the United States . I read the [blog] site and I think about us folks that do live in the east, a lot will be in a sad shape. I …




Letter Re: Greenspan, Gold, and the Safe Store of Value

James, While I am sure that this has been covered here before, it demands review. I was searching for information on a “safe store of value” and I came across the following. On or about 1966, Alan Greenspan wrote a lucid note entitled, “Gold and Economic Freedom.” Greenspan’s essay ends with, “This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in …




Three Letters Re: Surplus Interceptor Body Armor (IBA)

James, I noticed the letter you posted about the man who bought his interceptor armor from eBay. Much of the Interceptor [Body] Armor on the market is stolen property. Many times it was stolen through supply [channels] and that is one of the reasons so many troops had to buy their own. On many of the tactical forums you have to be able to produce proof that you bought the interceptor armor legally. The interceptor armor itself is outdated. It is very heavy and bulky. Dragonskin is also not available to civilians. You have to have a end user certificate …




Odds ‘n Sods:

“Yabba-dabba-do!” Hawaiian K. forwarded us a link about some transportation improvisation in Prague. (The intact bark makes me think that this was a prank rather than an economy measure.)   o o o Simon in England sent us this gem from the British press: a serving soldier (Private Christopher Trussler) has been charged with the illegal possession and sale of ammunition in late May. The private’s arrest followed “a three-month investigation.” His arrest followed an operation into the sale of 9mm ammunition in the Chichester area of West Sussex. The Metropolitan Police said the move followed a “proactive intelligence-led investigation …