Day: June 16, 2007

Note from JWR:

Congrats to Ed Z., the high bidder in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a selection of 17 survival and preparedness books. Special thanks to Ready Made Resources for donating most of the books in this auction lot. A new auction begins today. This one is for a batch of 10 brand new original Imperial Defence SA-80 (AR-15) steel 30 round rifle magazines. (See photo.) These were original British military arsenal made (with tags marked “ENGLAND”), 8 are black finish, and 2 are gray finish, all brand new, with 8 of them still in wrappers. Most of these are of recent …


Two Letters Re: Seeking Advice on Swimming Pool Chlorine for Treating Drinking Water

James, Your advice is excellent; however, one of the best tools to have for checking [water] sanitation levels is a DPD [Diethyl-paraphenylene diamine reagent] test kit available from Taylor or Hach, to name a few. I do not recommend OTO [orthotolidine reagent] kits as they are not as accurate as DPD. A 5mg/L initial shock should take care of most contaminants. After you have treated any water with bleach, it should be tested for free chlorine residual after 30 minutes of contact time. Water with a free chlorine residual of 4 mg/L should not be ingested for long durations as …


Letter Re: Request for Investing Advice from a U.S. Reader

Mr. Rawles: I’ve seen you mention precious metals, and silver in particular, pretty often in your blog. I’m new at this. What is your guidance on a safe (conservative) way to invest? What percentage in precious metals? Thanks, – TZK in Central Kentucky JWR Replies: I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers should put at least 25% of their portfolios into gold, silver, and barter goods, and roughly 50% into productive farm ground–a retreat to occupy year-round–in a lightly populated region that is well-removed major metropolitan areas. The exact ratio of investments will vary, depending on your age, indebtedness, risk aversion, and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Four readers all sent me this same link: World oil supplies are set to run out faster than expected, warn scientists   o o o Reader RBS recommended this book excerpt article: The Ethic of the Peddler Class, by Frank Chodorov    o o o “Alfie Omega”, KonTiki, and Hawaiian K. all sent the link to this recent article at the Jeff Rense web site: Lowest Food Supplies In 50-100 Years    o o o Losing it All: Home Foreclosures Reach Record Levels