Month: June 2007

Two Letters Re: U.S. Treasury Bonds

James Wesley: I recently inherited several U.S. Savings Bonds, Series EE. Do you recommend that I keep them, or cash them in so I can get better prepared? (We only have about two months of storage food here at our house.) How do I find out if the bonds are still earning interest, and what they are currently worth? Thank you, – C.C. JWR Replies: You are right about recognizing priorities. You can’t eat bonds. If the bonds have fully matured, then by all means cash them in. You can check of the status of most bonds at the Treasury …


Letter Re: Record Keeping for TEOTWAWKI

Mr. Rawles, Many have written on this topic and many more have mused on it. Some have even written on what I thought about, but revisiting topics and ideas allows for fresh perspective and ideas to surface and breath. 1. How Many People? – Does it take a Village?: ‘Billary’ references aside, what is the ideal size for a group of people after the Schumer hits? So many people really buy into the image of the rugged, self sufficient individual. However, if we isolate ourselves, does not that make us easier targets in the long run? Small numbers of people …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The UN does it again: Remember when the UN appointed Libya to head their Human Rights Commission? That was ironic. The latest outrage is that the UN has just appointed Zimbabwe to head the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Is this some kind of cruel joke? The economic masterminds of Zimbabwe have absolutely wrecked the nation’s once-thriving economy. Basic commodities are chronically in short supply. Commerce and agriculture are in shambles, verging on total collapse. They have turned a major food exporter–once “the breadbasket of Africa””–into a food importer, with hundreds of thousands of their citizens malnourished, and thousands now …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“What are the marks of a sick culture? It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn’t the whole population. A very bad sign. Particularism. It was once considered a Spanish vice but any country can fall sick with it. Dominance of males over females seems to be one of the symptoms. Before a revolution can take place, the population must lose faith in both the police and the courts. High …


Note from JWR:

I’ve once again updated and expanded the SurvivalBlog Glossary. There are now more than 1,500 entries. If you find what you read in SurvivalBlog useful, then please consider becoming a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber. Subscriptions are entirely voluntary. All those little $3 monthly payments do add up–enough that they help pay the bills here. Thanks!


Letter Re: Bicycles for Emergency Transportation

Mr. Rawles, Being a Vietnam era vet, I’m well aware of the efficacy of bicycles as transportation and “mules,” as Grandpappy describes in his article. Viet Cong forces used convoys of bicycles to transport war materiel south from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh trail. U.S. forces would bomb the trail during the day in the hopes of obstructing truck traffic moving south. At night the Viet Cong would use bicycles to move supplies in lieu of trucks. One should never underestimate pedal-power. Regards, – Jeff P.


Letter Re: Convincing the Unconvinced that TEOTWAWKI is Possible

James Rawles; I enjoy your blog and wish I had more time to review [all of the content]. I plan on getting the best of the blog when my funds permit. I saw the “Convincing the Unconvinced” post and thought I would reply. I like what another reader recommended on bringing people around to preparing and hope you have a section dedicated to this subject somewhere on your blog. Pushing a lot of information too fast will be counterproductive. They need to learn and decide for themselves to be prepared, and how prepared [they want] to be. MJS could try …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Buying Registered Firearms Suppressors in the U.S.

Jim, Your reader OSOM wrote in with a question relating to whether or not owning a suppressor would be a good idea. My comments are as follows: – Legally, the National Firearms Act (NFA) [of 1934] regulates “silencers”. A rose by any other name is still a rose — owners of such articles commonly call them “suppressors” to avoid the Hollywood association with assassins and hit men. I use the term interchangeably, and either term is perfectly appropriate. – There’s no such thing as a “Class III license”, and none is required for ownership of Title II firearms (machineguns, suppressors, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Alfie Omega” flagged this new article: Gas at $6 per gallon? Get ready. (Congress has an expensive “solution.”)   o o o Sean M. forwarded us this one: Solar Shingles Could Power Tomorrow’s Homes. Sean’s comment: “It would difficult to keep these clear in the winter in snow country. But it is discrete, so you won’t be screaming ‘Hey, I have power’ to anyone passing by.”    o o o For those of you that asked about promotional clips for the upcoming Sarah Connor Chronicles television series, for some reason they were removed from YouTube, but are still available …



Note from JWR:

Today’s first letter is from a gent who has been a friend of mine for 23 years. The “Doug Carlton” character in my novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” was loosely based on him. (Most if the characters in the novel were drawn directly from friends of mine, or composites thereof.) We went to college together and were in the same ROTC program. Upon graduation, he became a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and served in South Korea. He now works in the civilian transportation industry. Among other things, “Doug” is an expert on practical concealed handgun carry, since he has …


Two Letters Re: Tourniquet Pros and Cons

Jim, I’m afraid you’re out of date on tourniquet use. It’s been a couple years since we were in the Army, and the world in general has shifted gears on tourniquets. In Iraq and Afghanistan, [we read] “no iatrogenic injury has been reported, even with tourniquet times up to 8 hours.” (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 76th annual scientific congress.) US Army literature on the subject has indicated that if the limb can be saved, it can still be saved three hours after a tourniquet is applied (U.S. Medicine, May 2005) Tourniquets got a bad rap, probably deservedly, in WWII. …


Letter Re: Real Life Gunfight Experiences

Hi Jim I found the article about real gunfights, earlier this week, very interesting. I happened to run across this video of a real gun fight between quite a few law enforcement officers s and one guy with a battle rifle. I am no gun expert, but it sure taught me a few things: 1) Never take a handgun to a rifle fight 2) Take cover. These guys just walked out the door and got shot. 3) Riding on the hood of a car is not a good tactic. All the best, – Kurt


Odds ‘n Sods:

U.S. Economy: Housing Starts Drop; Slump May Persist. Notice how the 20% slump in housing starts in the western U.S. was buried in the article? After reading the entire article, I think that it would be better titled “US Economy: Housing Market Enters Death Spiral.” But of course I’m the pessimistic type.   o o o China sells more US T-bonds. I’ve said it before: the U.S. Dollar is doomed.    o o o From MayoClinic.com — West Nile virus: Signs and symptoms    o o o Our friend Tom at CometGold.com sent us this: Bear Stearns Staving Off Collapse …