Month: June 2007

Odds ‘n Sods:

Chuck alerted us to this piece of commentary from Eugene Linden, published by Business Week: From Peak Oil To Dark Age?   o o o S.F. in Hawaii mentioned that he found a Wikipedia page on Olduvai Theory, which ties in to Peak Oil.    o o o I heard from SurvivalBlog reader “BVance” that the James Wesley Rawles Wikipedia article has been flagged for lack of notability–mainly because it lacks references. The gent that wrote the original wiki entry is currently deployed in Afghanistan and tells me that he has just sporadic Internet access and hence doesn’t have the …



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



Notes from JWR:

Notes from JWR: I’m launching a special two week “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” Six Pack Sale. For any orders placed between now and the end of June, I’m offering a box of six autographed copies of my novel “Patriots“, packed in a well-padded USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate box, for $93, postage and Delivery Confirmation tracking label costs paid, to any US or APO/FPO address. That is just $15.50 per copy! And again, I pay the postage. Payment options include USPS money order, AlertPay, GearPay, or PayPal. (We prefer AlertPay or GearPay because they don’t share PayPal’s anti-gun political …


Disaster Proof Your Home, by “Decay”

In today’s survival forums much emphasis is placed on issues such as Bug Out Bags (BOBs), Main Battle Rifles, or Bug Out Vehicles (BOVs) These are important but I feel that it is critical that we also remember to return to the basics in an emergency situation. It was through my neighborhood Emergency Training program that I was reminded how fragile our homes, apartments, and neighborhoods can be during and after a disaster. Before flooding, hurricanes, tornados, famine, pestilence, plague, war or martial law. You and your family should get prepared so that you will be ready for anything that …


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

Jim: I had to write you and correct something that could lead to health damage or even death from the use of chlorine [for water treatment]. People have to know that this use [of chlorine] is for treating water [shortly before use], not long term storage. If you have a water supply that you intend to drink/use within a month, then chlorine (as long as it’s pure – as you so instructed) is fine. But it is not for long term storage! When water is treated with chlorine, and then sealed in a container, the chlorine degrades over a short …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Because so many readers of SurvivalBlog are interested in establishing survival retreats, I’m in the process of setting up a new SurvivalBlog”sibling” web site that will feature survival retreat real estate listings. These will be both For Sale By Owner (FSBO) and from licensed real estate agents, worldwide. If you have a retreat property for sale, or know of someone that does, here is the deal: To get my new survival real estate web site off to a fast start with a lot property ads, I am offering free two month advertisements for the first 25 sellers that respond. Just …



Note from JWR:

The high bid is still at $410 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a great selection of 17 survival and preparedness books. The auction ends tomorrow–June 15th. Our special thanks to Ready Made Resources for donating the majority of the books.


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

Mr. Rawles, I want to buy some pool chlorine crystals for long term storage. Holly Deyo’s book had a formula for purifying large amounts of water with this product, but how would I make a chlorine bleach substitute that could be used to purify smaller quantities of water or as laundry bleach? Is there an amount in grains or grams that could be used to make up, say, five gallons at a time? I know store bought laundry bleach like Clorox has a limited shelf life, so I wanted to be able to make [my own hypochlorite solution.] Thank you …


Three Letters Re: Firearms Questions from a Distaff Newbie

James, I wholeheartedly agree with your response. For quite some time now, I have been trying to get family members to visit your web site and make the appropriate investment into their own security in a very similar fashion as you did. I always advise those who inquire about personal/home security that appear to be starting from ground zero, like the ‘Distaff’ writer, to add layers to your security. The easiest quick fix is a big canine. I have five (all adopted from shelters and subsequently trained to get along with each other.) Yes, a canine can be defeated. However, …