Month: July 2007

Repairing Gardening Hand Tools, by Christian Souljer

Being able to plant your own vegetables during hard times will be greatly desirable. In order to do this, a preparedness person should have multiple duplicates of commonly used garden tools. Gardening tools such as rakes, hoes, and pitchforks often break at the connection between the handle and the head. The wood becomes aged and with downward pressure/force – the wood can break away and or the tool head can just become loose and fall out. This occurs mostly on older tools where the wood has shrank but can also occur on the cheaper imported garden tools. I recently had …


Letter Re: Advice on a Budget Rifle Battery for Retreat Security

Jim, For those folks residing in the Western U.S., the Big 5 Sporting Goods stores are selling ‘collectable’ Mosin-Nagant 7.62x54R rifles at very good prices; under $200. I don’t know if all the stores have them but a couple of stores in the south Denver metro area have one or two each and they appear to be in acceptable shape. – Ken M. JWR Replies: Thanks for that tip. OBTW, most Big 5 customers don’t realize that the military surplus rifles in the display racks are just examples of their inventory. Each store typically has from three to five more …


Six Letters Re: Proper Lubrication with Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel?

Jim A couple of points on ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD). Back in the 1990s low sulfur was introduced and we had a rash of pumps “wear out” prematurely for the most part these were older and or rotary pumps that were poor performers to begin with. It has been my experience that the “Bosch in inline” pumps tend to be more forgiving. If on road legality is of no concern than a gallon or two of marvel mystery oil will cover your lubricity issue. When I was in the coast guard we had a mixing formula to mix 40 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader “Ed7B” sent us a link to a page at the Medical Corps web site with an account of an emergency appendectomy in a submarine in WWII – with not a doctor for many miles, and a dearth of proper equipment, tools and drugs. Ed’s comment: “They still managed to get this sailor’s appendix out and have a happy outcome. Pertinent to what people can expect when there is no hospital open, let alone a doctor to be found.” Speaking of preparedness for austere medicine, don’t miss the outstanding Medical Corps training on August 24-25-26 at the Ohio State University …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"This is a delusion about credit. And whereas from the nature of credit it is to be expected that a certain line will divide the view between creditor and debtor, the irrational fact in this case is that for more than 10 years debtors and creditors together have pursued the same deceptions." – Garet Garret, A Bubble that Broke the World


Notes from JWR:

Congratulations to Tom H., the high bidder in the recent SurvivalBlog benefit auction for 10 steel SA-80 magazines. A new auction begins today, for a new-in-the-box “Big Berky” British Berkefeld water filter, kindly donated by Ready Made Resources, one of our most loyal advertisers. This is a high volume ceramic filter with four replaceable 9″ ceramic filter elements in a sturdy polished stainless steel enclosure. We use this same model here at the Rawles Ranch. Big Berkey filters normally sell for $324, plus postage. The opening bid is just $80. (The winning bid includes free shipping in the US.) Please …


Water Considerations for WTSHTF, by Terry M.

When prepping for WTSHTF, many times we focus on how much dehydrated food we have stored. While dehydrated foods can have a very important part in our plans, we have to remember that almost all that food needs water. Water you may not have accounted for in your plans. The following quantity figures were taken straight from the Walton Feed web site, a very popular source of dehydrated foods. Feeding a family of four Breakfast: Pancakes = 2.5 cups water Milk = 1 quart water margarine = 4 Tbsp water egg mix = 3 Tbsp water per egg (4 times) …


Letter Re: Proper Lubrication with Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel?

Jim, I’m wonder if there is someone in the SurvivalBlog readership who has any first hand knowledge about the repercussions of the ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel that is being mandated by our government. I’ve heard that the sulfur content is being reduced from 500ppm down to 15ppm and that the sulfur in the fuel has a lubricating effect on diesel engines, fuel pumps, injectors, etc. The assertion is that this lowered level will significantly increase wear on older non-ultra-low-sulfur fuel designed diesel engines. I understand that many regions of the country can only get this fuel now and that many …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SF in Hawaii mentioned this copy of the US Army Field Manual FM 90-7, housed at the GlobalSecurity.org web site. SF’s comment: “Click on the figures in this manual and you’ll see some good examples of defensive obstacles.”   o o o A Colorado city besieged by copper thieves    o o o I noticed an interesting thread of discussion in progress at The Claire Files forums, on choosing a gun for bear protection, while horseback.



Notes from JWR:

The high bid is now at $350 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a batch of 10 brand new original Imperial Defence SA-80 (AR-15) steel 30 round rifle magazines. The auction ends at midnight (EST) tonight, so e-mail us your bid soon! Today we present another article for Round 11 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $2,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. …


You Can Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, by Adam in Ohio

I started my preparedness journey a few years before Y2K. A friend of mine opened my eyes and both of our families have been adding to our preparations ever since. Unfortunately, looking back over the last 10 year, I have not been able to convince one more person to become better prepared. I am obviously not happy with the results so I have decided this year I will try something different. I think where I went wrong is being too open about my preparedness journey. I would become very excited about some new aspect of preparedness that I had discovered …


Letter Re: The Formulary Book Mentioned in the Novel “Patriots”

Mr. Rawles: First, I’d like to thank you for your novel “Patriots”. I bought it and read [the 31 chapter edition] in 2002, and loved it. I implemented many of your suggestions, and have my bug out bags prepared and ready. I especially have medical supplies on hand. I have been trying to remember the name and author of a “formulary” book I believe you mention in Patriots. You said it was out of print but showed how to make things like paint, if you had no paint. You said it was a fixture on American farms at the turn …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Alt-A: The New Home of Subprime?   o o o The Chartist Gnome reminded me that The Debt Clock is still ticking, relentlessly. We’ll have a lot of explaining to do, to our grandchildren.    o o o From Bloomberg, via SHTF Daily: Dollar Drops to Record Low Versus Euro on U.S. Growth, Rates


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Almighty God…I yield thee humble and hearty thanks that thou has preserved me from the danger of the night past, and brought me to the light of the day, and the comforts thereof, a day which is consecrated to thine own service and for thine own honor. Let my heart, therefore, Gracious God, be so affected with the glory and majesty of it, that I may not do mine own works, but wait on thee, and discharge those weighty duties thou requirest of me. Give me grace to hear thee calling on me in thy word, that it may be …