Note from JWR:

The high bid is now at $150 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a for a new-in-the-box Hydro Photon UV Light SteriPen Water Sterilization System with solar charger and pre-filter, kindly donated by Safecastle, one of our most loyal advertisers. This very popular water sterilizer product package normally sells for $225, plus postage. See the details on the SteriPen and solar charger here. The auction ends on September 15th. Just e-mail us your bid.




How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Soap (Part 2 of 3), by Grandpappy

How to Make Special Types of Soap using Grandpappy’s Homemade Soap Recipe: All-Purpose Soap and Bath Soap: Use 50% beef tallow and 50% pork lard in Grandpappy’s Homemade Soap Recipe. Facial Soap: Use 25% beef tallow and 75% pork lard in Grandpappy’s Homemade Soap Recipe to make a soft facial soap. Laundry Soap: Use 100% beef tallow in Grandpappy’s Homemade Soap Recipe. Soap Flakes: To make soap flakes, rub a bar of hard soap made from 100% beef tallow (or any other hard fat) over a vegetable or cheese grater (shredder). Soap Powder: To make soap powder, dry the above …




Letter Re: Buying a Better Retreat Property Versus Buying More Survival Gear?

Mr. Rawles, I live in northern New Hampshire and have been “prepping” for the last year. We will be staying in this area for various reasons that I have come to accept. However, my wife has agreed to consider a property in this same small town that would make a substantially better retreat. We currently own 16 acres but on a main state road. We are able to live off of this 16 acres, but my concern is from a defensive standpoint: It is too close to neighbors and the main road, and is just too accessible. We have almost …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Steve H. alerted us that a scan of a brochure from the Kelsey-Hayes Company, Detroit, Michigan for their pre-fabricated fallout shelters, circa 1963 is available for free download at Flicker.com, This set includes scans from a Life magazine feature called “Fallout Shelters” from a September 1961 issue.   o o o Karen B. mentioned a couple of interesting low-budget do-it-yourself (DIY) projects featured at LifeHacker.com: Build a solar water heater for under $5 and Get free air conditioning with a DIY heat exchanger    o o o Why is America falling apart? Ask Ayn Rand




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Far from being grateful defenders of the system from which they have profited, the children of capitalism tend to turn against it. Thus it is that radicals and even revolutionaries almost always stem from the middle and upper classes rather than the working class or the poor, in whose name they presume to speak. And thus it is that what is called liberalism today is increasingly identified with the more, rather than the less, prosperous sectors of American society." – Norman Podhoretz, Commentary editor, Harvard Business Review, 1981