Month: August 2007

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


Note from JWR:

The high bid is now at $90 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. Today we present the first part of a three part article on soap making. It was written by Grandpappy, who you may remember as one of …


How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Soap (Part 1 of 3), by Grandpappy

During hard times sooner or later everyone runs out of soap. To make soap you only need three things: 1. Rainwater, 2. Cold ashes from any hardwood fire, and 3. Animal fat from almost any type of animal, such as beef, pork, goat, sheep, bear, beaver, raccoon, opossum, groundhog, etc. All soap consists of the above three ingredients in one form or another, and that includes bath soap, dish soap, laundry soap, and hair shampoo. Soap is not difficult to make and it does not require any special equipment. And soap can be made from things that exist in large …


Odds ‘n Sods:

DAV flagged this piece of commentary from Edward Chancellor at The Washington Post: Look Out. This Crunch Is Serious. Meanwhile, writing in the Sovereign Society A-Letter, Kathlyn Von Rohr commented: “The sub-prime crisis that was “likely to be contained” according to Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke back in March – brought more havoc to Wall Street this week. Now that “financial market conditions have deteriorated,” the Fed has changed its tune, as they chopped the discount rate yesterday.” In my estimation this will get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The current crunch has essentially shut downthe major …



Note from JWR:

Thanks to all of you that have visited our new spin-off site, SurvivalRealty.com. If you know of anyone looking for a retreat property, please tell them about the site. Keep in mind that there are still a couple of remaining free ad spots for anyone with a retreat property to sell. We plan to have listings worldwide!


Letter Re: The Suburban Resident’s Last Ditch Logistics Play–Store Stock

James: We poor individuals left stranded in Suburbia have a rough lot when it comes to making survival preparations. An easy trip down the expressway for the Golden Horde, enough ordinances, zoning restrictions, and association bylaws to hamper the efforts of even the most ingenious survivalist, long commutes, and the list goes on. Clearly, its best to get out while you can. But for those of us stuck here, it makes sense to use whatever resources we have at our disposal, and one of the few areas we just might have the country folk beat is easy shopping. I know …


Letter Re: Advice on .308 Enfields Versus AKs for Barter/Charity

Mr. Rawles: I am writing concerning the letter in which the gentlemen suggested using Enfield 2A Ishapores for Barter/Charity. In my opinion, you would be better off buying an SKS than an Enfield 2A Carbine. The SKS is cheaper at $179.95 (at AIM Surplus) compared to the Enfield at $229.95, and it comes with a bayonet. The SKS can be easily modified to accept 30rd magazines which are easily available, whereas the Enfield is limited to 10 rounds and the magazines are hard to come by. I have not been impressed with the ProMag Enfield 2A magazines. None of the …


Letter Re: “Patriots” and Other Preparedness Titles Not Available at All Libraries

Dear Mr. Rawles, I was at my local public library and noticed they did not have a copy of your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”]. I inquired of our head librarian and she agreed to order your book. As a matter of fact, she ordered it while I was chatting with her. Perhaps some more of your loyal readers would be willing to contact the many public libraries and ask them to order some specific books. They too might order your book as well as other preparedness books. Respectfully, – Happy Howie JWR Replies: I appreciate that suggestion. In …


Odds ‘n Sods:

John and Abigail Adams suggested this training video on the use of the Israeli field dressing.   o o o RBS thought that readers might enjoy reading this report from Afghanistan: ‘I could feel the breeze as the bullets went by’    o o o Reader Nick M. alerted us to the fact that the Popular Mechanics August “Survive Anything” cover story (previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog) is now available on their Web site to read for free download. Nick’s comments: “The series of articles discusses how technology has made humanity more comfortable, but how our reliance on it has also …




Letter Re: Suitability of Missouri as a Retreat Locale?

Dear Mr. Rawles, In response to your post replying to ‘Marie R.’ regarding Missouri as a retreat location; here is some information that other families on this blog may find interesting. I’m writing this as someone who has a wide venue of travel and associations across the country. I am a professional trucker, a licensed ham radio operator for over 35 years, and was employed in the defense electronics industry for many years. I have been preparing for TEOTWAWKI here in the mountains of the Arkansas Ozarks for some time. With no disrespect to your research and personal choice(s) for …


Letter Re: Steam Locomotives in a Post-TEOTWAWKI World?

Dear Jim and Family, Its true that boiler maintenance and safety are a serious concern. As my wife is a rail fan (train chaser), she knows a bit, and knows people who know a lot more. One of these was kind enough to send me this info in his reply. “Bear in mind that the great costs mentioned are all meant to get the boilers up to federal-mandated standards, i.e. extremely safe conditions. If you just want to get it to function, you don’t have to do near as much work. The problem of course is that while under steam …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Nick recommended this article by Douglas MacKinnon at Townhall.com: The Two Things To Know Before Your City is Nuked By Terrorists   o o o My thanks to “J”, who gave a prominent plug for SurvivalBlog over at The Rumor Mill News Reading Room.    o o o Alphie sent us this one: NYPD Warns Of Homegrown Terror Threat