Note from JWR:

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Letter Re: A Learning Exercise with “Get Out of Dodge” Applicability

Dear Jim, I thought I’d relay an exercise I learned from last year. Every year, I do a large historical re-enactment in Pennsylvania. I take two tents totaling 300 square feet, my forge, tools, clothing and gear for a family of four down to a four poster bed, tables, chairs and workbench, plus merchandise to sell. This fills a conversion van with rear seat removed and a standard kit-built trailer. It’s great rehearsal for bugging out. Packing takes about 8 hours. Before I left, I realized the brakes were a little soft. I made a point of leaving lots of …




Letter Re: Advice on FN FAL Rifles

Good Morning Jim, I have been a dedicated reader of your site since almost the beginning and am (finally) mailing my 10 Cent Challenge [voluntary subscription payment] today. My weapons of choice have always been [Model] 1911 pistols and AK variants. I have long lists of reasons for those choices, but that is a discussion for another day. I am now thinking of buying a FN FAL and have no idea where to start. I know that FN FALs are your battle rifle of choice, and I understand your reasons. Can you help me (and your other readers, I’m sure) …




Letter Re: A Reader’s Perspective on Assembling a Survival Firearms Battery

Jim, it seems that several of your readers have been exercising their keyboards on the subject of “survival batteries” lately. This has been great sport since the days of Mel Tappan and I have seen countless lists of just was is “absolutely” needed. Methinks that many of these well-meaning folks have never carried firearms on a regular basis and used them for work. I spent 12 years in the law enforcement business, eight of which I was an NRA certified instructor. I carried a gun, both in uniform and concealed, for every day of those 12 years. Based on my …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Steve H. and Ben L. both mentioned this: New fire-retardant gel can save homes. Ben’s comment: $12,000 to $20,000 may seem like quite a bit of money, but compared to the total price of a house, is it really that much?    o o o I just noticed that JRH Enterprises had a couple of scarce Gen 3 AN/PVS-14 night vision weapon sights available. With the current heavy government contract demand to support the war in Iraq, these don’t hit the civilian market very often!    o o o The price of wheat has gone up 75% in just the …