Year: 2007

Letter Re: Advice on Compact Solar-Powered Refrigerators for Insulin

Jim, I read, with great interest, your reply to Ron in Alabama about solar powered refrigeration and wanted to let some of the other diabetics out there know about a product I discovered through an Internet search and currently use when camping, fishing, hunting, traveling, etc. It is called the Frio Cooling Wallet. It works great and I keep two in my Bug-Out Bag. While it isn’t designed for the long-term, it sure is a life saver for 1-5 day trips or in case of a bug-out. They are not cheap, but then nothing about diabetes is. – Bassnbear in …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Chainsaws

James: Probably the best [chain]saws on the market are Stihl and Husqvarna. Unfortunately, as noted previously, they use a lot of plastic in the construction of them today. One design feature you need to look at very carefully is the handle bar and how it is mounted to the saw. I own an 046 Magnum Stihl, which is supposed to be one of Stihl’s upper end, “pro” model saws. The handle bar wraps around to the right side and mounts with two self tapping screws into the gas tank. Any blow to the top of the handlebar results in shearing …


Odds ‘n Sods:

 Reader E.L. recommended the Flu Wiki web site for anyone with an interest in researching Asian Avian Flu.   o o o “Cowboy255” pointed us to this tongue-in-cheek British documentary on US survivalists that appears to have been made back in the 1990s.    o o o By way of SHTF Daily: Discount window loans surge to $3.16 billion a day


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The hope of every central bank is that the real problem can be kept from public view. The truth is that the public — even professionals on Wall Street — have no clue what the real problem is. They know it has something to do with derivatives, but none of them realize that it’s more than a $20 trillion mountain of unfunded, unregulated paper that has just been discovered to not have a market and, therefore, no real value . . . When the dollar realizes the seriousness of the situation — be that now or sometime soon — the …


Notes from JWR:

Tomorrow is the last day of 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. As a bonus for this auction, I’m also including three autographed books: Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 and my novel: “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. (Together, these books have a …


A Trip to the Yucatan–Observations of Mayan Primitive Living, by Michael G.

First, a preface on my background: I can’t decide if I should be a Cassandra (Sunspot cycle, Peak Oil, suitcase Nukes, Mayan Calendar mythology) or a Pollyanna (Y2K Flop, Heaven’s Gate, 2003 Hindu prediction Flop, and the 6-6-06 Flop; not to mention all of the countless predictions of the beginning of the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble,” rapture, et cetera, that hucksters and zealots have hawked for thousands of years). I believe whatever happens will happen and be over very shortly, and it will either leave us relatively unharmed or (given that I live in a city and work at an …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

The Disappearing “Jumbo” Creates a Window of Opportunity for Some Retreat Buyers For many years the “Jumbo” mortgage has been the means by which middle class buyers have purchased A.) Large homes, B.) Homes on large acreages, or C.) Homes in desirable suburbs. With the recent credit market crisis, the availability of Jumbo loans has declined precipitously. This has had a number of immediate effects. First, it has been an impetus for owners of houses that had been listed between $417,000 and $450,000 to lower their asking prices to $416,000 or less. Secondly, with a few exceptions, it has effectively …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I’m currently reading the book “Fighting the Current: There and Back” by Jared Jellison. It is the true story of two ordinary guys who embarked on an adventure of a lifetime, as they paddled across America in canoes. This journey was a tremendous test of endurance that took two and a half years and covered 8,000 miles. Oh and, speaking of long treks, I should again mention Karl Bushby’s on-foot expedition. If and when completed, it will cover 37,000 miles.    o o o From SHTF Daily: The R-word surfaces on Wall Street. Personally, I use the D words: Depression …



Note from JWR:

There are just two days left 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. As a bonus for this auction, I’m also including three autographed books: Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog – Volume 1 and my novel: “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. (Together, these books have …


Letter Re: Advice on Chainsaws

Dear Mr. Rawles, We are in the market a new chainsaw. We currently have an old Homelite Super XL which has served us well for the past 25 years, but it is getting tired. We have looked at the Stihls and Husqvarnas, both of which are mostly plastic. I guess I am spoiled by the old heavy duty all metal Homelite. Do you have any suggestions regarding a saw, how many chains, and how much lubricant to keep on hand? – Mark G. JWR Replies: I also miss the sturdy, all-metal brutes of the 1970s, but I certainly don’t miss …


Letter Re: Converting Diesel Vehicles to Run on Waste Vegetable Oil

Mr. Rawles, I did a write up on the Greasel conversion I did for my truck starting at 40,000 miles when I had it converted, to 100,000 which was a week or two ago, and all the things I have done to modify the process along with lessons learned. I posted it at Black-Rifles.com. Polar Bear has it pretty well described, but I would differ with him on one very important point, filtration. If you don’t pre-filter the oil down to one or two microns you will clog your vehicle filters in short order, like a few hundred miles. Also, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The US Dollar Index has sagged below 80 for the past four trading days. When I last checked, it was at 79.42. (It currently takes a whopping $1.39 to buy a Euro.) As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, this dollar weakness is a red flag. Obviously the international currency market sees lower interest rates ahead in the US. Be prepared for a full scale dollar crisis in the near future. Have you diversified into tangibles? (Gold, guns, and ground.) OBTW, have you noticed that the spot price of gold is now over $700 per ounce? On a related note: Oil hit …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus, hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons et paulum silvae super his foret." Translated: "This used to be among my prayers – a piece of land not so very large, which would contain a garden, and near the house an abundant spring of ever-flowing water, and beyond these a bit of wood." – Horace, Satires 2.6, "On the Sabine Farm"


Note from JWR:

The folks at Guardians of Jericho are gearing up for the Jericho Convention (“Jerichon”) in Oakley, Kansas this coming weekend (September 14th through 16th.) If you attend, be sure to look for folks that are wearing SurvivalBlog T-Shirts. I’ve heard that there will be at least a half a dozen SurvivalBlog readers there.