Year: 2007

Odds ‘n Sods:

A brief follow-up to my July 10th post mentioning that iodine crystals and iodine solutions over 3% will be restricted in the U.S.: I just heard from my NAIS grassroots contacts that the DEA regulation will be implemented as of August 1st. That will mean that any of these products that are not already in the retail supply chain will be restricted. So this is your last chance to stock up on Polar Pure iodine crystals. I heard that Ready Made Resources only has about 275 bottles left in stock. They also have some one quart bottles of 10% Betadine …



Note from JWR:

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. I will again be sending out a few complimentary copies of my novel “Patriots” as “honorable mention” awards. Round 11 ends on July 31st. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.


Survival Planning–More Than Just Gear and a “To Do” List, by Ray

A lot of people tend to approach survival planning as a simple exercise in gathering stuff and making a “to do” list. Having the right supplies and equipment is important, as is prior planning. But there may be a way to optimize your post collapse/disaster actions. I’d like to talk about the concept of the decision making aspects of survival. Decision making is the “Why” that joins the “What” (As in “Here’s what we’re going to do…”) to the “How” (As in “…and here’s how.”) All the gear and knowledge in the world do you no good if you don’t …


The U.S. Stock Market: “Eject!, Buckaroo, Eject!”

The massive injections of liquidity from the Federal Reserve for the past five+ years–created by artificially low interest rates–have clearly come to an end. Cheap credit “fixes” are no longer available, and the credit junkie is going to experience withdrawal symptoms. Recently, news of the sub-prime debacle and teetering derivatives hedge funds have registered with investors–at least at the institutional level. Collectively, they have come to the realization that the party’s over. So it was no surprise that Wall Street prices declined 4.23 percent last week. I predict that this is just the beginning of a major bear market cycle …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Tom at CometGold.com flagged this piece: The Real Morons of Orange County Why America’s most reckless real estate investors come from Irvine, California. About a year ago, I coined a name for this crowd: contrapreneurs.   o o o The high bid is still at $300 in the SurvivalBlog benefit auction for a brand new Big Berkey water filter, kindly donated by Ready Made Resources. They are one of our most loyal advertisers. The auction ends on August 15th. Just e-mail us your bid.    o o o Courtesy of our friends at SHTF Daily: Europe in fire and water …



Three Letters Re: Advice on Generators?

Dear Mr. Rawles, On the subject of generators, I was wondering what your thoughts were on fuel. Recently, the municipality I live in equipped it’s municipal buildings with large generators powered by propane. My thought was that a wiser choice would have been diesel. My reasoning was: Propane can only be provided by large trucks with specialized equipment or by smaller, but heavy, containers. In a situation where the roads may be blocked or impassable, a propane truck would not be able to get through. It’s hard to convince a propane dealer to come out with his truck for a …


Letter Re: M1 Garand En Bloc Clip Ejection–Modify or Leave it As-Is?

Jim: I’d like you advice on buying the Holbrook “Thumb Saver” modification device for M1 Garand Rifles. Do you have any experience with this device or thoughts on it? The following is John Holbrook’s description of his Thumb Saver Device. It has been advertised in Shotgun News for a long time. The Device is a replacement for the GI op[erating] rod catch and it stops automatic bolt release when loading a clip. It also prevents auto clip ejection when the last round is fired. With it installed, the Garand operates much like the M14/M1A. When a full clip is inserted …


Odds ‘n Sods:

DV forwarded this one: Goldman Sachs guru warns of war-debt failure — Is America becoming a global credit risk?   o o o Thanks to B.H. for sending us this: Ammo Makers Prepare for Drop in Demand    o o o J. from East Tennessee Sterilizer Service sent us what might be the answer to the honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) mystery: A Spanish researcher blames an Asian parasite    o o o The Army Aviator sent us this one: Economist: World Is One Hedge-fund Collapse Away From Crisis. The article begins:”The problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage market could …



Note from JWR:

Today we welcome our newest advertiser, Liberty Mags, in Casper, Wyoming. They offer a 17 round magazine for the Saiga .308 series rifles. These magazines work without any modifications to your existing rifle. They are based on modified steel HK91 (G3) magazines and retain the original feed lips and reliability. All the magazines are made with new surplus magazines and are completely refinished using zinc phosphate Parkerization. Their price is $35 each for each freshly-modified and refinished magazine, or $25 each with your steel 20 round HK91/G3 magazine supplied as a trade-in. These mags are guaranteed for 100% function in …


Five Letters Re: Advice on Generators?

Jim, I have backup generators at my home and at my retreat. Both are propane powered. The generator at the retreat is a low speed (1800 RPM), liquid cooled generator. I have run it for up to 10 hours straight, with no problems. The vast majority of us “off the grid” folks have low speed propane generators. They are very reliable and fuel storage is not an issue since propane does not go bad. Most residences that I have seen, run the house and generator off of the same 500 gallon tank. My generator has a dedicated 500 gallon tank, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

RBS mentioned this interesting/frightening piece from the Dr. Housing Bubble Blog: The Foreclosure Story: What Does the Process Look Like?   o o o From NewsMax: Homeland General: Attack ‘Could Happen Any Day’   o o o A hat tip to Matt B. for this alert: Castleberry’s canned food recall.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The number of deaths from violence will be far exceeded by deaths from cold and hunger. The total casualty list will include a remarkable number of deaths in hospitals. Some millions of people will die in the two weeks during which the crisis will last. With hygiene virtually absent, an epidemic will be the widespread new phenomenon causing more deaths. This will be the decisively lethal fact – half the surviving population will die of bubonic plague. Historians estimate that during the fourteenth century the plague destroyed half to two thirds of the population of Europe. We think of that …