Day: February 17, 2008

Self-Sufficiency in Northern Nevada

Over at the Bison Survival Blog (formerly called the Bison Newsletter), editor Jim Dakin recently posted an interesting piece titled “Economics of Self-Sufficiency.” I recommend his blog, although it is with the caveat that there is a lot of foul language posted there, especially in some of the comments posted by readers. For several years, Jim Dakin has advocated the low cost retreating approach of buying an inexpensive piece of land (what he calls “junk land”), and living very frugally, with a large used travel trailer for shelter. Jim Dakin presently lives in Carson City, Nevada, in the rain shadow …


Letter Re: My Preparedness Plans Just Took an Unexpected Turn

Jim: I am home after spending several days in the local Children’s Hospital. In short, my toddler was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after admittance to the ER and subsequent stay in the ICU and diabetes wing. This came as somewhat of a shock but not completely so due in part to a family history of the same. What it has done, however, is caused me to re-evaluate my preps entirely, particularly food and medical. 1) The foods that I have acquired must now be truly accounted for in the carb department. I had never given that any thought for …


Letter Re: AA Cells and Mobile Power

There was a discussion about batteries a few days back on SurvivalBlog. The writer advocated using AA NiMH cells almost exclusively, with adapters for devices requiring C and D cells. While I do agree that this is a good approach for some devices, there is certainly some merit to having full size 10 Amp Hour (10,000 MAH) batteries in high [current] draw or long term use devices. Not only is capacity significantly higher on larger cells, but the maximum safe current draw is higher too. Good NiMH C cells have 2-to-3 times the capacity of AA cells, and NiMH D …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I’ve mentioned bond insurers several times before in the blog. A recent Reuters article, (courtesy of RBS), shows that the mainstream media has finally caught on to some of the broader implications: New York Governor Spitzer warns: Bond insurer woes could become market “tsunami”    o o o HH sent us this: Putin threatens to add the Ukraine to nuclear target list if they join NATO.    o o o I spotted this story linked at Drudge: U.S. will down failed satellite. The article doesn’t do a good job of describing what is planned. If an interceptor hits the satellite …