Note from JWR:

I heard from SurvivalBlog reader Lawrence W. that the “James Wesley Rawles” Wikipedia biography has been exhumed from the graveyard of political incorrectness and is once again being debated. If you are an experienced Wikipedia editor (read: you’ve had a Wikipedia account for at least a year), and you’d like to comment on the deletion of the article one way or the other, then please chime in, politely. If you are not an experienced wiki editor, then please refrain from commenting, or it will do more harm than good.




Letter Re: Networking With Like-Minded Individuals

Mr. Rawles, Did you ever have one of those awakenings where the paradigm you have been living under suddenly shifts and you see things you never saw before (or have learned to filter out as you “matured”)? I am personally experiencing one of those times in my life and I have you to thank for it. Let me bore you a little with my background before I explain how your novel, “Patriots” brought me out of my Rip Van Winkle existence and into the glaring light of my current situation. I caught the “survival bug” early on as a result …




Two Letters Re: Cooking Aromas and Post-Collapse OPSEC

James: On the subject of limiting cooking aromas, there is a cooking technique that has been catching on lately in this country. Sous Vide cooking, which means “Under Water”, started in France by using food placed in vacuum sealed bags and then placing them in hot water (160-to-185 degrees Fahrenheit) for a long period of time. Here’s a link describing the method: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide Many recipes can be found on sites such as the one offered by Food Network, or type “Sous Vide Recipes” in the search engine of your preference. This method is used in large food operations, such as …




Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader EG mentioned this Science in Africa article: Make your own 220 Volt [AC] backup power supply Of course the same principles apply to readers in countries with 120 VAC utility power, by substituting a 120 VAC inverter and the appropriate prong pattern plugs and jacks.    o o o Ian and John M. both mentioned this Wired article: Survival Gear That’s Just Crazy Enough to Work    o o o I just noticed that we surpassed te threshold of 3.3 million unique visits. Thank you so much for making SurvivalBlog such a resounding success! Please continue spreading a the …




Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to think, no means of …