Month: May 2008

From David in Israel: Peace Corps Remote Area Development Guide Available Online

I have finally found one of my favorite books available as a PDF. This Peace Corps Remote Areas Development Guide is just what anyone would need to jump start a agricultural settlement and everything else the small town would need. Unfortunately the [photo reproduction] quality [of the PDF file] is low, I have packed my hard copy of this practical pocket guide with me for many years from my college Bugout Bag to here in Israel.


Odds ‘n Sods:

Naish Piazza of Front Sight has regretfully announced that because of increased merchandise costs as well as increased shipping and mailing costs he will soon be raising the price on his very generous “Get a Gun” training and gear package offer. Get your order in right away, to beat the price increase! Also, keep in mind that the offer will likely end soon, since it is being run at or near cost.    o o o Inyokern sent this article link about survivalists the UK’s Guardian newspaper: Natural born survivors. BTW, it mentions SurvivalBlog and cites the size our our …




Spotlight Falls on Silver’s “Poor Fundamentals” by Jason Hommel

An article by Pratima Desai that was circulated by the Reuters news service, included this: LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) – Investment money flooding into silver has overwhelmed poor fundamentals and helped it to outperform gold, but the tide could be turning for precious metals and the probability of large losses is rising. THE REAL TRUTH IS: Silver has outstanding fundamentals, and silver’s downside is minimal, and, in fact, it probably just bottomed, as I will show. Silver’s price falls in percentage terms are likely to dwarf those seen in gold, which some fund managers say has stronger supply/demand fundamentals. Again, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Fred The Valmet-meister relayed this bit of bad news: Berkshire Hathaway’s quarterly net profits dropped 64 percent because of derivatives losses    o o o Norman in England sent us this: India feels the heat as thousands riot over power cuts    o o o Ron D. flagged this article: What happens when oil is no longer priced in US Dollars    o o o Gulf States may end the dollar peg. (Thanks to Samuel K. for the link.)



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 …



Letter Re: Turning Your Trinkets Into Storage Food

Dear Mr. Rawles, As I was divesting of the useless flotsam one sees as a hindrance to true preparedness, I was inspired to list my trinkets on eBay. (Now, for all those who have a hatred for eBay [because of their anti-gun policies] , this is a separate issue.) I also have a PayPal account. That is another stumbling block to some. But for those of us who are still making the transition to becoming prepared citizens (from their former place in the herd of sheeple), this may be a very viable opportunity. Please hear me out! So, you sell …


Letter Re: Indian Tribal Reservation Boundaries as an Issue in Choosing Retreat Locales

Dear Jim: In one of the latest posts you mentioned Idaho County, Idaho in regards to population density. What are your thoughts about buying on [Indian Tribal] reservation land? This applying in generally to any reservations, but also in particular to those in Idaho. I know folks in the area and they do not speak favorably [of buying land inside of reservation boundaries] as the Native Americans are free to cross their land, hunt on it, etc where the people who own the land cannot do anything about it. Thanks a lot, Mike D. JWR Replies: I describe Idaho retreat …