Month: May 2008

Odds ‘n Sods:

22 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia after new round of storms. This underscores the need for anyone living in tornado or hurricane country to construct an effective storm shelter.    o o o Rob at MURS Radios mentioned that he will soon have a limited number of Kenwood TK-2100 MURS radios in stock. These are similar to the ones that he used to sell and at the same price. These come with a used radio (programmed for MURS frequencies), antenna, drop-in charger, and a new battery. The price is $69 each, plus shipping. Rob is taking pre-orders on a first …



Notes from JWR:

I’m scheduled to be interviewed on Steve Quayle’s “Q Flles” Internet/shortwave radio show today at 4 p.m., Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern time.) The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $325. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of : “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”, an autographed copy of “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog”, and a copy of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living”, by the late Carla Emery. The four …


Letter Re: Nomex Flight Suits for Ground Troops in Iraq

Dear Mr Rawles, Just wanted to thank you for SurvivalBlog, and I especially like the useful tidbits from the troops overseas. I was a Navy Corpsman / combat advisor with a Marine [Corps] Police Transition Team (PTT) in Hadithah six months after the alleged massacre, interesting times for sure.We got in-country in August 2006, and the Nomex suits were just catching on [with Marines]. We managed to snag a set for each of our 10- man team. The only real reg[ulation]s were that at Al Asad or any large Garrison type Base they wanted you wearing camouflage [utilities], otherwise they …


Letter Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Event

Dear JWR: I feel that there is a strong premonition in the article you flagged on Wednesday (Who Should Doctors Let Die in a Pandemic?) This hit the Main Stream Media (MSM) early this week and quickly fell off the news cycle. The topic is simply too uncomfortable. The original articles were published in the medical journal Chest (The Journal of the American College of Chest Physicians and are very dry and difficult reading even for a physician. This is unfortunate because it is a salient topic which needs to be vigorously publicly debated (instead of who got voted off …


Two Letters Re: Physical Preparation–How to Survive When Your Gear Doesn’t, by T. Davies

Mr. Rawles: T. Davies’ letter begins with the proper assumption, that most people reading it will be suffering from hardening arteries and softening backsides, and NOW is the time to reverse the trend. Swimming, walking (especially), and running are all good exercises and abilities to possess and cultivate. Beyond that, his comments range from dangerous (foot conditioning) to the plainly fallacious and silly (Tae Kwon Doe Masters kick harder than any others!). Where to begin? Firstly, as to foot conditioning: yes, most of us could use some foot toughening, but the author ignores the fact that the African Bushman, as …


Odds ‘n Sods:

FerFAL–SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Argentina–reports in his personal blog on the effects from the volcanic eruption in adjoining Chile.    o o o We found this linked at Steve Quayle’s site: As usual, journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard pulls no punches: Global free market for food and energy faces biggest threat in decades    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that they have just five cases each of the following Mountain House freeze dried foods briefly back in stock, available for immediate delivery: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce $110 per case Chicken and Rice $110 per case Beef Stew $165 per …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 16 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.


Physical Preparation–How to Survive When Your Gear Doesn’t, by T. Davies

There is a lot of information online and in print about what gear to have on hand if the worst happens, tons and tons about how to store food, fuel, etc. There is even a plethora of information on how to get food and build shelter in the extremes. All of this leaves out some crucial elements. In this article you are going to see how to prepare your body and mind for working without equipment in adverse or even brutal conditions. the steps involved are extremely labour intensive. What you do with it is up to you. If you …


Letter Re: The SurvivalBlog 10 Cent Challenge

Mr. Rawles, Over the past few months some relatives and I have been reading SurvivalBlog.com. However, we have been “SurvivalBlog Voyeurs”, lurking in the cyber-shadows, benefiting from usable information while failing to contribute to the 10 Cent Challenge [voluntary subscription program]. Well, we shall lurk no more! The next time I am in town, I pledge to mail you my contribution, and my son-in-law says that he will do the same. Thank you for your generous site, and I would encourage others who benefit from the information here to do the same: Support SurvivalBlog. It is the site that brings …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Jack B. forwarded this: Wheat disease threatens supplies.    o o o Reader KBF found a mainstream media article that has good general advice and great links for food cost savings: Tips for taming rising grocery prices.    o o o  Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlers.    o o o Oil surpasses $125 per barrel ahead of US driving season.



Wars, and Rumors of War

I got a hoax press release on Friday about Chile declaring war on Peru. But meanwhile, there are lots of real wars gong on. Fierce fighting has broken out in Lebanon. And to top it off, crude oil spiked to an all-time high of $126 per barrel, in part because of tensions between Venezuela and Columbia. In the midst of all this war news, the ongoing global grain shortage crisis is likely to cause additional civil wars, and possibly cross-border wars. It is all too clear that we are living in very dangerous times. Let’s call them fragile times. In …


Letter Re: Advice on Stocking Up on Batteries

Sir; I was wondering: How many batteries should I store for all my radios, flashlights, smoke detectors, and so forth? I’m also planning to get night vision goggles, soon. I assume rechargeables, right? If so, what kind [of rechargeables], and who has the best prices? – T.E. in Memphis. JWR Replies: I recommend buying mainly nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Stock up plenty of them, including some extras for barter and charity. Unlike the older Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) technology, NiMHs do not have a “memory” effect. (The diminished capacity because of the memory effect has always been one of the …