Day: August 1, 2008

Note from JWR:

We’ve completed the judging for Round 17 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First prize goes to Thomas G., for his article “The Tomato Rebuild–Machining Technology is Crucial to Modern Society”. He’ll receive two valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Together, they are worth up to $4,000!) Special thanks to Naish Piazza–Front Sight’s founder and director–for his generosity. Be sure to check out their web site and class calendar. The Memsahib and I can both vouch for the quality of their training, from personal experience. It is amazing! Second prize goes to Ryan S., for “Packing The …


Letter Re: Remote Rural Retreats Versus Living in a Small Town

Dear Jim: I found an interesting article that argues against a remote, rural retreat for an urbanite. He reasons: 1. local kids with time on their hands will sniff out your retreat in their exploring 2. Any road to your place will get checked out eventually by kids, a utility employee, a hunter, etc., etc. 3. A remote place gives a thief all the time in the world to break into a cabin or recreational vehicle, pre-disaster. 4. When you are at a retreat, post-disaster, you are on the defense, the offense (potential looters) gets to choose the time of …


Letter Re: Vision Care, Post-TEOTWAWKI

Sir: Have you covered vision care in a TEOTWAWKI scenario? Eyeglasses, contacts, etc? I currently wear contacts and it’s super easy to stock up on extra contacts and a spare pair of glasses but it’s one more thing we take for granted. I guess Lasik is probably not worth it unless your insurance helps or you have the money to burn since that much money could go towards better preparations. Thanks for your site! – Ben in Tenn. JWR Replies: Corrective eye surgery was discussed in SurvivalBlog in December of 2006, in this excellent article: Lasik Versus PRK Eye Surgery …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Frequent content contributor Cheryl N. sent this. How Wall Street Wrecked Your Retirement. Cheryl notes: “Our dysfunctional financial system hit a new low last week when Citigroup, the hopeless wreck of Wall Street, announced it had lost $2.5 billion in the past three months–a cheer went up, and so did the Dow. Only $2.5 billion; people were afraid the losses would be much higher. Happy days are here again.” Meanwhile, President Bush very quietly signed a massive bailout bill, for individual mortgage holders, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Just as I predicted, we are witnessing the near-continuous growth of the …