Day: November 7, 2008

Note from JWR:

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $600. This auction is for a mixed lot that includes: 1.) A huge lot of DVDs, CD-ROMs and hard copy nuclear survival/self-sufficiency references (a $300+ value) donated by Richard Fleetwood of www.SurvivalCD.com 2.) A custom-made, fully-stocked EMS Medic Bag from Cajun Safety and Survival (a $212 retail value) 3.) A NukAlert radiation detector donated by at KI4U.com (a $160 retail value) 4.) A case (6 cans) of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 (96 ounce) cans donated by Ready Made Resources (a $160 value) 5.) An autographed …


Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Regarding my recommendation to stock up on full capacity magazines, reader David B. noted this in an e-mail yesterday morning: “[The discount mail order dealer] Cheaper Than Dirt [is] already gouging us based on our fear of Obama being elected. Overnight, their price for Mag-Pul [brand AR-15/M16] magazines went from $15.97 each to $29.97 each. Wow. They just lost my business forever.” David’s note intrigued, me, so I just spent some time at the Cheaper Than Dirt (CTD) web site and compared their new prices with their latest hard copy catalog (dated November, 2008). Here is a brief sampling: Glock …


Letter Re: Some Changes in American Wholesale Food Distribution

James, I have a good friend who is an executive in the "food distribution business". They supply restaurants, schools, hospitals, day care centers, nursing homes,,,,,the large quantity food purchasers. This past week at their annual sales meeting, they were informed of coming changes. #1–Most food has been delivered in #10 [96-ounce] or one gallon size cans. [The rolled steel for] most of these cans[is] made in China and the cost has increased dramatically in the past several months because of rising steel prices. Effective December 1, the price on an individual empty #10 can is increasing by about 75 cents …


Letter Re: Did Western Civilization Actually Peak Around 1970?

Jim, I wanted to comment on something that was mentioned near the end of the Utah home break-in article: The author hit on the idea that TEOTWAWKI already took place in the late 1960s. Possibly some gifted insight. I’m a member of a regional Peak Oil group. (I originally joined this group a few years ago, in order to learn food-growing skills: You’ve always suggested getting with various groups, in order to learn skills), we’ve begun a spin off group meeting–a ‘meeting of the minds’ so to speak, involving predictive analysis, regarding the collapse of the current civilization. We were …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Three readers sent me this noteworthy blog piece: Over 1 Trillion Dollars Worth of Credit Default Swaps Against Governments. The article mentions that there are still $33-to-$47 Trillion (notional) in CDS derivatives still outstanding. This skunk won’t be washed clean until the real estate market bottoms, and all the “Marked to Mystery” paper gets marked to the real market. And, BTW, that bottom may not be for another five years. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The fallout from the nascent derivatives collapse may topple some national governments.    o o o The latest huge download from …