Month: November 2008

Letter Re: Procuring Reliable Workhorse Bikes — Take Advantage of the Single Speed Fad

Jim, Due to a current fad in single-speed bicycles, mountain bikes are re-selling very inexpensively. Used, [15-speed] mountain bikes for around $200 for what had been $1,200 bicycles, on average. With smooth tires, puncture sealing inner-tubes, lights, fenders, and a rack or basket, this can haul groceries or get you to work in the event of a temporary fuel shortage such as we just experienced in the Southeast a month ago. No gas in Nashville, indeed! Not a perfect solution, but better than losing your job for lack of trying. Get into cycling, once a week, so you can learn …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Robert R. recommended this piece over at The Simple Dollar blog: Investing in Skills (or Fear of an Apocalyptic Economy)    o o o For November and December only, FreezeDryGuy is offering a special sale price for a one year’s supply of 30-year shelf life Mountain House freeze dried fruit plus a free water filter. For just a hair over $500, you’ll get one case (six #10 cans) of Freeze Dried Strawberries (132 cup servings), two cases Freeze Dried Banana Slices (240 cup servings), and a bonus Aquamira E&E Military Water Filter. (Normally $20.) Contact FreezeDryGuy for ordering details.    …



Note from JWR:

Congratulations to M.G., the high bidder in the monthly SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction that ended last night. Today we are starting a new auction for a mixed lot that includes: A.) 15 brand new 30 round M16/M4/AR-15 magazines from JWR‘s personal collection. These include four scarce and desirable brand new HK steel “Maritime Finish” magazines, and 11 new USGI alloy magazines made by Center Industries. (Note that most of these were made during the 1994-2004 Federal ban, most of them have restriction markings, but those became null and void after the ban sunsetted.) Even if you don’t own an AR-15, these …


Letter Re: Should We Currently Emphasize Storage Food or Gun Purchases?

Hello Jim, I’ve finished reading your fine novel “Patriots” several weeks ago, and have passed it on to another like-minded individual. I’ve also been scouring your web site daily for the last several months, and gleaning extremely valuable information not only from you, but the many fine individuals who add excellent links to current events. I have forwarded your link to others, and have it saved as “required reading” daily. A brief background on our family; I had been one of the Y2K aficionados, and had lived on the Big Island for many years. If it were still just my …


Letter Re: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Retreat Locale

Hello James: A recent letter from a reader mentioned that he was looking for a retreat. If I remember correctly, that person lived in the Washington D.C. area. You had suggested Tennessee and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) as retreat possibilities.One disadvantage of Michigan’s UP for that particular reader is that to get to the UP, they will have to drive through, or very close to, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, and Saginaw. The Old Uooper was on-target regarding the challenges of living in many places in the UP both microclimate and soil are key factors. My personal choice would be to …


Letter Re: Comments on “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”

Dear Sir: Recently I acquired a copy of your novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”. I have read a few works of survivalist fiction in my time, your book is one of the few that I could honestly say I would be happy to read again and again. There aren’t many books I could say that about A little background here, I’m a former Royal Marine originally from England and now I live in Northern Ireland. There isn’t much of a survivalist movement here in the UK so I consider myself to be in a minority! I also write survival …


Odds ‘n Sods:

While surfing around the net looking for ammo suppliers, Tim in Maryland found an ongoing firearms forum thread that tracks .308 prices from all the various online outlets. Tim notes: “It lists the supplier, the country of origin, year of manufacture, whether its sold by the case, battle pack or box, and cost per round. This could save people a lot of time spent comparison shopping.”    o o o In an e-mail to JWR, the editor of TheTraderBlog.com mentioned two interesting news articles with repercussions on the value of the US Dollar: China Expected to Shift Reserves to Gold …



Notes from JWR:

The SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends at midnight (eastern time) tonight! (Saturday, November 15th.) The high bid is now at $750. 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 …


The Foundation of Basic Preparedness, by Doc Gary

Much has been written on The Blog concerning the 4 G’s, getting right with God, Ground, Grub and Guns. I believe that another “G” exists for most, if not all, of us and that is “Group”. The family unit is the original group and the most basic. This is not to say that individuals cannot go it alone. Man, however, is a social creature and survives best (biology aside) with others. We have faced the challenge of preparedness as a family. The issues are, of course, the same as for anyone like-minded. Most issues have to do with mind-set, some …


Letter Re: Criminal Gangs in TEOTWAWKI — Understanding a Potential Threat

Sir, I have one minor correction to Ryan’s excellent article. This quote is seriously out of date: “Outlaw motorcycle gangs rule the distribution of meth.” I beg to differ: the Mexican cartels now rule the distribution of meth. In the 1980s, the biker gangs employed some of the Mexican gangs to produce meth to avoid the repeated law enforcement arrests of its very visible members. Then in the 1990s the Mexicanns expanded out of the biker’s control and the biker gangs bought Meth from the Mexicans to redistribute. Why? Less LEO (law enforcement officer) detection an much less expensive meth. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Paul D. sent us a link to an article that profiles several families that have built extremely energy and water self-sufficient homes. Their elaborate do-it-yourself efforts and expertise are commendable, but: What is it about the Peak Oil crowd that makes them so incredibly naive about present day burglaries, and the potential for future home invasion robberies–to the point that they blithely mention their street addresses to newspaper reporters? My advice is to learn to be circumspect around reporters. Your stock answer should be: “For the privacy of my family, I’m not at liberty to discuss that topic.” Most reporters …



Note from JWR:

SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends Saturday night. The high bid is now at $660. 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 …