Month: November 2008


Note from JWR:

Today, the US, Canada, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland honor military veterans, and those that made the supreme sacrifice. To those of you that have served, my heartfelt thanks. And for those of you that have lost loved ones, my sincere condolences!


Letter Re: Survival is About Skills–Practice Makes Perfect

Mr Rawles, You’re regularly posting first hand stories about the need to test gear. Imagine my surprise when my arrogance that that didn’t apply to me proved false! You really do need to test equipment and skills! Unused tools (both physical and mental) are useless tools! I store gas for my lawnmowers in two five gallon plastic containers. I figured that I’d pour what was left in them into my car when I put the mowers away for the winter. I know you always recommend being able to relocate more than one tank of gas away, so I figured I’d …


Letter Re: Hunt Packs Available at Cabela’s

James, I often read your blog and have read your novel , “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”, (and have given it as a gift to several folks!) I just wanted to let you and your other readers know about something I found at Cabela’s recently: 3-day and 10-day ‘Hunt’ Packs. These nifty boxes contain a mix of energy bars, gels, drinks, etc. designed for use by ‘Wilderness Athletes’. Aside from the humorous effect of the name, these are quite handy and can be ordered from Cabela’s on-line web store and may provide survival minded people an excellent option for Bug …


Five Letters Re: Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Jim, I wanted to contribute this the following to your ongoing discussion on high capacity magazines. Selling high capacity magazines is normally a small part of our business, but that changed last week. Between October 31 and today, we have sold more than I normally sell in a year. I had stocked up anticipating increased demand, but was nowhere near prepared for the huge surge in sales that we experienced. A normal order was 3 to 6 magazines, now it is 12 or more and we have had several customers buy in quantities of 100+. As a result, we are …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael W. noticed some great advice on assembling “Grab-‘n -Go” kits, by Kim du Toit. o o o Seven readers sent us this: Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans. ($2 Trillion dollars in taxpayer funds, and no need to reveal the recipients?) Reader Dave S. made this comment: “I’m a little steamed. These guys are sinking the country and hiding it from the owners of this great land. They should be tarred & feathered.” o o o The latest economic news and commentary from Cheryl: Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy Protection — GM Shares Plunge After …



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 …


Letter Re: Retreat Locale and Firearms Selection Questions from a Newbie Easterner

Jim, I am a new reader of SurvivalBlog but I am already hooked. I realize that I am woefully unprepared to defend and care for my family if and when TSHTF. I live in New Jersey and commute to New York City every day, and work in finance. After 9/11, when I lost several dear friends, I took some steps to prepare for a short (several days to a week) disruption or an attack. I purchased a generator, several hundred MREs, bottled water, and iodine pills. I even applied for a firearm purchase permit but never bought a weapon. Working …


Letter Re: HF/VHF/UHF Amateur Radio for Preppers

James, First, thanks for all that you do for the preparedness community. I have been a reader since [the early 1990s] when you had the early draft of your novel available for free download. I did send in my the $5 in shareware you asked for I believed it to be excellent fiction. Second, I want to write you concerning an aspect of preparedness which is often overlooked. I know that in the last few months I have seen more posts on your blog and am grateful. I want to talk about communications equipment. As has been previously noted there …


Letter Re: Some Changes in American Wholesale Food Distribution

Hi James You’ll recall hat I wrote to you a while back, forewarning of increasing prices for canned tuna, as I am in the import food business. I read Buckskin’s message with interest, as I sell to food distributors, of the type that he is referring to. What many of your readers may or may not know, is that a huge amount of our food products are imported. I don’t have exact figures on it, but there are certain categories of food products that are almost exclusively imported, as they either cannot be produced here at all or cannot be …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Abraham”s new blog on suburban survival looks like it is off to a great start. His most recent post selecting “Get Home Bag” contents was excellent. (A hat tip to the gents over at Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest (TSLRF), for the link to Abraham’s blog)    o o o Our friend Commander Zero up in Montana recently had a very well-reasoned post on handgun proficiency that quotes my mentor, Mel Tappan: Standard Controllability Test    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that after some record sales, they are now down to just 30 of the used water-tight …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. … And what country can preserve its liberties, if it’s rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and …


Letter Re: Deflation Followed by Mass Inflation?

Dear Jim I agree with Michael that deleveraging, the reduction in credit, means falling price levels in the short run – but not for 4 or 5 years! He wrote: “Credit can be destroyed. If the value of your house goes down by $100,000, then that $100,000 is just gone. It doesn’t exist any more. It is not in the money supply. This is deflationary” Back to basic definitions – inflation is an increase in the money supply, deflation is a decrease in the money supply. Generally inflation leads to rising prices, and deflation to falling prices. The price of …


Five Letters Re: Full Capacity Magazine Price Increases are Already Here

Sir, Be advised, Cabela’s here in Fort Worth, Texas is sold out on all ammo except 22 LR and shotgun shells. A friend who went there today was amazed to find all ammo shelves emptied. The last time I went there (shortly before the election) the place was a mad house. Standing room only, many people turned down on their background checks (or delayed). I considered myself lucky to get in and out of there in an hour. I got my new toy, no problem and plenty of ammo “at sale price”. Cheaper Than Dirt’s prices have doubled or tripled. …