Year: 2008

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dave S. flagged this: Greek youths rob supermarket, hand out food    o o o More economic cheer, gleaned by SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor, Cheryl N.: Fed Imposes Financial Sector Imperialism Over US, HSBC Super-Rich Clients Moving Into Cash, No Credit For Central Bankers by The Mogambo Guru, Ponzi Dynamics Still At Play, Gustav Hits US Economy, More Impact Due to Weaker Economy, and Intaxicating Rebate Checks–The Mogambo Guru.    o o o I generally agree with Bill Gross, but his recent suggestion smacks of socialism to me: U.S. Must Buy Assets to Prevent `Tsunami,’ Gross Says. (A hat tip to …



Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $370. The auction for a mixed lot that includes: Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans, (donated by Ready Made Resources–a $320 value), a NukAlert radiation detector, (donated by KI4U–a $160 value), a Wilson Tactical COP tool, (donated by Choate Machine and Tool Company, a $140 value), a DVD of 480 E-books on Alternative Energy (donated by WK Books–a $25 value). The auction ends on September 15, 2008. Please e-mail us your bid.


Letter Re: Holster, Sling, and Web Gear Recommendations

Howdy Mr. Rawles! Before I begin, I’d like to offer my congratulations on your fine novel being republished. I’ve read it once myself, then again to my family (I hate television, reading is good family entertainment) which should be considered high accolades in itself. Currently my copy is in the Pacific Northwest, bound for the midwest next, as it continues to travel the country within my circle of friends. I read the posted letter by R.P. on 26 August, and associated recommendations on holsters, slings, and web gear, and thought I’d offer some discussion on the matter: The main reason …


Two Letters Re: Survival Medicine and Ditch Medicine

James Josh’s article [on Survival Medicine and Ditch Medicine] was very good. I wanted to address the fact that a medical oxygen bottle is illegal to possess without a prescription and/or doctor’s care. Actually, I don’t think the bottle itself is illegal. Just illegal for someone to fill it with medical oxygen without a prescription. But that’s beside the point because there is a simple, legal alternative: Aviation oxygen. Aviation oxygen tanks and gas are easily obtained and not inordinately expensive ($150-to-$250 depending on size). Aviation, medical and welder’s oxygen are all pure, dry and inexpensive. With the “ABO” (Aviator’s …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I’ll begin with some positive news from an Australian newspaper, by way of reader Kevin A.: Fifty Reasons To Thank NASA    o o o FerFAL (SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Argentina) recently posted some quotes and commentary on Gabe Suarez’s description of his training trip to Argentina.    o o o Pamela mentioned a commercially-made fireplace log rolling machine that speeds the newspaper rolling process that was described in a SurvivalBlog article posted earlier this year.    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Economic Editor Cheryl N. sent us another batch of economic news and commentary: Credit Crunch Cancer Metastasizing, US National Debt …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“…anyone who has been dragging his feet and has still got the bulk of his savings in the banking system, particularly the U.S. banking system, it’s getting almost too late to act. You need to move very quickly to get the bulk of your savings out of the weaker banks…ideally…you should own U.S. Treasuries directly in a money market fund…don’t sit around until it’s too late…finding yourself at the back of the line in front of your bank.” – Robert Prechter, quoted in Once in 100 Year Crisis?


Notes from JWR:

Today we are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser, Hardened Shelters. Be sure to visit their web site and check out their amazing engineering, architectural, and construction management expertise. They design and oversee the construction of blast shelters, fallout shelters, safe rooms, panic rooms, vaults, storm shelters, photovoltaic power systems, shelter ventilation systems, and more. The Memsahib will be at the hospital again starting this week for further treatment. Please pray for a miracle for her. (She’d appreciate your prayers upon Psalm 20:1-5)


Letter Re: Hurricane Gustav–Learning From Mistakes

Jim, A friend first introduced me to your blog, and I have begun to seriously consider many of the suggestions made by you and others for preparedness. One of the biggest indicators of a person’s level of preparedness is an actual or potential disaster event My wife and I have lived in Northwestern Louisiana for a little over two years. On the eve of Hurricane Gustav, we realized how unprepared we were for lack of power, water, let alone social breakdown. I certainly didn’t expect a major disaster, and we didn’t have one, but it is better to be prepared …


Letter Re: How Much Ammo to Carry?

Hello Mr. Rawles, You are a great man for what you do! You have shaped my life in many ways and most certainly opened my eyes to many things, and for that thank you. I have recently started my own small TEOTWAWKI preparedness group of like-minded Christians. We have standardized our gear but I have no idea how much ammo we should carry on our web gear, and if we should have a combo of rifle and pistol ammo. We have a lot of ammo stockpiled but we are wondering about patrols and other times when we would need to …


Letter Re: Is a Little Ice Age Approaching?

Hi Jim, Thought you might find this article interesting: Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century As a scientist (Oceanography) I have been astounded with scientists who can not see the forest through the trees when it comes to global warming. The ocean temperatures have been dropping over the last 1-to-2 years (as well as the overall temperature on Mars). Correlate the ocean temperature with sun spot activity and you do not need any more “proof” as this will show the direct cause-effect relationship of the sun to the temperature of the oceans. Note that if we do …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I noticed that the spot price of silver dipped below $12.70 per ounce for the first time in many moons. Given the pitiful intrinsic value of the US Dollar, in my opinion silver priced anywhere south of $13.50 is a bargain. Buy on the dips!    o o o Reader “MGB” flagged a web site that illustrate which countries to avoid for offshore banking: This US IRS page shows the countries that have “transparency” via tax treaties And MGB recommend the Sovereign Society web site as a resource for comparing banking privacy of various nations.    o o o Naish …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The amount of gold in existence is finite. It cannot be increased any faster than by 1.6% per annum (the rate at which mines are producing gold). Whereas the amount of money in circulation is currently expanding at double-digit levels, on a worldwide basis, the U.S. M3 money supply back in 1980 was 1.8 trillion dollars. Today, according to economist John Williams, the U.S. M3 money supply has ballooned to almost 15 trillion dollars. Some of that extra money has the potential to move into gold.” – Peter Degraaf, in Is the Price of Gold Artificially Depressed?


Notes from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $350. The auction for a mixed lot that includes: Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried foods in #10 cans, (donated by Ready Made Resources–a $320 value), a NukAlert radiation detector, (donated by KI4U–a $160 value), a Wilson Tactical COP tool, (donated by Choate Machine and Tool Company, a $140 value), a DVD of 480 E-books on Alternative Energy (donated by WK Books–a $25 value). The auction ends on September 15, 2008. Please e-mail us your bid. Today we present another entry for Round 18 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction …


Survival Medicine and Ditch Medicine, by Josh in Montana

There may come a time when we are no longer afforded the luxury of dialing 911 to receive prompt emergency medical care within minutes. You yourself may be faced with a sick or injured loved one, having nobody to turn to but you and your skills as well as inventory of supplies to provide critical interventions. My lively hood is emergency pre-hospital medicine. Having earned a degree in Paramedicine in 2002, I have worked and currently still work as a full time paramedic for a department that sees over 4500 runs a year. I myself serve as lead medic or, …