Year: 2008

Letter Re: Energy Bars as a Storage Food

James; This might interest your readers. I am considering buying compact, high-calorie emergency food bars for long term storage of food. I know they are not “real” [nutritionally complete] food but they easily moved and taken along, they have a great storage life and taste pretty good. The problem is that no pizzas and no cereal might make for a dull year, but having some of these on hand might be good. I was wondering if the ‘food bars’ are a good storage product. I would not stop storing real food, but would rely on the ‘bars’ for [short term] …


Letter Re: Preparing for Pole Shift?

Mr. Rawles, I have been trying to find out more about the consequences of a polar shift, particularly the effects it will have on the Great Lakes Region. I know that no one really knows what will happen, but everything I’ve seen points to something really really bad. If possible could you post what knowledge you may have on the subject on SurvivalBlog? Thank you, – Scott from Michigan JWR Replies: Rapid pole shift is a little more than an unsupported theory, touted mainly by the Art Bell crowd. In my opinion it should be one of the least of …


Two Letters Re: Questions About FRS Radio Capabilities

Sir: I’ll establish my bona fides by stating that I am a General class Amateur Radio licensee with extensive experience in the VHF and UHF radio bands. While I applaud your promotion of the MURS radio for general use, it is not the best choice for the gentleman residing in the concrete condos in Florida. Penetration of concrete and steel structures is significantly better (by approximately 30%) at UHF frequencies (as used by FRS/GMRS radios) than at the VHF frequencies as used by MURS. Though free air range favors VHF, UHF penetrates obstacles better, assuming the effective radiated power (ERP) …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Norman in England found a web page with some useful information on assembling outdoor survival kits.    o o o Reader Bill T. asked me: “I’m a denture wearer. Do you know a formula for home-made denture adhesive?” I have no idea, but given SurvivalBlog’s large worldwide audience, perhaps there is a reader that can chime in with a formula.    o o o Cheryl N. spotted this interesting piece: ‘Liar loans’ threaten to prolong mortgage crisis. She also found this one: The Endgame Nears for Fannie and Freddie    o o o Rich at CGW has created a page …



Letter Re: Ramen Noodles as a Food Storage Supplement

Mr. Rawles, First off, thanks for your fine web site! I was proud to become a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber. For those looking to increase their food storage supply in a cost-effective manner, I would recommend stopping by Wal-Mart and picking up their 12-pack containers of Ramen noodles (in various flavors). They’re currently $1.73 per package, which comes out to just 14.5 cents per single pack. Nutritionally, a single pack of Ramen noodles contains: 380 calories 14 grams of fat 52 grams of carbohydrates 2 grams of fiber 10 grams of protein and 16% of your daily requirement of iron …


Letter Re: Will the War in Georgia Trigger a Russian Ammo Import Ban?

Hello James, I have been an avid reader of your novel and SurvivalBlog for about six months now, and I have to echo the sentiment of many other readers–that it has given me a desperately needed focus and sense of purpose. The increased threat of TEOTWAWKI was clear in my mind, and prior to finding your blog, I just had anxiety and was confused over what actions I should be taking t protect my family. I was like a deer in the headlights. Now it is a whole different story. I have stopped wasting money on non-essential items (sodas at …


Letter Re: Questions About FRS Radio Capabilities

Dear SurvivalBlog: At my condo complex in Florida, we’ve been wondering if we could use consumer two-way radios–such as Motorola Talkabout two-way radios–to communicate successfully between (from inside) condo units. We would do this during scenarios such as a severe hurricane. The question is whether those radios (which, of course, come in several models with different specs) use the right frequency band and and have adequate power to penetrate the multiple concrete walls that would be line-of-sight between the communicating radios. We assume–in planning for worst possible case–that both line telephone and cell phone service would be down, and are …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mr. Lima mentioned a site with some useful videos on basic homesteading skills like gardening, fruit trees, growing grains, beekeeping, and so forth. They’ve promise to add more videos coming about alternate energy, raising rabbits and chickens, food storage and more.    o o o Philip N. flagged this: Depression survivors: ‘We lived the hard way’    o o o Jack B. sent this: Lights are on, but banks increasingly closed: James Saft. And meanwhile, several readers mentioned this ominous prediction: Credit crunch may take out large US bank warns former IMF chief.    o o o Susan Z. sent …



Note from JWR:

Today we are pleased to welcome our newest advertiser: SecurityPro.com. They have a very broad line of products including binoculars, hydration packs, flashlights, Trijicon scopes, knives, holsters, boots, helmets, body armor, BDUs, anti-vehicular barriers, and much more. They even sell armored vehicles!


Letter Re: Using 20mm Ammo Cans as Contingency Caches

Hi Jim, After reading “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” a second time (and this time tabbing the pages) and making note of the ROTC cadet’s story, I acquired some 20mm-sized ammo cans. I thought I’d put together at least one contingency box [for an underground cache], in the event of losing everything else, due to being overrun by bad guys, etc. First off, instead of pavement/roadway emulsion, I took two of these cans to a Line-X [spray-on bed liner] shop, to have them painted with their material. They were happy to help, since they were shooting a metal surface with …


Letter Re: A Tasmanian’s Perspective on Preparedness

Hi, I have been reading SurvivalBlog now for several months and really enjoyed the articles. I live in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia . For those who don’t know the place and I imagine there are many who are unfamiliar with this part of the world, it’s an island at the bottom of Australia. I work on disease protection for the government. This involves responding to bird flu pandemics, terrorist attacks etc. Being an island at the bottom of the world with not many threats, it’s an easy job. But I do believe that there is lots of trouble coming in the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Bob S. pointed us to an interesting thread in progress over at the When SHTF Forum, about Bug-Out Vehicles (BOVs). I generally advise painting BOVs in a single flat earth tone color. A camouflage paint scheme can actually attract attention, which could be a bad thing. OBTW, most semi-gloss paints can be turned into flat paint by mixing in a flattener additive before spraying it on.    o o o The Russians continue to claim publicly that they are “withdrawing” from Georgia. If so, then why is their armor still heading south? Perhaps they’re planning to withdraw by way …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"I remember during the metals’ bull market of the 1970s when we were worried about gas rising to $1.50 a gallon, some enterprising gas stations put up signs selling gas for a dime a gallon. Of course, they wanted pre-1964, 90-percent silver dimes which had value in excess of a gallon of gas. If you were smart, you didn’t fall for it. You were better off keeping the coins to yourself." – Howard J. Ruff