Year: 2008

Note from JWR:

Congrats to Mark T., the high bidder in the auction that ended yesterday. Today we are starting a new auction. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources, an autographed copy of “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”, an autographed copy of “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog.”, and a copy of “The Encyclopedia of Country Living”, by the late Carla Emery. The four items have a combined retail value of around $395. The auction ends on May15th. Please e-mail us …


The Precepts of My Survivalist Philosophy

In the past week I’ve had three newcomers to SurvivalBlog.com write and ask me to summarize my world view. One of them asked: “I could spend days looking through [the] archives of your [many months of] blog posts. But there are hundreds of them. Can you tell me where you stand, in just a page? What distinguishes the “Rawlesian” philosophy from other [schools of] survivalist thought?” I’ll likely add a few items to this list as time goes on, but here is a general summary of my precepts: Modern Society is Increasingly Complex, Interdependent, and Fragile. With each passing year, …


Letter Re: Food Riots in Haiti

Mr. Rawles, The BBC and several other news outlets are reporting Food Riots in Haiti, where food scarcity and price increases have resulted in violence. Reports say mobs are looting shops, burning cars, blocking roads, and shooting at UN Peacekeepers. It is also reported one man was shot to death by UN Peacekeepers. The rioters are responding to food prices increasing some 50% over the past year. Apparently the United States and France will be sending more money to assist in subsidizing food prices. There’s plenty of information about this showing online. Here are a couple of links, one from …


Letter Re: The Survivor Mindset

Dear Mr. Rawles; I love the SurvivalBlog. It is fun and interesting, yet it is even more, it is educational! I believe that a lot of people are over looking the biggest part of the equation when it comes to survival. It is mindset. When going thru [US Army] Ranger school I knew from the start there was no way I was going to quit. I had the mindset they could “DQ” [(disqualify)] me and send me packing but I was not quitting. In a true survival setting one has to know in his heart and mind he is going …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric sent us this: The new underground currency    o o o Time magazine reports: How Hunger Could Topple Regimes    o o o Where are the contrapreneurs that “invested” in McMansions, using NINJA (No Income, No Job or Assets) loans? Some of them have gone through foreclosure and are now moving back home to live with their parents.    o o o As other staples soar, potatoes break new ground



Notes from JWR:

The current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends at midnight (eastern time) tonight. The high bid for the lot is now at $300. This auction is for four items: a MURS Alert Base station, a MURS Alert Hand-held transceiver, an earbud, and a Kaito KA-1102 AM/FM/Shortwave. These radios were kindly donated by the owner of Affordable Shortwaves and MURS Radios. If you aren’t familiar with the Dakota Alert infrared perimeter security system, take a few minute to look at the Dakota Alert web site. These alarms are very reliable and versatile. I often recommend them to my consulting clients–especially those that plan …


Getting from Point A to Point B, by E.I.D.

You’ve got your Bug Out Bags (BOBs) all packed. You’ve prepped your house for whatever reason you’re leaving. You’ve made contact with what family you could, and you trust the rest to meet you at your designated meeting place, whether it’s your retreat or just a spot along the way where your two paths converge. Everything is set. Or is it? Points A and B are ready, but how do you plan to make the trek between them? Walking is always an option, but probably a last resort. Most people aren’t in good enough shape to walk ten miles, let …


Odds ‘n Sods:

For several months I’ve been pointing to the Federal Reserve’s data on bank reserves. The latest numbers are downright frightening. In particular, see the bottom of the “Non-borrowed Reserves” column. (Thanks to “Tanker” for alerting me to the latest update to the Fed data.) OBTW, don’t miss this article: US banks Citigroup and Merrill Lynch reveal fresh $15bn loss    o o o The latest addition to my blog roll is Target Rich Environment. I found this blog both humorous and insightful.    o o o I noticed that the folks at Green Mountain Gear have expanded their product line …



Notes from JWR:

A SurvivalBlog reader in Iraq e-mailed me to mention that the Wikipedia page “James Wesley Rawles” has been proposed for deletion. If you have experience with Wikipedia and have an opinion one way or the other, then please post your comments. (Needless to say, I can’t comment there personally, or it would be a conflict of interest.) If you do post, please be civil! The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction (which tomorrow night) is now at $260. This auction is for four items: a MURS Alert Base station, a MURS Alert Hand-held transceiver, an earbud, and a …


Letter Re: The Importance of Acquiring and Learning to Use Traditional Tools

Jim, For those readers that have livestock they need to prepare for the day when hydrocarbon fuel may not be available for tractors. I would suggest a buck rake and a pull-behind sickle mower that a horse could pull. It beats cutting hay by hand. These items can often be picked up at farm and ranch auctions. Enough hay can be put up for a few cows, horses and sheep for the winter months when snow may cover grazing ground. I would recommend a treadle sewing machine. Clothes will need to be mended and taken care of until society gets …


Letter Re: Advice on Post-WTSHTF Weather Forecasting and Barometers

Sir: I just realized that if the Schumer impacts the oscillator that we won’t have a clue about upcoming weather without the National Weather Service. Being able to predict future weather will be very important for gardening, hay cutting, and on and on. What do you recommend? A barometer? Thx, – Barry JWR Replies: A barometer is indeed the most important forecasting tool. Luckily, they are fairly easy to find in second hand stores. Make sure that you get one with a finely-gradated scale and with a proper elevation offset adjustment in the back. (If you live at high elevation–such …


Letter Re: Getting Physical with Silver Futures Contracts

Jim, Congratulations on the continuing success of your blog site. I think your readers would like some information regarding physical delivery of silver from futures contracts. I’ve never done this, or even known anyone who has, but it seems rational nowadays. One question I have is what type of mark or assay comes with, say, a 1,000 ounce delivery. I also think many readers are interested in questions of how to plan “getting tangible” with their retirement accounts, by which I mean no paper. I know I have to think about this quite seriously. Felicitations, – Patrick (an American Ex-Pat …


Letter Re: Using Dry Chlorine for Water Treatment

Jim:: To answer Steve W.’s question: “How much dry chlorine would be needed to make a one gallon batch of standard 5.25% chlorine bleach?”: In the conversion of dry hypochlorite to liquid (bleach), since all the percentages are by weight, it is easy to calculate the amount needed to reconstitute 5.25% hypochlorite bleach. Since dry is about 55% active, it should be diluted roughly 10-fold by weight (one pound to 10 pounds water). So, you would need 8/10 pound or about 12 ounces per gallon of reconstituted liquid bleach. Then the standard formulas could be applied for the final mixing …