Day: March 20, 2009

Note from JWR:

The high bid in the SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $550. This auction ends on April 15th. It is for a large mixed lot, which includes:: 1.) A Warrior Aid and Litter Kit, donated by Ready Made Resources. This is an advanced medic kit package that includes a Talon II 90C folding handle collapsible litter, which normally retails for $560, just by itself. This truly a “full up” tactical trauma kit! This sophisticated medic kit normally retails for $1,500. 2.) A “be ready to barter” box of 26 full-capacity firearms magazines, from my personal collection in JASBORR. This box …


Letter Re: Storing Peanut Butter

James, Thanks for the extensive resource that is your web site. I am fairly new to prepping but was raised in the deep south so I have a lot of related experience. One thing I’ve noticed in most lists regarding food storage, is the bulk of the food is grains, rice and beans. I completely understand the importance of these 3, but also think another option is often overlooked – Peanut Butter. First of all, I’m biased, since I love the stuff (Store what you eat!). We eat the reduced fat variety, and in a 40 ounce jar (typical large …


Letter Re: A Test Load-Up Shows a G.O.O.D. Inadequacy

Hello Mr. Rawles; First and foremost, thanks for the site, the info is invaluable and a must read every morning I am writing to add a few simple thoughts (perhaps state the obvious) on the subject of survival vehicle – really just some comments on G.O.O.D. I recently sold my house and am in the process of trying to get into a better situation, and during the move decided to attempt a “live” exercise. I took the opportunity to see how quickly I could load up my truck and bug out. I wanted to time the load of my truck …


Letter Re: Military Surplus Field Telephone Commo Wire Variants

Dear JWR: In the 19 March Odds ‘n Sods you noted that: Ready Made Resources just got in another small batch of 1000-foot long rolls of WF-16/U (2-pair) commo wire.This type of wire is fairly scarce on the surplus market. It can be used with TA-1s, TA-312s, and the newer TA-1042 (DNVT) digital field telephones. Just so, and WF-16/U works as well with the older and long-standard pre-WWII through Vietnam era EE-8 “bag phones”.which my maternal grandparent helped develop while a Signal Corps officer at Ft. Monmouth.The old double-E-Eight is also compatible with the TA-1 and TA-312, though I’ve never …


Economics and Investing:

A recent headline grabbed my attention. It mention the “bottoming” or real estate price. That made me chuckle, because we are nowhere near the bottom yet. I did some searching, and I found a chart posted last year at the Calculated Risk blog. If you thought the subprime mortgages caused a lot of foreclosures, just wait until the Option-ARM resets peak in 2011. Methinks that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Reader HPD mentioned this at Forbes that quotes Peter Schiff: CPI Rises Despite U.S. Recession GG sent this: Merkel adviser warns US on …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Hawaiian K. and Chris were the first of several readers to mention an article about statist politics: Who owns Colorado’s rainwater? (In Hawaii, where rainwater catchment is the norm, a law like that would probably trigger a revolt.)    o o o HPD spotted this: Catastrophic Fall in 2009 Global Food Production    o o o Perhaps there are few survival nuggets in a news article on the life of Popcorn Sutton, a moonshiner from Maggie Valley, North Carolina.(A tip of the hat to Matt H., for the link.) Judging from his picture, who would have ever guessed that he …