Month: May 2009

Economics and Investing:

Reader Mike W. sent this: At Estates of the Fabulously Rich, Gilded Era is Going, Going, Gone D.S. recommended the ShadowStats primers series. D.S. comments: “Most folks that read SurvivalBlog are economically savvy – still, the ‘primers’ by John Williams at Shadowstats.com are excellent and help us understand the systematic distortion (okay, bald faced lies) about the real US Economy … I think this may aid folks as the economy ‘sails off the map’ or as flat earth maps stated ‘beware, beyond here lye Dragons’. Hmmm, think there is a correlation between ‘flat earth cartographers’ and today’s sheeple?” From Jack …


Odds ‘n Sods:

There is an excellent thread of discourse in progress over at TMM’s Gulching/Self-Sufficiency Forum titled, Burn a CD with survival and gulching information on it, what would you include?    o o o As you’ve doubtless already heard, the “rogue state” nuclear threat index just increased. I consider “Kim Jong Il ” and “Unstable” synonymous.    o o o Florida Guy sent a news article on the latest manifestation of hoplophobia: New York. proposes new bill to register and track all state ammo sales



Notes from JWR:

The Associated Press just ran an article on the survivalist movement that briefly quoted me: Crisis spurs spike in ‘suburban survivalists’.[Link is currently broken] Meanwhile, ABC news ran a similar article: ‘Recession Apocalypse’: Preparing for the End of the World” Economic Survivalists Hunker Down for Doomsday; Recession Triggers Movement Toward Self-Sufficiency. Okay, its official: In the eyes of the mainstream media, we’re now a “Movement”. — Today we present another entry for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First Prize: A.) A course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day …


Baking and Simple Cooking After a Disaster, by LCHS

Cooking as you once knew it, from cabinets bulging with a variety of packaged items, store bread and cookies, or a quick trips to the store for box cereal and meat in a neat packages, with an armful of deli tubs and rotisserie chicken – just ended. Think about this statement for a minute. If you have never learned to cook with simple ingredients and don’t have the right kinds of cookbooks you’re not only going to have trouble using that stored grocery staple food, it’s going to mean a steep learning curve at a time when you need it …


Letter Re: The Top 200 Hunting, Fishing, and Low Cost of Living Towns

Jim, The June / July 2009 issue of Outdoor Life magazine is out, and they again rate the top 200 towns to live in based on the following data: 1. Gun Laws 2. Huntable species 3. Fishable species 4. Public-Land access 5. Trophy potential Their top Five? Lewiston Idaho, Marquette Michigan, Idaho Falls Idaho, Rawlins Wyoming, and Pocatello Idaho. They also rate the 30 places to live for hunters and fisherman based upon the cost of living index. (Your dollar goes further there.) This magazine is out now, and also has an excellent review on many current binoculars and spotting …


Two Letters Re: Dealing with Uninvited Guests

Dear Mr. Rawles I would like to add one last letter in response to “Uninvited Guests” and to let your readers know that the only effective means to control head lice is by “mechanical” removal. We were unfortunate to live, for a time, in an area of the country where head lice had become resistant to the OTC treatments. This is because most people did not realize that in addition to the application of something such as Rid, one must also clean one’s living quarters, as well as systematically go through the lice sufferer’s hair—strand, by strand, by strand…. Now …



Economics and Investing:

GG sent us this: Gold bugs at last have their perfect trinity Also from GG: The American peso. JWR Adds: As I’ve mentioned before in the blog, 72 is the crucial level to watch for in the US Dollar Index (USDI) . Anywhere south of there for more than two weeks could signal a collapse in international confidence in the dollar. Mike W. flagged this piece by Caroline Baum: Inflation ‘Cure’ Exposed When In-Laws Move In Also from Mike W comes this Wall Street Journal article on self-employment: Ready to Be the Boss? From HPD: Jesse’s Café Américain: Bernanke’s Wager …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I was disappointed to see that my novel “Patriots” has slipped from the 4.5 star rating that it consistently held on Amazon.com for the past nine years, down to just 4 stars. The reason? It is obvious that several readers who just don’t “get it” when it comes to the concept of preparedness bought copies of the novel from the racks at their local bookstores. Perhaps they thought that it would just be another in the endless parade of Tom Clancy clones–formulaic “techno thrillers”, which seem to invariably be set in either New York City, or inside the DC Beltway. …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“A radical does not mean a man who lives on radishes,” remarked Crook, with some impatience; “and a Conservative does not mean a man who preserves jam. Neither, I assure you, does a Socialist mean a man who desires a social evening with the chimney-sweep. A Socialist means a man who wants all the chimneys swept and all the chimney-sweeps paid for it.” “But who won’t allow you,” put in the priest in a low voice, “to own your own soot.” – G.K. Chesterton, in his novel ‘The Innocence and Wisdom of Father Brown‘


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 22 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. First Prize: A.) A course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day OnPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of $350. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles …


The Pressure Cooker: An Overlooked Preparedness Tool, by N.J.

[Introductory note from JWR: I have made some changes to the following text, regarding safety issues. ] Storing food is an important part of preparing for disasters, natural or man-made. Much has been written about survival foodstuffs: what to store, how long it can be stored, and what foods are needed to form a balanced diet to aid in living through a TEOTWAWKI scenario. How to prepare food is almost as important as what sorts of food to store. In a disaster scenario, circumstances will change radically from the every day life of today, and food preparation and consumption will …


Letter Re: Keep Ammo in Original Boxes?

Mr. Editor, I’ve purchased ammo for self protection and for future barter. Is it best to keep the ammo in the original boxes (e.g. the nice green UMC boxes with the plastic insert that holds the rounds in place) and put those boxes into ammo cans? Or should I just dump all the ammo into an ammo can loose? I could fit many more rounds in each can by dumping them in loose, but I’m concerned about impacting the future barter value of the ammo. And also, if I end up selling some of the ammo before TSHTF, I would …


Letter Re: FDA Restricts Over the Counter Sales of Bulk-Size Hemostatic Supplies

Sir; I try to keep a gun shot trauma kit with my shooting range supplies; when I was ordering some new medical supplies from North American Rescue I was informed that the public can no longer purchase Quikclot ACS+ or any other such hemostatic from them. The operator proceeded to tell me that the [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating these products mid-May because “they go inside the human body.” I was able to order some of my other products in the “scrape and light cut” size” but none of the larger quantity hemostatics. Perhaps some other SurvivalBlog …