Day: August 31, 2009

Letter Re: Old Boy Scout and Girl Scout Handbooks are Available Online

Sir, For those who don’t have an “old” copy of the Boy Scout Handbook, the 1911 edition is available from Project Gutenberg in a variety of electronic formats. Also, they have the Girl Scout Handbook, 1920 edition. There is some overlap with the Boy Scouts handbook, but also much that is unique, especially in regard to care of the home, growing a garden, storing food, outdoor and indoor cooking, and a good section on first aid and home health care. Regards, – Andrew H. JWR Replies: For any families with teenagers, or pre-teens, I recommend getting hard copies of these …


Letter Re: Stockpiling Dimes?

Sir, I have a question what is the metal makeup of dimes [US 10-cent coins]. I am saving the nickels [US 5-cent coins, as suggested in SurvivalBlog, since 2007]. I have a small amount of dimes and was wondering if they are worth saving? – Curtis M. JWR Replies: Stockpiling dimes would not be wise. See the base metal value data at Coinflation,com. As of Saturday, August 29th, the base metal value of a post-1964 dime is $0.01704, (less than 2 cents) but the acquisition cost fro each coin is the face value of ten cents. Meanwhile, the base metal …


Two Letters Re: Precious Metal and Base Metal Composition of Foreign Coins?

Mr Rawles,s My family really enjoys and has benefited from reading your blog. Thank you for putting together such a quality reference site. One topic I have not seen discussed (even after a search of the archives) is whether or not pre-1960s foreign silver coins have any value. As a child, I received a large number of European coins from my grandfather (circa 1920s to 1930s), many of which are silver and a few appear to be bronze. While they have little value to collectors based on condition (I have kept them for sentimental reasons), I would assume that silver …


Letter Re: Bug Out Contingency Planning

[Introductory note from JWR: I normally send detailed letter replies only to their intended recipients, but in this case, I thought that this letter was a great example of terrain and obstacle analysis,a s well as “outside the box” planning, so I’m positing it for the entire SurvivalBlog readership to ponder. Do you have similar plans for off-road mobility, and contingency plans, folks?] Mr. Rawles, A note for Diane about her relative living on-post at Fort Riley, Kansas: First thing to obtain if you want to bug out of Ft. Riley is to get a Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer map …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

WHO warns of severe form of swine flu. The article begins: “Doctors are reporting a severe form of swine flu that goes straight to the lungs, causing severe illness in otherwise healthy young people and requiring expensive hospital treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Some countries are reporting that as many as 15 percent of patients infected with the new H1N1 pandemic virus need hospital care, further straining already overburdened healthcare systems, WHO said in an update on the pandemic.” Gregor spotted this in an Australian newspaper: “Swine Flu Spreading at ‘unbelievable’ rate: WHO Chief” Swine Flu’s Worst …


Economics and Investing:

Brad H. sent this from Capitalism magazine: The Collapse of America? The Dire Message of Mr. David Walker Detroit sets record for unemployment–28.9% (Thank to Paul B. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Arnold Holds Great California Garage Sale To Help Economy How Goldman Sach’s Problems are Hurting You US Economy: Spending Climbed in July Due to Clunkers Program Japanese Economy Hit by “Double Nightmare” Bankers’ Excesses…At Our Collective Expense Tsunami of Broke and Desperate Americans Fed urges secrecy on banks in bailout programs (A more accurate headline would be: “Fed Warns The Truth Will Destroy The Economy”) Japan …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Tamara posted a link to an article that illustrates that a very large quantity of ammunition can be stored in a relatively small, waterproof space.    o o o Failing Camouflage 101: Robbery suspect spray-paints face for disguise, dies. He should have listened to the warnings of his Greek girlfriend, Anna Phalaxis. 🙂    o o o Readers that enjoy finding coupon bargains might find the Coupon Chief web site worth bookmarking. This site is one of the better ones. (There are several others that you can quickly find with a web search,and the links at this SurvivalBlog …