Month: September 2009

Letter Re: Think of Preparedness as Insurance

Jim, We preppers get labeled all sorts of things from mildly eccentric to paranoid, and so I ask, is it so imbalanced to want insurance? Clearly most people have health insurance (if they can afford it) car insurance (mandatory), home insurance and life insurance so why stop there? When friends ask about my lifestyle, this is my argument. 1) Why do you have firearms? Police insurance. If the police can’t come in time, (can they ever?) or are overwhelmed (Los Angeles riots anyone?) or just go home (Hurricane Katrina?) then you may need need firearms. 2) Why do you have …


Letter Re: Chronic Troubles with PT/MMC Pistol Night Sights

Jim, As people are typically trying to find advice on tritium sights and what brand to get, I figure I’d share my bad experience with one supplier so as to keep others from repeating my mistake. A few years back I had my Springfield Trophy Match sights fitted with tritium inserts by PT Night Sights (a part of MMC Night Sights). At first I was disappointed. I had them install the 3-bar system on the rear sight, which I generally like. The front sight however was noticeably dimmer than the rear though, which is not how it’s supposed to be. …


Three Letters Re: Will Junk Silver Be Accepted for Barter, Post-Collapse?

Jim: I am not surprised that ordinary people in Dallas, Texas (or anywhere else in the US) are not aware that pre-1965 US quarters and dimes are 90% silver. After 40 years of continual dumbing down the average high school graduate today probably couldn’t tell you what the word “sterling” means either. I just checked Dex Online for coin dealers in Dallas, Texas. Dex brought up 18 coin dealers. Dex also brought up 18 antiques and collectibles dealers (who always know the value of old coins.) I don’t think there would be a problem converting pre-1965 “junk” silver coins into …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

Swine flu ‘could kill millions unless rich nations give £900m’ UN report says pandemic may result in anarchy unless western world pays for antiviral drugs and vaccines. Thanks to John L. for the link. Brazil Registers 899 Swine Flu Deaths UK: Rise in Swine Flu Cases Signals Second Wave UK: Deadly Second Wave of Swine Flu “On Its Way” Another School District Closing Near Knoxville, Tennessee


Economics and Investing:

Tamara (of the View From The Porch blog), linked to this by Les Jones: Three tales of inflation From DD: Retraining roulette: New skills, no new job Trent forwarded this video link: Bullish Today, Marc Faber is “Highly Confident” the Future Will Be Very Bleak Items from The Economatrix: Weiss: From Deflation to Inflation. This is a significant change, because up until just recently, Marty Weiss had for more than two decades been warning about deflation. World Stocks Lower as Investors Eye Fed Meeting Oil Falls Below $71 Amid Weak Demand House Moves to Extend Unemployment Benefits IRS Extends Amnesty …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Damon mentioned a web site that describes the construction of inexpensive sand water filters.    o o o Directive 21 (one of advertisers) just added the Go Berkey Kit to heir product line. It is a smaller (one quart) Berkey system. It definitely fills a preparedness niche.    o o o Just as he predicted in an e-mail to me, my friend Jeff’s edits to the Wikipedia page on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.were repeatedly ripped out by an anti-gun cabal. I am amazed at how Wikipedia has become so politicized and manipulated by the Politically Correct. Oh well, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“This first stage of the inflationary process may last for many years. While it lasts, the prices of many goods and services are not yet adjusted to the altered money relation. There are still people in the country who have not yet become aware of the fact that they are confronted with a price revolution which will finally result in a considerable rise of all prices, although the extent of this rise will not be the same in the various commodities and services. These people still believe that prices one day will drop. Waiting for this day, they restrict their …


Note from JWR:

My forthcoming nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” includes several pages of material that is redundant to my currently published book “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog”. So I ‘ve decided to discontinue self-publishing the latter. If you’d like your own copy of “SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog” then be sure to order one before September 30th, when it will be dropped from the Clearwater Press products page.


Letter Re: Grub and Gear–Lessons Learned from an Alaskan Trapper

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James, Going through some old gear last month, I found my food supply lists and notes from 1976-79. I thought the old list might be of interest and the lessons I learned during the first three years in the remote Alaska bush may be helpful to a few of your readers. I do not recommend Alaska for a TEOTWAWKI retreat but the lessons I learned the hard way may be helpful to any one in a cold climate. I grew up in California listing to stories from my grandfather about Alaska and the Yukon. When I graduated from high school …


Economics and Investing:

Unemployment in California at 12%, Highest in Nearly 70 Years GG flagged this: UK Public debt hits £800 billion – the highest on record Tom B. sent this item: Charts predict: “Risk of Full- Fledged Dollar Crisis” Items from The Economatrix: Obama: G-20 Good Time to Assess Economy Low Expectations for New Loan Help Program Regulators Seize Two Banks; 94 Failures This Year Irwin Financial’s Two Bank Units Seized Ohio Town Struggles After Package Giant DHL Leaves Meredith Whitney: “Roaring Recover”? Unlikely Fed Eyes Sweeping Bank-Pay Regulations Summers: Troubled Firms Should be Allowed to Fail Obama Adviser Blasts Big Business …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Inyokern spotted a web page on a 1 oz. beverage can stove which burns denatured alcohol. Inyokern notes: “This is a great bug-out bag item that is popular with Blue Ridge ultralight backpackers. This, plus fishing line, a folding knife, hooks, and a pan or pot with a lid would make a lightweight emergency kit.”    o o ox F.G. sent this: South Carolina mayor prohibits cops from chasing suspects either by car, or on foot!    o o o J.B. found a piece that describes urban camouflage: the ‘Special Operations Tactical Suit’ (SOTACS)    o o o Reader A.V. …



Letter Re: Will Junk Silver Be Accepted for Barter, Post-Collapse?

I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and I have a different outlook that I would like for you to comment on if you would be so kind. I have seen multiple references to pre-1965 coins being good for barter in a post-SHTF environment, but I do not follow this reasoning. I live in Dallas Texas, and frequently converse with other like minded people about survival preparation and the world climate and, until I told them about the high melt value of pre-1965 coins, they had no idea it was greater than the face value. It …


Letter Re: Storage Food Cookbooks

Hello James; I was just today shopping at the good ol value village and saw this book called Cooking With Stored Foods by Carlene Tejada and Carroll Latham. It contains great tips on storing foods and cooking stored foods. It lists also the shelf life of stored foods and there are diagrams for gravity fed can storage systems. I got it for ninety nine cents but your readers can find it on amazon.com for as little as $0.67 [plus postage]. God bless and many prayers for the loss of your Memsahib – Eric L JWR Replies: Thanks for that recommendation. …


Letter Re: Advice for a Post-Thyroidectomy — Potassium Iodide?

Mr. Rawles, I have read your blog for awhile, I would like to know if you about the following: I was diagnosed with Graves Disease over two years ago. They cured the Graves Disease and the way that was done was to completely remove my thyroid gland, If the main concern with radiation is thyroid cancer, without a thyroid what would radiation do are what organ would it damage the most. I would like to also know if there would be any need for myself to take Potassium Iodide (KI). JWR Replies: There would be no need for you to …