Month: November 2009

Letter Re: Mountain Money Isn’t

Mr. Rawles- I’ve seen it repeated everywhere that an item of big importance in survival preps is toilet paper. I do not understand this, myself. While I do use the stuff, I grew up as the son of immigrants from an impoverished nation, and learned a bit about the bathroom customs of the old country. Basically, my progenitors would use a small bucket of water and their hand to wash themselves post-elimination. Frankly, I think it gets the area cleaner than the best 3-ply can. It would put less of a load on a septic tank, if you’ve got one. …


Letter Re: Which Items Need a “Cool Dry Place”, and Which Don’t?

Mr. Editor, It seems that when we have to store anything it is always recommended to store in a cool dark area with low humidity. What things can we store in less than favorable spots like attics or outside sheds where the temps and humidity varies greatly? Thanks for all you have done for us. – Bill H. in Delaware JWR Replies: Humidity can be problematic, but some items that can tolerate fairly high temperature inside a shed include salt, ammunition, paper products, and many cleaning supplies and lubricants. (But do your homework on potential leaks and fire danger, especially …


Letter Re: Seeking Advice on Safe Food Storage, and Recommended Sources

Mr. Rawles, My test indictor for properly functioning Oxygen Absorbing Packets while packaging bulk storage in food grade buckets is the downward pull on the lid. If a good seal is formed by the lid (which is imperative for any method of purging the Oxygen) the packets will cause a vacuum to be created in the bucket and the lid will be concave. It may take up to three (3) days for this to happen. I have had one bucket so far not seal properly and it did not display the concave lid. I replaced the lid and absorber packets …


Economics and Investing:

GG flagged this: The Debt Bomb: Uncle Sam on teaser rate Randy F. sent this: Payback Time – Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Climb on Report Showing Jump in Home Sales Late Payments on Credit Cards Drop in 3Q IMF Chief: Global Economy Still Fragile AP Survey: Debt Stress Turns Shoppers into Scrooges Gas Prices Fall to Begin Busy Travel Week Bets Rise on Rich Country Derivative Defaults Gold Hits New High Among Rising Political Tension Couples Turn to “Shift-Parenting” to Stay Afloat End of the Checkbook: Bankers Drawing Plans, Could End by …



Letter Re: Preparing Your Spouse

Mr. Rawles,Several years ago I took a serious fall and was out of commission for several months. My husband had to completely take over the household responsibilities during that time. Fortunately, he was working at home and I was available to give him direction and information. Had I not been, he would have really struggled to figure out just how I got things done. As he was buttoning up the house in preparation for winter this year it occurred to me that, if he were suddenly unavailable, I too would be at a loss to remember all of the details …


Three Letters Re: Seeking Advice on Safe Food Storage, and Recommended Sources

Jim: For anyone in Northeastern Ohio, look into taking advantage of the resources in and around Amish country. Lehman’s Hardware in Kidron, Ohio is an excellent place to find non-electric household and farm equipment. They do sell some bulk grains to be used with their wide variety of grain mills, but I would also suggest looking at Swiss Village Bulk Foods in Sugarcreek, Ohio. They run sales weekly, and there are often coupons and additional discounts offered in local newspapers. There are many other similar resources in the area, but these two stores are the largest, and the ones I …


Three Letters Re: The Fabric of Our Lives

James: Thanks to Jeanan for raising a very important but easily overlooked point. It’s amazing how we take for granted having drawers full of clothes! Curiously, though, I do know folks who know how to spin thread and weave cloth. Some of the ladies in a Dark Age re-enactment group that I’m a member of perform demonstrations of these very skills. I have seen them work with raw wool, spin thread, and demonstrate weaving on period looms. Granted that the Dark Ages are a little too primitive (no spinning wheels, for example) but it does point to a partial solution, …


Influenza Pandemic Update:

WHO Confirms D225G In Norway And Ukraine Sharp Rise In England’s Swine Flu Deaths 1918 RBD D225G In Lung Cases In Ukraine and Norway UK: Surge In Pediatric Swine Flu Cases May Cause Bed Shortage All Fatal Ukraine Cases Have RBD D225G RBD Change D225G in Ukraine Lungs Raises Concerns Swine Flu Kills Six Adults In New Jersey Radical Measures Can’t Stop Swine Flu D225G Lung Tropism Driving H1N1 False Negatives?


Economics and Investing:

More than a dozen readers mentioned this London Telegraph article: Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for ‘global collapse’. Gee, folks must be catching on… Beepaw sent this: Bloomberg news: U.S. Housing Recovery Delayed to 2010 as Market Wanes. BeePaw’s comment: “It is remarkable that the [same] pundits who failed to see the crisis at all are now able to pinpoint its recovery. I don’t believe the markets will recover in 2010. Or 2011. Or 2012.” Peter D, suggested the latest installment of some speculative fiction from John Galt: “I Have Been to the Fields of Gettysburg” (The Day …


Odds ‘n Sods:

My old friend Fred the Valmet-meister has been helping me for the last few months in restoring several “All-American Five” 1940s vintage AM and Shortwave table radios. These have included a RCA, a Crosley, a Motorola and two Pilot brand radios. Fred has installed all new replacement capacitors, checked the tubes, cleaned the tuners, and realigned the radios. The end result has been EMP-proof dual band radios that can operate on both AC and DC power. As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, these are ideal for anyone that has an alternative power system where they have a 110-to-120 volt VDC battery …



Notes from JWR:

The special 33% off sale on the “Rawles Gets You Ready” family preparedness course will only run through the 30th of this month. This is the first time that the course has been on sale in almost a year. Don’t miss out! — Today we present another entry for Round 25 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 …


The Fabric of Our Lives by Jeanan

We don’t often think much of the clothes we wear. Oh, we think of what color they are, whether or not our purse matches our shoes, does this make me look fat, blending in with our surroundings or not, but not the actual fabric. We lost our “fur” a long time ago, and we always seem to have items like jackets, sweaters, undies and socks in abundance. We now argue over the benefits of the latest innovations in fabric, whether it will wick moisture or not, how waterproof it is, but we never seem to worry about where we are …


Letter Re: Converting Precious Metals ETFs to Physical Metals

Dear Jim, You mentioned that someone with a Gold IRA might want to take the [warehoused gold] out and hold it in physical form after they turn 59-1/2 and are able to withdraw it without penalty. I see the merit in that, but I am a tax accountant and want to warn you about the tax implications. When you take money out of an IRA, it is taxed as ordinary income, even if you escape the penalty. You can very well get shoved into higher tax brackets than you’d otherwise ever pay. Because, as you know, so much of the …