Day: December 8, 2009

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 26 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 assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, …


Tourniquets in Combat Medical Planning, by Robert U.

As an instructor of multiple combat medical courses, I have had the privilege of instructing many courageous and dedicated young corpsmen and medics in Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) and Combat Lifesaver (CLS), as well as other courses.  Out of all of the information I have taught, I am amazed at the feedback I receive from many of these students returning from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of the world. Tourniquet use is documented as far back as Roman times; examples have been found composed of bronze and leather.  The first practical …


Letter Re: Recommendation on Older Honda CT-90 and CT-110 Trail Motorcycles

Jim, I am an old prepper but new to blogging. Current economic and political events have awakened my smouldering interest in prepping. I was saving telephone books back in the in the 70’s for toilet paper and for bulletproofing. I had read some stuff by Howard J. Ruff and moved to the country dadada. He was a little early on his predictions but he was pushing gold, guns, and stocking up. I have long since sold my gold and bought silver, sold my little chicken farm and moved back to the city. The traffic got to be too bad to …


Three Letters Re: Best Military Manuals with Field Fortification Designs?

Dear James, In response to the person who asked about military manuals, most (at least US Army) are available online for free, from the following sources: GlobalSecurity.org The site has lots of military and world sitrep information updated constantly. The Federation of American Scientists has tons of military hardware systems information. The pictures are useful for recognizing and there is data on each system’s performance, purpose and use. Also, the US Army maintains the General Dennis J. Reimer Training and Doctrine Digital Library at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It used to be mostly open access, but I believe it’s changed to …


Letter From Mike Williamson Re: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

Dear Jim, A solar calculator is a good tool to have, but old style slide rules never require any batteries, do all major math functions, and provide a visual aid for teaching logarithmic functions. It’s worth having, and learning to use, a couple of those, too. – Michael Z. Williamson – SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large


Letter Re: Buying a House in Australia?

Dear James: To follow up on a previous post, as information for US citizens looking to relocate to Australia, I offer a few very general suggestions. Although Australia is a large continent, most of the population is located on the eastern sea-board mostly because of the arid interior. House prices have not fallen dramatically during the GFC and houses in capital cities are dearer than those in regional centres. But even in capital cities, there can be great differences in house prices in the different suburbs. I suggest that in the first instance that anyone relocating, rents for a period …


Economics and Investing:

Carla alerted us to this article: Recent World Events Indicate Impending Market Chaos, by Giordano Bruno. F.G. and Matt C. were the first of several readers that flagged this apropos piece in The Wall Street Journal: Green Acres Is the Place to Be; The Recession Is Inspiring More Young Families and Singles to Head Back to the Country Thanks to GG for finding this: S&P says European companies face $1.5 trillion funding shortfall next year Items from The Economatrix: Geithner Slams Wall Street Bonuses, Says All Big Banks Could Have Failed A Deeper Look Behind The Jobless Numbers. Despite the …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Jen suggested this article, which has some Get Out of Dodge Vehicle implications: I live in a van down by Duke University; How do I afford grad school without going into debt? A ’94 Econoline, bulk food and creative civil disobedience    o o o Safecastle (one of our most loyal advertisers) is offering a 2-for-1 special on long term storage dehydrated diced potatoes.    o o o F.G. flagged this one: Minnesota man arrested for trespassing on his own land    o o o Erik Prince, head of US security firm Blackwater, ‘was CIA operative’ (Thanks to Damon for …