Year: 2009

Letter Re: An Impromptu SurvivalBlog Meet-up at Front Sight

There was a bit of a ‘covert’ Survivalblog gathering at Front Sight recently. Along with Tim R & Tantalum Tom I was also in attendance earlier in March. I have two grown sons, both of which had expressed a desire to have a handgun for home defense. As a law enforcement officer and former SWAT team member I am familiar with the operation of and responsibility with owning a gun. I am confident in my training and ability to defend my home and family through that training. My two sons, however, had barely even held a gun, let alone fired …


Economics and Investing:

HPD sent this: Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers: Stiglitz Kevin A. recommended a piece by Bill Fleckenstein over at The Silver Bear Café: Got gold? You’re right on the money. Here is a quote: “We are attempting to print our way to prosperity. That can’t be done, any more than we could speculate our way to prosperity during the stock bubble or borrow our way to prosperity in the real-estate/credit bubble.” Jeff K. suggested: Bernanke Inserts Gun in Mouth. Jeff’s comment: “We disagree on inflation versus deflation [in the next few years], but one must take notice when a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Cheryl noticed this over at Steve Quayle’s site: Growing Food in Times of Scarcity    o o o Thanks to regular content contributor HPD for sending this: America’s Abandoned Cities    o o o Vasiilly e-mailed me to mention the Still Tasty web site, where there is lots of data on the shelf lives of various foods.    o o o Currie sent a link to an interesting PDF at a web site in Canada that describes how to used cooking oil for fuel.


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The net effect of the failures in banking is that a lot of people have less money than they expected they would have a year ago. This is bad enough, given our habits and practices of modern life. But what happens when farming collapses? The prospect for that is closer than most of us might realize. The way we produce our food has been organized at a scale that has ruinous consequences, not least its addiction to capital. Now that banking is in collapse, capital will be extremely scarce. Nobody in the cities reads farm news, or listens to farm …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 21 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: Two transferable Front Sight  “Gray” Four Day Training Course Certificates. This is an up to $4,000 value! Second Prize: A three day course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing Round 21 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for …


TEOTWAWKI Medicine and Minor Surgery–Part II: Skin Infections, by Dr. K.

Introduction The skin has three layers. 1. The epidermis is the outermost layer. It protects our bodies from the environment and has pigment cells. 2. The dermis is the middle layer, and it contains hair follicles, sweat glands, oil glands, and capillaries. 3. The hypodermis (or subcutaneous layer) is the inner layer, and it contains layers of fat that provides cushion and insulation for our body… some more than others. Any of these layers can become infected, in whole or in part. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, that minor scratch could lead to a painful death. Knowledge is vitally important. Understanding …


Letter Re: TEOTWAWKI Medicine and Minor Surgery–Part I: Ingrown Toenails

Jim: In Part I of his article, Dr. K. mentioned some options on do-it-yourself cautery. My suggestion is to consider buying new tips [not contaminated by solder metals and rosin] and a butane soldering torch for times when no electricity is available. For example, see: Pro-120 Tectra Tools UT-100 TS600 Regards, – Craig W.


Economics and Investing:

From Joan M.: Sen. Gregg Criticizes ‘Banana Republic’ Budget Proposal A quote: “The ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee warned on Monday that President Obama’s budget proposal will lead to unsustainable debt levels and send the country on a fiscal path resembling that of a ‘banana republic….called the deficit estimates attached to the budget plan “staggering,” and he warned that such deficits would trigger a national debt that amounts to “running your country into the ground.’” MVR sent this interesting perspective on the US Dollar and debt from Thailand: The real US financial crisis has yet to begin G.G. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Just when you thought that you had all the eventualities covered: Komodo dragons kill Indonesian fisherman. (A hat tip to Tamara’s View From The Porch blog, for the link.)    o o o I was recently contacted by a producer with GRB Entertainment. She wrote: “We are currently looking for a travel expert/adventurer/survivalist who might be interested in hosting a television series. We need someone who is very outgoing and social while also having knowledge in survivalist skills. They can have a military background or just knowledge in the field and we’re preferably looking for a male around the age …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“These derivatives are the root of the credit crunch. Why? Unlike all other property paper, derivatives are not required by law to be recorded, continually tracked and tied to the assets they represent. Nobody knows precisely how many there are, where they are, and who is finally accountable for them. Thus, there is widespread fear that potential borrowers and recipients of capital with too many nonperforming derivatives will be unable to repay their loans. As trust in property paper breaks down it sets off a chain reaction, paralyzing credit and investment, which shrinks transactions and leads to a catastrophic drop …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 21 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The contest prizes include: First Prize: Two transferable Front Sight  “Gray” Four Day Training Course Certificates. This is an up to $4,000 value! Second Prize: A three day course certificate from OnPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing Round 21 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for …


Tantalum Tom’s Front Sight Extravaganza

About 250 people were there the recent week that I took the four day Defensive Handgun course at Front Sight. I was the only bozo who slept in their car outside their gates the whole four days. I couldn’t afford a hotel. That budget item was a “make or break” issue for my trip. I learned that a zero degree rated sleeping bag might be an overly optimistic rating. But, there is basically unlimited unimproved camping space there on BLM land. Bring your RV, or a much better sleeping bag for winter camping there. There is even a dirt airstrip …


Letter Re: Recommendation for the Book “One Second After”

Hello Mr. Rawles; I’m a long time reader of your blog. I would like to recommend a new novel called, “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen. It deals with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event which occurs in the United States. The author apparently consulted with military experts, and it has an afterword by Captain Bill Sanders, U.S.N., and the Foreword is by Newt Gingrich. Though the book is lacking in survival details, it does realistically convey the frightening impact on American civilization. The need for obtaining food is prevalent, and it does show the benefits of having a good …


Letter Re: Lessons Learned by the Victim of a Home Burglary

Jim, I’m writing you today after our rural home/retreat was broken into while we were at work. I thought it would never happen to me, Oh, was I so very wrong. First things first, thank you for convincing me to purchase a safe and after reading the suggestion many times in you blog I eventually bolted it down. This is the only thing that saved me from losing the safe and all of its contents. The Sheriff told me of another burglary where the didn’t have his very large (“they can’t move it–its too heavy”) safe bolted down and they …


Economics and Investing:

Lisa forwarded us the link to the PDF of a new think tank report: Manning the barricades: Who’s at risk as deepening economic distress foments social unrest SurvivalMama sent a great Schumeresque snippet from Brad DeLong’s Grasping Reality With Both Hands blog: Q: What if markets never recover, the assets are not fundamentally undervalued, and even when held to maturity the government doesn’t make back its money? A: Then we have worse things to worry about than government losses on TARP-program money–for we are then in a world in which the only things that have value are bottled water, sewing …