Year: 2009

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 22 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 foods, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of $350. Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles …


Creating a Crisis Decision Matrix, by Steve N.

It’s been said, “It takes a village to raise a child”. While I do not agree with much of anything else Hillary says, that was certainly true in my case. My upbringing consisted of guidance and council from a rather diverse group of individuals, a large segment of whom were 1970s-era survivalists, (How many of you remember Mel Tappan’s “Personal Survival Letter”?). These were self-sufficient, hard-money, common sense, salt-of-the-earth type people. A few even had underground bunkers, (I mean “root cellars”). Given the mind set of my mentors, you might assume that I’m all stocked up on beans, bullets, and …


Economics and Investing:

Hungary’s Economy Minister warns of currency crisis, “social collapse” without deep reform GG sent this Los Angeles Times piece: From deflation fear to inflation panic, so soon? Items from The Economatrix: Exploding Debt Threatens America With no change in policy, US debt will equal US GDP in just five years. Coming Dollar Bust–All But A Few Have No Clue “The failure of the housing market is only 40% to 50% over. All this is happening as policymakers, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citicorp, etc., and the rest of the elitists are shifting all the debt from the financial sector to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Cheryl spotted this on a Israeli news site: WWIII Has Started    o o o JHB sent is a link to a new variety of self-contained fingertip pulse oximeter. Being able to monitor heart rate and blood oxygen saturation will be crucial, especially if you are handling a trauma case or severe illness case where respiration is shallow and your supply of medical oxygen is scant.    o o o In the “signs of the times” department, comes this from Powder Valley: “At this time we are not taking any new backorders for primers that are not listed here. We …



Notes from JWR:

If you have any favorite quotes that relate to survival, preparedness, faith, patriotism, Constitutional rights, or perhaps something on economics, then please e-mail it to me, and I’ll likely post them as Quotes of the Day. Thanks! — Today we present another entry for Round 22 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 …


Pest Prevention and Control Measures for Food Storage, by Elk H.

Something you may not have given much thought about in your planning for long term food storage is Pest Control. All the hard work, preparedness and money spent on stockpiling and storing food can be quickly ruined by pests. You need to protect your investment. As a former exterminator I have seen my share of these pests and can share my experience and knowledge of control measures. While some of these measures are just ordinary common sense, we all know that common sense isn’t all that common. A few things to consider: Most infestations come home from the store with …


Seeking Reader Input for “Patriots” Sequels

I recently signed a contract with Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) to write two sequels to my novel “Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse” Unlike traditional sequels, the storylines of these novels will be contemporaneous with the economic collapse and invasion described in the first novel. There will be some overlap of characters, but most of the action will take place in different locales. My goal is to use these two books to write about a lot of different tactics, techniques, and technologies for survival. I’d greatly appreciate getting some tidbits of information from …



Economics and Investing:

D.S. suggested this Gerald Celente audio clip “When this Bubble blows – it’s over” Also from GG: U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says Yet another from GG: Roubini says U.S. economy may dip again next year Items from The Economatrix: About 12 percent of U.S. homeowners late paying or foreclosed Signs of More Trouble For Housing “Wall Street is so hungry for good news that stocks rallied at the barest hint of upbeat indicators several times this month.” The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold Insanity Gone Rampant (Mogambo Guru) Stocks Down Amid Worries About US Debt 1Q Home Prices …


Odds ‘n Sods:

US and South Korea On High Alert After North Korea Renounces Truce    o o o Jim Wiseman (a pseudonym), the prepper that was featured in the recent AP wire service article on survivalism was interviewed for three show segments (45 minutes) on the nationally-syndicated Marc Germain Show, and he will soon be be featured on CNBC, as well.    o o o Clearly, the preparedness movement seems to have struck a chord with America’s collective psyche. Even assorted Greens and left-wingers are jumping on the band wagon, as evidenced by this article from Philadelphia: Survival of the Fittest (not …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Globalization creates interlocking fragility, while reducing volatility and giving the appearance of stability. In other words it creates devastating Black Swans. We have never lived before under the threat of a global collapse. Financial Institutions have been merging into a smaller number of very large banks. Almost all banks are interrelated. So the financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks – when one fails, they all fall. The increased concentration among banks seems to have the effect of making financial crises less likely, but when they happen they are more global in scale and hit us very hard. …


Note from JWR:

Welcome to the thousands of folks that have discovered SurvivalBlog because of the recent AP wire service article on survivalism that was picked up by umpteen news outlets. In the two days since, our number of web site visits has almost doubled. To come up to speed, I recommend that you read the SurvivalBlog About page first, ad then my page on my Precepts. Keep in mind that there are now nearly 7,000 archived articles and letters, all searchable and available free of charge. If there is a topic related to preparedness that interests you, odds are that you can …


Letter Re: Advice for Newcomers in a Community–Overcoming the We/They Paradigm

Good evening Mr. Rawles, My name is Ignacio, I’m a Cuban-born American. The three best days in my life were when I married my wife, when I became an American citizen and when my daughter was born (in this country). I am an avid reader of your blog, and working hard to get prepared, we bought a small place (1.5 acres in southwest Florida, it’s in the woods) it was the only thing we could afford to get ready. But I am very concerned that my neighbors might not like us because we are Hispanic (although my wife is blue-eyed …


Letter Re: DIY Baking Powder Solves a Shelf Life Dilemma

James: Regarding storing baking powder. Reader LCHS wrote: • Baking Powder does not have a long shelf life and will let you down if it’s old or improperly stored, but some things cannot be made without it. • Baking Soda has multiple uses; besides the original anti-acid and an ingredient in toothpaste, adding some to the filling of pies will cut the need for sugar as it cuts the acidity. It cannot, however, be substituted for Baking Powder. This suggests that availability could be a problem post TSHTF. A quick web-searching expedition confirms that Baking Powder does not, as LCHS …