Day: January 20, 2010

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, …


The Disaster Field Bakery, by JIR

I can’t agree with you more on the subject of charity. Watching people starve is not in the cards for me if I can help it. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, you won’t be able to help very much, but for a lesser catastrophe, most of your readers could really help a lot of people by working with local authorities or church groups to feed people until help can arrive. Water is an even more urgent need, but I would like to describe my own preparations for setting up a field bakery and soup kitchen. Maybe I can help inspire others …


Letter Re: Suggestions on LED Flashlights

Mr. Rawles, Just a suggestion about something you and your readers might be interested in. I’m not affiliated with the vendor in any way, just a very satisfied customer. 4Sevens‘ 2-AA Quark light is good for 30 days continuous on low, and a couple of hours at 200 lumens. These are by far the best LED lights on the market at this time. I hang around the flashlight-nerd subculture, and have 4Sevens lights in all my survival packs. Obviously, you can recharge LSD AA lights with solar chargers, and they’ll run off of regular AA and lithium AA batteries too. …


Letter Re: An “Energy-Independent” Village in Germany

Mr. Rawles: As an engineer interested in long term sustainability I was most interested in the item from Troy H. mentioning Juhnde, Germany. I took a look at their web site and ran the numbers to look at whether such an installation is commercially viable. The capital costs listed were EU 5,400,000 or about USD $7,900,000 at present exchange rates; It’s not clear when the overall system was constructed but the hot water pipeline system was built around 2005. Apparently, and I will have to look into this further, all of the capital costs were from public funds. This translates …


Economics and Investing:

“The 13 Worrier” sent a link to a very interesting YouTube video of Richard Maybury and Jim Powell discussing the possibility of a double dip depression and civil unrest in the United States. Country homes get an appetite for business Is the US Economy Being Tanked by Mistake or Intent? Illinois enters a state of insolvency Items from The Economatrix: Martin Weiss: 200 Bank Failures Expected in 2010 European Markets Lifted by Corporate Deal Hopes IMF Chief: Global Recovery Stronger than Expected Recession Takes Toll on University President Pay Oil Stays Near $78 on Demand Doubts, Weaker Dollar 2010-2020 Towards …


Odds ‘n Sods:

From Reader RSR mentioned that Reliance Aqua-Tainer seven gallon containers are presently on sale for $8 each at Wal-Mart stores. I just saw the same containers for $17 each at an REI store. And speaking of water containers, Walgreens pharmacies now have 25 ounce “Green Canteen” brand stainless steel water bottles on sale for $4 each. They are out of stock at their online stores, but many individual brick and mortar stores still have them on hand. OBTW, beware that they are made in mainland China.    o o o We were sent two interesting, if impractical items from ImpactLab: …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“FARNHAM’S FREEHOLD TRADING POST & RESTAURANT BAR American Vodka Corn Liquor Applejack Pure Spring Water Grade “A” Milk Corned Beef & Potatoes Steak & Fried Potatoes Butter & some days Bread Smoked Bear Meat Jerked Quisling (by the neck) Crepes Suzettes to order. !!!Any BOOK Accepted as Cash!!!! DAY NURSERY !!FREE KITTENS!! Blacksmithing, Machine Shop, Sheet Metal Work-You Supply the Metal FARNHAM SCHOOL OF CONTRACT BRIDGE Lessons by Arrangement Social Evening Every Wednesday WARNING!!! Ring bell. Wait. Advance with your Hands Up. Stay on path, avoid mines. We lost three customers last week. We can’t afford to lose YOU. No …