Month: January 2010

Odds ‘n Sods:

Dave B. suggested this New York Times article: Broadband, Yes. Toilet, No.; Alaskan Couple Turns Yurt into Shelter in the Wild    o o o Tom from MA suggested St. Dalfour Gourmet-to-Go products. He commented “They are small tins with meals in them which bear a striking resemblance to the French RCIR rations. I’m wondering if they are made in the same plant? I found them next to all of the other tinned meats and tuna. They have a 2-3 year ‘best by’ date and seem to be a good addition to any bug out bag, or just as a …



Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the dozens of readers that renewed their voluntary Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions subscriptions today, or signed up for new ones. It is gratifying to see that so many of you feel that they get your daily ten cents worth from SurvivalBlog! — 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, …


Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist, by Cowpuncher

The SurvivalBlog thread on wound-clotting agents got me thinking about this subject and its apparent lack of dissemination amongst the “survivalist” community. I decided I would write about it. I know the recent military vets will probably have heard about it, and some (most) will have practiced it. Many will have used it in action. For the record, I received Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or TC3) training in the beginning of the program, so any new information I have gleaned since 2002 is based on studying the protocols as presented in the SOF Medical Handbook and the Ranger Medics …


Economics and Investing:

Chad S. spotted this: Lower home appraisals appear to be up; Deals get killed as foreclosures, short sales make valuing property difficult. JWR’s Comment: The continuing waves of house foreclosures are bound to ratchet down both sales prices and in turn assessed valuations. This will lead to more state budget crises. The bottom line: If they can’t raise your home’ assessed value, then they’ll raise property tax tax rates. A corollary exists with income taxes. As more people lose their jobs or have their payroll hours cut back, then states will be forced to raise income tax rates. The 50 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Panic room saved artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist assassin. (Mentioned by numerous blog readers.) Every home and retreat should have a stout room that can be a place of temporary refuge against home invasions.    o o o Dale W. was the first of several readers to mention this: Court upholds police pointing gun at lawful carrier. [JWR Adds: This is a bad legal precedent, but the main underlying problem is prevailing attitudes. If you don’t live in a region where open carry is legal, and where concealed carry is considered normal, then you are living in the wrong state–or …



Note from JWR:

I post one and only one formal reminder announcement each year about renewing Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions and this is it. I don’t do endless whiney PBS-style pledge drives. My sincere thanks to the less than 1% of SurvivalBlog readers that have made voluntary subscription contributions to cover our bandwidth costs, and to keep SurvivalBlog running. (The alternative would be me shutting down the blog and going back to a salaried corporate technical writing job, so I am very appreciative of your contributions!) By the way, if you are a “Secret Squirrel” type, then you can send cash or postage …


Letter Re: The Bosnian Experience, Part 2

Sir: The next thing that I would like to cover is mode of transportation. When the society collapses more likely you will have to leave your home. Having a 4×4 vehicle that is equipped with everything that you need to survive would be everyone’s choice for travel but that sometimes might not be possible. In the broken society there is no law. Everyone and everybody is a target. Traveling in the vehicle on the road or off the road is extremely risky. First, vehicles make noise and everyone can hear you. Second, vehicles are big and they can be seen. …


Letter Re: Well, Well–An Amazing Find

Dear Mr. Rawles: I have owned my retreat for some years and as unbelievable as it may sound, I found a water well that I didn’t know I had. When I bought the land in the 1990s, I knew that there had been an old house there at one time, but assumed that they had either used a cistern, or drew water from the stream that runs through the property. However, I found the well. It had an old Gould’s 1HP pump at the end of 120 ft. of 2″ galvanized pipe. The well had been capped for years, or …


Letter Re: Using Unusual Camouflage to Deter Burglars

Mr. Rawles: What I’m about to write about really happened. In 2003 I had an apartment that got broken into when I was at work. At the time I did not own much at the time and had very few valuables. After much thought and not coming up with any unique hiding places, I decided to keep my Beretta pistol, credit cards, cash, checks and so forth in an old liquor box with a pile of “old but clean” underwear on top of the box. The plan worked. My apartment was ransacked and you guessed it, the only box not …


Economics and Investing:

From G.G.: China provides 97 percent of the global supplies of rare earth elements, most coming from a single mine in Inner Mongolia I spotted this over at the Dr. Housing Bubble blog: Unlocking the Foreclosure Box – The Most Comprehensive Shadow Inventory Housing Analysis for Los Angeles County. Items from The Economatrix: Taxpayers Hit Harder as Bank Shares Nosedive 20 Million+ in US Got Unemployment Checks in 2009 Washington Times Slashes Staff 40% US Stocks Drop as Crisis Causes S&P 500’s First Decade Loss US Dollar and Treasury Bonds at Risk Following Fannie and Freddie Debt Monetization A Year …


Odds ‘n Sods:

GG flagged this interesting piece: Can farming save Detroit?   o o o Reported, in all places, The Los Angeles Times: Ron Paul’s ideas no longer fringe; With the economy still struggling, the lawmaker’s libertarian views are getting serious attention. (Thanks to Andrew B. for the link.)     o o o Paul D. sent an interesting article that compares ammunition to money.



Letter Re: More About Post-SHTF Anesthetic Medicine Options

Introductory Note from JWR: Warning! The following article is presented for educational purposes only. As previously discussed in SurvivalBlog, using vinyl ether or chloroform for anesthesia can be very tricky. Both can induce deep levels of sedation much more quickly than desired. Thus, at a minimum can can compromise the patient’s airway, and thereby very possibly kill the patient. So unless you have both the equipment and the regularly-practiced expertise to safely intubate and extubate your patient, then do not use vinyl ether or chloroform. Chloroform is also a known carcinogen. Generally, local anesthetics are the best choices for austere …