Month: April 2010

Letter Re: Scam Alert on an Heirloom Seeds Dealer

Hello Mr. Rawles: Back in February we ordered a batch of 100 vegetable seed packs from Vegetableseed.net. To date we’ve not received them and the company steadfastly refuse to respond to e-mails, either to their direct e-mail address or via their payment people, Digital River. Now they may just be incredibly busy but we’re beginning to think we’ve been scammed out of our £42.09. We’d hate to see any other SurvivalBloggers getting stiffed Very best wishes to you all. – Michael JWR Replies: Thanks for your warning. There are indeed a lot of fly-by-night mail order companies. But at least …


Six Letters Re: Suburban Survival

James, In response to “Suburban Survival, by The Suburban 10” posted on April 10th: I expect that the author will receive a lot of feedback on what he considers ‘Security’. Based on his erroneous assumptions on the role and proper use of a firearm in a suburban TEOTWAWKI situation, I can conclude that he is among the anti-Second Amendment crowd. Living in New York under the Bloomberg/Schumer cloud has obviously affected him. That being said, I shouldn’t have been so surprised when he wrote: “8. I have friends who are police officers and have never fired their weapon in the …


Economics and Investing:

GG flagged this: Property Tax Rebellion Brewing After Real Estate Collapse. Here is my prediction on how this will play out: Property values will eventually drop by 50% in most of the more populous states. Assessed valuations eventually drop correspondingly, but only after a public uproar and some foot-dragging. Tax revenues will decline. State legislatures will respond, increasing property tax rates by 100%. Net result: The politicians still get their money. Also from GG: Total Fed Credit: A Credit to Fed Stupidity (The Mogambo Guru) K.L. in Alaska suggested this piece about U.S. Treasury auction shenanigans, posted by Chris Martenson, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Readers R.V.L. and S.S. both sent this good bit of news: Arizona House approves concealed weapons bill. If it is enacted, I suspect that several other western states will follow suit with Vermont-style “no-permit-required” concealed carry bills.    o o o SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson forwarded this: More Air Marshalls arrested than arrests made.    o o o Jon in Wyoming sent these two articles that underscore the importance of finding a retreat locale with plentiful water: Water publication focuses on drought, and Colorado Basin nears drought tipping point.    o o o Reader J.M.S. recommended that …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“No one of us is ever safe. There is no security this side of the grave. A shipwreck or a hurricane can put man back to the brink of savagery, both in the means he uses to get his food and the lengths he will go to get it. The more ill-prepared people are to face trouble, the more likely they are to revert to savagery against each other.” – Novelist Louis L’Amour (1908-1988) from his novel “Bendigo Shafter”


Letter Re: The Sustainable Rural Cabin

Many people spend a considerable amount of time making evacuation plans, but seldom are people properly prepared when they arrive to their destination. The purpose of the article is to incorporate proper site planning into your rural cabin. All factors are broken into general relationships allowing the user to adjust the factors to meet the unique conditions at your rural retreat. All factors are overshadowed with the emphasis on silent security. By incorporating these fundamental ideas, you are ensured a safer and prosperous retreat location. Selection of Property Landscape conditions vary widely. Effective site planning works with existing site conditions …


Letter Re: COSTCO’s Thrive/Shelf Reliance Storage Food Sale

Jim, For blog readers who are COSTCO members, there is a deal running from April 5th to April 25th on a Shelf Reliance Thrive 1-year supply of dehydrated and freeze-dried food for one person. For this time period it is marked down from $999 to $799, delivered. I couldn’t find this particular package on the Shelf Reliance web site, but I assume that it was made specially for Costco. Thanks, – Matt T.


Economics and Investing:

RBS sent us this from The New York Times: G.M. and Chrysler Pensions Underfunded by $17 Billion. (As Senator Everett Dirksen once famously said: “A billion here, and a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talkin’ about real money!”) Reader M.Q. suggested this article: Should the U.S. Sell Its Gold? [JWR’s comment: Our gold reserve (the ostensible “backing” for the US Dollar–although US dollars are no longer redeemable for specie), if currently liquidated would fetch only $288 billion. There are an estimated $829 billion paper (printed) dollars in circulation, with more than half of those dollars held outside the US. …


Odds ‘n Sods:

GWF spotted this news article on photobioreactors from the “Grow Your Own” state: Algae the new crop harvested by home-growers    o o o Reader Ron T. suggested the Liberty Letter by Peter J. Mancus (et al), posted over at Bill St. Clair’s site.    o o o Sounds like something from a novel I once read wrote: Many of Haiti’s most-wanted on the loose after earthquake. (A hat tip to Deborah D. for the link.)


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and …


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 28 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include: 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 …


Suburban Survival, by The Suburban 10

I am a public school teacher with five kids and one income. There is little in the way of extra cash to protect the family, but I will do my best to prepare for TEOTWAWKI. If you want to plan well; plan as if it was a lesson plan and you are going to teach it to a class. My class is my family the the goal being not to get anyone panicked (Refer to # 9 below). Having a receptive audience is difficult, because of what I deem…complacent comforts. These are built into the core and routine of our …


Letter Re: Home Brew Biodiesel Versus Vegetable Oil

Greetings James! I just completed your book “Rawles on Retreats and Relocation”. Thank you for putting so much effort into this resource. I would like to make one point: You talk about [several] alternative fuels [including] Vegetable oil and Biodiesel. As a point of clarification, Biodiesel is significantly different than Vegetable oil. Biodiesel is created by putting vegetable oil through a conversion process where by the glycerin is removed. This process creates a much cleaner fuel, burns more completely in the vehicle and does not require a separate fuel system to preheat the fuel to 170 degrees, as does Straight …


Three Letters Re: Meet The Saiga Family

James Wesley: I absolutely love my Saiga-12. With the 20 round drum it is a walking talking claymore. I have tried the 30 round magazine and it is just too bulky. Unless you plan to deploy the Shotgun with some type of shooting sticks then 20 is the way to go. Much more manageable. As to the magazines: I prefer the 10 rounders. While having two more shells in the magazine is nice, the added length (an additional 3 inches) is a little comical. Not to mention the problem of finding some tactical pouches that accommodate the longer magazines. TheVestGuy.com …


Economics and Investing:

Leland suggested this blog series by Kellene Bishop: Hard-Core Financial Preparedness B&T sent us this from Shadowstats: Actual March unemployment 21.7%. (“March Employment Gain of 162,000 Was 114,000 Net Result of Temporary Census Hiring.”) Carla sent this scary bit of news: Petrol $9.00 a gallon in UK. Thankfully that is per Imperial gallon (1.2 US gallons) but that still works out to $7.67 per gallon. Items from The Economatrix: Santelli: $4 Gas, $150 Oil Coming this Summer Unemployment Benefits Expire for Thousands The Line Of Doom (The Mogambo Guru) What Does it Mean to be Middle Class in 2010? UK: …