Month: May 2010

Surviving a Nuclear Bomb, by Robert B.

A serious letter to my dear beloved son, Eric, It is quite possible that the USA will soon experience a terrorist attack in the form of a nuclear detonation. The city just west of the University you are attending would be a high profile, terrorist “trophy” to attack. If a nuclear detonation by terrorist occurs in that city, you will notice a bright flash of light and, then feel the blast wave a few seconds after. Although the University is somewhat distant and shielded by terrain from that city, train yourself to not look toward the flash and immediately duck …


Letter Re: A British Ex-Pat’s View of the Ongoing Greek Tragedy

Hello again, James; Greece is in the news rather a lot at the moment and none of said news appears very good. Debt, sinecure occupations, corruption (the infamous ‘fakiraki‘, or little brown envelope), bail-outs, strikes, riots, deaths. A downward spiral, if you believe all you read. However, 99% of the news footage is from Athens and life away from the Capitol carries on pretty much as always. Here in the islands, the main pre-occupations are repairing the winter damage to the infrastructure and preparing for the hoped for influx of tourists. Whilst the age-old occupations of farming and fishing continue, …


Economics and Investing:

GG sent this: Inflation Worries Permeate U.S. Also from G.G.: Nouriel Roubini: US faces inflation or default Valerie F. sent us a link to a great Fox News interview with Ron Paul about the Greece-soon-to-be-USA problems. Chad S. sent this: Trader’s typo may have triggered record Dow plunge The latest Friday Follies: Bank closures in Minnesota and Florida. Items from The Economatrix: Moody’s Warning Portugal of Possible Debt Downgrade Angela Merkel: EU Future At Stake in Greece Crisis Chinese Markets Slide as Jitters Take Hold Hundreds Seek to Fill Positions After Illegals Fired UK Mortgage Lending Dives 83% Three Die …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader D.R. pointed us to a news story with some serious implications: Fake Roadblocks in Houston, Texas.    o o o Several readers have mentioned that they’ve been impressed with their LifeSaver water filtration bottles. I just received a sample of one of the new LifeSaver filtration Jerry Cans. It looks absolutely bombproof. I can’t wait to try it!    o o o I heard about a web site with some useful field gear reviews: Canadian Wilderness Survival.




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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com. (A $275 value.), and D.) A 500 round case …


Suburban Fish and Game, by J.J. in Arizona

I am new to SurvivalBlog and I am an amateur prepper beginning my trek to becoming self sufficient. My family and I live in the suburbs of the southwest Sonoran Desert. I am by no means an expert in this field and hope that this topic has not been covered by others.  There are so many topics and pages of fish and game that it will take me months to catch up on everything. My family and I are planning on “buggin in” if the SHTF or the TEOTWAWKI occurs. Unless an NBC attack or exposure occurs here, we plan …


Letter Re: Life of the Farm in Western Australia

Hi, I have only started reading your web site recently and I must admit I am a little nonplussed. I am a farmer living on the far edge of the Western Australian Wheatbelt, 400 km from Perth (capitol city) and I grow a vegie garden, we buy food in bulk and have at least 6months in the pantry,being a farmer I have a rifle( I generally only use it to kill crook sheep and shoot rabbits), we have a 50 tree fruit orchard and preserve our own fruit, we are on the power grid but we do have a generator …


Two Letters Re: Advice on a Multipurpose Rifle

Sir, While I do basically agree with your statements on rifles for defense, I think you should rethink your comments about the lever gun in 30-30 or 45-70. You mentioned several drawbacks to the lever gun that I’d like to address if I may: 1) Slow reload time: While it is quite true that a 20 round detachable magazine is faster than any other empty reload method except a second gun, the trick to the combat use of a lever gun is to continuously reload. While my combat experience is over 3 decades old now and I was using an …


Economics and Investing:

Stocks were down yesterday, but precious metals were up. Its a good thing that you are a SurvivalBlog reader, and wisely got out of stocks and into silver and gold, long ago. G.G. sent this: Long-term unemployment soaring Also from G.G.: John Williams: A Hyper-Inflationary Great Depression Is Coming In a recent issue of his excellent (and free) Outside The Box e-newsletter, John Mauldin had these comments: “It now looks like almost 30% of the Greek financing will come from the IMF, rather than just a small portion. And since 40% of the IMF is funded by US taxpayers, and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Christopher W. spotted this in Science News: New Wound Dressing Makes Bacteria Commit Suicide    o o o Several readers sent this: Dugout Dick helped make Idaho, Idaho; The death of the ‘Salmon River Caveman’ ends an era in the state’s history.    o o o Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned a interesting new product for gardeners: Hot Pepper Wax Repellent . It is a natural pest repellent for your garden, that doesn’t have the drawbacks of insecticides. They are offering free shipping on one quart bottles.    o o o Reader R.S.R. spotted a web-based e-mail privacy tool …



Understanding the Carry Condition Codes for M1911 Pistols

I recently got a letter from a SurvivalBlog reader who sounded confused about what “Condition One” means for a single action (SA) auto pistol.  So I’ll presume that it is time to backtrack a bit and post a short piece on the standardized Model 1911 “Condition Codes.” These were originated by Col. Jeff Cooper. OBTW, these terms are also applicable to most other semi-auto pistols with exposed hammers: Condition 0 – Ready to fire: The pistol has cartridges in the magazine, a round is in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the safety is off. Condition 1 – The …


Easy and Inexpensive FM Voice Satcom Operations, by David in Israel

There are many free to use communications satellites for use only by licensed amateur radio operators, more are launched almost every year with more capabilities. Not licensed? Call the ARRL’s toll-free number at 1-888-277-5289 and request an informational Amateur Radio prospect package. You only need to pass a 35 question Technician exam which uses questions from a public question pool and usually pay less than $15 for an exam seat to begin using the Amateur Satellite Service along with free access to the expansive terrestrial repeater network and Morse code on several HF bands, more when you advance in level. …