Day: October 9, 2010

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 31 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), D.) A 500 round case of …


Winter Indoor Gardening – Part 2, by Kate in Colorado

As I’ve been tending the plants that I brought into the house for the start of the winter indoor growing season, I began thinking about some of the other nifty tricks I have learned through experimenting and sometimes failing while learning this skill.  As I said before, this is a skill set that demands practice.  This is especially true if you don’t have a greenhouse or sun room as lighting and temperature swings really effect indoor plants more quickly than gardening in the out of doors. I pay very close attention to solar gain through the windows.  As the sun …


Letter Re: Cartridge Lead Hygiene

Jim, Any serious firearms enthusiast should know the basic makeup of most ammunition normally includes a lead containing primer and projectile and while this does not present an immediately serious hazard per se, anyone planning on handling ammunition and firearms should be mindful of the risk of prolonged exposure to lead components and both pre- and post-TEOTWAWKI, take precautions to protect themselves. As an Army reservist for eight years (doing the occasional field exercise with blank ammunition and the annual range qualification), we would eat our IMP rations after loading hundreds of magazines without a second thought towards washing our …


Three Letters Re: No Law Enforcement in TEOTWAWKI

Sir, I would like to thank Ron M. for his posting on the potential future scarcity of Law Enforcement officers in future large-scale TEOTWAWKI events. It was one of the few writings that reflects what I’ve witnessed here in my area as well. My brother, and many of my friends are LEOs, and after having discussed some of these things with them I was made quite aware of the accuracy of Ron’s assessment. Most urban departments are issued periodic ‘alerts’ and ‘warnings’ of potential future threats from Homeland Security and other agencies. They are requested to draft up plans to …


Economics and Investing:

Watch the US Dollar Index. As I’ve mentioned before, 72 is he threshold to watch for. Below that, there could be huge currency trading turmoil, and formal devaluations. Reader Richard H. sent us this ominous article: Financial stability set back by debt woes: IMF. Here is a quote: “However, the fund said banks had made less progress in dealing with near-term funding pressures — nearly $4 trillion of bank debt needs to be refinanced in the next 24 months. ‘Overall, bank balance sheets need to be further bolstered to ensure financial stability against funding shocks and to prevent adverse feedback …