Day: October 18, 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 …


A Bug Out Bag Reality Check, by Stranger

I thought I would share some thoughts on my weekend bug out bag guerrilla camping trip. My purpose was to use my BOB in the manner in which I expected to have to use it in an emergency. My general plan has been to get away from people, camp with stealth, and wait for the dust to clear.  With this in mind I mostly want to put my gear through its paces and get my body used to the rigors of backpacking. I live in central Connecticut.  I am a man in my 40s and have a dropped foot in …


Letter Re: The Politically Correct Joy of Cooking

Jim, The lady who whose submission is in today’s blog referenced the book Joy of Cooking and you provided an Amazon link to the book. The praise for this book – and her quotes from the book – are without a doubt regarding earlier editions. Up until the 1980s or early 1990s The Joy of Cooking contained sections on food preservation, butchering rabbits and other game and a host of other “pioneer” kitchen skills. The current editions (and the last couple, for all I know) are severely dumbed-down with far less emphasis on these topics and more on things like …


Letter Re: Some Observations on Pre-1965 Coins Circulating in the U.S.

Hi Jim, I spent two years as a security technician for a major armored car company. The idea that banks have silver coins in their circulation is quite remote. Banks get most of their coins from a Federal Reserve coin center pre wrapped and counted. All silver coins, Mexican, Canadian and other coins are thoroughly separated. I have been in one of these Federal Reserve centers and believe me they literally had buckets full of foreign coins. Any silver coins found in a bank would have to come from some local citizen spending them in a local store. Returned to …


Letter Re: Suburban Survival Revisited

Good Afternoon, After reading the follow up post from Suburban 10 on his state of preparedness, I have just three comments to make: 1. Congratulations on getting to the level that you’re at now. Realizing that you are not at the level you need to be is half the battle. 2. Now that you have the red wheat berries and a grain mill it is time to take the next step and learn how to cook the wheat. It’s better to have practiced cooking your long term food storage items when you have had the luxury of time to experiment …


Economics and Investing:

B.B. mentioned a piece by Charles Hugh Smith: The Coming Collapse of the Real Estate Market Siggy sent: The Case for America’s Future by Gary North SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson notes that the oft-cited animated recession map was updated again last week. This is really looking grim. More FDIC Friday Follies: Three more banks bit the dust on Friday. This time the announcement was two banks in Missouri and one in Kansas. Items from The Economatrix: K.A.F. flagged this: US Cities Face Half a Trillion Dollars of Pension Deficits Dollar Keeps Falling As Investors Await Fed Action …


Inflation Watch:

From the NIA: Inflation to Make All Americans Billionaires By 2020 Bernanke Sees Case for `Further Action’ With Too-Low Inflation Peter Schiff: “It’s Scary How Clueless Bernanke Is” Veteran economic observer Howard J. Ruff chimes in on inflation.


Odds ‘n Sods:

R.F.J. mentioned this at Cool Tools: Footbike    o o o California man killed by rattlesnake.    o o o Like something out of a novel… Panic at the pumps: French motorists swamp petrol stations    o o o Until the end of 2010 Ready Made Resources is offering a new “Grand Slam Package” of storage foods, at 30% off. They are also offering a one ounce U.S. Mint Silver Eagle for each complete case of six cans of Mountain House foods ordered, as long as the spot price of silver stays below $30 per ounce. At the rate that …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“People will survive this; some because of luck. If you have no food to eat, no warmth in the deep of winter, it doesn’t matter whether little green men or Muhammed broke your world. You will still die frozen and hungry. But if you have enough to eat, just enough, and if you have some shelter and safety, again just enough, then maybe your living or dying might have something to do with whether you fall to madness and superstition, or whether you hold onto your rationality.” – The fictional character Sergeant Fryderyk Milosz, Polish GROM special forces unit operator, …