Day: November 16, 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 $795, 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 Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum …


Survival Through Adaptation, by Jason G.

Regardless of what you may or may not believe about evolution, it’s hard to argue that the organisms best able to adapt to changes in their environment are generally the ones that survive.  While organisms with less intelligence do this over generations, we humans were gifted with the ability to think and adapt on the fly.  Sometimes this is not a good thing when we are manipulating currency on the fly or making decisions that can adversely affect our survival.  But dealing with those circumstances with adaptive ability is the other edge of said sword. After TSHTF neither I, nor …


Letter Re: David in Israel on Secure Personal Computers

Jim, In response to the current discussion on moving away from Windows, I’d suggest that SurvivalBlog readers take a look at Puppy Linux as well. It is a free bare bones OS that does most of the basic Windows functions and uses very few resources on your computer. The minimal requirements are as follows: • CPU : Pentium 166MMX • RAM : 128 MB physical RAM for releases since version 1.0.2 or, failing that, a Linux swap file and/or swap partition is required for all included applications to run; 64 MB for releases before v.1.0.2 • Hard Drive: Optional • …


Letter Re: The Value and Practice of Journaling

Hi, I just read the article on the use of acid free paper with interest and noted that Hammermill makes printer paper that is acid free. Some of it isn’t much more than regular paper, so it might make a good choice for [long term archiving of] those manuals we print off the Internet. Amazon sells several varieties. God Bless! – Mack G. JWR Replies: That same paper can be used to make bound journals or hardback books from downloaded PDFs. If you are handy with tools, you can do your own stitched bookbinding. This way you can create your …


Economics and Investing:

“Straycat” sent us this: What Is The Best U.S. State To Move To If You Want To Insulate Yourself From The Coming Economic Meltdown? James Grant: How to Make the Dollar Sound Again. (Thanks to Siggy for the link.) John R. suggested a piece by Mike Whitney at Zero Hedge, titled QE2: Last Rites for the World’s “Reserve Currency”


Odds ‘n Sods:

Our friend Tam over at the View From the Porch blog pointed to one of her favorite TFL threads: Reasons to Own a Buncha Guns. This hilarious thread dates back to 1999. Oh, that mention of time travel reminds me: I’m presently just 81 pages into reading Jerry and Sharon Ahern’s new novel Written in Time, and I’m hooked!    o o o I recently received a sample of Choate’s newest telescoping AR-15/M16 stock with battery storage tubes at the cheek positions. This is a cleverly designed five-position telescoping stock that has two storage compartments with O-ring seal threaded caps. …