Month: November 2010

The Art of the Cache, by James C.

I am sure many of you have planned for the possibility of a wide scale disaster, but you cannot carry all of your equipment when you get out of dodge. So caching is the best option however your cache cannot just go anywhere. Obviously certain locations experience heavier traffic, so in time of natural disaster, large scale riots, or terrorist attacks, it is good to choose locations away from this traffic. These caches also need to be on your bug out route, so if you have not prepared an escape route, do not plan your cache locations yet. These locations …


Letter Re: Ship Captains as Source for Prescription Medicine Stockpiles

Dear Jim, Having discussed with my doctor (seldom seen in 12 years – since I’m mostly healthy) a “blizzard cupboard” of useful medicines to have on hand – he said “great idea”. I live in a rural area – about a 5 hour drive round-trip to doctors and drug stores, and we have been snowed in for as long as 4 days. I took several “wilderness medicine” courses, then returned to him two years later with a list of prescriptions I wanted. He said “no way” – that he was the doc and I was not. He is moving to …


Economics and Investing:

Gary Shilling Sees `Significant’ Stock Selloff Within 12 Months From Dr. Gary North’s e-newsletter: “There is a cartoon video all over the Web that discusses “quantitative easing.” It is a riot. This is very, very bad for Bernanke. When the public starts laughing at a senior government bureaucrat, he is in trouble.” John R. sent this: Nassim Taleb Says Fed Doesn’t Understand Risks of Quantitative Easing Items from The Economatrix: Stocks Finish Mixed As Dollar Gains   Retail Sales Rise Is Led By Higher Auto Purchases   Credit Card Writedowns Continue Decline In October   The Worth of Gold and …


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. spotted this video clip: An overview of the deFNder™ Medium Station — a remote-controlled .50 Browning Machinegun. Makes me wish I was wealthy…    o o o A reader sent a link to a farmer that has an interesting approach to home-made biofuels: Farm Grown Diesel Fuel. This gent has a lot of do-it-yourself ingenuity, but he desperately needs a spell checker…    o o o Pegging the Absurdity Meter: Taurus Tactical Operator. Are they serious? Methinks this is the ideal gun for someone who is totally ignorant about .410 shotshell ballistics. Crud, when I have to lug around …



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. …



Notes from JWR:

I’ve been warning SurvivalBlog readers for more than four years about derivatives trading. And now there are now some troubling indicators that there could be a derivatives implosion and/or a credit collapse in the near future: 1.) SurvivalBlog reader Steve K. mentioned this article: Bond insurer Ambac files for bankruptcy. Steve commented: “This is a very, very big problem for the global financial system as Ambac was a huge player in Credit Default Swaps, Mortgage Backed Securities and all other derivatives. It’s all about counter party risk!“ 2.) Zero Hedge recently summed up the almost inconceivably enormous overhang of derivatives: …


Bugout Base Camp: My Solar School Bus, by T.K.

In a true breakdown scenario, one of the most crucial survival advantages, if not the most, has to be mobility. Pandemics or violent gangs that overwhelm congested populations can be escaped. More fertile land — wilderness with wild edible plants, big fish in the lakes, and game in the woods — can be reached. And if you can carry your shell on your back, along with an independent source of energy, you’ve got the ultimate survival advantage. An RV qualifies if you have at least $60,000 to toss around in this economy, but a more affordable, challenging (and fun) solution …


Letter Re: David in Israel on Secure Personal Computers

James, Here’s a follow-up to David from Israel’s article on Linux. I encourage your readers to heed David’s advice and wean themselves off the MicroSoft Windows operating system ASAP. Linux Mint Debian is a good OS option. See the Linux Mint Debian tutorial. Here is a description: “This tutorial shows how you can set up a Linux Mint Debian 201009 desktop that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops” According to this article, the the Chinese military have already removed …