Day: December 21, 2010

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 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 250 round case of 12 Gauge …


Emergency Preparedness, Two Liters at a Time, by Roy P.

My son handed me a book to read this Thanksgiving titled “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” by James Wesley, Rawles. He had a stack of them and gave them to all his ‘important people’. The title intrigued me. Although I never really considered myself a Survivalist in the way that the media might portray one, I have stored food and supplies for emergencies throughout my life. The book was well written and easy to read, as I read it in two days and it has inspired me to once again get serious about …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: I just finished reading One Second After by William R. Forstchen, with a foreword by Newt Gingrich. This is a novel based on the the after-effects of a high altitude EMP blast that wipes out North America’s power grids one spring afternoon. It focuses on the aftermath in a small town in western, North Carolina. It was written with the literal intent to inform and raise the awareness of the American public to the very real danger our country could face from an EMP attack. The storyline was intensely …


Letter Re: Do It Yourself Kydex Sheaths and Holsters

Mr. Rawles,   As a concealed carry permit holder I have a thing for gun holsters, being a big guy, I spend a lot of time making sure that my holsters are comfortable and work well with the clothing I wear.  Something I have noticed with holsters and “gun guys” is that we all end up with a box of old holsters we never use.  Looking through my collection I see that the majority of holsters I use on a daily basis are either Kydex or combinations of both leather and Kydex.  That is no surprise when you look at …


Letter Re: U.S. Nickel Five Cent Piece Value Increasing

Hi Jim, Just a friendly reminder that the melt value of U.S. nickel [five cent piece]s are inching up in price again. Their metallic content made them worth 6.5 cents, the last time I checked. The impostor to the presidency recently signed the “Coin Adulteration, Debasement, and Value Theft Act of 2010” also known as “The Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of 2010“. This may be driving up the price of the currently circulating real nickels. Regards, – Randy F. JWR Replies: SurvivalBlog readers should consider the newly-enacted legislation their “last call” to acquire nickels by the roll or …


Letter Re: Port St. Lucie Florida’s Ex-Mayor

JWR: You mentioned the mayor of Port St. Lucie, Florida in your commentary on the dog attack article. I need to make a correction: Patricia Christensen is the former mayor.  She was forced to resign last September for falsification of campaign records.  Yes, another one of Bloomberg’s illegal mayors ends up either in jail or out office for cause.   – T.T. in Port St. Lucie, Florida


Letter Re: Low Power D.C. Lighting

James Wesley; Vlad wrote at the end of his piece, “Wish I had a better closing line but it is getting late and I need to go dig up a potentiometer for this lamp.”  Unfortunately, that isn’t going to do a lot of good.  Because an LED is a diode (the D in LED) it is pretty much on or off.  Dimmable LEDs are usually dimmed via Pulse-width Modulation — essentially, turning the LED on and off very quickly.  This doesn’t harm the LED, but it needs a particular circuit to do it.  Reducing the voltage will dim it — …


Economics and Investing:

Siggy sent this: CBO Recommendation to Munis – Default! JWR’s Comment: Do I see another expansion of the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) coming? Marc in the Inland Northwest sent a link to a piece at The Daily Bell: China: That Urban Empty Feeling Michael Pento – US Headed Down a Path of Destruction        John Williams: Massive Selling of US Currency Lies Ahead   Alan B. sent this: Gold to reach $1,800 – probably in Q1 2011 – James Turk Michael H. mentioned: South Korea plans levy on foreign currency bank debt   Also from Michael:   …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Mike L. recommended the blog articles by Granny Miller.    o o o F.G. sent this news from the U.K.: Millions facing fuel rationing over Christmas as heating oil runs low    o o o James C. suggested this humorous video clip: UN Home Security System    o o o Reader “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” (OSOM) mentioned that the excellent EMP survival sharaeware novel Lights Out by David Crawford (a.k.a. HalfFast), is now available as a hard copy book from Amazon. OSOM’s comments: “This is a great read, and really helps you to internalize the reality of an …