Year: 2010

Two Letters Re: Precious Metals Buying Tips

JWR: When I first started investing in precious metals, I was very unsure of how to do it. My first problem was to find a place that sold them. That is no mean feat in Canada. Naturally my first response was to buy paper metals. As an investment, these were cheaper and more convenient to buy and sell than taking physical possession. When I decided that it was important to take physical possession, I was faced with the problem, how do I buy an ounce of gold without getting burned by fluctuating prices. For the last five years, I have …


Letter Re: Some Gardening Comments from a Northern Gardener

As a gardener of over 30 years, I garden for the most produce from my limited garden spaces. I can tomatoes, salsa, beans, relishes, corn, applesauce, pickles, etc. At this point in time I have no illusions that I could feed our family of four on our gardens. I’ve been growing what we like to eat versus what will give us the best nutrition and can sustain us year round. The SurvivalBlog site has been a wonderful wealth of information and the books they recommend have enhanced my gardening knowledge in ways that lead to being self-sustaining. I’ve used the …


Economics and Investing:

K.S. suggested this article by Chris Blasi: Is Your IRA or 401K a Target of Government Appropriation? British Expert: Great Depression II is Possible. (Thanks to Steve C. for the link.) Reader Brian B. sent us this: California pension fund asks state for additional $600 Million. Thanks to Sue C. for spotting this: Crisis in Europe raises ‘double-dip’ recession worries Items from The Economatrix: Chrysler Adds 1,100 Jobs At Detroit Jeep Plant Even A Trillion Can’t Save The Euro City Fears “Great Depression Mark II” German Finance Minister: Markets Out Of Control Loan Demand to Buy US Homes Sinks to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Dan V. mentioned that a scanned copy of the scarce Operation and Maintenance Manual for the AN/PSR-1A Intrusion Detecting Set (TM-04074B-15) is now available online. You can find it linked near the bottom of this page.    o o o RBS spotted this: Why Snakebites Are About to Get a Lot More Deadly – Cost of Antivenom Production Creates Shortages    o o o Jack T. sent us a link to some good reporting from C.J. Chivers of The New York Times: A Firsthand Look at Firefights in Marja. It is refreshing to hear from a mainstream reporter that …



Notes from JWR:

We are rapidly approaching the milestone of 20,000,000 unique visits to SurvivalBlog. Our readership is still steadily growing. Many thanks for spreading the word. If you haven’t done so already, please mention SurvivalBlog to your friends, co-workers, and members of your congregation. — Today we present another entry for Round 28 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 …


Lessons from Nashville, Tennessee–That “Oh My Gosh” Moment, by Cheryl C.

I live in Nashville, Tennessee.  Most people have heard about the devastation of the recent flooding of  our city –what a  lot of folks don’t know is that there were over 1,400 boat rescues of stranded people who could not (or would not) evacuate their homes before the water overtook them.  The events of these past few weeks has heightened my disaster preparedness and has proven to me once again “that being prepared” is paramount “to surviving” any natural or man-made disaster. This brings me to share with you what I call the “oh my gosh” moment.  When the forecast …


Letter Re: Establishing a Veteran’s Bona Fides in TEOTWAWKI

Captain Rawles: I am a fairly skilled soldier in the U.S. military. Without going into details suffice it to say that I am extremely capable mentally because of my military experience as well as a healthy desire to educate and train myself in my free time. However, I travel most of the time. I have no stored food and don’t own any possessions that won’t fit in my car. Due to travel I don’t even own my own firearm, even though I am trained in the use of dozens of arms and explosives. Assume that I’m am the perfect soldier …


Letter Re: Conjecture on the Value of Silver in Barter Transactions

Hi Jim, I would like your thoughts on something. I have been stocking up on silver for many years, but I’m wondering what you think will happen to the value of it at TEOTWAWKI. Here is my thinking, right now silver is worth around $18 U.S. dollars per [Troy] ounce, that is easy to understand. But if the dollar goes away then how do we put a value on the silver? I have been told that silver will go way up if the dollar fails but I can’t seem to understand how it will work. Currently I could trade silver …


Three Letters Re: Use the Ground You Live on for More Than Walking

Jim Explanations about constructing homemade slow sand filters are on numerous web sites and have been for years. Typically, they use 5 gallon buckets with layers of sand (sometimes they specify the size of the grains of sand), gravel and charcoal. A little bit of research will show how to construct one to experiment with and to maintain for use in an emergency. Typically these are not very effective against water that is contaminated by chemicals. While barrels will allow you to filter more water, you will not be able to move it and there will be the problem of …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Brad S. spotted this: PIMCO’s Gross: Markets exhibiting “flight to liquidity”. Mass inflation is coming soon, folks. Transition out of dollars and into tangibles now, while it is still affordable! FDIC: Problem banks at 775. “A total of 775 banks, or one-tenth of all U.S. banks, were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s list of ‘problem’ institutions in the first quarter, as bad loans in the commercial real-estate market weighed on bank balance sheets.” K. in Montana sent me this one: Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead Items from The Economatrix: Regulators Shut Small …


Odds ‘n Sods:

D.J.A. sent this article that illustrates how the mainstream is catching on: The Prepper Movement — a Growing Network Preparing for the World’s End    o o o For those of you that–like me–up until now have just been mildly bemused at the sight of people walking around with their prized Kindle readers, here is some good news: you can read Kindle books on PCs and most recently announced, on Mac desktop and laptop computers. And even better, the requisite software is a free download. Of course once you’ve done that, you can get the Kindle software editions of various …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 28 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.), and D.) A 500 round case …


Motorized Survival Bikes, by JIR

When you mention bicycles in the context of survival preparation, most people roll their eyes. I used to feel the same way. The image of pedaling through the apocalypse with mushroom clouds in the background is almost comical. But, after buying a motor kit as a toy and trying it out for a while, I have completely changed my opinion. These are serious machines that may fit a niche in your survival plans. They fit my plans perfectly. We are much more likely to experience a severe economic decline rather than a collapse. In fact, a lot of people would …