Year: 2010

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 26 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. 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 HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, …


A Guide to Domestic Water Wells, by Olive

The recent post regarding the found well inspired me to write a note that I’ve been meaning to share. I work in the water well industry, specifically the troubleshooting of problem wells.  The thing that continues to surprise me is the wide range of beliefs and lack of solid information on well systems. I say systems because an owner/operator must view a well as a sum of parts, more than just a hole in the ground. The first issue I’ll address is testing. Most states and local health departments have settled on the coliform test as the only means to …


Four Letters Re: Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist

JWR, I’ve just done First Responder training because the school I go to, a good one, won’t let me jump right into EMT training without taking First Responder first. A gold-digging measure? You decide! I think it may be, but it’s a good policy too. I urge your readers to take a First Responder, a.k.a. CPR + Advanced First Aid. My course was $300. A cheapie way to do this would be to go on Amazon and get the book, but I highly urge a course. I plan to do EMT-1 then EMT-P and don’t expect to get paid for …


Economics and Investing:

From GG: Personal Bankruptcy Filings Rising Fast Also from GG: Global Boom Builds for Epic Bust: Peter Boone and Simon Johnson Items from The Economatrix: BRIC to Rebuild New Economic World Order Banks to Blast Customers with New Bank, Check Fees US to Lose $400 Billion on Fannie, Freddie China’s 2010 Gold Rush Year-End Gold Charts 2010 Will Be Worse


Odds ‘n Sods:

Dave B. suggested this New York Times article: Broadband, Yes. Toilet, No.; Alaskan Couple Turns Yurt into Shelter in the Wild    o o o Tom from MA suggested St. Dalfour Gourmet-to-Go products. He commented “They are small tins with meals in them which bear a striking resemblance to the French RCIR rations. I’m wondering if they are made in the same plant? I found them next to all of the other tinned meats and tuna. They have a 2-3 year ‘best by’ date and seem to be a good addition to any bug out bag, or just as a …



Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the dozens of readers that renewed their voluntary Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions subscriptions today, or signed up for new ones. It is gratifying to see that so many of you feel that they get your daily ten cents worth from SurvivalBlog! — Today we present another entry for Round 26 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. 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, …


Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3) for the Survivalist, by Cowpuncher

The SurvivalBlog thread on wound-clotting agents got me thinking about this subject and its apparent lack of dissemination amongst the “survivalist” community. I decided I would write about it. I know the recent military vets will probably have heard about it, and some (most) will have practiced it. Many will have used it in action. For the record, I received Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC or TC3) training in the beginning of the program, so any new information I have gleaned since 2002 is based on studying the protocols as presented in the SOF Medical Handbook and the Ranger Medics …


Economics and Investing:

Chad S. spotted this: Lower home appraisals appear to be up; Deals get killed as foreclosures, short sales make valuing property difficult. JWR’s Comment: The continuing waves of house foreclosures are bound to ratchet down both sales prices and in turn assessed valuations. This will lead to more state budget crises. The bottom line: If they can’t raise your home’ assessed value, then they’ll raise property tax tax rates. A corollary exists with income taxes. As more people lose their jobs or have their payroll hours cut back, then states will be forced to raise income tax rates. The 50 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Panic room saved artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist assassin. (Mentioned by numerous blog readers.) Every home and retreat should have a stout room that can be a place of temporary refuge against home invasions.    o o o Dale W. was the first of several readers to mention this: Court upholds police pointing gun at lawful carrier. [JWR Adds: This is a bad legal precedent, but the main underlying problem is prevailing attitudes. If you don’t live in a region where open carry is legal, and where concealed carry is considered normal, then you are living in the wrong state–or …



Note from JWR:

I post one and only one formal reminder announcement each year about renewing Ten Cent Challenge subscriptions and this is it. I don’t do endless whiney PBS-style pledge drives. My sincere thanks to the less than 1% of SurvivalBlog readers that have made voluntary subscription contributions to cover our bandwidth costs, and to keep SurvivalBlog running. (The alternative would be me shutting down the blog and going back to a salaried corporate technical writing job, so I am very appreciative of your contributions!) By the way, if you are a “Secret Squirrel” type, then you can send cash or postage …


Letter Re: The Bosnian Experience, Part 2

Sir: The next thing that I would like to cover is mode of transportation. When the society collapses more likely you will have to leave your home. Having a 4×4 vehicle that is equipped with everything that you need to survive would be everyone’s choice for travel but that sometimes might not be possible. In the broken society there is no law. Everyone and everybody is a target. Traveling in the vehicle on the road or off the road is extremely risky. First, vehicles make noise and everyone can hear you. Second, vehicles are big and they can be seen. …


Letter Re: Well, Well–An Amazing Find

Dear Mr. Rawles: I have owned my retreat for some years and as unbelievable as it may sound, I found a water well that I didn’t know I had. When I bought the land in the 1990s, I knew that there had been an old house there at one time, but assumed that they had either used a cistern, or drew water from the stream that runs through the property. However, I found the well. It had an old Gould’s 1HP pump at the end of 120 ft. of 2″ galvanized pipe. The well had been capped for years, or …


Letter Re: Using Unusual Camouflage to Deter Burglars

Mr. Rawles: What I’m about to write about really happened. In 2003 I had an apartment that got broken into when I was at work. At the time I did not own much at the time and had very few valuables. After much thought and not coming up with any unique hiding places, I decided to keep my Beretta pistol, credit cards, cash, checks and so forth in an old liquor box with a pile of “old but clean” underwear on top of the box. The plan worked. My apartment was ransacked and you guessed it, the only box not …