Month: February 2011

Economics and Investing:

E.M.B. sent this: Coming Soon: A 300-Percent Increase in Foreclosures Smoot-Hawley Redux: As the Greater Depression continues along a parallel pathway with the Great Depression of the 1930s, Congress is about to commit the same blunder it made in 1930. (Thanks to C.D.V. for the link.) From Brett G. comes this link: Copper, Gold May Jump 30 Percent on Inflation Fear CoinWeek reports: Threat of Counterfeit Morgan Silver Dollars from China (Thanks to loyal content contributor R.D.F. for the link.) FDIC Friday Follies: Two more banks bit the dust on Friday, February 4th. (Both in Georgia.) Items from The Economatrix: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Complex Interdependencies Department: “Due to rolling blackouts in West Texas and other problems, the delivery of natural gas into New Mexico has been impeded.” Reader Greg C. notes: This is a great example of the flaw in multiple systems being to dependent on each other.  I wonder if any natural gas customer in New Mexico ever realized before now that their piped natural gas was dependent on an electrical grid located in another state?      o o o My recent interview on The Peter Schiff Show is now available for download (for his subscribers).    o o o Kevin …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round 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 Hornady …


Tips on Wild Food Foraging, by T.B.P.

From the time I was a young boy I have been fascinated with wild foods. The idea that there was food out there just for the taking made a connection with something deep inside of me. That something was mainly my stomach, which at that age always seemed to be a bit on the empty side. Since then I’ve spent years practicing the art of foraging along with studying a veritable mountain of books. The reason is simple: you never know when you’ll be out in the woods and find out your hiking buddy ate the last granola bar. I …


Finding Food in a Disaster, by Roger W.

Some, or most, of you may have long-term plans in place, which is great, and mightily encouraging.  For those that have been actively preparing years ahead of time, I commend your foresight.  Sadly, some of us aren’t that prepared at this stage in the game.  Finding the right property/shelter/fuel/food sources is ideal, but until now I haven’t had the disposable income to invest in things of value.  That being said, here’s one thing that keeps me motivated. Food is going to be the main scarcity out here and, in a pinch, I can harvest foods on my way out of …


Letter Re: Carrying Body Armor When Traveling

Dear Jim: I was in Cairo with my wife and two kids six weeks ago at the tail end of a 13 country 3 month trip. I was traveling with some custom bulletproof vests for all of us (thanks to Nick at bulletproofme.com). They were inserted in our backpacks and no one was the wiser at airport security. In Cairo, I had no sense whatsoever that it was a powder-keg, ready to explode. My wife laughed at the extra weight I hauled around with us. Now seeing on television the places where we walked looking like a war zone, she’s …


Letter Re: In Defense of Bolt Actions

Dear Jim and Family,   I have been shooting for a dozen years and I learned some things, going from BB guns and .22s to proper hunting rifles. I got started on .22s, to learn to shoot properly with them, and worked my way up to .223, which is an excellent teaching tool for marksmanship and as a backup firearm since its a milsurp caliber (5.56×45 NATO) and good for taking groundhogs, bunnies, squirrels, and coyotes at range. Mostly, its a [transitional] teaching round, same as a .22 LR. Its also useful in a proper length carbine, but its limitations must be …


Letter Re: Fuel Refining, 19th Century Style

James, Please have a look at this series of photos! If the link doesn’t work, it’s at Flickr under “Traditional Oil Drilling, Indonesia” If these guys used a ox, instead of the engine, to power the bailer (their “pump”) this set up would be exactly the same as was used in Canada and eastern Europe 150 years ago. The simply thermal-cracking refinery they’re operating, or a variant of it, can produce not only diesel but gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oils as well. I was simply dumbfounded to see these pictures. This would be like finding a Cavalry company mounted on …


Economics and Investing:

More Investors Position for Possibility of U.S. Default Commentary from Spengler, over at The Asia Times: Food and Failed Arab States “First, they ignore you, then they ridicule you…” Now we seem to be getting to the ridicule stage: How Much is a Nickel Worth? More than Five Cents, Says Michael Lewis. (Thanks to Randy F. for the link.) I spotted this over at Zero Hedge: Ron Paul to Ask Fed Why After Trillions in Free Money, Unemployment is Still Sky High Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke Speech Helps Push Stocks Higher   Shoppers Shook Off the Snow in January, …


Inflation Watch:

Episodes of Hyperinflation Reader Erik K. wrote: “I have to thank you for your post in SurvivalBlog on August 22, 2010 regarding a coming scarcity of sugar for 2011. After I read the article my wife and I went to our local big box store and purchased enough sugar to last our family for several years to come. We vacuum sealed the sugar in 5 gallon buckets using our iron, vacuum and mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. The buckets we used were free from a bakery and the cost of mylar and oxygen absorbers were $2.40 for each bucket. A …


Odds ‘n Sods:

The folks at Next Level Training (one of our writing contest prize donors) have created a coupon code just for SurvivalBlog readers. Your code is: survivalblog to get a special reduced price of $399 on SIRT Glock form factor laser training pistols. These are amazing training tools that will help keep you in top shooting form, even when ammo prices are sky high.    o o o “A violent turn for the worse” in Cairo    o o o Yishai sent a link to powerful photo: “Abandoned vehicles litter northbound Lake Shore Drive on Tuesday morning.” E. Jason Wambsgams, Chicago …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Nobody has ever argued that the government deficit-spending and all the rest of the heroic, last-ditch, pull-out-all-the-stops monetary excesses would not make statistics of economic activity blip upward. The argument is whether or not it will eventually destroy the economy. I say it does. The rise in the price of gold says it does. The decline in the dollar says it does. All of recorded economic history says it does.” – Richard Daughty (aka The Mogambo Guru)


Notes from JWR:

Please keep those who are in the path of major storms in your prayers. There’s Cyclone Yasi (Category 5!) in Australia, and monumental snow storms in the American Midwest and northeast. There are some secondary global implications, so pray hard and get your own family prepared, even if your aren’t in the path of a storm. We will each see a storm of some sort, in our day. Hopefully, not a lead storm. — Today we present another two entries for Round 33 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A course …


Planning for Training, by B.D.

When you’re training, your main goal should always be to improve tactical and technical proficiency.  Combat is a contest of skills and abilities, and without tactical & technical proficiency you’ll surely lose this contest, going from survivalist to speed bump before you know it.  Let’s start by defining these terms.  Technical proficiency is obtained from the experiences you gain from training whatever equipment you plan on using, whether it be an AR-15, a field dressing or a compass, to name a few.  Tactical proficiency is best gained through experience training with your team, such tactical movement exercises, drills for reacting …