Month: February 2011

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry 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 TAP …


How to Inexpensively Build Your Library of Information, by Sky Watcher

We all understand from reading SurvivalBlog that having information and learning how to survive and thrive are going to be the keys to survival post-TEOTWAWKI.  You need to start gathering that library now. There is an extensive list of suggested books and materials to obtain posted on the blog.  Purchasing those at even discount prices from Amazon.com or other discount book sellers can still run into quite a bit of money.  Our local public library support group, Friends of the Library, have a twice a year discount book sale that my husband and I attend.  It fills the entire basement …


Letter Re: Investing in Nickels, in Quantity

Mr. Rawles,   I took your advice and, this week, bought a large quantity of [U.S. Five cent piece] nickels for investment. I thought your readers might want to know how surprisingly easy it was. I only had to contact two branches (in a major East coast city) of a large US bank. I have had an account with that bank for a long time, but I had no personal relationships there. The nice lady at the first branch said that she was happy to help but, because the branch had a small vault, she could only get me three boxes ($300) at a time. …


Letter Re: Advice on Shotgun Shells to Store

Hello Mr. Rawles,   Thanks so much for your efforts, they are appreciated.  SurvivalBlog has been a great help to me preparing for inevitable events.   Your suggestion to consider what you will be hunting is dead on.  I have hunted small game, as well as large for 35 years.  I have hunted in West Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas.  I have hunted squirrels, rabbits, turkey, grouse, ring necks, geese, ducks, Bob White, doves, quail.  #6 works well on squirrels, rabbits and small birds like grouse and quail.  I have taken several shots at turkey …


Letter Re: Packing your Bug Out First Aid Kit

Mr. Rawles, After reading J.V.’s article on “Packing your Bug Out First Aid Kit” I feel the need to comment on his approach to anesthesia. Anesthesia as practiced today is safe and effective due to the training and equipment modern medicine provides. The technique of “open drop” anesthesia, which is what J.V. describes, was utilized until the mid 1960s. Aspiration, anesthetic overdose leading to respiratory or cardiac collapse occurred in major hospitals at an alarming rate. Current anesthetic death rates run at 1:30,000 cases, while in the late 1950s (a comprehensive study out of Boston) showed anesthetic mortality of 1:1,500. …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: I got sidetracked from my planned queue of review books to read the autobiography Fingerprints of God by O.A. Fish. One of our readers sent it to me, thinking that I might enjoy it. O.A. reminds me that yes, God can ask us to do projects that would be impossible to do with just our own knowledge, wisdom and expertise. But through our daily petitioning and dependence upon Him, He will perform miracles. He will bring the people into our lives through divine appointment who are willing and able …


Economics and Investing:

Produce prices skyrocket with freeze in Mexico, Southwest. Stock up on dehydrated veggies, now! Sid C. sent a link to some more about those fake Morgan Silver Dollars made in China. This television news piece mentions a couple of key indicators that you can use to detect fakes. G.G. sent this: White House Expects Deficit to Spike to $1.65 Trillion Goldrunner: The Golden Parabola F.G. flagged this one: Will Chocolate once again become a rarefied luxury? SAA Joe mentioned: U.S. Corn Reserves at Lowest Level in More than 15 Years J.D.D. spotted this: Alan Simpson: U.S. Deficit Is ‘a Disaster’


Odds ‘n Sods:

Great news for Swiss gun owners: Swiss voters throw out gun law reform. I’m sure that Pro Tell members were instrumental in rallying this vote for liberty. (A hat tip to M.O.B. for the link.)    o o o Some SCA types muse about WWIII and societal collapse in a rousing filk ballad: Serious Steel. Despite the reference to “The Crunch”, I can’t claim to have had any influence on them. If anything, I think that they’ve been reading S.M. Stirling’s excellent “Dies the Fire” series rather than my novel “Patriots”. (Thanks to Alan B. for sending the link.)    …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to state this or that or the other, but it is ‘not done’… Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness.” – George Orwell


Note from JWR:

Great news! The recently-completed SurvivalBlog archives database will allow us to produce an archive CD of all of the SurvivalBlog posts from 2005 to 2010. It will be fully searchable, and will be provided in both HTML and PDF. Effectively, it will emulate SurvivalBlog offline, on your PC or Mac. With this CD-ROM, you’ll always have access to the SurvivalBlog archives, even if the Internet is not available. And if you are on-line while using the CD-ROM, then the links to external web sites (from both HTML and PDF) will be fully functional. The amount of information on the archive …


America’s Transition to Preemptive Law Enforcement

There is a disturbing trend in American law enforcement and in our courts: They have been enforcing nonexistent laws, misapplying laws, arresting people who are obviously innocent, and arresting people on suspicion that they might be thinking about doing something illegal. This is similar to the policing philosophy in England, where police often preemptively detain people and seize household goods “for the safety of all concerned”. In my estimation, this is just one notch below arresting folks for “thought crimes” (a la Orwell’s novel 1984) or “pre-crime”, (a la Philip K. Dick’s novella that became the movie Minority Report.) Here …


Letter Re: Advice on Shotgun Shells to Store

James: Some of your SurvivalBlog.com posts recommend storing 500 rounds per shotgun, but does not mention which types of shells. How much should I stock of the following: Slugs, 00 Buckshot, #7-1/2 birdshot, #8 birdshot. How many of each? Any other 12 gauge ammo type?  Also, what shotguns do you use?   Thanks for publishing a great blog! –  Jim B. JWR Replies: The ratio of shells that you store all depends on where you live.  Do you live in duck country?  Quail country?  Rabbit country? Deer country? If you live in duck country, then you should buy mostly #2 or …


Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself Campfire Starters

Dear Mr. Rawles, First thank you and thank you again for your wonderful web site. I feel I have learned so much by reading it. I developed lots of important ideas good not only for emergencies but for more “mundane” preparedness. I want to share with you and your readers how I make simple and inexpensive fire starters for the fireplace, grill or campfire. I get a pound of Gulf Wax [canning paraffin] ($3 dollars per box) and melt it in a mason jar in a pot of boiling water. I then take finely shredded office paper (free) and stuff …


Economics and Investing:

John R. sent a Seeking Alpha article with some confirmations of my warnings to SurvivalBlog readers since 2006: Derivatives: The Real Reason Bernanke Funnels Trillions Into Wall Street Banks. Here is a quote from the article: “Of course, Bernanke tells the public and Congress that the reason we need low interest rates is to support housing prices. He doesn’t mention that $188 TRILLION of the $223 TRILLION in notional value of derivatives sitting on the Big Banks’ balance sheets is related to interest rates. Yes, $188 TRILLION. That’s thirteen times the US’ entire GDP, and nearly four times WORLD GDP.” …


Inflation Watch:

America’s inflation alarm is growing ever louder, (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) News from formerly Merry Olde England: Staple Food Prices Fastest Rise in Five Years . Corn’s rally feeds a ‘global food fight’ Kraft says more price increases ahead