Month: March 2011

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader Tom M. suggested a great two-hour educational video produced by UCSF: Injuries in the Wilderness.    o o o Kevin R. sent us this: The secret world of doomsday shelters Blast from the past: Underground home bunkers once again have a small but growing following as a refuge from a host of perceived threats. And most people who have them would prefer that you didn’t know. Kevin notes: “Notice the demographics mentioned on page two, describing who is building these and that most are in the Washington, D.C. area?.  Do our bureaucrats know and anticipate something they aren’t sharing …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The US is the world’s most indebted nation and is trying to bail itself out by printing money, thus monetizing the debt. The world knows it and many are concerned because of their large holdings of US securities. The printing of money would force up interest rates (long bond rates are already rising), thus putting more strain on the US and global economies. A debt downgrade of US debt could follow, and the looming debt battle in Congress could see a US debt default in the worst case. Any or all of these events could lead to chaotic conditions in …


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 Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


Basic Climbing Gear for Preppers, by T.F.

As preppers I think we all have the same mindset. If we did not, we would not be returning to SurvivalBlog on a daily basis, or stockpiling all the things we do. I am four months new to the blog and have always been a prepper at heart. With the blog, several things have been brought to my attention that I was lacking in my prepping. As these issues surface, I take immediate action either to correct them right away, or they make my very short “To Do” list. With that, I bring to your attention the need of some …


Why Living Prepared Pays Off, by Brad in California

We live on the western slope of the Sierras about half way between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. We recently experienced the worst snow storm in the last thirty years, with snow depths in excess of 36″, massive, wide spread power outages, and closed roads. We had virtually no inconvenience because we have literally have lived being prepared for decades. Our home is small, about 1,000+ square feet and we have an adjoining cabin of 525 sq/ft., which serves as my office. A few years ago I added an additional 12″ of insulation in the ceilings of both units, double glazed …


Letter Re: Bathing in a World Without Electricity

Good Morning; My wife and I were once again looking at our list of to-do’s in our quest to prepare. I was looking at the list and noticed she wanted to find a wash tub that we could bathe in. Fortunately we live about one hundred feet from a year round creek and water will not be a issue. I started looking around  the house and my eyes fell on the woodstove and the 2.5 gallon water tank on the side. Now that water gets very warm obviously and I thought ok well that solves the hot water problem. Well, …


Two Letters Re: Pomona Universal Pectin

Sir: I asked my cousin to respond to the Pomona Universal Pectin article. She is the  production manager and head nutritionist at a commercial jam manufacture. Here is what she had to say: “Pomona Universal Pectin is a low methoxyl pectin.  This means that it will gel without the presence of sugar if a salt (monocalcium phosphate) is added at the critical time.  If the salt is added at the wrong time, the resulting products have an “applesauce” type consistency.  The biggest problem with this type of pectin is that it is inconsistent across different fruit and different degrees of ripeness …


Letter Re: Some Woodstove Experience

Mr. Rawles: I would recommend that your readers get a copy of the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois.  Many of the breads in the book use a high-quality, half-inch thick baking stone, much like the types used for pizza.  Also shown is a pizza peel. The book has many recipes using many types of grains to make  peasant loaves, rolls, baguettes, flatbreads and pizzas.    Another suggestion from an outdoor cookbook is to use a large Dutch oven and put small stones or nails in the bottom, then set your baking …


Economics and Investing:

Reader Scott M. sent us this: “No Way Out” of Debt Trap, Gross Says: U.S. Living Standards Doomed to Fall Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages. (Thanks to Pierre M. for the link.) Will China’s ‘Have-Nots’ Be Next to Rebel? Items from The Economatrix: US Wants To Take Your Dollars And Replace With Coins Financial Dismantling Of The American Middle Class   Physical Silver is Really $50 Per Ounce   People Of Earth:  Prepare For Economic Disaster   Bank Stocks Push Indexes Higher; Oil Prices Dip   Beyond Libya, Oil Market Warily Eyes Saudi Arabia


Odds ‘n Sods:

Another Self Reliance Expo is planned for April 8-9, 2011 National Western Events Complex, in Denver, Colorado. There will be a number of panel discussions and many exhibitors putting on product demonstrations. Topics will include aquaponics,canning and food dehydrating, ham radio, solar ovens, and much more. Admission is $9 at the door or you can get a 20% discount on tickets by registering online (click on the “Admission” tab.) Another Expo will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 7-8.    o o o Paul Farrell: The 2008 crash isn’t over, only covered up    o o o File …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“1. Human societies are problem-solving organizations. 2. Sociopolitical systems require energy for their maintenance. 3. Increased complexity carries with it increased costs per capita. 4. Investment in sociopolitical complexity as a problem-solving response reaches a point of declining marginal returns.” – Joseph Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Societies


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 Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP …


Some Woodstove Experience, by C.V.Z.

Being without electricity in the middle winter is cold. We didn’t have any heat during an ice storm. With that winter in mind, we finally purchased a wood stove for heat and cooking opportunities. As the wife and mother, I had this horrible image of an old black pot bellied stove belching smoke and catching the roof on fire. I could hear the neighbors complaining about the smell and my kids going to school smelling like they had just burned down the house. Images of black walls and ceilings and truck loads of firewood haunted me with every winter wind. …


Letter Re: Lakeside Foods Outlet Store

Mr. Rawles;   My family lives in southeast Minnesota.  We are fortunate to have a Lakeside Foods processing plant and distribution center nerby in Plainview , Minnesota.  Lakeside Foods is a private label food processor.  Its Plainview operation is quite diversified. Their operation at Plainview has an interesting program for people looking to stock-up and save money on vegetables.  It has an outlet store that sells damaged cans of vegetables inexpensively.  These cans range in size from family size to one gallon.   For example, a case of 24 cans of corn, in family sized cans, sells for $6 and …


Letter Re: Pomona Universal Pectin

Mr. Rawles, I recently discovered Pomonas Universal Pectin, for home canning. It stores indefinitely. It’s also very versatile: it makes regular, low-, or no-sugar jams, jellies, fruit spreads, gelatins, freezer jams, etc. (The other pectins I researched have about a 1-year shelf-life. It will work with sugar, artificial sugar, honey, stevia, or fruit juice as a sweetener. It will also gel things that don’t have any natural pectin, to make things like hot pepper jelly. Their web site is PomonaPectin.com. It’s also available on Amazon. I’m not affiliated with them in any way. – Texas Sunflower