Month: June 2011

Letter Re: Military Surplus Generators and Concertina Wire

Jim: I have found some good advice in SurvivalBlog over the years.  For example your referenced GovLiquidation.com site some years back.  Fort Polk, Louisiana is a two hour drive from my retreat.  I bought a $10,000 MEP-002A 5 KW diesel generator with only three hours clocked on it at auction for $1,500. I was somewhat concerned that it might not work or have problems with it but I decided to chance it.     Picked it up, brought it home, hooked up two batteries and it cranked right up.  Runs like a top.  Amazing that the government is selling  stuff for …


Three Letters Re: Hunter-Gatherer Mobile Survival

JWR: I just read Blue Sun’s comments and feel I too must comment. I believe that he has the beginnings of what I envision as a End of the World scenario, inasmuch as the ‘friend’ from yesterday is the enemy of today. But we part company when he is suggesting that deep woods is the location for survival. I see no room for the weak or infirm nor women and children. I see only a Jeremiah Johnson-style survival thing for a lone male that is young and in good health and very good shape. How long one expects to be …


Economics and Investing:

D.S. spotted this: Greeks Turn Savings to Gold and Perth Mint Silver Coin Sales Surge to Record on Haven Demand Cody J. sent us this: Default America: Influence & Impasse Flat line: Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged, Offers Dim View of Economy (Thanks to Steven M. for the link.) Also from Steven M.: Moody’s: Commercial Real Estate Prices declined 3.7% in April, Prices at new Post-Bubble Low. (Thanks to Steven M. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: The Bitter Medicine for the United States Jim Rogers:  Obama Should Resign Before Inflation Sparks Unrest Gerald Celente:  Everything is Not All Right, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

New Study: Fluoride Can Damage the Brain – Avoid Use in Children. (Thank to K.E.R. for the link.)    o o o Monumental ignorance of history and logical inversion: “Chicago’s new top cop says the accessibility to firearms in America is an extension ‘of government-sponsored racism’ that goes back to the days of slavery and Jim Crow.” If this idiot knew anything about history, then he would know that gun restrictions were used by southern legislatures during Reconstruction to repress the voting rights of recently-freed slaves. He has his history absolutely inverted!    o o o Alan W. flagged this: …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” – Acts 3:18-21 (KJV)


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 35 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 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and …


The Case For Silver Spoons, by F.J.B.

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Most folks today would agree that we live in troubled times. At any moment, a single event could change the balance of our society for the worse, taking us back to what some might call the dark ages. Predicted solar flares, EMPs, earthquakes, or  even terrorist activity today could lead to a complete infrastructure failure that would affect every aspect of our future. During such a grim event, our personal health would be a great concern. Without refrigeration, many medicines would spoil. Without power, pharmaceutical plants shut down. The few hospitals that have back-up power will soon run out and …


Letter Re: Just How Bad Can it Get?

JWR, I will preface by saying that I have a much different opinion on the aftermath of a significant long-term or permanent collapse of the economy and the power grid leading to a collapse of the social structure.   I have read numerous studies that indicated that, in any long-term absence of modern technology, the sort of defended retreat with family and friends, not to mention the exposure you will get bartering and dispensing charity with third parties, will be only the initial phase of a total breakdown of a functioning society.  Some say the further degradation of what we now …


Letter Re: SlideFire Stocks and OPSEC

Mr. Rawles,          First, I’d like to thank you once again for doing what you do, helping many, many people in the preparedness movement.    I’d like to to share my experience with the SSAR-15 SlideFire stock. I saw a video of the product in action on YouTube a month prior to the SurvivalBlog post concerning the SSAR. I couldn’t resist ordering one myself. A very interesting and functional product. And fun too! But where I shoot is private plantation pine land with a dozen houses within a mile. Rifle fire is a unmistakable sound even over mile in …


Economics and Investing:

From The Daily Bell: Greece – Salvation by Politicians Ron Paul: The Worst Thing You Can Do For A People Is Purposely Devalue The Dollar Greenspan: Greek Default Will Trigger Another U.S. Recession Items from The Economatrix: The Latest FDIC Friday Follies: Regulators Shut Down Small Banks in Georgia, Florida; Makes 47 Bank Failures This Year Fed Dims Outlook for Jobs and Growth for 2011 Oil Dives to Four-Month Loss as Emergency Stocks Unleashed Fed Acknowledges Economy is Growing More Slowly The End of the Trend is Near Layoffs, Housing Data Point to Chronic Problems


Odds ‘n Sods:

Steve McC. mentioned: Earth Must Be Ready for Next Big Solar Storm    o o o Anyone who places over $150 with Ready Made Resources in the month of July will get a free copy of the excellent Urban Danger DVD. This is a great tool for people to wake others up to the dangers we face and solutions available.    o o o Steven M. mentioned a different approach to bike tire protection: Seat Belt Bike Tire Hack    o o o K.A.F. sent this: A rural life is better: Living in a concrete jungle is stressful and make …



Notes from JWR:

My sincere thanks to the 11 readers who are daily donating their computer’s background processing power to mine Bitcoins for the Ten Cent Challenge. This a Java applet that is NOT installed on your PC or Mac. It simply runs within a web browser session. Please keep this Bitcoin mining web page bookmarked and running while you are web browsing. No registration or set-up is needed. All you have to do is click on “Start Generating” each day. It’s that simple. This project is currently earning us about .015 BTC per day. (But if more SurvivalBloggers used it, obviously we …


Aircraft and Aviation, Post-TEOTWAWKI, by G.R. in Texas

I read JWR’s books “Patriots“ and“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” with interest and have been thinking and acting on them since. In particular, I was struck by the concept of using aircraft post-TEOTWAWKI for various purposes as illustrated in Patriots. I’d like to submit the following for your review, and for posting on Survivalblog if you feel it worthy. Background  I’ve been a commercial pilot (not airline) for about six years and have amassed flight time in aircraft as light and simple as a Van’s RV-7 (experimental) up to Beechcraft King Air-sized airplanes in …


Letter Re: The Easy Storage Survival Harvest

I have minor additions to Minnesota Rose’s excellent post on which storable foods have the most nutrition and food value.  In looking for which plants have the most protein, the HealthAliciousNess web site has very good information on the highest protein fruits (dried apricots, I was happy to see), vegetables (sun dried tomatoes, surprisingly), and beans and legumes.  The protein content of beans and legumes varies from a low of 11 percent for pigeon peas to a high of 28 percent for soybeans.  These are cooked percentages, which are much lower than dry percentages because of the additional water; i.e. …