Day: July 25, 2011

Notes from JWR:

I heard that Ready Made Resources is running a two-day special 25% off sale on Mountain House canned long term storage foods on July 25th and 26th. They are offering free shipping on case lots, any multiples of six cans of the same variety per case. And, if your order at least one full case of the same Mountain House item in #10 cans, you can add aKatadyn pocket water filter for just $279 ($40 off.) Don’t miss out! — Today we present another entry for Round 35 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: …


SHTF Electricity Basics, by M.N.

Most of us are accustomed to having safe, easy, instant access to electricity. After a disaster electrical power is low on the hierarchy of needs.  On the other hand, avoiding electricity may become a priority.  Damp clothes and wet, lacerated skin make us much more vulnerable to electrocution.  By definition, improvised or post disaster grid power won’t be as safe as we’re used to today.   After a disaster, electricity becomes an elemental threat that can kill you dead if you miscalculate. If you’re lucky enough to be able to prepare a bastion with solar and generator power, do a good …


Pat’s Product Review: SIG Sauer 1911 TACOPS

It’s no secret that my all-time favorite handgun is the M1911 in .45 ACP. I can often be found carrying some type of 1911 on my hip, when I’m not carrying a Glock of some sort – or another handgun that I’m doing a Test and Evaluation. However, given my druthers, when the chips are down, I’ll reach for a good ol’ 1911 stoked with some .45 ACP ammo. The gun under review here is the SIG-Sauer 1911 TACOPS in .45 ACP. A couple of years ago, I wrote a review about a similar gun from SIG, and it was …


Letter Re: Testing a Breath of Life Emergency Mask

Hi James, I recently attended a close quarters battle (CQB) training course with a company here in the United States. After the course, I was very kindly ‘gifted’ a ‘Breath of Life’ emergency mask. I was very grateful for this gesture, and curious as to this product. Luckily, as a volunteer fire fighter, I got the chance to try this mask’ effectiveness during one of our training sessions, which can be seen here. I must say, I was incredibly impressed with this product, and as a long time reader of your excellent site, feel it maybe of interest to your …


Letter Re: Maximizing and Extending Your Tomato Harvest

Jim: I love to see teens experimenting!  It’s a very good thing.  Learning how to propagate plants from suckers/leaves/etc is a very useful skill. But an easier way to maximize your tomato harvest easily is to grow from seeds – I keep extra seedlings around (still have some!) to pop into any spare space that turns up. And the best way to extend your harvest is to make sure that some of your plants are indeterminate. Those of us who can tomatoes plant a lot of tomato varieties that are determinate – the bulk of the tomatoes on the plant …


Two Letters Re: How Does Your Garden Grow? (After TSHTF)

Sir: We live in a rental property that unfortunately has a lawn that was poisoned by several years of chemicals sprayed on it to kill weeds. So, we have tried to grow a few items in raised beds. One learning experience we had may keep someone else from making the same mistake. We had never heard of black walnut trees causing a toxic effect on tomatoes. They all died because we have three black walnut trees in our yard. Cabbage, eggplant, peppers, and potatoes are sensitive to the toxins plus a few fruit and field crops. We planted the tomatoes this year far away from the walnut …


Economics and Investing:

The U.S. economy is now spinning out of control. It is now apparent that the 2008 credit crisis was never resolved. Rather, it was simply postponed, by creating $16 trillion out of thin air. With all that cash pumped into the system, a few people are now singing Once In A Lifetime, but most are singing the Hard Times Blues, or even Are They Gonna Make us Outlaws Again? A recent piece by Tyler Durden: EU Debt Restructuring Leads to Bailout Euphoria / Silver to Double to $100 Say Citigroup. Tyler notes: “…it is very unusual to see such a …


Odds ‘n Sods:

T. sent this charming news: Bill to allow DHS to seize authority over U.S. coastlines (and anywhere within 100 miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders!)    o o o Martin sent this news story from England: Poacher in the woods: A new breed of poacher is plundering our forests – with wood-burning stoves in mind.    o o o My #1 Son mentioned that five new retreat property listings were just added to his SurvivalRealty.com web site, including his first one in Africa. SurvivalRealty.com is a successful spin-off of SurvivalBlog that specializes in unusual retreat properties. Most of them …