Month: July 2011

Letter Re: Raising a Healthy, Happy Infant in a Survival Situation

Mr. Rawles,   Just a note to clarify the use of homemade baby cereals:  I made much of my own children’s baby foods and one thing that was stressed often was that there is a fundamental difference between homemade grain cereals and store bought.  The powdered cereals you buy at the store are made from cooked and dehydrated cereal grains and can be reconstituted with just a bit of warm water or milk.  When you grind your own grains at home (which I did and recommend from a nutrition and budget standpoint) you must then cook the ground cereal by …


Economics and Investing:

News from Oz: RBA board member warns of Europe meltdown. (Thanks from Tom in Buffalo for the link.) C.D.V. sent the latest news of fiscal suicide: Despite Deadline Uncertainty, U.S. Faces Bad Choices if Debt Limit Not Raised. Morici argues there is one way for the government to keep paying its bills for a year or longer: “The Treasury can print money and the Federal Reserve can buy back that cash when it goes into circulation with its portfolio of bonds, and keep going quite a bit that way.” Items from The Economatrix: Greece Passes Steep Cuts as Riots Seize …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A possible chain reaction of dam failures? The looming Missouri dam flood. (Thanks to John R. for the link.)    o o o F.J. spotted this over at Cool Tools: Transfer Punches. These are available through Amazon.com. As with our other Amazon links, SurvivalBlog earns a small commission each time that you place an order. (That applies to all Amazon purchases, but only if you follow one of our links. Thanks!)    o o o Robert R. liked the recent National Geographic documentary “Doomsday Preppers.” A portion of it is available online.    o o o Until the end of …



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 E.) …


Getting Home and Getting Away, by D.L.

My life has become a series of bags. I’ve written before about how ill-prepared my family and I were for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. Although we were very lucky, and to this day have experienced only minor inconveniences, we nonetheless dove head-first into something resembling prepping. Unfortunately, prepping with neither a plan nor a little forethought is a bit like diving head-first into a strange lake without first surveying the depth and the bottom. The best that can happen is nothing; the worst that can happen is permanent damage. Our attitude when we went shopping was …


Letter Re: The Reality of Paying Off Huge Government Debts

James: I missed this news story when it came out last fall: Germany finished paying off its WWI war reparations on October 3, 2010. That was 92 years after the Treaty of Versailles set the amount at 83% of Germany’s GDP.  Funding these payments was largely responsible for the economic collapse of the Weimar Republic (with its hyperinflation). What will it take to pay back the debt we’ve imposed on ourselves? Depending on how you count it, the current government debt is between 14.2 Trillion (Treasury number) and 62 Trillion (when you include liabilities for Fannie/Freddie and current-value obligations for …


Two Letters Re: Securing Windows With Plywood The Fast And Easy Way

Mr.  Rawles,   On the subject of securing windows with plywood. there is one piece that seems to be missing as may often be the case of a “My Home is My Castle” scenario. What if you have to get out? While there is no 100 percent answer, there is the military and historically proven fact that if you make a defensive area/building too hard to get into, it is too difficult to get out of. Such an example would be if there is a fire in the structure.   Thanks for the Blog and your great work.   – …


Economics and Investing:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) recommend this: The number that’s killing the economy Stephen M. highlighted this one: General Mills sees 2012 profit hit by food costs. Here is a quote: “The maker of Cheerios cereal and Progresso soups said on Wednesday that it expects costs to rise 10 percent to 11 percent in the 2012 fiscal year, which began May 30.” Also from Stephen: Austerity Riots – A Glimpse of America’s Future? Items from The Economatrix: Voters Give Obama Lowest Rating Yet on Economy Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fall By Most in 17 Months Uptick …


Odds ‘n Sods:

P.C. insanity – Florida cop in trouble for warning others about dangerous parts of town. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Reader G.P. sent this news article from England: Government Forces Family Living Off-Grid, Growing Own Food On Own Land to Return to Society’s Rat Race or Face Penalty    o o o F.J. mentioned an interesting compact combined solar and wind power system, primarily for shipboard applications: Solar Stik.    o o o. Illinois Lone Holdout On Concealed Carry.    o o o Raytheon’s CIRT makes punching through concrete walls easy. (They tell us that …



Notes from JWR:

Hooray! Effective today, July 1, 2011, Wyoming will no longer require permits for concealed carry of firearms. Wyoming now joins Vermont, Arizona, and Alaska in recognizing the Constitutional right to unrestricted carry, both openly and concealed, without any permit. “Senate Bill 47 amends Wyoming Revised Statute 6-8-104 to allow anyone who has lived in the state of Wyoming for six months or more, and who meets the other requirements of the older concealed carry law (excluding the requirement that an individual demonstrate proficiency with a firearm) to carry a concealed weapon, without applying for or obtaining a permit.” I expect …


Raising a Healthy, Happy Infant in a Survival Situation, by Brittany B.

Humidifier – check. Electric fan – check. Lullaby CD – check. Nightlight – check. Final kisses and whispered prayers, and at last you’re ready to lay your tiny baby down to sleep. Modern convenience makes caring for a little one easy as pie and exhaustingly complicated at the same time. Our parents muse, “How did we ever get by without that nursing pillow/bottle warmer/Sippy cup tether?” Yet somehow, the human race got this far without all of today’s fancy gadgets designed to ease parents through the baby years, and we would be wise to consider how it used to be …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Springfield Armory’s Range Officer 1911

I still remember the very first Springfield Armory 1911 .45 ACP pistol I ever owned. I believe the year was 1987, and I purchased a brand-new, still in the box, mil-spec Springfield Armory pistol. The gun was nicely finished with an evenly applied parkerized finish, with the overall appearance being that of a standard mil-spec gun in all regards. However, the darn thing wouldn’t feed any type of ammo – I reworked the feed ramp and throated the barrel and adjusted the extractor – rather then sending it back to Springfield Armory. Every now and then, a lemon slips through no …


Letter Re: Survival and Special Needs Loved Ones

Dear Editor: That piece that you posted in April about caring for special needs people or old people that have Alzheimer’s during TEOTWAWKI really blessed me a lot. I saw a lot of practical information and reasoning that can be applied to everyday life dealing with people like that. Things that can effect the relationship between you, the person you care for and others can be as simple as unfettered gossip. I soon learned after my Dad’s death that having conversations with my mother about our business things that were before and still needed to be kept under wraps were …