Month: July 2011

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“In a larger sense, we want very badly to believe that we have evolved beyond the implacable rules of the veldt, the iron law of tooth and claw. But in reality, the veldt is always with us, along with the knowledge that some in our pack, our extended family, are irrevocably broken. Rather than listen to his message, or endlessly ponder what series of events or severed synapses led to his rampage, or agonize over greater meanings, the Norway shooter should be put down like the rabid animal he is and let the human beings get on with mourning their …


Note from JWR:

My upcoming novel “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” (a sequel that is contemporaneous to the action in “Patriots” ) is now past the Second Galley milestone, and soon will be readied for printing pre-release review copies. The new cover is nearly finished, and it looks stunning. The novel is being published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. Please delay ordering your copy of “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse” until October 4th. By concentrating all of the orders on just the release day (also the designated “Book Bomb Day”), we hope to help propel …


The Prepping Imperative, by A.L.T.

Three years ago, my husband and I had never heard the terms “prepper”, “survivalist” or “bug out”.  We were blissfully unaware of our country’s and world’s dire circumstances and didn’t know how to do much of anything truly useful.  This is a chronicle of the journey that brought us to where we are today, and I have included some of the specific books, resources and equipment that are the fruit of much research and thought.  We didn’t have much to spend on equipment or commercially packed stores of food, but through providence and thrift, we are much better able to …


Letter Re: Antique Kindle E-Books as Useful References

I have found a lot of free Kindle e-books available through Amazon.com. Most of these public domain books are older, out of copyright [pre-1923] or out-of-print but may still have some useful information in them that could supplement your survival bookshelf. Just go to Amazon.com and download the appropriate Kindle Reader application for what you are using–such as PC, Mac computer, iPhone, Android, Blackberry–or if you are inclined you could buy a dedicated Kindle reader. The priced I haven’t tried this, but another SurvivalBlog reader might, see if a Kindle app can be downloaded and used from any computer via …


Letter Re: COMSEC: One Time Pad Generation

Hey Jim: I am a little concerned about yesterday evening’s post by B.R. regarding the generation of one-time pads. It claims to generate a “pad” using a random selection of dictionary words. A properly generated one-time pad requires a truly random selection of letters; it is only as strong as the source of entropy. Using a dictionary of English language words, acronyms, etc. does not seem to be very wise. Additionally, while I am not terribly familiar with Perl, I know that a lot of languages have built-in “random” functions that are not as random as one might hope for; …


Letter Re: Physical Fitness for TEOTWAWKI Preparedness

JWR: In his recent article, The BYU Kid offered some pretty solid advice regarding physical fitness, but neglected to mention a couple things that are important for some of the exercises he mentioned.  1.) The pushup should be done slowly – most people when doing pushups tend to rush through them as fast as they can. While there is something to be said for explosive power training, for the purposes of functional strength the pushup should be smooth and controlled – two seconds for the descent, hold at the bottom for a second, then two seconds for the ascent. Make …


Economics and Investing:

In case you missed it, spot gold touched $1,620 per ounce yesterday, and silver got to $40.91. I’m glad that so many SurvivalBlog readers took my advice and bought silver back in 2005 when it was under $7.25 per ounce. For those that didn’t: There is still the chance to buy on the dip days, since the bull market is likely to continue for several more years. The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) continues to grow: FHA May Be Next in Line for Bailout: Delisle and Papagianis Dow-to-Gold and Greece-to-Gold The American Thinker asks: Is Your IRA Going To Be …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Were the Bavarian Erdstallen dug by 6th Century preppers? Experts Baffled By Mysterious Underground Chambers. (Thanks to Lamont for the link.)    o o o James C. mentioned a new tiny and tough USB drive. Too bad that they are so expensive. (I think that I’ll wait about a year until they are available less expensively.)    o o o Loyal content contributor K.A.F. mentioned that an Idaho real estate has posted a wealth of web links and phone numbers for those who are considering relocation to northern Idaho.    o o o Several readers mentioned this: DHS Video Characterizes …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support; but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold.” – 2nd Lt. Clifton B. Cates, 96th Co. US Marine Corps, 19 July 1918, 10:45 a.m., from records of the U.S. 2d Division. (Clifton Cates was awarded the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, …


Notes from JWR:

Last call! A final reminder that the deadline for the Ready Made Resources Preparedness Video Contest is midnight, eastern time on July 26th. Instructional (nonfiction) videos on any topic related to family preparedness are sought. The prizes are a brand new Rock Rivers Arms (RRA) Elite Comp M4 (AR-15 series compatible ) complete Barreled Upper Receiver and a Trijicon Reflex sight with a combined retail value of more than $1,400. Please keep your privacy in mind when you create your videos. (Don’t mention any surnames or towns). You may post up to three videos to YouTube for consideration in the …


COMSEC: One Time Pad Generation, by B.R.

While re-reading the ‘Radio Ranch’ chapter in JWR’s novel “Patriots“, I started thinking about the Book Code method versus a One-Time Pad. I went through the books on my shelf, and noticed the lack of duplicate books; the number of ‘common’ books; and how many of my books I figured would be in the Uncle Sam’s cracked book repository. At that point I thought I’d be SOL when trying to setup a secure method of communication. Being an ex-Army Infantry turned computer geek and prepper, I figured it would be much easier to write some code to generate pages of …


Physical Fitness for TEOTWAWKI Preparedness, by The BYU Kid

There’s one thing that’s guaranteed in any SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation, and that’s the age old adage that only the strong survive. But how do we get to that point? How can we improve our strength with things that will actually be adaptable to a survival situation? I would like to lay out a few selected exercises that have direct carryovers to very important skills and suggest a program for you (not my own) and offer a couple workouts that you can incorporate into your current routine. First, let’s talk about what’s not necessary: any routine found in a bodybuilding …


TEOTWAWKI Vitamin and Mineral Recommendations, By Dr. Bob

Vitamins and minerals are a multi-billion dollar business currently in the US.  Our food is plentiful and fortified, and the use of these pills are generally completely unnecessary.  Medically, the recommendation for vitamins and supplements–from multiple sources–is as follows:  There are no vitamins or supplements needed for typical adults eating a balanced diet with regular sun exposure or consumption of fortified dairy products.  That being said, WTSHTF there will be obvious changes to our typical fattened-calf diets.  Plan accordingly, but there is very little that some people will do, stretching the valuable resources of the rest of us.  Depending on …


Letter Re: Simple Prepping for the Suburban Home

Dear Editor: Keep-it-Simple Suburbanite made a common error in thinking that home canning butter is a good idea. Canning butter at home is not a good idea. Botulism toxin cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted and it can be present in canned butter. I’m guessing that Keep-it-Simple heated the butter and either water-bathed it or simply sealed the hot jars without processing. Heat shocks botulism spores (which are normally harmless) into producing the toxin. To prevent that, botulism needs the much higher temperature of pressure canning to be killed. Even then, fat molecules in foods such as butter and cheese …


Letter Re: Maximizing and Extending Your Tomato Harvest

Good Morning Mr. Rawles, This is not necessarily directed toward the propagation and extending of tomato harvests, but geared more toward making your tomatoes better. I have found that amending the soil (pouring a quarter to a half a cup in the hole before planting) of powdered milk has a profound effect on the growth of tomatoes. The tomatoes will grow a little shorter, significantly more stout, and have a darker green color. They even produced about the same number of flowers and tomatoes. I am sad to say that I could not do a taste test between the fruit …