Month: September 2011

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 36 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 Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and …


The Little Things, by D.M.L.

So, you think you’re prepared? So did I. Until Hurricane Irene destroyed the infrastructure around here. The roads were blocked to all the local towns, all three routes out of here. If it wasn’t trees down, it was flooded, or power lines and poles leaned over the road in the ‘maybe’ zone (maybe you would hit them and maybe not, but why take a chance on thousands of volts? If not those, it was pieces of somebody’s house across the road. And this was only a Cat 1 storm? Sigh.   Before she hit, I, being confident that we were ‘prepped up’, …


Lessons From Wartime Bosnia-Herzegovina, by Benjamin

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I have been following the survivalist trend on YouTube for about a year now and so far you provide the best and most realistic advice of anyone. Many of the people who offer advice, in my opinion are not qualified based on what they are saying. And I can say this based on my experience. Half of the things I hear other people say cannot be applied to the situation I was in or most situations, but you seem to understand. I was born and raised in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I saw that a fellow Bosnian gave you his story, but he …


Two Letters Re: Hurricane Irene Lessons Learned

Jim, I thought I’d share with you some thoughts and experience I’ve had with Hurricane [later Tropical Storm] Irene. I live in southwest Connecticut in a city slightly less than 100,000 population.  We are about 50-65 miles from New York City. As of this evening, I am still running my generator five days after being hit by Tropical Storm Irene on Saturday evening.  As of this evening, the power company said they will restore power “by middle of next week”.  If that ends up happening, we will be without power for around 10 days.  We shall see.  A few details …


Letter Re: The Five Steps of OPSEC Assessment

Mr. Rawles, I am compelled to respond to the essay by “Stone of Scone” on OPSEC. He wrote the following with regard to obfuscating his residence’s physical location: “The only downside to not having a valid 911 address that points to your real home’s location is that when an ambulance is called, it will go to the wrong place. In this rare emergency I will just send someone to flag them down to go to the correct location.” I am a volunteer emergency medical technician in rural northwest Montana. I volunteer out of a sense of duty to my neighbors …


Economics and Investing:

G.G. flagged this: Belarus Hyperinflation Update: Food Runs Out As Friendly Foreigners Take Advantage Of The “Favorable” Exchange Rate Arb John R. sent this: Analysis: As debt maturities loom, U.S. needs to extend Also from John: Fearing An Even Worse Inflationary Depression Ahead (Bob Chapman) Reader Hal C. sent this link: John Williams of ShadowStats interviewed by Goldseek. He is predicting hyperinflation. B.B. suggested: Maple Leaf sets silver record: 2010 bullion sales rise 74% from 2009 Items from The Economatrix: After Bumpy August, Economy Shows Signs of Growth Retailers Report Solid Gains For August Carmakers Report Surprisingly Strong August Sales …


Odds ‘n Sods:

F.G. sent us some news from Las Cruces, New Mexico: Family arrested in gun bust; feds raid LC, Deming store. So why aren’t the BATFE agents that knowingly and intentionally facilitated similar sales of more than 2,000 guns facing similar charges? (The agents ordered gun shops to proceed with straw purchase sales to Mexican nationals.)    o o o Some good analysis by Fred Burton of Stratfor: Above the Tearline: Reconstructing the Monterrey Arson Attack from Surveillance Footage    o o o D.W. sent a link to the PDF of a U.S. Army /USMC Counterinsurgency Field Manual with a foreword …




Six Letters Re: Hurricane Irene Lessons Learned

Dear Mr. Rawles: We’ve been without power for 3-1/2 days and Internet even longer, so I’m late in writing, but I wanted to say that the grace of God and deep preps won the day, here as hurricane Irene blew through. When the power went out, we went to our generator, so we had water for ourselves and less prepared neighbors.  Those votive lights, the ones in the tall glass containers that often have saints’ picture on them were perfect for our windowless bathrooms, and they’re fairly cheap.  They burned safely almost the whole time and there’s still a day …


Six Letters Re: Experiences of a Novice Gardener

Dear Editor: J.B.’s article his was very interesting to read and it sounded a lot like what we went through 4 years ago when my wife and I started gardening.  Many people are still stuck in that “growing in the ground in rows” mentality.  If you do not have a large amount of land (an acre or more) then you should stick to container gardening.  Our second year of gardening we started with Earthboxes and we had a very successful harvest that year and every year thereafter.  The concept is very simple to where you can even manufacture your own …


Letter Re: My Home Energy Backup System

James, The advice given by J.M. from Oklahoma regarding computer UPS systems could be dangerous if followed as cavalierly he/she laid out for charging and using batteries! UPS systems come in several flavors as it relates to how the batteries are used and charged. Using the wrong type or capacity of battery in a UPS system can lead to overcharging either through length of charge or how much power is sent during the charge cycle. This can cause batteries to swell, leak and explode! J.M. is correct that UPS systems are often disposed of because the batteries have gone dead …


Economics and Investing:

K.A.F. sent this: Awful August, Get Set for September Over at Dr. Housing Bubble: Shadow Inventory Armageddon – Foreclosure timeline up to an average of 599 days with 798,000 mortgages having no payment made in over 1 year and no foreclosure process initiated. Shadow inventory grows to over 6,540,000 properties. Making privacy a crime: U.S. aims to track ‘untraceable’ prepaid cash cards. (Thanks to Steve M. for the link.) China’s sword of Damocles: “More Cow Bell!”. “More kowtow!” Forget Irene: The Drought in Texas Is the Catastrophe That Could Really Hurt. (Kudos to Chris M. for sending the link.) Items …


Odds ‘n Sods:

JRH Enterprises is running a Labor Day weekend sale on new 3rd Generation Pinnacle Autogated AN/PVS-14 night vision scopes for $2,695 for the standard model and their upgraded version with higher line pair specs now at just $2,995. I bought one of the latter from JRH several years ago, and I have been thrilled with its performance. Order yours, before the sale ends!    o o o Dan. M. sent this news article from Ohio: Cops Confiscate Lakewood Lady’s Arsenal; Motive Pending. JWR’s Comments: Since the guns were deemed “legal” we can conclude that the “Thompson sub-machine gun” was in …