Month: November 2011

Note from JWR:

By coincidence, both Ready Made Resources and Safecastle just started their last 25% off Mountain House sales of the year. Both companies offer free shipping, a wide selection and competitive pricing, so you might want to place your order with the closest company, just for the sake of shipping efficiency. (Ready Made Resources is in Tennessee and Safecastle is in Minnesota. I suppose anyone west of the Rockies should just toss a coin!) Note that because of the large volume of orders expected and the upcoming Christmas shipping rush, please allow up to thirty days for delivery. Both companies are …


Pat’s Product Review: U.S. Tactical Supply

For much of my adult life, I’ve lived in rural areas – and I prefer it that way. Even now, I live halfway between two small towns in Oregon, and I don’t especially enjoy going to town for much of anything. I prefer to do a lot of mail-order shopping for many things I need or want. Over the years, I’ve been disappointed in many mail-order companies, their products and their customer service. I’ve done a lot of mail-order shopping from one particular company for the past 15-years or so, and that company is CDNN Sports and they have excellent …


Letter Re: Proof of Staple Food Price Inflation

Captain Rawles, First, continued thanks for your blog; I regularly read a number of web sites and in my opinion Survivalblog.com is ground zero for preparedness and socio/political/economic intelligence information. Second, I thought I’d pass on some additional proof (as if it wasn’t already obvious) of significant inflation in food prices.   We shop at the local Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) cannery near Denver for wheat, pasta, nonfat dried milk and other bulk items. For those who didn’t know, the Mormon canneries are open to non-members (at least for now) and the prices for bulk …


Letter Re: Staple Foods Storage By The Numbers

James: I love seeing articles that talk about the nutritional balance in diet.  Paul B.’s “Staple Foods Storage By The Numbers” is a good start, but I want to jump on and point out a few more details.  Daily caloric intake recommendations depend heavily on activity.  Yes, the recommendation is 2,000 calories for an adult male with moderate activity (note – *not* exercise!), and 3,000 us reasonable in a survival situation given the need for hunting, planting, building infrastructures and defenses as well as defending.  However, if your plan is simply to hunker down and depend on your stocked resources, …


Letter Re: Guns and Combatting Home Invasion Robbers

Hello Captain, Greetings from one of your neighbors in the American Redoubt. I couldn’t help but be bemused when I read the article about the elderly couple being beaten and robbed of their gun collection. Not because they got hurt or robbed of course. But because of a couple other points:   She yelled for her husband to "Call 911!" I guess that goes to show that wisdom doesn’t always come with age. Were that scenario to happen at my home, my wife wouldn’t answer the door. And I can’t remember the last time I answered the door without my …


Two Letters Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

Jim – I read with interest Dave in Oregon’s letter. This happened to a friend and co-worker: He had parked his pickup truck on the street, locked. Thieves broke into his truck, accessed the garage via the opener he had above the visor in the truck. Thankfully, this was in the morning when all were home, and the thieves were scared off by family members, but not before they stole his truck. I would also add that many electric openers have a rope attached as a release if the power fails. However with a larger overhead door, say a standard …


Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog’s G.G. sent this: Chinese ratings agency threatens US with new debt downgrade C.D.V. sent this: Eurozone collapse ‘will send continent into depression’ G.G. sent this: Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Save: The economic collapse of Italy will destroy the euro. (Nouriel Roubini) Items from The Economatrix: Rate on 30-year Mortgages Below Four Percent for Second Time Big Banks Plead With Customers No to Move Their Money Death of the Euro


Odds ‘n Sods:

Joseph L. sent a news item to file under “Emerging Threats”: Police impersonators carry out string of robberies: Crimes involve robbers posing as plainclothes officers, immigration agents.    o o o Camping Survival (one of our loyal advertisers) has just announced a great new product. It is a combination flashlight, electric firestarter, magnetic tool, and wound cauterizer (The latter by qualified medical personal only.) Since these are just past the prototype stage, the price tag is fairly high.    o o o SurvivalBlog readers in Norway will find this of interest: A paramedic in Norway, offers advanced emergency medical training …



Notes from JWR:

We had some problems with our dedicated server from Friday to Sunday. They are resolved now. The Permalinks and RSS feed should now be working. Thanks for your patience. — Today we present another two entries for Round 37 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 …


Not the End But the Beginning, by Rod in Texas

We all read and see in the media where the world is going. Many debate the “How” of the “end”: Economic collapse, solar flare, pole shift, “Planet X” and so on. I believe we should ignore the “How” and focus on what we as the human race will do “when this happens”, whatever “it” is? Let’s take a minute and think: Certain disasters will necessitate certain supplies, specific preparations, and or survival techniques. If you are like me you’ve dedicated yourself into the world of “The End” then you have most likely done your due diligence and prepared to one …


I Didn’t Want To Be a Prepper, by Laura Y.

I didn’t want to be a “prepper”.  In fact, when I first starting hearing about survivalists and preparing for TEOTWAWKI,  I thought it was a bit extremist.  I have long been a conservative and Christian, but a skeptic as well.  When my sister-in-law started talking to me about stocking up on things and buying a water filter, I have to admit my initial reaction was not to jump on the bandwagon.  Oh, I followed our state’s recommendation to have two weeks’ worth of water and food on hand for a disaster, but that was about it.  The turning point for …


Letter Re: Multiple Advantages of ICF Construction

Jim: I am considering using Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) for building my next house/retreat back in the United States  for when I feel that it is not longer safe to live abroad.    For a relatively small incremental cost in a new home (3-5%), you have disaster proof, fire resistant, fortified home. I found this brochure (in PDF) that describes some of the advantages of ICF construction.   Best Regards, – AmEx (American Expatriate)


Letter Re: Electric Garage Doors as a Point of Entry for Burglars and Home Invaders

Hi Jim, Just a short comment: As I read the piece about preventing home invasion robberies, I thought of another thing most people don’t think too much about regarding this issue. Most people who have electric garage door openers tend to leave the remote on the visor of their vehicle. If the car is left unlocked in the yard or street, it is very simple for a ne’er-do-well to snag the controller and wait until no one is home to invade the garage, Or in some cases when you are home.  I would recommend removing the controller from the visor, …


Economics and Investing:

AmEx sent this: Gold and bonds are all that’s left K.A.F. flagged this: Fed’s Plosser: Additional Stimulus Unnecessary Jeff H. suggested a piece over at the excellent SHTFPlan blog: Fake Silver and Gold Flood Global Markets; 100,000 Coins From A Single Counterfeiter! Damon S. mentioned this piece at the oft-cited Seeking Alpha blog: Prepare For Europe Collapse Before New Year Regulators on Friday closed a bank Georgia, bringing to 88 the number of bank failures in the U.S. this year. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: 65% Chance of Banking Crisis By End of November How …