Year: 2011

Self-Sufficiency or Communal Living?, by Lisa T.

Is it truly possible for someone to be self-sufficient? I like to garden, grow medicinal herbs and believe it’s good to learn whatever we can about the old-fashioned ways of doing things. Some of my friends like to make their own soap, keep bees, garden, can vegetables, make wine, make their own bread, hunt, butcher their own deer, and raise chickens, and I would love to raise goats, sheep and cows if we had enough land. It appears to be part of a nationwide trend toward natural living. The reasons for the trend, at least in the beginning, appear to …


Letter Re: Ammunition Storage and Do-It-Yourself Desiccants

Mr. Rawles: Most herbal supply web sites (San Francisco Herb Company, for one)  offer heat-sealable tea filter paper bags (large size, empty ‘tea bags’ that are used for making tea bags, bath salts bags etc). You seal them with a regular clothes iron. These are perfect for making the silica packets for putting in with stored ammo. – Paulette


Two Letters Re: Living Proof: It All Comes Down to Diet and Exercise

Sir, I have to agree with this article.  I first heard about the South Beach diet from a coworker who lost over 100 pound and kept it off for many years this way.  I’ve successfully used it myself, me, who thought I could never stick to a diet.  It was developed by a cardiologist with the goal being to provide his patients with a diet that would greatly lower their risk of stroke and heart attack and improve their cardiac and blood profiles.  My only caveat is I don’t agree with his recommended use of Splenda and NutraSweet.  Use all …


Economics and Investing:

Avoiding Federal Government Shutdown: The agreement included some $38.5 billion dollars of extra spending cuts. We are swimming in red ink and all they can agree to is a miniscule cut? Do they think that people will be fooled by the “big number” of $38.5 billion? They will never balance the budget! The congresscritters have doomed us to a Dollar Disaster of epic proportions. Frequent content contributor C.D.V. sent us this: U.S. Dollar Crisis Looms, Spike in Interest Rates Following End of QE2 Also from C.D.V.: Toxic Dollar: Why Nobody Seems to Want US Currency (Finally, the mainstream media is …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader R.W.M. sent an interesting report on violent crime ratings per state: “U.S. Peace Index”.       o o o Stephen M. spotted this: Oklahoma sees driest four months since Dust Bowl    o o o My wife Avalanche Lily suggested this article about home dairy goats in the cities and suburbs: A Pet That Makes Milk. (Well, “pet” is probably not the best term, since bucklings are traditionally sold for eventual butcher, and retired does usually go in the chest freezer.)    o o o Reader J.H. suggested Conservapedia, “…as Yin for Wikipedia’s Yang”.He also mentioned that it is …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou [art] the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they [have been] ever of old. – Psalm 25:2-6 (KJV)


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 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 …


Living Proof: It All Comes Down to Diet and Exercise, by Midwest Hiker

I would guess that most SurvivalBlog readers would agree that the mind, including state of mind and skill set, is one’s most important asset during TEOTWAWKI. Additionally, I would argue that being physically fit runs a very close second place. I have always been a prepper to a certain degree; even before I had ever heard the term. However in the back of my mind I knew that my body would not make it far even if my family’s survival depended upon it. In addition to being pre-diabetic, I was taking medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I …


Letter Re: Predator-Proofing Your Property

JWR,   I particularly enjoyed John L.’s article about predator-proofing property. My family has lived on a 40-acre former farm since 1990, and for quite some time we kept pheasants, chickens, and quail. At times we had nearly 100 birds. To a lesser degree, we did garden as well, though the local whitetail deer tended to make a mess of it. The game birds helped keep the local wild population up and the chickens provided us kids with valuable opportunities to learn how to keep animals for food.   While not living in mountain country, we had our share of predation as …


Letter Re: Stockpiling Coins for Future Currency Exchanges

Jim: We’ve previously discussed in SurvivalBlog that coins are usually untouched by a nation during remonetization, meaning a significant recovery in purchase value after such event. What is the likelihood the US would keep the dollar coins in circulation, given their low regard by most consumers?  This would mean the coins would avoid remonetization, be worth a “new” dollar each, offering a significant advantage. The Fed’s only real options would seem to be to attempt to collect them all, or issue notices of their reduction in value/expiration as legal tender.  Neither sounds like something they’d want to do. – Michael …


Two Letters Re: Ammunition Storage and Do-It-Yourself Desiccants

Hi Jim,   I wanted to share with others of how I make my own desiccant packs. Go to a craft store like Michaels and in the flower department you can buy a box of silica gel that is used for drying flowers. I then get a box of family sized tea bags (these are twice the size of regular tea bags but any size will work) Use needle nose pliers to remove the staple that holds on the little piece of cardboard used to squeeze the bags, empty out the tea and use a spoon to now fill the …


Economics and Investing:

Silver and gold certainly had a solid trading week. When I last checked, spot gold was at $1,475.10 per ounce (an all-time high) and silver at $40.93 per ounce! Silver has advanced almost $25 per ounce in the past 12 months and it was $26.75 per ounce as recently as January. In Housing Market’s Suspenseful Story, the Tell-Tale Stat is Inventory Paul Tustain: Gold Is Sending A Signal That The Monetary System Is In Grave Danger. (Thanks to John R. for the link.) US Dollar Breaks – LOWER, (Again, 72 is the magic number to watch for on the US …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Ol’ Remus posted an insightful analysis of my American Redoubt proposal.    o o o STRATFOR reports: How to Tell if Your Neighbor is a Bombmaker. (Thanks to Flying Mike for the link.)    o o o Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) sent us this: Swedish couple have honeymoon from h*ll. “A newly-wed couple on a four-month honeymoon were hit by six natural disasters, including the Australian floods, Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami.” (This news story serve as a reminder that travelers should always carry a few key preparedness items. Just be careful of what is packed in …



Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 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 …