Year: 2011

Lessons in Survival: Family Innovation and Industry in the U.S. Great Depression by W.J.

I have always been fascinated with history and might have become a history teacher if there had been any possibility of making substantial money at it.  Growing up in the 1950s and ‘1960s in rural Texas the lessons of the U.S. “Great Depression” were still fresh in the memories of my family, so our frequent family get gatherings produced many stories from those days, some of which were “not so good old days”.  I want to relate some of this story for the benefit of those preparing for possible future, harder times: There was no money.  For a few years …


Making the Move: Retreat Bound, by L.P in The Ozarks

I’m writing this in an effort to encourage others who might be in the process of, or thinking about moving to a full time retreat. Our situation is not unique.   In the spring of 2008 we saw the writing on the wall (economic, political, and social trends) and we wanted out of the suburbs and into a full time retreat in the country side.  We are a family of four that includes two boys in their early teens. My wife and I had great jobs, we lived in a planned community that was 30 miles away from the big city …


Three Related Disasters (Part 2), by Joe Refugee From Tokyo

Days Two and Three I slept well the night of 11-3-11, which was good, because I hadn’t the two previous nights. A premonition, perhaps? Like the day after September 11th, there was an eerie feeling everywhere. The weather was nice, at least in Tokyo, but a cold front was coming in from the North, so the folks near the Tohoku coast were going to be suffering even more. It was obvious that the damage was off the charts, but the television downplayed the likely deaths, and a big question was whether the government had learned from its poor performance during …


Economics and Investing:

Yikes! February Existing Home Sales Dive, Prices Near 9-Year Low. (Thanks to Brett G. for the link.) Jonathan C. flagged this: US Approaching Insolvency, Fix To Be ‘Painful’: Fisher. Gold key to financing Gaddafi struggle Portugal braces for government collapse over debt vote Items from The Economatrix: Deals Help Push The Dow Back Above 12,000   Oil Rises On Concerns About Libya And Supplies   Gold Rises On Growing Middle East Tensions, Weak Dollar   $2,500 Gold Prices:  Double Market Returns As China’s Gold Fever Breaks    


Odds ‘n Sods:

The mainstream media finally catches on: Special Report: Disasters show flaws in just-in-time production    o o o More civilian disarmament bills before the Illinois legislature. Among other things, a ban on 11+ round magazines, a ban on .50 caliber or larger rifles, and a loosely-worded ban on most semi-automatic rifles and shotguns!    o o o Rick H. mentioned this: Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles



Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 33 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 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady …


Build Your Own Wood Gas Generating Stove

What will you do when your fuel runs out, or your energy system fails? How about burning wood? I used to dismiss burning things for energy off-hand as a dirty and wasteful heating tool, nothing more – not a source of actual power or energy.  However, learning what I have in the past few months has given me a new appreciation for this readily-available resource.  My perspective was changed somewhat, and it was kind of a shock to me, because i’m pretty open-minded to alternative solutions.  My mindset is this: until I have a wealth of  food and supplies in …


Vacation Survival Preparedness, by Brent A.

I’ve been a prepper for several years now.  Living in South Louisiana kind of forces one to be with the high probability of hurricanes.  I’ve taken it to the next level and want to be as prepared as possible not just during the summer months for hurricane season, but year round for the litany of other possible disasters whether they be natural or man-made.  With the help of this site and several others I thought I was well on my way to having things pretty well covered.  We have the house prepared for a temporary short term dislocation, and a …


Letter Re: An Approach to Medical Supply Storage

Sir, One of your readers emailed you regarding using a $38 tool box in lieu of funds for a “great professional” military or civilian aid bag. I would highly recommend to Big Mike to seek out flea markets, garage sales and the like (also Craig’s List) in his area. I recently attended a local flea market and purchased a great COMPACKTEAM compression pack for $25 that’s larger than my $130 military pack! Way bigger and with more support than my US Army issued assault pack (the new age kind that hook to one’s ruck sack). Sometimes you luck out, but …


Economics and Investing:

For nearly a decade, I’ve advised buying silver rather than gold. This is because 1.) Silver is more useful than gold in post-disaster bartering, 2.) I expect the silver to gold ratio to continue to fall, perhaps to as low as 16:1. And, 3.) The chance of silver ever being confiscated by bureaucrats is much lower than for gold. If you are planning to ratio trade out of gold into silver then try to sell your gold coins on a up-spike day, and then wait briefly and buy silver on the next dip day.  That might make the dealer’s commissions …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Ron G. sent this: The Psychology of Disaster    o o o K.A.F. recommended a site with a lot of recipes for storage food: EverydayFoodStorage.net.    o o o Thomas M. pointed me to the documentary film The Battle of Chernobyl, available for free streaming.    o o o Reader Tim R. suggested this news article: Japan’s mafia among the first to organise and deliver aid    o o o Here’s an interesting new product: The Sun E-Box. Keep in mind that for those that are handy with tools, that the same components are available off the shelf. Also, several …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“If we let one ant stand up to us, then the other ants, who outnumber us 100 to 1, will all stand up to us. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life…  It’s not about food, it’s about keeping those ants in line.” – Hopper (the Grasshopper Leader), in A Bug’s Life (1998), voiced by Kevin Spacey. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Donald McEnery, and Bob Shaw


Note from JWR:

For those that have asked: Yes, the SurvivalBlog archives on CD-ROM are indeed fully searchable in both the HTML and PDF versions. (Both formats are included on the CD-ROM.) And Yes, the archives also can be sorted by categories, in HTML. (So for example, you can see just the articles on Earthquakes, or just the articles on Gardening.) The CD-ROM is optimized for modern laptops, but could conceivably be used on other devices if they have the requisite processing horsepower. It is now orderable through Lulu.com, for $19.95. Even without an Internet connection you will have all of SurvivalBlog’s archives …


Useful Tidbits on Radiation and Journalists–The Season of Isotopes and Misanthropes

Many readers have been sending me questions about radiation. One, from a reader in Los Angeles asked: “Mr. Rawles, Should I sleep in my basement for the next few weeks?” Please don’t over-react, folks. I must state, forthrightly: 1.) The gamma emitters at the Fukushima reactors (and more importantly, their spent fuel ponds) are a long, long way from America. 2.) In my opinion, the only significant risk to health here in CONUS is possibly a chance that a bit of radioactive dust (with isotopes like Strontium-90 or Iodine-131) could end up deposited on pasture grasses and then subsequently become …