Year: 2011

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge …


Rain Water Collecting and Storage, by Tom C.

Water, gotta have it.  In a world that has become limited or shut down completely there will never end the need for water on a daily basis.  Disruption to the supply from the local water company will wreck havoc on every single person and family within hours. The immediate need will be toilets:  You come home from work, the kids from school and everyone heads to the same place after the car ride home.  Waters out. Did you remember to pay the bill?  Pipe bust?  Water Company going maintenance?  Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter/ Can’t flush but that one …


Supplementing a Survival Larder with Fresh Seafood, by Randall S.

I grew up in South Louisiana, so seafood was a staple of the family diet. Shrimp, Crabs, Fish, and Oysters were easy to come by, or at least it seemed that way as a kid because we ate seafood two or three times a week. Fried Shrimp and Oysters, Crab Stew, Shrimp Gumbo, baked Flounder or grilled Redfish, it was all good and those meals made for many a great family memory. However, as much fun as we had watching our mothers and fathers and grandparents cooking those great Cajun dinners, as kids we had infinitely more fun catching as …


Rep. McCarthy’s Magazine Ban–Worse Than First Imagined

Here is some moron more on Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy’s recently-introduced magazine ban legislation. I studied the bill’s wording and I learned: The bill defines large capacity ammunition feeding devices as “a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition” (This is nearly the same as the now defunct 1994 law, but it does not exempt tubular or otherwise non-detachable magazines.) For Post-Enactment Devices: Prohibits the transfer, possession, or import of a large capacity ammunition feeding device manufactured after the …


Letter Re: A 12-Month Harvest From a Small Garden

Jim –   I’ve been growing food in the city for over 30 years. I addition to the standard  crops of corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans I’ve spent these decades focusing on: 1) What grows well in  my climate? 2) What can I grow/store for the winter?  3) What will we actually eat?  I’ve always kept good records of what I grow but I’ve never tracked exactly how my food I pull out of the dirt each year. So in 2009 I bought a commercial hanging scale like those in the supermarkets for my backyard patio to weigh heavy crops …


Economics and Investing:

John R. suggested this piece by Marty Weiss about municipal bonds: New Debt Crisis Striking RIGHT NOW! Dave C. sent us this: Why supermarket stocks are getting squeezed EMB flagged this: MERS Minus A Few Bricks…. 10 American Companies That Will Disappear in 2011 Items from The Economatrix: The Truth About Money, Silver & Gold   Will This Be The USA In 2012?   Doom & Gloom: Food Riots   2011 Will Top 2010 Record of One Million Foreclosures   States Eye “Sin” Taxation as Salvation for Budgets


Odds ‘n Sods:

Scientists warn California could be struck by winter ‘superstorm’. (Thanks to John H. for the link.)    o o o Lily mentioned a very useful piece over at the Paratus Familia blog: TEOTWAWKI and Aging    o o o Court Victory for California Gun Owners! But meanwhile, in Occupied New Jersey, a court battle drags on: Traveling Man’s Gun Arrest Appealed to Supreme Court. (A hat tip to Ryan M. for the latter link.)


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“There are several methods of conflict resolution. First, there’s the market mechanism — let the highest bidder be the one who owns and decides how the land will be used. Then, there’s government fiat, where the government dictates who gets to use the land for what purpose. Gifts might be the way where an owner arbitrarily chooses a recipient. Finally, violence is a way to resolve the question of who has the use rights to the coastline — let people get weapons and physically fight it out. At this juncture, some might piously say, ‘Violence is no way to resolve …


Notes from JWR:

Good News! It took many moons, but the archiving project for the early years of SurvivalBlog posts is now complete. You can now use the “Search” box at the top of the right-hand bar to search every SurvivalBlog post, all the way back to the blog’s launch in August, 2005. Thank you for your patience. — Today we present another two entries for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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. …


Thoughts on 2011 Silver Investing, by Texas Tony

Disclaimer:  This  article represents the opinions of one individual.  Keep in mind my views are more extreme than the mainstream.  For example, I am anticipating significant worldwide financial upheaval in 2011, which could include any combination of collapse and bailout of European economies (Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, or Italy); devaluation or collapse of the Euro; loss of faith in the US Dollar as a worldwide trading tool (note that Russia and China recently agreed to price trade deals in their sovereign currencies, not dollars); further “bailouts” and “Quantitative Easing” in the US Economy;  and widespread municipal bond and municipal pension …


One View of The End Of The World As We Know It, by John Y.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is how many viewpoints and perspectives there are out there that can save a person a lot of time trying to articulate his own.  And I found one that suits me and mine.  If you haven’t taken the time to explore the SurvivalBlog.com do it.  I have barely scratched the surface and have found so many interesting things.  I generally download or copy and paste the stuff that I think has value and add it to my growing digital library.  That’s actually another project that I encourage.  I have multiple digital folders divided by topics …


Letter Re: Lessons from the Tunisian Revolution

Greetings Mr. Rawles, In the ongoing chaos of the Tunisia revolution we are able to watch a real life SHTF scenario being played out. Well worth the time to observe and learn from. Even though the head of the government has fled, it’s body is still alive and flailing creating havoc. The resulting chaos has caused breakdowns in food distribution and security as evidenced by the following quotes in the Washington Times. I thought it interesting that how quickly the neighborhoods have formed their own militias to protect themselves. The following are some quotes from a Washington Times article: “Ordinary …


Avalanche Lily’s Bedside Book Pile

Here are the current top-most items on my perpetual bedside pile: I just finished reading the novel Life As We Knew It, a 2006 “young adult” novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  It is a survivalist story.  An asteroid strikes the Moon, knocking it out of orbit and closer to the earth.  As a result, the earth’s gravitational forces are changed, causing high tides, tsunamis, earthquakes and major volcanic eruptions.  The coastal cities world-wide are wiped out, weather patterns are completely disrupted, causing floods and droughts, terrible thunderstorms and blizzards and earlier, colder winters.  Food is scarce.  The story is a …


Economics and Investing:

Sue C. suggested this: The Black Swan Events of 2011? RVL sent: Record $14 trillion-plus debt weighs on Congress. The article begins: “The United States just passed a dubious milestone: Government debt surged to an all-time high, topping $14 trillion — $45,300 for each and everyone in the country.” Thomas Sowell: Honest Answer to Government Woes is Bankruptcy Wait for complete package on debt crisis: Merkel Weak Dollars and Strong Commodities? (Thanks to John R. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Homelessness Increases As Help Decreases   10 Things That Would Be Different If The Federal Reserve Had Never …


Odds ‘n Sods:

China’s control of rare-earth metals poses risk to U.S. solar future.    o o o Rourke spotted this: Inexpensive perimeter alarm. Keep in mind that those units are NOT weatherproof, so they should be installed in weatherproof enclosures, and buy plenty of spares!    o o o The Queensland Floods: Next shock will be high food prices    o o o James C. recommended this videotaped interview with Dimitri Orlov: “America Will Collapse”. It should come as no surprise to SurvivalBlog readers that Orlov predicts very high crime rates and that country dwellers will fare better than urbanites. He calls …