Year: 2011


Notes from JWR:

To support the blog’s bandwidth costs and other expenses, we have launched a new, greatly expanded SurvivalBlog Amazon Store. I did my best to select gear that is made in the United States and Canada. Here how it works: If you click on one of our Amazon links and then “click through” to order ANY product from Amazon.com (not just the ones listed in our catalog), then we will earn a modest sales commission. Please shop with our our paid advertisers first. (See the ads in the right hand bar of the main blog page.) But if they don’t have …


The Other BOB: The Bugout Bank, by Ron A.

There’s another Bug Out Bag (BOB) in the prepper family that you need to meet. It’s the Bug Out Bank, something that should be an addition to everyone’s G.O.O.D. plan. With the chaos going on in the financial world, and the uncertainty that goes hand-in-hand, the importance of this element of your plan can’t be overlooked. We all realize there’s a bad moon rising. Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture. It’s worse that it appears from up close. The official, underreported unemployment rate is hovering around 10%. The debt ceiling “fix” was done with masking …


Some Observations on the Precious Metals Markets

You might noticed that on Monday (August 15, 2011), the spot price of gold was fairly flat, but that spot silver was up substantially. Just as I predicted last week, it appears that Mr. Market has belatedly realized that silver needs to catch up to the recent advance in gold prices. To get back to a 40-to-1 ratio, silver would have to advance to $43.41 per ounce. In the long run, a ratio of 20-to-1 or perhaps even 16-to-1 is realistic. So again, if you have enough secure storage space, then buy silver rather than gold. If you want to …


Letter Re: Prepping for Missionaries and Other Long-Term Foreign Workers

Hello,  I have been a regular reader of SurvivalBlog and am very grateful for your efforts in maintaining such a great resource for those of use concerned with survival-related topics.  I would like to make mention of a recently-published book that is one of the best I have read in this field: Everything That Follows Is Based on Recent, Real-Life Experience That Has Been Proven to Work: Professional Survival Solutions, by James Shepherd-Barron  Here is a description: “James Shepherd-Barron has worked in more than 26 countries, including the conflict zones of Iraq, Kosovo, Croatia, Central Bosnia, Burundi, and Rwanda. Once …


Letter Re: Pat’s Product Reviews: Rossi Ranch Hand

Hello, Pat says, “FedGov regulations mandate that you have to have at least a 16″ barrel on a rifle, with an overall length of 26” – if your rifle is any shorter, then there’s lots of red tape and have a $200 tax for a Short Barrel Rifle (SBR), and I just don’t care to give the FedGov any more reason to come knocking on my door. “ He then offers up a review of the lever-action $536 Rossi Ranch Hand Pistol, which has a 12″ barrel, 24″ length. I would suggest Pat review the following pistol: Romanian AK-47 Draco …


Economics and Investing:

Reader R.P.B. recommended this: World Debt Guide: Owe Dear (an interactive graphic showing sovereign debt versus GDP.) Truckergirl sent this: 10 Signs That Economic Riots And Civil Unrest Inside The United States Are Now More Likely Than Ever. Lorimer Wilson posted his analysis on the silver-to-gold price ratio and potential tops. Daily Bell Briefs: SEC Goes After S&P / World Bank to the Rescue? / Death & Democracy in the Middle East / States to Embrace Online Gambling. Some commentary from Tam (of the always entertaining View From The Porch blog): When everybody’s a millionaire… Mr. M. sent this: Food …


Odds ‘n Sods:

C.D., suggested this great chart on food cravings: What You Want vs. What You Need. Most of these conditions could be prevented with a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement tablet (or powder), plus a bit of extra Magnesium, and plenty of water.    o o o You’ve got to have some place for your tangible investments: Booming business of fear: Sales of safes soar. OBTW, be sure to bolt down your safe securely, and conceal it well! Nothing beats a vault that is hidden behind a false wall. (Thanks to Eric S. for the link.)    o o o …



Note from JWR:

Great news! We’ve tooled up with a new vendor to produce the SurvivalBlog 2005-2010 Archive CD-ROM. Now, unlike with Lulu.com, you don’t need to sign up for a membership. The new vendor (Kunaki) also accepts payments both via credit cards and PayPal. And the price is lower too! (Just $11, plus $4.30 postage, to most U.S. and European addresses.)


On Markets, Manipulation, Regulation, and Nationalization

On August 12th the newspaper headlines had some exceptionally bad news: Four European Nations to Curtail Short-Selling. This is an ill-advised panic move, following some massive losses on the European stock markets. (The French CAC 40 index is down 18.2 percent thusfar in August. Meanwhile, the DAX was down 15% in just a week.) Banning short selling does not bode well for the free market, nor for any meaningful stock pricing numbers that we can rely on. As the nascent global credit crisis deepens, we can expect more monkeying with the markets, on both sides of the Atlantic. For example, …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Rossi Ranch Hand

I grew-up during the Golden Years of television – the 1950s and early 1960s. Many television programs produced during that time were westerns: The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, Bonanza, Wanted: Dead Or Alive, Wagon Train, Johnny Yuma, Gunsmoke, and many, many others. One of my favorite westerns was Wanted: Dead Or Alive starring the late Steve McQueen, who played a bounty hunter – going after bad guys for a reward. And, more often than not, Steve McQueen’s character “Josh Randall” was always side-tracked doing good deeds for folks. What made this program so interesting was the gun that “Josh …


Tetanus: A Nasty, Fascinating Bug, by Dr. Bob

Nearly everyone has heard of the famous “lockjaw”, but not everyone knows that the cause is tetanus infection.  Even fewer people have actually seen a case of tetanus, even in the medical circles it is a rare event in the U.S.  There are only 233 cases reported from 2001 to 2008–or 1/10,000,000.  Deaths are even more rare here in the States, and of those 233, 31 were fatalities.  Most deaths were people over 65, presumed to be less than optimally immunized.   There has only been one reported infant case in the U.S. in that time period, and that was …


Letter Re: A Source for Qiviut Socks

Several months ago a SurvivalBlog post recounted a man’s survival while iced-in in a remote area. He credited a life-saving cache left by a local property-owner with saving his life. Included in the cache was a pair of qiviut socks. After reading the article, the socks continued to fascinate me — as I am somewhat cold-blooded and even wear wool socks in summer. After much research, I decided to try a pair and searched the internet. I found one source, in Canada, that sells the socks (70% Qiviut, 20% Merino, 10% nylon) and ordered a pair. I’ve found the product …


Economics and Investing:

At The Daily Bell: Richard Maybury and Rick Rule on Why More War Is Likely, the Future of the US Dollar and Why Neither of Them Vote Another from The Daily Bell: Thomas Jacob on the New Swiss Gold Franc, Why the EU Is a Bad Idea and Why an IMF Managed Currency Would Be Tragic Arnaud de Borchgrave: Black swans galore: As U.S. superpower status fades, ‘Arab Spring’ gives way to global chaos. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link.) Michael W. sent this: Tracking the money from stocks to gold.   Items from The Economatrix: Shoppers Lift Economy But …