Year: 2011

Two Letters Re: Securing Windows With Plywood The Fast And Easy Way

Mr.  Rawles,   On the subject of securing windows with plywood. there is one piece that seems to be missing as may often be the case of a “My Home is My Castle” scenario. What if you have to get out? While there is no 100 percent answer, there is the military and historically proven fact that if you make a defensive area/building too hard to get into, it is too difficult to get out of. Such an example would be if there is a fire in the structure.   Thanks for the Blog and your great work.   – …


Economics and Investing:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) recommend this: The number that’s killing the economy Stephen M. highlighted this one: General Mills sees 2012 profit hit by food costs. Here is a quote: “The maker of Cheerios cereal and Progresso soups said on Wednesday that it expects costs to rise 10 percent to 11 percent in the 2012 fiscal year, which began May 30.” Also from Stephen: Austerity Riots – A Glimpse of America’s Future? Items from The Economatrix: Voters Give Obama Lowest Rating Yet on Economy Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fall By Most in 17 Months Uptick …


Odds ‘n Sods:

P.C. insanity – Florida cop in trouble for warning others about dangerous parts of town. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)    o o o Reader G.P. sent this news article from England: Government Forces Family Living Off-Grid, Growing Own Food On Own Land to Return to Society’s Rat Race or Face Penalty    o o o F.J. mentioned an interesting compact combined solar and wind power system, primarily for shipboard applications: Solar Stik.    o o o. Illinois Lone Holdout On Concealed Carry.    o o o Raytheon’s CIRT makes punching through concrete walls easy. (They tell us that …



Notes from JWR:

Hooray! Effective today, July 1, 2011, Wyoming will no longer require permits for concealed carry of firearms. Wyoming now joins Vermont, Arizona, and Alaska in recognizing the Constitutional right to unrestricted carry, both openly and concealed, without any permit. “Senate Bill 47 amends Wyoming Revised Statute 6-8-104 to allow anyone who has lived in the state of Wyoming for six months or more, and who meets the other requirements of the older concealed carry law (excluding the requirement that an individual demonstrate proficiency with a firearm) to carry a concealed weapon, without applying for or obtaining a permit.” I expect …


Raising a Healthy, Happy Infant in a Survival Situation, by Brittany B.

Humidifier – check. Electric fan – check. Lullaby CD – check. Nightlight – check. Final kisses and whispered prayers, and at last you’re ready to lay your tiny baby down to sleep. Modern convenience makes caring for a little one easy as pie and exhaustingly complicated at the same time. Our parents muse, “How did we ever get by without that nursing pillow/bottle warmer/Sippy cup tether?” Yet somehow, the human race got this far without all of today’s fancy gadgets designed to ease parents through the baby years, and we would be wise to consider how it used to be …


Pat’s Product Reviews: Springfield Armory’s Range Officer 1911

I still remember the very first Springfield Armory 1911 .45 ACP pistol I ever owned. I believe the year was 1987, and I purchased a brand-new, still in the box, mil-spec Springfield Armory pistol. The gun was nicely finished with an evenly applied parkerized finish, with the overall appearance being that of a standard mil-spec gun in all regards. However, the darn thing wouldn’t feed any type of ammo – I reworked the feed ramp and throated the barrel and adjusted the extractor – rather then sending it back to Springfield Armory. Every now and then, a lemon slips through no …


Letter Re: Survival and Special Needs Loved Ones

Dear Editor: That piece that you posted in April about caring for special needs people or old people that have Alzheimer’s during TEOTWAWKI really blessed me a lot. I saw a lot of practical information and reasoning that can be applied to everyday life dealing with people like that. Things that can effect the relationship between you, the person you care for and others can be as simple as unfettered gossip. I soon learned after my Dad’s death that having conversations with my mother about our business things that were before and still needed to be kept under wraps were …


Two Letters Re: Securing Windows With Plywood The Fast And Easy Way

James: I learned this very important lesson from a building contractor. On his hunting trips to Alaska he would send his supplies ahead of him in small (20′) shipping containers. After the first shipment of containers were raided by thieves he decided to add security to his supplies with a sheet of plywood over [the center of] the doors. Here is the trick that he used: the plywood was well-secured at close intervals with a variety of Phillips screws, Reed & Prince screws, square drive screws, Torx head screws, and long 5/16″ self- tapping [flathead] screws. Thieves might be armed …


Economics and Investing:

Steven M. suggested: Three financial funnel clouds ahead Commentary: Fighting ‘F5’ financial disasters with ETFs United States of Denial (James West) John R. suggested a piece by Arnold Bock: Get Ready to be Financially Conscripted Katie Benner: China’s Debt Bomb From The Daily Bell: Greece: Frazzled Eurocrats Play for Time Items from The Economatrix: The Five Biggest Threats to US Economy Celente Predicts Gold Standard Won’t Save US Economy Consumers’ Confidence Down in June on Job Worries


Odds ‘n Sods:

The Day the Law Left Town: Texas City Sends Police Packing to Cut Costs; Sheriff Plays Catch as Catch Can. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)    o o o I heard about a small company that makes inexpensive target retrieval systems, for shooting ranges: Rogue Six. If you know anyone that operates a small public or police range, please forward the link.    o o o Directive 21 (one of our advertisers) has anounced a special that runs from July 1st to July 15th: For every purchase of a Berkey Water Purification System on their site, you will receive …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“If investors chose not to purchase a sufficient volume of new Treasury securities, the United States would be required to pay the principal on maturing debt, and not merely the interest, out of available cash. Yet the Treasury would be unable to make these principal payments without the continued confidence of market participants willing to buy new Treasury securities.”  – Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a letter to Sen. Jim DeMint regarding raising the Federal debt ceiling. Translation: “The U.S. financial system is an enormous Ponzi scheme.”


Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 35 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 …


Prepping From the Ground Up, by N.V.

As a newcomer to the survivalist game (and by newcomer, I mean that I haven’t planned for anything bad to happen in the future except for my daughter reaching dating age), I thought it would be interesting to detail how I came to be reading this web site at this point in my life and the steps I have taken so far as a “virgin” survivalist.   I became interested in it recently due to several factors. The first is I have always found literature regarding end of the world scenarios to be fascinating.  I have read everything from On the Beach …


Letter Re: Securing Windows With Plywood The Fast And Easy Way

Sir: I’ve been researching ways to secure windows in a SHTF scenario and it seems that one of the best ways to do this is by screwing pre-cut sheets of plywood to the window frame.  This will take many screws and it will leave screw holes in your window frame if/when it comes time to take down the plywood.  It also takes precious time to put a lot of screws in even with a powered screwdriver and depending on the size of the window, you might need several people to hold the plywood in place while you put the screws …