Notes from JWR:

In reviewing SurvivalBlog’s web statistics for last month, I see that our traffic was a whopping 1,929.92 Gigabytes in December, 2011. That is huge number for a blog that presents mostly text. (We post very few graphics.) We also logged 334,239 unique visits per week. That is about the same number of unique visits we received per month, back in 2008. Our bandwidth has quadrupled in less than three years! Thanks for spreading the word about SurvivalBlog to your family, co-workers, church congregants, and friends. I also appreciate that so many of you have added links to SurvivalBlog in your …




Night Vision Gear for Those on a Tight Budget, by Robert C.

Prepping on a budget is quite important to my family as I am sure it is to many avid readers of this fine blog.  I have purchased the book, “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times” and am following it to the best of my ability and financial means. However one aspect that is woefully lacking is my nighttime surveillance capability.  Sure I have strong LED flashlights with rechargeable batteries, solar panels ready to recharge those batteries at a moments notice, and enough batteries to last a lifetime.  …




Individual Movement in Escape and Evasion Situations, by A.E.

What follows is a collection of tips, tricks and strategies that I have personally tested/evaluated and passed on to students within my capacity as a survival and tracking instructor working with responsible civilians, military and law enforcement. Some of this has been around for years, some of it is very recent wisdom, most of it is just common sense. This is not an exhaustive study in any way, but rather a useful primer designed to inspire creative solutions while adhering to time worn tactical truisms. Note also, we are not covering SERE, as survival and resistance are truly separate topics. …




Letter Re: A Gardening Zone Mapping Tool

Sir,   I am interested in moving to the American Redoubt. As an avid gardener, I am looking for the most promising areas in terms of zone and eco-climate. While trying to find a detailed agricultural plant zone map of the United States, I stumbled upon this site: PlantMaps.com  When I checking a listing for a property, I can enter the zip code and the site provides significant climate information about that specific location including precipitation levels per month, drought index, average temps as well as a wealth of area maps.  It is easy to discern the effect of elevation …




Economics and Investing:

Peter Schiff: U.S. is In Worse Shape Than Europe An interesting podcast: Preparing for the Coming Dollar Meltdown with Gold, Silver, Agriculture, and Energy Huge Financial Bombs Just Got Dropped All Over Europe Items from The Economatrix: Market Resiliency Shines Through French Rating Cut Oil Prices Below $99 On New Europe Debt Concerns Europe’s $39 Trillion Pension Risk Grows as Economy Falters Economic Collapse — Why It Won’t Be Stopped




Odds ‘n Sods:

B.G. sent this from Lifehacker: Use an Egg Carton to Jumpstart Your Garden this Spring    o o o Reader Pete K. wrote to to tell me that the e-book of the quasi-survivalist novel “The Walk” is presently available free of charge to Amazon Prime members, and $3.50 to others.. (It is normally $12.)    o o o Yes another good reason to save your nickels, folks: NASA Publicly Reveals LENR Research. (If successfully developed at an economical price per kilowatt, warm fusion should send the price of nickel ore soaring!)    o o o Larry H. mentioned: Why raise …