Day: February 9, 2012

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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 C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a …


A Hiccup in the Matrix, by R.W.S.

Southern California, September 8, 2011, 3:45 p.m.: Crud, my computer just shut down. It had been an uneventful day at the ranch studio to this point. I was finishing the day’s work on a project and looking forward to riding my horse before it got dark; now my computer flat-lines. Great…, what next? Hit the television power switch on the remote, nothing… Power light on the plotter is off too, Huh? Went to the main breaker to see if the circuit to the studio had tripped. Nope, the wheel-of-debt inside the meter was not turning so the solution was not …


The Role of Physical Exercise and the Consequences of Addiction in a Disaster, by C.A.I.

We live in an obese society driven by processed fast food and have drinking liters of soda a day and barely any water if at all. I have seen hundreds of people “preparing” for some sort of catastrophic event that can barely walk and some cannot even see the bottom of their shoes they are so obese. I am not trying to be harsh because I am by no means perfect I am just trying to point out something I see wrong with the prepping community today. We also rely on certain stimulants to get us through the day whether …


Letter Re: Barter, Post-TEOTWAWKI: The Micro Store

JWR:  I read your blog daily.  Thank you for all the great info.  After reading the article on a little store for bartering I wanted to add some items for consideration.  Flip style lighters (Zippo style) are excellent items.  I have recently bought four at thrift stores and flea markets.  I bought the smaller size and full sized lighters.  I stocked up on lighter fluid.  The cheapest fluid I found was at Wal-Mart and I bought lots of flints too. At Wal-Mart the flints were 40 cents for five.  At a local flea market I found flints at 20 cents …


Economics and Investing:

For the “I Told You So” file: Romanian government collapses amid public outrage over austerity. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) California, New York might sign on to MERS settlement Dawn S. suggested a piece with a fascinating animated stock volatility chart over at Zero Hedge: Presenting The “Rise Of The HFT Machine” – Visual Confirmation How SkyNet Broke The Stock Market On US Downgrade Day Pennies: Where are they all going? (A hat tip to Diana S. for the link.) G.G. suggested this National Review article on commercial real estate: Armageddon at the Strip Mall Items from The Economatrix: …


Odds ‘n Sods:

What if the lights go out? (Thanks to Ian R. for the link.)    o o o On a recent trip to the Big City, I was pleasantly surprised to see copies of my nonfiction book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” for sale at a Costco membership “Big Box” store priced at just $9.98. The best news is that there were just a few books remaining in the stack! (Costco tends to stack their books deeply.) A month ago, Sam’s Club stores also started stocking it, selling it for $10.98. (Meanwhile, Amazon.com charges …