Day: September 23, 2012

Notes from JWR:

We’re down to just three days to release (and “Book Bomb Day”) for Founders: A Novel of the Coming Collapse. Thanks for your patience. — Today we present another entry for Round 42 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 …


Tactical Map Usage and Scouting, by Robert B. in North Carolina

Know your environment – getting the maps ready now In a world full of google, yahoo and portable navigators, the art of using maps kind of gets lost. In a SHTF situation, you will probably not have much of a technological tool kit for navigation, or planning. Knowing how to use maps from a tactical perspective then becomes critical skillet. Sand tables are not the most portable item to help identify and understand a terrain, but using plastic layers over a map can be very portable, and useful for viewing an environment. The layers I talk about below are a …


The Art and Science of Situation Analysis, by Judy C.

One of the most important skills to master in any crisis scenario is situation analysis.  The preliminary situation analysis is a valuable tool in planning and preparing, while the on-scene analysis will help focus your planned response. Developing a Preliminary Situation Analysis: Hard Factors Hard factors are unlikely to vary much from crisis to crisis. Factors such as geography, climate, nearby population, and natural resources will be determined by your chosen location. The only way you can change hard factors is to move to another location. One of the advantages of the American Redoubt is  the set of hard factors …


Letter Re: Protractors for Field Engineering

Jim: Now I know some folks aren’t going to think of a protractor — digital, analog, or constructed — as a survival tool. But in the USAF survival school certain “angles” were reinforced as survival angles. Support a load with an equilateral triangle. Making a 30-60-90 frame to support a trench. An isosceles to ensure that snow and rain shed away from a survival shelter. And, squares for identifying your location to rescuers. (Sinces traight lines are out of place in nature. ) Of course as an engineer, anytime you build, angles come into play with load. A good analog …


Letter Re: Mental Preparation for Lethal Force

Hi Jim, That was a well written and informative article by Mark B. on preparing yourself to use deadly force. As a retired police officer and firearms instructor I can tell you that Mark gives solid advice. We can also look at history for lessons on what’s important in prevailing in a gunfight. I’ve been involved in a few myself and I’ve spent a lot of years figuring out what works and what doesn’t. I’ve studied the old west, taken many courses, read countless books and analyzed my own experiences and how I survived. It can be distilled down to …


Economics and Investing:

By way of Tam at the View From The Porch blog comes this account of multiple mass inflations in Argentina: “¡Qué Quilombo!” Here is a key quote: “What seems peculiar about Argentina’s case is the government’s Herculean effort to ignore the immutable laws of economics in their pursuit of grand larceny. The country has seen five currencies in just the past century, averaging a collapse every twenty years or so. In 1970, the peso ley replaced the peso moneda nacional at a rate of 100 to 1. The peso ley was in turn replaced by the peso Argentino in 1983 …


Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader “Shrike” mentioned a beautiful little film about the production process of an axe by master toolmaker, John Neeman…    o o o A link courtesy of SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Mike Williamson: Is this photo and diagram from South Korea legitimate? It is captivating, nonetheless.    o o o Reader R.B.S. sent: Blackouts Spur $18 Billion Power Grid Upgrade: Corporate India    o o o The folks at InformedChristians.com have now produced a thought-provoking timeline chart, showing one potential chain of events in the near future, leading to global socioeconomic collapse and World War III. This “fast track” …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though [they be] so great, and [are] driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, …